Chapter Sixty-Five: Reunions
The next morning…
"Commander Chestra, are you there?" Chestra heard a girlish voice echo through her scouter.
Jaden was lying in her arms, barely able to move. She and Chestra were taking refuge in an abandoned building, where she and Jaden had slept throughout the night in a cellar.
"Yes, Crystalis, I am here."
"I have bad news, Commander. Pork has been severely wounded. One of those missiles that the Calmagians had landed near us before we could flee, and Pork was caught in the blast. His neck seems to be broken, Commander, and his right foot was severed. He-he has many bruises, internal bleeding. What do I do now?"
"Give him first aid, Crystalis, and take him and yourself to the mountains of Ensley. Steal a vehicle if you can. We are going to have to retreat to there until Diamonique's snowstorm and hailstorm wears off, which should be in a few hours. We're not going to do much good at this time, for Commander Jaden is also severely wounded, and I will need to take her out of here as well. I am preparing to take her there now, and I want you to meet us on Mt. Pykas, the tallest mountain in that range. Fire three ki blasts in a row to signal to us that you have arrived. Take your time; don't worry about fighting or finding Princess Tayla at this time; just get you and Pork out of there."
"Yes, Commander. Signing off now." And Crystalis's voice was gone.
Jaden slowly revived, and she mumbled to Chestra, "Thanks, kid, you've saved my life. Now where in the hell are we going?"
"I am taking you to the mountain range of Ensley, Jaden. The weather is too bad here for us to do much more fighting. We are going to have to retreat temporarily until the effect from Diamonique's winter storms wears off. What was she thinking?"
"I'd like to strangle that ice-haired witch," Jaden grumbled. "She just screwed things up for all of us. And I'm not retreating, Chestra; I have a score to settle with an Astorie brat named Rosynthia, plus there's a Princess Tayla to find and a planet to clear."
"Jaden, please, now is not the time for that. You are too badly wounded, and you barely survived that avalanche that an Astorian girl created. She was very powerful, I tell you, why I saw her fleeing with a Namek guardian-was Dirkan his name?-and she blasted Diamonique with ease. I could not pick up Diamonique's ki on the scouter at all. I believe that she has perished," Chestra said quietly.
"An Astorie brat blew away Diamonique?" Jaden wanted to know. "Not every brat, Astorie or not can do that. What was that kid-a Super Astorian?"
"Maybe," Chestra said thoughtfully. "I would have gone after the girl myself, but I was trying to find you and Diamonique-"
"Why do you bother about that slut, Chestra? She tried to kill you twice!"
"The remains of my conscience are haunting me?" Chestra quipped with a grin.
Jaden sighed. Chestra was her best friend, but Jaden at times thought that Chestra was too kind-hearted to be one of Frieza's fighters, even though Chestra could be as ruthless and deadly as the rest of them.
"Anyway, it was a more practical matter," Chestra told her simply, as two icicles fell near her. Chestra picked it up and sucked on it because she was thirsty. She gave one to Jaden. "Lord Frieza seems to favor Diamonique for some reason, probably because her uncle is one of his allies."
"Or maybe because Lord Frieza wants to jump her bones," Jaden joked between sucks on her icicle. "He does like young women as well as his father does."
Chestra shuddered. "I would question his taste, but better Diamonique than me. She has always said that she wanted a mate with power. I never told anyone this besides Zarbon, but it scared me that time when Lord Frieza had wanted me for his mate. Him and his father, King Cold, wanting me that way makes me quiver to this day. I was afraid that I had been caught in the same trap that I had been in before when my masters had desired me."
"What made them change their minds about you anyway? What made Lord Frieza back down and let Zarbon have you? I've always wondered, Chestra. I never did learn the entire story."
"I-I don't know," Chestra admitted, a bit nervously. "I know that Lord Frieza and Zarbon fought each other in a nasty battle over me; I am surprised to this day that Lord Frieza allowed Zarbon to live and be my love. Lord Frieza said that he was letting us be together as an act of goodwill towards his Head Commander and favorite officer, but how often does Lord Frieza do things without a reason?"
"There had to be a reason," Jaden rasped, for the cold air was making it harder for her injured body to breathe. "Lord Frieza never does anything just out of the goodness of what heart he has. He always has an ulterior motive. Do you have some deep, dark secret that he could have discovered?"
"I don't know, but I'm just relieved that he didn't try to pursue me any further. His father backed off too, and that alone was odd. King Cold is not one to give up a young woman. Anyway, it doesn't really matter now; I have to get you to safety."
"I'm not leaving, Chestra," Jaden wheezed. "I have a battle to finish."
"Jaden, you are not going to finish it right now; now be sensible for once because I can restrain you for a time," Chestra said sternly, her voice carrying a definite threat. It was rare that she ever spoke back to someone that she considered one of her mentors and closest friends, but Chestra was not going to allow Jaden to foolishly put herself in danger until Jaden had healed.
"Don't threaten me," Jaden growled.
"I mean it," Chestra said firmly, her green eyes staring down into Jaden's yellow ones. "I may not be as physically strong and powerful as you are, but my telekinetic powers are more than enough to keep you from doing anything rash."
Jaden growled again, but said nothing. She turned her aching head to the side, silently, but grudgingly yielding the argument to Chestra. The stubborn, hardheaded Jaden was not pleased to give in to anyone, but she knew that Chestra's telekinetic abilities were a force to be reckoned with. It evened out the balance of power between them and made them equals in fighting ability. She was just glad that Chestra was her friend, not her enemy, even though she would never admit to it under slow torture.
Crystalis was carefully carrying Pork to an aircar that she had spotted in the distance between two damaged buildings. She was flying slowly, with her eyes half-closed to block out the wind, snow, and hail from her eyes. She and Pork were near the Calmagian royal castle, although neither one of them realized it. Crystalis was very tired; the telekinetic abilities and pain-increasing abilities that she had "borrowed" from Chestra had long ago worn off, and her own ki had not been enough for her to fight against the missiles and guns that the CRP officers kept firing at her and Pork.
She noticed one of the Oozarus stomping throughout the business district of Magan, crushing tanks below his feet. It was probably Raditz or Journa or Nappa, and if Crystalis hadn't been so tired and injured, she would have tried to touch the Oozaru to absorb his or her Saiyan and Oozaru powers.
She couldn't fly anymore with Pork in her arms, and so she was forced to land in front of the castle. Maybe she could force someone to treat her fallen comrade.
Two CRP officers emerged from the bushes near the area where Crystalis had landed. One of the officers recognized Crystalis's uniform as belonging to Frieza's forces, and he ordered the men to shoot.
Crystalis gently laid Pork down on the snowy ground, and she began to gather what ki that she left together to fight off the men.
But Crystalis would not have to throw a ki blast; at that moment, a strange horse-like creature with blood red, shimmering hair came running forth. He threw himself in front of Crystalis and Pork and cried, "Don't shoot them! Please! She has my son!"
And it was then Crystalis recognized the odd man, for he was a Meatian, of Pork's race!
"Who are you?" she asked breathlessly.
The red-haired Meatian turned to her and said anxiously, "I am Steak, this boy's father! Please let him go! Turn him over to me, and I will see that you live!"
Tayla was carrying Dirkan on her back, when she saw her Nama flying slowly against the snow and wind with Petalia near her. Shalila had carried Petalia as far as she could, but once the snow and hail set in, Petalia had to fly herself. The two ladies had been navigating through the snow all through half of the night until Shalila had insisted that they sleep for a few hours in a nearby cave. Not that Shalila had slept much, for she was too deeply worried about the others. Petalia had slept in her grandmother's lap until Shalila had woken her up and told her that it was time to go back to the royal castle.
Tayla and Dirkan themselves had slept for a few hours in the underground labyrinths in order to get some rest and to escape the cold and wind. Magan was such a large city, or at least it had been. At least the labyrinths were nice and warm unlike the weather outside. Tayla had only managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but she insisted that her beloved guardian sleep the entire time. Tayla had kept watch while she was awake.
She and Dirkan of course felt much better now that Nama was here.
"Nama!" Tayla cried happily.
Shalila was enormously relieved to see that her darling grandchild was all right, and enormously horrified to see Dirkan in the shape that he was in.
"Dirkan!" Shalila ran to him and cautiously put her arms around her Namek husband. "What happened to you?"
Dirkan grinned wryly. "Jaden. Calm down, love, I looked much worse than this earlier; just ask Tayla. The little lady distracted her and tricked Jaden into leaving. If Jaden is still alive, she's probably wondering where 'Rosynthia' is. From what she's told me, she fought Balair as well, and she also saved us from Diamonique. She used some strange attack called 'Blitzer' that demolished that Gemstarian witch and pretty much that entire mountain."
Tayla looked down, her face flushed. Shalila smiled and tousled Tayla's hair, which had long fell from its coronet. Her hair was now long and tangled. Shalila whispered, "I'm proud of you, dandelion."
Tayla nodded a thank-you and continued to blush.
The quartet quickly flew down into the same cave where Tayla and Dirkan had spent the night. The cave was near to the warm labyrinths, so it was toasty inside. Shalila gently laid Dirkan down on the ground, and she lay next to him. Tayla and Petalia laid near her, with Tayla between her Nama and her niece.
Shalila quickly embraced her granddaughter and kissed her on her cold cheek. Then she told Tayla, "Hand me Dirkan, dandelion, and I will take care of him from here."
Tayla handed Dirkan over to her grandmother, who gently laid him over her shoulder. Dirkan weakly embraced his wife, rested his head on her slender shoulder and closed his obsidian eyes.
Tayla then turned to Petalia and asked, "Are you okay? How did you escape?"
"Commander Chestra talked Commander Jaden into freeing us, and Jaden killed off Alberm, so Caline doesn't have to worry about him anymore," Petalia gasped a bit breathlessly.
"Alberm's no loss," Dirkan murmured from Shalila's shoulder.
"That I have to agree with," Shalila added.
"I'm not sorry that Alberm died," Tayla said firmly. "I know that's not a nice thing to say, but it's true. How could he want to hurt his own wife, especially someone as nice and sweet as Caline?"
"Caline is only eleven, too young to be married," Petalia asserted. "Alberm was nothing but a-well you know."
"Poor Caline," Tayla said worriedly. "Won't Prince Amitar try to force her to marry that Filcork Sediment or whatever his name is?"
"Not if we can prevent it," Dirkan promised her.
"Good, 'cause I'd hate for Caline to have to marry another awful man. She told me that Filcork is no better than Alberm," Tayla declared.
"Prince Amitar is a bad father," Petalia added. "I thought that my father wasn't much of a parent, but at least he never hit me like Amitar hit Caline. Caline didn't do anything to deserve his abuse or Alberm's."
"Prince Amitar was a bad father," Dirkan told her. "He died yesterday, I'm afraid."
All three females grew solemn. "How did he die?" Shalila asked quietly.
"He wasn't much of a father, but he was a good fighter," Dirkan told them. "He and some of the other Calmagian soldiers fired their laser guns at a bunch of little green monsters, killing a good number of them-I'm sure that you and Tayla may have seen some of those nasty beasts already-anyway, one of the little green things jumped onto Prince Amitar from behind. The little bastard self-destructed while holding onto Prince Amitar, exploding and killing both of them before anyone could intervene."
"That means Ridikar will be the next king of Calmag, should he live through this war," Shalila said gravely. "Does he or Caline know of their father's death yet?"
"Not that I know of," Dirkan admitted. "I probably should have told Caline when I saw her last; Gracina took charge of her, so Caline should be safe now. Caline has enough to deal with-the loss of both her husband and her father."
"Alberm and Prince Amitar aren't that great of a loss," Petalia said firmly. "They both treated her like dirt."
"Not that I'm glad that they died, but Caline's better off without both of them," Tayla added.
"No one's going to miss them not much," Petalia agreed. "They got their just deserts, at least Alberm did anyway. And now Amitar knew what it was like for someone to hit him for a change."
"We should be able to take Caline home with us now, that Alberm and Amitar are gone," Tayla said hopefully. "She won't have to worry about anyone hurting her anymore, and now that they aren't alive to prevent her, we can take her home with us."
"I do have to thank Jaden for saving us the trouble of dealing with Alberm," Petalia said. "It was horrible to see him die like that, but he would have hurt Caline worst, had he lived. I doubt Caline will mourn them much at all."
"I wouldn't, if I were her," Tayla declared.
"It saves Caline the trouble of getting a divorce."
"And the worry of her father marrying her to that nasty Filcork Sediment."
"Ugh!" Petalia gagged. "Caline's father has bad taste in husbands! At least Caline doesn't have to worry about being married off to anymore hideous men!"
"Girls!" Shalila said, shocked, while Dirkan was trying to repress a chuckle. "Two men in Caline's family have died! Despite the way that they treated her, Caline is still going to feel some grief over their deaths, at least her father's. No matter how bad Amitar was to her, I'm sure that Caline still loved him, and she will feel some sorrow over his death."
"How can she feel sorrow over the death of someone who treated her like used diapers?" Petalia asked. "I certainly wouldn't."
"And Alberm was never nice to her at all. He even forced himself on her before they were married," Tayla added. "I'm sorry, Nama, but he did get what he deserved, for treating her so badly. Now we'll just have to make sure she's not forced to marry Filcork Sediment."
"Maybe the green monsters will get rid of him too," Petalia said hopefully.
"From what I've heard of him from Caline, he's not any better than Alberm," Tayla told her. "He sounds like Alberm's twin. Prince Amitar wasn't much of a father, if he had to pick two bastardi monkens (bastard monkeys) in a row for his daughter."
"Tayla!" Shalila exclaimed, horrified at her granddaughter's language.
"That last sentence I agree with," Dirkan declared vociferously, with a laugh. "She hit the nail right on the head, as they say on planet Earth."
"Dirkan, do not encourage Tayla's bad language," Shalila scolded. She turned to her errant granddaughter. "Tayla, where did you learn such words?"
"Lektron, Bajal, and Alora use them all the time," Tayla said, a bit proudly, without shame, probably because Dirkan was still grinning. Shalila sighed; she knew that she'd get nowhere lecturing Tayla on her bad choice of words, if Dirkan were egging her on. "They use them all the time during their sparring matches, and Lektron called both Alberm and Amitar those words quite a few times. He called Amitar the bastardi monken kingi" (Bastard Monkey King). Dirkan chuckled softly before he could stop himself, and Shalila sharply nudged him in one of his few pain-free areas of his body.
Dirkan mock-moaned. "Ow, love, that hurt! Tayla was just telling the truth, weren't you, princess?" He winked at Tayla, who grinned back.
Shalila frowned. "Dirkan, I am surprised at you! I don't want Tayla and Petalia rejoicing over Amitar's and Alberm's deaths, and I don't want Tayla using foul language." She turned her frown on Tayla, hoping to make her see the error of her ways.
"We weren't rejoicing, Nama," Tayla told her gravely, for she was trying to become solemn because she knew that was what her grandmother expected after a scolding. "We were just stating facts."
"And we shouldn't pretend that we're mourning someone when we're not," Petalia added.
"I agree with that," Dirkan said. "I don't believe in hypocrisy."
"Still," Shalila said with a sigh. "They did die, and we should show proper respect."
"Even if they don't deserve it?" Petalia asked her. "Because they certainly don't deserve any."
"You've always told us that respect goes both ways, Nama," Tayla agreed.
"That you did tell them, Shalila," Dirkan, unable to repress a smile.
"Dirkan…" Shalila said warningly. She said to Petalia and Tayla, looking directly at them. "It is not right in most cases to be happy over someone's death, especially if they are on the same side as us."
Shalila changed the subject then because she just noticed that Arlon, Lukan, and Riccan were missing. "Tayla, where are your brothers and your nephew?"
Tayla told them of their horrible fate, and there were three cries of horror. Tayla hastily reassured them. "Don't worry; Kami Orchida taught me how to break the spell on them; they are not dead, just frozen."
"How do you reverse it then?" Dirkan wanted to know.
"Well, I would have to-" but Tayla would not to get to finish her sentence.
"RARR!"
Shalila, Tayla, Dirkan, and Petalia looked out into the entranceway to the cave, and they saw the red eyes and ugly ape face of a snow-covered Raditz-Oozaru stuffed in the entrance out of the cave.
Journa had landed several hard punches on Ridikar, who had been the Calmagian boy who had confronted her. She and Ridikar had been fighting throughout the night despite the cold and hail. Ridikar had put up a good fight against the Saiyan princess, but he was no match for her, and he could not even paralyze her. Journa had repeatedly punched and kicked Ridikar in his face and stomach, beating him up and giving him what she thought that she deserved. Ridikar had bravely landed many good blows and kicks, but Journa outclassed him in fighting ability. Ridikar had been trained in warfare from the time that he was ten, but Journa had been fighting since she had been three years old and had killed her first trainer in a sparring match.
Ridikar was now lying facedown on the ground, with Journa's foot on his neck. Journa was preparing to finish him off, as she bravely stood against the cold winds, snow and hail.
"Any last words, Calmagian?" Journa said evilly.
"You-you whore! You won't get away with this!" Ridikar cried out, but at that moment another Saiyan's foot kicked him hard in his face.
"You shouldn't call my sister, an elite-class Saiyan Princess from the House of Vegeta, a whore," Vegeta, who had just arrived, told Ridikar in a low hiss. "I am the only one who gets to insult her."
Ridikar choked out, with blood dribbling down his chin, "What do you want?"
Vegeta looked contemptuously down at the wounded Ridikar and said in a sneer, "Perhaps you can tell me where Princess Tayla went to."
"I don't know," Ridikar rasped, "and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you or your sister! She is my fiancée and I plan to marry her!"
"Yes, he did mention that, brother," Journa told Vegeta easily. She then noticed that Vegeta's tail was missing. "I see that someone chopped off your tail too. This Calmagian pig chopped off mine, and as you can see, I wasn't too happy about it."
"Tayla cut off my tail," Vegeta said evenly. "And I would have captured her even then, had not Diamonique summoned up these winter storms! The nerve of that woman! What I ever saw in her, I can't possibly imagine!"
"I've wondered the same thing," Journa agreed. "For a while there, Vegeta, I was starting to question your good sense. I'm glad that you have it back; I'd hate to see Diamonique become the next Queen of the Saiyans."
"She won't become anything; that I can assure you. Now, hurry up and finish off this weakling, sister, for we have an Astorian princess to find," Vegeta ordered, getting back to business.
"You Saiyans will pay for this," Ridikar rasped at both of them. "My people will stop you."
Vegeta laughed, as a few snowflakes melted on his nose. "You are funny! I ought to keep you alive just to amuse me, but you're not worth the trouble, since my sister has reduced you to nearly nothing." He turned to Journa. "Finish him off, and let's go." He rose into the air to give his sister room to finish off her opponent.
Journa grinned. She crossed her wrists in an X position, and she balled her hands into fists, with two fingers (her index and middle fingers) of each fist standing up, until her fists resembled the heads of rabbits. She slowly levitated into the wintry air, and she launched her most powerful attack.
"FOUR FINGER FLASH!" she screamed, as four red ki lasers shot out from her four pointing fingers.
Her attack, which would have been enough to kill off ten people at once, would have worked, except for one thing.
"MIRROR SHIELD!"
The Mirror Shield attack deflected Journa's powerful Four Finger Flash attack back onto her, colliding into her and shoving her out of the gray, snowy sky. She fell backwards down into the snow.
Vegeta growled at the guilty Astorian who had attacked his sister, "You'll pay for that, Astorian!"
"Not today I won't!" Rojal laughed arrogantly. He hadn't saved Ridikar out of any particular feeling for him; he had saved the Calmagian prince because Ridikar was (unfortunately) still important to both the Calmagians and the Astorians because his signature was needed on the alliance papers. Rojal still didn't care much for Tayla, but even he had thought that Ridikar had gone too far in trying to rape her. He regarded Ridikar with contempt.
Dedron, proud of winning over all the Saibamen and the three Upper-Low Levels that he had killed, landed next to Rojal. Dedron snorted contemptuously when he saw Prince Vegeta of the Saiyans for the first time.
"This short, spiky-haired boy is supposedly the most powerful Saiyan warrior in the universe?" Dedron asked scornfully. He had seen pictures of Prince Vegeta from Intergalacticpol Most Wanted Posters. Vegeta was third on the Most Wanted Intergalactic Criminal List. He was sixteen, the same age as Dedron, but Dedron foolishly thought that because Vegeta was physically smaller than he was, that Vegeta would be an easy target. "He may be muscular, Roj, but other than that, he doesn't look like much. You demolished his sister for the most part, so he shouldn't be too hard to handle. I can finish this one off myself."
"Don't underestimate Saiyans, or this guy's size," Rojal cautioned his best friend. "Remember that size doesn't always matter. Tayla is smaller than he is, and yet she's as strong as us. Size doesn't always determine strength, so be careful." Then he grinned and said, "Take your time, Dedron, and you can destroy him; just don't do anything rash. Show him what an Astorian Prince of Chloe is capable of!"
"I will!" Dedron told his friend confidently. He strolled up casually to Vegeta, pulled out his sword, and he swung it at the Saiyan Prince. To Dedron's surprise, Vegeta caught his sword-wielding hand easily, and before Dedron could react, Vegeta used his free fist to ram it into Dedron's stomach, crushing it and causing Dedron to spit out watery blue blood. Without thinking, Dedron tried to swing at Vegeta again, but Vegeta quickly punched Dedron's arm hard, and Dedron was in such pain that he dropped his sword.
Before Dedron could fight back, Vegeta released Dedron's fist, and he punched Dedron hard in his cheek, breaking Dedron's cheekbone. Vegeta then kicked Dedron hard in his ribs and then in his jaw before Dedron could retrieve his sword. Rojal knew then that he was going to have to intervene, even if it meant hurting Dedron's pride. But before he could jump into the fight between Vegeta and Dedron, someone leapt upon him from behind and hit him hard in his neck with a fist.
"How-how did you recover so quickly?" Rojal asked his assailant, as a wounded, but resilient Saiyan Princess seized his shirt and put her face in his.
Journa laughed wickedly. "It's not as easy as you think to kill a Saiyan, boy! That shot that you gave me was free! But now playtime is over, Astorian, for now there will be no more mercy."
"And no more rules!" Vegeta added, as he flew into Dedron and kicked him in his chest with both feet. Vegeta's feet crashing into Dedron's chest had the impact a heavy log ramming into him. He continued to rain kicks and blows onto Dedron, who long ago realized that he was outmatched, but he couldn't run away now, as much as that idea appealed to him. Vegeta was merciless towards Dedron, hitting and kicking him every chance that he could get. Dedron managed to land a few good blows himself, but Vegeta quickly overpowered him. Vegeta then clasped his hands together and struck Dedron hard in the middle of his back.
Rojal barely managed to break free of Journa's grip, and he drew his sword to attack her, preparing to slice her in half, but before he could do so, Journa aimed a ki blast at his stomach that hit him hard. Rojal, clutching his sword, fell to the ground onto his knees.
"Journa," Vegeta told his sister. "Let's not waste any more time. We will destroy both of them now."
"Works for me," Journa told him, as she launched herself upon Rojal.
The next morning…
"Commander Chestra, are you there?" Chestra heard a girlish voice echo through her scouter.
Jaden was lying in her arms, barely able to move. She and Chestra were taking refuge in an abandoned building, where she and Jaden had slept throughout the night in a cellar.
"Yes, Crystalis, I am here."
"I have bad news, Commander. Pork has been severely wounded. One of those missiles that the Calmagians had landed near us before we could flee, and Pork was caught in the blast. His neck seems to be broken, Commander, and his right foot was severed. He-he has many bruises, internal bleeding. What do I do now?"
"Give him first aid, Crystalis, and take him and yourself to the mountains of Ensley. Steal a vehicle if you can. We are going to have to retreat to there until Diamonique's snowstorm and hailstorm wears off, which should be in a few hours. We're not going to do much good at this time, for Commander Jaden is also severely wounded, and I will need to take her out of here as well. I am preparing to take her there now, and I want you to meet us on Mt. Pykas, the tallest mountain in that range. Fire three ki blasts in a row to signal to us that you have arrived. Take your time; don't worry about fighting or finding Princess Tayla at this time; just get you and Pork out of there."
"Yes, Commander. Signing off now." And Crystalis's voice was gone.
Jaden slowly revived, and she mumbled to Chestra, "Thanks, kid, you've saved my life. Now where in the hell are we going?"
"I am taking you to the mountain range of Ensley, Jaden. The weather is too bad here for us to do much more fighting. We are going to have to retreat temporarily until the effect from Diamonique's winter storms wears off. What was she thinking?"
"I'd like to strangle that ice-haired witch," Jaden grumbled. "She just screwed things up for all of us. And I'm not retreating, Chestra; I have a score to settle with an Astorie brat named Rosynthia, plus there's a Princess Tayla to find and a planet to clear."
"Jaden, please, now is not the time for that. You are too badly wounded, and you barely survived that avalanche that an Astorian girl created. She was very powerful, I tell you, why I saw her fleeing with a Namek guardian-was Dirkan his name?-and she blasted Diamonique with ease. I could not pick up Diamonique's ki on the scouter at all. I believe that she has perished," Chestra said quietly.
"An Astorie brat blew away Diamonique?" Jaden wanted to know. "Not every brat, Astorie or not can do that. What was that kid-a Super Astorian?"
"Maybe," Chestra said thoughtfully. "I would have gone after the girl myself, but I was trying to find you and Diamonique-"
"Why do you bother about that slut, Chestra? She tried to kill you twice!"
"The remains of my conscience are haunting me?" Chestra quipped with a grin.
Jaden sighed. Chestra was her best friend, but Jaden at times thought that Chestra was too kind-hearted to be one of Frieza's fighters, even though Chestra could be as ruthless and deadly as the rest of them.
"Anyway, it was a more practical matter," Chestra told her simply, as two icicles fell near her. Chestra picked it up and sucked on it because she was thirsty. She gave one to Jaden. "Lord Frieza seems to favor Diamonique for some reason, probably because her uncle is one of his allies."
"Or maybe because Lord Frieza wants to jump her bones," Jaden joked between sucks on her icicle. "He does like young women as well as his father does."
Chestra shuddered. "I would question his taste, but better Diamonique than me. She has always said that she wanted a mate with power. I never told anyone this besides Zarbon, but it scared me that time when Lord Frieza had wanted me for his mate. Him and his father, King Cold, wanting me that way makes me quiver to this day. I was afraid that I had been caught in the same trap that I had been in before when my masters had desired me."
"What made them change their minds about you anyway? What made Lord Frieza back down and let Zarbon have you? I've always wondered, Chestra. I never did learn the entire story."
"I-I don't know," Chestra admitted, a bit nervously. "I know that Lord Frieza and Zarbon fought each other in a nasty battle over me; I am surprised to this day that Lord Frieza allowed Zarbon to live and be my love. Lord Frieza said that he was letting us be together as an act of goodwill towards his Head Commander and favorite officer, but how often does Lord Frieza do things without a reason?"
"There had to be a reason," Jaden rasped, for the cold air was making it harder for her injured body to breathe. "Lord Frieza never does anything just out of the goodness of what heart he has. He always has an ulterior motive. Do you have some deep, dark secret that he could have discovered?"
"I don't know, but I'm just relieved that he didn't try to pursue me any further. His father backed off too, and that alone was odd. King Cold is not one to give up a young woman. Anyway, it doesn't really matter now; I have to get you to safety."
"I'm not leaving, Chestra," Jaden wheezed. "I have a battle to finish."
"Jaden, you are not going to finish it right now; now be sensible for once because I can restrain you for a time," Chestra said sternly, her voice carrying a definite threat. It was rare that she ever spoke back to someone that she considered one of her mentors and closest friends, but Chestra was not going to allow Jaden to foolishly put herself in danger until Jaden had healed.
"Don't threaten me," Jaden growled.
"I mean it," Chestra said firmly, her green eyes staring down into Jaden's yellow ones. "I may not be as physically strong and powerful as you are, but my telekinetic powers are more than enough to keep you from doing anything rash."
Jaden growled again, but said nothing. She turned her aching head to the side, silently, but grudgingly yielding the argument to Chestra. The stubborn, hardheaded Jaden was not pleased to give in to anyone, but she knew that Chestra's telekinetic abilities were a force to be reckoned with. It evened out the balance of power between them and made them equals in fighting ability. She was just glad that Chestra was her friend, not her enemy, even though she would never admit to it under slow torture.
Crystalis was carefully carrying Pork to an aircar that she had spotted in the distance between two damaged buildings. She was flying slowly, with her eyes half-closed to block out the wind, snow, and hail from her eyes. She and Pork were near the Calmagian royal castle, although neither one of them realized it. Crystalis was very tired; the telekinetic abilities and pain-increasing abilities that she had "borrowed" from Chestra had long ago worn off, and her own ki had not been enough for her to fight against the missiles and guns that the CRP officers kept firing at her and Pork.
She noticed one of the Oozarus stomping throughout the business district of Magan, crushing tanks below his feet. It was probably Raditz or Journa or Nappa, and if Crystalis hadn't been so tired and injured, she would have tried to touch the Oozaru to absorb his or her Saiyan and Oozaru powers.
She couldn't fly anymore with Pork in her arms, and so she was forced to land in front of the castle. Maybe she could force someone to treat her fallen comrade.
Two CRP officers emerged from the bushes near the area where Crystalis had landed. One of the officers recognized Crystalis's uniform as belonging to Frieza's forces, and he ordered the men to shoot.
Crystalis gently laid Pork down on the snowy ground, and she began to gather what ki that she left together to fight off the men.
But Crystalis would not have to throw a ki blast; at that moment, a strange horse-like creature with blood red, shimmering hair came running forth. He threw himself in front of Crystalis and Pork and cried, "Don't shoot them! Please! She has my son!"
And it was then Crystalis recognized the odd man, for he was a Meatian, of Pork's race!
"Who are you?" she asked breathlessly.
The red-haired Meatian turned to her and said anxiously, "I am Steak, this boy's father! Please let him go! Turn him over to me, and I will see that you live!"
Tayla was carrying Dirkan on her back, when she saw her Nama flying slowly against the snow and wind with Petalia near her. Shalila had carried Petalia as far as she could, but once the snow and hail set in, Petalia had to fly herself. The two ladies had been navigating through the snow all through half of the night until Shalila had insisted that they sleep for a few hours in a nearby cave. Not that Shalila had slept much, for she was too deeply worried about the others. Petalia had slept in her grandmother's lap until Shalila had woken her up and told her that it was time to go back to the royal castle.
Tayla and Dirkan themselves had slept for a few hours in the underground labyrinths in order to get some rest and to escape the cold and wind. Magan was such a large city, or at least it had been. At least the labyrinths were nice and warm unlike the weather outside. Tayla had only managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but she insisted that her beloved guardian sleep the entire time. Tayla had kept watch while she was awake.
She and Dirkan of course felt much better now that Nama was here.
"Nama!" Tayla cried happily.
Shalila was enormously relieved to see that her darling grandchild was all right, and enormously horrified to see Dirkan in the shape that he was in.
"Dirkan!" Shalila ran to him and cautiously put her arms around her Namek husband. "What happened to you?"
Dirkan grinned wryly. "Jaden. Calm down, love, I looked much worse than this earlier; just ask Tayla. The little lady distracted her and tricked Jaden into leaving. If Jaden is still alive, she's probably wondering where 'Rosynthia' is. From what she's told me, she fought Balair as well, and she also saved us from Diamonique. She used some strange attack called 'Blitzer' that demolished that Gemstarian witch and pretty much that entire mountain."
Tayla looked down, her face flushed. Shalila smiled and tousled Tayla's hair, which had long fell from its coronet. Her hair was now long and tangled. Shalila whispered, "I'm proud of you, dandelion."
Tayla nodded a thank-you and continued to blush.
The quartet quickly flew down into the same cave where Tayla and Dirkan had spent the night. The cave was near to the warm labyrinths, so it was toasty inside. Shalila gently laid Dirkan down on the ground, and she lay next to him. Tayla and Petalia laid near her, with Tayla between her Nama and her niece.
Shalila quickly embraced her granddaughter and kissed her on her cold cheek. Then she told Tayla, "Hand me Dirkan, dandelion, and I will take care of him from here."
Tayla handed Dirkan over to her grandmother, who gently laid him over her shoulder. Dirkan weakly embraced his wife, rested his head on her slender shoulder and closed his obsidian eyes.
Tayla then turned to Petalia and asked, "Are you okay? How did you escape?"
"Commander Chestra talked Commander Jaden into freeing us, and Jaden killed off Alberm, so Caline doesn't have to worry about him anymore," Petalia gasped a bit breathlessly.
"Alberm's no loss," Dirkan murmured from Shalila's shoulder.
"That I have to agree with," Shalila added.
"I'm not sorry that Alberm died," Tayla said firmly. "I know that's not a nice thing to say, but it's true. How could he want to hurt his own wife, especially someone as nice and sweet as Caline?"
"Caline is only eleven, too young to be married," Petalia asserted. "Alberm was nothing but a-well you know."
"Poor Caline," Tayla said worriedly. "Won't Prince Amitar try to force her to marry that Filcork Sediment or whatever his name is?"
"Not if we can prevent it," Dirkan promised her.
"Good, 'cause I'd hate for Caline to have to marry another awful man. She told me that Filcork is no better than Alberm," Tayla declared.
"Prince Amitar is a bad father," Petalia added. "I thought that my father wasn't much of a parent, but at least he never hit me like Amitar hit Caline. Caline didn't do anything to deserve his abuse or Alberm's."
"Prince Amitar was a bad father," Dirkan told her. "He died yesterday, I'm afraid."
All three females grew solemn. "How did he die?" Shalila asked quietly.
"He wasn't much of a father, but he was a good fighter," Dirkan told them. "He and some of the other Calmagian soldiers fired their laser guns at a bunch of little green monsters, killing a good number of them-I'm sure that you and Tayla may have seen some of those nasty beasts already-anyway, one of the little green things jumped onto Prince Amitar from behind. The little bastard self-destructed while holding onto Prince Amitar, exploding and killing both of them before anyone could intervene."
"That means Ridikar will be the next king of Calmag, should he live through this war," Shalila said gravely. "Does he or Caline know of their father's death yet?"
"Not that I know of," Dirkan admitted. "I probably should have told Caline when I saw her last; Gracina took charge of her, so Caline should be safe now. Caline has enough to deal with-the loss of both her husband and her father."
"Alberm and Prince Amitar aren't that great of a loss," Petalia said firmly. "They both treated her like dirt."
"Not that I'm glad that they died, but Caline's better off without both of them," Tayla added.
"No one's going to miss them not much," Petalia agreed. "They got their just deserts, at least Alberm did anyway. And now Amitar knew what it was like for someone to hit him for a change."
"We should be able to take Caline home with us now, that Alberm and Amitar are gone," Tayla said hopefully. "She won't have to worry about anyone hurting her anymore, and now that they aren't alive to prevent her, we can take her home with us."
"I do have to thank Jaden for saving us the trouble of dealing with Alberm," Petalia said. "It was horrible to see him die like that, but he would have hurt Caline worst, had he lived. I doubt Caline will mourn them much at all."
"I wouldn't, if I were her," Tayla declared.
"It saves Caline the trouble of getting a divorce."
"And the worry of her father marrying her to that nasty Filcork Sediment."
"Ugh!" Petalia gagged. "Caline's father has bad taste in husbands! At least Caline doesn't have to worry about being married off to anymore hideous men!"
"Girls!" Shalila said, shocked, while Dirkan was trying to repress a chuckle. "Two men in Caline's family have died! Despite the way that they treated her, Caline is still going to feel some grief over their deaths, at least her father's. No matter how bad Amitar was to her, I'm sure that Caline still loved him, and she will feel some sorrow over his death."
"How can she feel sorrow over the death of someone who treated her like used diapers?" Petalia asked. "I certainly wouldn't."
"And Alberm was never nice to her at all. He even forced himself on her before they were married," Tayla added. "I'm sorry, Nama, but he did get what he deserved, for treating her so badly. Now we'll just have to make sure she's not forced to marry Filcork Sediment."
"Maybe the green monsters will get rid of him too," Petalia said hopefully.
"From what I've heard of him from Caline, he's not any better than Alberm," Tayla told her. "He sounds like Alberm's twin. Prince Amitar wasn't much of a father, if he had to pick two bastardi monkens (bastard monkeys) in a row for his daughter."
"Tayla!" Shalila exclaimed, horrified at her granddaughter's language.
"That last sentence I agree with," Dirkan declared vociferously, with a laugh. "She hit the nail right on the head, as they say on planet Earth."
"Dirkan, do not encourage Tayla's bad language," Shalila scolded. She turned to her errant granddaughter. "Tayla, where did you learn such words?"
"Lektron, Bajal, and Alora use them all the time," Tayla said, a bit proudly, without shame, probably because Dirkan was still grinning. Shalila sighed; she knew that she'd get nowhere lecturing Tayla on her bad choice of words, if Dirkan were egging her on. "They use them all the time during their sparring matches, and Lektron called both Alberm and Amitar those words quite a few times. He called Amitar the bastardi monken kingi" (Bastard Monkey King). Dirkan chuckled softly before he could stop himself, and Shalila sharply nudged him in one of his few pain-free areas of his body.
Dirkan mock-moaned. "Ow, love, that hurt! Tayla was just telling the truth, weren't you, princess?" He winked at Tayla, who grinned back.
Shalila frowned. "Dirkan, I am surprised at you! I don't want Tayla and Petalia rejoicing over Amitar's and Alberm's deaths, and I don't want Tayla using foul language." She turned her frown on Tayla, hoping to make her see the error of her ways.
"We weren't rejoicing, Nama," Tayla told her gravely, for she was trying to become solemn because she knew that was what her grandmother expected after a scolding. "We were just stating facts."
"And we shouldn't pretend that we're mourning someone when we're not," Petalia added.
"I agree with that," Dirkan said. "I don't believe in hypocrisy."
"Still," Shalila said with a sigh. "They did die, and we should show proper respect."
"Even if they don't deserve it?" Petalia asked her. "Because they certainly don't deserve any."
"You've always told us that respect goes both ways, Nama," Tayla agreed.
"That you did tell them, Shalila," Dirkan, unable to repress a smile.
"Dirkan…" Shalila said warningly. She said to Petalia and Tayla, looking directly at them. "It is not right in most cases to be happy over someone's death, especially if they are on the same side as us."
Shalila changed the subject then because she just noticed that Arlon, Lukan, and Riccan were missing. "Tayla, where are your brothers and your nephew?"
Tayla told them of their horrible fate, and there were three cries of horror. Tayla hastily reassured them. "Don't worry; Kami Orchida taught me how to break the spell on them; they are not dead, just frozen."
"How do you reverse it then?" Dirkan wanted to know.
"Well, I would have to-" but Tayla would not to get to finish her sentence.
"RARR!"
Shalila, Tayla, Dirkan, and Petalia looked out into the entranceway to the cave, and they saw the red eyes and ugly ape face of a snow-covered Raditz-Oozaru stuffed in the entrance out of the cave.
Journa had landed several hard punches on Ridikar, who had been the Calmagian boy who had confronted her. She and Ridikar had been fighting throughout the night despite the cold and hail. Ridikar had put up a good fight against the Saiyan princess, but he was no match for her, and he could not even paralyze her. Journa had repeatedly punched and kicked Ridikar in his face and stomach, beating him up and giving him what she thought that she deserved. Ridikar had bravely landed many good blows and kicks, but Journa outclassed him in fighting ability. Ridikar had been trained in warfare from the time that he was ten, but Journa had been fighting since she had been three years old and had killed her first trainer in a sparring match.
Ridikar was now lying facedown on the ground, with Journa's foot on his neck. Journa was preparing to finish him off, as she bravely stood against the cold winds, snow and hail.
"Any last words, Calmagian?" Journa said evilly.
"You-you whore! You won't get away with this!" Ridikar cried out, but at that moment another Saiyan's foot kicked him hard in his face.
"You shouldn't call my sister, an elite-class Saiyan Princess from the House of Vegeta, a whore," Vegeta, who had just arrived, told Ridikar in a low hiss. "I am the only one who gets to insult her."
Ridikar choked out, with blood dribbling down his chin, "What do you want?"
Vegeta looked contemptuously down at the wounded Ridikar and said in a sneer, "Perhaps you can tell me where Princess Tayla went to."
"I don't know," Ridikar rasped, "and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you or your sister! She is my fiancée and I plan to marry her!"
"Yes, he did mention that, brother," Journa told Vegeta easily. She then noticed that Vegeta's tail was missing. "I see that someone chopped off your tail too. This Calmagian pig chopped off mine, and as you can see, I wasn't too happy about it."
"Tayla cut off my tail," Vegeta said evenly. "And I would have captured her even then, had not Diamonique summoned up these winter storms! The nerve of that woman! What I ever saw in her, I can't possibly imagine!"
"I've wondered the same thing," Journa agreed. "For a while there, Vegeta, I was starting to question your good sense. I'm glad that you have it back; I'd hate to see Diamonique become the next Queen of the Saiyans."
"She won't become anything; that I can assure you. Now, hurry up and finish off this weakling, sister, for we have an Astorian princess to find," Vegeta ordered, getting back to business.
"You Saiyans will pay for this," Ridikar rasped at both of them. "My people will stop you."
Vegeta laughed, as a few snowflakes melted on his nose. "You are funny! I ought to keep you alive just to amuse me, but you're not worth the trouble, since my sister has reduced you to nearly nothing." He turned to Journa. "Finish him off, and let's go." He rose into the air to give his sister room to finish off her opponent.
Journa grinned. She crossed her wrists in an X position, and she balled her hands into fists, with two fingers (her index and middle fingers) of each fist standing up, until her fists resembled the heads of rabbits. She slowly levitated into the wintry air, and she launched her most powerful attack.
"FOUR FINGER FLASH!" she screamed, as four red ki lasers shot out from her four pointing fingers.
Her attack, which would have been enough to kill off ten people at once, would have worked, except for one thing.
"MIRROR SHIELD!"
The Mirror Shield attack deflected Journa's powerful Four Finger Flash attack back onto her, colliding into her and shoving her out of the gray, snowy sky. She fell backwards down into the snow.
Vegeta growled at the guilty Astorian who had attacked his sister, "You'll pay for that, Astorian!"
"Not today I won't!" Rojal laughed arrogantly. He hadn't saved Ridikar out of any particular feeling for him; he had saved the Calmagian prince because Ridikar was (unfortunately) still important to both the Calmagians and the Astorians because his signature was needed on the alliance papers. Rojal still didn't care much for Tayla, but even he had thought that Ridikar had gone too far in trying to rape her. He regarded Ridikar with contempt.
Dedron, proud of winning over all the Saibamen and the three Upper-Low Levels that he had killed, landed next to Rojal. Dedron snorted contemptuously when he saw Prince Vegeta of the Saiyans for the first time.
"This short, spiky-haired boy is supposedly the most powerful Saiyan warrior in the universe?" Dedron asked scornfully. He had seen pictures of Prince Vegeta from Intergalacticpol Most Wanted Posters. Vegeta was third on the Most Wanted Intergalactic Criminal List. He was sixteen, the same age as Dedron, but Dedron foolishly thought that because Vegeta was physically smaller than he was, that Vegeta would be an easy target. "He may be muscular, Roj, but other than that, he doesn't look like much. You demolished his sister for the most part, so he shouldn't be too hard to handle. I can finish this one off myself."
"Don't underestimate Saiyans, or this guy's size," Rojal cautioned his best friend. "Remember that size doesn't always matter. Tayla is smaller than he is, and yet she's as strong as us. Size doesn't always determine strength, so be careful." Then he grinned and said, "Take your time, Dedron, and you can destroy him; just don't do anything rash. Show him what an Astorian Prince of Chloe is capable of!"
"I will!" Dedron told his friend confidently. He strolled up casually to Vegeta, pulled out his sword, and he swung it at the Saiyan Prince. To Dedron's surprise, Vegeta caught his sword-wielding hand easily, and before Dedron could react, Vegeta used his free fist to ram it into Dedron's stomach, crushing it and causing Dedron to spit out watery blue blood. Without thinking, Dedron tried to swing at Vegeta again, but Vegeta quickly punched Dedron's arm hard, and Dedron was in such pain that he dropped his sword.
Before Dedron could fight back, Vegeta released Dedron's fist, and he punched Dedron hard in his cheek, breaking Dedron's cheekbone. Vegeta then kicked Dedron hard in his ribs and then in his jaw before Dedron could retrieve his sword. Rojal knew then that he was going to have to intervene, even if it meant hurting Dedron's pride. But before he could jump into the fight between Vegeta and Dedron, someone leapt upon him from behind and hit him hard in his neck with a fist.
"How-how did you recover so quickly?" Rojal asked his assailant, as a wounded, but resilient Saiyan Princess seized his shirt and put her face in his.
Journa laughed wickedly. "It's not as easy as you think to kill a Saiyan, boy! That shot that you gave me was free! But now playtime is over, Astorian, for now there will be no more mercy."
"And no more rules!" Vegeta added, as he flew into Dedron and kicked him in his chest with both feet. Vegeta's feet crashing into Dedron's chest had the impact a heavy log ramming into him. He continued to rain kicks and blows onto Dedron, who long ago realized that he was outmatched, but he couldn't run away now, as much as that idea appealed to him. Vegeta was merciless towards Dedron, hitting and kicking him every chance that he could get. Dedron managed to land a few good blows himself, but Vegeta quickly overpowered him. Vegeta then clasped his hands together and struck Dedron hard in the middle of his back.
Rojal barely managed to break free of Journa's grip, and he drew his sword to attack her, preparing to slice her in half, but before he could do so, Journa aimed a ki blast at his stomach that hit him hard. Rojal, clutching his sword, fell to the ground onto his knees.
"Journa," Vegeta told his sister. "Let's not waste any more time. We will destroy both of them now."
"Works for me," Journa told him, as she launched herself upon Rojal.
