Disclaimer: I don't own thing-one of DBZ or any component of its universe. I merely hope that
saiyan lawyers don't plan my destruction.

Last Chapter: Jared learns Seven is no longer on Vegeta and that a strange fleet of ships has
arrived. Coincidence? Yeah right. :P
Honorbound
Chapter 4

"Commander For," the comm. suddenly screeched. "Your presence is needed at the
Helm." For looked at the ceiling. "On my way . . . Seven?" He reached out, placed one rough
hand on hers, and smiled. "Duty calls for me. I will contact you later when I am finished. If you
want, I can assign a guide for you?"
"Yes actually, " she smiled warmly. "I was still hoping for a tour of this marvelous
place."
"It will be done. Wait here for your guide." For shot out of the arboreum like a man
possessed, but as he disappeared, Seven could hear him faintly, "Send a guard for my . . .
'guest'."

For stood in the hallway waiting for the elav to reach the level he was on as another
winged man approached him. "She's in there," For instructed. "Do not let her out of your sight
and make sure she doesn't go anywhere that might reveal what we are. She thinks we are . . . "
For cleared his throat. "Police." The guard smirked and saluted, placing a fist over his heart and
bowing, letting his wings fold in slightly.
"Yes, Commander." The elav arrived not a moment too soon and the doors opened. For
stepped inside.
"Helm! ," he barked.

A few minutes later, the guard strode into the arboreum. He paused, looking. Then he
saw a small wingless form sitting on the edge of one the massive imbedded floor planters.
He thought to himself wow they sure do know how to grow them on Vegeta! Looking up, Seven
nodded as she saw the horned, winged man approach, looking for all the world like a demon
wearing a small smile. She stood, bent slightly at the waist, and straightened, a respectful
greeting.
"I am Zed," he said, saluting her as he did for her father, wings turned inward for just a
moment.
"Seven," she said.
"You are For's ... er ... 'guest'?" That lucky son-of-a-bitch!
"Not exactly. I'm um .... his daughter." Now For looked genuinely surprised.
"I didn't know that our Commander had any progeny. He didn't have a mate on the
home- ... oh." Zed smiled, "But I AM glad to meet you." Zed's smiles were usually reserved for
people he was trying charm into bed.
"How's this? Let's walk and for a tour of your ... er, ship, I'll forget what you were about to
say." She pointed to the hallway. Stoically embarrassed, Zed agreed. They walked up one
corridor and down another, Seven explaining what she remembered of her family life. Which
wasn't much. But that was quite alright. Zed was to busy watching her chest rise and fall as she
spoke to notice a word she said. Not trying to sound totally overt, he did show her a few places.
He identified the place on their left as a training room and another, on the right, as a place to
take meals. At the thought of food, Seven's stomach rumbled loudly. Zed laughed.
"I can't believe For hasn't fed you recently!" The two made a 90-degree turn
into the dining hall, laughing.

For arrived at the Helm and took his place in front of the window. "Captain. Report."
The captain took a breath and spoke. "Sir. A small object has been sighted. Too far away to ID."
"Window," intoned For. On the large screen, a tiny dot appeared. "Magnify." The dot
grew but it was still too far away. For folded his arms in front of his chest.
"Possibly a missile of some sort?" the captain offered, but For dismissed it with a shake
of his head.
"Unlikely. The people of this world aren't supposed to have surface-to-space capability.
You will inform me immediately when you can make a positive identification."
"Yes, sir." The captain pressed a couple buttons on his console and the image flashed
back to a surface shot of Vegeta. For turned.
"Lieutenant." Another man's head snapped to attention.
"Sir!"
"Where are Zed and our guest?" The lieutenant pressed a button. "They are in the dining
hall, sir," he reported. For nodded.
"Sir." the captain announced. For spun around.
"Report."
"Sir, the object looks like a person. It seems a lone saiyan has gotten curious about us."
"Has he seen us?"
"Negative, sir. We are still too far below the horizon for him to see our ships."
"Fine. When he gets close enough, I need you to raise the hood, lieutenant." The hood
acted as a shield, but mostly renders the ship invisible. "And Captain, " the other officer turned
around. "When he gets near visual range, send the message to the other ships to do the same."
"Yes, sir."

Never having experienced saiyans at mealtime, Zed had never seen anyone put away this
many rations in one sitting. Seven even talked to him in between swallows. Incredible!
"So", she mumbled, "I barely remember my father, but he seems to be alright so far. In
fact, I can't believe that I've never considered trying to find out where he came from or what kind
of person he is." She swallowed.
"For ... well he's a fantastic ... uh warrior, you might say," Zed drawled. "He's led us for a
long time, and before that, he worked in intelligence."
"Oh?" Seven wiped her mouth with a napkin and took a sip from a glass nearby. "I never
knew that."
"Yeah. He was sent to various planets to watch the people and gauge their ... ah ... the
possibility of being a hostile race." Zed swallowed hard.
"I'm glad he wasn't on Vegeta for very long. Not too many saiyans would have taken to the
idea of being spied on... " She laughed softly. That's not quite what Zed was thinking of, but he
wasn't about to correct her. Zed really wanted to change the subject.
"You have had many wars on Vegeta?" In spite of himself he just wanted her to keep
talking so he could listen to her voice. Just the sound of it, Zed mused, makes me wonder what
kind of screams she can make.
"Oh sure. Some noble family wants a piece of the valuable swatches of fertile land. However,
there's another family living on it. The nobles gather their clan and just go and attack. Sides form
from the other families in that region and it's all over the info screens how the nobles brought
new honor to themselves, stripping it from the defeated ones."
Zed thought about that scene. Saiyans on one side, saiyans on the other, up in arms over a
chunk of this dustball. He was about to smirk at the absurdity of it but he suddenly thought of
something to get her into his rooms. Maybe then they could be alone.
"Um, Seven. I hate to spoil your story, but I was curious about something." he took a sip
from his glass.
"Yes?" She took another bite of her fourth long-bun.
"Do saiyans have music? Like did you ever learn to play an instrument?"
Seven chewed her bite and swallowed. "Yup. It was a percussion piece that made
different tones depending on where you strike it with two little hammers."
"Would you mind if I played for you something of ours?", he asked.
"Sure! I mean of course not." Smiling, Zed rose from the table.
"Then let's go. My quarters isn't too far away." Not too much longer, now, Zed thought to
himself for the third time. Soon, very soon. Seven wiped her mouth and set down her napkin as
she got up as well.
"Alright." They headed towards the elav.

Jared thought he saw ... something, a dark haze just below the tree line. He put on a burst
of speed, but as he got to where he saw it, there was nothing. I'm going nuts, he though to
himself. Flying onward, slowly, he let habit take over and started scanning the ground. When he
and Seven were young, they would sneak out of the palace and play seek and destroy in these
woods. Then when Jared learned to fly, Seven didn't want to play quite so often. Something
about not winning a game since.
A grin had crept onto his face as he thought of their childhood, but was replaced by a deep
frown as he remembered the battle that should have been. Over a week now she's been gone.
Thing is, he mused as the scenery flew underneath him, as far as he knew, she didn't possess the
kind of speed it took to vanish. And even if she did, she would have reappeared right behind
him with some kind of devastating attack. It was much more plausible she was taken. But, by
who? and why? He shook his head. These things do not matter. She's no longer on the planet,
and the people in the ships know something.
They might not treat her so well if they knew who she is, Jared thinks suddenly. They will
definitely mistreat her, they might even hurt her. The image of Seven's beaten body thrown in a
metal cell, striped with blood came to his mind, filling Jared with a sudden intense violence. He
hated so fiercely that his rage bubbled up from his deepest core, infusing his whole body with
power, and exploding around him as he burst from saiyan to super-saiyan.

The captain's console lit up and chirped urgently.
"Sir!" For stood up, took a step towards the window.
"What is it."
"The saiyan outside ... is glowing, sir."
"Glowing? What is that? Is it a shield? Magnify." Jared's body, surrounded by an angry
golden aura appears on the screen. "How did he do that? Better yet, shoot him down!"

At his seat on the helm of the new saiyan warship, the Honorbound, General Kale was all too
aware of the situation. "Dammit, Vegeta! What in the name of-"
"Sir!"
"What!" Kale bellowed.
The subordinate paled, but answered bravely. "The enemy has begun firing on the
prince." The General stood, slamming his fist into the arm of his chair, hard. "Kami-damn you,
Jared! Launch this fucking ship! NOW!"
"Yes, sir, but it's never been tested!"
"Well, this's a helluva test ain't it?" Kale growled as the huge bay doors slid open
noiselessly on brand new geartracks. The crew of the newly-invented starcraft got its first sight
of the sky, and faced war. The engines roared to life, and the entire crew was propelled
backwards with a frightening strength. When the ship had gotten a safe distance from the
launching bay, Kale sat forward on his seat.
"Full speed towards the Prince!" Not a bad first run, for saiyans.

The first warning shot skimmed past Jared's shoulder, ripping through the golden haze he
had surrounding him. Then as one, the fleet brought by For de-hooded and revealed itself to
Jared what it really was: a conqueror.
Oh yes, he saw it, knew what it was, but he didn't care. All he knew is that they had
her. Then the main volley of energy beams screamed towards him. He dodged them quite easily
at first, speeding towards the first ship in the formation. But he blinked, and one beam caught his
cheek. Growling as he sped onward, he powered up an answering attack. Two huge balls of ki
formed one in each hand as he dodged more beams, still closing the gap between him and the
enemy. "Seven!" he screamed and hurled one massive ball of energy.

Zed and Seven arrived at his quarters just as the first attack hit, rocking the ship with a
large thundering. Seven was unbalanced and tipped right into Zed. He caught her with his
strong arms. A moment later, a second, stronger blast rocked the ship more violently. This
pressed Seven into Zed's chest, her face buried against his well-developed pectorals as she
instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist.
"What was that?!" she hissed. Zed thought very quickly.
"Really, Seven!" he mocked. You'd think we were under attack or something!" He
laughed, easing his own tension. What WAS that?? "It's just our science department
experimenting with the menu again. Stuff tastes great, but let's just say you shouldn't jump up
and down after dinner."
Seven laughed at the thought, and disengaged from him quickly. It occurred to her that
she'd never held anyone like that in her life, and she wasn't exactly sure she liked it.
Changing the subject, she asked, "So, you said you have music in this place?"
With a charming smile, Zed assured her. "Sure. Let me get my instrument out and I can play
for you some of our traditional songs." He retreated into one of the back rooms, leaning into a
wall as another boom tilted the ship. Rebalancing and trying to ignore the sounds, Seven took a
seat on one of the soft chairs and stared after him.


Jared's bleeding cheek was the least of his worries now. His right arm dangled lifelessly
and a large gash was opening on his leg. He was now barely able to dodge the beams which
were getting ever more accurate. That's how Kale found him. Still sparking with super-saiyan
energy, Jared had been pulled inside the Honorbound by a transport beam and was stalking to the
Helm, clinging to the wall. Kale, the prince fumed, I got to ... find ... Exertion finally took its
toll however, and Jared's hair returned to its normal jet black as he slid to the floor.

"General Kale!" the crackling overhead announced.
"Go ahead."
"This is Private Cab. I have found the Prince. He's collapsed."
"Well, Private, take his highness to the MedicBay."
"Yes sir."
Kale rubbed his temples, grimacing. War was imminent. Their Prince was unable to lead
them. And all over a blasted female! Dammit, Jared, Kale thought to himself. What does that
baka think he's doing?
Soon, the surv-A picked up the alien fleet. Seven ships hovering in the air as if waiting for
something. The largest one stood out in front of the other six in a v-formation like a flock of
birds. The hulls were black and glinted metallically in the reddening light of Vegeta's sunset.
"All Stop!" Kale bellowed. The saiyan warship halted slowly.