11
Earth, Sol System
11.2.43
1610 Hours
"So, Eve, here are a few of the guys we'll be with for quite a while," Sabre gestured to the figures standing in the palace. "The big green guy, his name is Piccolo. He's a Namek, and is kinda, well, boring. He won't talk much."
Eve nodded her head, taking in the sight of her first alien.
"The purple-haired guy is Trunks, he's about your age. The green haired woman with him is his mother, Bulma. From what I gather, she's a real piece of work."
Eve chuckled.
"Now, this is kinda strange, but the baby in her arms is also Trunks. The purple-haired guy standing over there is that baby come back in time 15 years."
Her eyes widened. "They're both the same guy? But that's impossible!"
"Hey, I didn't invent the rules of space-time. I told you, we deal with some weird stuff around here."
"You weren't kidding..."
"Oh, and you met Vegeta," he gestured to the dark-haired figure standing with arms crossed at the edge of the Lookout. "He is Trunks's dad."
"Him?" she asked with amazement.
"Yeah. He doesn't remind me of the fatherly type. Anyway, he'll either ignore or insult you the entire time. Most likely he'll do both."
Her features saddened. "He reminds me of my dad. Bastard."
Sabre knew it was time to change the subject. "Well, the rest of the guys will show up soon. Why don't you go over there and make some friends."
She looked at him quizzically.
"Don't worry, they won't bite your head off."
"So you've met them already?"
"Not exactly..."
"Then how do you know all about them?" she inquired.
"To make a long story short, I'm in the military. I read all sorts of intel reports on these guys before I came here. I know them better than they know themselves."
"You're in the military?" she said, surprised yet again.
Sabre sighed. "Yeah. Look, it's complicated. I have to get ready to brief all these guys in a few minutes, so just go over to Bulma and chat with her. She's quite...interesting. I will explain everything to all of you soon enough. They are just as in the darks as you are."
"I don't...Oh, well, what the hell. Just don't take to long, okay?"
"Sure."
With that, Eve walked over to where the group was gathered.
He thought to himself, "Man, I have to get her to not need me so bad. Maybe if she took a liking to Trunks..." he shook out the thought. He had more important matters to attend to.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavily modified Sayjin scouter. He unfolded the compact machine and attached it to his ear, then pressed one of the buttons on the side. The device beeped to life, sending a flurry of information onto the eyepiece. Currently it was reading all of the ki levels of the Z fighters and their locations relative to him. No true fighters in the Coalition needed these scouters to detect power levels anymore, but they had been adapted for other uses, such as detecting mechanical energy sources. He pressed another button to switch settings, and a lone reading and direction popped up. The readout's signature belonged to Android 18. He took note of the direction, shut off the device, folded it back up, and put it into his pocket.
Sabre turned back to the group and noticed that Bulma and Eve were chatting up a storm, with Trunks looking on, amused. Piccolo, as usual, had his back turned, lost in thought.
"Hey, guys, I'll be right back, okay!" he shouted.
"Okay!" Eve shouted in response. "Well, it certainly didn't take her long to detach herself from me," he thought.
He flared his ki and flew off at the outer limits of subsonic speed. Once he was far enough out he increased speed, breaking the sound barrier. Not wanting to waste time, he really turned it up, pushing it to mach 9. He was on the android's position in three minutes.
She had obviously felt his power and stopped to meet him in the air. The blonde android was hovering before him, dried tear marks clearly visible on her face.
"Who are you?" she said, her voice as cold as ice.
"My name is Sabre. I need you to come back with me to the Lookout, I have to explain some things."
"So, you're the one who came out of nowhere?"
"Yeah."
"You killed Android 17," she accused.
"Acutally, it was Gohan..." his voice trailed off, relizing that this was about to blow up in his face.
"Because of you he was killed! If you hadn't shown up, he could've been saved! I'm not going anywhere with you!" she cried, suddenly turning violent.
He cursed himself. Things weren't supposed to go this way. The android threw her fist at his face, which he dodged easily.
"Hey, look, I-"
"Die!" she screamed, sending a kick to his head.
Realizing that words weren't going to reach her, he deflected her kick and grabbed her arm. He then swung himself behind her, pulled her arm behind her back, and crossed his arm across her neck. She struggled for quite awhile to no avail, finally calming down, lowering her head.
Resigned to the fact she was no match for him, she asked, "What do you want?"
"All I want is for you to listen to me. Look, I'm sorry about your, er, brother, but there are more important things at stake here. Come back with me to the Lookout. I have to explain what's going on."
"Fine," she sighed.
"I'm going to let you go now."
The android didn't respond, but he released his grip anyway. She then slowly turned around to face him, then slapped him in the face.
"That is for Android 17," she said, her voice wavering.
Sabre was stunned. Never before had anyone slapped him. It didn't really hurt, but being slapped? It was certainly a new experience. But there were more pressing matters at hand. He now felt that Goku and the others were back at the Lookout.
"Okay, now we're even-"
"Hardly," she icily interjected.
"Fine, just give me your hand."
"What?"
"Just do it."
She extended her hand, and Sabre grabbed hold of his wrist. He locked on to the Lookout's position, concentrated, and with a blur, he and the android were there.
The all of the people he wanted were there, and they were all staring at him and 18. Krillin had a surprised look on his face but said nothing.
"Go over there," he said, gesturing to the group of warriors gathered in the center of the Lookout. "I have to do a little speech now."
She didn't respond but walked over anyway, wordlessly taking position next to Krillin, who was obviously blushing.
Sabre addressed the small crowd, "All right, I assume you guys have come to a decision?"
Goku responded, "Yes, we have. After talking it over with everyone, we've decided to go with you. But, uh, Chi-Chi won't let Gohan go, she says he needs to study. I tried to convince her but-"
The human interjected. "Don't worry, she can come with us."
"Really?"
"If it'll let the boy come with us. I am going to need each and every one of you if the plan is going to work."
"What plan?" Piccolo asked.
He paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully, "Save the universe."
Once again, Vegeta had to put his two-cents in. "Save the universe, who do you think you are kidding? The only reason why I've decided to go is to see if your little claim that there are other Sayjins out there is true. If there are, then I am their prince, and they will be under my rule."
"Sorry Vegeta, but there won't be time for power trips. We are going to be at war."
Yamcha spoke up. "War? What do you mean, war?"
"This conflict that my people are in is the greatest war this side of the universe has ever seen. Now, here on earth, the weapons here are not powerful enough to hurt you. Were we are going, they are. Beam weapons, anti-matter bombs, high velocity plasma bullets, they are all enough to hurt even me. And I'm a lot stronger than you guys."
"You want me to take baby Trunks into a war zone? No way! That's crazy!" Bulma cried.
"Bulma, if this doesn't work out, it won't matter where your baby is. I can assure you that you and your son will be nowhere near the front lines."
This at least seemed to calm the green-haired woman down.
"Uh, I have a question," the voice belonging to Trunks.
"Yes?"
"Well, I guess you already know this, but I came back in time to fix some things in my world. Now, I know that didn't work, but I can't just leave the androids in my time to kill the rest of the people." he looked over angrily towards 18. "And then there is Cell."
"Don't worry, it has already been taken care of."
"What?" Trunks said with amazement.
"Yes, my colleague, Resa D'Jana, has already destroyed the two androids plaguing your world. She left behind some technology that will be able to neutralize Cell when he makes his return. And, yes, your mother has been informed of all this."
"But how--?"
"Now, I'm sure you all have may questions, all of which will be answered on our flight to Coalition space."
Krillin spoke up. "What?"
"There is a transport in orbit awaiting my signal. It will be used to take us across the galaxy to the Coalition HQ."
"But why don't we use our instant transmission technique to move everyone there?" Goku asked.
"Because the distance is far too great, and transporting this many people is not safe."
"Oh."
"Now everyone, listen up. If there are any personal effects you wish to bring with you, gather them up now. You are in this for the long haul. If things don't work out, none of us will ever come back here. So, Goku, I highly suggest you bring your wife along. I will call the ship down in one hour."
"Well, guys, I guess we should start packing." Goku said
With that, everyone who had something to bring left the tower. Only Eve, Vegeta, Android 18, and Piccolo remained.
Sabre told Eve that anything she needed would be availabe to her on the ship. Bulma wanted to go back to Capsule Corp. to get some stuff, so Trunks took his mother in his arms and flew off. Gohan and Goku once again returned to Master Roshi's to get Chi-Chi, and Krillin went there as well. Yamcha and Tien went to their homes to gather their belongings. Every one had a million questions racing through their minds, and most were not even sure they should be following this complete stranger, possibly to their deaths. But after all, Goku was their unofficial leader, and he had never failed them before. They would follow him to hell and back.
He would need to get them to trust him as much as they did Goku, but that would be a very difficult task indeed. Sabre knew all of this, and it was going to take some work to turn this group into a team, his team. The only thing he hadn't planned on was taking Eve, she was the unforeseen variable in the whole mess. She was the only one whom he knew nothing about, only that Dende said she was to find her destiny while with them.
Now that the recruitment was over, training would have to begin, right on board the ship. It would be quite large enough to meet their needs. All the information that the warriors would want was prepared for them and waiting on the ship. They would then find out what they were up against. He only hoped they could prepare themselves for the coming onslaught.
Earth, Sol System
11.2.43
1610 Hours
"So, Eve, here are a few of the guys we'll be with for quite a while," Sabre gestured to the figures standing in the palace. "The big green guy, his name is Piccolo. He's a Namek, and is kinda, well, boring. He won't talk much."
Eve nodded her head, taking in the sight of her first alien.
"The purple-haired guy is Trunks, he's about your age. The green haired woman with him is his mother, Bulma. From what I gather, she's a real piece of work."
Eve chuckled.
"Now, this is kinda strange, but the baby in her arms is also Trunks. The purple-haired guy standing over there is that baby come back in time 15 years."
Her eyes widened. "They're both the same guy? But that's impossible!"
"Hey, I didn't invent the rules of space-time. I told you, we deal with some weird stuff around here."
"You weren't kidding..."
"Oh, and you met Vegeta," he gestured to the dark-haired figure standing with arms crossed at the edge of the Lookout. "He is Trunks's dad."
"Him?" she asked with amazement.
"Yeah. He doesn't remind me of the fatherly type. Anyway, he'll either ignore or insult you the entire time. Most likely he'll do both."
Her features saddened. "He reminds me of my dad. Bastard."
Sabre knew it was time to change the subject. "Well, the rest of the guys will show up soon. Why don't you go over there and make some friends."
She looked at him quizzically.
"Don't worry, they won't bite your head off."
"So you've met them already?"
"Not exactly..."
"Then how do you know all about them?" she inquired.
"To make a long story short, I'm in the military. I read all sorts of intel reports on these guys before I came here. I know them better than they know themselves."
"You're in the military?" she said, surprised yet again.
Sabre sighed. "Yeah. Look, it's complicated. I have to get ready to brief all these guys in a few minutes, so just go over to Bulma and chat with her. She's quite...interesting. I will explain everything to all of you soon enough. They are just as in the darks as you are."
"I don't...Oh, well, what the hell. Just don't take to long, okay?"
"Sure."
With that, Eve walked over to where the group was gathered.
He thought to himself, "Man, I have to get her to not need me so bad. Maybe if she took a liking to Trunks..." he shook out the thought. He had more important matters to attend to.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavily modified Sayjin scouter. He unfolded the compact machine and attached it to his ear, then pressed one of the buttons on the side. The device beeped to life, sending a flurry of information onto the eyepiece. Currently it was reading all of the ki levels of the Z fighters and their locations relative to him. No true fighters in the Coalition needed these scouters to detect power levels anymore, but they had been adapted for other uses, such as detecting mechanical energy sources. He pressed another button to switch settings, and a lone reading and direction popped up. The readout's signature belonged to Android 18. He took note of the direction, shut off the device, folded it back up, and put it into his pocket.
Sabre turned back to the group and noticed that Bulma and Eve were chatting up a storm, with Trunks looking on, amused. Piccolo, as usual, had his back turned, lost in thought.
"Hey, guys, I'll be right back, okay!" he shouted.
"Okay!" Eve shouted in response. "Well, it certainly didn't take her long to detach herself from me," he thought.
He flared his ki and flew off at the outer limits of subsonic speed. Once he was far enough out he increased speed, breaking the sound barrier. Not wanting to waste time, he really turned it up, pushing it to mach 9. He was on the android's position in three minutes.
She had obviously felt his power and stopped to meet him in the air. The blonde android was hovering before him, dried tear marks clearly visible on her face.
"Who are you?" she said, her voice as cold as ice.
"My name is Sabre. I need you to come back with me to the Lookout, I have to explain some things."
"So, you're the one who came out of nowhere?"
"Yeah."
"You killed Android 17," she accused.
"Acutally, it was Gohan..." his voice trailed off, relizing that this was about to blow up in his face.
"Because of you he was killed! If you hadn't shown up, he could've been saved! I'm not going anywhere with you!" she cried, suddenly turning violent.
He cursed himself. Things weren't supposed to go this way. The android threw her fist at his face, which he dodged easily.
"Hey, look, I-"
"Die!" she screamed, sending a kick to his head.
Realizing that words weren't going to reach her, he deflected her kick and grabbed her arm. He then swung himself behind her, pulled her arm behind her back, and crossed his arm across her neck. She struggled for quite awhile to no avail, finally calming down, lowering her head.
Resigned to the fact she was no match for him, she asked, "What do you want?"
"All I want is for you to listen to me. Look, I'm sorry about your, er, brother, but there are more important things at stake here. Come back with me to the Lookout. I have to explain what's going on."
"Fine," she sighed.
"I'm going to let you go now."
The android didn't respond, but he released his grip anyway. She then slowly turned around to face him, then slapped him in the face.
"That is for Android 17," she said, her voice wavering.
Sabre was stunned. Never before had anyone slapped him. It didn't really hurt, but being slapped? It was certainly a new experience. But there were more pressing matters at hand. He now felt that Goku and the others were back at the Lookout.
"Okay, now we're even-"
"Hardly," she icily interjected.
"Fine, just give me your hand."
"What?"
"Just do it."
She extended her hand, and Sabre grabbed hold of his wrist. He locked on to the Lookout's position, concentrated, and with a blur, he and the android were there.
The all of the people he wanted were there, and they were all staring at him and 18. Krillin had a surprised look on his face but said nothing.
"Go over there," he said, gesturing to the group of warriors gathered in the center of the Lookout. "I have to do a little speech now."
She didn't respond but walked over anyway, wordlessly taking position next to Krillin, who was obviously blushing.
Sabre addressed the small crowd, "All right, I assume you guys have come to a decision?"
Goku responded, "Yes, we have. After talking it over with everyone, we've decided to go with you. But, uh, Chi-Chi won't let Gohan go, she says he needs to study. I tried to convince her but-"
The human interjected. "Don't worry, she can come with us."
"Really?"
"If it'll let the boy come with us. I am going to need each and every one of you if the plan is going to work."
"What plan?" Piccolo asked.
He paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully, "Save the universe."
Once again, Vegeta had to put his two-cents in. "Save the universe, who do you think you are kidding? The only reason why I've decided to go is to see if your little claim that there are other Sayjins out there is true. If there are, then I am their prince, and they will be under my rule."
"Sorry Vegeta, but there won't be time for power trips. We are going to be at war."
Yamcha spoke up. "War? What do you mean, war?"
"This conflict that my people are in is the greatest war this side of the universe has ever seen. Now, here on earth, the weapons here are not powerful enough to hurt you. Were we are going, they are. Beam weapons, anti-matter bombs, high velocity plasma bullets, they are all enough to hurt even me. And I'm a lot stronger than you guys."
"You want me to take baby Trunks into a war zone? No way! That's crazy!" Bulma cried.
"Bulma, if this doesn't work out, it won't matter where your baby is. I can assure you that you and your son will be nowhere near the front lines."
This at least seemed to calm the green-haired woman down.
"Uh, I have a question," the voice belonging to Trunks.
"Yes?"
"Well, I guess you already know this, but I came back in time to fix some things in my world. Now, I know that didn't work, but I can't just leave the androids in my time to kill the rest of the people." he looked over angrily towards 18. "And then there is Cell."
"Don't worry, it has already been taken care of."
"What?" Trunks said with amazement.
"Yes, my colleague, Resa D'Jana, has already destroyed the two androids plaguing your world. She left behind some technology that will be able to neutralize Cell when he makes his return. And, yes, your mother has been informed of all this."
"But how--?"
"Now, I'm sure you all have may questions, all of which will be answered on our flight to Coalition space."
Krillin spoke up. "What?"
"There is a transport in orbit awaiting my signal. It will be used to take us across the galaxy to the Coalition HQ."
"But why don't we use our instant transmission technique to move everyone there?" Goku asked.
"Because the distance is far too great, and transporting this many people is not safe."
"Oh."
"Now everyone, listen up. If there are any personal effects you wish to bring with you, gather them up now. You are in this for the long haul. If things don't work out, none of us will ever come back here. So, Goku, I highly suggest you bring your wife along. I will call the ship down in one hour."
"Well, guys, I guess we should start packing." Goku said
With that, everyone who had something to bring left the tower. Only Eve, Vegeta, Android 18, and Piccolo remained.
Sabre told Eve that anything she needed would be availabe to her on the ship. Bulma wanted to go back to Capsule Corp. to get some stuff, so Trunks took his mother in his arms and flew off. Gohan and Goku once again returned to Master Roshi's to get Chi-Chi, and Krillin went there as well. Yamcha and Tien went to their homes to gather their belongings. Every one had a million questions racing through their minds, and most were not even sure they should be following this complete stranger, possibly to their deaths. But after all, Goku was their unofficial leader, and he had never failed them before. They would follow him to hell and back.
He would need to get them to trust him as much as they did Goku, but that would be a very difficult task indeed. Sabre knew all of this, and it was going to take some work to turn this group into a team, his team. The only thing he hadn't planned on was taking Eve, she was the unforeseen variable in the whole mess. She was the only one whom he knew nothing about, only that Dende said she was to find her destiny while with them.
Now that the recruitment was over, training would have to begin, right on board the ship. It would be quite large enough to meet their needs. All the information that the warriors would want was prepared for them and waiting on the ship. They would then find out what they were up against. He only hoped they could prepare themselves for the coming onslaught.