Thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last few chapters.
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or its characters. Get used to the idea.
Chapter Four
East Quadrant, Sector Six: Taltos Station
"Computer, give me a reading on the planet Kakarot was sent to destroy," demanded a low, rasping voice. A voice that commanded respect, as did Piccolo's and Vegeta's. A single red light flashed once, and a computer "spoke" as the silhouette of the voice's owner was revealed in the red light. The man, for that was the speaker, stood stiffly near one of several consoles in the room, pulling at one of the edges of his cape. The offending piece of clothing was beginning to ravel, suggesting much use by the owner. It also looked as if it had seen better days; it was slightly scorched in places as well. That cape had seen many battles.
"Commander," the computer responded, a mechanical female voice. "The Planet Earth is not devoid of life. Its population has increased over the last twenty-four years, in fact. It appears that Kakarot has not been fulfilling his duty as a planet purger."
The man was barely able to contain his rage at the announcement. "That low-class idiot! It doesn't even take a Saiyan infant to destroy all life on a planet in a year! And he can't do it in almost twenty-five years!" He slammed his fists down on the nearest console, screwing his eyebrows into a scowl and baring his teeth. He stood hunched over the console for a minute only before straightening up again. Clearing his throat, he asked the computer about the native species of the planet. He crossed his arms behind his back as he awaited the reply.
"The native species of the Planet Earth is known as 'human'. There are two distinct genders of 'human': male and female. They come in several different colors, much like animals. Technology level is medium on much of the planet, save two or three locations. The native fauna coexist with the humans; some walk upright and can speak in their language. The planet was not destroyed during two separate onslaughts by three Saiyan warriors within the last three years. Kakarot was presumably not found. The database has no information thus far on specific inhabitants of the planet, although it has been determined that Kakarot is not the only non-native being on Earth. More data must be gathered in this sector. The average power level of a native human is under ten. However, there have been indications of beings on the planet that are powerful enough to hold their own against an average planet purger. Some of these – "
"Enough!" the commander shouted. He had heard enough of the troublesome planet and its even more troublesome inhabitants. He whirled away from the computer, which had fallen silent at his outburst. His eyes flashed in the dim light as he began to walk out of the room. "I do not need to hear that we may be dealing with other Saiyans!" The irate man slammed the door, leaving the machine to its own electric hum.
"Sir? Sir!" came a voice from down the hallway. The commander didn't miss a step as the other man ran up alongside him. "We've got some information in from the probes around that planet in the North Quadrant that blew up almost a year ago. At least from the ones that weren't fried out there."
"Get on with it!"
"Right, sir." The man began frantically flipping through his large stack of papers for one sheet in particular. "Five minutes ago, a transmission came through from several of the probes orbiting planet Namek. We had thought that the magnetic interference coming from the planet had ruined the relay circuitry, but apparently some of them survived, sir. And the probes picked up an extremely faint vapor trail from a ship heading off the planet! From what we can deduce, the ship, or at least the engine, was of the make used by the Ginyu force, and the trail was left when the ship hit hyperdrive. Sir, we have every reason to believe that whatever escaped the planet is the being that killed Lord Frieza!"
The commander stopped so suddenly that the other man had to backpedal to avoid running into him. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"Almost positive, sir."
The commander rubbed his chin for a minute. "Find a way to lock onto the coordinates of that ship and do so. Get a reading as to the identity of the being it holds, and if you can't do that, at least find out what race spawned it. This thing is a potential enemy, and we need to prepare for whatever it may dish out at us."
The lower-ranked man stood, dumbfounded, at his side, gaping at the task he had just been given. "But-but sir, that's not –"
"Do it now, or I'll have your flesh torn from your body and fed to Frieza's killer!" the commander barked.
"Yes, sir!" The now-terrified man saluted hastily and all but ran back down the hallway. The officer massaged his temples and continued to walk down the hall. As he approached the bridge, one of the errand runners ran in front of him. Not missing a beat, he grabbed the back of the young man's shirt as he rushed by.
"Boy, go find Morodath and Kadrin this moment. Tell them that Ralet wishes to see them on the bridge."
"Yes, sir, right away." The errand runner disappeared down into another maze of corridors, headed for the training rooms.
Commander Ralet entered the door to the bridge and was immediately saluted by the eight men on duty. "Men, activate the med-lab, code AdOPS, serum B and F. Dosage of four grams of B each per day, ten days, and fourteen grams of F each per day, twelve days. And don't forget to load their food storage units this time."
"Sir!" they voiced in unison, rapidly processing his orders.
The man heaved a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his brow. At least I will not need to wait on those two for long. Then he jumped as the two men he had called for entered the bridge.
"You never need to wait for us, Commander Ralet," the one known as Kadrin said smugly, swishing his tail slowly behind him in agitation. "You should have known that we would not make you wait. Especially for a good fight." Behind him, Morodath stood calmly as well, his tail wrapped securely about his waist as he watched his half-brother unsettle the weaker man.
Damn! he cursed to himself, clenching his fists behind his back. How could I forget that Morodath can read thoughts?
"Commander," Morodath said, "it is easy to forget that someone of my size and fighting caliber has other…talents."
"Of course, of course," the nervous man replied hastily. And with good reason was he nervous: the two warriors before him had been bred for battle, planned for three generations and using the genetic code of several races. The prominent genes, of course, were those from both Frieza's race and the Saiyan race. The brothers received their tails, though vestigial and only used to indicate emotional state, and a good majority of their strength and power from Saiyan DNA. The same DNA made up less than a quarter of their genetic code however, and in the womb they had been spliced with genes from the Ice people and from the stronger of the conquered humanoid species. The result: two dusky-colored humanoids that could have passed themselves off as Saiyan, save the eyes. Their eyes were as cold as ice, literally.
To make matters worse, Morodath had been given the genes of an extinct pacifist race, a race for which telepathy was innate. So between the two brothers, the need for an interstellar military was made obsolete. The commander had yet to find a warrior that could last for even five minutes against one of them.
"What information do you have for us, Commander?" Kadrin asked, drawing the other man's attention back to the matters at hand.
Commander Ralet cleared his throat. "Ah, we have located the trail of Lord Frieza's murderer, gentlemen. As we speak, my men are tracking this unknown being and his ship. The being might be sport enough for you, gentlemen. I have also taken the liberty of preparing the med-lab and the serums for you, as well as procuring the AdOPS room for you. You'll need all the conditioning and strength training you can get, for a person who can defeat Lord Frieza and live to tell the tale is a mighty warrior indeed."
"Will we be able to hunt down Kakarot after we kill this so-called 'mighty warrior'?" Kadrin asked, eyes gleaming. "We, at least, will then be able to take over his assignment, since he obviously has not been able to. Let us dispose of this worthless trash, Ralet."
The man glanced at the older of the two. Kadrin bore a grudge against the throwback to one of his ancestral races, and he did not take kindly to such things. He did not respect those weaker than himself, and more often than not those he deemed to be weak did not cross him a second time. If there was enough of that being left for a cremation, they were considered lucky.
Kadrin also had no respect for those who were not powerful enough to complete a purging mission.
"All right. I will commission a ship to take the two of you to the planet Earth, but you will be given its access codes only after this new threat is disposed of," he added as an afterthought. He saw Morodath's eyes flicker in disappointment and realized that he had hoped the commander wouldn't remember that specific term of agreement.
"Will you provide us with information on the planet and its defenses, Commander Ralet?" the younger warrior asked, his tone suggesting that he didn't think the commander was capable of remembering that, either.
Well, two can play at that game. "That is standard information, Morodath, for a purging mission. I will also provide you with enough booster serum and regen-serum to last you through four sparring matches, and the ship will be stocked with food and liquids. You must request anything else on your own." The commander then turned his back on the warriors. "You are to report to the med-lab to receive the first of the serum shots to aid your training immediately. Further instructions will await you there. You are dismissed."
"Commander." With that final acknowledgment, the two warriors departed, leaving the shaken man behind and thanking the stars that he survived the encounter.
North Quadrant, Planet Earth: Capsule Corp.
Three weeks later
Yamcha leaned back in the lawn chair on the Capsule Corp. property and sipped his iced tea contentedly, avoiding the ice cubes. He sighed contentedly as well, fingering the sunglasses that shaded his eyes. If only there were more days like this, he thought to himself. No villains to fight, no Dragonballs to find, and no rain to mess up my glorious afternoon. This is the life. He set the glass down carefully on the grass beside him and folded his arms under his head, smiling.
"Yamcha," Tien asked, amused, from a second lawn chair, "why are you wearing those sunglasses? We're sitting under a tree." The triclops propped himself up in time to see the ball player blush a deep red.
"Busted!" Krillin yelled from a third chair. "You're showing off again, aren't you, Yamcha?"
"Ummm…" If it was even possible, Yamcha's face turned an even brighter shade of red. "Well, guys, y'know…"
"Knock it off, Yamcha," Tien said jokingly. "We all know that you're trying to impress Bulma. Don't even bother trying to hide it any more. Just tell her how you feel about her!"
"Oh, and I suppose you've told Lunch that you like her?" This time it was Tien's turn to blush slightly.
Chiaotzu chose this time to walk out the door with Bulma, deep in conversation about one of her newest projects and carrying a glass of lemonade. Her latest experiment was being done on "sensitive" beings, or those who were psychic, and the small emperor had volunteered himself and Tien as test subjects.
"Of course," Chiaotzu said, "Piccolo is telepathic and all that too, and he is better at it than I am, but he can't actually control people's minds. At least not that I know of. And I'm not going to be the one to ask him to come over and try it!"
"You're not going to give it a try, Chiaotzu?" Bulma pleaded. "Please, at least contact him and ask him to come over! I have so much information to gather, and an experiment on a member of a different species would be so helpful in my study!"
The two Earthlings slowly made their way over to the lawn chairs, discussing the implications of such a study (But that may mean that we're all psychic! Bulma argued). Only when Chiaotzu came to a stop next to Tien did he notice the barely imperceptible twinge in the back of his mind that signified a telepath's message.
Yes? Chiaotzu asked, curious as to who would be contacting him. Surely it wasn't Piccolo, was it?
Chiaotzu, came Kami's voice, Uranai Baba has returned to this realm. She is waiting to speak with you all.
Ah, thank you, Kami. We appreciate your help.
Any time, young emperor.
Chiaotzu snorted in amusement. He wasn't all that young. Then again, nearly everyone on the planet was young compared to Kami.
He then noticed that the other four Earthlings were looking at him. "Who was it, Chiaotzu?" Tien asked, mildly concerned.
"It was Kami," he replied, shaking his head. "He said that Uranai Baba is expecting us."
"So that's why your eyes un-focused!" Bulma exclaimed, caught up in a scientific reverie. "You were using your telepathy!" The scientist whipped out a notebook seemingly from thin air and began jotting down notes. Tien and Chiaotzu exchanged sideways glances before simultaneously rolling their eyes.
Krillin glanced up apprehensively. After studying the sky for a moment, he declared, "We've got company, guys. And Piccolo doesn't seem thrilled," he added.
"When is he ever thrilled, Krillin?" Yamcha retorted. The wind picked up just then, blowing his hair into his face. He ran his hands through it, pushing it back from his face and behind his ears. "Geez, the guy always acts like he's going to his own freakin' funeral!"
"I wouldn't talk about people behind their backs, Yamcha, if I were you," came Piccolo's voice from somewhere above them. "Especially not me."
A split second later, Piccolo and Gohan both landed in the yard. Both of them looked as if they had been sparring and were thrown into a mountain repeatedly. Which was probably true, Krillin thought, given the people they were discussing. Gohan's face was flushed from all the exercise, and he seemed happy enough. Piccolo, of course, was Piccolo. He rarely looked like anything other than menacing.
"We might as well go to Uranai Baba's place now," the Namek growled after a minute. "I don't want to waste any more of my time." With that, he turned his back on the group, the wind making his cape billow majestically about him. "Let's leave." Then he took off swiftly, leaving a crater in the Capsule Corp. lawn. Tien and Chiaotzu followed suit.
"Are you coming with us, Bulma?" Yamcha asked his girlfriend as he stood up.
"Of course, Yamcha!" she said, groaning. "Someone has to be the voice of reason there, what with the half-crazy witch and magic crystal balls and all."
"Then hang on!" The ex-bandit scooped the blue-haired beauty into his arms and launched himself into the air as well, taking care that he did not give Bulma whiplash or any other injuries with his sudden takeoff.
Leaving Krillin and Gohan to choke on the dust being blown around.
"C'mon, bro, let's get going! We don't want to be the last ones there, do we?" Krillin asked as he lifted off the ground.
"I suppose not," Gohan agreed. "Besides, I don't want Piccolo to think I'm being slow." He joined the midget in the air.
Krillin glanced over at the boy. The admiration in his voice was obvious enough, but looking at his face made one think that Piccolo wasn't a demon and would be willing to take him out for hot chocolate and cookies. Frankly, the boy respected and looked up to the Namek, and that friendship had done wonders for them both. That's probably why Piccolo doesn't try to kill me any more. I can't exactly call Piccolo a friend, but he's definitely not an enemy any more. I guess I should thank Gohan for that.
The last two defenders hurried to catch up with the rest of the group, knowing that within twenty minutes, they would be arriving at the abode of the witch known as Uranai Baba.
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Thanks for reading Chapter Four. Please review and let me know if you like it so far!
~Dreamwraith