Chapter 3

Waking her up abruptly, the ship's internal sirens and lights were blaring in full swing. Despite being startled, Chia had to quickly discern what the reason for it all was. Running a hand down her face and growling while she one-handedly bashed at the main console in front of her. She was grateful for her headache's disappearance thanks to her rest, but she was still a little too groggy from her experience on planet Popol to comprehend what was happening around her and with her ship.

Trying to process the information in front of her, Chia's eyes shot wide in realisation that the alarm was a collision alert. Jumping up out of her pilot seat - that she had effectively passed out in - she checked all of her surroundings. Assessing the situation carefully, she could still breathe and there was no discernible pull of suction signalling a breach in the hull. With that she sighed, not realising that she had been holding her breath in anticipation.

Now focussed on scanning the ship's computer for information while also trying to silence the alarm. A quick run through the exterior cameras quickly identified the cause, a very small meteoroid had struck the wing near the main body of the ship. Her thoughts immediately veered straight towards the worst case scenarios: What if it had struck the main body? What if it had penetrated the hull?

Shaking her head free of the borderline paranoid thoughts that she rarely had, she concentrated on replaying the outer camera feed while she focused on working out the speed, angle and momentum of the collision to determine whether it had actually penetrated the surface layer and caused any serious damage. Chia had always valued education, never considering it time wasted - even under Frieza. She had spent a great deal of time strengthening her mind with knowledge, as well as strengthening her body - finding moments like this to be a reward for her work.

Finally managing to shut off the alarms, Chia used the ship's computer to determine where it could land. For the first time since she awoke, she took notice of the time, it had been almost two days since the events on planet Popol. Currently, her ship was at least three days away from her intended destination and although she was sure that her craft would make it without an issue, she could seldom afford to take the risk of another collision of any kind. Especially one that could cost her life or the race, or even set her back.

Finding a suitable alternative could prove to be a difficult task though. Whilst cinna bark is an abundant item, it is still only available on habitable humanoid planets. Something about the ecological cycles being a solely humanoid thing from what she could remember. "Come on", the warrior grumbled, while waiting for the ship's computer to locate a suitable planet nearby.

"No, too far..

No, too arid..

No, far too cold..

No land mass..

Damn it! How can it be this hard to find? It's everywhere!

No..

No..

Aha! Bullseye!"

Setting in the coordinates, there was only two hours at most that she would have before she reached the orbit of the suitable planet, albeit in a different direction. At least that would give her even more time to shower and freshen up, she reasoned. But she soon pouted when she remembered the reason for going to the original planet was because they had a decent bar and it's where her drinking record still stands. Looks like I'll have to find another excuse to go back there some time.

The Saiyan-like woman abided by her usual routine, tending to her aching body having made the most of the short journey. She tied her hair back up with her red strap and dried off the rest of her body. Ready to take on the next challenge.

Making the descent, Chia was frequently observing and checking that the damaged wing had begun adjusting correctly. When the orange coloured clouds gave way, she could start to make out the lay of the yellow and orange land of this world.

However, the turbulent winds at this altitude were beginning to shake her off the preset course. She was veering further off to the side more and more until the ship had completely overshot the intended landing spot.

Finally, when the craft came to a halt, Chia breathed out a long sigh of relief. Unfortunately, the entire ship was tilted towards the ground and all that she could see out of her ship's main window was burnt orange coloured soil. Clenching her fists in frustration, as she knew that she'd have to fix anything caused by the landing as well as repairing the wing.

Having already confirmed that the atmosphere composition was suitable for her species. Chia grabbed her DynaCaps full of tools, some parts and her emergency kit and headed to the walkway. Pressing the button to open it, the mechanical whirring was fine until it was obvious that it had reached its limit. Thankfully it opened just enough for Chia to be able to crawl out, cursing as she did, noting that it was another thing to be fixed.

Jumping down onto the rust coloured ground, the raven-haired woman grunted and walked away from the ship to turn and take in the extent of the damage. Ah shit, it looks like one of the hydraulics is bent on the walkway. I think I have a part for that though. And I'm still going to have to address that wing. But I'm going to need to right the ship first. Chia knew she wouldn't be able to encapsulate it like this. Walking back over to the ship, the warrior began to lift the dipped corner of the main body of the craft, exuding tremendous strength. She had managed to manoeuvre it into a better position, but it still required some kind of leverage to get it into a stable position. She placed it back down to survey the area.

Turning around, to view the landscape of the world she had arrived on. Chia instantly realised her good luck. She could barely contain her glee, letting out a small shriek at the sight. She was positioned just next to a handful of trees. Perfect for leverage!

With a quick scout around to check her surroundings, she ran the handful of steps to reach the tree and positioned herself to best kick it down, she instantly recognised the distinctive smell. She stood back up and pushed her face close to the bark and inhaled deeply. This wasn't just any tree, this was a Cinna tree. The gods are smiling on me today! Chia proceeded to wiggle around, shaking her body and arms in a happy dance of her own.

Taking out a small knife from her emergency kit, the warrior carefully carved the famed Cinna bark from the tree. She shaved the rough outer bark and discarded it, to reveal the softer more heavily scented item of the list underneath. Chia ensured that she took enough to fulfil her task for the competition but she also took plenty of extras to sell onwards, as the fresher it was the greater price tag.

Finished with her haul and all encapsulated, Chia manoeuvred herself to a strong position and landed a solid kick at the base of the Cinna tree. The minuscule effort was enough to cause the tree to start splintering over, very slowly at first until it fast falling over onto the ground in front of her. Smiling and content with her work, she began shaking the fallen tree trunk to discard the leaves so she could take it back over to the ship to use as leverage.

However, what Chia hadn't anticipated was the family of bird-like creatures that had been thrown from the tree that she had just cut down. Ah shit. I'm not supposed to care about this kind of crap. She was trying to conceal her turmoil, yet the more Chia stared at the floundering family and the broken nest strewn across the floor, the more she realised that she was the cause of their strife and it was up to her to make a difference.

Sighing at her own weakness, Chia already knew what she was going to do. She scooped up the reluctant family and flew them up to a nearby tree of similar height and growth. Placing them on a branch, the Saiyan-like woman proceeded to collect the remnants of the nest and fashion it into a new home for the avian family.

Slowly withdrawing from the scene, Chia smiled. She had never thought of herself as motherly, even wondering at times if she even had the capacity and yet, here she was acting with a blossoming maternal instinct; surprising even herself.

Leaving the rescued family, the warrior collected the log and returned to her ship. Lowering the weighty trunk to the ground, Chia spoke out to the air, "I can't sense your energy, but I know you're there. What do you want?"

Emerging from the side of her ship, a hulking man with amber coloured hair. "They are Neorni. You assisted them." He stated in a monotonous voice.

"Oh..uh.. you mean the bird-type things? Yeah. So?"

"I love nature, all of it and it is important to protect the lives of the things that you love."

Chia was not ready for this response and proceeded to stand there with her mouth open.

"You helped them. Now I will help you."

"Uh.. wha-.. I don't-" She could barely get out before the black and green clad man lifted the corner of her ship up and gestured for her to place the log under it. "Oh..uh.. yes of course." Grabbing the log and wedging it in place.

"Now it can be repaired."

"Hey, thank you uh…what's your name?"

"I am Android 16."

"Android 16 huh? Well that explains a lot. What are you doing here?"

"My brother, sister and I are on a mission. Today we are collecting Cinna bark." The android's admission immediately put Chia on edge, so he was competition. She rested her hand near her energy gun, preparing for how quickly this could go bad.

"We are mindful of the wildlife here. You do not need to fell a tree to harvest the Cinna bark." He stated. But Chia took it with a slight air of suspicion.

Trying to choose her words carefully. "So am I."

"I am not here to hurt you unless you pose a threat to me, my siblings or nature. I do not believe you have any ill-intent against any of them."

Not sure how to process this information, on the one hand she was actually warmed by his thoughts of others, but then on the other, she was bubbling with offence at the notion that she, a Saiyan-grown human, is not considered a threat. It was a challenge to her pride as a warrior that she somehow is not being considered as a worthy adversary.

"You should fix your wing first, I can repair the hydraulics on your walkway."

His words shook her straight from her thoughts and caused any building anger to instantly dissipate.

Without any kind of thought and no spoken words, she threw a DynaCap containing the spare parts for the walkway hydraulics system; and silently walked over to the wing, took out her tools from her capsules and got to work assessing the extent of the damage.

Every time she heard a louder noise or grunt from the android, she immediately tensed and waited for an act of sabotage but it never came. Am I just being paranoid? Why is he being so…nice? Recalling the conversation they had a while ago.

Finally finished with her job on the wing - encapsulating her tools and broken items - Chia stood up completely straight and reached out a stretch up towards the light orange hued sky. "Ahh that's better", she turned to speak, "Listen, I really appreciate the hel-". But she couldn't see him. She couldn't see that giant android who had continued to help. Immediately back on guard, Chia looked around at the walkway, it looked complete and she found her DynaCaps - that she had loaned to the android - neatly laid out in rows at the foot of it. In fact all that was needed was a mechanical check to ensure the seal was still intact, or she wouldn't be flying anywhere. He had completed the work, just as he said he would, but where was he?

Already feeling uneasy about accepting the help in the first place, but now she was on edge with the sudden disappearance of the being responsible. The Saiyan-like woman quickly walked around the exterior of her ship.

Straight away she located the android, he stood around the side of the ship talking to two other smaller beings. Although she couldn't make out their conversation. She could tell from their body language that they were familiar with one another. Maybe they're the siblings he spoke of earlier? They're a lot different to him though.

"You can come out." Called the smaller male with shoulder length dark hair.

Fascinating. "Hey, you must be the brother and sister?"

The dark haired male looked at the blonde female, smirked and answered, "Yes, something like that."

Chia found herself hoping that the situation wasn't going to escalate, as she'd actually quite liked the big guy. He had a softness that she'd not seen in quite a while. But she had to remind herself that they were still competitors and everyone was out for themselves. Their lives depended on it.

The blonde-haired woman spoke up, "You're a Saiyan, aren't you?"

"Something like that." Chia mirrored the other android's words with a smile, conscious to not convey her sarcasm. This time.

Thankfully the giant android broke the silence. "My scanners indicate your ship is fixed. You can leave now. Android 17, Android 18 and I will also leave."

"Well good luck and uh.. thank you Android 16." Chia responded with a sincere smile and a thumbs-up.

Three of them stood staring, looking at her thumb, until Android 16 lifted his hand to copy the gesture. At that point everyone's face softened to a smile.

The androids proceeded to turn and leave, walking away presumably to wherever their own ship was.

Chia turned and began checking over her craft, the walkway, the wing and the interior. She had no reason to suspect the android of sabotage, as he had been nothing but kind and helpful towards her. But life up until this point had shown her that was a rarity and living your life with a healthy dose of scepticism often kept you alive.

After a systems check and confirming the seal on the door and walkway was intact, it was time to continue on the journey and Chia knew just where she planned on heading to next.

The week aboard the ship en route to her next destination, went by far too slowly for Chia's liking. She trained relentlessly, ran a full inventory, completed entire maintenance cycles and slept. The latter she had chosen to do less often, because of the dreams now plaguing her. Him. That damn messy-haired Saiyan. Everywhere she went in her dreams, he was just there. That smile, that cheekiness. Oh gods stop it!

She couldn't quite understand why him? She was sure she had been with someone similar looking once, but couldn't quite recall. A lot of the Saiyans had indistinguishable features. But Kakarot, she was sure that she hadn't seen him before, she'd have remembered that.

Finally arriving on the designated planet, it had been fairly uneventful, especially compared to her last landing experience. Chia had been on many planets, throughout many star systems but she was yet to experience a trinary star system until now. She knew of their existence, but to actually see it was quite something. Being on the planet, it fits in well with the green tinged sky. But whilst she was still in space passing the three gargantuan stars, Chia felt something akin to awe.

Having exited and encapsulated her ship, the raven-haired woman took to the skies to search for the next item on her list - the Ajisa Plant.

After only a short flight, the warrior saw some green-skinned beings walking around outside, as she drew closer she could see them tending to their buildings. Dropping down to land on the ground beside one of them, she opened her mouth to ask about the plants - knowing that the Namekians were not an aggressive race; well not in recent years anyway.

The reaction that the Namekian had to her was not what she had expected at all. His look of abject horror was certainly telling, she was trying to determine whether it was because there was another stranger or was it her armour? Judging by his eyes rolling all over her protective wear, other Saiyans had been here.

Chia put her hands up to show that she meant no harm, but the Namekian villager flinched, unsure of the action.

"I'm not here to hurt you", as she tried to sound reassuring.

"The others said that too, then they blasted our people when we didn't answer their questions."

Letting out a sigh, this was going to be harder than anticipated. "Well to be honest I'm probably after the same thing, but I don't need to hurt anyone here." Looking around to show her concern.

"You're not with them? But you look like them."

"Are you the same as every Namekian, simply because of your heritage?"

"Yes we are. We all come from the same father, our elder Guru."

"Oh for fuck's sakes." She muttered under her breath. Well there goes that analogy.

"Look, I'm trying to say that I don't want to hurt or kill any of you. I just need the Ajisa plant, then that's it, I'll go. I'll even take out a few of the others that have hurt you here." The warrior offered, hopefully in exchange for the information she needed.

"O-okay Tsuno's village is that way." Lifting his trembling green arm to point in the direction of it.

She was about to shoot straight off but that tug from within her instead caused her to say over her shoulder, "Uh..thanks", and with that she disappeared into the sky in the direction she had been guided to.

Scouring the area for the next village, Chia wondered how they ever found each other as the landscape all looks the same. The same tall and slender green trees, the same shaped lakes, the same green coloured mounds and rocks, the same three sunset beating down on her in the green tinged sky and absolutely no signs of any-

Feeling the energy spike, Chia abruptly stopped mid-air. She could sense it coming from the direction she was headed. Good. That means they're still there, I might get to have some fun after all. Shooting faster into the distance, Chia was beginning to feel that familiar rush of excitement.

Very quickly Chia came up on plumes of smoke. Descending down to the ground to make the rest of her way on foot and scope out the competitors, Chia sighed at the destruction of the small village around her. As the female warrior walked, she began to lay eyes on the green bodies that littered the grounds of what previously looked like a communal area. She was used to seeing corpses, many were caused by her own hands as a proud Saiyan warrior but this, this looked like slaughter for fun.

Coming up on the source of the death, Chia froze. It could have been anyone else, seriously why him? Stood laughing after dropping another body dead to the ground stood Vegeta, the Prince of All Saiyans.

"Hey, it looks like we've got a newcomer." The large bald Saiyan said gruffly, as the Prince turned to view her.

"You. What are you doing here?" Narrowing his eyes at her, Vegeta didn't move.

"Isn't she that one in the tunnels?"

"Yes Nappa, congratulations you've found another Saiyan." Vegeta said mockingly to his comrade.

"Holy shit General Nappa?! I didn't even recognise you. Where's your hair gone?" Chia, who had become increasingly tense the more the conversation went on, but soon snapped out of its grip and laughed in dismay that an old commander like him was still around.

Delivering a sinister laughter Vegeta threw his head back, roaring at the expense of his comrade.

Nappa, keen to reassert himself, "Listen, I don't know who you think you are or how you know me but-"

"It's Chia, Launch & I used to go on training missions with you before you got stuck on babysitting duty."

With that, all laughter ceased until Nappa stifled the smallest laugh causing a snort to escape, all whilst still only making eye contact with her. Not daring to look at Vegeta.

"Ahem..yeah..ahem..I remember actually you're earthlings aren't you?"

"What, you mean she's not even a Saiyan?" Dropping his crossed arms in surprise. "You had the cheek to call me your Prince?! Tch, you're nothing but a disgraceful weakling of a pathetic race. You are nothing to us." Vegeta spoke with utter disdain, only a royal could wield that kind of power with a look.

Chia's anger was flaring inside, she had always given everything to be considered worthy and to have her Prince deny her like she was nothing, brought all the pain of being isolated after the loss of their home welling up to the surface. She clenched her jaw while listening to the dialogue between the two full blooded Saiyans.

"Actually they were pretty good fighters, just about kept up with our lower classes."

"Tch, what do you want?" Dismissing the remark.

"Well I came to get my own Ajisa Plants", sharply gesturing to the plant in Nappa's hand, "Only I wasn't going to kill everyone for the sake of it." And there goes her mouth.

"You and your friend Lunch was it?"

"Launch and yes, I represent us." She stood defiantly, "Leave the Namekians, just go on to your next stop. You don't need anything else here."

Taken aback by her comments, the Prince replied in a scathing tone, "I don't think you quite understand, you don't give me orders. I'll tell you what, if you manage to get yourself a plant before I burn them all, then you can have it." Without any time at all, Vegeta lifted his hand. "Looks like you won't be getting any of it, especially when I torch the rest of the fields on this damn planet." A wry smile appeared on his face, to ensure that there was no doubt about his threat.

Chia moved probably the fastest that she ever had. Where she had launched her back foot from created a small crater itself, but her speed just didn't beat Vegeta's energy blast to all but three plants in the side row. She stood trembling with her arms outstretched, with her back to the blast protecting the last Ajisa Plants. As the dust and raining debris began to clear, the injured woman dropped to her knees. She knew she could not withstand another attack like that, her armour was definitely broken and the skin of her back stung like hell, but being Saiyan raised she'd never let them know that. Smiling Chia looked down at the intact plants, with only a thin layer of dust to show for the disturbance.

"Ah so she's stronger and faster than she looks, you must have almost killed her in training Nappa", said Vegeta laughing at his own quip, while Nappa joined in with a smile at the almost compliment. "Bet she can't take another one though!" Preparing to raise his hand to send a blast again.

Chia was still staring at the remaining plants in front of her and bracing herself for another impact; hoping and praying to any gods that she'd be able to withstand it and make her escape.

She waited, anticipating her demise until it struck. She heard the sound of the blast all around her and that moment slowly stretched out for what felt like an eternity. The dust, the raining debris swirling around the now even deeper crater she found herself at the centre of, but somehow she'd survived and she wasn't in any more pain than she was already suffering from the first hit.

Slowly turning around, already conscious of the state of her injuries, she saw the back of a tall Saiyan man with his arms in a defensive cross having taken the brunt of the blast. That armour, that hair and that tail, it was him.

"Kakarot, wha-what are you doing?"

"Are you okay? I missed that first one, it looked like it struck you badly." He said in an almost concerned tone.

Completely taken by surprise of his actions, Chia began, "You-"

"Kakarot! What is the meaning of this?!" Vegeta enraged that another being had taken his blast and lived to tell the tale.

"Kakarot! What are you doing?" Raditz emerged from a rock to the side of them and jumped down, causing the ground to shudder briefly.

"Well I couldn't just let them blast an item we still needed." Kakarot placed a hand nervously on the back of his neck, letting out an awkward chuckle and still not entirely sure of what or why he had done it. It was a conflicting feeling now brewing within him. Adjusting himself to turn slightly towards his approaching brother, but also to glance at Chia, to check her over with his own eyes. If she's as Saiyan as she makes out, she's not going to give anything away about any weakness or how bad those injuries are. He continued to watch her as she crouched low to the ground, eyeing her form and her damaged armour.

Nappa made a move to intervene, but Vegeta put his hand out to stop him. "Let them sort it out amongst themselves, it looks like even Raditz has this under control." The Prince asserted and took to the sky, with Nappa following shortly after with their own plants.

"You could have just snatched it from her first and had let her be done with."

Before they knew it, Raditz had snatched a plant straight out of the ground in front of Chia. The swift manoeuvre startled her and she let out a grunt. Standing to her full height and turning to face Raditz - who was now standing with a smirk on his face with the plant in hand, as his long black mane flew in the wind.

"Give that back! I haven't got time for this shit." Chia demanded.

"Hey-hey, it's fine. We've got one and there's one left for you", gesturing towards the very last plant in the ground. "We're leaving", Kakarot said looking at his brother.

"Hmm no, I don't think so", Raditz raised his hand ready to blast the last plant. Chia immediately saw his plan, he probably expected her to try and take the blast again. But he wasn't a Prince and she was not going to take this kind of crap from him.

Kakarot moved to block the path of his brother's aim, intending to protect the last plant. At the same time Chia purposefully threw herself down to the ground, skidding across the unsettled terrain on her knees, having ducked straight under Raditz's extended arm and coming up to standing directly in front of Raditz. With the swift and well rehearsed manoeuvre, the female warrior now had one hand firmly pressing her energy gun into his crotch and the other with a handful of energy pressed into the armour weak spot underneath the older Saiyan's arm and into the side of his chest.

Raditz's eyes shot wide in realisation of his predicament.

"Shi-"

"Save it. If you blast me, I'm taking your dick with me."

Kakarot watched the whole thing unfold, almost in awe. He had felt differently about this woman, he did want to fuck her - even more now than ever - but there was something else too. He couldn't place it but decided to push that feeling down anyway. Distractions could be problematic and she would definitely be a distraction.

Laughing aloud, "She's got you good." He turned to pull the last Ajisa Plant. Holding it in hand and shaking it at Raditz, who's eyes were darting between Chia and his younger brother.

"Right one for us, one for you. But you gotta let him go and you can have this one." Shaking the plant to get her attention.

"Fine. But no stupid moves or I won't hesitate to do it." Asserting herself to leave the larger Saiyan in no doubt about her intentions.

"You won't get the chance." He hissed as she left his personal space, with her hand still aglow with energy.

The female warrior continued to back up away from Raditz, glancing at Kakarot every few moments. She didn't trust anyone, but he had seemed slightly more trustworthy than anyone else she'd come across so far.

As she neared Kakarot's extended arm, she reabsorbed the energy ball gathered in her hand and grabbed the plant from him, whilst still keeping her energy gun trained on Raditz.

"Thanks", she whispered quietly behind Kakarot, before she left the ground and shot across the sky, making her escape.

A small smile passed across Kakarot's lips, before it turned to anger as he saw his brother poised ready to shoot Chia down. Within an instant Kakarot had ploughed his shoulder straight into Raditz's gut, tackling him to the ground. The two Saiyan men began throwing a flurry of punches at one another.

"Why do.. you keep tryin' to…argh… kill her?"

"Why are you…oomph…so interested...gahh...in her?"

"I'm not!" Kakarot shouted, instantly stopping them in their tracks, both brothers now panting and bleeding.

"Can't you just fuck her and get it over with? Or better still kill her afterwards." Raditz let out as he laughed to himself.

Kakarot punched his laughing brother square in the jaw, sending him careening backwards. "If it wasn't for her, we never would have heard about the list. I was the one who heard her in the bar remember!"

"Vegeta would've told me about it." Spitting a mouthful of blood on the ground, getting back up to standing.

"Who are you kiddin' that guy doesn't care about us, any more than the King did."

"Of course he does, he's our Prince."

"Of what exactly? How many of us are actually left, get a grip Raditz. Vegeta's only incredible because of his power, but other than that he's a shitty person. Do you honestly think he would associate with us if Planet Vegeta was still around?" Kakarot stood with his arms out questioning, daring his brother - who was now staring at the ground - to deny what he was saying. "No of course he wouldn't, he's just taking the piss out of you. You should watch your back around him."

"No. He wouldn't be around the likes of you."

"What the fucks that supposed to mean? Huh?"

Raditz hesitated, he knew this would cut deep, but it was the only way to put his brother back in his place. He looked up from the ground and into his younger brother's eyes, "A low class warrior like you, of course he wouldn't be around you."

"You're seriously delusional if you believe that, you know what our dad was capable of."

At the mention of their father, Raditz had had enough. "This is done, I'm going back to the ship. Vegeta and that woman have got a head start thanks to you."

Kakarot growled in response but otherwise said nothing else during their flight back to their ship. He just thought of his mom and dad, he'd never tell Raditz but times like this during their fights he really missed them.

Making it to a clearing far enough away from the Saiyan energies, Chia landed and threw the DynaCap containing her ship on the open ground. As soon as it was completely assembled, she speedily ran up the walkway and straight to the main console.

Although it hurt as she sat down, that would have to wait until she was off this planet; not wishing to engage any further with the Saiyans for the time being.

As soon as she cleared Namek's atmosphere she breathed out a sigh of relief. At least now she could treat her injuries, rest and then train until her next destination. Earth.