by DoraMouse
Part One: 737 A.D.
Chains creaked. Clinking together in an eerie rhythm that managed to compliment the moans of the dying, the sharp cracks of whips, the wails of the newly enslaved and the hushed thudding sound created by a hundred weary creatures stepping forward together in single file.
The scenary was a perfect match for the noises it produced. Beneath a dark sky the landscape was littered with smoldering rubble and bloody corpses. Haggard citizens marched in neat lines with their heads bowed, the chains that connected them rattling as they marched. From the old to the young, their faces portrayed a blend of painful despair and ambitious defiance. Some of the more injured prisoners limped as they were herded towards the cargo section of a large spaceship.
At intervals, the prisoners would pass a warrior clad in dark blue fabric and white chest armor. These warriors would glare, perhaps barking an order in an alien language or lashing out with a whip. The prisoners would cringe, crying out in protest while struggling to obey the commands that they couldn't understand.
Freezia. His name was the only word that everyone understood without translation. The former residents were aware that their world and their lives were now the property of a powerful and cruel intergalactic tyrant. The mere presence of the uniformed warriors attested to the fact; for in many cases, the uniform was all that the warriors of Freezias Army had in common.
Judging by skin color, hairstyles and other traits - there were warriors from every corner of the universe amid the small group that had captured the planet. One of warriors was a red-skinned orge with long stringy hair. There was a slender fellow that looked as if his ancestors might have been a close relative to the slug, his purpleish skin was dotted with yellow circles and a pair of antenna hung over his eyes. There was a short green warrior with four eyes and a spiked tail, some sort of humanoid lizard. There was a satyr, a creature that was humanoid from the waist up but a goat from the waist down.
There was even a saiyan.
He was a young lad with long dark hair who seemed right at home amid the absolute devastation. He kept his tail wrapped securely around his waist as he picked through the ruins, looking for something that was worth claiming. He tossed a few shiny trinkets aside, knowing full well that anything valuable would be taken by higher ranking warriors. Thus whatever he ended up taking for himself would have to more practical if he expected to be allowed to keep it.
Raditz held up a charred book, watching with mild amusement as the pages crumbled to dust in the strong grasp of his fingers. Once the book had completely dissolved, he sighed and shook the remains of the book off his hands then glanced around in search of further entertainment. He spied a set of oversized clay jugs, slightly cracked and half buried under a slab of stone that, until recently, had served as a wall. With a wicked grin Raditz made his way over to the pottery and easily tossed the section of collasped wall aside. He peered down at the jugs as if trying to decide how to have the most fun destroying them.
Abruptly a pair of round furry ears protruded from the edge of one of the jugs. This was followed quickly by the emergence of a small head and a forepaw as the creature exited the jug that had concealed it. The animal immediately sat down on its haunches, turned its head and began licking the dust out of its dark fur.
Young Raditz was appalled. The animal was right in front of him and yet it wasn't even acting afraid. Apparently it didn't percieve him as a threat. Raditz glared at the creature with intense disapproval. For a moment, the animal stared right back at him with an expression of calm indifference. Then it returned to the pressing task of cleaning its fur, lifting a leg as it did so.
This creature was incredibly stupid or it was extremely brave. Either way, it needed to be taught a lesson. Raditz raised a glowing hand and took aim but the attack never came since his concentration was broken.
"Ah lookit dat wouldya." Drawled one of the other warriors that was scavenging the ruins, pausing to point out the spectacle.
The furry creature was now moving about on all four of its feet, prancing with its tail in the air. It circled Raditz and was rubbing against his ankles each time that it passed him. The effect was that his pants were now coated in dust and strands of fur.
"Hey!" Raditz jumped into the air, scowling down at the creature and trying to get the dust off his uniform. He had to keep the uniform clean for inspection at all times - you could get punished for failing to do so. Unfortunately his attempts to wipe the strands of fur off his pants were only successfull in transferring the fur to his sleeves.
The creature stood calmly to one side now, watching Raditz with two wholly dark eyes that were diamond in shape but rounded at the corners. The animals fur was a shade of inky black and its body was speckled with faint orange markings.
"I think it likes you Raditz!" One of the other warriors teased with just the right sleazy tones to provoke a chorus of gruff mocking laughter.
Raditz felt himself grow red in the cheeks, more with anger than embarrassment. He was torn between wanting to attack the annoying animal and wanting to hurt the other warriors. Of course, he could always do both. Raditz smirked as he lifted the little animal off the ground with the intent of throwing it at his peers.
His vision was instantly filled by an upsidedown pink triangle and several whiskers, apparently the creature had leaned its head forward and was delicately sniffing Raditzs eyebrows. It reached up quickly with its two forepaws and sunk eight little claws into Raditzs skull. He yelped in confusion and surprise, releasing the creature in time to be kicked in the nose by a hind paw while the animal continued to pull itself up.
Raditzs customary scowl deepened. He was aware that the creature was now perched on his head. His peers were laughing so much that they were in danger of injuring themselves.
"Ahem." Someone cleared their throat. The laughing warriors quickly tried to regain their composures. Raditz took a deep breath before turning and saluting.
"Lieutenant!" Raditz managed to keep his tone serious.
The Lieutenant was tall warrior with pale blue skin. His dark green hair was pulled back into a braid and his long bangs were held out of his face by a small ordamental crown which seemed to be made from several pearl necklaces intricately woven together. His pointed ears were decorated by two sets of silver earrings. A permanent smirk was etched into his angular features. "Well, well." Zarbon said casually while lifting the kitten off Raditzs head. "I've always said that saiyans could stand an increase in brain power." He thrust the kitten into Raditzs hands. "Keep it."
Beneath the mask of calm, Raditz was absolutely mortified. This just had to be some sort of scheme to get him in trouble.
An audio speaker roared to life, drowning out all other noise while a familiar five-note signal blarred through the desolate landscape. Every warrior in view winced slightly but not because of the sheer volume of the off-chord melody, they winced because of the tunes meaning. Mere seconds ago they had been arrogant soldiers herding a batch of newly captured slaves but the tune was a command for them, a wordless reminder to all of Freezias minions that they were not as strong as they made themselves out to be. The ugly truth of the matter was that, for the most part, the warriors were slaves themselves - treated better than average but they still had to follow orders.
The signal that had been played was followed by the ominous creaking of each spacecraft loading door being pulled closed. First one then another door would fall closed with a heavy metallic clank followed by the hiss of escaping air as each door was secured and the spacecrafts cargo areas made airtight.
All around, the warriors seemed to heave a collective and silent sigh as they reluctantly trudged towards the upper hatches of the ships. The battle was over, the adrenalin was starting to wear off and survival was no longer an immediate concern. The warriors paused occasionally to stare out at the world with more somber expressions. For many of the soldiers the landscape before them - the darkened sky, the smoldering ruins and the mangled corpses - was a poignant reminder of how they had last seen their own native worlds. Yet no matter how bitter the memories that were invoked, all of the warriors treasured the sight. Because they didn't know when they would see land again, it all depended on what their next assignment was.
Earlier this morning the planet had been called Foetus. Now it was Freezia Planet 2,0378b. In the space of a day, the warriors had conquered the world and enslaved the masses with enough time left over to claim a few trinkets as souvenirs of their victory. Soon an infamous clean up crew - the typical bunch of scavengers, landscapers, lawyers, accountants and real estate agents - would arrive. What the clean up crew didn't steal, they'd burn before remodeling the planet in order to prepare it for sale. Freezia wasn't simply a powerful warrior and a sinister tyrant, he was a merchant of the most extraordinary caliber. He sold worlds. Sometimes entire galaxies. And if any customers ever missed a payment then Freezias Army would reclaim the property.
Freezia didn't necessarily want to rule the universe. No. Freezia was the type of villian who would be content to simply own the deed to the entire universe so that if the mood struck him, he could charge everyone in existance rent and cackle at their shocked reactions to the news.
Raditz fell into pace, deliberately trailing the other warriors as they began to board the spacecraft. He was waiting for an opening, hoping that he could drop the kitten and be rid of it but the opportunity never arose. Eyes always seemed to be upon him. A few of the warriors ahead of him walked backwards, jeering at him in their alien languages. And Zarbon, still smirking as he supervised the external pre-flight checks, would glance in his direction from time to time.
Two thoughts were foremost on Raditzs mind. The first was that no one could keep him from killing the stupid animal. The second and less prominant idea was a vague wondering about how the furball might taste if properly zapped. Raditz squinted at the animal, evaluating its worth as food before he wrinkled his nose. The creature was too small to bother with.
When he stood atop the wireframe steps that lead to the soldiers entrance of the spacecraft, young Raditz quickly stuck his hands out over the railing and released the kitten. "Oops." He said in a harsh tone that lacked any geniune surprise. He waited for a moment.
Silence. There should have been a startled animal cry and a softened thudding noise when the creature impacted. Raditz thought the silence was odd but shrugged it off and stepped up to the doorway which most of his peers were blocking. Raditz didn't understand why they were grinning.
"Dun yu kno anyfing?" The satyr chuckled, speaking with some effort to make himself understood despite his accent.
"Get out of my way." Raditz growled, unamused.
Click. Click, click, click.
The noise made Raditz turn and the sight that accompanied the noise made him jump. It was the sound of tiny claws brushing against metal. There was a little black furball bounding up the stairs towards him. Somehow, the stupid animal had survived the fall. How obnoxious.
"Kitties always land on der feet." Boomed the red-skinned orge, nodding slowly. "Everybody knows dat."
"Well if you know so much about 'kitties'," Raditz snarled, "then you take it!" He lifted the frustating little animal by its neck and held it out but all of the aliens took a step back, holding up their hands, tentacles, hoofs, paws - whatever limbs they had that were equivalent to hands.
"Finders, keepers." Said the humanoid slug warrior as he headed further into the ship.
The green lizard blinked each of its four eyes in turn before muttering. "I'm allergic to fur."
The satyr shook its head, his hoofs tapping against the floor as he walked indoors. "Ye arr a ful."
"Dak kitties be bad luck." Said the ogre.
Raditz arced an eyebrow. Now this was an interesting development. On the one hand, the 'kitty' - whatever the heck a name like that was supposed to imply - was annoying. It's whole attitude and appearance just got on Raditzs nerves. On the other hand, everyone else seemed afraid of it. That could be useful.
"I guess you can stay for now." Raditz told the cat in a low voice as he stepped aboard the ship and walked down a corridor. "Let's get one thing straight though, I'm in charge."
He had pointed at the kitten to emphasize his words but the little animal only responded by playfully batting the air, trying to sink its claws into his finger. Raditz scowled - feeling like an idiot for talking aloud to the animal at all and annoyed in general by its behavior. He plunked the cat onto the floor with the hopes that it would get trampled or lost. Instead the cat kept pace, scampering loyally alongside of Raditz as if he'd known the animal for more than fifteen minutes.