by DoraMouse
Part Three: 744 A.D.
Life went on, establishing a cycle - a routine of sorts - until Raditz felt like all he had ever done was sleep, eat, take medical tests, spar and conquer planets. There were days when he felt like some sort of automated machine, hollow inside and bound to follow orders. Committed to going through the motions. He tried to convince himself, rather unsuccessfully, that it wasn't too bad of a deal really. The orders were reasonable, the army kept him alive and conquering worlds was the type of work where you knew that you were making a difference. But at the same time, if taking over worlds was all that you ever did... Then it just sort of lost meaning after a while.
The root of the problem was that Raditz was growing steadily more bored. He'd never thought it was possible that fighting would be dull but that day had come and gone. You can only vaporize so many angry self-righteous alien warriors before it starts to feel like your life is stuck in reruns with the same few scenes repeating over and over.
Anymore it seemed as if all the battles were the same. The natives of each planet were always pitifully weak and usually lived clustered together in magnificent ancient cities surrounded by durable stone walls. The walls always tended to work against the natives more than they had expected, trapping them. The few planets where the natives had advanced weaponry - meaning guns instead of swords or wooden spears with sharpened rock tips - would typically rush to send their forces out all at once and try a direct forward assault. The doomed natives were usually talented at marching in formation but that tended to be the extent of their skills.
Occasionally a variation on the pattern would happen. Freezias spacecraft might sometimes land on a planet with laser technology, aircraft, spacecraft, submarines, powerful magicians or natives that were too busy fighting with each other to notice the intruders. But the end result was always the same - Freezias Army was too experienced and too powerful to be defeated. No matter what the army ended up fighting against, they had seen it all before. The warriors working for Freezia knew how to destroy aircraft, sink ships, deflect lasers and counteract most magic. Plus the low-class warriors were expendable and Freezias Army was vast, so if the natives ever did manage to destroy one group of Freezias soldiers then another shipload of them would arrive. The more the natives resisted, the more they sealed their own grisly fates. Freezia and his higher-ranked warriors probably placed bets on how many soldiers it would take to claim certain worlds.
One thought lead to another and Raditz shuddered involuntarily. He was pacing in a narrow hallway.
Zarbon had told him to keep the stupid cat for a reason. Of course, it was hardly the cats fault. Raditz mentally kicked himself - it was his fault. He should have just gotten rid of the animal. Then he wouldn't have had the chance to care about it.
While Raditz was in hibernation between missions, Zarbon took care of the cat. Or at least, he had someone do that for him because the cat seemed to have enough common sense to avoid Zarbon. The animal just really didn't like him and it was also fairly obvious that the Zarbon wasn't terribly fond of the furball either.
Zarbon was, however, fond of Raditz. By keeping the cat, Zarbon had created a perfectly valid reason to invite Raditz over to his chambers whenever he wanted. Just the way that Zarbon tended to word those invitations was embarrassing - there was always an implied double meaning. He made it seem as though Raditz owed him some sort of favor since he'd watched out for the cat.
So far Raditz had always managed to keep his visits to under twenty seconds. Just long enough to drop by, get the cat and make a hasty excuse to leave. Zarbon was getting ever more persistant though and so was the pressure. Giving in would shatter Raditzs self-esteem but it might also be his only chance to get a promotion.
Raditz was old enough to be aware that in some cultures - and most situations - where the males outnumbered the females, love between males was normal. But the general idea made him queasy. His basic attitude on this issue was similar to his outlook on religion. Raditz felt that other people could believe whatever the heck they wanted just so long as they didn't try to force any of it on him. He was a low-class soldier but Raditz still felt entitled to some rights. Choosing what he believed and who he felt like horsing around with were two of those rights.
The mere thought of being intimate with Zarbon, who was hell-only-knew how much older than him, was enough to make Raditz want to throw up. The fact that Zarbon was so smitten with the idea only made it worse. Raditz knew that if he didn't give in then sooner or later, Zarbon would just take the initiative and one of these days he'd regain consciousness in Zarbons private chambers instead of a hibernation room. It was quite likely that the only reason Zarbon hadn't already violated him was because Zarbon had other partners who were more willing to play.
Raditz made a couple quiet gagging sound effects as he paced. This had to stop, it was deeply disturbing and it just made him uncomfortable. He felt hunted. He'd rather be dead than one of Zarbons pet projects and unfortunately, that would probably be the case. Raditz was left with the sickening feeling that he couldn't address the subject in a delicate manner and expect to get the results he wanted. He'd have to risk ticking Zarbon off and if that didn't get him killed then, in the worst case scenario, it also might completely fail to make Zarbon stop liking him.
If only there was a way to stay alive, get the promotion AND get far, far away from Zarbon without effectively torching his own dignity... Raditz resisted the impulse to bang his head on a wall. The engineers had yelled at him the last time he'd done that. Walls weren't cheap to repair.
The door to Zarbons chambers was just down the corridor from where Raditz was pacing. He paused in the center of the corridor, closing his eyes and listening. Raditz could just barely make out the faint but unmistakable high-pitched screeching sound of eight claws being dragged slowly down the other side of the reinforced metal door. Cat. It was uncanny, the animal always seemed to know when he was around.
With a sigh, Raditz gradually pushed all his other thoughts aside. If cat was scratching the door then, logically, cat was by the door and so it shouldn't take long to get the animal out of there.
He gathered his courage and went to the door. There weren't any knobs, the door was sealed by some computer and you had to enter a password on a digital numberpad to get the door to open. In Raditzs opinion, this security measure seemed idiotic because it meant that anytime there was a power surge or a computer problem then all the doors remained sealed. Raditz suspected that if he ever set both feet into Zarbons chambers, the door would conveniently get jammed and he'd be trapped inside. Sure, he could always just blow the stupid door to oblivion but this particular door was actually fairly sturdy and so a feat like that might take time.
Raditz shuddered again then gathered his shaken composure and made himself knock. The few seconds before the door slid open sideways seemed to last an eternity. Raditz stood still to indicate that he clearly had no intention of going in the room and he kept his eyes down - he didn't care to see Zarbon, the interior of Zarbon chambers or anything but cat.
Cat knew this routine by now and quickly stepped out of the room as soon as the door was open far enough for the animal to fit through. Raditz scowled sideways at it, trying his best to conceal his relief by seeming like he really didn't care that much. The less he seemed to care, the less that Zarbon could make it seem as if he were owed a favor.
"Ah. There you are, I expected that you'd drop by eventually." Zarbon said with a hint of forced pleasantry.
Raditz glanced up just enough to see that Zarbon had been scratched recently and was applying a bandage to the cuts on his arm. Raditz chewed on the inside of his cheek to keep himself from grinning at the sight.
"Did you have pleasant dreams while hibernating, hmmm?" Zarbons voice dropped back into the more subtle tone he seemed to reserve for flirting. "Do come in and have a drink? I insist."
Raditz ignored Zarbon by crouching down and pretending to be mildly amazed that cat was so much bigger. It was an act but it always worked.
Cat wasn't little anymore, it hadn't been the last few times Raditz had seen it. He wasn't sure what the exact species of the animal was but apparently it wasn't quite as much of a domestic feline as he'd first assumed. Cat had gone from being a docile furball that fit in the palm of Raditzs hand to being a somewhat sassy creature that weighed nearly forty pounds. The creature had a lean, muscular body that was close to five feet long and was just over two feet tall when cat was sitting up. The faint orange freckles that had once sat in contrast to the black fur were more golden now and the markings had changed shape, taking on more diverse forms. There were gold dots on the animals head and golden orange rosettes on the back. Faint golden stripes under the eyes and on each leg. Thin bands of golden fur were set at neat intervals all down the animals tail.
Standing next to cat always made Raditz more aware of just how much the animal had grown. Cats shoulder blades were now level with Raditzs kneecaps. If cat had ever wanted to then it could have easily jumped up on its hind paws and placed its forepaws on Raditzs shoulders.
Once he'd snubbed Zarbon for just long enough to make it seem like he'd been too distracted to have heard the offer for drinks, Raditz stood and spoke with a tone of finality. "I have to go train." That was all Raditz had ever said to Zarbon in situations like this. It was a credible excuse for leaving.
He backed away for a couple steps, carefully making sure that his tail was safely out of grabbing range before turning and walking quickly away with cat bounding gracefully alongside of him. Raditz didn't know if anyone else aboard the spacecraft knew about saiyan tails generally being a weak point but it wasn't something that he wanted to risk having others find out.
The spacecraft was currently on a short trip which was why most of the low-class warriors were allowed to stay awake. Within an hour the spaceship was due to arrive on Freezia Planet 404s - the s at the end of the label being used to designate the world as a slave planet. The ship would unload its cargo here. The women, children and eldery people that had been captured at the last battle would be sorted out and sold at auction to the kind of wealthy creatures that viewed planets as collectibles and lifeforms as interesting accessories.
Meanwhile the enslaved men - and anyone else that either had possessed a weapon before being captured or that had worn a recognizable warrior uniform - would be sent to the stadium for an infamous tournament. The tournament was called many things in many languages but in the universal Common language it was best known as the Tournament of Chains.
It was a tournament that was held as often as needed, usually whenever a ship arrived on the planet with a fresh load of slaves. Prisoners would be made to fight the soldiers of Freezias Army again but this time they'd fight one-on-one. Weapons were allowed and every battle was a life or death affair. The match wasn't over until one warrior had successfully murdered their opponent. Losing meant death. Winning meant being recruited into Freezias Army.
For prisoners the Tournament of Chains was a chance to gain revenge, prove their skill and become part of the empires army. For the soldiers it was also a chance to fight and to prove their skill but more a matter of job security. The soldiers had to win in order to keep their jobs and lives. Plus the tournament gave all the warriors in the army a rare chance to visit a planet that they didn't have to conquer or destory. With the tournament going on there would be opportunities for even low-class warriors to get some good food, hear the latest news from around the universe and sleep out under the stars.
So Raditz did actually have to train, it wasn't just an excuse for once. He might be one of the low-class soldiers picked at random to represent Freezias Army and he had to be prepared. Raditz wasn't too concerned about the prisoners posing a threat but there was always the off chance that he could - because it sometimes happened - be pitted against another soldier.
As soon as they were out of sight and out of hearing range of Zarbon, Raditz permitted himself a relieved grin. "Good cat." He muttered under his breath. As an afterthought, he half-jokingly added. "But next time, you've got to scratch 'em where it counts..."