Prologue: Best served cold


As the sun rose, they fell from the sky.

A faint breeze played through the branches of the trees, singing the sweet song of spring. That same wind slipped down to caress the cool green grass, turning the fields into an emerald ocean. The light of dawn peeked over the mountains, illuminating the plant life and providing it with the promise of a long day of warmth. Unfortunately for the grassy fields and tall trees, such a promise would be denied them. They explosion was incredible.

The impact seemed to freeze time, the metal sphere appearing to stop as soon as it touched the flowing grass, as though the earth might repel it back into the dreadful void of space. It didn't. The moment passed, and outward from the impact came a wave of destruction. The cool spring breeze transformed into a raging tempest in a split second, ripping the trees it once caressed from their roots and hurtling them hundreds of feet through the air. The grass soon followed, forced into the air from the upward flow of dirt and rocks. The entire valley was filled with dirt and dead plants, which flew outward as far as the impact compelled them, before falling back to the earth that had once birthed them.

For a long moment, all was quiet.

The metal orb rested snugly in its crater, tucked approximately one hundred meters into the earth. There was no movement in the valley for several minutes, at which time Mother Nature surely wept for the children she had lost that morning.

Then, just as the ascending sun touched the red insignia on the pod, it slowly opened.


Piccolo saw the meteor on his way through the city, gasping at the sound of the impact without even realizing it. He spun in mid flight, focusing his gaze on the growing plume of dust and debris that rose into the air. He had been taken completely by surprise, but began to fly toward the valley as fast as he could. It took only a few moments for him to leave the cities limits, at which time he found himself buffeted by the remains of the shockwave that had surely decimated the valley. It was hardly enough to even slow Piccolo down, though he noticed that the slowly deteriorating wave managed to flip a few cars that cruised on the highway below him.

Ignoring the plight of a few motorists for a more direct danger, Piccolo flew on as fast as he could. The copse of trees and meadow was a good distance away from the city, far enough that it took him a few minutes of flight to reach his destination. He slowed immediately, swinging upright and dropping quickly to the earth. The long cloak behind him flared up as he fell, his feet finally touching the packed dirt with hardly a sound. What he saw shocked him into a state close to petrification. He was staring at a space pod, the likes of which he hadn't seen in several years. Leaping into the air, the Namekian warrior flew toward the craft, noticing with anxiously that the ship appeared to be sealed. He let out a quiet sigh of relief, hovering twenty feet from the pod. There was a chance that it was empty, deserted, with no danger of the men or monsters that might inhabit it. Slowly Piccolo drifted over to the craft, intending to take a quick look before he destroyed it with a well-placed blast of ki. Hopefully, that would exterminate any life form that might be in stasis within the pod.

As he neared the ship, he noticed an emblem on it that he had never seen before, though he knew that it didn't belong to Frieza, Cooler, or any of his minions. This added tenfold to his fear, for it meant that whoever had once piloted the craft could be the warriors that Trunks had spoken of, arriving months before they should have. He silently prayed that was not the case. It was then that Piccolo saw the opening on the other side of the ship, barely visible from where he floated. With a burst of speed and a fluttering cloak, he was around it, leaning into the opening. A quick glance confirmed his suspicions, only times two.

The ship was empty, and there were two seats back to back within it, not just one as he had expected. He leaned further in, scanning the craft quickly. It was dead and quiet, no thrum and hum of running machinery, which meant that it was either damaged or shut down, and the owners were already out in the world. But they couldn't have gone far, with the time it took for him to reach the crash site. Piccolo leapt up from the pod, drifting slowly into the air. He slowly lowered his energy level, just enough to sustain his position above the ground. He had hoped that the visitors hadn't sensed him, either by lack of skill or lack of equipment. He would prefer to have the element of surprise should the aliens be hostile. Piccolo found himself surprised instead.

"You." A cold, emotionless voice sounded from a distance behind him. "You killed my father."

Piccolo spun, relying on his speed to provide him with enough time to defend himself. The great Namekian warrior didn't even finish the rotation, when the entire world went black.


A/N

Author's Note: My first DBZ Story, and one I had in my mind for years. I have several good plot line ideas, and hopefully this can go well. I can't guarantee updates often, as I have so many other stories that need to be worked on. Let me know what you think of this opening prologue. I'll have the first chapter ready to go as soon as possible.