Chapter 5: War
Time past quickly for the new elites. Ten years later, Gohan was now one of Bulma's personal guards, and Videl had managed to attain the rank of second-class warrior, though she didn't join the army. Trunks courted Pan in secret; only he, Bura, Ninji, Barli, Bulma, and Pan's family knew.
Ninji had opened up to Pan after about five years, and was actually quite fun to be around. Ninji had married an elite, Tucce. Barli was also married, to a first-class woman named Ringo. She was pregnant with their first child.
Videl and Gohan had children also, twin boys named Kakarotto and Taiko, who were mischievous troublemakers at only four years old. Bura let them follow her and Pan around, as Videl had asked Pan to teach her younger brothers how to fight. By the time they entered basic training, they had the power and training to qualify as elites, but their parents made them pretend ignorance and constantly hide their ki from their teachers and peers.
The royal family knew, as Gohan had asked king Vejita's permission before he began training them. Vejita took a personal interest in their training, making sure they had the best teacher, namely himself. He reserved one of the training facilities for royal uses only in the afternoons, and the royal fighters and their guards trained strenuously.
"Keep your guard up, brat,' Vejita yelled to Kakarotto, who had just taken a hit from Taiko. He turned to Taiko, "Follow up on your advantage next time, gaki! You hit him, and he didn't retaliate. Hit him again!" They kept fighting while Vejita kept a running commentary.
Ninji was sparring Bura, and the princess was winning. Pan still marveled at the demi-Kurohyujin's flexibility. Ninji charged Bura, assailing her with a barrage of punches and kicks, all of which Bura managed to block. Bura returned with a close-range ki blast, but Ninji dodged and disappeared, reappearing behind Bura. Before she could attack, Bura elbow rammed her stomach. The princess turned around, landing a kick right in Ninji's stomach.
Pan sighed, looking away form the fight. Bura was going to win, she could tell. She looked around for someone to spar with. Goten was sparring with Barli, and her brothers were fighting under Vejita, and her parents were sparring.
"Hey Trunks," Pan said, going to stand by him. He looked at his father, who wasn't looking, and gave her a quick kiss. Pan frowned. "When are you going to tell him?" Her tail lashed in frustration.
"Soon, Pan-chan," he reassured her. She growled at him. He had said that before, and at twenty-six she was getting impatient. "All right, I'll tell him tomorrow. I know he'll approve of you Pan; you're the strongest female on the planet and he genuinely likes you." Pan snorted.
"Yeah right," She said. She knew what Trunks meant, that his father could tolerate her presence. The king didn't like anyone except his mate and daughter. And possibly the twins, but that was probably just because they adored him and did everything he asked without question. She returned to her original question, "Wanna spar?" Suddenly a guard rushed in, saluting to Vejita.
"Excuse me your highness!" he said loudly. Vejita turned to him. "But there is a large unknown squadron heading right towards Vejitasei whose leader demands to speak with you."
"I'll be there shortly," the king announced. He turned to the twins. "Go full out. I want one of you unable to walk before this stops. Trunks, Bura, to the throne room now!" Then he grabbed Bulma's arm and IT-ed away. Trunks grabbed Barli and Pan's arms and followed, leaving Bura to take Goten and Ninji. They reappeared to see a man who looked human on the screen. He had dark blonde hair and green eyes.
"You." the king barked at the man. "Why have you brought a squadron against Vejitasei?" The man's eyes narrowed.
"To exact revenge upon your race," he said. "Saiyajins destroyed our planet years ago, and now we will destroy you! Make peace with the kamis, king, because you'll be meeting them soon enough." With that the unknown man cut the connection, leaving the throne room silent.
"What a lame comment!" Pan said to Ninji. "Everyone knows you don't see the Kamis when you die, you see King Yama." Ninji nodded in agreement, a small smile on her lips.
"Shall I call the elites, king?" Trunks asked calmly, his had on the intercom button. His father nodded, and Trunks pressed down. "All elites report to the throne room ready for battle immediately! All elites report immediately."
Warriors began appearing within seconds, all in their armor. Once they were all there (about one hundred) King Vejita briefed them of the situation, and assigned them ships.
"There will be five ships total," he ended. "twenty-five warriors on the first four, and myself and Prince Trunks on the fifth, smaller vessel. The ships launch in twenty five minutes, so make your good-byes quickly." The warriors all left, and Pan approached the king.
"King Vejita," she said firmly. "I request permission to accompany you and Trunks-kou instead of remaining here with Bura-hime."
"Your job is to protect the princess, soldier," he told her sharply. "Why should I let you come?" Pan thought for a moment.
"Because by helping you defeat these people, I'll be preventing them from reaching Bura-hime," Pan replied. "Thus, I'll be protecting her." He stared at her for a moment.
"Fine, you may come," he said. Suddenly he gave her a knowing smirk. "You can keep the prince company." At the startled looks he got from all present, he added, "I would have had to be stupid not to notice all the time they spent together. Besides, he calls her by name. Don't worry, boy, I approve. Now, lets go, we have a battle to fight." He stared at his daughter, then looked at Barli. "You! Take her place with my daughter."
As they neared the oncoming ships, Vejita stopped the squadron. "Soldiers will attack in five minutes!" He announced over the inter-ship link. "Get in position now." (AN: I know the series was controversial as to whether Saiyajin could breathe in space; Bardock's flashback saying yes, Freiza saying no, but I say yes, so there. And so can demi-saiyajins, also because I say so.)
"King Vejita?" Goten said tentatively. "May I make a suggestion?" the king nodded. "If you place one group of twenty-five on either side at 130o from our position in the asteroid belts, the squadron will be surrounded before they realize there aren't as many saiyajins as there should be. After all, Saiyajins have a reputation for head on assault and overconfidence in their abilities. Lets use that to our advantage."
"That sounds like a decent plan," the king admitted. "Implement it immediately." Goten bowed, and took the com unit from Trunks.
"Member of ship 296Q will position themselves inside the asteroids to the left. Crew of ship 965A will position themselves inside the asteroids to the right. Remain hidden until the prince gives a signal."
"Who the hell is this?" A rough voice asked him over the com. King Vejita spoke.
"That was General Goten, now stop asking questions and move!"
"Yes sir!"
Goten's plan worked perfectly. They destroyed all of the ships but one, a small ship, whose inhabitants were taken prisoner on the king's ship. The newly appointed general and Pan questioned them on the return visit.
"Where are you from?" he said sharply to one of the prisoners. There were only three, two men and a woman. They were all bound in cells, just in case.
"From Jibousei," One of the men finally answered. He had white-blonde hair, like both of the other two captives, and amethyst colored eyes. The other man let out an exclamation at his companion's capitulation. "Shut it, Ori. Our entire race is gone except for us. There is nothing to protect anymore, not even a planet. They've killed us all."
"He's right," the woman said dejectedly.
"We've never attacked a planet name Jibousei," Pan said. "How long ago did you say it was destroyed?"
"Eight years ago," Ori said, his dark purple eyes radiating his hate. "We were just sitting at home, not doing anything, when ki blasts rained down upon our planet. We survived because we were underground at the time, about two hundred of us."
"That wasn't saiyajins," Goten told him, "eight years ago we fought no war, we had to quell a rebellion here on Vejitasei. If saiyajins did destroy your home, it was rogue saiyajins. Not the army."
"Not...saiyajins?" Sumi asked. Her bluish-purple eyes showed disbelief. "but I saw the spaceship! It was saiyajin!"
"Saiyajins aren't the only ones with that type of spaceship," Pan said angrily. "The queen designed it, yes, but we sold the design to other planets over twenty years ago." The three Jiboujins absorbed this information slowly.
"So we were lied to?" Hake said, more to his companions than the saiyajins. His eyes hardened. "But now the saiyajin truly have finished off our race."
"Nonsense," Pan said, exasperated. "You three are still alive, aren't you?"
"You're not going to kill us?" Sumi asked warily.
"Not unless you try to kill us," Goten replied. He unlocked their cells. "Now get up." Sumi rushed over to Hake, and he held her as she cried.
"You two are together?" Pan asked, a note of sympathy in her voice. They nodded, just as Trunks entered.
"Guys, we've landed on Vejitasei," he said. "What have you found out from the prisoners?"
"They were told that their planet was destroyed by saiyajins eight years ago," Goten said. Trunks opened his mouth to reply, but Goten continued. "We told them that was impossible because of the rebellion. They're from Jibousei. Sumi and Hake are those two, and Ori is the other. This is Prince Trunks of Vejitasei."
"Welcome to Vejitasei," Trunks said. "refugees of Jibousei."
"We won't be killed as enemies of Vejitasei?" Ori asked, thinking of the saiyajin reputation.
"I think I can show my father that you were misled," Trunks said. "You can become citizens of Vejitasei if you like, or you can go to another planet. But for now, come on, its time to disembark."
