I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 2: Kerrigan's story
"Argh, damn that thing to hell!" I shouted, punching the wall harshly. A blood vessel or two opened up when I did that, causing the wall to bleed.
"Now now, going off like a lunatic isn't going to help you. It certainly could be worse!" Kerrigan scolded with her shaking finger.
"How so?" I asked.
"You could be under his full control. Trust me, you don't want that to happen. I suggest you do what he says for now," she said with a warning glare.
"I guess you're right," I muttered, kicking the bleeding wall.
"You're lucky you didn't have to go through the soul binding procedure because you weren't dead. You think its bad now, try going through that a time or two and this will be a cakewalk," she said.
"What was it like for you? I mean how did you get infested and all?" I asked.
"It's a long story," she said sadly.
"I think we have the time for it," I said, taking a seat on the slimy floor.
"I suppose you're right, and I doubt anyone will notice right now. The Overmind will probably be too focused on landing this big organic mass without crashing it," Kerrigan sighed as she took a seat as well, "It all started when I joined the military for the Terrans in this sector, since I was the daughter of the demon king, I had some special abilities. I didn't know the full extent of those until after I was infested, and I barely remember the man I called father. I was enlisted as a Ghost, which were used primarily for special ops involving snipers and negotiation. Back then there was a faction here known as the Terran Confederacy, a group that broke off from the Earth of this dimension. It had a lot of colonies spread about this area, numbering up to twenty planets, maybe more. The confederate's Ghost program was brutal to most, but especially to me. Since I was different than any other ghost that they had, they would perform experiments on me that they wouldn't on the others, and some involved torture! Not the high point of my life with some of those experiments," she said sadder now.
"That's horrible!" I said in surprise.
"Well I got back at them in the end," she started again, "During the latter part of the Confederate reign, a planet by the name of Korhal became a planet of outlaws. A man by the name of Arcturus Mengsk came to power there, organizing a rebellion before taking over the planet. The Confederates tried to crush their movement by bombarding the planet with nuclear weapons, but they could not get Mengsk. Soon enough Mengsk's forces built up enough to hold off the Confederates and move around this sector. Shortly before then was when I first encountered the Zerg. The Confederates had stumbled upon them by accident and had found a way to lure them in to study them. Namely me, a ghost leaves behind a neural imprint of Psi, just enough to lure a few Zerg that might be nearby to check it out. This gave them an excellent plan to use Psi emitters to crush their enemies without getting their hands dirty, and many were constructed and ready to deposit on Korhal. Just picture it, they drop the emitter with some supplies on an unsuspecting planet. Then after the Zerg arrive and destroy mostly everything, they sweep in and take them out and become the heroes. Quite a disgusting idea if you ask me," she scowled.
I nodded, "Sounds like a bunch of cowards!"
"You got that right. Anyway, Mengsk interfered with their plans and saved me, then had destroyed the base containing the Psi emitters. About five years passed as we moved about to disrupt the Confederates plans. They had a general by the name of Edmund Duke leading their best troops. There was a reason for it too, many times we struck at the Confederate Capitol world of Tarsonis, and every time we lost because of Duke's craftiness. We must have fought the same defenses ten or eleven times and got beat by the same man."
"Heh, sounds embarrassing," I said with a grin.
She returned the glance, "It was. It was about eight years ago when we came across a man by the name of Marshall James Raynor, a very skilled marine on a colony planet called Mar Sara. The confederates had watched him and his colony for awhile, and felt that he was a bit too comfortable out there. He and his troops were some of the best they had ever seen. So they placed a Psi emitter on the surface. It took a few weeks, but the Zerg arrived in numbers and overran the colony. Mengsk however intervened and got Raynor and his men out of there before the Zerg killed them all. While doing so, we raided the planet's Confederate outpost and found out about the Psi emitters for the first time; we had unknowingly destroyed them before. Then we headed to a colony called Antiga prime, where the Antigans were ready to begin open revolt against the Confederates. Duke found out about this early and stationed a large squadron of troops there to prevent any such thing from going down. Raynor and I got into the base and killed Duke's officers, and then we defeated the troops that were there. Then the Zerg suddenly showed up during the middle of a civil war!"
"Wow that is wild," I said, very interested in the story despite knowing most of it as it was. I didn't mind though, it beat listening to the Overmind's crap right now.
"Yeah, they showed up and ambushed Duke and his troops, isolating them from outside help. I thought I would finally get to see the bastard go down," she said, slightly angry.
"So what happened then?"
"Mengsk saved his ass, and amazingly enough Duke accepted his offer to join him, though he felt shaky about it. Afterwards the Confederates arrived by the masses, and blocked us in so we couldn't escape. Since we now had the Psi emitters, we used their own weapon against them. I planted a Psi emitter in the Confederate's base, and then got the hell out of there. Just as we planned, the Zerg arrived and broke the blockade for us to escape with. And then Tarsonis," she paused.
"What about Tarsonis? That must have been a battle!" I exclaimed.
"It was, we defeated the Confederates main defenses in orbit around the planet, but then Mengsk ordered Duke to plant Psi emitters on the platforms in orbit. I was totally against the idea, and so was Jim, I mean Captain Raynor. He followed through with it anyway and we watched the Zerg come down by the millions to completely decimate the Confederate capitol," she explained.
"And, how did you deal with that many Zerg?"
"We didn't technically, The Protoss arrived next. We discovered that they had been following the trail of Zerg and beat on every planet until it was either destroyed or unable to support life, thus wiping out any Zerg there. They arrived next on Tarsonis and threatened to do the same there. Mengsk theorized that they would interfere long enough for the Confederates to escape, so he sent me down there to hold them off. We weren't to touch the Zerg unless they struck first, but we were to wipe out the Protoss there. I took a small detachment and defeated them at a place called New Gettysburg. Shortly after that, I died," she looked down slightly.
"What, the Protoss got you?" I asked.
"No, the Zerg hit us hard after we defeated the Protoss and drove them off, I called for help but Mengsk didn't send any. I heard Jim and him arguing over it for quite a time before my troops were all slain, as was I. The Overmind had my body preserved and transformed into what you see now. After learning of my latent powers, we came this way, chasing the wizard Babidi and my father Dabura. You probably can figure out the rest," she finished.
"Humph, some past, but then mine isn't exactly a walk in the park either I guess," I said, giving off a slight grin with a rub of the head.
"I suppose I better tell you what's going to be going on since were about to descend upon the planet," she said. I reached out with my senses, aside from all of the Zerg around me, I did notice we were coming up to a planet.
"You are to seek out and destroy the rag tag pieces of Terran troops here and there. Consider it a first test of your loyalty, after all you want to keep your free will right?" she said.
I scowled right away, "You do realize how much I disapprove don't you?"
"Yes, but like I said, you don't want the latter. It's not that these Terrans are any good either, they are remnants of the old Confederacy," she explained.
"Hey, whatever happened to Mengsk?" I asked.
"Oh him, he had himself crowned emperor and Jim Raynor went his own way, he rebelled against Mengsk and escaped amazingly. I haven't seen either of them for a long time, something I am grateful for," she said with a scowl. Suddenly everything around us shook violently before coming to a huge crash.
"We've landed."
Interlude 2.1 -Problems arise-
Judicator Aldaris scowled when his assistant Croton gave his report.
"As you can see Judicator, we will need to stop and find replacement parts for the hyper drive. The pylon crystals will not last for long without a sufficient plasma-cooling tank. We owe out thanks to the blob known as Buu for this problem. Our previous tank is now wearing thin, not to mention we need replacement coolant for the amount we lost!" Croton said, looking nervous. Aldaris's scowl deepened, and the high Templar grumbled a bit.
"Fine, stop at the nearest port and see what you can find for parts. While you're at it, find out how much of a lead we have on Tassadar. I don't want him catching up!" Croton scurried about with those orders before coming back a few minutes later.
"Sire, I estimate that we have one week until the dimensional wall. Then it is possible to send a message home for immediate interdimensional recall!"
Aldaris allowed his frown to lighten some, "And Tassadar?"
"Currently he is about two weeks behind. Once we cross the threshold it will be a good two to three months before he comes back to Auir. Since they are using a Carrier for transport, their hyper drive isn't as advanced and his transmitter will not be capable of long range," Croton said with a nod of the head.
Aldaris sighed with slight relief, "Good, we will be waiting for him when he comes back. Now where is the nearest port?" After punching some buttons and getting a computerized readout, Croton read the display.
"Looks to be an outpost of the old Kold Empire nearby, shouldn't be much trouble finding replacement parts here. As I understand they are quite technological as well!"
"Proceed with caution though, these infidels were once allied with the Saiyans. They could be just as treacherous!"
"Understood Judicator!" Croton replied, setting course to the spaceport. Aldaris sat back in his chair, impatience flooding through his mind.
-
"We're receiving a transmissionfrom the station sire!" Croton announced about twenty minutes later.
"Put it through," Aldaris mumbled, gathering himself so not to insult or mock whatever creature appeared on the screen.
"Approaching vessel, this is Frieza planet number seventy-seven, identify yourselves! Your ships do not register with any organization we are familiar with," a purple-headed soldier said from the screen. Aldaris looked this one over quickly. It had a purple head with green dots around its head and wore similar armor that the Saiyans had worn. It looked to have shoulder guards as well, and it was a different color.
"We are the Protoss, we represent planet Auir. We wish to stop for replacement parts and coolant for our hyper drive as it is beginning to wear apart," Aldaris announced without insulting the creature, something he had trouble doing. One thing he never liked about his position was associating with any other than his own race. Even contact with the lower Protoss were better than this to him.
The purple creature seemed to be looking something up first, "Is this planet Auir in this galaxy? Because I do not register its existence," it said.
Aldaris scowled a bit, "In case you did not know, there is a secret dimensional rift wall light years from here. It is difficult to find and does not stretch for very far, but it is there. Our planet is in that dimension, we were chasing down some tyrants from there and are returning home," Aldaris said, stretching the truth to say the least.
"I'm going to have to contact Lord Frost over this matter before I can allow you to dock. Only he can approve of the purchase of any parts for your ships, please stand by," it said, and the screen was replaced with the blackness of space.
"Lord Frost huh, sounds like a strange character," Croton muttered.
"Perhaps, but then again if he is any relation to this Frieza person, we may be able to barter with him. As I understand, Frieza hated the Saiyans," Aldaris grinned a bit.
The transmission returned, "I have contacted Lord Frost, he awaits your arrival at Dock number fourteen. Pardon for any confusion, but its been a long time since we have encountered a new race in this part of the galaxy," the purple man said.
"Pardoned," Aldaris said respectfully. The transmission ended abruptly, and Aldaris sat back into his chair, bored again.
"Croton, is the Saiyan ready to talk yet?"
"No sire, he still refuses to tell us anything about his powers, may I suggest we turn down the ki collar settings by five percent to see what makes them work?"
Aldaris sighed, "At the first sign of trouble you turn them back up, we don't need him getting loose around here! Otherwise do what you need to figure out how his ki works, inform me of the results!"
"Understood Judicator, we will begin after repairs are completed!" Croton said, giving a bow. Aldaris nodded and watched as they approached the space station, only slightly eager to meet this Frost person.
-
Goku sighed as he watched his son and father spar together. Ever since they left Earth, Gohan had been more distant then ever before in all his life. All he wanted to do was train and spar, he hardly ever said a word about it. It had been one month since they left Earth, and according to Tassadar they were about three weeks away from the dimensional portal that they would use to get to the other galaxy. Since the ship didn't have any long-range transmitters, they couldn't contact anyone that was more than ten light years away, according to Tassadar anyway. Goku never really understood technology that much, but he had a pretty good idea how much a light year was in distance. Off to the side, Vegeta and Fasha were also sparring together. They had seemingly grown slightly closer because of their ties to Verto, and Vegeta wanted to test the girl as much as possible. Goku immediately thought of the connection between Fasha and Verto. He, like many others, didn't truly approve of the match. True the girl seemed devoted enough, but it was more like she was trying to please her prince and not the boy. They loved each other sure enough, Goku and everyone else could see that, but it was more of a lust than love on her part. That general longing for each other had decreased dramatically when Vegeta had Shenron turn him back into an eight year old. Of course that would be expected of the boy not to share the same feelings. Fasha held onto them secretly, but they slowly faded from the outside and no one was even be able to tell this was the same woman. It was more like she had become his older sister, or something similar. Goku sighed, he hadn't known Verto that long, but yet still missed him like a son. He glanced behind him, where Tora seemed to be meditating.
I think Fasha would be better off with Tora, Vegeta practically threw them together from what I understand. I don't know how he expects Verto to adjust back and forth like that. It would be better for him to just grow up naturally, seems like bad luck just follows that little guy, Goku thought to himself. A loud groan came from his father, who was holding his stomach in pain. The result of a power punch from Super Mystic Gohan would make anyone groan.
"Well at least I can't accuse my grandson of being weak," Bardock grumbled.
Gohan managed to grin and rub the back of his head, "Sorry Grandpa, I sort of get lost in the moment sometimes!"
"Well, I won't say to prevent that from happening. Enemies don't deserve mercy," Bardock replied.
"I guess it's a good think that you aren't an enemy then," Gohan said, chuckling slightly.
Goku smiled as Gohan had actually laughed, it had been at least a few weeks since he did. He must really miss Videl; I never thought her death would affect him this much since he knows we can wish her back! Then again I suppose I wouldn't be the same if I ever lost Chichi the way he lost Videl. Gohan powered down from Super Mystic and buried his energy once more. Bardock did the same, him being at Super Saiyan two.
"Wow Gohan, looks like you have that transformation down now!" Goku exclaimed.
"Not really Dad. I still have to get angry, nor have I gotten all of the power from it. The ship isn't a good place for me to test its depths; maybe if we run across an abandoned planet I can really crank it up. Otherwise I'll need to stay at this level so I don't damage anything," he said softly.
"Well have you learned anything new then?" Goku asked, eager to know if he could do it as well.
"Yeah, this form takes balance to work, meaning the energy levels have to be the same otherwise they don't combine that well. I'm still not sure why it all worked out on Earth because I wasn't focused like now. But my ki is higher than my Psi, so I have to bury some of it so I can get more power. I did figure out a trick with my Psi though, I can summon new ki from it to use should I run low enough to lose the Super Mystic form, it can keep me going for awhile. But I'm about three times as exhausted after I power down, so its still a little tricky," Gohan explained.
"Being able to tap extra power like that would be a great thing to have in a battle against a stronger foe. Can you strengthen yourself further with it?" Bardock asked, holding his ribs.
"No not really, but there might be a way to do it. I just have a lot of extra power to work with to keep me going longer. Other than a few special techniques, its not much of a power up anyway. That balance of both Psi and ki combined is what really cranks out power, but my Psi is too low to match my ki, at least at a high level. It's a pain to keep up sometimes," Gohan said, almost disappointed.
"Nonetheless, it is a great asset to possess, remember that kid!" Bardock warned as Gohan nodded. Fasha was still busy getting the crap beat out of her by the Saiyan prince, but that was expected, Vegeta never held back on anyone. Once she finally took a knee and gave out, Vegeta powered down.
"That's enough for today girl, tomorrow we resume training at this level!" Vegeta stated, walking towards the door.
He stopped there as it swished open, "Kakarot, come with me please!" Goku hesitated, he hardly ever heard the word please, never mind from Vegeta. They stepped from the severe gravity to the ship's platform and out of the room. None of the Saiyans really noticed the gravity increase until sparring, where most of the damage came in. It was also only set to one hundred times gravity, and most of them could handle that with ease. Vegeta said nothing at first, making his way to his chambers. Goku followed him in, careful not to say something that Vegeta would shout at him for.
"What's up?" Goku asked.
Vegeta's scowl didn't ease, "No doubt you've noticed your son's behavior lately?" Goku looked puzzled to say the least, what everyone was feeling usually didn't matter to Vegeta.
"Yeah he has been a bit distant lately, what's wrong with him?"
"He's been more than distant Kakarot! If you weren't so ignorant you would notice how much your son has been training lately. He hardly ever sleeps and eats just enough to give him energy for the next day, do you know why?" Vegeta asked, glaring at Goku.
"Afraid not, why?"
"Argh, if you weren't an idiot and had not hit your head and been raised on Earth, I would vaporize you for an answer like that. The reason is because his mating bond has been broken, and until the Satan girl is wished back, he will continue like this," Vegeta said with a frown.
"I don't know much about these Saiyan bond things really," Goku admitted, which expanded the vein on Vegeta's forehead.
He didn't explode yet, "As to be expected from a clown. You and the others may not believe in their existence, but they fact is that they do exist and they do function. The behavior patterns of others always reveal themselves to the eye of a trained Saiyan. Even with others that are not Saiyans, though that is extremely rare. Back to my point, because of Gohan's predicament, he has to deal with emotions that are ten times more intense than a normal human might. We are fortunate he is in the vengeful part of it, otherwise he wouldn't even train. He would just sit in his room, depressed," Vegeta explained.
"Why would he do that?" Goku asked.
"Idiot! Since his mate has been killed, he intends to hunt down the thing that killed her. It happens whenever a Saiyan's mate has been killed! Gohan will not rest until he has hunted Aldaris down and killed him, then he may just kill himself!"
Goku's expression turned back to shocked. "Why would he kill himself then?"
"Because Kakarot, he would rather die then live by himself and be depressed with the pain of loss! Remember a mating bond is permanent even after death, and the separation will slowly kill him if he doesn't do it himself!"
Goku was quite surprised to learn this, "Then maybe we should turn back and get to New Namek now!"
"No, we continue forth, I have a hunch it may not pan out like that. Since he is only half Saiyan and Videl is human, the bond may not affect him that much like it would if our mates were to kick the bucket. The reason I'm bringing this up is because of the boy," Vegeta shuffled his feet slightly.
"You mean Verto?" Goku asked in confusion.
"Exactly, he has not died yet. Trust me we would have known by now. Even a partial bond like he and the girl share can have full effect if one or the other is killed, and since both are full-blooded Saiyans. Do you get my point Kakarot?"
"Yeah I think so, so should we go to Namek and wish him here as well?"
Vegeta's veins on his forehead began to expand quite a bit, "What good would that do Kakarot? We would still have the Protoss and the Zerg to deal with, and we don't know what state the boy is in right now! For all we know he could be infested and could kill us all in that state. You recall the energy we sensed from Borgos when he was infested, we have to assume that the boy could be three times as powerful with some of his potential!"
"Then what do we do?" Goku asked, dumbfounded.
"We continue on course. If the boy has succumbed to their will, we may hear from him sooner than later. The girl may be the only way to get him back if he is truly under the Overmind's control! I would prefer not to have to kill him if that is the case!" Vegeta claimed. Goku glanced out the space window along side his long time rival, both of them wondering what the future would bring.