With the blue and green marble entering the view on the porthole, Chayote slowed the ship down. She'd have arrived a few hours earlier if she didn't control the landing though she'd have just crashed on a random location and Bulma would have yelled her ears off about that. Plus, it wasn't as if Chayote didn't intend to blast off once this whole Saiyan crisis was over.
This was it, this was what Goku saw on Korin Tower all those years ago and, after this, there were no more crises on the horizon. It would be many years until Frieza's Army even stumbled across this sector and they'd still be hesitant to check this system as it didn't have all too many valuable resources at all. Those few valuable minerals and gases that it did have could have been found on remote moons all over the system so they'd never even need to check Earth.
The spaceship landed with a satisfying bump. Its mechanical legs bent up by the center but they bounced right back at it, almost as if they weren't compensating for a crazy trip across the entire galaxy just now. Chayote didn't waste any time, she ran out through the opening in the spaceship and looked around, sensing for any important Ki signatures that she couldn't pick up.
"That's Chi-Chi…" Chayote mumbled to herself, sensing a familiar flare far off to the east. "Muten Roshi…" she turned south. Where was everyone? Did they all get killed already? Then how come both Earth and West City appeared to be in perfect condition?
"Well, you finally learned to land properly…" Bulma crossed her arms with a biting look before erupting into joy and running up to the space-faring Saiyan and greeting her. "You might be too late though, the Saiyans are already beaten."
"Wait, what!?" Chayote flipped out. "You mean you didn't even need me in the first place!? Do you have any idea about the kind of journey I had?"
"Well, what Bulma-san said is not entirely correct…" a woman of long, bushy auburn hair appeared from behind Bulma and fixed her round glasses. "My drones have found the Saiyans unconscious in remote locations where your allies have confronted them. By all indications, I'd say that your comrades were victorious in their battle."
"This is Dr. Puri, she's a recent hire at Capsule Corp though her work with robotics and drone technology has been amazing. Honestly, if it wasn't for her stepping up, I'd have torn my beautiful hair out worrying long ago," Bulma deflated after introducing Chayote to the woman.
"Hmm… That's odd, I can't sense any Ki from you," Chayote examined the auburn-haired woman like a dog sniffing around a newly met object of interest.
"Oh, well… You know us, scientists. We aren't much in terms of fighting ability…" Dr. Puri chuckled. She did indeed look absolutely puny even by human standards. She did not lack height though her build was exceptionally slick to the point where a donut might have saved her life.
"I guess… Drones you said?" Chayote caved in, realizing that she likely wouldn't figure out why this woman was a complete hole in her Ki sensory. Even ordinary humans gave out a measly speck of a Ki signature whereas this woman lacked even such a blink of vital energy. If physical weakness truly was the cause of that, she'd have been unable to lift a feather.
"Yes, flying cameras that have adopted military protocols in avoiding detection and destruction. They're small and allow us to scan even a wild battlefield of the greatest martial artists without being damaged or destroyed. It is my greatest invention so far…" Dr. Puri nodded, looking quite proud of herself though she had every reason to be a little bit cocky about her fancy flying cameras.
"I figured that if you can't sense anybody's Ki and they truly have won the battle against the Saiyans, as Dr. Puri suggests, the Dragon Team have all went on to regroup at the God Temple. Who knows if they're just celebrating or if it's something more serious? If they truly are cheering each other, that's awfully reckless of them knowing that a handful of unconscious Saiyans are just scattered all across the planet," Bulma grunted while grinding her teeth exasperated.
"Not even my drone cameras can check-in on this God Temple location. Something smites them down before they break through the clouds…" Dr. Puri lamented.
"Alright, no use standing around, I'm off to the God Temple. Maybe somebody there can tell me what the hell happened. I mean, if I traveled across the galaxy to get here, may as well see everything through to the end even if I'm not needed," Chayote declared with a grumpy tone. She still needed to drop by the Korin Tower for some Senzu anyway. The journey had exhausted her so she'd not be anywhere near her best if she had to fight the Saiyans now.
"Sorry, sorry, no can do, I handed out all the Senzu there is to the rest. Gave Yajirobe a few for the trip too. Maybe Kami's got something that'll fix you up?" Korin shook his head frustrating Chayote even further. The Saiyan hopped over the rails and blasted off to the God Temple.
The moment she breached the magical barrier that prevented anybody from outside sensing Ki signatures that are on the God Temple Chayote realized that her visit would be interesting, to say the least. She sensed at least one massive Ki signature that she couldn't recognize and there was one that she could put a name to but one that had no reason to be there at all.
"It's Chayote!" Krillin pointed at the Saiyan completing her flying arc and landing onto the white tiles of the God Temple. Mr. Popo nodded his head in acknowledgment of her arrival, the rest appeared to ease up on the spot. Everyone in sight looked happy to see Chayote though it wasn't entirely because of the friendly relationship that the Dragon Team shared with one another.
"First things first, I'm beat, do you think you guys can spare some food or something?" Chayote scratched the back of her head with her left arm while her right patted down her own belly.
"Oh…" Krillin searched his pocket and pulled out a Senzu. He flicked it toward the Saiyan. Even though it tasted like seaweed that kept unfurling and expanding in mass when it went down, Chayote welcomed the return of her strength without the massive expenditure of time that it would have taken for her to eat and for Mr. Popo to prepare the amount of food needed to revitalize her. "My fight wasn't too tough so I didn't end up needing my Senzu. I was saving it for the next fight but if you need it then…" Krillin shrugged.
"The next fight?" Chayote repeated.
"This must be the fastest that things went tits up…" Yamcha sighed, scratching the back of his head.
"To think that we won the fight against the Saiyans but ended up in such a nasty situation regardless, we're glad that you're finally here, Chayote," Tenshinhan joined in on the sentiment with an approving nod.
"Okay, so can somebody brief me in already? What happened, where's Kakarot and why is Piccolo Jr. here and whose Ki signature is that?" Chayote pointed at inside the God Temple where she sensed a powerful Ki. To call it dangerous or powerful would have been to do so judging by the Earthling standards though the very presence of someone strong enough to make the human fighters have to try, more so – someone whom nobody has previously met, was the enigma to solve all by itself.
"The Saiyans came early. They attacked all of us individually as we were training all across the world, they were looking for Goku but they weren't sure which Ki signature belonged to him and who were just other strong warriors on this planet," Tenshinhan started the story, so far, Chayote could visualize it all clearly.
The Saiyans would have invaded wearing the scouters. Those scouters didn't tell much about specifics of battle power, only provided a reading of it. The usual tactic of recognizing other targets was to know the exact battle power of each ally and separate them that way or have one's entire squad wear scouters and communicate through scouter signals and readings rather than battle power scanners. Even then, all you'd see is the signal of a scouter and not any specifics about whom it belonged to. The only way to tell who it was you were communicating with was through voice communication. Still, if the scouters were destroyed or even damaged – even that method went out the window.
"We managed to defeat the Saiyans, some struggled more than others. The Saiyans have a frightening ability to trigger their Great Ape transformation at will, to form a ball of Ki in their hand that emulates the natural light of the full moon," Tenshinhan continued.
"I wasn't aware of such a technique, must be a new addition to the Frieza Army," Chayote noted.
"Krillin managed to beat his opponent before he even tried to transform, I managed to stop mine from transforming," Yamcha explained.
"One Saiyan we fought used some projection from inside of his pod to project the full moon and it triggered his transformation. It was a tough battle though with Upa's help we managed to win," Chiaotzu joined in, looking more chipper than his usual, apathetic self.
"I think Goku beat his opponent too, by the time that I and Muten Roshi found him, he and Chi-Chi had already won. We hurried to assist Piccolo, you should ask him for more details, nobody really tried talking to him ever since he showed up here. I don't know what's his deal is but he's freaking everyone out but we don't have much that we can do about it, without Goku… There's nobody that can beat him," Krillin shrugged, the anguish becoming clearer and clearer as he proceeded down where that train of thought took him.
"What do you mean without Kakarot? Where is he?" Chayote cut the surprised and tired act and turned grim serious.
"One of the Saiyans, Bardock, managed to transform into a Great Ape. Piccolo was too wounded so Goku told me to take him away so that the Dragon Balls didn't become inactive. Goku stayed to take the Great Ape all by himself…" Krillin butt his index fingers. He clearly lacked the stones to say what everyone had in their minds.
"Kakarot!? I couldn't name one person less prepared to fight a Great Ape, he's never had to defeat one!" Chayote began losing it. "He probably would just try hitting it until it stopped moving if he had to fight it!"
"Well… We're not sure how it happened, you'd have to talk to Bardock but… Goku died fighting him, by the time Upa reached them and forced Bardock back to normal, it was too late," Yamcha said what Krillin couldn't.
"What do you mean "talk to Bardock"?" Chayote turned her head to the God Temple. "You mean to tell me that he's still alive after killing Kakarot!?"
"Well, we think that's why Piccolo's here, he wants to kill Bardock but he's too weak to do that yet. We didn't heal him on purpose so that he doesn't start rampaging or do anything stupid but he's… He's a Namekian, you know. His powers are returning to him at an alarming rate so we're glad you're here," Tenshinhan explained.
"Yeah, okay, I can handle Piccolo but why is Bardock still alive though?" Chayote repeated.
"Well… He is Goku's father and… You should have seen him, Chayote. I don't think he wanted to kill Goku. He's a complete wreck, he doesn't talk, he doesn't do much of anything. He wasn't in control of himself when he became a Great Ape so none of us could kill him. We didn't give him a Senzu either, though, I don't think he'd have taken one even if we did offer him one. I think, at this point, Bardock wants himself dead more than anyone on this planet might want him dead," Krillin stepped up. Judging from how he advocated this decision, he was the one to make it.
Chayote should have known. She should have guessed that the Earthlings would lack the stones to do what needed to be done. That was why there were all those broken bodies of Saiyans scattered all across the world – they just beat them down and left them lying and beaten. She completely forgot the kind of mentality these guys had when it came to fighting since they have been so efficient in disposing of demons, something that was far less than a human.
Tenshinhan's arm touched Chayote's shoulder when she turned to the God Temple to blast Bardock into oblivion. When she turned back at them, all four of the Earthlings looked distraught and afraid but none of them seemed to be behind her in any capacity.
"We can bring Goku back, it's not final. Kami even contacted us and told us that he has made accommodations for Goku in the Otherworld and that Goku agrees that we should only bring him back after all the Saiyans are beaten," Tenshinhan pointed out.
"That's what we should worry about now – two more Saiyans are coming, Chayote. Let's just leave dealing with Bardock until after we deal with them," Yamcha pleaded.
"We tried telling Bardock that Goku can be brought back, just to make sure he doesn't kill himself or pull something stupid but… I'm not sure if he can even hear us right now. He's genuinely regretting what he did," Krillin joined in.
"Those Attack Balls…" Chayote looked away, recalling overtaking a pair of speeding Attack Balls more than a handful of hours ago. "That must be it. Those must be the Saiyan reinforcements. Good, they're not bringing any healing tanks with them."
"Healing tanks?" Chiaotzu wondered.
"It's the technology that Frieza Army uses to revitalize its injured soldiers. A tube filled with regenerative fluid that heals injuries in the span of a couple of hours. If we don't kill Bardock, we should at the very least kill his comrades. They'll be a constant threat and their powers will soar skyward after they recover and become empowered by Zenkai," Chayote explained.
"That would be a bad idea," Piccolo's voice shred into Chayote's skin, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up and prompting her to jump up and turn to the approaching Namekian face to face. "Bardock is unlike you or Son, his power escalates and his psyche becomes more and more berserk when his teammates get into trouble. When we started fighting, his Ki was nothing to scoff at but I was leagues above him, didn't even have to try that hard, but by the time the end of the fight came, he was taking on both me and Son at the same time and that's before he transformed into a Great Ape,"
"What are you doing here, demon?" Chayote hissed at Piccolo, jumping at his face, though still lacking more than a head-worth of height to measure up to him.
"I'm making sure that at the end of the day there's still a planet left for me to conquer," Piccolo replied. "Plus, I'm defective goods, remember? I'm as much Demon King Piccolo's reincarnation as I am Kami's. Maybe that's why I just can't force myself to bathe in all of your blood and ended up caring just a little bit about taking on those alien bastards."
Chayote had to admit, she could sort of buy into that explanation, given how the demons did sort of reject Piccolo from their ranks and Piccolo seconded the notion, showing almost as much disgust in their kind as Chayote had been fostering in her heart ever since Lord Slug's crew tortured her for what felt like entire years.
"Then there's not much that can be done," Chayote sighed. "The Saiyans are too close to Earth for us to be able to achieve anything by training. All we can do is wait for them to arrive and confront them before they do too much damage."
"There is one other thing," Krillin rubbed the back of his bald head. "You could try and convince Bardock to fight with us. If he's strong enough to hold off Goku and Piccolo at the same time and if he truly wants Goku back, he can't get that without the Dragon Balls, meaning that Earth needs to stay intact for that to happen."
"Absolutely not!" Chayote clenched her fists. "I'd rather pull his head off his shoulders myself!"
"Hmph… Look at you talking high and mighty when you exiled yourself to learn to control your rage better. Bardock isn't much different from you, he just lost control, you know." Piccolo mocked Chayote with a sly smirk. "By the way, how did that self-help expedition go? Can we count on you to not flip out and doom us all now?"
"Don't you dare think for a second that this is over between us. You're still just demon scum as far as I'm concerned. Just because some part of my body doesn't consider you as worthy of immediate obliteration as any other demon, doesn't make us allies," Chayote pointed at the Namekian as she stormed off toward the God Temple.
"Where's she off to?" Yamcha wondered.
"I think… That's where Bardock is sulking," Chiaotzu pointed out, his face becoming taken over by a feeling of impending dread as he voiced his realization.
"Don't tell me…" Krillin flipped out.
"Don't worry, Chayote won't be killing Bardock," Piccolo closed his eyes, looking perfectly calm and confident without dropping his grin. "Just like you, she wouldn't have it in her when she sees just how much like Son his father looks. Plus, I meant it when I told her how similar the two were. I think she understands what Bardock went through a bit better now. She's probably off to talk some sense into him,"
The rest of the Dragon Team appeared somewhat eased by Piccolo's statement. The time until the arrival of the second wave of Saiyans was about to run out like the blades of scissors crossing just inches short of the narrow, red thread separating their arrival from a brief intermission between all the fighting. A pair of crimson beams of light, flaming with ignition from entry into Earth's atmosphere cut through the night's sky and would soon light up the region they landed in with the inferno of their landing.