Dragon Ball Z: Dynasty

Written by: Feraligreater328 and StevenBodner

Edited by: StevenBodner and SparkerLightning

Chapter 130: Cooler's Armored Squadron

On the Planet Cruiser, outside Turles' Quarters...

Zangya stood just outside of Turles' quarters with an annoyed look on her face. He was late. How dare he be late? He was the one that had made up this stupid appointment for her, so he had no right to keep her waiting. Zangya sneered and cracked her knuckles. "That little..."

Taking a moment to think, Zangya sighed. "...he's...not so bad..."

The Heran woman looked down at the ki-restricting shackles still locked around her wrists. If Slug or Bardock had their way, Zangya would have these active any time she wasn't working. But Turles had been leaving them turned off for more and more time ever since she had started helping out with raids and other matters around the ship. Even before their relationship had gone from platonic to...something slightly more...he had tried to give her as much wiggle room as he could for this situation. Zangya sighed again. "I wonder...what's going to happen when he's done filtering that water out of my blood...?"

The creak of wood quickly made Zangya's attention snap to focus. "Tur-"

Stepping out from Turles' room was that new woman, Hisho. Her hair was quite mussed up and her clothes were wrinkled and hastily thrown on. Upon seeing Zangya, Hisho's face glowed red. "Oh. H-Hello, ma'am..."

She chuckled. "H-How are you...this..."

Zangya was glowering at Hisho and the poor, mousey woman instantly fell silent. Before the situation could escalate, however, another cheery voice chimed in. "Hisho! Wait~ You forgot something~"

Turles emerged from the room, leaning over Hisho's shoulder and kissing her on the cheek. She turned to him and, just for a brief moment, exchanged a smitten look. It made Zangya's blood boil. Quickly, Turles looked from his new squeeze over to the Heran. "Oh! Good morning, Zangya~ Ready for your blood filtering?"

Zangya was mute. Her face was twisted into a scowl. Turles, seemingly clueless, motioned for her to follow. "Come on. Let's get this done before we arrive at Zenku~"

Zangya marched forward, shoving Hisho forcefully aside. Hisho almost slammed into a wall, but Turles managed to get behind her and catch her. Hisho whispered. "Is...she okay?"

Turles shrugged. "Must not have slept well. You get some breakfast. I'll deal with her~"

Hisho nodded. She shot a loving smile at Turles. Only a day and she was already completely taken. Turles smiled right back. "You make sure to replenish your energy~ Okay? Once we get Bonyu back, you're going to need it~"

Within Turles' quarters...

Zangya flopped down into her usual chair, looking furious. She glared over at Turles' bed, still in quite a state of disrepair. Turles sat down in his usual chair and wheeled over to her, pulling out the needles and carefully inserting them into her arms. Turles smiled. "Your blood is at 98% clarity. Not much longer before it's fully clean."

Zangya was mum. She simply glared down at Turles as he began the process. At first, Turles was quite oblivious. But once he looked up and saw the radiating fury on Zangya's face, he cocked his head. "Is, uh...something wrong?"

Using her hydrokinesis, Zangya pulled liquid from a nearby flask and smashed it into the door, slamming it shut. She didn't even bother returning it to its container, allowing it to fall to the ground with a splatter as she began to scream. "IS SOMETHING WRONG?! ARE YOU THAT THICK IN THE HEAD?!"

Turles flinched back. "Th-Thick?! I...my skull is-"

Zangya snarled. "NOT YOUR SKULL, JACKASS! WHY DO YOU THINK I'M UPSET?!"

Turles stammered. "Uh...uh...I... uh..."

The gears in Turles' head squeaked and turned as he tried to process the sudden, negative emotion in front of him. His mouth was dry and his thoughts were little more than broadcast static. But, after a bit of time passed, Turles started to piece things together. Zangya shoved Hisho...now Zangya was mad at him...therefore...

Turles cleared his throat. "O-Oh...did you wanna join me and Hisho last night? I... all you had to do was ask..."

Zangya was stunned. Quickly, she began to piece together things in her own head. How quickly Turles said yes to her offer, his flirting with Bonyu, his instant reaction to Hisho. Zangya felt a bead of sweat run down the side of her face. "D-Do you...do this with every woman that comes onto this ship...?"

Turles responded immediately. "I mean...it's only been you three. Bonyu, you, and Hisho. Bonyu and I hooked up after a couple months of getting to know each other, you propositioned me, and Hisho was super reciprocative..."

He shrugged, not in a sleazy way but in a surprisingly earnest...almost innocent way. "I mean...if you guys all wanted to fool around and have some fun, why would I say no? I wouldn't want to put you off or make you feel unwelcome. I have enough love for everyone to go around, ya know?"

Zangya could feel how wide her jaw was hanging open. She genuinely didn't know what to say. "So... you have no loyalty in that regard to this Bonyu person?! You could've turned me down, ya know!"

Turles shrugged. "Bonyu's made it clear to me in the past that she doesn't care. So, I mean..."

Turles cocked his head. "...I'm not too good at this sort of thing. Like...romance, I mean. Bonyu was my first and... that was only fairly recent. Did...I... I didn't do something wrong, did I?"

Zangya spoke flatly. "You never had any sort of romantic relationship until you were fifty?"

Turles shook his head. "Nope. The only girl I ever really loved prior to Bonyu...she died, although she's alive now. And it also turns out she's married to my brother. So...ya know..."

The Saiyan scientist looked away. "...I never thought I'd get to feel something like that again, so it kinda made me feel special that Bonyu asked me...and then you asked me...and then Hisho wanted to do something too..."

Turles looked up again. "I'm getting a reading like I've hurt you. I... I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Zangya sat in silence for a long while. She wanted to be angry, but she couldn't retain it. It was draining from her like water out of a vase, leaving nothing but empty space on the inside. Zangya sighed and growled, her voice almost entirely blank of emotion. "Just finish my bloodwork so I can eat something. We're almost at the Zenku Outpost."

Turles stammered. "R-Right...I..."

He cleared his throat. "R-Right."

On the main deck of the Planet Cruiser...

Turles, Slug, and Bardock all stood on the deck, staring at the Zenku Outpost in the distance. Bardock crossed his arms over his chest. "So... this is a trap, right?"

Slug rolled his eyes. "No shit."

Zangya came marching up, a half-eaten banana nut muffin in her hand. "I thought we came here knowing that..."

Turles nodded thoughtfully. "This place is an abandoned Galactic Patrol project. They tried to expand here into the West, around the same time as King Cold did actually. But they gave up around the time Cold did as well. The Western Galaxy proved to be just a bit too wild..."

Turles cocked his head. "I guess that's why the Tuffles moved their operation out here. Hoping that Cooler wouldn't follow them into it. And yet...the Armored Squadron has been here for a few months scouting around..."

Bardock snorted. "You think Cooler's going to try and move in on this place?"

Turles sighed. "That's the feeling I got whenever I would talk to Bonyu. She would know more about whatever Cooler is up to than we would know."

Slug groaned. "Let's keep on track here. How should we go about this? This approach is already too easy. They're definitely hidden somewhere on that floating junk heap, waiting to attack and damage the ship. They don't want us to be able to flee, I guarantee it."

Turles nodded. "Yeah. We're going to have to be careful. Get the drop on them..."

Zangya grunted. "How?"

Turles smirked. "We send someone in alone to start things. It's risky...but I think it'll give us the upper hand~ And then, I have another idea that I want to try~"

Bardock groaned. "I get a bad feeling when you start talking like that..."

A little while later, on the Zenku Outpost...

Bonyu struggled and groaned into the scarf tied over her mouth as she tried to break the ki-sealing restraints keeping her hands locked behind her back. The rusty light fixture that she had been attached to creaked and groaned, threatening to break but somehow holding strong. She had to escape, to warn the others. She had to get the word out before-

Footsteps. The familiar sound of thick rubber soles attached to leather boots fashioned to resemble Battle Armor.

Bonyu's attention snapped up and she instantly began screaming muffled warnings. Approaching her, with that dumb smile on his face, was Turles. The Saiyan chuckled. "Bonyu! Good to see you in one piece, babe! I was worried~"

Bonyu rapidly shook her head. Her sharp gaze glanced behind Turles, seeing the glimmer of a scope. There was a rifleman waiting in one of the abandoned buildings nearby. She screamed into the cloth holding her jaw firmly in place. "TMMLMS!"

Turles wedged the index finger of his organic arm beneath the scarf and pried it down. "Yes~?"

Bonyu spat a waded cloth onto the ground and snapped at him. "IT'S A TRAP, YOU IDIOT!"

Turles flinched, but then he chuckled. "Ohohohoho~ Bonyu~"

The rifleman hidden away fired his shot, a bolt of concentrated ki flying from a shattered window and right at the back of Turles' head. Turles sighed...and then he raised up his mechanical arm. The palm of his robotic hand shifted down, revealing the same ki magnet that Turles had used against Bojack so long ago. Turles swung his arm behind his head, catching the ki bolt and holding it in place. It sizzled in the open air. Turles smiled brightly. "I know it's a trap, silly~ I'm not an idiot~"

And then, without hesitation, Turles turned and tossed the ki bolt right back to its owner, smashing him hard and sending him flying out of the building and to the ground below. All at once, Turles heard footsteps begin to pound. He watched as every one of the "abandoned" buildings sprang to life and a couple hundred Cooler Force soldiers came rushing out at him. Turles smirked, and then he snapped his fingers.

Rising up like a whale in the ocean, the Planet Cruiser suddenly filled the horizon. Turles turned to Bonyu and winked. "Sorry to leave you standing there. We just needed to make sure we approached from an angle they couldn't see~"

From the ship above, the Demon Crushers, led by Slug and Zangya, and their small army of hired grunts, rained down onto the Zenku Outpost and a small war erupted. The hordes of Cooler Force soldiers fought with all of their might, matching the grunts of the Demon Crushers man-for-man and ganging up on the heavier hitters.

Turles walked back over to Bonyu, gently reaching behind her and picking at the cuffs restraining her as Cacao's missile volleys and the hoots of Slug's bloodthirsty children filled the air. Bonyu scoffed. "Idiot. You should have gotten a head start to Planet M1! You should have just abandoned me and gotten your Revenger Crystal! You shouldn't waste time on pointless sentiment! You should-"

The cuffs fell loose of Bonyu's wrists and Turles' hands rose up, gently gripping the back of Bonyu's head and pulling her close, his lips pressing to hers. Turles pulled back and stared into Bonyu's eyes with genuinely care and concern. "I am the Captain of this ship, Bonyu. I decide who we leave behind and that decision will ALWAYS be nobody. Do you understand?"

Bonyu nodded. Turles smiled and rubbed his thumb beneath Bonyu's eye, caressing a bruise on her upper cheek. "Please don't ever ask Slug to try and sway me like that again. He knows as well as you should that abandoning you was never an option~"

Bonyu sighed. "R-Right. Sorry..."

Turles smirked. "Oh hey, by the way, I met someone recently that I want you to meet~ I think you'll like her~"

Bonyu stretched her shoulders, thankful to be free of those damned cuffs for the first time in days. "Oh yeah? Does she make your heart flutter?"

Turles' face turned pink. "L-Little bit..."

The two of them marched forward, quickly joining Slug and Zangya. The four of them stood there in waiting. Slug's ear twitched and his nose curled in disgust. "Keep the romantic crap to a minimum. We have more important things to focus on. I can feel them coming."

Bonyu shot a sharp glare at Slug. "This wouldn't be an issue if you could be more convincing."

Slug snorted. "You should know that I'm not gonna convince him to abandon anyone..."

Turles beamed. "Of course not. I'd be a pretty awful person if I just left my friends and loved ones for dead~"

As the other three argued, Zangya glared out of the corner of her eye. She mumbled to herself. "So, this is the famous Bonyu...huh?"

Bonyu's attention snapped to Zangya. "Did you just say my name?"

Before Zangya could answer, a massive explosion went off in the center of the battlefield. At first, everyone thought it was an attack, but then the colored smoke of a flash bomb began to rise into the air. Bonyu cringed. "Ugh. I swear these three are as bad as Ginyu..."

Standing in the middle of the waging war, each of them striking a pose, were Cooler's Armored Squadron. Dore called out. "DORE THE DEMOLISHOR!"

Neiz called out. "NEIZ THE NEEDLER!"

And finally, Salza called out. "AND SALZA ZE SUPREME!"

With their presence officially announced, the three minions of Cooler all snapped their attention towards the waiting pirates. Salza spoke up. "You fools dare to besmirch ze legacy of a member of ze Armored Squadron?! You shall-"

Dore rushed past Salza, murder in his eyes and blood gurgling in his voice. "I'M GOING TO CAVE YOUR GODDAMNED HEAD IN, TURLES!"

Turles chuckled. "Ooh, he's mad~"

As Dore loomed over Turles, arms spread wide as if he planned to crush the Saiyan, Slug's mighty boot suddenly crashed into his jaw. Dore went flying into the side of the nearby building, sending it crumbling to the ground. Slug rolled his eyes as he started to make his way towards his opponent. "Let him be mad; he can die angry."

Salza pressed his hand over his face. "Oh Dore..."

Neiz struck a pose. "How are we gonna handle this, Salza?!"

Salza sighed. "You deal wiz zose women. I shall handle zat bastard Turles."

Neiz smirked. "Right~"

And then he charged. Zangya sneered, glaring at the amphibious alien. "Bring it, you ugly bastard!"

But, before the fight could begin, something latched onto Zangya's jacket. Against her will, the Heran woman was lifted into the air and pulled towards a small collection of garages on the far side of the lot they were in. Bonyu shook her head. "We can take this guy, girl. We need to go somewhere else. Get him away from Turles!"

Zangya sneered. "Put me down you tomato-looking bitch!"

As Bonyu and the cursing Zangya flew away, Neiz in hot pursuit, Turles couldn't help but laugh. Then, he turned to Salza and smirked. "So, you're one of Cooler's most trusted men, I hear. You must be pretty strong, huh?"

Salza scowled, thrusting his hand to his side and forming a blade of purple ki over it. Salza held his weapon out and snarled. "Your blood will be spilled on ze edge of my Sauzer Blade!"

Turles nodded. "Ah, I see. A sword fight?"

The Saiyan held out his prosthetic arm, forming a blade of ki in his palm and gripping it tightly. He smirked. "Neat~"

Over with Slug and Dore...

As Slug approached the pile of rubble that had landed on top of Dore, his ears suddenly twitched. All at once, Dore exploded from his makeshift tomb and shoulder-tackled into the ancient Namekian. Slug was sent crashing back hard, smashing into a wall and shattering it to pieces. He fell to his knees and coughed. "Shit. You hit hard than I thought you would..."

Dore smirked. "Damn right, old man. Now, why don't you get the hell outta my way?! I have business with that little prick that you babysit!"

Slug shook his head. "You misunderstand..."

Dore flinched. All at once, Slug came back up and brutalized Dore with a savage uppercut to the jaw. Slug sneered and wiped a trickle of purple blood from the corner of his mouth. "It's not that you hurt me, it's just that I didn't think anything of you after watching those jackasses from your old haunt fight. You're better than those insects, but that only makes you a larger insect to squash, boy!"

Slug lunged after Dore, throwing a punch and having it met with another punch. Dore spat a mouthful of blood, as well as a tooth, to the ground. He chuckled. "Well shit. There goes all my anger for the moment~ I was looking for a good fistfight!"

Dore slammed his elbow into Slug's face, sending him stumbling back. He roared as he charged the Namekian. "Fight me, old man!"

Slug snarled. "I'll skin you alive!"

Dore and Slug locked hands, clashing and pushing against one another. Dore clenched his teeth so hard he could hear them straining, but he didn't care. He spoke slowly and deliberately. "I've heard of the great Lord Slug. A phantom that even King Cold was wary of. I see the ghost stories don't disappoint~"

Dore reared back and headbutted Slug in the face. Slug didn't flinch, an immovable wall. As purple blood trickled to the concrete below, Dore couldn't help but laugh. "Holy shit! Intense~!"

A furious growl rose from Slug's throat. Dore chuckled. "Let's try this then..."

For a being of his size, Dore was surprisingly agile. Quick as a snake, he whipped around Slug and wrapped his beefy arms around the old man's waist. Dore heaved Slug into the air and suplexed him hard onto the ground, even bridging for a few seconds to increase the brutal pressure on the base of the old man's neck.

Using his feet, Dore kicked off the ground and launched himself a few feet into the air. He coated his elbow with his ki and crashed back down, smashing Slug in the chest with a furious elbow drop. Dore called out. "How's that feel, geezer?! Did that one hurt?!"

Slug snarled, his hand reaching up and grabbing Dore by his long mane of shaggy, black hair. "No."

Before the wrestler could react, Slug whipped him around and smashed him face-first into the floor. Dore tried to push himself back up, but Slug's hand quickly slammed down and pinned him to the aging concrete. With a furious roar, Slug went running. He dragged Dore across the ground, flinging him through the air into an abandoned Galactic Patrol ship. Seeing coagulated fuel leaking to the concrete, Slug smirked and fired a pair of Darkness Beams. The explosion was small, but still hearty enough to engulf Dore entirely. Slug chuckled. "Well, that was a good opening exchange. But I see that Beppans are as durable as I've heard..."

Dore emerged from the burning wreckage, unscathed less a few light burns. The soldier spat and cracked his neck. "I'm a league above normal Beppans, pops. You ain't gonna get me with half-assed attacks~"

And then, without warning, Dore shot forward and planted the bottom of his foot into Slug's gut. "THRUSTER KICK!"

Slug wheezed. Dore followed that kick up with a hearty punch to the jaw, sending the Namekian crashing to the ground. The Beppan didn't let up, hammering blow after blow down onto Slug and pounding him harder and harder into the ground. The beating continued until, finally, Slug caught one of Dore's fists. Dore paused and Slug glared up at him. His wrinkled, green face was a tad misshapen from the pounding, his nose knocked out of place. Slug reached up and grabbed his broken nose, snapping it back into place without so much as a flinch. "I can't play around with you too much. Gyoshu and Kakuja have been on my ass about overexerting myself..."

Slug thrust his clawed fingers forward, piercing through Dore's armor and sinking them deep into his gut. Dore gagged, blood spurting out around his teeth. Slug snarled. "Now get the hell off of me!"

The Namekian stretched his arm, flinging Dore high into the air. As Slug stood, Dore came back down. The Beppan landed on all fours, cracking the ground beneath him apart. He rose to his feet and glared at Slug. Slug glared right back. Dore chuckled. "I guess I'm gonna have to take you serious if I ever want to kill Turles, huh?"

Slug tossed his cloak to the side, gripping his fists tight. "I'm gonna take off your head and nail it to my door on the Planet Cruiser."

And then, without another word, the two warriors roared like mighty beasts and charged one another once more.

Over with Bonyu, Zangya, and Neiz...

Bonyu landed atop one of the abandoned Galactic Patrol garages, the struggling Zangya hovering right in the air next to her. Zangya snarled. "Let me down! Right now!"

Bonyu groaned and rolled her eyes. With a snap of her fingers, the thing holding onto Zangya let go. Zangya turned and sneered at her abductor, finding a little drone that appeared to be constructed from hardened ki. Zangya glared from it to Bonyu. "Oh, I see. You're a Brenchain, right? Same as that Salza guy?"

Bonyu shook her head. "Not quite. I'm a Sectima Brenchian from Brench VI. Salza is a Tretima Brenchian from the southern hemisphere of Brench III. We share a common ancestor, but not much else."

Zangya rolled her eyes. "Same diff. A Brenchian is a Brenchian."

Bonyu scowled. "Well...nice to meet you too, I suppose..."

Neiz landed in front of them with a chuckle. "So...ready to be cooked~?"

Bonyu shook her head. "Whatever. We still need to support one another. This guy is dangerous..."

Zangya nodded, taking a fighting stance. "I don't know anything about him. What the hell is he?"

Bonyu held out her hands, using her ability to manipulate the wavelengths of her ki to form and construct several more ki drones. "Neiz is an Alpha Amphari. He's from the oceanic moon of the of Planet Amphra. Basically, he's a newt that can generate electricity through his skin."

Neiz gasped, seemingly taking great offense to that one. "I AM NOT A NEWT!"

Zangya snapped at him. "Shut up!"

She fired a barrage of ki blasts, but Neiz seemingly boneless body easily bent around the attacks. Neiz cackled. "Gonna have to put in more effort than that~"

From above, Bonyu spoke bluntly. "Noted."

Neiz looked up and a rain of needle-like ki bolts began shooting down at him. Neiz scrambled away as Bonyu directed her drone, all ten of them, right after him. The Brenchian looked down at her fingers, each of them connected to one of her constructs. "Gotta keep him at a distance. Avoid the shocks."

She called down. "What's your name?!"

Zangya glared up at her. At first, she didn't want to answer. But the serious nature of the battle quickly flashed through her mind. She sighed. "Zangya."

Bonyu landed next to her. "Okay, Zangya, what can you do? Like, what are your techniques?"

Zangya scowled. "I have hydrokinesis. I'd be able to control my hair too, if Turles would give me back my goddamned Gommanaji."

Bonyu groaned and shook her head. "Whatever that is, he's probably fiddling with it..."

She looked over to Zangya. "But that's fine. We'll work with what we have. Now, before Neiz comes back, let's discuss a bit of strategy..."

After a few moments, Neiz managed to shake Bonyu's ki drones. Bouncing back, the Alpha Amphari locked on to his targets, cackling as electricity began to crackle across his skin. "Gonna roast you two up medium well!"

In response, Zangya whipped her hand up. The moisture in the air surrounding Neiz quickly gathered up, forming tight chains of water around his body. Neiz sneered and Zangya glared at him. "I'm not playing games with you. Die."

Zangya bent her fingers and spike of ice emerged from the water chains. Then she gripped his fist and the chains began to constrict. At the same time, Bonyu began to pull her ki drones back towards them. They formed a tight perimeter around Neiz and began to charge up their blasts. Bonyu nodded. "Good. Just hold him there. I'll blast him to kingdom come in just a moment..."

Neiz gasped in shock. Quickly, all four of his limbs retracted inward, slipping free of the chains, but leaving his torso unprotected as they snapped around it. Zangya gripped his fist as tight as she could, clearly struggling. "D-Damn. How tough is that armor?! I'm squeezing as hard as I can and it won't budge..."

Bonyu responded. "Just keep holding him. Even if he pulls his head in, I've constructed my drones to fire piercing rounds! We'll impale him to death, I just a bit more time to prepare!"

Neiz stared at the two, his skin still crackling with electricity. "Wow, you chicks are smart~! You isolated me and you're keeping me at a distance to avoid the shocks! Nice~"

This time, Bonyu and Zangya both responded. "Shut up!"

Neiz smirked. "But you don't quite have a fool-proof plan here. You've overlooked a couple of details~"

Zangya flinched. "Huh?"

And then, quick as a bolt of lightning, a squishy pink tendril shot out and stuck onto Zangya's face. Across the way, Neiz cackled, taking care not to bite the gorging tongue he had just shot out. His body crackling with electricity, Neiz mumbled. "Nah 'en..."

And then, all at once, Neiz retracted his head. His tongue began to reel in like a fishing line, pulling against Zangya's watery chains and eventually bursting free. Neiz's torso, crackling with fresh electricity, smashed into Zangya like a wrecking ball and unleashed its entire charge. Zangya screamed in agony, lightning shooting from her eyes, her mouth, and her fingertips before she was finally launched back, leaving a smoking crater on the ground. Bonyu called out to her. "Zangya!"

Electricity began to crackle again and Bonyu turned just in time to eat a sparking kick to the face. She was sent flying like a bolt of lightning, crashing to the ground right next to Zangya.

Atop the abandoned garages, Neiz preened and cheered himself, extending out his head and limbs and striking a glorious pose. "You couldn't have thought it would be that easy, could you have?! I wasn't put into the Armored Squadron just for my good looks~"

Everything was quiet for a moment, only the sound of electricity crackling and distant explosion. And then, Neiz looked up and gasped in shock. "Wh-What?!"

All ten of Bonyu's ki drones were still hovering in the air, aiming right at him. Neiz quickly leapt into the air, just barely avoiding the simultaneous blasts that demolished the building beneath him. "But, how?! I hit her with some of my strongest charge! How could she-"

"Does this freak ever shut up?!"

"No... that's why killing him after all this time is going to be so satisfying..."

On the ground, Zangya and Bonyu both stood. The women were both scorched, and their hair was quite frizzy, but neither looked quite ready to throw in the towel yet. Zangya glared, waving her hands around and summoning a flurry of ice shards. Bonyu pointed to each of her drones and they began to charge once more. Neiz sneered, more electricity crackling across his skin. "Damn it..."

And then, all three fighters fired their attacks, causing a massive explosion of ice, lightning, and condensed ki.

Back over with Turles and Salza...

Ki-blades clashed as Turles and Salza each moved in for another strike. Each of the two warriors approached this duel with a different style. Salza moved with the grace and poise of a classically trained fencer, going in for a series of intimate strikes at Turles' less protected points. Turles, meanwhile, swung his ki cutlass just like a marauder would, going for broad slashes with enough power to send Salza sliding back. Salza sneered. "I am not a fool, scum. Where is zat Masked cohort of yours?"

Turles chuckled. "Oh, him? He'll be here soon. Don't worry~"

Salza charged again, clashing blades with Turles once more. "Who is he, anyway? An unknown monkey suddenly shows up and starts making a name for himself on your crew? A clone perhaps? Or did you recruit one of zose cretins zat killed King Cold?"

Turles pressed his free index finger to his lips and winked. "That's a secret right there, friend~"

Salza scoffed, parrying away Turles' blade and going in for a thrust. "I will spill your secrets or your blood! Eizer way, zis farce will be over shortly!"

Turles grunted, digging the heel of his boot into the ground and kicking up sand into Salza's eye not protected by the Scouter. Salza snarled in pain and Turles took advantage, retracting his fingertips to reveal five miniature stun prods. He dug them into the fabric covering Salza's bladed arm and delivered a shock. Salza felt his arm briefly go dead and, with it, his Sauzer Blade vanish. Turles went in for another slash with his energy cutlass, but Salza quickly countered by summoning a Sauzer Blade on the opposite hand. The two of them clashed and repelled one another back.

Salza sighed, wiping his eye clean and shaking the life back into his arm. "I will give you zis compliment, Saiyan...you are not ze strongest, but you are quite crafty."

Turles chuckled. "Thanks."

And then he charged at Salza. Turles took three wild swings, but now Salza was fighting with two Sauzer Blades. The Saiyan's sloppier swordsmanship was no match for a more skilled hand with a blade. Salza snorted, feigning back to avoid a slash, and then stabbed his left-handed Sauzer Blade right through Turles' prosthetic hand. Turles sucked air through his teeth, falling back before the robotic appendage could be completely torn off. He groaned. The sword generator was utterly ruined. Salza laughed a very smug laugh. "Amateur."

The squadron leader charged forward, raising up his blade. "And now, you die!"

The Sauzer Blade came down, but then Turles surprised Salza. He raised up his arm and, with a sweeping punch, parried the blade away. Salza gasped. "B-But, I just stabbed through that!"

Turles shook his head. "You stabbed through a delicate part. The entire arm isn't like that."

He punched Salza in the gut, instantly winding the warrior. "This arm is made of a special alloy that I've spent decades perfecting. Lightweight, but incredibly durable. I had to made some areas purposefully fragile for gadgets, but I will not stand for you looking down on one of my greatest inventions!"

Turles tossed his mechanical arm to the side, sending the stun prods shooting away. Then, he pointed the empty barrels at Salza. "And just because you won a swordfight, don't go thinking that you've won this war!"

The five mechanical fingers began to glow, shooting out beams of light like flashlights. Turles aimed them at Salza and shouted. "Kill Drive Barrage!"

Salza's eyes widened and he leapt up, retreating back as five destructive rings of ki shot out of Turles' fingers and shredded holes into the ground. Turles followed along with Salza's speed, his prosthetic eye serving as a Scouter and a targeting system, working alongside Turles' natural ki sense for pinpoint accuracy.

Turles aimed his fingers at Salza again and fired five more Kill Drivers, but Salza was not at all meek. He lunged into the attacks, spinning with his Salza blades and slicing his way through with nary a scratch. He landed right in front of Turles, taking a swing with his blade and having it blocked with Turles' prosthetic. He went for a second slash to much the same result. Salza took a third swing and Turles lifted his arm to block again, only for Salza's bare fist to curve around the prosthetic and crash right into Turles' jaw.

Stumbled, Turles went for a kick, missing wildly and eating an uppercut under the chin. And then Salza summoned his blade once more, going for another slash at the disoriented Saiyan. But then, to Salza's shock, Turles dug the heel of his boot into the dirt and shot back up, smashing his head into Salza's face and shattering his Scouter to pieces. Salza stumbled back, groaning, and Turles leapt in with a punch.

Salza was pummeled and seemed to be falling to the ground, but he was clearly still the more experienced fighter of the two. Reacting quickly, Salza thrusted a low kick right into Turles' ankle, tripping him and sending him crashing to the ground. Salza summoned both blades and brought them down upon Turles in a cross-chopping motion. "DIE, SAIYAN!"

Before the blow could land, however, a sudden explosion rocked the entire outpost.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Salza, Neiz, and Dore all stopped in their tracks, turning towards the source of the explosion.

Salza called out. "Zat was..."

Neiz called out. "That was..."

Dore called out. "That was..."

All three of them screamed in unison. "THE SHIP!"

"Yes, it was!"

All three members of the Armored Squadron, as well as their troops, immediately ceased combat. As did, to their surprise, their Demon Crusher foes. The two sides all gathered into one place, all of them looking up to the top of a nearby building. Standing up there, GPWL Belt strapped around his waist, was the Masked Saiyan. "Glad I could get your attention."

The Masked Saiyan leapt down, landing a few feet from the gathered crowd and walking over to his side. He handed the belt to Turles and Turles returned a thankful nod. Salza sneered. "Wh-What is zis?! What ze hell is going on?!"

Turles smiled. "Well, ya see...at first this was a mission to rescue Bonyu. But, as you can see, she has been safely rescued~"

Turles pointed a thumb to Bonyu. Salza, Neiz, and Dore sneered at her. Bonyu flipped them off. Turles continued. "Now, with that behind us, it's time to discuss business~"

Salza flinched. "Wh-What?!"

Neiz sneered. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Dore roared. "YOU MUST BE JOKING! WE HAVE UNFINISHED BUSINESS, SAIYAN!"

Turles nodded. "We certainly do. So, let's get that done..."

The Saiyan walked over to Dore and slapped the GPWL belt onto his shoulder. He smiled and chuckled. "I cleaned it. Thoroughly. It's all better~"

Dore was speechless. Turles continued. "Also, my associate here didn't fully destroy your ship. He just caused a minor explosion. Just loud enough to grab your attention, but not to disable anything~"

The Armored Squadron's jaws were agape. None of them quite knew how to respond to this. Turles simply just stood there, smiling at them like an old friend while his followers all stood behind him with scowls on their faces. Scowls that said they'd be willing to pick the fights back up right where they left off. Finally, after a deafening pause, Salza spoke up. "What...do you mean...by business?"

Turles clapped his hands. "Well...I propose a partnership for the benefit of us collectively raiding Planet M1. From my talks with Bonyu, when she was spying on you for me, it doesn't sound like we're after the same thing. You want the Big Gete Star that Dr. Gete is working on, and I want the Revenger Crystal that Dr. Raichi is working on. Soooooooooooo..."

Salza finished. "You are stopping a blood feud to suggest zat we team up to mutually assure our interests? Are you...serious?"

Turles beamed. "Serious as a heart attack~"

Neiz questioned. "After you had someone spy on us and steal all of our sensitive data?"

Turles nodded. "Yup~"

Dore raged. "After you shit on my belt?!"

Turles nodded. "Yup~"

Stunned silence again. Salza, Dore, and Neiz looked past Turles at his comrades. Going by the furious expressions on their face, this was either a spur of the moment plan that Turles just came up with, or one that he had only recently decided upon. The only one that didn't look utterly livid at the mere suggestion of teaming up with the Armored Squadron was the Masked Saiyan, and nobody could even see his face.

After a few minutes of...struggling to comprehend just what Turles' ulterior motive might be, Salza finally spoke. "Fine. Deal."

Neiz gasped. "WHAT?!"

Dore roared. "WHAT?!"

Salza held up both of his hands. "Quiet. Boz of you."

He looked Turles right in the eye. "For ze sake of fulfilling Lord Cooler's desires, we will agree to team up wiz you and raid Planet M1. But you must satisfy a condition for us first."

Turles smiled. "Sure~ Wassup?"

Salza sneered. "You had Bonyu steal our valuable intel on M1. I want what you have gazered. Understood?"

Silence again. Turles cocked his head, as if in deep thought. And then he nodded. "Sure~"

Zangya gasped. "WHAT?!"

Bonyu screamed. "WHAT?! ARE YOU NUTS?!"

Turles tapped the side of his prosthetic eye, and then he extended his robotic arm and a small data chip jutted out of the wrist. With a bit of hesitation, Salza reached out and took the chip. Turles nodded with a smirk. "No malware. I promise."

Salza scowled, pocketing the chip. "Sure. I will still be testing it before running it in our network."

And then, as easily as this conflict had started, it ended. "MEN! TO ZE SHIP!"

Turles smirked as they all marched off, Dore and Neiz still looking utterly flummoxed. Once they had disappeared over the horizon, Turles turned and motioned towards the Planet Cruiser. "Let's go boys~"

As they walked, Bardock marched up next to Turles and spoke bluntly. "I can't believe that asinine idea of yours actually worked."

Turles chuckled. "It was my idea, of course it worked~"

Zangya grunted. "That was too easy."

Bonyu shook her head. "I can't believe you would do something like that. Or maybe I can. I don't know which is worse..."

Turles laughed out loud. "The point is that it worked and now we have allies to go after M1 with! It all worked out just fine~"

The group continued to walk in silence for a moment. And then, in a dour and hushed tone, Slug spoke. "Did the data you just gave Salza really have...everything...in it?"

Turles smiled. "Yup~"

Slug looked genuinely uncomfortable, like something was making his skin crawl. "Everything?"

And then, it seemed to dawn on Turles what Slug meant. The cheerful grin locked onto the Saiyan's face quickly faded and he shook his head. "Oh, no. Not...that. I made sure every single byte of that was destroyed. I couldn't have given them that..."

It was as if Bardock and Zangya could feel the sudden mood shift. The two of them looked around to the rest of the Demon Crusher officers. Amond, Daiz, Cacao, Lakasei, Raisen, Angila, Wings, Medamatcha, Zeeun, Bonyu, Slug, and Turles all looked either sick or furious or a combination of both. There was a pregnant silence amongst the group. And then, finally, Zangya cracked the question. "What's missing from it...?"

Turles mumbled. "N-Nothing that anyone needs to see. A bit of information regarding the Tuffles that is...better left forgotten..."

Bardock seemed genuinely concerned. "Turles...?"

Turles' mouth was dry as he seemed to be thinking hard about something. He looked miserable. "No one needs to see Vegeta II's Black Box..."

On the Armored Squadron's Ship...

Dore snarled, his GPWL belt wrapped securely around his waist. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS, SALZA! WE'RE TEAMING UP WITH THAT BASTARD?!"

Neiz placed a staying hand on Dore's shoulder, but he also looked quite unsure. Salza, meanwhile, was resolute in his decision. "I am quite sure, Dore. Turles is a bastard, but he is not incorrect when he says zat we could only benefit from combining forces. His crew and ours working togezer would allow us to better tackle ze unknown defenses of Planet M1..."

Salza marched over to the communication console of the ship, quickly typing in a number and crossing his arms as the screen displayed a connecting status. Neiz spoke up. "So, that's it? After all of this...we're just rushing head-long into this with people we wanted dead not even a day ago?"

Salza looked annoyed. "I do not appreciate zat implication, Neiz. Are we teaming up wiz zese fools to get what it is zat Lord Cooler wants? Yes. Do I place my implicit trust in zem? Absolument pas."

Dore had calmed slightly. He sneered. "Then what are we gonna do?!"

Salza spoke bluntly. "I am ordering insurance for our future behalf."

Neiz cocked his head. "Insurance?"

The call finally connected. Video feed was blocked, but a shrill and utterly synthetic voice came screeching from the other end. "This is a private line. Do not attempt contact again or you will face-"

Salza interrupted. "ZIS IS SALZA OF ZE COOLER'S ARMORED SQUADRON!"

The voice spoke sarcastically. "I know who you are, Salza. Now hang up the phone. We do not have time for your-"

Salza slammed his palm onto the console. "Zis is a matter of importance to Lord Cooler himself! You will shut your speaker-box and you will connect me at once!"

Silence. Then the synthetic voice spoke. "And what do you need to speak about, exactly?"

Salza scowled. "Just tell Ze General I need to speak wiz him urgently."

On the Planet Cruiser...

Turles, Slug, Zangya, Bardock, Bonyu, and Hisho were all gathered in Turles' quarters. They needed to discuss everything that had just happened down at the Zenku Outpost. Slug was skeptical, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you just going to trust that Cooler's main lapdogs aren't going to have a knife ready to thrust into our back?"

Turles shook his head. "Oh hell no. Salza probably got on the phone with Cooler or that General guy the second we left Zenku. If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that we're already on a timer before our erstwhile allies attempt to overwhelm us..."

Bonyu nodded, sipping from a glass of water. "Definitely. Over the past half a decade, I've watched how Cooler operates. The Armored Squadron don't bend over to pick up a dropped wallet without his explicit consent. They're basically extensions of his will. Same for the General."

Bardock scoffed. "Sounds like Cooler's an even more overbearing tyrant than his father and brother..."

There was a silence. And then Bonyu spoke. "No... not really..."

Bardock flinched. Bonyu sighed. "It's...scary, in a way. H-Have you ever been to the Southern or Eastern Galaxy?"

Bardock shook his head. "No."

Bonyu sipped her water. "I have. It's...dissonant. The entire galaxy...both of them...they're firmly under his thumb. But...they don't seem to mind. And, not even in the way they didn't seem to mind with Cold or Frieza. It's not that they're pretending to be happy to avoid being killed...they..."

Bonyu bit her lip. "On a planet we went to in the Southern Galaxy, when I first started working under the Armored Squadron, Cooler stepped out and a child of all things approached him. Frieza or Cold would have slaughtered them...but as that child offered Cooler a flower, he simply took it with a thank you. Planetary leaders love him, people love him..."

Bardock cocked his head. "So...Cooler is a good guy?"

Bonyu shuddered. "...I almost want to say yes. And yet. I...Slug taught me how to sense power levels when I joined this crew. I can sense what's going on with Cooler. It's a calm feeling. It's an almost safe feeling. And...yet..."

Zangya arched an eyebrow. "And yet?"

Bonyu looked up, genuinely frightened at the thought in her head. "I have never felt more like I would be killed around anybody than when I was around Cooler. He's calm. He's controlled. But he also gives off the feeling that if you stand in his way, you'll be dead before you can think a thought about it."

She closed her eyes. "The way he inspires genuine loyalty in the Galaxy's he controls. The way he so quickly submitted the Core Galaxy back under the Planet Trade Organization's control. The way people just bend to his will, combined with his calm approach, combined with that intense feeling of killing intent boiling just under the surface. He is...he is the most terrifying person that I have ever met..."

The room went silent as Bonyu continued her almost paradoxical explanation. Bardock roughly sighed. "And this guy is probably boiling with hatred for the Earth. Shit..."

"Again, no."

Bardock snapped his attention to Bonyu. "WHAT?!"

Bonyu looked at him. "No. He's not. N-Not only has Cooler forbidden anyone in the Cooler Force from even entering the North Galaxy...he immediately shuts down any mention of it. Like...he's purposefully trying to push the very thought of Earth and the men who slaughtered his father and brother as far out of people's minds as possible..."

Bardock took a moment, carefully considering what Bonyu had just said. The very action of it, Cooler choosing to ignore the Northern Galaxy and the Earth, it should have filled him with relief. And yet, thinking of all his interactions with the People of Hades in Frieza and Cold...this revelation only filled him with further dread.

Turles sighed. "Look...let's just approach one thing at a time, okay? We're already half-way to M1. This agreement we have with the Armored Squadron might be shaky...but with their help to break in, and with them after that Big Gete Star thing, this might provide us the ultimate opportunity to go and grab the Revenger Crystal for ourselves. That's a positive, right~?"

Bardock silently nodded. Bonyu did as well. Zangya glared away. Hisho, nervous at the tension in the room, simply smiled at Turles. Slug groaned. "I guess so. But it still feels like this is all going to be a pain in the ass..."

Turles chuckled. "Oh, Slug...isn't it always~?"

?

In a darkened chamber, four circular pads on the ground began to shimmer. And then, in a shimmering flash, four people appeared on top of them. The first of these beings stepped forward and spoke, adjusting his thick, reflective sunglasses with his middle finger. He was a lanky man with an unnatural, blue skin-tone and bright orange hair. "Our spyware on both the Armored Squadron's ship and on the Demon Crusher's ship has informed us of their approach. A pity that they did not kill one another as we had hoped."

The next one floated forward atop a crystal ball. He had a bulbous head, purple head and seemingly robotic eyes. He snarled. "Not only that, Myuu...two of them are Saiyans..."

The next one stepped forward, a hand-rolled, perfumed cigarette sending sweet-smelling smoke curling into the air. She was a capricious older woman, a pixie cut of silver hair neatly bursting from the top of her head. She wore a lab-coat over a floral-patterned dress along with a pair of butterfly sunglasses over her eyes. She stubbed out her cigarette, only to immediately produce an ornate lighter and strike up a fresh one. "Oh dear, don't say such hideous things, Raichi. That word would make me want to vomit if vomiting were still trendy~"

Finally, a hunched over little man stepped forward. He was quite frumpy, with an embarrassingly receded hairline. In his hand, he gripped an ornate, blackwood cane with bright gold accents. "Would you stop obsessing with trends, Gete? You're a geezer just like the rest of us, no matter what skin you chose to wear!"

Dr. Gete snapped at her critical colleague, the lenses of her sunglasses faintly glowing green. "Watch your mouth, Kochin."

The four of them stood there, watching as two blips on the star-map before them got closer and closer to the blip representing Planet M1. Behind the four of them, a fifth voice boomed out. The four Tuffle scientists turned and faced their fifth member. "How unsavory to have members of that accursed race approach us..."

On the wall behind them, a giant brain in a tank of culture fluid sat, the only source feeding it information from the outside world being a glowing, red node right beneath its glass. The fluid within the chamber bubbled and the brain spoke again. "But it matters not. Let the Saiyans come and let them bring the lapdogs of the Planet Trade Organization. Perhaps what we do with them will send a message that we are not to be trifled with."

Dr. Kochin cackled. "Oh, I see~ Do you have a plan for these fools, Dr. Wheelo~?"

Dr. Wheelo, the disembodied brain in a jar, spoke with utter hate in his synthesized voice. "Well, Kochin, I was thinking thus: the Saiyans have taken so much from the five of us...so they could stand to give back, correct?"

Dr. Gete smirked. "And what, exactly, would they give?"

Images of Turles and the Masked Saiyan flashed onto the screen. Dr. Raichi instantly began to tremble with rage at the sight of them. Dr. Myuu stroked his orange moustache. "Perhaps you should discount the one that is missing an arm...if you are planning what I think you are, Wheelo..."

Dr. Wheelo's tank gurgled again and the image of Turles disappeared. Now it was just the Masked Saiyan displayed before the five of them. Dr. Wheelo spoke again. "I agree, Myuu. If I am going to take a new body, it might as well be a whole body."