Western Crags, 1 year since landfall
Several voices could be heard roaring deep within the valleys of the crags, followed by a thunderous cacophony of explosions shortly after. Just seconds later a hailstorm of shattered and heated earth fell from the sky as a massive dust cloud washed over the landscape. Several new trenches were carved into the landscape, many of which were red hot from recent activity. Atop one of the taller crags stood Bardock and his squadron, along with Romei, inspecting this fine mess with approving smirks.
"I think the stragglers are ready," Bardock announced with a small chuckle. "Any second opinions?"
"Oh yeah, definitely ready," Tōma agreed, barely containing his pleased grin. The second-in-command's grin faded when he realized something. "Has anyone heard from Cooler or his goons?"
"Cooler told me a couple days ago that Thouser and Neiz were concocting something that'll help mitigate the risk once we do this," Gine answered. "I can only wonder what that is."
"Don't see why he couldn't tell me what it was," Panbūkin commented, folding his large arms.
"Because he didn't want to get our hopes up," Toteppo sagely retorted.
"Short, sweet, and to the point like always," Selypa added. "Same reason Bardock never told us about the specifics of this technique until he was certain it was perfected."
The conversation was broken when Mung began to approach the leading squadron from the air, data pad slung under his arm.
"General, the guide pillars are in place," Mung announced with a leisurely salute. "Each is right below their target and ready for aim assist."
"Good," Bardock nodded. "Any word from either Thouser or Neiz?"
"None so far," Mung shook his head. "I can only wonder what they're-"
"Did someone mention us?"
A raspy voice called out from behind one of the crags as Thouser and Neiz made their approach, the former with his usual guise of formality and the latter with a gleeful grin on his face.
"Cooler mentioned you guys were working on something," Bardock said as the two flew to a stop. "What's the story behind it?"
"Ah yes," Thouser bowed. "Neiz has an innate ability to manipulate electric currents with his body. We were working on a way to harness it into an electromagnetic pulse of sorts. Power down ze grid for a short while, giving you a chance to open fire."
"And you wouldn't be telling us this if it weren't ready yet, right?" Romei questioned with an arched eyebrow.
"Aye Madame," Thouser nodded. "We have the technique ready. It can render ze grid defenseless for approximately… 10 minutes at most."
"10 minutes?" Romei repeated. "That's how much time you can buy us?"
"If we tried for longer, it could probably spur on the grid to fire prematurely," Neiz elaborated.
"10 minutes is more than enough time," Tōma waved off. "It'll reduce the hassle of coordinating an entire company spread across the globe to fire simultaneously. Now I'm guessing once those satellites reboot if not destroyed, all Hell will break loose?"
"It's almost guaranteed," Thouser nodded.
"Alright then," Bardock sighed. "Give the order to recall everyone back to Salad. I want everyone rested for tomorrow and ready to launch the Prison Break."
"Still think that name's cliche," Selypa muttered, loud enough for Bardock to hear.
"Got any better names? I'm all ears," The Saiyan commander asked, an err of annoyance in his voice. Selypa simply backed down on the issue with an eye roll-accented sigh.
"We'll get right on it," Tōma complied as he motioned for everyone else to spread the word.
The squadron and Romei flew off to spread the word on the recall. Being present already, Thouser and Neiz simply shrugged and joined in the efforts. Bardock and Gine stood alone atop the crag when the former noticed his mate trembling ever so slightly.
"Something's bothering you," Bardock surmised, approaching his mate.
"I'm… I'm not sure," Gine sighed, trying to calm herself.
"If you're worried you're strength might not be-"
"It's not that," Gine cut off her mate. "I'm teaming up with Nion to get the power output we need."
"Then what's weighing on your mind?" Bardock asked, pulling Gine in for an embrace.
"That's just it. I don't know," Gine answered honestly. "It's… It's like I have this feeling things might turn badly for us soon."
"I know that feeling," Bardock sighed knowingly, earning a confused look from Gine. "We'll have to push it aside until we get something of substance to worry about."
"You've felt this feeling before?"
"Once or twice," Bardock explained. "It only becomes that much more clear in hindsight. Once was when we got that mission to Arlia." Gine couldn't help but giggle at the mention of that mission, despite how traumatic it was for the rest of the squadron. "And another shortly before He betrayed us."
"So that's how you knew Freeza was-"
"No, not Freeza. Him."
It took a moment for Gine to realize who Bardock was referring to, but it eventually clicked in her mind, and her smile immediately turned to a scowl. Old memories began to flood back to her as the sense of foreboding she was feeling moments ago were now replaced with feelings of anger. Her reverie was snapped when she began to feel Bardock's ki rise as his usual scowl began to harshen with the same memories.
"We should head back and not think about this any further," Gine suggested, trying to calm herself once more.
"Good call," Bardock sighed deeply. "We have a big day tomorrow, after all."
The two Saiyans took off from their perch in the crags and flew eastward back to the settlement to recover rest. Bardock's mind began to wander, until the same feeling of dread that affected Gine began to well up within him as well.
Salad Settlement, The next day
A normally lively settlement bustling with activity was now little more than a ghost town, as only two Saiyans were present, along with the amethyst demon of the woods, and all 3 of his colleagues. Romei stood in the common grounds looking up parallel to a large stone obelisk that stood next to her. This megalith was intended to guide her aim, as it was finally time to break the death trap on this world. Stood behind her was Mung, who was carrying a data pad which showed the orbital paths of the satellites above, and to his right was Cooler, who nodded to his subordinates Neiz and Thouser, the former of whom readied his hands in a clawed fashion. Violet electricity began crackling and with a swift shout, thrust his hands skyward, sending out a bolt of bioelecticity that shot straight at Thouser. With a strained grunt, the blue man thrust his hand skyward as the bolt was amplified. Eventually, the arc hit something and split into five, and those arcs continued to split across the sky. The electric bolt was hitting the satellites, and showing precisely where they were in geosynchronous orbit. When the bolts died down, Trouser and Neiz sighed and nodded to his superior.
"You will have 10 minutes at most to do this," Cooler said to the Saiyan queen. "Thouser and Neiz's EM bolt will keep the satellites down, but once they reboot, they'll open fire."
"I know the plan," Romei nodded as she took a squatted stance. She pulled her left hand back, curling her knuckles as if to push something forward, and her right hand's knuckles rested against her other palm. Slowly, a violet aura built up around the Saiyan queen as she let out a low growl as she pooled her ki. The aura began to spike violently as she kept her gaze parallel with the obelisk. With one last sigh, she smirked.
"GARLIC CANNON!"
With a mighty roar, she thrust her palms forward and a massive purple beam of her concentrated ki shot upward with enough force to push Romei's feet into the earth and blast away the surrounding terrain to carve out a small crater. The beam rose higher into the air and eventually in the far distance, various yellow beams of ki began to shoot upward in rapid succession. Minutes passed and the Saiyan Queen kept a steady flow of her ki to the technique. It was in that moment she felt her attack connect, and she immediately dammed up the floodgates of her power, leaving the violet stream to peter out. Looking around, the other beams began to hit their marks, indicated by tiny explosions high above the atmosphere.
"That's 20 satellite transponders out," Mung muttered as he eyed the data pad and the sky. "40… 60… 80…"
Mung continued to count the intervals as the satellites were being destroyed by the dozens. The view from orbit would be one to behold, as it looked like the planet itself was splaying out several needles to eradicate the gnat-like doomsday weapons entrapping its tenets. It was almost like a wave. From one point, a purple beam signalled several yellow beams to follow suit, until the wave met the complete opposite end of the planet, where the final beam shot forth and subsequently dissipated.
"162…" Mung muttered, eyeing the data pad over several times. "No more satellite signals can be detected in orbit, Your Highness."
"And now we wait," Romei said with a sigh, seating herself down in the small crater she had just created.
10 minutes had passed, and they were still here. No tremors had been felt indicating anything struck the planet.
"I guess that's my cue," Cooler sighed as he began to hover upwards. "Here goes nothing."
With a flare of Cooler's aura, he shot upward with a loud sonic boom, easily breaking mach 5 within the span of 10 seconds. The surface of his prison drew farther and farther away and soon he was breaking through the upper thermosphere, soon reaching the threshold of this planet's atmosphere. Thanks to his biology, he was able to comfortably enter the pressureless vacuum of space without asphyxia taking hold. He slowed to a crawl to an altitude where he would assume geosynchronous orbit would be feasible on this planet. Looking around, there were signs of the satellites present, but they had been reduced to lumps of molten slag, obliterated by the joint attack conjured by the Saiyans. Cooler could only smile at this and sigh with relief, despite there being no pressurized atmosphere for him to sigh with. Despite this relief, he still wanted to vent, and thus lobbed a moderately-sized sphere of ki at the remaining debris, reducing the slag to nothing more than superheated dust.
Cooler soon made his descent back to the surface of the planet. Atmospheric reentry plasma began to assault his aura, but it held firm as he made his descent down to the settlement from which he took off from. The moment he had reached the upper stratosphere, he focused on slowing his descent, accented by a massive shockwave that smeared several small clouds in its wake. The friction-fueled plasma had dissipated and once the settlement was in sight, he slowed his descent even further to land right where he had taken off.
"So, what's the story Boss?" Dore asked, both eager and nervous to find out.
Cooler simply smirked and turned to his green subordinate. He said no words and simply nodded, causing his face to light up with elation.
"YEAH!" Dore shouted with glee, as he let loose a breath he had literally held for nearly half an hour. "No more gun to our heads mates!"
Neiz and Dore began to dance around like buffoons while Thouser simply slumped his shoulders and sighed with relief. Cooler looked up at the sky and he breathed a sigh of relief he thought would never come.
"7 years trapped on this planet," Cooler sighed, falling backwards onto his backside. "7 years of exile never allowed to leave, and finally the shackles are broken! Dore! Neiz! Go to the cabin and bring my entire cellar!"
The two mentioned subordinates stopped dancing like buffoons and looked at Cooler with visible confusion. "T-The whole cellar?" Dore asked, hardly believing what he was hearing.
"The whole inventory my friend!" Cooler answered with unheard cheer. Dore and Neiz began to smile wide as they sped off to their cabin, leaving Romei somewhat confused. Cooler noticed this then got up to face the Saiyan Queen. "A little collection of craft brews I put together during my time here. I thought I might share the spoils for what your people did here."
"I never figured you for the drinking sort," Romei commented, smirking at Cooler's sudden jolly demeanor.
"Oh please," Cooler dismissed with a chuckle. "Half a decade on a deathtrap can spark habits. Besides, it's mostly Dore and Neiz who do the drinking."
The two were snapped from their conversation as several ki signatures began to fly back to the settlement at high speed. Bardock and his squadron were the first to touch down, each with excited grins on their face, even Toteppo, who is usually so stoic.
"Hell yeah!" Panbūkin cheered, pumping his fist into the air. "Now we can leave this dirt ball whenever we want!"
"Aw, but I'm getting so used to my new home!~" Selypa sarcastically whined. "In all seriousness, landing here had its benefits."
"No kidding!" Tōma agreed, slinging his arm around Selypa's shoulders, mildly dampening her mood, but not completely snuffing it out. "I say we party tonight!"
"I agree, but first I want to check the star charts," Bardock announced, making his way to the grounded flagship. "It's one thing to be able to leave this dirt ball, it's another to get back on our feet."
"Might as well," Tōma shrugged. "Gotta make sure to play nice with any neighbors we run across."
"Assuming they don't all immediately piss themselves the moment we say 'hello,'" Panbūkin commented with a snicker.
"Well don't take too long," Cooler suggested. "Neiz and Dore will be coming back with my entire stock of craft brews I made during my time here."
"Now we're talking!" Selypa cheered, eager to have alcohol for the first time in what seemed like forever.
"You guys have fun," Bardock ordered light-heartedly. "I'm gonna go check the charts."
"I'm coming with," Gine volunteered, to which Bardock simply shrugged.
"Anyone else?" Bardock asked. Romei and Tōma stepped forward and made their way to the flagship. "That answers that."
The four proceeded to the flagship, pleased with their handiwork today, but Gine's feeling of apprehension from yesterday began to mount again. They were going to find something they would not like.
King Vegeta's Ship, Bridge
Bardock, Tōma, Gine, and Romei all entered the bridge of the ship and huddled around the center console. The Saiyan general activated it and brought up a 3-dimensional map of the local star cluster they were in.
"You mentioned 2 civilized systems nearby, yeah?" Tōma inquired, earning a nod from Bardock. "Let's check those first."
Immediately Bardock filtered through the star systems, leaving two floating on the holographic chart. Both had procedural names assigned to them - H-3RA, and 1K-0NDA.
"H-3RA…" Bardock muttered. "That almost sounds like Herā."
Toma looked up lost in thought for a moment. "Definitely seems like the right neighborhood." He finally said aloud. "Figures the planet we land on is in the back lot of space pirate territory."
"What about 1K-0NDA?" Gine asked.
"Civilized, but not space-faring," Bardock answered. "Of course we don't know how dated this information is. Plus we can't assume Herā is a domain for pirates, just because the stories of Bōjakku say he was Herān himself."
"Hold up," Romei spoke up as she began to look up any files on H-3RA. Giving the segment of the console a quick scroll, she found some information. "Well, it is controlled by pirates, but the organization is extrastellar to this system."
"So who's running the show there?" Tōma asked, now somewhat curious.
"It's… Run by the Crusher Army Corps.," Romei answered.
Bardock's eyes immediately harshened into a surprised glare. "What was that?!" The Saiyan commander shouted.
Gine also shared the same look of surprise and anger as her mate, while Tōma was just surprised.
"Bardock, chill," Tōma said, still off-put by his superior's sudden outburst. "Her Highness just said Herā was under control of the Crusher Army Corps."
Gine vanished from her spot and appeared right in front of Tōma, grabbing him by the scruff of his combat jacket and pulled him up close, glaring dangerously at the second-in-command.
"I will not be dealing with the Crusher Army Corps or their leader!" Gine shouted, now petrifying Tōma, which was an unheard of sight. "I'd sooner fly to the nearest neutron star and let its gamma burst roast me alive instead of having anything to do with those bastards!"
"I'm agreeing with Gine on this one!" Bardock agreed, now almost more furious than when he had first encountered Cooler.
"Uh, Romei? Help?!" Tōma pleaded, seeing how the Saiyan Queen was now the only level-headed person in the room. She looked at Tōma's situation with nothing but pure amusement, but sighed and decided to pry Gine away from the now cowering warrior.
"Okay, let's start from the beginning," Romei sighed, tossing Gine a few meters away, who deftly landed on her feet. "You two clearly have extreme grievances towards the Crusher Army Corps, so why don't you explain before you kill someone just because they were uninformed?"
Bardock let loose a long sigh in an effort to calm down. He was still livid, but was no longer angry enough to rip apart the nearest unfortunate soul.
"It's less about the organization, and more the guy running it we have grievances with," Bardock explained, his scowl harsher than usual. "A Saiyan named Tullece."
"Wait! Another Saiyan?" Tōma exclaimed, finally recomposed after Gine's outburst.
"Not just any other Saiyan," Gine added, now calm as well. "Tullece is Bardock's twin brother."
Silence hung in the air for a solid minute as the information tried to sink in.
"So, this Tullece guy is Bardock's brother?" Tōma finally spoke up, earning two dangerous dagger-filled stares at the mention of that name. "W-Why do you two hate him so much? Did he make a pass at Gine?"
"Tullece, Gine and I were with our parents' squadron when we were little," Bardock began, his tone now sullen, but still laced with anger. "During one mission, our parents were killed by some higher-ups of the Crusher Army Corps. Gine was able to support Tullece and I as we put down their old council along with their leader, but once we did, he stabbed us both in the back and took over the organization for himself, leaving us for dead. He's the reason I have this."
Bardock gestured his thumb along the jagged scar that decorated the left portion of his face.
"He was always deceitful, even before betraying us," Gine added. "But to betray his own brother and to join up with the people that killed his parents was a new low, even by Saiyan standards."
"Holy shit," Tōma muttered, now hearing this story for the first time.
The conversation was broken when everyone heard the automatic door fly open and Cooler stepped inside.
"I noticed two intense spikes of ki coming from here," Cooler said, explaining why he was here. "Care to fill me in?"
"Do you want the whole story, or just the cliffnotes?" Tōma asked, finally recomposed to his usual demeanor.
Toma began to explain the situation to Cooler, down to the presence of Tullece and his betrayal. The purple exile took this information in and he began to frown at this, for this act reminded him very much of his brother and father.
"Perhaps I should speak with him," Cooler suggested, his frown unwavering. "That is, if you're willing to lend a ship."
Bardock looked at the frost demon with a look of confusion. "What are you implying?" He asked in a suspicious manner.
'You hit him right in the pride, Cooler,' Gine thought with a mental facepalm as she began to suspect that Bardock's motives were shifting around.
"Poor choice of words on my part," Cooler apologized. "What I meant to say was if you plan to seek out this Tullece, perhaps I should come along in the event negotiations turn sour."
"And what makes you think he'll listen to you more than me, Gine, or anyone else here?" Bardock inquired.
"Three reasons," Cooler answered, holding up one finger to begin listing off his arguments. "One, I can only imagine how he would react to see me working alongside you. Two, you say he's running a pirate organization, well my family's legacy began as pirates before my great grandfather decided to make it more formal. And Three, I can be just as deceptive as any pirate when the need arises."
"And who's to say you weren't deceiving us this entire time?" Romei questioned, arching an eyebrow.
"If I lied about being trapped here, or caring for my squadron's well-being, then I would not be here in the first place," Cooler retorted.
"That's nice and all, but we have to face facts," Tōma butted in to offer his thoughts. "We lack infrastructure to rebuild on our own, and the Crusher Army Corps is currently our best bet to get into the game."
Bardock folded his arms and closed his eyes, weighing his options. With a long sigh through his nose, he opened his eyes once more. "Fine," He said, dropping his arms. "But Tōma and Romei are to come with us."
"Me?" Tōma and Romei said in unison.
"Romei because she's the top diplomat for this matter," Bardock answered, to which Romei Shrugged. "And Tōma because I need someone to draw Tullece's passive-aggressive wit away from me and Gine. Who better than my buddy right here?"
Toma grumbled as Bardock pulled his shoulder in for a brotherly side hug, and then simply sighed. "I guess this is that favor for bailing me out of that bug prison."
"You mean the one on Arlia, or Arlia itself?~" Bardock inquired, earning a few giggles from Gine and grumbles from Tōma.
"You guys keep talking about that place, but I don't know the story," Romei added, confused that Bardock mentioned that planet once again.
"I'd… rather not get into it," Tōma sighed.
"I will!" Gine happily volunteered ready to tell the tale of what happened on that planet, much to her second-in-command's chagrin. "So, we were assigned a mission to secure this planet because of the ore resources reported there…"
'Kill me now…' Tōma thought in despair, not wanting to hear a recount of this story. He lived through it once, he didn't want to hear it again, especially if Gine was going to abridge it.
Later that evening
Several Saiyans were cheering and holding simple bottles that came from Cooler's alcohol reserve. The rum made from local cane plants seemed to be a popular one, followed closely by a particularly dark ale. Dore and Neiz were dancing around like absolute fools, while Thouser, who is usually so uptight, was absolutely hammered, and for pure entertainment, began asking various Saiyans to lob various fruits at him, only for the blue man to slice each one in half with his ki saber technique.
"Look at me! I am a fruit ninja!" Thouser slurred as he missed a large melon fruit that hit him in the face, and covered his head. "Merde..."
Around one of the usual bonfires were Bardock's squadron along with a few other Saiyans and Queen Romei, red in the face not just from the alcohol, but also the story Gine was telling. Oddly enough she was still very sober.
"And that's when Bardock decided to write off the planet and blow it up," Gine finished the story.
"Like Hell he blew it up!" Panbūkin snapped. "Bardock left the planet intact after we resolved that little revolution of theirs! We booked it as soon as things got gross!"
"You mean the mating ritual of the Arlian king and queen?" Bardock asked, an amused smirk plastered across his face.
"There was nothing even remotely attractive about that!" Selypa retorted, the redness in her face intensifying. "I once strangled some poor sap with his own entrails and that was tame in comparison to... that!"
"Oh come on!" Tōma shouted as he slung an arm over Selypa's shoulder. "You wish that was us up there!"
"...Pass the ale!" Selypa cried out as she stood up to reach for another bottle. Tōma, in his drunken state, did not count on this, and immediately lost support and fell over, earning a collective laugh from everyone present. "Aw, Tōma, why do you gotta lead a girl on like that only to hump the ground?~"
"Oh please," Tōma drawled out as he spat out some dirt. "You counted on that and you know it."
"Alright, get a room you two," Panbūkin slurred, followed by a hiccup. "We don't wanna see another mating ritual for Yamoshi's sake."
"Well maybe we will!~" Tōma snapped back in a passive-aggressive tone. The Saiyan turned around - a bit too fast and got dizzy - and stumbled back to the flagship. Oddly enough, Selypa followed him and gave a passing wink to the group as they departed.
"Lucky bastard," Leek muttered under his breath.
"'Ey, there are other women out there!" Panbūkin consoled the pilot with a hefty pat to his back. "That Nion seems up your alley!"
"Alright, either I've had too much to drink, or Panbūkin trying to be a wingman is more nauseating than I'm willing to stomach," Bardock jeered as he stood up. "I'm turning in for the night."
"Same here," Gine nodded as she stood up with a stretch and walked alongside her mate back to the flagship, leaving the remainder of the squadron, Romei, and a few others in an awkward silence.
"Screw it, I'm making a move," Leek sighed as he stood up to find Nion.
Toteppo watched as the Saiyan Pilot took off, but then promptly fell backwards as the alcohol in his system finally caught up with him and he was now asleep and out cold. Panbūkin decided to heft up his best friend and haul his drunken tail back to his bunk, but the moment he stood up, the alcohol caught up with him as well and he fell over, snoring loudly.
"Idiots can't hold their drinks," Romei muttered as she slowly stood up with a mild stumble. As she walked back to the flagship, she turned to address the remaining Saiyans. "If I catch any of you trying to get friendly with me I'll dislocate your elbows and break your wrists!"
They heard the message loud and clear, regardless of blood-alcohol levels and flinched at the threat before continuing with their own drinks.
Bōjakku - Bojack
Tullece - Turles
A/N: Hoooooookay! The Independence Day Lasers are gone, and now new problems have arisen! Mostly for Bardock and Gine, because Tullece be a backstabbing asshole. Now I can guess what some of you are thinking. "Why're you including all these non-canon movie characters you mad bastard?!" Well, I'm using them as a template, because why not, and if my colleagues Demod20 and LastationLover5000 with their co-written fic Heart of Adventurers (which is a good fic if you enjoy Goku-x-Bulma and Raditz being relevant) can repurpose Tullece, and LastationLover5000's other fic Erased Chronicles (also a good fic to check out) can have Bōjakku canon (barring a few minor changes) then Damnit, I can do something along the same lines like I'm doing with Cooler!
Now, as for the story itself, not much to say, except I'm gonna try and put the Arlia joke to bed after this chapter, 'cause one can only stomach so much filler prodding. I also want to make sure that Tullece makes things difficult for everyone, because, again, he's an asshole. Will I include his botany experiment? Most likely, yes, but don't be surprised if I omit it. I hope this was a fun read. Do leave a review and share your thoughts. :)
P.S. Not gonna name names, but to the one posting reviews telling me to update faster, please chill the fuq out! I can only post updates so fast!