"I believe this is yours," Tora said, lifting his arm up a little to indicate he meant my sword. Then he tossed it, and I raised my hand to catch it by the handle.
"What – what are you doing here?" I said, brain still trying to piece together the sudden shift in situation.
"Came here with those two charming individuals," he replied with less-than-subtle sarcasm. "I saw that you would be here. To make a long story short, I need your help."
"You saw – ? Wait a second. Were you watching the battle this whole time?" I slid the blade back into its scabbard.
"Yes..." he replied, walking closer. "You've gotten stronger, clearly."
"Nevermind that right now. Why didn't you step into the fight? Whether you knew I was coming or just recognized me during battle, you could have said something to these two."
"The level of trust between those Saiyans and I is at the bare minimum needed to cooperate. Even if you think they'd believe me without seeing the real thing, those PTO lackeys needed to be dealt with."
Of course, I knew they hadn't all been 'dealt with,' but I didn't correct him.
"So..." I looked back and forth between the nameless pair and Tora. "You're the only Saiyans here? They told us it was a bigger group."
The tattooed man took the moment to interject. "Why do you think you idiots kept showing up? If the PTO thinks this is the safe haven, let 'em – we've been picking the fuckers off for weeks. But I think we're the ones supposed to be asking questions about you."
I shifted more of my focus away from Tora on my left to the Saiyans on my right. The two of them, battered though they were, had no severe injuries. This was partly thanks to my restraint and partly to the natural healing provided during or after a Great Ape transformation. The armour they wore had vague similarities to the PTO style, but also clear differences – that, included with what they wore underneath, was obviously able to flex with becoming an ape (otherwise, it would've been torn to shreds and they'd be standing there naked).
"Neither of you seemed like you were in a listening mood, even though your companion said she knew my face just now," I offered.
The woman made no answer, merely continuing to analyze Bardock and I with her dark eyes. The tattooed man looked at her, saw that no response was forthcoming, and then turned back to me.
"I don't know what you expected, trying to talk to an ape," he spat. "And she's not – I mean, you look more like one of these damned plants than a Saiyan."
"I'm glad you noticed. I was getting worried there that your brain hadn't returned to normal along with the rest of you," I fired back. Not only had the man's reply not explained the situation any better, but my hair colour was much nicer than those overgrown mushrooms.
"Oh, really? How 'bout I show you how much you should worry, you -"
The man's growl was cut off when he began moving forward, presumably to come get in my face when the woman nonchalantly stuck her leg out and tripped him, causing him to topple directly forward into the dirt.
After a long second he managed to roll himself back over, as quickly as his exhausted body would let him, and glared up at the woman.
"What the fuck was that for?" he demanded, tail uncoiling to thrash beside him in anger.
"Daikon," she said, "stop talking. It's distracting."
"Who're you calling distracting? If you aren't careful a low-flying spaceship could smack you in the forehead, you beanpole!"
"I said stop talking. I'm surprised you still have the energy to run your mouth."
Their camaraderie was a weird contrast, especially since I'd seen the man literally eat someone several minutes ago. He – Daikon – looked like he was about to argue more, pulling himself to a sitting position on the ground, but the woman stepped forward around him and he seemed to give up, eyes boring a hole into her back as she continued on to approach me.
One she reached within a few feet she stopped, staring down with a slight narrowing of her eyes. Her posture was relaxed, so I doubted she planned on attacking me again, but I was slightly on guard nevertheless.
I hadn't seen many Saiyan females in my lifetime, but then again, a lot of people hadn't. No one, so far, had tried very hard to figure out why so few of them were born. I knew Gine, but not many others, and the human equivalents on Earth had a distinctly different presence than the woman standing in front of me. In this lighting, I was able to get a pretty good look at her.
Like her companion, she was in her prime somewhere. As I'd noted before, she had a very male-pattern physique, aside from small cues like a too-smooth throat and completely clean jaw, though her chest was not at all visible. Her hair was half pulled into a braid down her back and the rest was in thick layers around her face and shoulders, sable like her tail. Freckles dotted her cheekbones, among other areas, and while her features weren't as delicate as, say, Mom's or even Videl's, she wasn't unattractive.
"You really are the son of Vegeta," the woman said in a slow, careful alto.
"What would you know about him?" I asked. "A few minutes ago you seemed to prefer trying to crush me than listen to what I was saying."
"I've met your father. The resemblance is strong, although it took me longer to be sure with dirt in my eyes," she continued in that same measured tone while narrowing her gaze. "Though the rumours about you seem to be true – except for the one where you're dead."
"You can't always believe what you hear."
"Speaking of rumours," Tora cut in, "you've probably heard your fare share of what's going on."
I shifted to look at him. He walked closer, talking as he moved. "There's are things of importance you need to know – maybe it's best we go back to camp."
"You have a camp?" I said.
"Close enough. You're hungry too, right? We have food to last until – well. Nevermind that for now. This way."
And with that, he turned and headed off the other direction without looking back.
I hadn't even agreed, but I supposed I was going anyway. Tora seemed pretty confident about himself.
I started to follow, noting that Daikon had gotten up at some point to do the same, and the four of us began making our way across the alien terrain.
I was glad Tora hadn't been kidding about food. I wasn't quite full, but I'd been given enough to take the edge off the sensation of my stomach turning inside out. Some of it was that powdered stuff I hated (but ate anyway, in my current situation), and the rest was foreign. Tora himself partook in next to none of it, choosing to stay mostly silent until the other two Saiyans and I were done.
Their camp hadn't been quite what I expected. Much closer to the distant mountains, the ground had become harder, a different kind of rock even. The mushrooms were still growing here and there, but the landscape had changed into large shelves of stone protruding unevenly, a few of which had caves inside. The trio had chosen one of the largest of these, and outside of it rested the most beat-up spaceship I'd ever seen, but we continued on past to enter the cavern. Tora muttered something about rain and suggested we stay inside even though there were hardly any clouds overhead. We all complied anyway and a fire was set to light the darker interior as we sat around it.
For the first few minutes I kept my guard up a bit, but seeing the duo I'd fought earlier ignore me in favour of their meals made me relax – at least for the moment. Once finished, they left outside to the ship for a brief period and came back in different, cleaner, and undamaged clothes. Both wore altered versions of the same attire: form-fitted tops that exposed their arms paired with looser trousers that tucked into their boots. The design wasn't something I'd ever seen on Planet Vegeta, but it seemed to fit the image of a spacefarer pretty well.
"So," I began, "were you two former PTO soldiers as well or what?" Most Saiyans, of course, had been. But to my knowledge most Saiyans were dead now too.
"The PTO can eat shit. I've never been one of their lackeys," Daikon hurled at me, rubbing his tattooed arm absently.
"At least I can say that's one thing we have in common," I said, trying once more to broach some amicability at the minimum. There's so few of us left, so it's probably best for me to just swallow my pride and –
"You can eat shit too, half-breed," he retorted. He pointedly looked away to signal he wasn't interested in talking to me, like it was beneath him.
"Tch. Look, asshole, I'm willing to work together for the sake of a bigger problem, but if you call me that again I'll break your jaw," I snapped, standing up.
"Gods. That took a total of ten damn seconds and you barely know each other," Tora chastised from where he relaxed against the cave wall. "I expect one of you to be the bigger man here and save it for later."
"Pssh. How's he gonna be the bigger man when he's even shorter than I am?" Daikon interjected while rising as well. "Thinks he can just show up and tell us what to do – isn't this entire situation his family's fault?"
In my peripheral vision I saw Tora move in place, about to get up. However, before anything else happened, I slowly raised my hands in the air beside my shoulders.
"Let me reiterate – bigger problems," I said. "I don't know how you have so much against me when I hardly know you. I'm assuming you're a third-class, in which case you have a right to be bitter. But there's no point in all that right now when we don't even have a home world to criticize anymore. It's like they say: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. All we have to do is cooperate until we figure things out."
Daikon pursed his lips, standing silently for a few seconds. Finally, he broke eye contact with a grunt of acquiescence and sat back down. I lowered my hands and returned to my seat as well.
"So it really is destroyed," the woman began in what appeared to be her customary steadiness as the tension of the room started to cool.
"Yes. I went there. Where it used to be." I ran a hand through my hair. Without routine maintenance like I'd gotten used to on Earth it was growing out again, getting in my eyes far more often.
"Your scar-faced acquaintance told us Planet Vegeta was gone. It seems he spoke the truth," she continued. "Everyone assumed you had gone with it, if not before."
I turned my focus to her. (There was something unusual, something different about the way she talked the more I listened. It wasn't a foreign accent or anything so obvious – she weighed each word as if trying to disguise something, like a cognitive impediment or injury.)
"I left the planet shortly after defeating Broly. I stayed on my mother's home world to recover and train and I came back to all hell breaking loose," I said after a moment.
"Defeating who?"
"Broly. I don't know the whole story but he and his father had a vendetta against my family and my best friend's. It doesn't matter now."
"I heard your mother died. Your third-class vassals, too," Tora cut in, sharp eyes on me.
I looked into the fire. "They died. Like I said – it doesn't matter now."
No one spoke for a minute. In order to clear my thoughts from the past, I changed the subject.
"I'm pretty sure you all know my name, but I don't think I know all yours. You're Daikon, aren't you?" I said.
The man in question gave a curt nod. I looked at the woman. She stared back.
"Korravi," she answered after a pause, like she hadn't been paying attention.
I looked to Tora last. "And you," I said.
"And me?" he echoed.
"Yes. I think you have the most explaining to do out of anyone," I replied.
Trying to recall what seemed like a lifetime ago, my memories conjured an image of me in the palace archive, searching for a dead man. The question unanswered had remained the same since then: how coincidental could you get before chance became fate?
"You're here for a reason," I said aloud. "You were there back then for a reason, too. I don't understand the how or why. But from one person who's supposed to be dead to another... there's no way any of this was chance. You're Bardock, aren't you?"
The man seemed to ruminate on his next words, expression sobering before he gave a reply.
"I was," he finally uttered. "Tora died a long time ago. So did I – on record, anyway. But my life as I knew it was over nonetheless. It's been over a Half-Cycle since then."
"Hold on a second, back up. I have no idea what's going on, but are we talking about the Bardock? You're telling me this weird old man is the infamous squad captain?" Daikon blurted.
Bardock's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "This weird old man has spent more time on the battlefield than you've been alive. And yes, I guess I did build a reputation for myself that's still around. Miraculous how much more famous people get when they're dead. But I'm not just Bardock – I'm sure you've all heard about Frieza's oracle."
"No... Wait. Yes. I think I heard a few soldiers mention something like that," I said.
"It's pointless to beat around the bush with this, but when I said that I saw you coming, I meant it. Call it third-eye bullshit or whatever you want, but to make a long story short, I was given psychic abilities and I can see the future. I can also sense people's intentions, but it's my ability to know things that haven't happened yet that Frieza wanted. I've been his slave for years until I stole a ship and escaped the moment I heard the news about Vegeta," Bardock replied rather casually.
There was a substantially dumbstruck silence.
"Uh," Daikon said, "what?"
"Take a minute if you need to go through the denial phase. It might help you to know that I can't really read minds – not that I'd want to. It's bad enough to get vague motivations and less helpful than you think. And the visions get annoying as all hell."
I took the moment to finish absorbing what he'd said and start asking questions. "News about Vegeta? What news? Are you talking about the planet or my father?"
"Your father. The planet didn't get destroyed until after I left. Actually, that's probably a bit of my fault and your father's. But it's not like I didn't know what was coming."
Getting up from my seat, I strode around the fire and stood over Bardock.
"Start explaining," I said. "Now. From the beginning."
The man sighed. "The beginning's a long way off. I think it's better you sit down and we talk about the stuff that matters. Like how we're going to find the Namekian."
"Namekian? What Namekian?" I demanded, having more questions emerge with every new thing Tora – no, Bardock – said.
"The one who's going to lead us to Namek," he replied.
"Gods be praised, that clears things right up," I deadpanned.
Bardock raised an eyebrow at me. "You aren't going to ask why we need to go to Namek?"
"I already know Namek's important. But I don't know what you mean by finding a specific Namekian to take us there. I came out here to find my father. If you can really see the future, you'd know that."
"Just because I have precognition doesn't mean I know everything. Or understand everything I see – remember that when things get tough later. And yes, I know why you returned to space."
"I'm getting tired of the riddles. Start giving me straight answers and I might start believing what you say."
"You want me to prove I'm telling the truth? Fine. Sit down and I'll tell you what's happened, what's happening now, and what's going to happen. As far as it's significant, that is. Because after all these years significance is the only thing that seems to make sense."
After pondering for a second, I turned back to sit again and listen to what he had to say. Even if he was lying... it was one hell of a lie to make, and for what reason?
Bardock clasped his hands together, elbows on his knees and chin resting on his intertwined fingers.
"I'll start with myself. And this 'significance.' My visions – the things I see aren't totally random. I mean, some of them might be as far as how useful they are to me. But what I've noticed over the years is that each vision seems to be a moment of importance for someone, somewhere, in the cosmos. The more people it effects and the more imminent, the stronger the image. Of course, there are exceptions, and sometimes meaningful things for certain people are meaningless to everyone else. I'm sure you get the picture."
Everyone present stayed silent, so he continued. "I got this precognition after being sent to a planet where the natives had the ability. Me and my team were the only ones good enough to take the job... thought it was going to be just another purge. We cleared the planet in a few days, but I guess one native survived and I was... infected, purposely, with psychic powers as a last act of revenge by the people me and my team slaughtered. I was hurt pretty bad, didn't know at the time what had been done to me. My team got me back to Planet Vegeta and left for our next mission without me – wanted to give me time to recover, and I think – well, they knew my youngest son had been born recently, and I guess they thought I should at least say hello."
"So you did know who your children were – are," I said, because I knew who he was talking about and wasn't sure when was the right time to say it, or if he was already aware.
"I know. They weren't donor children, if you follow me. I loved their mother, as much as Saiyans like to pretend they're immune to such things, so yes, I went to see my third-class newborn before he was sent away. Of course, that's when the visions started to come in full swing – I foresaw the destruction of our people at Frieza's hands and I tried to stop it. I took an attack pod into space and headed for his ship. By some miracle I made it aboard and into his presence, where I managed to convince him to change his mind... in exchange for myself."
I contemplated for a moment. "That's a pretty selfless thing to do, Saiyan or not."
"I regret it," he replied. The remaining three of us stared.
"I regret it because it changed nothing," he went on. His expression was hard. "I probably wouldn't be alive today if I hadn't done it. Our people would've already been lost to history or legend, like the Metamors and the Konatsians. But here we are now and we're dying anyway and all these years have only shown me that we probably deserve it."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Daikon broke in. "Look, I don't care who you say you are, but if you think you deserve to die so badly maybe you should've stayed with Frieza or whatever. Instead of, y'know, teaming up with us because you said you knew where the safe haven was."
Safe haven? So did that mean –
"Most Saiyans are savages. It's one of the few things Frieza's right to call us. Saiyans are made for battle – always have been. But we send our babies away to fend for themselves on alien worlds because we were told to, based on a class system that divides us senselessly. We treat lives as disposable, even each other's. The results of these things, Daikon, are quite literally written on your face so excuse me if I'm surprised you don't agree," Bardock said.
The other Saiyan balked in his tracks.
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Daikon finally retorted, glaring daggers from where he sat still a little astonished.
"I know exactly what I'm talking about. And I wanted you and the woman to come with me because you're connected to him," Bardock said, tilting his head in my direction.
"What do you mean by that?" I said. I'd never even seen Daikon or Korravi before today. Though the latter had said she'd met my father...
"I saw them with you in my visions and recognized them. You're going to need all the the help you can get anyway. I'm sure the why of the connection will show itself eventually."
"And what about him?" the woman's voice interjected. "What makes the prince so special?"
Bardock closed his eyes and leaned against the cave wall. "He's special because he's going to save what's left of us. He's the one who's going to destroy Frieza because he's strong enough to do it. But there are other things we need to do to get there. And that is my purpose: to help guide the way."
"What other things? Why can't I go straight to Frieza and take him down?" I said as I pressed a finger against my scar; it was starting to ache again.
"Frieza isn't the only problem. If you kill him, you'll incur the wrath of his father King Cold. And – well, his other son Cooler isn't exactly cozy with the rest of the family, but he's proud enough that he'll seek revenge for his clan's reputation. The important thing here is that you can't survive taking on the three of them at once."
"Are you sure about that? I actually crossed paths with Cold on my way here. From what I remember when I met Frieza, both of them seemed notably weaker than I am now. If it's really just the three of them..."
Bardock opened his eyes again and looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "The Cold family can transform. Although not the same way as you can. Y'see, the forms they're born in are their strongest and they're rarely used, with the exception of Cooler who learned to control it. These natural forms have incredible capacity for strength and are difficult for them to master – so they use lesser forms as a containment of sorts. Cold himself uses three of them. Frieza has four. And because Frieza knew about the Super Saiyan, he increased his strength over the years."
"Super Saiyan was just a legend as far as most other people were aware."
"Yeah. Except I'm the one who told Frieza it wasn't. When he finally believed me – proved my foresight was true – I got to be his punching bag. He wanted me to become a Super Saiyan to ensure he was strong enough to defeat it and he succeeded. Your father was wary because he'd tried to rise up against Frieza before and lost, and forced to promise you as penance for the rebellion. But a few months ago, as I'm sure you're aware, Vegeta thought he was strong enough to triumph this time... Unfortunately, Frieza got to him before I could warn him. I'm sorry."
"Got to him? Does that mean..."
I had been trying to shut the dreaded suspicion out. I'd only come out here searching for Mom's sake. That was all. Why should I have cared about Vegeta anymore? And even if I did care, which I didn't, I had every damn right to hate his guts. Starting a war. Thousands of our people dead, him dead, as a result of – of what, his pride? Egotistical son of a bitch – getting himself killed for nothing. After all this time.
"Damn it all," I murmured aloud, feeling myself slouch inward like there was a weight on my back.
"Yeah. This makes things harder for us, but since you..." Bardock drifted off for a moment. "Oh. Shit, kid, no. As far as I know, Frieza's keeping him alive. Frieza suspects you're not as dead as your reputation suggests, and he's aware that you could be very dangerous to him. But he has no other way to find you except through Vegeta. Though I doubt your father's divulged anything. Anyway, you're here now and we can get the ball rolling. Rescue a few Saiyans along the way. Like I said before – we need to find the Namekian, because he's important and he's going to take us to the thing on Namek that's also important."
"So he's alive, then... And what's this important thing on Namek?" Is he talking about the Dragon Balls? I was simultaneously trying to process every detail that Bardock was revealing and the relief that Father wasn't dead. I bit at my thumbnail as if it would help me think.
"I was hoping you could tell me."
I paused briefly. "I'm afraid I can't tell you much about it except that I need to be there... which I suppose will be after I get my father back. I can't explain why right now, but if you say we need to find this Namekian first I sure hope you know where to start looking."
I was wary of mentioning anything about the Dragon Balls. My faith in Bardock was naturally tenuous, strained by my lack of knowledge about the man aside from what he'd told me. The other two Saiyans I couldn't be sure were trustworthy at all yet (although, they had given me food).
"What the hell's a Namekian?" Daikon interjected into the lull of conversation. "And, full offence – there's no way I'm going in Frieza's direction because you lunatics have a heroic fuckin' death wish or whatever. As much as I hate monopolizers like Frieza, don't think for a second that I'm charging in with no chance of winning against three Ice Demons. Especially not to save the dad of some prick I barely know. Ravi and me were just trying to get to the save haven we heard about from weird old man here."
"So there is a save haven," I asked more than said.
"I guess you could call it that. It's not the only place where a large group of Saiyans could be hiding from the PTO, but it is the biggest. Or at least it should be. I know what the planet looks like, but unfortunately I forgot to mention that I don't actually know where it is. Or what it's called. I'm sure somebody along the way can tell us," Bardock tossed out casually.
Daikon got halfway to standing up before Korravi put a hand on his arm, tugging him back down.
"You mean you have no idea where it is? That was the entire reason we let you come along with us!" he growled, looking like a trap about to spring if it hadn't been for the woman's grip.
Glancing over at her companion and seeing that he'd settled a bit as if waiting for her to speak, she released him and took the opportunity. "If I'm understanding properly, you're telling us that you want to rescue King Vegeta. You want the Cold Family destroyed and to save what Saiyans remain, but we also need to find a rogue Namekian to get us to something on Namek necessary for us to succeed. And you need the help of Daikon and I because... you saw it in a dream. Is that right?"
"Not a dream," Bardock corrected, "but yeah, that's the gist of it."
The woman rested her elbow on her leg and her cheek into her hand like she was casually in thought.
"It's the most ridiculous plan I've ever heard," she said at last, sounding blasé. Her tone and posture contradicted the sharpness in her eyes when she looked around at those present.
"Glad I'm not the only person who thinks so," Daikon replied, nudging his leg against hers. She didn't respond to the gesture.
"All the same," Korravi went on, ignoring her companion, "Daikon and I have nowhere to go. Nowhere to be. I won't speak for him, but the life I had before is gone with the target the PTO placed on our backs. And now, the prodigal prince has arrived with the same problem. The most intelligent thing to do would be to work together. You have a face I think I could learn to trust, Prince." She smirked a little at me, head tilted against her palm.
I wasn't sure whether her last sentence had been genuine, disdainful, or just poking fun but for whatever inane reason I felt my cheeks flush slightly.
"Yeah, sure," I muttered in retort.
"Okay then. And what about you?" Bardock asked Daikon. The man in question was scowling.
"Tch. Damn Ravi... I guess if she's willing to go along with this then I have no choice. But don't expect me to do you any more favours," he said. The suddenness of his change of heart seemed to go largely unnoticed and Bardock spoke again.
"Well, everyone's a begrudging participant in this whether they like it or not. Frieza will make sure of that." Exhaling, he stood up, looking into the fire. It was starting to get low, considering we were burning scraps they'd thrown in a pile and nothing else, but the daylight cut into the cave enough to see pretty well near the entrance.
"Now... Let's start with the ship sitting outside, eh?" he suggested, about to turn and lead the way out. I stood up after him. The sound of light rain reached my ears.
"Uh – Bardock. I actually didn't come into space by myself." I mulled over how best to do this. "I brought a few people with me that I think you need to -"
"Later," he dismissed.
"But th -"
"We need to get the ship fixed, kid. We can't use the attack pods left over and those two refuse to fly in them anyway for gods-know-what reason. And I heard you've got a halfway decent brain for mechanics," he said.
Resigning myself, I continued to follow him, but my mind went elsewhere.
Gohan. You guys still there? I broadcasted.
The response was a lot faster than I'd thought it would be. Trunks! Where have you been? Where on Earth are you?
Not on Earth, Gohan. Semantics aside, how quickly is your father able to bring you to my location?
You want us to come to you? Right now?
Soon. As soon as you're able. Everything's fine for the time being, but there's a lot to talk about. I'll let you be surprised when you get here.
Alright... We're still on Tech-Tech, but I need to round up Dad and Goten. You have no idea how demanding my brother gets when you're not around for him to antagonize. But jokes aside, it'll be good to see you again.
Likewise. Let me know when you're ready. I'll give Goku something to lock on to.