It was morning again and the three Saiyans were on the move. Once again, they had left their company with some food and deserted him. Once Spinak had recovered from his injuries, Gohan had felt no need to care for the man. He was a Saiyan after all; he should be able to take care of himself.
Slowly, morning became afternoon and afternoon became evening. At this point in time, the three had discovered a base not too far from their location in the woods and were in the midst of planning the operation.
"This should be simple for you two, just sneak in and be ready for my signal," an overly irritated Gohan said. They had spent a good hour of the day debating the plan they would use. Gohan had felt that their usual plan was good enough. Unfortunately, Trunks and Goten were not happy with that plan.
"How come you get to do the signal? Don't you think we could ever do it? We could be better then you!" Goten said, Trunks nodding his agreement.
"Every time we do an op, we're always the ones who sneak around and wait for you. Do you know how boring it gets till a sudden explosion erupts?" Trunks added.
Gohan began rubbing his temple with his hand. Geez, these guys were giving him a headache. What was the matter with the way they usually did it? They hadn't died yet, so they must be doing something right. Gohan glared at the two. Why wouldn't they listen to him?
The two saiyans glared back, not willing to give up an inch. They were determined not to back down. If they did now, whose knows how many times they'd have to follow Gohan's every command. What was so hard about a little change anyways? Just this one time was all they were asking.
When Gohan saw he wasn't going to win, he blew out his breath in irritation before giving in. "Alright, we'll do it your way. Goten can do the signal this time."
Goten's face lit up while Trunks' soured. Why did Goten get to be the one who started everything? "What about me? Why can't I do it?" he asked angrily.
Gohan turned to him, answering "Goten doesn't have a sword and your stealth ability is very vital to our success. You can launch the signal next time if it makes you happy."
Although not pleased, Trunks relented. At least he was going to attack first soon.
Giving out a large yawn, Gohan laid down near the small fire. The sky had already darkened until nightfall and it was always best to preserve one's strength before a battle. "I think we should call it a night. Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day."
Trunks nodded and he too laid down. Goten was still elated about the next day, so it took him awhile before he joined his companions in blissful sleep. Slowly their fire died as a chilly wind blew by, the night's sky twinkling with stars. Unbeknownst to the trio, a pair of dark eyes was watching them. Having heard all he needed to know, he slipped away from the campsite into the darkness of the night, forever hiding his presence.
Beams of light were lighting up the valley as the three Saiyans slept. Soon birds began chirping their morning songs with passion. It wasn't before too long that Gohan awoke, stretching out the kinks his body accumulated during the night. Rubbing out the sleep in his eyes, Gohan turned his attention to the other two Saiyans, who were also waking up. Good. He wouldn't have to be an alarm clock this morning. It wasn't that he minded, but that kind of thing got old fast. He wasn't even going to mention the time the other two wanted to do their best impersonation of said clock. He'd never wake up after those two again.
Almost like a switch being switched on, Goten immediately became eager for their day's activity. Grinning like a hyena, Goten could barely keep in his excitement throughout their meager breakfast and morning exercise, something that was slowly driving Trunks crazy.
"Goten, will you wipe that stupid grin off your face! It's annoying me."
Goten merely responded by sticking his tongue at older Saiyan. "You're just jealous that I get to blow something up before you do."
Trunks growled, slowly inching his had to his sword hilt. His mission was interrupted by Gohan.
"Will you two chill? We've got a lot of work to do today and it'll go a lot smoother if you two wouldn't badger each other." With the two seeming somewhat pacified from his lecture—albeit reluctantly—Gohan continued, "So what's the plan Goten? How are we going to pull this off?"
Momentarily stunned, Goten quickly regrouped. Ever since he and Trunks joined Gohan on these raids, Gohan had force-taught them to be able to strategize, in case the Saiyan ever fell in battle and the two had to carry on without him. It was time to show that he was capable of following his brother's footsteps.
Quickly drawing a crude map of the base in the dirt, Goten pointed at the east wall. "Trunks, I need you to get to the far side over here, traveling along the north wall. Kill as many guards without drawing suspicion." Looking to his friend, he saw Trunks nod in confirmation, his battle face on. "Gohan, I need you to go to the south wall and wait for my signal. I want you to try and time your attack to the same time as Trunks. You're more experienced at timing, so be ready to go when you feel Trunks starting. Everything clear?"
The two Saiyans nodded, their blanks stares almost chilling if it wasn't for Goten being used to them. "We'll head to the base in an hour; we'll split up about a mile away. Get yourselves prepared."
As Goten finished, he looked directly into his older brother's eyes, seeking praise and wasn't disappointed. If Goten didn't know where to look, he would've never caught the glint in Gohan's eyes, showing him how proud he was. Now all he needed to happen was a victory.
As the hour slowly crept by, the battle-hardened Saiyans prepped themselves. Trunks was sitting next to the dead fire, sharpening his sword, fixing the nicks he had accumulated since their last fight. Gohan sat under a tree, meditating. Goten was standing off by himself, looking towards the fort in anticipation, anxious to get the mission over with.
As the hour finally ended, they wordlessly went off into the forest, heading straight to the fort. As planned, they separated about a mile off. It didn't take long for Gohan to get into position, carefully monitoring his comrades. He could sense Goten readying himself for the opening attack as Trunks hacked and sliced his way to the eastern wall. After what felt like an eternity, Goten began the assault.
The shockwaves of the explosion could be felt by the whole fort, drawing their attention towards Goten. Gohan bided his time, anticipating Trunks' action. When he felt his ki starting to rise, Gohan took off into the base, ready for action. Simultaneous explosion shook the base to its foundation soon after.
Panic was running rampant, the humans immediately began to retreat as chaos and confusion ran amongst their ranks. This attack was becoming too easy Gohan felt. Way too easy.
It was then that Gohan ran into his first bit of bad luck. A small force of about eight men began retaliating, driving Gohan away from the base's center. That was not what Gohan wanted. He wanted his little brother's first command to be a success without problem and he would surely make it that, even if he had to blow the whole base into smithereens.
Quickly, he fired a small ki blast at the ground in front of the men. The blast threw a few off their feet, a smokescreen rising in front of the others to stop them from firing accurately. Without a wasted second, Gohan charged head first into the screen, killing the men easily.
However, when Gohan came out on the other side of the smoke, he found himself standing in front of a large ammo dump as it was ready to explode.
Quickly turning around, Gohan ran a couple of steps away from the explosive dump before diving to put some more distance between the two as the dump exploded. Gohan was washed with dust and smoke as he was consumed by the after affects of the explosion. As the blinding screen disappeared, Gohan came face first to the barrel of a blitz rifle.
Staring at him from the opposite end, the soldier smirked. He had the Aaiyan right where he wanted him. Now it was time for him to become a hero.
"Not so tough are you now, dirty monkey," the human sneered, prodding the barrel in Gohan's cheek. Gohan growled. If it wasn't for the fact that if the human managed to get a shot off, effectively ending Gohan's career as a fighter, he would've done away with the pest. Since that wasn't the situation, he had no choice but to take the abuse.
Still sneering at the Saiyan, the soldier spat at Gohan, hitting him above the eye, his spit sliding down his face, over the eyelid and down his cheek. When Gohan didn't respond except for the burning look of hatred, the human decided to end things.
Straightening his posture, he steadied his rifle, taking precise aim, torturing the Saiyan with his control over him. He smirked again. "This is the end for you monkey," as he pulled the trigger.