I do not own DBZ

A Father's Fate

The Story of Bardock

Red dust settled around and outcropping of rocks, leaving only a silhouette standing out against the desolate landscape. The area felt like it was holding its breath, waiting for anything to happen, anything to shatter the silence. Seemingly the wind died down as a thunderous crack was heard. After a second of silence, a harsh wind passed causing rocks on the outcropping to tumble down to the ground.

Several people turned, watching the rocks shatter as searing hot energy erupted just beyond. A group of people stepped forward, energy weapons in hand still smoldering. Without warning, the newcomers fired their weapons through the thick unsettled dust and debris. Within seconds, every person living in the small camp was killed, leaving only horrified or shocked looks as a reminder of what had just transpired.

"Did you guys get that?" Bardock asked, turning towards his crew.

"I picked up several flashes of energy and about fifteen people died," Borgos said, clicking his scouter several times.

"How can they be here already?" Arga asked, striding forward. The huge man climbed atop a nearby rock and looked outwards.

"Arga? How is it you're conveniently wrong at perhaps the worst time?" Toma growled, walking up to the giant.

"I was told the invasion was still several days away. This is more than likely an advance squad for recon and quick kills,"

"Well, let's give them something to report," said Toma, walking towards the camp.

"Toma, don't be stupid. The smartest bet would be to wait until they report normality. That would give us the biggest amount of time before anyone got suspicious," Bardock stated, rocking back on his heals.

"Good idea, Bardock." Fasha chirped.

"How do we sneak up on them to listen?"

"I suppose we find out where they are going and get there just behind them,"

"Wait, who are you talking about?" Bora asked.

"Cooler's men." said the giant who leapt off the rock. "We should probably leave now to stay behind them,"

"Agreed,"

"Ha! This is far too easy. We are fine by ourselves. The rest of the troops need not waste their time," voiced a tiny man wielding an energy weapon.

"We had the element of surprise on a small cluster," a bigger man said, looking down on his ally.

"You give these primitives too much credit,"

"And you don't give them enough,"

"Shut up you two! We are part of the military and you are interfering with the mission," a female voice came from behind the two bickering men.

"Yes ma'am!" the two said together.

"Ok, the nearest camp is about twenty minutes away. Again minimal population," with that the scouts moved onward, marching at a brisk pace.

"Okay, they're on the move, so we are too," Bardock ordered, taking a few large steps to the front of the group of Saiyans who were followed by twelve native warriors.

The large group of people were set in motion, all following Bardock. After about an hour of walking, they heard distant energy weapons and cries of pain. Bardock quickened his pace, just slower than a jog. As they came to a clearing, he lowered himself.

"Okay, now we wait," everyone nodded in agreement, as they lowered themselves to the ground. As they sat waiting for a report the battle seemed to turn in favor of the locals. A large man screamed in pain grasping a knife in his leg as his partner grabbed him and pulled him backwards a ways.

The woman in the back of the three opened fire with accuracy enough to hit vital areas whilst moving. After several moans of pain from the large man, a javelin silenced him, knocking him over. The person that was helping him stood still, shocked.

Another javelin came through the air, cutting him in the cheek and waking him from his sad revere. With a feral growl he pointed his weapon at the offender and opened fire, energy slicing forward at the local. After a full thirty seconds of nonstop fire, Cooler's henchman finally drooped to his knees and wept.

"Get up, we have to make sure it's clear," the woman shouted. The man pulled himself up and walked into the nearest tent, no emotion on his face. After a second, a woman's and child's screams were heard.

"No! Don't hurt my child. Please, do anything you want to me, but leave my child alone!" was all that was heard before a blast.

"Those bastards! Just report back to your base so I can kill you!" Borgos growled under his breath.

"Borgos, calm yourself. We can't fight them yet. As soon as their report is over we can, but not a second before,"

"Are you done?" the woman called.

"Yes," the man came out of the house, blood splattered across his features. The two murderers walked to the next house, following the same pattern as before. The man entered, grim look on his face. After a moment of silence he reappeared exhaling slightly.

"Okay, I'm going to report Wilheem's death,"

"She's reporting!" Toma said excitedly.

"Okay, a few more seconds," Bardock said pensively, watching the woman from above. Okay, we want to take them out as fast as possible. Borgos you take out the man, I'll take the leader," Borgos nodded as Bardock held out his hand, counting down the time on his fingers.

"Go!" the two Saiyans jumped out from their cover and converged on their targets. Bardock stopped just over head of the woman, bringing his left hand to his right side. As the energy swirled, he focused on it, keeping his power from pouring out before it was ready. Grasping his right wrist, Bardock shoved his hands forward, forcing energy outward in a wide red beam that singed the air it passed.

The woman below looked at the shadow that appeared under her and swore under her breath. She dove forward, out of the beam's destructive path. As she rolled to her feet Bardock landed next to her and delivered a kick that knocked her into the rocks nearby. The Saiyan threw an energy blast into the area that decimated the rocks and leaving the woman exposed on the ground, bleeding from a few wounds on her arms and legs.

"You dog! How dare you attack me from behind!" she screeched.

"I will not be lectured on combat tactics from the likes of you!" Bardock snarled, rushing forward. As he neared, the woman performed a backflip and spun to her side. Bardock continued undaunted, throwing another bit of energy at the woman. She dodged downward, lowering herself to half her normal height. Bardock rushed in and landed a knee on her face, knocking her into the air.

The fight continued in the one sided fashion for several minutes whilst Borgos waited at the door of the next tent. The other man ran forward, seeing his comrade in battle he took a large step forward only to run into Borgos' fist.

The man fell on his back immediately after, but Borgos followed up by kicking his foot into the ground, and bringing it under the fallen scout. As the man was lifted into the air he looked down at his attacker and gaped. Borgos smiled and forced an energy wave into the shocked man's mouth, obliterating him instantly.

Bardock pressed his attack, cutting through the defenses of the scout leader. After a near minute of fighting, the scout fell to her knees and coughed up a large amount of blood. Bardock landed on the ground in front of her, hand extended.

"I won't beg for mercy!" she shouted obstinately.

"You wouldn't receive any," Bardock coolly stated, firing an energy blast. As the white glared died down, Bardock saw a form moving in the light. The scout had risen to her feet in front of Bardock. The Saiyan gasped as she grabbed his arm and spun him. As she let go, she pushed off the ground, catching Bardock and kneeing him in the back.

Bardock grunted in pain, rolling to side. The scout reached forward to grab him, but the Saiyan deftly moved outside her range, spinning sideways and shooting his foot into her face. As her lip split she smiled, showing the blood covering her teeth. As a long tendril of hair landed in front of her face, she put her hands together in front of her midriff, creating an energy sphere.

Bardock moved forward, forcing an energy blast through the orb she was creating. On its downward path, the beam and orb hit the scout in the legs, plowing her into the ground. Bardock floated by over head, watching her struggle to her feet. After a few seconds the Saiyan landed in front of her. Before she could react he forced his hand through her abdomen and out her back.

"S..Saiyan! You are a Saiyan!" she spat, blood pouring from her wounds. Rather than respond, Bardock slammed his hand into the side of her head, blowing up the scouter.

"Yes, I am a Saiyan. It doesn't matter though, I would have killed anyone who takes lives so frivolously as you,"

"You are one to talk!" Bardock raised her up by her wound and growled into her face.

"You're in no position to even attempt to talk of me!"

"What? Saiyan, an elite will always be above you, even on our deathbed. Now, please die," she said, blood dripping from her mouth onto Bardock's arm. Grunting, Bardock pulled his arm free, but the instant it left her he let loose a blast, covering the woman in the vicious whiteness.

The rest of the group watched from above on the ridge as the fight wore down. After they were sure the fight was over, the Saiyans moved down the hill while Arda stayed with the locals with them.

"That fight was extreme!" Toma said, smiling.

"It has me worried. How many more people like her are there? I mean, she was only a scout," Fasha said.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Bardock agreed.

"Well, she said she was an elite, so perhaps there's one for every squad. The other guy was nothing to Borgos, so I imagine that's the case,"

"You could be right, but we need to keep a better eye on them, definitely point them out with the scouters next time,"

"Chloe, I think we need to jam all the signals around here as soon as we get word from Bardock," Roerce said from his console.

"I think you might be right. If anyone is listening to them, or anyone nearby has any transmission devices it could spell trouble for us," she agreed.

"Okay, I'll contact Bardock,"

"Bardock here,"

"Bardock, it's Chloe. I'm a little worried about people scanning frequencies to pick up speech, and this channel may be compromised. I want to jam all frequencies for now, and every twenty seven minutes, or some other random number, we can contact you,"

"Okay, I think that should be fine. Maybe if you can keep an eye on what they're watching, we can know what they are focusing on,"

"What good would that do us?"

"Well, you can know when to move the ship closer and such. And there will be insight on the next attacks. Most of all we need to be kept up to date on the arriving force,"

"Okay, can do. Harbinger out," Bardock clicked off his scouter and looked towards the group. Toma and Arda walked the survivors up to the rest of the locals. After a few minutes of quiet discussion several warriors walked up to Bardock.

"We want to escort them back to our camp with the rest of our non fighters," a local man said.

"Alright, but hurry about it, we aren't staying long," Bardock looked around, watching the area suspiciously.

"Bardock, there were no fighting survivors," Toi said.

"Damn it. Well, I see no reason to stick around here, we have to hurry," as Bardock finished speaking, everyone formed up behind him. Turning, he set off towards a large settlement.

"Lord, scouting indicates resistance, but nothing the full force cannot handle,"

"Excellent. Only a few more hours until they get there. Okay, good. Let me know how it ends. For now, let's move on. We need to find the renegade ship," Cooler said. The one's who would dare to defy me!

"Yes, Lord!" the henchman said, turning back towards his console. After a few minutes of inquiries, the system responded. "Lord, it seems the scouting team was taken out,"

"How odd, a bunch of savages with rocks took out Maria,"

"Yes Lord, her lifeline cut out after serious trauma to her organs. Her bio monitor indicates she was stabbed,"

"Upgraded from rocks to spears have they? No matter, they were expendable,"

The group of fighters approached the leader's tent inside the biggest village yet. Several people stopped their daily routine and watched the transpiring events. Bardock was the only one standing as everyone else pulled rocks into a circle and sat down.

"What do you want, offworlder?" a voice came from inside the tent.

"I want your help,"

"You seek to rule my people, I know your kind,"

"If I have to, yes. I want your people's help, in return, we'll help you in the coming invasion,"

"I see you have bent Bora to your will. I will not sway!"

"Then, I challenge you for your rule,"

"Fine, but we have no rules or laws like Bora did," the leader said. Without warning, a spear was stabbed through the side of the tent near Bardock's head. The Saiyan nimbly dodge the spear and pulled it towards himself. As the spear came close, the man holding it did too. Bardock spun in place and delivered a hard kick, knocking the man away.

As Bardock moved to follow, another spear was thrust through the tent, slicing Bardock in the leg. The warrior growled and ripped through the tent, grabbing the attacker by the neck. With a swift shift in his body, Bardock threw the man into the nearby rock, embedding him several inches in. When the man didn't stir, Bardock walked up to him and pulled him out of the rock face.

"I have bested your leader! That makes me your new leader! I have no intentions of ruling over you all, I merely want the warriors to come with me in battle against a fierce foe that means to wipe you out."

"What foe?" the leader asked, pulling himself up with his spear.

"You're the leader?"

"Yes, you nearly killed my cousin,"

"I only want your help in the upcoming war,"

"We want no part in your war, we do not want to fight,"

"If you don't you will be killed! I want to rally this entire planet, and many others, it's the only way,"

"You sure talk about huge plans, but what makes you think anyone will want to help you?"

"After we defeat the invasion coming here, I believe you will see our intent,"

"Perhaps, but I still do not believe there is an invasion,"

"What kind of stupid people are these?" Toma growled.

"Relax, Toma. They will see soon enough,"

"No! We need to make them see! We beat them fair and square! You are the leader now! Order them to join the fight!"

"We don't need them this very instant. We can't use them until we can arm them, and we can't arm them until we defeat the invasion," Bardock said calmly.

"Oh yeah. I forgot they wouldn't be fighting on equal footing, at least until we give them weapons,"

"Bardock you really planned this out, didn't you?" Fasha grinned.

"Well, yeah. I want to win this war. We need to cut off every advantage they have,"

Without warning, the leader jumped up and punched at Bardock. Bardock pushed his head forward, causing the leader to smash his hand on Bardock's head. The Saiyan didn't flinch at the impact.

"What are you?"

"A Saiyan. Do you see now? If I need your help, the situation is desperate. I can offer your people weaponry and technology that would advance your race to new heights,"

"Can you promise greatness?" the man asked, looking slightly more interested.

"Oh yes, once we take down the Brothers Cold, everyone will know us,"

"Well, Saiyan I acc-" a distant explosion sounded, cutting off the man mid sentence. "Is this your doing?"

"No! Fasha what was it?"

"It came from the camp we just left!"