Ok, I have no real excuse for being this late. Ha, all I can say is Sorry! But, I hope this chapter makes up for it. If enough people like the story, I will continue to write it, but the time gaps in the story will grow more pronounced than mere hours or days. I can update once weekly, or worst case twice monthly. R&R and let me know!

I do not own DBZ

A Father's Fate

The Story of Bardock

Scarlet dust settled around a crater that seemingly appeared from nowhere. The sobs of those on the rim were heard for several hundred meters. One man stood in the middle of the barren scar, a grim frown accented by blood and dust stood out on his frozen frame. Maimed people stared at him with sheer astonishment as he levitated onto the rim of his wound to the world.

He walked to the nearest person, a woman who was covered in scratches, and held his hand up in front of her. He turned his head as a wave of unseen energy removed her from existence. He continued in this fashion, eliminating the camp. Every kill his scowl deepened and he walked more briskly. There was only one person left, a young girl with several pronounced injuries, none would be life threatening save the fact of the murderer stalking towards her sobbing form.

"Bardock! The power keeps flaring up! Somebody is killing the people!" Fasha turned towards the Saiyan leader.

"We have to move, now!" the man barked, sprinting full speed forward. After several seconds, the intrepid crew came across the smoldering crater and a lone figure standing over a crumpled body.

"What happened here!" Bardock shouted across the crater.

"What? I killed them, Saiyan, I killed them all. Women and children. Slaughtered them," the figure said, barely audible at this distance.

"Why you!"

"Come show me justice. Let me repent."

"There is no saving you from your fate!" this time Fasha spoke up. Everyone's power surged upward, the show frightening the local warriors enough for them to step back. The man floated into the air, a smirk crossing his face.

"What you think is irrelevant. What I have done must be punished, are you the ones to bring the will of the just?"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Toma asked loudly.

"Hmph," the enemy crossed his arms and jumped from his floating position to directly in front of the Saiyans. Fasha jumped sideways and through out a minor ki ball as Toma and Borgos jumped backwards, preparing a large wave. Bardock rushed forward and punched directly at the man's face and flipping over him, slamming his elbow into the murderer's side. After spinning around, Bardock pushed forward his own energy wave as Toma's and Borgos' beam collided with the figure.

"You aren't enough," He said, lowering his arms. "Forgive me," spinning, he slammed a fist into Bardock's face, slamming him backwards into the ground. Without turning, a flare of light suddenly enveloped him. Before Toma or Borgos could even react, Borgos was sent sailing as the man reappeared in front of Toma, bringing his foot into Toma's chin before he could flinch.

Fasha watched as the Saiyan in the blue armor careened out of control towards a rock formation. Quivering she slammed her palms together and fired a blast forward. After a moment of watching the dust, Fasha felt a crushing blow to the side of her head, then nothing. Adam stood there, not even sure anything had just happened when a foot plowed into his stomach, lifting him into the air and knocking him back several feet. Jubei and Jorbei both deflected several unseen attacks. Both Saiyans were bleeding and looking as though they would fall if they weren't leaning on each other.

"Your mental grip is quite powerful for what Cooler considers inferior beings. My name is Kratos. Remember it for next time we meet," the man said, appearing in front of the two remaining Saiyans. A blinding flash appeared at Kratos, then Jorbei was knocked into the distance, while Jubei was slammed into the ground, sliding through several meters of rock before falling off the edge.

"Saiyans. Inferior Beings, you do not bring me my justice," Kratos announced to nobody in particular.

"Stop there!" Bardock shouted, picking himself up from the ground. "I have what you need right here!" The Saiyan powered up a wave of energy in his trailing hand and steadied himself with his leading. Kratos smiled and the light shone on him again. As it did, Bardock threw his energy wave forward. In a blink, Kratos was leveled and laying on the ground as smoke churned from his burning armor.

"Excellent work Saiyan!" Kratos turned over and pushed himself onto all fours. Bardock wasted no time in covering the distance. "No Saiyan, it will not be that easy!" Kratos jumped backwards over Bardock. The Saiyan stopped short and ducked quickly, avoiding a fist that flew past Bardock fast enough to knock him over. Bardock scrambled sideways and threw his fist upward, missing Kratos' chin by scant inches. Kratos grabbed Bardock's arm and flung him into the air.

Bardock flipped through the air, not bothering to right himself, knowing Kratos' next move. Powering up his Searing Wave while tumbling, Bardock righted himself and fired right as Kratos' body flashed. In the same instant, Bardock was knocked even further away, fist imprint on his cheek and blood flying out of his sailing body. Kratos landed on the ground, the left half of his armor burned off and his left arm bleeding profusely.

His aim was far too accurate. If I waited even longer I would be in Spirit World. Maybe they can do it. Kratos blinked several times, clearing the dust and blood from his eyes. He moved his good hand to his eye and noted the clear substance also running down his face.

"Saiyans, destroy Cooler. He and his family are terrible and mustn't be allowed to do as they please with this existence."

"What about you?" Toma asked, pulling himself up on a rock.

"Me? I work for Cooler and must return to him,"

"If you want him dead, then why not do it yourself?"

"Some of us make mistakes, mortal. I myself made the biggest there is," Kratos said, lifting off of the ground.

"Who are you?" Bardock asked, not even opening his eyes, still laying prone, imbedded into the earth.

"Consider me differently from this evil around you. I am something else entirely. Just know in the end you must kill me. Forgive me." Kratos rose into the air, his power level rising phenomenally fast, wounds healing and armor restoring itself. White wings appeared on his back, briefly, but brilliant.

"With this, the world of ash returns from where it came!" Kratos boomed, a light ball appearing above his head. Slowly it lowered to just below his waist where he slammed his arms forward. A giant beam slowly surged forth, its power unfathomable. "This planet is judged! Flee mortals, Flee!"

"Lord Cooler! The "Archangel" has judged the planet of the rebellion!" a young man said, beads of sweat collecting along his face.

"What's your point? An intricate problem solved brutally. I love it,"

"Your men are in orbit!"

"Recall them immediately, those on the surface probably will die, but it's a major time saver,"

"Sir, Kratos was in a fight that seemed to have injured him."

"Ha, a field test then. The spirit world will have healed him by now,"

"But sir, outside of you, who could have hurt him? If the reports are correct, he taps into the spirit world for strength, a modified man. He has the power to destroy anything, but you sir, yet he was injured."

"Enough! You know far too much about this as it is. Suffice it to say the more he kills the stronger he gets."

"How sir?"

"He taps into spirit world which you somehow know, but after a kill, the soul is free and he is free to tap into spirit world and intercept the incoming energy," Cooler said, growling at the officer.

"Then the nexus of existence is real..?"

"Enough!" Cooler said, swiping his hand through his subordinate's body, cleaving him in half. "Come back to me now, my dear Kratos."

Bardock and Toma climbed to their feet, shaking in exertion. Bardock grabbed Jorbei and Fasha and woke up Arga. Toma picked up Borgos and climbed down after Jubei.

"Bardock, Jubei isn't really doing well," Toma said through the scouter.

"Grab her and hurry back to the ship," Bardock wheezed. As the Saiyans and Arga flew to the ship as fast as their beaten bodies would allow, several pods flew by and landed in the nearby field. Bardock quickly flew into the ships docking bay door and deposited his comrades. As he did so, his scouter turned on and flicked through seven different numbers. The strongest of which was ten thousand, weak by his new standards, but in his current condition, he just didn't know.

"Saiyan dog, freeze!" a voice commanded from behind him as Toma and Arga boarded the ship.

"The planet is being destroyed!" Bardock yelled at the assailants.

"Our job is to eliminate any resistance, and finding a Saiyan here will get me more honor!"

"Even in death, your honor means little to the likes of Frieza or his brother,"

"Ha! Honor is all there is for me. And I will kill you at the cost of my own life. Now die!"

I don't have time for this moron. I have to end it fast and put up a strong show. Bardock stood as straight as he could and flexed slightly, making him look a lot stronger then he felt. The henchman smiled and flew in towards Bardock.

The Saiyan jumped forward and punched the henchman directly in the throat as hard as he could. As his enemy's eyes opened wide at the realization, Bardock placed the last bit of his energy into an attack that killed the man.

"Now leave and I won't kill you!" Bardock commanded, seeing the six others gape at his quick kill. Bardock didn't even watch their reaction, he merely turned and entered the ship. "Get us out of here, Chloe. We have no time,"

"Roger," Chloe responded, lifting the ship into the air and leaving the atmosphere in mere seconds. Bardock fell backwards against the door, passing out from exhaustion.

Lights swirled and swayed in the Saiyan's mind as he approached consciousness. One light continued to have a circular shape block it out for several minutes before he closed his eyes again. Bardock slowly pushed himself onto his elbows and opened his eyes again. Fasha leaned over him and kissed his forehead as he sat all the way up.

"You're up sooner than I thought. I said at least a full day," Fasha smiled at him.

"How long's it been?"

"Two hours now," she said, hopping onto the cot next to him.

"That was something, wasn't it?"

"He had crazy power, Bardock. It scared me to my core." Fasha confessed openly.

"Me too, actually. If he only works for Cooler, we have a lot of work to do. He isn't even in our scope of understanding," Bardock said, hugging Fasha close.

"Yeah, but there was something different about him. Kratos. He at times seemed ambivalent, if not arrogant,"

"Sure was something else fighting him. That thing he did, it's been reminding me of blinking. It's like he was pulling power from somewhere else and used it in bursts. A lot like jousting. Except on our end we had no horse or even a lance to fight back,"

"Oh, I don't know. I couldn't compete, I was out immediately."

"None of us really could. I did figure out that he can only move in a straight line when he Blinks. I used that to my advantage. Jubei and Jorbei were able to at least comprehend his movements,"

"Yeah, but they focus on mentality more then anything, including life,"

"Even so, it proved to be a great asset,"

"Bardock, Jubei isn't doing well. I don't know if she'll make it,"

"What! Where is she?"

"Follow me," Fasha hopped off the bed, still stiff in her joints. Bardock lowered himself to the ground and followed Fasha through the maze of doors into the bowels of the ship where Jubei was laying. Toi and Matra stood there, silently watching Bardock as he entered.

"She will be fine, all of you can leave," Jorbei said, a look crossed his face that puzzled everyone, but they nodded. Bardock looked on for a second then headed back out.

"Bardock, I want to apologize, but Toi and I were stopping as many ships as we could, we didn't realize that anything that strong was out there, we only felt flaring power for brief instants,"

Oh I forgot they weren't even around then. We may have used them.

"Forget about it, you couldn't have done anything more. He was beyond us," Bardock said, suddenly looking lost in thought.

"If you say so," Matra said, leaving Bardock and Fasha alone while Toi followed.

"What's the matter?" Fasha asked.

"The people of that planet...they're all dead,"

"Bardock, there's nothing you could have done,"

"It doesn't take the levity off of this. And not to sound insensitive, but we could have used their help,"

"Bardock.."

"Fasha, this war is evil. I feel it in my deepest insides. Again, we have to end this as soon as possible. I can't just sit around and force more people to give up their lives for their own freedom. Shouldn't they be entitled to it?"

"No, freedom is earned. Our courage must be shared through everyone. We can't do this alone,"

"Alone. In my sleep, I see my son. He is always alone, and he still finds the courage to fight. He finds the way when it is impossible for others to see. He sits in ambivalence while we wallow waiting to die! Fasha how can we tap into the powers that our rivals have?"

"Bardock, I don't know the answers. All I know is we can't give up. Bardock the whole universe needs us. Whether we like it or not, we have this responsibility,"

"Fasha, we go through these rounds, but we never do anything substantial. Our power increments only serve to show how weak we really are,"

"You're scaring me! Bardock, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying we have to find a way to get stronger, we need a place where we can grow without worrying about being caught, we need to raise our power without raising suspicion,"

"How can we raise our powers?"

"We aren't born at full power. We find a way to tap into our ancestral powers. Whatever they did, they did because nothing held them back,"

"Where can we go Bardock?"

"I just don't know. Toi's world would be nice, but it's only a mental increase. We need substantial physical power,"

"Well, we can head for the most remote thing in the universe, so remote that scanners can't find us, scouring eye's will be lost,"

"That's quite a trip,"

"Several month's at least, but Bardock, we will be out of touch with what's happening,"

"Meet me on the bridge, I'm going to gather up everyone,"

"Okay...but Bardock, I won't leave you, ever. I love you,"

"Bardock, what's going on? What are we going to do?" Chloe asked.

"Okay guys. I've been thinking about this, and when we try to get people involved, they die," Bardock started. "Now, that may not have been our fault, but we didn't stop it, that's for sure. What we need to do now is know our enemy. We need to know what we are up against. I need everything there is to know about Frieza and his brother, and anyone else in his family,"

"Okay, I think I can get that," Chuu said.

"Great, after that, we know we cannot compete with Cooler if his strongest man is that much more superior than us. We don't even know if that was Cooler's strongest. We do have a benchmark though. We have to get stronger. We have to tap into all of our potential as a warrior race. I know we have a lot, but we need time, something we don't have. Fasha came up with the best solution I know of. We have to leave all known systems. Leave known space and get so far in, not even the strongest scouters could find us,"

"Bardock, that's several months away at top speed," Chichumi chirped.

"I know, but when we have time, we will be able to focus on only training. The ship's dampening field is nice, but the scaling of our power has to be so tremendous we have to be on a planet to contain it. I don't want to damage the ship,"

"Okay, I can see that, but we need supplies, a lot of supplies, more than this ship can hold even," Chuu said, standing up and stretching.

"This is space, Chuu. This ship can be packed to the brim and then some, faster than light travel through ripspace doesn't affect anything on or around the ship either, that includes things en tow. Or even better, we can split up and take different ships,"

"You want us to steal multiple ships? Who will pilot them all?" Chloe asked, showing her irritation.

"Easy, autopilot. Just have them all follow suit and we'll head to some remote destination with all the supplies we could ever want,"

"So we all go to some distant planet and what?"

"First off, we split off into smaller groups, perhaps two a planet and we train. The isolation will defiantly help focus us, and balance our minds. We find uninhabited planets and let loose with everything we have, every day for say something like a year,"

"Bardock!" the crew gasped.

"I know it's not ideal, but we don't have some 'magic room where we can just be while time doesn't pass,"

"I don't know Bardock. A year's training will be a lot of time apart,"

"We can set up a meeting schedule, which can work as benchmark tests as well,"

"That's a lot to take in,"

"Well," Bardock started, frowning. "Anyone who doesn't want to take part doesn't have to, but what else will you do?"

"Bardock, we will go, but we want our own ship," Jubei said.

"Why?"

"My brother and I feel the need to liberate planets,"

"That doesn't sound like a smart idea," Borgos said, looking up from his chunk of meat.

"I don't think our enemy needs more lamb for us to slaughter. It would be best if we could kill any local magistrates quickly and efficiently while leaving no trail like all of us together leave,"

"Sounds smarter," Borgos commented, looking back down.

"I don't like the idea of spending months away from each other," Toma said.

"I can handle that," Toi said.

"I don't think we have a communicator that can span that far,"

"The spirit is limitless," Toi said, quietly standing up. "We can reach each other spiritually over any distance,"

"Sounds like an incredible tool," Bardock commented.

"Indeed, but it takes time to learn it,"

"We'll have nothing but,"

"As we map out a plan I'll come up with a technique to teach it, but for now all I can say is it needs patience,"

"Bardock, this plan is ridiculous," Chloe said.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No, but you can't just decide to leave the known universe!"

"Why not? What is stopping us?"

"The fact that we can get lost out there and never find our way back!"

"As long as we are mapping everything, I don't see a problem,"

"What are you talking about? It's not that simple! We can't just rig up codes for everything and decide where what stars will be at a certain time, it doesn't work like that. Everything in the universe is in motion," Chloe huffed.

"Aren't there tracking buds or something like that we can leave along the way?"

"We could, yes, but that would just lead our enemies towards us,"

"Uh, Chloe, what if we scanned the seldom used decibels and used a sub division of that?" Michuu said meekly.

"Even still, somebody could pick up on that,"

"But that's better than nothing,"

"Chloe, we have to do something!" Bardock said.

"This is scary Bardock," Chloe sniffled. "We are going to do something never done before,"

"We all are. We're going to defeat Frieza. You have to be brave to let me be brave,"

"Bardock...how do you do that? Pseudo guilt trip. Ok, but I don't know where we will get supplies or another two ships,"

"Bardock, we can find a nearby trade planet and take what we need from them,"

"No, I want to raid a military supply ship," Bardock said.

"That's crazy!"

"Not in this system though, I want to do it at the System Border, harder to track. Head that direction now, we can delve further into the plans when we come to that road,"

The Harbinger floated with major systems shut down, stealthing its approach. The Border had several ships crossing and stopped at stations in three dimensions. The target sat still in arbitrary north, three hundred kilometers.

"Ok, we dock, take the ship and get out of here. The crew is on the nearby station, so it's running on a skeleton crew. Minor casualties, and they work for our enemy," the Saiyan said, standing in front of a table with several others.

"Chuu follow Borgos and Toma in and set the autopilot up. Chloe will lead us out of system in fifteen minutes,"

A few moments passed then the intercom crackled to life, "Thirty seconds," Chloe's voice came through. The two Saiyans situated themselves at the airlock, ready to rush through as soon as the doors opened. Seconds passed slowly as the undeniable sound of metal on metal was heard mere inches away.

The airlock doors suddenly burst open and Borgos ran through and went left, while Toma ran to the right. Chuu counted to thirty and ran inside, taking a left. Time ticked by slowly as the crew was cleared out of the ship.

"Bardock, the ship is ours," Toma reported twelve minutes later. "Chuu has just finished turning on the autopilot. See you at the rendevous."

"Chloe, we're good to go, head out of system," Bardock said into his scouter. He looked out the port at the other ship and sighed.

I hope we have enough time. He thought, clutching Fasha's hand tightly. We have to.