Disclaimer: Anyway, I don't own anything to do with Dragonball Z. The amazing Akria Toriyama does. I only own the plot and my own characters.
Bardock's story
Chapter 7: Time changes
A few years after Matrika's death, Bardock, Tora and Tarro were now young adults and promising members of the saiyan army. As predicted when he was a kid, Bardock's scar had grown with him and it looked fitting on his face now. It actually gave him more presence, which was needed when stood next to the twins who were now taller and heavier looking than Bardock. They were now old enough to use scouters and had already been sent out on their first team assignment.
However, three doesn't make a team so Bardock, Tora and Tarro were joined by two more saiyans. The first was Borgos. He was a few years older than the boys and taller than either of the twins. But he was a rather silent type. He had ended up on their team after the rest of his team were split up for trying to get each other killed. Borgos was happy to allow the younger saiyans take lead. The other new member was a female named Fasha. She was a little younger than Bardock but more than feisty enough to keep the boys on their toes. Watching her move was rather eye-catching for the boys; she moved much more gracefully and elegantly than what the boys could. After just a couple of missions together, the five saiyans were tight. And even though he was inexperienced, Bardock quickly found his place as team leader, a role that seemed to come naturally to him.
Since his mother's death, it hadn't been easy adjusting to life after her but Bardock was managing to move on. There was still no sign of his violent father but it was just one thing less to worry about. He took Courne's advice and carried on his training to become stronger than Aikon and become a better man than him. Being sent on assignments and being a part of his own team helped, giving Bardock something to focus on. It wasn't long before he, Tora and Tarro were regular trouble makers. The three young saiyans were also gaining attention from the pretty young ladies of Planet Vegeta, something Tora and Bardock enjoyed very much. Tarro, however, quickly found the girl he admired the most, their female comrade, Fasha. Whenever at the bar, Fasha would insist on either sharing a seat with Tarro or even sitting in his lap. Initially, it was awkward for the other three saiyans but soon it just became normal. That was until the team were dealt a huge blow, one that would test their friendships, test Bardock as a leader and change the dynamics of the team forever.
The team were off on their latest assignment on that fateful day. The planet they were being sent to had inhabitants that should be easy to destroy without transforming so the five saiyans were looking forward to it. They all climbed in to their pods and got settled for the journey. As they were climbing in, something caught Bardock's eye. He looked up to see a young female saiyan walking past the launch deck. She was dressed in the uniform black and white saiyan armour but it was her face that caught Bardock's attention. She was incredibly beautiful. Her long black hair shone in the sunlight, her pink skin glowed and her pale red lips were very tempting. As Bardock watched her, she seemed to realise that she was being watched. She stopped and turned to look Bardock's way. That was when he saw her eyes, the brightest emerald green Bardock had ever seen with beautiful big lashes. Her eyes just sparkled. Seeing him admiring her caused this stunning creature to smile at him.
'Oh, man! What a smile!'
But before Bardock could get carried away, he heard Tarro shout his name.
"Hey, Bardock," He shouted, "You getting in or what!"
"Yeah, I'm coming."
He glanced back to see his mysterious beauty had disappeared.
'Who was that girl?'
Leaving the question for now, Bardock climbed in to his pod then the five saiyans set off to their next mission.
Bardock and his team had been sent to a planet by the name of Ethica. There was nothing particularly special about the people of the planet but within the caves, there were priceless minerals, the reason Frieza wanted the planet. The five pods landed hard in to the planet's surface, leaving five huge craters in the ground. The five saiyan each climbed out and stretched their muscles. Bardock and Tora looked around. The sky was a pleasant blue while the grass was pale yellow. That's when the scouters suddenly picked up on power levels on the planet. But the power levels were scattered about in all directions.
"When's the moon full here?" Fasha asked.
"Not for a couple of days," Tarro replied.
"But we shouldn't need it," Tora added, "The Ethica people aren't stronger than either of us."
"Ok, before we get to work," Bardock said, "Remember, we only take out the people, try and keep the planet's surface untouched. Frieza wants these minerals and we don't know how far in the ground they are."
They nodded in understanding then agreed to split up, meeting back after five hours for an update.
But their confidence was about to be put out. Tora was the first to discover that the information they had been given about the planet was very wrong. As he flew through the air, his scouter suddenly started bleeping loudly. It was telling him something was below. He looked down just in time to see an energy blast heading straight for him. He managed to dodge it only to look down to see the people of Ethica on the ground.
"Get him!" One shouted.
Before Tora knew, he was fighting alone, dodging the energy blasts and firing back. He was about to call for help over the scouter when he heard the other saiyans were also under attack. All five saiyans struggled with their group of Ethicans but they weren't willing to give up and their persistence started paying off. Soon, Tora, Fasha and Borgos found each other and fought together until no more Ethicans were left standing. The three saiyans returned to their pods, exhausted. They were also missing Bardock and Tarro. While Fasha and Borgos got their breath back, Tora used his scouter to try and make contact.
"Bardock? You there? Tarro? Guys, answer me!"
"Tora?" Fasha asked.
"Neither of them is answering."
"Do you think they are ok?" Borgos asked.
"I… I don't know."
The three saiyans fell silent. There was a chance they had lost two of their friends.
After a long agonising wait, their scouters started beeping. Two people were coming towards them. With bated breath they waited until they could see a shape flying slowly towards them. It was hard to see exactly who it was but something made Tora's stomach flip. He flew up to get a better view. That's when he heard the voice.
"Tora! Give me a hand!"
It was Bardock. But he wasn't alone; he was supporting a heavily injured and unconscious Tarro. Without thinking, Tora flew over to help get his twin in to a pod. When Fasha saw the state of her boyfriend, she almost froze to the spot as Bardock and Tora got Tarro safely in his pod. Without wasting time, the rest of the group climbed in to their pods and raced back to Planet Vegeta.
As soon as the five pods landed on Planet Vegeta, Tora, Borgos and Bardock grabbed Tarro's limp, broken body out of his pod and dragged him to the nearest medical centre and in to a healing pod. Fasha had flown off to find Courne. As soon as Courne learnt about her son's injuries, she and Fasha took to the air and raced to her son's side. She and Tora hugged each other then settled down to wait to see if Tarro would make it. Bardock, Fasha and Borgos chose to wait outside the medical centre, out of the way but where Tora could find them.
However, the next morning, Bardock woke up to find that he, Fasha and Borgos had fallen asleep against the wall of the medical centre. He stretched then stood up. It was then that the doors opened with a hiss and Plenthor stepped out. The aging doctor turned to see the three young saiyans sat outside.
"Plenthor? How is he?" Bardock asked.
The question woke Fasha and Borgos who stood up to hear how their friend was doing. Plenthor saw the hope in their eyes and sighed. Bardock felt his stomach churn; he had heard that sigh before. He knew what it meant. Suddenly he pushed past Plenthor and dashed to the room, leaving Fasha and Borgos stunned.
"I'm sorry." Plenthor said softly.
When Bardock got to the room where the pod was, he found Bane holding Courne close as she sobbed. Then he spotted Tora on his knees right by the pod, his body, violently shaking with grief. It was true; Tarro had died in the night. Yet again, Bardock had lost someone close.
Will Bardock ever have it easy? Well, we all know he doesn't but this isn't over. There's still more. Don't forget, there's one member of the crew I haven't brought up... yet.