Chapter 6

Dread Light

Before, they'd been taken by surprise. But this time, Bardock and his crew were ready for the rygeans' soldier-machines. The majority of the synthetics had stopped to target the incoming drop-pods, while around twenty continued to close in on the clustered group of saiyans groundside. All five of them tensed, getting ready to make their move. Bardock could sense his teams' anticipation. "Not yet…"

In perfect sync, the drones surrounded the saiyans in a uniform ring. As they brought their rifles to bear Bardock shouted, "Now!" In unison the saiyans vanished from sight, only to reappear several feet above where they had been, narrowly evading the particle beams. Even as the shots crisscrossed in the empty space they found new marks in the other synthetics, disabling several.

The strobe of the rygean weapons flashed like lightning as the incoming pods were targeted. Bardock knew that in less than a minute this whole area would be a full fledged war zone. With the machines' attention diverted skyward it was a momentary free for all once the remaining drones that had attacked them were dealt with.

Borgos used his massive size to his advantage; "killing" one of the machines, then proceeding to use its' body as a cudgel, swinging it into it's fellows. Fasha sped between her enemies, knocking them over as Shugesh followed up with energy blasts. Tora, being perhaps the most practical, simply hoisted two of the rygean rifles and started doing some target practice.

As for Bardock, he lunged into the fray with reckless abandon, aura still blazing. His punches crumpled torsos, kicks decapitated, and he finished up with double handed energy wave that carved a three meter wide rut into the soil, running the length of the battlefield.

At that moment his scouter picked up a large power level in the sky, rapidly approaching nine-thousand. He turned to look and saw a pod explode in mid-air, then a deluge of blasts rain down onto the battlefield. Bardock smirked, I gotta find out who that guy is. The airborne warrior descended, and when Bardock got a glimpse of him, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was the Prince.

Bardock merely scoffed as he turned his attention back to the business at hand, Little punk hasn't even hit the ground and he's trying to upstage me. Well, I'm up for the challenge if you are kid. The battle hardened warrior leapt back into the fight with renewed ferocity, nothing withstanding his assault.

Where not twenty minutes ago it had looked to Bardock like he and his crew were dead meat, the arrival of his allies had turned the situation into a wholesale slaughter of the synthetic warriors. Or it was until rygeans sent in the heavy hitters.

With the arrival of the Cyclopic drones came another shift in the tide of battle. These new machines were faster, stronger, and ultimately more dangerous than the previous ones. Regrouping with the rest of his team, the quintet began working together, destroying the machines with a concerted effort. Unfortunately, whenever they found a strategy that worked, the machines would adapt. This made it impossible to destroy more than two or three of the drones before having to employ a new method, and there were hundreds to deal with, in addition to the lesser drones.

More and more the saiyans were pressed into the center of the field, and Bardock and his crew found themselves near the prince. Bardock caught fleeting glances of the boy as he destroyed several of the robotic warriors. Clever move kid, but that won't work for long. No sooner had he finished that thought than one of the drones grabbed Vegeta and forced him into the path of his own blast.

Bardock was about to step in when Nappas' guttural roar erupted as the mammoth saiyan leapt to the aid of the prince. Good, looks like tiny has things…shit! Nappa fell to the ground from a well place particle beam. "Shugesh, Fasha, Borgos! Rifles! Tora, your with me!"

The three saiyans each scooped up a fallen rifle and opened fire on the powerful machine, piercing its' shield and damaging it heavily. Bardock came up from behind with the energy blades the drone had dropped, cutting off its' arms with two simultaneous strokes. Tora took hold of the prince while Shugesh and Borgos hauled away the injured Nappa. Fasha continued to fire her rifle as the others retreated.

Once the injured were taken to relative safety, Tora began to administer medical care. Starting with the more gravely injured, he dressed Nappas' wounds first, before moving on to Vegeta.

In the trench they occupied, the prince awake from a sharp pain. He looked around, bleary eyed. He could still hear the battle raging all around him. "How long was I out?" he asked. Bardock was crouched on one knee, his forearm laying across the other. "Only a minute, though you'll probably wish you hadn't woken up at all." The prince continued to gaze for a moment before settling his eyes on Bardock.

Bardock locked eyes with the boy, "Those were some pretty good moves kid, up until that thing beat the hell out of you." Vegetas' eyes narrowed, "You saved me?" Bardock nodded.

Vegeta turned his head and scoffed, "I never asked for your help, nor did I need it."

"Yeah, it looked like you had everything under control."

"I was about take that thing out when you losers butted-in!"

"Oh really, what were you gonna do, bleed on it once it ripped your arms off? Maybe it would have rusted after a while."

"Don't you dare speak to me that way peasant, you are addressing royalty!"

"Hmph, a royal pain in the ass. How about trying a little gratitude for us saving your neck?"

Vegeta growled, "How about I kill you instead?"

"If you want me dead you only have to wait, we're not gonna last much longer."

Tora and the others leaned over the edge of the ditch, using their commandeered rifles to take shots at the machines. Vegeta regarded them with contempt, "Using those toys? I suppose you can't help it if you're too weak to fight, but where's your pride?

Bardock just shook his head, "Pride in your race is one thing, kid. But letting it cloud your judgment only gets you killed. You'd do well to remember that."

"What's the point, didn't you just say we're as good as dead anyway."

"The way things are right now, yeah."

"Grrr, Damn it! If I could only get up in the air for a little without being shot down I could flatten this place!"

"Got something up your sleeve eh? Sounds like you'd need some time to build up the energy for an attack like that, and I don't think our friends out there are just gonna let you do that. Plus, there aren't enough of us left to hold em' off."

"Yes I know that you moron!"

"If we transformed we could squash these metal bastards, wouldn't you say Tora? Bardocks' friend looked at him in surprise, "Yeah but, I thought we were supposed to keep this place in one piece, and…" Shugesh interrupted, "Who gives a damn about what Frieza wants? Besides, he aint gettin' this place at all if we end up corpses!"

Vegeta rubbed his shoulders as he sat up "What are you idiots babbling about? There's no moon at all tonight, let alone a full one. We can't transform." Bardock cracked a wry smile, "Yeah, well we'll just see about that."

Fasha ducked down into the ditch, pulling Tora down with her, just dodging an energy blade. The machine jumped into the ditch and continued its' assault. It lunged at Bardock, swinging its' weapon at his face. He leaned back, but the tip of the burning blade left a deep cut in his left cheek. The heat from the weapon cauterized the wound, leaving a long, ragged scar. As it moved in for the killing blow Vegeta thrust his fist into the drones' side and released his energy, reducing the synthetic to hunk of scrap.

He turned to look at Bardock, "Now we're even, low-class, and if you've got some way of getting us out of this mess then you'd better do it now!" Fasha agreed, "I think the kid's got a point."

Getting to his feet Bardock grumbled, "Ya know kid, I think you and I actually agree for once. Now watch closely, after thinking up this little trick it took a long time to get it right."

Bradock held his hand in front of the princes' eyes, palm up. A small ball of energy began to form, expanding slowly. When it was about the size of his head it ceased to grow. Vegeta stared intently at the ball. Bardock smirked again, "Ready kid?" Pulling back his arm he hurled the ball skyward. Holding his hand aloft he allowed the ball to race up until it was nearly out of sight. Bardock closed his hand into a tight fist, and the ball detonated.

Expanding to enormous size, the ball hung in the air and illuminated the sky like a pale sun. Vegeta had shielded his eyes from the brilliant flash, and when he looked at those around him he was amazed by what he saw.

Their eyes, fixed on the ball, were turning crimson. Their breathing shallow and rasping. Nappas eyes had snapped open and he too began to exhibit the symptoms . The remaining saiyans, now fewer than two hundred strong, were transforming.

Vegeta smiled wide, and evil lust in his eyes as he glared at the radiant orb in the sky. It had begun.

The synthetic soldiers were momentarily disoriented by the blinding flash. Upon recovering they resumed their onslaught, but as the saiyans changed their power grew. Thick fur began to sprout all over their bodies, and their faces contorted into horrible, primitive shapes. Gradually at first, then more rapidly they increased in size. Soon they towered above the rygean drones.

Transformed, the saiyans let out a terrible roar that shook the very ground. The machines continued to attack, but the once lethal particle rifles now proved useless, and the deadly energy blades only served to further fuel the saiyans' primal rage.

With speed not to be believed of such gargantuan creatures, the surviving saiyans attacked everything in sight. Whenever they attacked one of cyclopic drones it would raise it spherical shield, only to be crushed in the hands of the rampaging monsters, or else under their feet.

Being one of the few with the ability to retain control of his mind while transformed, Vegeta made his way into the heart of the capitol city. Murderous intent was in his blood-red eyes as he stalked among the skyscrapers. With his senses heightened, he could hear the screams of the terrified rygeans hiding within the buildings.

Jumping up, he wrapped his legs around one of the buildings and proceeded to rip off it's roof. Within were gathered masses of huddled creatures, some screaming at the sight of him, others praying. Vegeta bared his razor sharp teeth, saliva dripping. In a deep, horrible voice he said, "I see you!" Opening his great mouth, he let loose a powerful blast from his gaping maw.

Erupting like a volcano, the blast tore through the building, vaporizing everyone and everything inside. When he was finished, all that remained was a smoking husk. The people inside were dead, and Vegeta moved on to another building, and then another. Other saiyans also began moving into the city, annihilating everything they saw.

The rygeans had sent a message of surrender to Friezas' fleet during the attack, begging them to stop the monsters from killing any more of their people. Frieza had responded personally saying, "I gladly accept your surrender, but unfortunately there's nothing I can do to stop them in this condition. Perhaps this will teach you to be more obedient in the future. As for the loss of life, you have my most heartfelt sympathies. I'm sure they would have made excellent subjects." He ended the message, there was no sympathy in his voice, only cold malevolence.

Hours passed before Bardocks' energy ball dissipated and the bloodthirsty saiyans reverted to their original state. All said and done, the death toll numbered in the hundreds of thousands and the once gleaming capitol laid in ruins. Rygal VII, had fallen.