Freedom or Death

Sohok walked with his son in his arms; he was still asleep, which was exactly what Sohok wanted. He was about to go somewhere he knew he could never come back from. All he could do was hope that he might be able to save Buka when the time came. He lowered him into an attack pod, and watched as hundreds of other fathers and mothers did the same, most of them with the same feeling of emptiness and nausea stabbing at their guts. Sohok had to go, had to force himself to look away, but he knew this maybe the last time he'd ever see his son; so he paused, and watched him sleeping, memorizing everything about him and committing it to memory. He closed his eyes, steadying his heart and his mind, and with all of his drive and focus, he turned away, and walked with speed and purpose to the meeting place.

He found the other's waiting for him; there were 4 of them, all males, all big and strong, all with looks of fear and courage. Sohok looked at them all,

"Take note, my brave friends, because this is the moment. The moment, when you all must look inside yourselves, and find a strength never before seen in a Saiyan; because you will need that strength. You will need to make a sacrifice as great as the one our race has made; to save their futures, we would do anything yes?" He paused, and looked into their eyes, all of them filled with strength, and one by one they nodded. Sohok stretched out his hand towards the centre, the other's following suit, placed their hands on top of his,

"Then let us go, and know that whatever happens, we will be remembered." They all nodded, and quickly darted off at super speed, moving through the alleys and corners of the streets. Sohok saw where he had to go, and veering left, he broke off, and hoped that he would succeed.

King Vegeta had many bodyguards, but what made King Vegeta different from any other king, was that he hardly ever used them. He was a Warrior, true he might have gotten old, and didn't go out on missions to raze planets, but he was still the strongest warrior on the planet. No one was stronger than him. Well, except for Him. But his day would come, and when it did, King Vegeta would take great pleasure in paying him back ten-fold for every indignity he and his people had suffered. Until then, he would wait, until his moment to strike came.

Which was exactly what his 4 assassins did; the leapt from the shadows, arms raised to beat the royal king to his knees. Though surprised, the king knew to always keep his guard up. He jumped up above them, and rocketed down with a kick that knocked one man's head back with a sickening crack; the man then fell backwards, his eyes white and empty. Vegeta sneered, and twisted round to see his 3 remaining killers. They were all on their guards, but none of them showed any fear. 'Good, he thought, like true warriors to the end; never fear you enemy, even if he will destroy you', the king gave a short laugh,

"I salute you soldiers, not many have been able to catch me unawares. However, the element of surprise is gone, and with it, any hope you had of survival. I will honour you as you have honoured me; by giving you quick deaths" The 3 assassins charged at him, all roaring their battle cries. Vegeta paused, and then sped at them, blasting one through the chest, chopping another at the neck; breaking the bones with ease, and finally he swung round, and brought his knee into the last one's chest, breaking his ribs and pinning him to the ground. He looked down at his attacker, who still managed to cling to life,

"You all fought bravely, foolishly though, and that is why you must serve as warnings to any other idiots who think they could challenge me." The last man looked up and gasped through pain and blood,

"We did this for our children, for their... futures!" Vegeta stood, and then blasted the Saiyan into dust. As he looked around, brushing the blood from his armour, a legion of guards suddenly flew down to him,

"MY LORD, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" King Vegeta scoffed, "Of course I am fools, this was nothing. Merely a workout. What I want you to do now is..." He was interrupted by an explosion not too far away, followed by another. King Vegeta starred, and knew that something was wrong.

"I want half of you to find General Nappa and tell him to head for that blast. The other half will go find my son and make sure no one tried to attack him. And while you're all doing that, maybe someone can tell me how the hell some stupid bastards are blowing up my own damn capital city?!"

Sohok walked quickly and quietly towards the tracking centre; it was the hub for all ships leaving and arriving at the planet, it tracked them and followed them which ever direction they went off to. Sohok stood out-of-sight by the doorway, peering in; he saw that there were 2 technicians present. He paused, took a deep breath, and walked in slowly, he then darted forward, blasting one and then breaking the other's neck. He let the body drop, and then turned towards the readouts. His eyes darted about, desperately trying to find what he was looking for, until mercifully he found it; the main tracking circuit, take that out, and no one could follow any ship leaving the planet. Not even a big one. Sohok took a step back, and charged up his Ki, then blasted it forward, completely destroying the complex circuitry. He smiled, and then turned his attention towards the attack pods. He read down the list, and saw with horror that his son was already prepped for launch.

He tried to override the command, but it wouldn't work, no matter how hard he tried. Sohok yelled with fury, and sank to his knees; he had failed Ryuki, and he had failed Buka. A thought then occurred; he might just have one last chance! He got up, and found the pod's intended destination, which he then changed, and as quickly as possible, search for a better alternative. And then he found it; a small backwater planet in the middle of nowhere, mostly peaceful, the local inhabitants not particularly strong; his son would be safe there, least until he could find him. He typed in the command, and then saw he had very little time, he found the pod's auto educate database, and decided to erase, and put in something that he had made just in case. With all that done, he had but to push a button and Buka would be safe.

"I should have known! You always were a gutless traitor after all" Sohok turned, and saw that Nappa; the Saiyan Elite, and General of the entire Saiyan Army was standing in his way. Sohok stepped back, and pressed the button. He then smiled,

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got plans, so I'll be seeing you Baldy" He powered up, ready to charge, when Nappa smirked, and with speed he wasn't expecting, threw a blow which knocked the wind out of Sohok, who bent over, surprised. Nappa laughed,

"Oh no you don't! I'm gonna enjoy killing you slow, make you suffer in total agony. Then I'm gonna find that pretty mate of yours, and show her what a real Saiyan man's like. Bet she'd love that, don't you..." He never got to finish his sentence, he was knocked back by Sohok, who hit him as hard as he could clean across the jaw, which managed to send Nappa flying across the room, land on his back, and quickly lose consciousness. Sohok stood up shakily, and spat on the ground,

"Might've been a sucker-punch, but you sure as hell deserved it you bastard." Sohok looked back; Buka's pod was leaving, he wanted to wait, but knew there was no more time. He walked to the doorway, and saw Bardock standing in the corridor. They both stood there, watching each other, time and sound seemed to die away, leaving just them.

"Gine told me, knew I'd find you here, not getting yourself killed by Vegeta."

"You always were a smart one. The best student I ever taught, and the best Friend I ever had. I knew you wouldn't come with me though."

"You were right. So what do we do now then?"

"Now, you either kill me, or you let me go. What's it gonna be?" Bardock stood still for a moment, he then stepped aside,

"Start running. They won't be far away. Launch your pod, I'll do my part don't worry." Sohok nodded, then just as he was about to leave, he turned back to look at his former protégé;

"Frieza is a monster Bardock. In him, is the death of all Saiyans, and when the time does come, and it will, I hope you and your family are long gone. Don't ever trust Frieza, because it'll be the last mistake you'll ever make."

And with that, he darted away, making for the nearest Pod platform. He ran over to one and hit the launch button, he then sped over to another, did the same, before finally jumping into pod himself, he then put in the coordinates and held his breath.

King Vegeta ran with his troops, he was very pissed off and wanted someone to take it out on. He looked up and saw two attack pods flying away at top speed, and knew that that was his target, he powered up his Ki and blasted one pod as it went overhead, the blast hitting it directly as it flew overhead; the pod exploded instantly and Vegeta watched with satisfaction as it burned, he then turned towards the other; and saw a Saiyan solder blast it and destroy it. He looked at the Saiyan, who flew down to meet him,

"Forgive me sire, but I saw one of the traitors board this ship. I immediately blasted him sir, and made sure of his destruction." The King watched him, and smiled,

"Good work soldier, did you see who it was?" The Saiyan shook his head, the King scoffed,

"No matter, I want this all forgotten as soon as possible." With that, King Vegeta turned, and walked away. Bardock Smiled, and looked back, and saw another pod lift off, and fly away at top speed. He watched it go, and then flew off to see his mate, and his sons.

Sohok breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that he hadn't been caught out by the King. He was now out in space, and heading towards the others. They would reach the Planet before him, but it would still take time. He reached round, felt his ribs and winced; some were indeed broken. He sat back, looked out into the void, wondering where his son might be. He knew he'd sent him there for his own safety, he also knew that no one would ever notice he was missing, or know where he had gone. He was completely safe, but far from his father and mother. He remembered the name of the planet he'd sent Buka to; Earth. Something deep inside him, told him that he would find him again, some day.