This was a disaster.

Bardock wiped the blood from his mouth and dodged his assailants attack. He drew his fist back and slammed it into the chubby alien's chin, a sickening crack was heard and the alien flew backwards, it's head stuck in an odd position as it took its final breaths.

Bardock's victory was short-lived as three more of the aliens appeared out of the foliage and stood beside their fallen comrade. They were short, stocky, and had comically long and thick arms for their size. The extra length however gave them more reach. And despite having short legs, they were incredibly quick on their feet. Bardock couldn't understand how they could even move so fast despite being so bulky. Frankly, this race was really pissing him off. Never had he had so much trouble defeating simple fodder, but they all seemed to have some kind of trick up their sleeves. It really made this mission a lot harder than it should have been.

Right from the moment they had entered the planet's atmosphere had this mission gone down the deep end. The beings of this world apparently were ready for their attack, despite having no contact with Frieza's forces prior. They tried shooting their pods down as they landed, Bardock recalled his hull taking severe damage. Due to the air barrage, the saiyans pods had scattered around the planet. So, they would now have to spend extra time linking up with each other to properly start the invasion, it didn't help that they had to fight through a myriad of ambushes and traps. They couldn't use their scouters either, these bastards were able to scramble them. Luckily though it was only over long distances, so he was able to detect any power levels that were in his location, this helped counteract those sneaky ambushes. So currently, everyone was isolated from each other, and hordes of these menaces watched their every wake.

It only got worse. Bardock knew there was a full moon coming up, not caring much about destroying the surface at the time, what he really wanted was everyone on this planet dead. However, as soon as the moon appeared in the night sky, it was blown to bits before his very eyes. That could only mean one thing, these guys somehow knew of their Oozaru form. Which was very strange considering that no Saiyan had ever been to this planet before. They weren't even a space faring race. There was no way they could have known!

That was two weeks ago. Now Bardock was busy fighting for his life trying to get into some form of contact with his lost squad.

The soldiers he was currently fighting were part of a large group that had followed him for days, Bardock estimated there was at least fifty to a hundred in that single group, and now only three of them remained. He watched them carefully, they looked unafraid despite being clearly weaker than himself. A quick scan of their battle powers showed they numbered four-hundred, three-hundred, and two-hundred.

'Nothing special,' he thought.

All three suddenly lunged at him at the same time, their speed catching Bardock off guard. They then proceeded to send a barrage of punches and kicks at the Saiyan. Bardock ducked and dodged through their attacks, not getting any chances to hit back. As this continued he started to notice their pace was slowing down, and their attacks had less power too them. He saw a small opening and went for it, he threw a quick right hook.

Missed.

'Damnit!'

He was struck in the back of the head and was launched forward, skidding to a halt some distance away.

He quickly rose to his feet, taking a moment to eye his opponents again. They stood with their chests puffed out and appeared to be laughing at him judging from the shaking of their shoulders.

'Bastards are mocking me!'

He drew both fists back and gathered ki into each palm.

"I'll teach you to laugh at me! Here, have it!" he roared as he let out a volley of ki blasts. They quickly leapt out of harm's way, the blasts striking only the ground, kicking up dirt into the air, obscuring his field of vision. This only made Bardock angrier. He started shooting in random directions now, hoping to hit at least one of them. When he finally stopped, the forested area around him was decimated. The trees left standing were ablaze, giving a much-needed visibility boost in the dark moonless night.

Bardock quickly scanned the area, picking up all three of their powers jumping around him. Bardock decided to stay put and wait for an attack rather then pursue in the low visibility from the smoke. His scouter beeped indicating something to the left, Bardock moved just in time to dodge his assailant's fists, using the advantage, the vicious space pirate grabbed ahold of the alien's face and slammed him to the ground.

"Finally caught one of you bastards," Bardock said through a malicious grin. He gathered a large amount of ki into his other hand, he could see the alien's eyes widening in fear, which would only serve to make this kill that more satisfying.

Bardock's scouter beeped once more, but he was too slow to react as he was kicked in the side of his face and was launched backwards, his scouter being obliterated in the attack. After a moment with his face in the dirt he slowly rose to his feet and brought one shaking hand to his now scouter-less face. He balled his hands up so tight his knuckles started to turn white, his teeth were clenched, and he took deep heavy breaths. To say he was angry was an understatement. No, he wasn't angry.

He was absolutely livid.

Everything about his current situation angered him. The fact that these creatures with pathetically low power levels were able to get the jump on him was embarrassing enough, but now they just destroyed his only way of communication with everyone else.

'That's it! I'm going to make every damn one of these bastards on this shit-hole of a planet pay!'

Bardock let out a roar as he launched himself forwards at the three aliens. The sudden outburst of speed seemed to surprise them and Bardock was able to have one of them pinned. He wasn't going to take his time killing them now. He grabbed a hold of one and threw him towards one of it's comrades. He then fired a ki blast at the two, disintegrating both. As Bardock saw his attack connect, a wicked grin appeared across his scarred face. He turned his attention towards the last of his targets. This one was clearly smaller than the other two and had far less muscular definition, must have been the weakest of the three he decided.

Bardock waited for the alien to make it's move, but instead it just stood in it's place, shaking and eyes as wide as dinner plates. Bardock could practically smell the fear radiating from it. He felt good not having to work for an easy kill. The alien fell to it's knees, having given up trying to defeat the battle hardened Saiyan.

"Oh come on! You don't at least want to die fighting? Pathetic," Bardock taunted.

The alien then raised it's hand forward and shot out a weak ki blast towards him. Bardock took it head on, not even flinching.

"Huh, that's it?"

"Not quite," it spoke suddenly, as it lifted its tunic revealing many cylindrical devices strapped to it's chest.

"Hey, is that!?"

click*

BOOM

Bardock's world lit up as a huge explosion rocked the area.

Gine stared in amazement at the large mushroom cloud that formed in the forest. The shockwave caused by the blast uprooted trees and crumbled rock formations in the area. Luckily, her pod was built to withstand forces thousands of times more powerful then that blast, so she was safe in her pod.

Where she was hiding.

In fact, she had been in there the entire mission, coming out only a few times a day to gather supplies and other assorted reasons. She hadn't gone out to do anything towards completing the mission however. She didn't even know what the people of this planet looked like! This was the best course of action for herself she decided. After all, everyone was split up on the planet presumably with no way of contacting each other. Her scouter couldn't pick up any signals, nor was she even able to scan long distances for power levels. Rather than going out into the unknown facing even more unknown enemies, she'd just wait in her pod for one of her squad mates to find her.

If they were even still out there.

There was a small suspicion that sat at the back of her mind saying that maybe everyone was dead, and that she was all alone in enemy territory. Or that maybe they were forced to leave and left her behind to die on some backwater world….

No, she knew Bardock wouldn't allow that, and that recent explosion showed that there is some battle still going on meaning they must still be alive. But, it was hard not to think that way. This mission had clearly been too much for them to handle, she'd figured that out as soon as they entered the Planets atmosphere. She remembered hearing shouting over the comms about their pods being shot down before the signal for everyone was cut. She also remembered seeing the full moon once, then also seeing it be blown to pieces. Their enemy was smarter than them, and they had power to back them up, apparently.

They were all going to die here and there was nothing that could be done about it. Of course, Gine could always leave, her pod was still fully functional. But she'd never abandon her team. Gine was many things but a deserter was not one of them.

She cleared her mind of those grim thoughts. Everything was going to be just fine. Her team was still out there murdering the populace, they just had to be. Right now, there were other things to focus on, like that explosion. It was far to close to her pod than she'd liked, which means there could be some enemies nearby. Gine had to find a new place to hide as the cliff edge her pod was embedded in was far too exposed.

She opened the hatch and leapt out and remained stationary in the air over the forest, keeping watch over the now burning trees in-case there were any stalking enemies. She scanned the area with her scouter a few times just to be sure. When nothing came up she sighed.

'Guess I'm still alone,'

She hovered over to her pod, placing a hand at each side of the ship she was able to rip it out of cliff side and hoisted it over her shoulder. Turning back to the forest she took one more cautionary scan with the scouter, once again receiving no signals. She then flew off into the dark night sky.

Gine landed down on the hard-rocky ground as softly as she could, trying her hardest to make the least amount of noise. Her eyes looked all around her, making sure there was no one who had seen her. She'd taken the risk of flying high in the sky just because flying through the forest would have been far too difficult especially in this darkness. When she decided she was safe, Gine started towards the cave she had picked to be her new hiding place.

As she reached the mouth of the cave she paused for a moment, noticing a ruffling sound in the thick foliage several yards away from her. She stayed still for a while, pod still hoisted over her shoulder.

'probably just the wind,' she assured herself.

She slowly turned away but quickly swiveled her head back again when the rustling continued, along with the sounds of quick footsteps scurrying between the trees. It was pitch black out, but with Gine's heightened Saiyan vision she could make out some distinctly blacker masses that hid between the dark trees.

The dark figures vanished and there was the sound of the scurrying of feet again and Gine threw her pod behind her. Crouching down into a battle-ready stance.

"Who's there?" She called out, then quickly shunned herself. It probably wasn't the best idea to reveal yourself to potential assailants.

Or maybe they weren't enemies at all but maybe just some scared animals that were in the area. It couldn't hurt to check to make sure though….

Slowly, she brought a hand up to her scouter, which had up to this point been turned off. Her eyes darted back and forth between the treeline as the scouter scanned, when it stopped she let out a startled gasp.

Three power levels each above five-hundred.

Suddenly, three figures shot out from the treeline and rushed her. Gine was taken aback by this and was sent flying backwards from a fist hitting her face. She quickly recovered and just barely dodged an attack from her left, then avoided another from her right. The last came rushing towards her center, thinking quickly she put her hands forward and shot off a blast right at the alien, pushing him back.

Gine leapt back a few paces to put some distance between herself and her attackers. She waited a moment, making sure to get a good look at the aliens. She could see them somewhat clearly now, noticing their long arms, stocky bodies, and short legs.

'So these are the planet's natives, huh,' She wondered how such beings were even able to move so fast with such short legs. Gine's eyes narrowed, right now she had to be completely focused on her enemy. She was at a disadvantage not just from numbers but also from power.

Taking a deep breath, Gine steadied herself. 'Remember your training," she thought. She got down into a fighting stance, one that Bardock had taught her, as she inspected the three aliens standing beside each other, searching for any openings. "If you ever find yourself outnumbered, go for the weakest." She remembered Bardock telling her. There was one to her left, who appeared to be plumper than the others, he even seemed to be breathing hard, and his guard was sloppy. 'That's it!'

She fired off two blasts at the other aliens and rushed towards the fat one. It tried to block, but Gine was quicker, she hit it square in it's chubby face, and it was sent reeling backwards.

"Wow I can't believe that actually worked!" she cheered, however her victory was short lived as she felt a hand grab her arm, and she was yanked inwards. She saw a fist come forward and her face was pushed sideways as she was struck right in the jaw. it's grip on her held strong as her attacker continued to hit her in the face again and again. Gine, having been dazed from the first hit, was unable to counter and was forced to take the beating. She was then swung around in a circle and felt herself being thrown into the air. She soared in the air for a moment before something hard smacked her right back down.

She crashed down into the dirt and stayed there laying on her back. Her head spun, and she felt warm liquid running down her face and through her nose. She slowly rose into a sitting position and brought a hand to wipe the blood from her face. The world suddenly became very bright and she looked up just in time to see a barrage of ki blasts coming her way. Gine crossed her arms in front of her and hoped for the best.

The blasts slammed into her and she let out a cry of pain, feeling them seer any skin that wasn't covered by her uniform. Eventually, the barrage stopped, and Gine was left in a smoking crater. She slowly got to her feet, wincing from the pain all over. The stocky aliens stood together and a deep, rumbling laugh erupted from their throats. Gine scowled. She had to think of a way to get out of this. Her attackers were far more skilled then any foe she'd faced before, other than the (one) guy. There was no way she could fight them, so there was now only one option left.

Ki flooded into Gine's hands, in order for her plan to work, she had to put as much strength into this attack, otherwise the aliens wouldn't see it as a threat. She needed them distracted for just a moment. Gine smirked as the warriors crouched down again into fighting stances, preparing themselves for the saiyan's attack. 'Perfect'

Gine pointed her hand to the upwards and shot the blast into the sky, the aliens looked up in confusion, waiting for the possibility that it might come back down onto them. When Gine saw that their attention was completely off her, she turned and sprinted off into the opposite direction.

Running was all she could do now. Gine was smart, she knew when to fight her battles, and this battle wasn't one she should fight. They were stronger, they outnumbered her; but with this lead she could only try to outrun them.

Gine carried onwards as fast as her feet could carry her, faster and faster she went, dust accumulated behind from the force of her feet hitting the dirt as she ripped through the forest. She ducked and weaved between the trees. The thick vegetation of the forest slowed her pace a bit, and the darkness of the night made seeing obstacles at break-neck speed much more difficult. She winced as she felt stray branched cut through her exposed skin, but she kept forwards. If the thick forest will slow her down, then she hoped that the labyrinth of vegetation will do the same for her attackers. She could hear the stamping of feet behind her, her pursuers hot on her trail. They seemed to be getting louder, Gine turned her head back a little to notice three black masses just an arm's reach away.

'Oh shit!' Gine flared her ki and blasted off. She kept close to the ground, wincing as she felt any trees in her path slam into her and shatter into many small splinters, cutting deep into her skin. At last, she ripped through the last tree of the forest and made it out into a large clearing by a lake.

She spared a glance behind her, smirking when she noticed no one following her. She turned her head forward again and let out a startled yelp when her previous pursuers had somehow got in front of her. Gine braced herself for impact and slammed straight into one of the aliens, they both were sent tumbling forward, skidding across the ground churning up grass and dirt. They stopped moving and Gine found herself pinned to the ground. She tried to move the alien by force but couldn't, so she raised her hand and shot a ki blast at it in point blank range. The alien grabbed it's face and Gine was able to scurry away from the alien's grasp. She rose to her feet, panting heavily from exertion. She was about to make a run for it but found herself surrounded by more of the aliens. It appeared more came and now had her trapped in a circle.

Gine cursed herself, wishing she had kept her scouter on during her flight. But it was all too late now. She started to tremble in fear, there was no getting out of this one. Gine realized then she was going to die here all alone on this backwater world, just like she was meant to. She knew she had it coming, she was weak, that's all she ever was. She dropped to her knees, hot tears streamed down her face.

'The weak die, and the strong live, that's the way it goes,' the cold words of truth from her captain repeated in her mind now and shook her to her very core. She couldn't stop her shoulders from shaking as she openly cried. There was so much she had wanted to do in life that just wasn't possible now. She hoped she could have found a mate (preferably Bardock), settled down, had a few kids, maybe even try to leave the military again and try at a career in something else. But because of her duty as a Saiyan she now faced her doom far away from home, just like her father. Gine's despair quickly turned to anger as she thought of those responsible for her predicament.

This was her uncles fault for not letting her leave, this was Bardock's fault for keeping her on his team, this was the King's fault for allowing Frieza to take control of their race and making them do this! And most of all, this was her fault for being so battle incompetent she couldn't properly defend herself.

The world became bright for a moment once more, looking up she saw all of the warriors had formed bright balls of ki in their palms, aimed directly at her. Gine felt her anger completely vanish and instead replaced with a deep fear as she was once again reminded of her impending death. Gine inhaled deeply and closed her eyes tight, 'This is it,'

Her eyes shot back open when the lake near them erupted sending the water high into the air and a vicious and primal roar came to her ears. A much larger black mass busted through the water and shot towards where she was. Gine watched as the aliens quickly scatter and try to flee but whoever this new person was they were faster. It grabbed ahold of one of the aliens faces and used it's ki to rip a hole through its stomach, Gine almost hurled at the brutality of it. The others were fleeing for their lives, but their running was futile as the new warrior jumped and pursued each of them.

"I'm going to make every last one of you filth pay!" The new warrior screamed.

Gine's eyes widened with recognition. She knew that voice could only belong to her hot-headed (and handsome) captain. Her spirits lifted as she realized she was saved once more by Bardock.

He quickly disposed of each of them and stopped before her, looking away; the area was left a bloody mess of craters and corpses of the fallen aliens, some of the trees had also been lit aflame, and Gine was now able to see her captain much clearer now, which might not have been a good thing.

He was a complete mess, the skin on his arms and parts of his face were blackened and burnt and his uniform was in complete tatters, only his boots and some of the under suit around parts of his leg and his crotch remained. His wet hair hung heavy over his eyes that burned with a fire she'd never seen from him before, and he was breathing loudly and heavily. She couldn't help but feel fear creep back into her as she stared at him. In that moment he seemed more a mindless beast of death rather then her cool, calm and collected leader.

Bardock turned towards her and Gine saw the crazed look on his face completely vanish.

"Gine!? What the hell happened to you?" He asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

She chuckled a bit at that "You're the one to talk, you look like you flew through the sun!"

She took a moment to look at herself and noted that she was indeed, a mess. Her skin was burnt and bruised, though it wasn't as severe as Bardock's. Her uniform was torn in various places and her armour was cracked and broken.

"Heh, yeah I got into some trouble earlier," he responded.

"So, I'm guessing that huge explosion had something to do with you?"

He nodded, "One of these bastards had strapped a shit-ton of explosives to himself and detonated them just as I was about to kill him, the force from the blast sent me over here. Stupid move, there's no way that would have got me,"

"I'd say it got you pretty good, I hardly even recognized you when you came bursting through that lake. By the way, perfect timing."

Bardock responded with a simple grunt, appearing to be more focused on his injuries, Gine noticed the pained expressions on his face as he touched the burns on his skin. The adrenaline seemed to be wearing off and his injuries made themselves known. She even started to feel the stinging of her burns on her arms as well. "Hey," she said, "I got some healing salve back at my pod, you look like you really need it,"

"Where?"

"Back that way," She pointed to the trail of broken trees she left during her flight. Gine stood up and took off into the air, Bardock followed close behind.

Bardock breathed a sigh of relief as the healing salve worked its way into his injuries. His burnt skin was almost completely healed now from the green liquid. He never took this stuff with him on his missions, never seeing any reason to. First aid for small injuries was something he thought was useless, the way he saw it was if he could still move, then the injury can just be considered a minor annoyance. But right now, there were many things that annoyed him, so the least he could do was get rid of one problem.

He looked towards Gine, watching as she rubbed the salve into her skin. She returned his gaze for a moment, the she promptly crossed her arms and huffed, scowling in another direction. Bardock was confused. What was with the sudden change in emotion? Was she angry with him?

"What?" he said.

"What do you mean, 'what'!?" she spat.

"Why are you making that face? You mad or something?"

Gine scowled harshly at her captain, "It's just like you to be a complete (jerk) and then immediately pass it off like nothing ever happened!"

Bardock groaned 'She's still seriously mad about that?'

"I called you useless, so what? Get over it,"

"I'm NOT useless!" she practically screamed.

"Exactly, so why are you angry?" Bardock put a hand to his forehead, it was always tiring to argue wi Gine. He could never figure out what she wanted or why she always seemed to be angry at the smallest things. 'Women, always a pain in my ass' he mused.

"It bothers me Bardock, because you're the one who's saying it,"

He raised an eyebrow, what would that have anything to do with this? What was she getting at?

"So?"

Gine's eye twitched and she barred her teeth, her hands clenching into tight fists. Bardock knew this look, it was the same face she'd make before she blew up on him.

"Don't I mean anything to you?!" she shrieked.

Bardock looked at her for a moment, he'd have to choose his next words very carefully.

"Yeah, you're part of my crew," Gine's eyes narrowed dangerously.

he internally scorned himself 'Shit, that wasn't careful enough'

She stood up abruptly and loudly growled, "You son of a-"

"Gine," he quickly cut in, "Calm down, you don't want any of these guys to hear us do you?" He made a move to place his hands on her shoulders to help calm her down a bit, but she instead shrugged them off. He tried once more but instead Gine harshly shoved him back. Bardock was starting to get annoyed by her sudden aggressiveness. Bardock could tell this was much deeper than it seemed, something else was wrong.

"Hey, what the hell is the matter with you?" he said, his voice raising a bit. "You're not just mad I insulted you, so what is it then, huh!?"

She stood there silently for a moment, her brows furrowed, and her gaze averted from him. Bardock growled, he was starting to lose his patience. She was seriously starting to bother him with the childish way Gine was acting, but he tried not to lose his temper and say something he'd regret later like before.

"Well?"

She let out a deep sigh "Bardock, I'm going to explain something to you and I hope I can get it through your thick skull," she started in a much softer tone.

"You and I have been in this," she paused, thinking of the right words to say, "irregular, relationship for a long time now. And I know you know what I mean. I wasn't just a one-time thing for you, you'd always come back. You even decided to move in with me!"

He stared at her awkwardly. Not knowing what to do or say. He was a warrior, not some soft, mushy bag of emotion like Gine was. He was like every other Saiyan, proud and ruthless. Only caring for battle. These kinds of talks were unfit for Saiyans. But he couldn't stop her from talking, something inside of him wanted to hear this discussion through. Gine was probably having more of an effect on him than he cared to admit.

"My point is, you and I aren't just part of a team. And you know that."

"I, uh, so?"

Her eye twitched, it was clear she was starting to get irritated again, "So, why are you acting like I'm nothing but your subordinate? It just doesn't make any sense!"

"Well, your housing unit is a ton better than the shack I was living in,"

"Bardock!" she complained.

"It doesn't matter anyways, you gotta stop bein' so soft, talking about your emotions and whatnot. You're a Saiyan. Stop caring about relationships and mating and start focusing on what really matters!"

Gine sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Of course you'd say that, I don't know what I was expecting." Gine turned away from him and stared off into the dark night sky.

Bardock sat back down close to the fire, staring into it. Good, at least she was done talking about her feelings for one night. But, he couldn't help but reflect on her words. Why does he act the way he does for Gine? This was completely un-saiyan like. Why did he decide to move in with her? Why did he decide to always look out for specifically her in battle? No one else seemed to care. It could only mean that…

No, he wasn't like that. He was a warrior, he didn't care about mating or love. That's not what a Saiyan cares about. He tried to erase the thoughts from his mind and focus on what was important.

They had a planet to conquer, and they were separated from everyone else. He had to focus on the coming battles, or else they'd die here.

What was the plan? What would happen tomorrow? Should he keep trying to find his team, or should he perhaps just get on with the mission and find them after he was done purging the planet? These questions weighed heavily on him now, but he just couldn't gather the focus to think them through. He was too distracted. Bardock cursed, it was all Gine's fault he couldn't get his head straight.

"Bardock, I can't do this anymore. I can't continue being a fighter." She spoke suddenly,

Bardock growled, "Enough Gine I don't feel like arguing with you right now,"

"Bardock please listen, do you care about me?" she asked earnestly

He was silent, only staring into the fire that brimmed between them.

"Do you?" she asked again, her voice was somber as she stared directly at him. Bardock was avoiding looking at her at all costs.

"I'm going to die, you know that, right?"

He knew. It was inevitable. She wasn't cut out for any of this. Her heart was too soft anf her skills were too blunt. Not only that, Bardock noticed that she had an awfully tough time adapting as a fighter. She could not improve no matter how much experience she got. And while the others seemed oblivious too it, Bardock knew that Gine showed some sort of disgust when on purging missions. He could tell she didn't like the killing, or the fighting. Traits unfit for a Saiyan warrior. The hard truth was starting to lay it self-bare. Gine shouldn't be on this team anymore.

"I know," he replied.

"After this mission, if we even survive, I'm done. Okay?"

"Yeah, you're done."

She breathed out a sigh of relief, "Good, I'm glad we're finally seeing eye to eye on this one. Now it's just a matter of convincing Commander Asshole to let me go," she joked.

Bardock chuckled a bit, it amused him that even she would talk about her uncle like that.

They sat silently, this time in a little more comfortable silence. There was still some tension between them, but that was something to be resolved another time.

They both sat back laying down and staring up at the stars shining bright in the sky. Sleep was starting to take him, and his eyes felt like they weighed thousands of tons. He was drifting off until the wind picked up just a bit, making Bardock shiver. The fire was starting to die down, and the warmth it spread was escaping.

He felt strange, like something was just…off. The sudden tiredness he was feeling was wearing off fast. Something was very wrong. He became restless, unable to lay still. He rose to a sitting position, and that's when he felt it. An awful sensation that tore at him, Bardock…. really had to pee.

He hurried away to a tree some distance away, making sure Gine couldn't see him as he relieved himself. He finished a short while later and returned to the camp. Gine was fast asleep, softly snoring away. Bardock crouched down and idly stoked the fire, noting the chill earlier had died down, and he now felt the warmth of the fire envelope him once more. He was completely relaxed, or as relaxed as one could be on a purging mission. He laid back down and sleep started to take him once more.

Gine's scouter beeped.

Bardock shot up and looked around. Searching for any signs of an incoming ambush. Her scouter seemed to beep for a long time, like it was processing a very large number, or many numbers.

That wasn't good.

"Gine, what does the scouter read," he said while keeping his eyes on the tree line.

She didn't respond. "Gine," he called out again and received once more no response. He turned his head towards her and the first thing he noticed was her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets as she stared at the numbers on the scouter's screen. It wasn't fear that showed on her face, but utter terror. Bardock's heart was starting to race now.

"What does the power level say," he asked with much haste. She kept quiet, horrified at whatever number was on that screen.

"GINE!"

"Th..T..Thir," she stammered, unable to form any words.

"What is it!?"

"Thirteen thousand!" she finally breathed out.

Bardock froze. That was way too high!

"There's more, m-many more," she stuttered.

Bardock's eyes were wide and his teeth clenched. His fists were clamped so hard he felt his nails piercing into his skin.

The fire that brimmed between them suddenly blew out, startling the two Saiyan warriors as their eyes darted all around them. A new light source came from behind and they swiveled their heads back to the tree line to see a dreadful sight. Thousands of short and stumpy figures, carrying torches and marching out from the foliage. But that wasn't what made Bardock's hairs stand on end, it was who appeared to lead them. At the center of their column walked a tall being, cloaked in gray robes and had some type of wide based, conical hat atop their head. Their walk aided by a long, black, metal staff.

"T-that's h-him, the one with the high power level." Gine said pointing at the robed figure. As they approached the two Saiyan's readied themselves, Bardock pushed a shaking Gine behind him.

"Stay close to me, I'll distract them for a bit then you run as fast as you can, take your pod with you." He commanded.

"I'm not leaving you-" she started to protest before Bardock cut her off.

"I'll find my own way out, just do what I say! I don't plan on dying here," That seemed to reassure her, and the two of them watched with dread as the army marched towards them.

The tall being rose his fist up and the advancing force halted several yards away from the Saiyans. The robed one standing strong at the head of the column. Bardock was able to get a closer look at him now, noticing a large grey beard that reached his chest and long flowing white hair that waved gently in the wind. His skin was a tanned colour, and Bardock could tell that even under those robes there was tightly packed muscle. Clearly the staff he carried was not for helping him move.

A robed warrior with a staff, among people that weren't his own. Bardock remembered meeting someone just like that. Back on Planet Dirb, that Trout guy seemed to be in a very similar position. Bardock wondered if there was some sort of connection between these two.

They stared each other down. The Saiyans gaze fixed on the robed man and black irises scowled back at them.

Unexpectedly, the robed man's features softened, and a smile broke out on his face.

"Hello there!" called out a booming voice. The saiyans were silent, staring down their opponents and searching for any sudden attacks. The robed warrior stroked his long beard as he carefully watched the two saiyans.

"Hmm, not very talkative I see." The robed man paused and continued to stroke his beard in a thoughtful manner while he observed the saiyans. "I suppose that's for the better, I can get this moving along easier."

He stepped forward and raised his hands, gesturing towards the army behind him.

"My friends here say that you and your troop have invaded this peaceful world to murder, plunder, and pillage. Is there any truth to this?" he questioned. Bardock found it strange that he was even asking them this. Of course that's what their doing, did he not know who Frieza was?

"What does it look like we're doing, dumbass!?" he snarked. The robed man simply laughed at his response, making Bardock growl in anger. Why wasn't he taking him seriously? Bardock clenched his fists, ready to spring into action at any moment. Gine's hand were strung around his shoulder, trying to make sure he stayed put, "Bardock, don't," she whispered.

"Oh my, you are a bold one!" the robed man laughed. "I know you can tell with that little device of yours just how truly outmatched you are. So please, show some more respect."

Bardock growled deeply, "Respect huh? Well I'll show you some respect!" he said and mustered up as much ki as he could, then fired it at the old man. The man smirked. Raising one hand, he casually flicked the blast away with his finger. It soared and exploded in the trees nearby creating a large explosion.

"Now now, don't be hasty. If you want to fight we will, just stay a while and listen to what I have to say first."

"I don't care about anything you gotta' say," Bardock replied while cracking his knuckles. "Now, I've got a planet to conquer, and if you don't get outta my way now I'll-"

"You should care about what I have to say, it might just save you life," He suddenly interrupted. Bardock's eyes narrowed. He was starting to lose his patience with this arrogant old man. He was ready to get this fight started, he didn't care that his opponents power level was many times his own, or that he had an army of thousands behind him, he'd take them all out. It wasn't the first time he'd fought when the odds were stacked against him and won, and it wouldn't be the last.

"I think I'll pass," Bardock said. He was about to leap at him when Gine grabbed ahold of his arm, tugging him back.

"Bardock, please just listen for a moment," she pleaded. He tried to pry his arm free but somehow Gine had mustered up an iron grip, and he couldn't get her off him without using a ton of force, something he wasn't willing to do now for some reason. He looked at her and saw how desperate her expression was. He didn't know why, but just from looking at just how pleading her face was that he should maybe listen to her for once.

"Fine, say what you gotta' say," Gine's face softened and relief washed over her. He looked back at the old man, "But once you're done talkin' you're all dead, got that?" His threat seemed to have no effect and the old warrior had a beaming smile on his face that bothered Bardock to no end.

"Ah, I may be old, but I recognize love when I see it! Quite the powerful thing," The two saiyans looked at him wide eyed and their cheeks flushed a bright pink. Gine simply laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head. Bardock snarled.

"Get to talking old man!"

"Hahaha, alright, alright," his features hardened, and the soft smile was replaced with a frown.

"I do not wish to fight you, but I will to defend these people. Whatever number you had on your scouter, just know that my true power is many times greater than that," Bardock looked at him with much doubt, there's no way he could fake his battle power, then again, he did know of some of frieza's men that could transform to increase their power. "If you try to fight me, you will lose, that is certain. So, I am going to offer you a way out. Surrender now and I'll let you both leave the planet un-harmed."

Bardock scoffed, "That's it? You really think I'm just gonna abandon my mission and my team like this?"

"A keen sense of loyalty, a good trait for a warrior. But you must be wise as well, and it is not wise to fight me. Go home in peace and live to fight another day."

Bardock spit on the ground beside him, "Gonna have to decline, Jackass."

There was a solemn look on the man's face. He seemed almost sad at Bardock's response. "So be it," he said, the melancholy clear in his voice. Bardock flared his ki and launched forward at the man, the soldiers around him scattered far away to avoid the conflict. Bardock's fist shot forward only to strike air and he sailed past the old man. Bardock stumbled on his feet, not expecting to miss like that. He turned around and tried again. He rushed him but the old man just seemed to vanish as soon as Bardock tried to attack. Looking back he saw that he was still in the same place. Appearing to not have moved at all.

'What the hell is up with this guy? I didn't even see him move!' Bardock wasn't about to give up though, he threw himself at the elderly warrior once more. He kicked, and he punched, but without any effect as the old man simply dodged each strike. Finally, Bardock's fist connected with the man's cheek and a small shockwave ripped through the air, but the aged warrior didn't budge. He looked straight ahead, not at Bardock but past him, with emotionless eyes.

Bardock was stunned. What kind of being was he dealing with? His thoughts halted though, when he felt an immense pain as a fist slammed into his abdomen. There was a sickening crack and Bardock felt his ribs shatter. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he dropped to his knees, having lost any energy to fight back. His breath escaped him and his vision started to blur until finally, everything went black for the second time that night. He fell flat on his face, unconscious.

"Bardock!" Gine cried out in anguish as she sprinted to the fallen Saiyan. She reached him and quickly flipped him over. A concerned look washed over her as she noticed the dark area of blood pooling under his skin, covering much of his abdomen. Though, she could still feel a pulse at least, a sense of relief coming over her. She glared up at the elderly man, who had been silently staring down at them.

"You monster!" she shrieked.

"Me? Why do you accuse me of this? Is it because I want to save lives and not destroy them? Your kind came here to murder everyone in cold blood just to appease your lust for battle, yet you call me the monster." His eyes were cold as he chastised her. "Besides, he wished this upon himself, I warned him not to fight me. Now I can at least talk to more sensible minds,"

Gine shot up to her feet, "I'm not talking with you!" she snarled.

"Then what? Are you going to fight me? If your superior ended up in his position, what makes you think that you could possibly have any chance?"

She was silent as he considered his words. He was right, she wasn't going to do anything besides glare angrily. Besides, judging by how she couldn't get her legs to stop shaking, she was far too scared to even try anything.

He gave her a warm smile, "Now now, my dear. There's no need to be frightened. I'm not going to hurt you, and neither will they," he reassured and pointed ahead. Gine was suddenly once again conscious of the literal thousands of short and stumpy aliens that watched her. She felt rather awkward really. But, she did feel a little more reassured from the old man's words, she could tell he was being genuine.

"My friends told me that you wouldn't even come out from your ship, so they left you alone. Not very appropriate for a Saiyan warrior to be hiding away during battle, I might add," he said while laughing. There were many chuckles from the audience. Gine felt her face heat up as she turned red from embarrassment. She really hated being ridiculed.

"Now, your comrade declined but the offer still stands for you. Surrender and you can go free along with the others,"

"Others?" she repeated, "Does th-that mean…the rest of my team-?"

"Alive, albeit in the same position as your friend,"

Gine was beyond relieved. Everyone was alive, and they could leave without losing anyone. A smile broke out on her face, but it quickly faded she was hit with a sudden realization. She had to make the decision to go or stay. If she left, everyone would shun her for fleeing battle, and making them flee as well. Her team would be ridiculed from the Saiyan authorities and there would be no chance of them ever reaching the elites. Everyone, especially Bardock, would hate her, they might even try to kill her.

On the other hand, if she stayed she knew everyone, including herself, would be executed. But perhaps that was more fitting for a Saiyan warrior. She knew that would be the preferred option for her team, but not for her. Gine stared at the ground as more depressing thoughts came to her mind.

The old warrior looked at her with keen interest, "Well? What is your decision?"

"I - I can't," she said in a small voice.

"My dear, reflect on what you're saying. I'm going to give you another chance, please make the right decision." His tone was somber as he stared expectantly at the timid Saiyan.

"I-I am a proud Saiyan," her voice was shaky as she said each word. "I will not run from battle, a-and I will die here as a true Saiyan warrior would."

The old warrior stared at her for a bit, no evidence of any emotion showed on his face. He then threw his head back and a hearty laugh erupted from his mouth.

"Now that's the mindset of a true Saiyan warrior if ever I've heard one! I respect that, but I know you don't believe any of what you're saying." A warm smile re-appeared on his face.

He motioned to the army, "Get some sleep lads! The battle is over!" It was as if a curtain of tension was lifted off the crowd and they erupted in a great cheer, pumping their fists in the air. Gine looked at the cheering aliens awkwardly, she kind of felt happy for them, but at the same time it felt strange that they were celebrating because she was leaving.

The bearded man tapped her shoulder, "Grab your comrade and follow me," he beckoned. He then flew off into the night sky. Gine hoisted Bardock over her shoulders and followed him. Noting another was trailing behind with her pod.

They touched down sometime later in a field surrounded by mountains. It seemed to be some sort of camp, Gine noted the tents scattered about and… spaceships? That was weird, she thought these guys weren't a space faring race.

"Welcome to the base camp! Here is where we coordinate all of our attacks on this colony." The old man bellowed

"Colony?" Gine questioned.

"Indeed, you didn't think this was their home world, did you? There's no signs of civilization anywhere!"

Gine raised an eyebrow, it was weird that there were no cities, but she had thought that maybe they all just lived underground. "What? Then what is this then?"

"A fortress world, or more-so an elaborate trap for the Frieza's soldiers." Gine would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed. This was well put together. Everything from scouter jamming to blowing up the moon showed intricate planning that Gine just had to respect.

They walked through the camp until they reached five white orbs that Gine recognized to be space pods, and inside were her squad members, all appeared to be peacefully asleep, but their bruised and bloodied faces showed otherwise. Gine's eyes narrowed, 'What did you do to them!?"

"Don't fret my dear, I simply put them in emergency stasis in their pods. They are all still alive." He answered. Gine accepted his word with contempt. The alien that had had followed placed her pod next to the others and opened it up. She placed Bardock inside and set the coordinates for Planet Vegeta, doing the same for the others.

Gine stood beside an empty extra pod, she looked back at the now smiling old man and he waved goodbye. "I guess I should thank you," she said, "But, why? You know they are just going to continue killing innocent lives? So why spare them?"

"'They', but not you?" the man smiled. Gine shot him a puzzled look.

"I hope that my actions here today would have an impression on you and your team, perhaps they might change their ways and realize the evils that they are doing."

Gine stared back at him as she processed his words.

Evil. That word seemed almost foreign to her. Was what they were doing 'Evil'? They were just trying to survive in this universe just like anybody else, and it was better to be hunter rather than the hunted. Gine had always felt wrong whenever she was on her missions, to see all these people die horrid deaths thanks to them. But she never thought they were 'evil'. Now that she thought of it, that word never had any meaning to her. She never cared about what was good or bad, she'd suppressed those feelings so that she could be the good Saiyan warrior everyone expected her to be. But they weren't gone completely.

No, it was kill or be killed, nothing else mattered. Why should she be feeling remorse just because these other races couldn't defend themselves? It's not her problem. On the other hand, she would be defenseless herself if Bardock wasn't around, so maybe she can relate. But that was just the way the universe worked, her captain told her many times of this hard truth.

"You're wrong, what we do is not 'evil'. We do it to survive. The strong live and the weak die, that's the way this universe works." she said.

His eyes showed great sorrow as he stared at her, "I'm sorry that you have this perception of the universe. It truly saddens me to see the gentlest of souls so corrupted by them." He looked off into the distance with a pained expression on his face. He looked back at her and gave her a sad smile, "Go now my dear, back to your home, I pray that you consider my words, and change for the better," He waved again

Gine nodded, not returning his wave, she wasn't about to become friends with these guys just because he showed a little mercy, he was still her enemy as far as she was concerned.

"This isn't it you know, Frieza will send stronger men," she called out one last time.

"I do hope he does! A comet is projected to hit this world soon, so we will be long gone by then."

Gine got into her pod and closed the hatch. Her pod lifted into the air and blasted out of the world's atmosphere, back to Planet Vegeta. Stasis gas filled her pod and she fell into a deep sleep.