Two fingers covered by a black leather glides across a wooden table. The fingers moved up to the face of the thin nosed owner of those fingers. He is a beady eyed man with a pale face. His grey uniform is pristine as are his leather boots. He is a jack boot of a man. The uniform is him with him merely being a thug.

He sits with his officers behind him. His commando's and stormtroopers at the door and around him. Gently his wipes the dust off his glove as he pays no mind to the man in front of him.

The man in front of him is a Cather man. To a human he looks very much like a cat in certain ways. He does not have fur, but he has whiskers. His face is elongated and his nose wet. His corneas instead of black circles are thin lines.

This man is rather round and short. His balding head is tinged with grey. His hat is in his hands. He is dressed plainly in a drab brown color. The bright light from the windows behind the imperial seem to bug him but he is still.

The imperial vice admiral having removed the dust sighs "Your cleaning staff must not have been very into their work. I can't imagine why… could you?"

He grasped tighter onto his hat as he attempted to make words happen but could not. Nothing he could think of would appease him. "I…I know…Well you see."

The man smashed his fist onto the table and the Cather man practically jump in place. To that the imperial chuckled at him.

"It's good to see you know how to be fearful 'creature'. You are such a coward. To think your soldiers fought and died for you is such a shame."

He blurted out quick "They fought for our people." The moment the words came out of his mouth he trembled. He had just contradicted him he realized.

The smile did not leave the vice admiral's face. "Is that all the fight in you? Pathetic… No, the last of your men died protecting you. And look at you now collaborating with us. The spike on your manhood must very small on you indeed. You have spikes down their I heard right?" He paused for a second but before he respond. "Never mind… my point is that your servants the people who are supposed to be here weren't too keen on working very hard for you."

"I understand this. My people didn't enslave them though."

"Are you trying to say this is much different? You wall them up in ghettos and pay them so little that they might as well have given them nothing. They starve and you feast. You live in their world and in their former homes."

"I admit this my lord. We have been doing more for the Telogan people in recent years…"

The imperial hissed "Silence!" He shut up damn quick. "The Emperor and the Politburo of the Ribbon party has made their decision on this planet and many others very clear. I am now temporary supreme governor of this planet. My orders are to make this planet ready for the return of native rule. Native of course meaning the people that came before you. Newly freed slaves of the Telogan will be arriving from various worlds shorty. You are to have all your people remove themselves from their stolen property and move to camps that your people shall build. They are free to take anything that my men don't deem valuable to the war."

"So, anything they want from us?"

"Exactly. Your people will then be digging ditches and making this planet ready for the Telogan return so that they can have all of it. After that phase is done, you'll all be free to go."

"Free to go?"

"I thought you were a cat not a parrot. Yes, free to go. The newly formed Protectorate of the Empire the Republic of Haman wishes its birth to be with mercy. Your people will be loaded on ships and set free."

"To go…"

He snickered "Wherever you want."

"But we…how? What will we…?"

"I'll stop you right there. I don't care and whatever you have on your backs. Think of it like an adventure. You will be explorers. I am sure that good people of the galaxy will gladly take you in. I mean who does not like an entire race of people showing up begging for food and space during a massive war. I mean people just love refugees." He grinned at him for a time. "Now get out of my office. I've got a planet I need to strip of its worth before I go."

He waived his hand and the doors behind the Cather man swung opened. He put his hat on and left with his head hung low. Slowly he made his way through his former presidential palace.

This place was old. Made well before his ancestors had bought this planet from King Cold. It had survived generations of conflict. But it was now worn and decaying. Very little had been done since his people's arrival.

He made his way to the gate where his guards were waiting. The steel bars opened as the small group made its way onto the cracked streets.

The new normal here was apparent at a glance. The streets that had been overfilled with people were now sparse. No one was leaving their homes. All the cops were now Telogan. They wore ill-fitting uniforms and jewelry on from Cather people they had robbed. What once had been street thugs were now the law.

The vice admiral's men were about in the street were out of armor. They acted like tourists here on holiday. Taking pictures, getting drunk and crowding into the brothels despite MO oversight.

He got into a streetcar to take him to his temporary home. This old streetcar with a smell of urine to it was nearly full as he found a spot. He sat next to a large older Telogan knitting while humming to herself.

"Do you mind if I sit next to you grandma?"

"Not at all sugar please go ahead."

He collapsed quickly into the seat as his head fell onto his hands. He was too tired to cry too exhausted to scream and too broken too whine.

"Sweety you look like a man who might want to be run over."

"Sounds right… I really wouldn't mind it."

"Hey, didn't used to be president?"

"I still… kinda of am."

"You should really be doing something about all these hoodlums wearing uniforms. All they seem to do is steal from everyone. One stole my broch just yesterday."

"Not my call anymore."

"That's crazy. This has all been craziness. I tell you. All these kids have this violence in them. All they want to do now is take and hurt. They used to be good kids to. But now they are like animals. They've tasted blood and that is all they want now. It's like one of those drugs, they got a taste now and they want more."

"What you think is the remedy?"

"Rehab..."

He smiled "What kind?"

"More mothers telling their kids to not be violent. Maybe a lot less screaming more talking. Less waving around blasters more peace signs or something."

"It's nice to know that a grandma has more sense than the rest of us…"

He was stopped dead by the sound of a scream of a woman followed by another "Die Traitor! Die!"

He turned his head and looked as his guards rushed towards a young looking Cather boy with a blaster in his hand. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he watched that maybe twelve-year-old boy pull that trigger.

Elsewhere in Space

The imperial shuttle landed with a light thud on this little platform. Around this platform was a sprawling city that went as far as the purplish horizon on this planet. The star hung low in the sky as the ramp came down.

Coming from the building that the platform was connect to, was some uniformed aliens. They had thin bodies with large heads. They had short round noses and a pale yellowish skin. These aliens did not look much like fighters, but they had blasters.

Emerging from the ship was a familiar cowboy booted imperial. He was wearing a light blue suit with his hair slicked back while a cigarette occupied his mouth. A stony eyed glare was on his face as he looked to see who was waiting for him.

Behind came a crewcuted man with glasses. He wore a tie with a shirt but no jacket. In his hands was case that his fingers grasped tightly onto. He was a plain looking sort giving the impression of mundaneness that one could find in any office building.

"Neon… Should we go in?"

"No. We wait until they come to us."

Not a second later came a more sharply dressed alien with what could be described as a robe. He came over a bowed to Neon and grabbed hold of his hand to shake it. The alien was clearly unfamiliar with the concept.

"Now may I Keth welcome you Neon of the New Saiyan Empire to Muunnilinst. My boss you see is anxious to meet you." He let go of Neon hand and point towards the door. "Come right this way now."

The two followed the Keth and they were soon at the top of the building. They entered the massive room that was office of the head of the Banking Clan. There sitting alone behind his massive desk was him.

Unth head of the Banking Clan. He was sitting in his large chair. He looked different than most of those seen before. His skin was grey and lacking shine to it. He was clearly elderly by his people's standards.

The two humans took their seats as Unth signaled them to. There was a moment of silence as Unth and Neon sized each other up. Neon sniffed the air and changed his cigarette.

"It's a nice place you got here President Unth."

"It is, is it?" The raspy voice of the old man was like a scalpel. It was the voice of a kind of man that Neon knew from experience. It was the voice of a man that had already planned this conversation out in full before he even knew he was having it.

"It is. I like big stark room it reminds of how tiny we are."

"I would figure you'd hate that feeling based on what I know of your peoples dress. You seem to like sticking out."

"Maybe but the room keeps me on my toes. Its always good to remember that oblivion is a wrong step away."

"Like going to a place were someone could easily sell you to the highest bidder?"

"Or know what will happen if you aggravate a person that keeps a collection of his enemy's skulls?"

"True enough… Now enough small talk. You want me to hold the money."

"I have with my lord's wishes started a 'collective'. We have made lots of friends, who are now partners. We need a place to put all of this capital."

"Your master has a lot of space."

"But no financial recognition. We want to establish credit lines. It's a matter of numbers but we want to buy our own money."

"Do I give the impression of owning a 'laundry mat'?"

"No, you are thee 'laundry mat'. Most of the people I have come to represent have given you glowing reviews. Your thee man to deal with. I've not asked anyone else as of yet."

His long slender fingers stomped on his desk "It can't just be that."

"We've got gems, gold pressed latinum, art and weapons too. We have revolutionaries we need to fund and supply. We have paintings and sculptures that we need to legitimize. Now do we have a deal."

"My young friend do you think you'd be in this room if we didn't already have one?"

A Red-Letter Day

Sweat covered their faces as they watch the object. The figures were in scrubs with masks and plastic gloves on them.

Over the loudspeakers "Okay boys and girls its show time. 'Mother' is experiencing contractions. Ø is coming. One gave a gulp as they got in position.

This white sterile room felt maybe like a prison. They knew the numbers even in infancy this thing was capable of killing them with ease. Power armor had been dismissed it needed to see people from the moment it opened it eyes else wise it might react violently.

The 'mother' began to shake in place. The materials began to stretch beyond its limit.

One spoke "He's going to run of oxygen at this rate. Dr. Pink reach your hand in and pull it out."

Dr. Pink nodded and placed his hand into the opening of the 'mother'. Pink then began to scream in pain. "Oh, Kakarrot it's got me."

The other four quickly grabbed hold of Pink and began to pull on him. Suddenly this tug of war was over and the five collapsed onto the ground.

Dr. Blush look at Pink's hand. It was covered in the thick goo of the uterus. His wrist had been crushed nearly completely. It looked like a used tube of toothpaste. His hand was intact and most of his arm but his wrist was a thin a pencil.

The hole was now opened, and goo came pouring out of it. It was an unsettling thing. All this organic material coming from this plastic and metal contraption. It was not unlike a machine was giving birth.

Blush could see a bit of hair coming out. He signaled to another and they got up and reached in. In one quick motion the newborn was freed.

Blush examined it. It had stopped moving. It had all of what had been expected of it.

One of the men asked, "Why did it do that?"

Blush removed his masks as he took complete control of the infant. "Maybe it has to do with the fact it has no mother to be comfortable with. We're just strangers to it."

When he finished talking suddenly it began to stir. It gave him a kick that nearly made him stumble. He was sure that a few of his ribs had just been broken. He bit his tongue rather then cry out to the point he could taste pennies in his mouth.

He looked at the one-way mirror as a tail began to encircle his arm "Inform Dr. Platinum and Dr. Gero that Project Prometheus has met its first goal. The clone of 04 has been born. Its human elements from the donor ovum are not being expressed. The first nearly full saiyan has arrived. We'll now be focusing on phase two."

We'll now the times they are a-changin' aren't they.