Bulma sat upright on the computer chair in her lab, eyes closed, gently exhaling while keeping her arms crossed over her chest. The strain of keeping everyone united in a common cause was taking a heavy toll, her head constantly pulsed with a dull and relentless ache, Saiyans loved to fight she only wished they'd keep that love in a tournament formart. Despite their success in recent battles with Piccolo and that Menace Raditz, the morale in their group was low, and things were tense between everyone. There hadn't been someone like Raditz to ever come along, even if there had been another Piccolo, it had too long, far too long, and reports kept filtering in of King Furry's victories on distant islands.
Even with her known ability to manipulate and influence the minds of the others when she needed to, it was becoming more and more difficult to keep them focused on their battle against the three Saiyans.
He knew there was one sure way to end the battle, and end it quickly.
The energy bombs. When they collectively gathered all of their ki to a single point like the Kamehameha wave or the Dodon Ray, the Tri Bean, even Yamcha's Spirit Ball followed the same principle. She had spent many nights wondering now if they dared to use it. If they lured the Saiyans in and unleashed those right away on a combined effort, its blast would completely obliterate their enemies to a complete crisp.
But, would the combined will of those three Saiyans be strong enough to survive such power?
Would they get swept up in the backlash of the explosion?
She wanted to dismissed it as too dangerous, a weapon so terrible that even Goku and May, Nia, and Krillin, all adherents of the Martial Arts, were afraid to use it.
Yet each time she considered it for a few moments longer. She was pragmatic and a scientist first, a Martial Artist second.
If we have to use it then we will. I hope those three Saiyans aren't like that one...
Bulma slowly opened her eyes, recalling the pang she could hear in Goku's voice. Always so honorable. She was thankful Nia and May were both locked in like she was. Before she could consider it further a sound outside the room caused her to shift her eyes just a little and sit up sharply. A second later Dr Briefs, now seen by many as the leading scientist because of capsule technology, poked his head in.
"The King is ready for you, Bulma."
She nodded and rose to her feet, taking a second to calm and compose herself. If she showed any weakness, the King may try to use that against her. She couldn't let that happen. Not now, when they were so close to ultimate victory. They were so close to getting hyperspace and sublight engines started. That was why she had requested to be summoned by King Furry and the Captain Of The Guard. It was a gathering to strengthen their resolve and assure their continued loyalty. A meeting to discuss how they were going to use the Saiyans, and if need be, Bulma would tell them everything. Her father led the way through the camp, and she followed him to the large room where the King and his Guard were waiting for her on the huge viewing screen.
She entered with conviction and purpose, projecting an aura of confidence and authority. As was customary whenever he entered a room, those in the assemblage rose to their feet as a sign of respect. There was one however who remained seated, arms folded across his thick chest.
"My King." Bulma bowed her head in respect.
"What about you Dr. Briefs." The Captain Of The Guard asked.
"His capsules are revolutionary." King Furry said.
"I understand. We are all equals now." The Captain said, speaking more to Furry than to her. King Furry knew he had to tread carefully. This was not the first time the Briefs had shown their ambition, and many of the other humans took cues from them. Unfortunately, they were also one of the most difficult to influence and control. "Equals. Quite right, we've been through wars together with King Piccolo." He said with a weary smile. "Let us relax and remain seated. All of you. We have no need of these pointless formalities."
The rest of the group did as he bade and found their seats once more, though it was clear everyone still felt the tension. Bulma let a wave of soothing reassurance ripple out across the room as she crossed over to the strategy table. The Captain Of The Guard made his way over to his own strategy table surrounded by others and his subordinates. "The war against the last resisters is almost won." He declared. "They are on the verge of collapse. They have retreated into the forests on the distant archipelagos, but they are running out of places to hide now."
Dr Briefs hummed shortly. "Perhaps you could get them to surrender."
It took tremendous effort to maintain his composure, but the Captain managed to reply in a calm, even voice. "Anyone who has doubts about our strategy here is free to speak."
He offered the statement more for his King than those gathered.
"It's not just that I'm worried about," Bulma replied, stopping herself from rising to her feet. "We've got to evacuate the Eastern Capital to the Southern Capital."
"Most of our early victories came before those rabble could get to areas like that. The point of attacking these areas in the first place was to draw us out. We wanted to force them into a battle of our choosing. Now we can ease them into a surrender. And with this threat gone, we can easily reclaim what little will be lost by a threat that precedes this one, and many more besides this one."
Though King Furry and Bulma were silent, there were murmurs of agreement, fear, skepticism, and anticipation from everyone else gathered.
The Captain pressed his point even farther. "Once this threat wipes out the enemy here on Earth, their armies will sweep across the galaxy virtually unopposed. Conquering territory in every sector, They will encircle and snap everything like a noose, drawing ever tighter until they choke the very life out of the galaxy itself!"
There was a roar of approval from the crowd. Dr Briefs nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes. He seen the footage of the fight with Raditz. Three more Saiyan even more powerful and bloodthirsty than him were coming. He already shared that with the King. When Bulma spoke again, even she seemed to have lost some of her hostility. "Victory here for them won't happen. We will have these Saiyans surrounded and pinned down, but they hail from a fleet with hundreds of thousands of reinforcements lurking on the edges of this system."
"Their reinforcements are on the edge of the system." Dr Briefs admitted with a nod, not bothering to deny what every single one of them knew to be fact. "That's exactly where they will stay..."
"The bulk of our fleet is in orbit around around earth itself, and the we lack the numbers or the firepower to break through these Saiyans. If we can't unite our numbers with those here on earth, the rest of us will fall. That'll be you guys first until we get the training necessary to deal with these threats. Once we have finished them off we can mop up the tattered remnants of that war fleet at our leisure."
Bulma nodded. "Then let's finish this off quickly. We need to start the evacuation. Raditz landed close to the Eastern Capital. You can bet your zeni these three Saiyans will obliterate that city. We have to keep the casualties as close to none as we can get it."
"That's exactly the point of this strategy conference." King Furry said with a smile, knowing he had once again averted a potential ambition from going too far out of his reach.
"We may have lost a few skirmishes here and there on earth, but we are about to win the war thanks to you guys!"
One of his subordinates stepped up and handed him a holographic map with the latest data from their reconnaissance drones. He gave her a nod of thanks and unfurled it on the table, then bent down for a closer look. "Our spies indicate Raditz's ship is located here. It's about 400 miles from the Eastern Capital. It's all farmland and desert in that direction." He said, jabbing a finger at a heavily wooded section of the map.
"If you're certain that Saiyan menace is wiped out. We can begin to search for that ship. You could assist us as well." King Furry said, looking somewhat hopeful that she'd say yes.
Bulma hesitated for only a second before answering. The King rarely let anyone else use his personal transceiver to communicate, but on some occasions it did happen. With the security encryption on the equipment, it was virtually impossible for anyone else to tap into the frequency. The message had to be coming from the King's Place, which meant she really was speaking to him.
"Now I'm really getting results," Bulma whispered to herself, thinking about the first hyper drive being made. She moved to where she could be seen by the King completely, getting up from her seated position. Cloaked in his ceremonial robes, the King sat on his throne, a huge throne chair on a raised dais fronted by a low, flat-surfaced divider was the only thing she could see. He was surrounded by guards, all of them cloaked in crimson. His gaze was steady and direct as it took in the her countenance.
"I am relieved that we are somewhat on the same page. As long as you're able to wipe out these threats, we'll be able to use their ships for sublight and hyperdrive technology." The King started.
"You must not try to engage these threats." Bulma said flatly, cutting him short. "Your war ended before it began against them."
The King fought down his shock, regained his composure, and smirked easily. "They're that terribly strong..."
"We can increase our strength here greatly to repel such threats. It'll take using their technology to do it, but I may be able to make a force field." Bulma continued, ignoring him.
"I take it you know the outcome already, then." The King felt a measure of uncertainty take hold. "I wonder why they wanted to fight so badly."
"They are courageous."
"Against these Saiyans..."
Bulma leaned forward slightly, and he could see the fire in her blue eyes. "I have had enough of pretense, King Furry. I am aware that you have been commanded to reach a settlement with me and my father. What is it to be?"
King Furry felt a deep hole open in his waning confidence. "You must be mistaken. Besides the spaceship of that Menace and the evacuation. We don't have much to discuss now. You've made it clear we'd only perish fighting...For now anyways."
Bulma kept her flicker of surprise disguised as a steady smirk as she observed the King carefully. "Sounds perfect.."