Chapter 4.
Landing.

Finding a star system outside of Freeza space with a suitable planet was hard.
After so long of feeling helpless, Garagus had a digital chart of the three planets in the next local habitation zone of a star system. Warm enough for drinkable water, but the acidic elements in the atmosphere were too high for two of them, and the one furthest from the sun would have very cold summers and freezing winters.

"It'll do." He set a course for the world. It would take forty minutes while coasting to arrive. To go faster was an option, but he wanted enough time to shower and eat something if he could.

In the Galley, he was shocked to find Rhuba sitting at a table. He just assumed she was under the bunched up quilt on the bed, but she seemed completely unaware that the cooking pot was hissing away on the stove behind her.
Garagus rushed over, pulled out the crispy protein ball and sat it on the counter to cool while he refilled the pot with water.

The scary, hallow scream of the hot metal reacting to water shook Rhuba from her daze.
"Garagus." She looked at the ball on the table. It's meant to be white and doughy, but her's was charred black on the bottom, and fading to bronze at the middle. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Garagus plopped another two capsules in the water before taking the burnt one to the table. He was able to tear off small chunks that crunched in his mouth, but he could eat it for now.
The softer centre though, he scooped out and offered to Rhuba.

"thank you." She took small bites. After all this time, she was so hungry that it was painful to eat. Her arm, leg and torso muscles were still showing, but her face showed skeletal features. And the way she sat and moved was so frail. "how long since…?"

"Seventeen days. And in that time you've drunk maybe, four cups of water." Garagus told her as he broke another flake off. "When is it going to stop?"

Rhuba was without words. She felt herself she was acting shamefully. Leaving Garagus to run the ship on his own while she lay in bed all this time.
"Is Granate really gone?"

Garagus nodded, reiterating her words that it's just them now. "We're going to get through this. We just need to get our heads down, and figure this out."

"I don't, want to…" Apathy had consumed Rhuba all this time. The crippling hunger that got her out of bed did little to change her attitude towards their situation in general though. With the loss of their planet, what else is there?
"come back to bed with me."

"I'll sleep when we land, Rhuba."

"and then what?" She asked as he rose from the table. "we land… then what?"

Garagus didn't know how to answer. He didn't really understand the question. Surviving together has always been the goal. Be it evading his father, staying out of the Saiyan war, even joining the crew was a means to keeping her safe.
"What's changed, Rhuba?" He asked while checking how the pot was doing.

"Everything's changed!" Rhuba insisted as she stood up behind him. "Our Planet's gone. My mother, Your troop. I wish we'd just died too, at least then we wouldn't be-"
She found her self held against the wall with Garagus's arm pinning her in place across the chest. In her healthy state, she could have shoved him away, but this was hurting her, not that she'd dare show it.

"Do Not say that!" There's no amount of their people he'd trade Rhuba for. Hearing her envy the dead was an insult to those that did die. She's alive. Many weren't so lucky, so it's time she got over it and be grateful.
"Fortune favoured us, and kept us from home. If you give in, you let that bastard win! I won't have that, Rhuba!"

Rhuba's resolve let up at that moment. She slid down the wall and sobbed into her knees. "I'm sorry" She cried. "I just, don't think I can do this."

"…Rh…" Garagus was about to demand that she accept it and move on. Like it or not, she's going to survive and he'll make sure of it. For the sake of the Saiyan race, they must push on. But the ship's autopilot called out to give them the ten-minute warning.
His trembling hand was hovering over the weeping woman. "Are you going to help me land the ship?"

She didn't say anything. Didn't even shake or nod her head.

"Then just… eat something and go back to the room." Landing solo is possible. He'd seen their old captain do it. But this will be sink or swim. He took the burnt protein ball away with him. The crunchy texture didn't do much to dull what little taste there was to begin with, although its black parts were beyond salvage.
All the same, Garagus took a big bite off the top before setting the rest down on the copilot seat.

Scanners showed an oxygen-rich environment and according to the scouter, life already exists on the planet with a laughable average power level of Nine, which put a smile on Garagus's face.
It's not his intention to cause issues for the natives but on the off chance of things turning hostile, it's comforting to know that he could piss harder than they collectively can punch if it came to a fight.

The transition from space to world felt like smooth sailing followed up with going over a waterfall, but he was able to level the ship and slow its descent and the dampeners were doing their job too.
The ship touched down nice and smooth without the need for much calibration. Garagus presumed that the planet's softer gravity was probably a deciding factor in the native's low power level.
If anyone local had the chance to visit Vegeta, they'd have been crushed the moment they stepped outside the artificial G-fields of their vessel.

Garagus set the ship to save power. Lights, heating, and drinking water will be turned off after some scouting on foot.
With a deep breath, he stepped out the airlock and tasted the air. He knew it was breathable because the scanners said so, but the chemical composition means little to him.
If it was in the red, he'd be more cautious. But it was in the clear, so he wanted to fill his lungs and decide for himself if either of them should waste their time leaving the ship or not.

The air was cool, clean, fresh from the wild trees. Not like the recycled stuff on the ship. But the air carried snow and frost with it. A radical change from that desert of the last world he scouted.

"Wonderful." He said to himself. As the night breeze picked up, Garagus let his inner energy lift him from the ground, and fly higher than the ship and nearby trees.
About a mile away, how found a mist coming from a valley. It was like a cloud rising from the ground.

He could feel a damp heat as he hovered inside, nothing like ones in the sky. Leaving the mist to inspect from the outside, he descended lower to the ground and with his eyes no longer fixed on the strange cloud, he could see what looked like the tops of houses.
Garagus hadn't planned to find any locals this early, so keeping out of sight felt like the best idea for now.

It was late at night so the place seemed empty and with his scouter telling him where every individual was as he got closer, paying very close attention to his surroundings as he investigated the source of the cloud and the intense heat on this frosty planet.

The houses were built off the ground. Wooden posts and beams keeping them supported, as well as walkways that connected doors. Garagus suspected that maybe it's to keep animals out. But surly any animal worth fearing would be able to climb up the five or six feet distance anyway.
Besides, in the outer parts of town were clear stairways into the platforms anyway.
So who's it keeping out?

In any case. Keeping his feet on the ground meant he was out of view of the windows of the houses and the scouter didn't detect any animals on his level. Even the mist was clearer to see through down this low, so it all worked in his favour, for now at least.
The ground nearer the centre of the town becoming more firm. There was a stony, gravely terrain anyway but the further in he went the more it became solid.
But he also heard bubbling. Water filters sometimes have noises like that. Some trickling. But everything here is made of wood, would they have machines like that?

"Hmm?" His boot splashed in some shallow water. Thankfully, no one heard him, but he traded carefully just to make sure. Flying would be silent, but would also make him more noticeable and take him out of this less intense part of the fog.
But a few more steps in, Garagus jumped as high as he could out from the water and landed hard on the wooden planks.

In a frantic panic, he pulled is soaking boots off to save his feet from the burning water that has begun to fill the inside. His escape from the harsh surface into the walkways didn't go unnoticed, however.

In a house next to where he landed, the clatter woke the woman inside. Rising from bed, she grabbed a long wooden pole and ran outside.
The white mist was thick tonight, but she could see out thirty or so meters. More than enough to see what was going on.
On the walkways, she could see damp patches. The water doesn't rise this high, so someone was in the spring.

It's common for young folk to try and play in the hot water despite the warnings not to at night, but looking over the railing, she couldn't see anyone else down there. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd had to hoist some idiot form the spring, but whoever it was must have climbed out on their own.
After a sigh to herself over getting out of bed for nothing, she dropped her guard and began walking back to her hut.

But as she turned back, she saw in the shadow. Someone was sitting in the dark.
"Were you down there?" The woman asked as she stepped forward. "Did you get hurt?" She could see the person wasn't some daft kid, but he wasn't looking to be much of a threat either.

Although, the whites of the stranger's eyes were visible, and he looked focused on her.
"What… what's your name?" Seeing him stand up and start to come closer was enough to spook her. "That's close enough, who are you? Where do you come from…?" The pole was pointed like a weapon. Its only real use is for pulling people from the surface onto the walkway, but it will hurt if you swing hard enough. "I don't want to hurt you stranger, so tell me what you want."

"Yagon."

"… pardon?" She asked.

"My name is Yagon. And I come from the stars. I want to live Peacefully on your world. Do you think this is possible?"

The woman got angry. "Are you making fun of me? Speak sense!"

The man smirked and put his hands out to the sides.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

As Garagus gathered energy needed to fly, the surrounding mist began blowing away from him. He, of course, knew this would happen. In extreme cases, even small rocks will scatter before he took off.
The woman standing next to him was being blown back too, but she'd never guess it was him causing the stir of wind.

"I'll be back tomorrow, be sure to warn people of my arrival. I'd rather no one panicked."

"You're not going anywhere- Huh!?" The woman was left gobsmacked when he shot off, leaving a short-lived hole towards the sky before it closed over. "from the stars." She gasped.

Was she dreaming? Was this real?
She went back to bed but wasn't able to sleep. Tomorrow she'll need to get people ready for whatever that guy is. He said he wanted peace, but also said to warn everyone.
What the hell was she meant to tell everyone to convince them that she saw a flying man when she herself wasn't all that convinced.