A pair of streams of bubbles far more intense than what the Saiyan medical pods had been sending until that point moved upward, bubbles shuffling one with the other in perfect disarray. Goku's and Vegeta's eyes opened up at the same time as both of their pods drained of the medical fluid and opened up. Still groggy, the pair stumbled out and did their best to get back to their senses. It was a lot more difficult for Goku since his friends surrounded him like a murder of harpies pecking at his eyes.
"Goku, glad to see you back on your feet," Tenshinhan nodded and placed his hand on Goku's shoulder with a warm smile on his face.
"Yeah, not a moment too soon too. Yamcha could really use a medical pod, Gohan too," Chiaotzu nodded a pair of times with a bland look on his face as he floated to stay on eye level with both of his much taller friends.
"Yamcha's wounded, huh?" Goku's look turned more serious. Then, they widened as shock colored his face as if applied to it with a head-sized brush. "Did you say Gohan!? Is he okay!?"
"Yes," Tenshinhan nodded. "He's a lot like you when you were a child. Injuries that aren't an immediate threat to his life seem to only make him sleepy and hungry."
"Humph, it's a Saiyan instinct, three-eyes. When Saiyans recover from near-death experiences, their power level increases several times over, however, every battle hardens them up some. The more severe the injuries, the stronger the power-up. According to the legend, a Super Saiyan can even evolve in power all throughout a battle without limit. The boy's body is asking for food and rest to power him up. If you gave him some food and let him sleep up, he'd be better than ever in a few days. We Saiyans aren't weak, sensitive flowers like you Earthling lot!" Vegeta closed his fist in front of him with a satisfying, leathery crunch, looking grumpy that the clash against Goku had left his armor all wrecked.
"Either way, the medical pod is going to heal Gohan in a few hours. Why haven't you put him in yet?" Goku scratched his head.
"We couldn't find a functional pod. These things are dangerous when dysfunctional–a few Saiyans have drowned in them, the goop turned into some sort of seaweed and asphyxiated another. We couldn't find any trustworthy pods to put him in, so we figured we'd wait until one of you left yours," Tenshinhan pointed out.
"The medical pods are running on reserve power!" Vegeta continued to grumble as he walked around, observing the lines and columns of stacked medical pods. "At this point, it won't have enough juice to heal Kakarot's brat. We'll be lucky if they heal the Saiyans healing right now. What's the matter here, why are there so many Saiyans, and why most of them are women and the elderly?"
"Frieza landed on Planet Vegeta," Chiaotzu muttered while he extended his hands, manipulating Yamcha's and Gohan's bodies into the freed medical pods for as much care as they could provide before the reserve power went out. "He started executing all Saiyans. It's full out war out there!"
"War? More like genocide…" Tenshinhan clenched his fist and grit his teeth.
"What!? Frieza?" for the first time since waking up, Vegeta's face went pale, and he didn't show any wrath for at least a couple of seconds. It wasn't until a few seconds later that he compensated for all that with a twisted scowl that challenged the elasticity of the prince's face by pushing it to its very limits.
"I could sense something crazy going on. What about Krillin? I sensed he was in a tough fight. I almost considered forcing myself out of the pod to help him out," Goku wondered.
"Who cares about your stupid Earthling friends!?" Vegeta dragged his hands over his hair, observing the remains of his entire race that felt like they could fit inside of a Great Ape's hand when looking from a certain angle. "Frieza, that bastard! This is absolutely unforgivable!"
"Calm down, Vegeta. Krillin saved both of our lives twice today and he helped us get here, to begin with. What happened to him, Tenshinhan?" Goku turned to his friend with a calm look on his face.
"We put him in the last remaining, functional pod. Sorry, Goku, his life was in much more danger so we picked him over Gohan," Tenshinhan replied while pointing at a remote pod where Krillin had been recovering for less than an hour already.
"I see," Goku nodded.
"And what about you?" Vegeta turned to Chayote, who just idly sat on the sidelines and watched over the soothing bubbling of the medical tanks. "Aren't you capable of some sort of incredible transformation? Why haven't you slain Frieza yet, or at least died trying and saved a few of your Saiyan elite brethren in the process? You sicken me!"
This was the tick that made Chayote's eyebrow twitch. Fully aware of Chayote's guttural hatred for the Saiyan prince, the duo of Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu couldn't help themselves but slowly slide back with their feet. They wanted to step in and try to defuse the situation as any ensuing scuffle would have put the lives of the surviving Saiyans in danger, but Chayote's rising power instilled a primal sense of dread into both of them. It wasn't just her strength; it was the very source, how much it relied on pure wrath and hatred. A different type of rage than that which Chayote usually reveled in–a more passive and seething one.
"Vegeta, enough!" Goku raised his voice. "You can't understand what Chayote's going through, I don't think I can either. You haven't seen her Wrathful Form yourself. It's for the better if she doesn't want to rely on that power anymore."
"A Saiyan afraid of her own strength, pitiful!" Vegeta crossed his arms and looked away. It took every ounce of self-control that Chayote learned during the seven years of discovering herself all over the universe not to blast the cocky Saiyan prince away.
"Anyway, where's Frieza now, what has he been up to? We'll take care of him," Goku turned to Tenshinhan.
"The most powerful Ki signature on the planet must be his. He's been on the move, headed somewhere in this direction. We were a tad scared for a while that he may have figured out where we were, but he hasn't moved for some time now," Tenshinhan answered.
"Alright, Chayote, are you coming? I have to say, Vegeta and I got a lot stronger, but I still don't feel too confident about taking that guy on. His power is giving me the shivers!" Goku turned to the standing, disgruntled Saiyan woman with a goofy smirk on his face while he dismantled the remains of his bodysuit and Saiyan armor like dried out dirt, leaving him topless.
"I will not," Chayote shook her head. "That is a pointless battle. The only reason I have for engaging Lord Frieza is if he threatened the lives of your family or my friends. I may be a soldier, but I fight to protect."
"Soldier? My father would have truly been mad to accept a toothless bitch like you into the Saiyan army," Vegeta tsked, irritated by Chayote's answer. "You're incredibly powerful, that's true, but in your mind, you remain a low-class trash and that's what's the most annoying about you."
"It's getting harder and harder every second to entrust the job of killing you to Lord Frieza," Chayote sighed. She needed deep breaths. Collecting her thoughts was like gathering a luggage-worth of papers off the ground. Just one more play on her nervous strings and she'd snap…
"Save that for Frieza, Vegeta. Chayote did nothing to you or the Saiyans. She may have been born on Planet Vegeta, but she grew up on Earth, just like me. Her fight is the fight for Earth, she doesn't owe you anything. You know, Vegeta, I think I recovered a lot more powerful than you…" Goku smirked, turning to where Frieza's looming Ki blazed on.
"What was that!?" Vegeta clenched his fist, completely forgetting about Chayote. "Will I need to beat some sense into you as I did with your numb-skulled father until you know your place, Kakarot?"
"No need, we'll know for sure when I beat Frieza before you do," Goku made a crude facial gesture by pulling his eyelid and sticking out his tongue.
"Of all the immature… Childish…!" Vegeta was about to explode in a wrathful tirade when a mint-colored burst of Ki drew everyone's attention as a lone shape loomed over the entire sanctuary of the survivors. A white cape flowed over the figure which initially made him difficult to recognize, especially since the Super Namekian had worn a Saiyan armor styled disguise before everyone parted ways.
"Piccolo!" a bunch of people exclaimed at once.
"You will leave Frieza alone," Piccolo ordered, landing in front of Goku and Vegeta with his arms crossed and beady eyes that would have accepted no argument toward a different conclusion. "These survivors need your help far more than Frieza needs defeating. Your father, the king, is dead, Vegeta, congratulations, your throne is now for the taking–you can lead your people and protect them as you see fit. Stop acting like a petulant child, you no longer have the luxury of running off to die in a fruitless battle."
Goku leaned back on his arms, feeling content with the fact that his once mortal enemy was giving flack to his now-rival. He looked a little proud of Vegeta and the fact that the Saiyans weren't lost as a race. After all, this act from Frieza's side meant that the Saiyans were effectively let go from the tyrant's service, which left them free to do whatever they wanted.
"You're no better too, Son," Piccolo turned his irked look toward Goku. "Your son has been wounded in battle because you weren't there to watch over him and your first instinct is to run off and get yourself into another fight to the death against the mightiest foe in the universe? I'm not sure if the crueler option is to beat you myself or just tell Chi-Chi about this."
"Come on, Piccolo…" Goku raised his open hands, "Let's be reasonable here…"
"You!" Vegeta pointed his finger right up Piccolo's face. "I remember you! I'm quite glad to see you in front of me, but right now I'd much rather settle things with Frieza. After all, I've got no interest in chasing him all over the universe if he gets off my planet. You, I always know where I can find."
"Vegeta, the only reason you're alive right now in front of me is that I know all too well what the Saiyan race is going through because the Namekians had suffered a similar fate not too long ago and I hold the strongest of the Namekian protectors as a part of my being. Your pain is familiar to memories I can access deep inside me, that makes me pity you to a point but don't push that sympathy," Piccolo and Vegeta stood inches away from one another, a thrust of either's head would have sent it to a thunderous collision with the other's own belfry.
That was when a booming pillar of scarlet enlightened the deep-blue sky and tore a fracturing, oozing with red fissures wound in the heavens. Everyone capable of sensing Ki turned their attention toward the site with shock as Bardock's Ki had escalated to previously unheard-of plateaus before dying out to a minute smolder that would soon die out.
"Dad!" Goku's stare blanked out.
"We're wasting time here, Kakarot! While we let this oversized pickle and a spayed bitch distract us, your father will get himself killed!" Vegeta turned to Goku to reason with him into a very unreasonable decision.
"Bardock has found Gine…" Piccolo realized, sensing an overall unremarkable Ki signature fleeing the scene. The owner of this signature would have had no chance of surviving so long all by herself. She had no ability to suppress her Ki, the only force she could reasonably challenge was a lone Frieza Soldier so even a handful of them would have executed her with little trouble. The only explanation was that Bardock had been protecting that signature. And now…
"Pick up everybody, carry them back to the ship, and prepare to leave!" Piccolo instructed Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu as he turned his back to Goku and Vegeta and clenched his fists, letting the full extent of his Super Namekian power flow freely. The two Saiyans braced to compete with the resulting boom of unrestrained energy, but it was like swimming against a stormy ocean at the moment of its most unruly. It would have taken the totality of the Saiyans' entire power to even stand up to Piccolo's power at that moment.
"Madness, what power is this!?" Vegeta barked out, utterly befuddled.
"This is insane," Goku chuckled while still struggling to maintain a foothold. "No wonder Slug had to resort to dirty tactics to hold you down, Piccolo."
"I'll rescue your mother from Frieza. You two, go back to the ship and take the survivors with you. It's no longer safe here for them. We'll settle the Saiyan survivors back on Earth until we can find a better place for them to be. Who knows, if I end up eradicating Frieza, we'll just return you guys here once it's safe again. Oh, and one more thing…" Piccolo raised his arm over his head, lighting up with a resonant, golden aura as he expelled a dozen of Ki blasts off of his hand that reached their peak point and then slammed back down on the ground, engulfing the Dragon Team and restoring their original gear instead of the damaged Frieza Army gear they still wore in tatters.
Without waiting for arguments or questions, Piccolo took off toward the location of Frieza while Vegeta shook in his boots at a mere glimpse of the actual power Piccolo had reserved. Even after having a fight of his life against Goku and recovering, Vegeta still didn't measure up anywhere near that level of might, and he just did his best to provoke a conflict with this annoying Namekian that ruined his plans back on Earth.
"Damn it!" Vegeta cursed, clenching his fists.
"Come on, Vegeta!" Goku encouraged the Saiyan prince with the entire party of survivors slowly taking off and heading back toward the ship they've arrived with. The ship was large enough to accompany a small group of people, though they might need to hijack some more ships from the landing station they landed to.
"You mean you're giving up just like that, Kakarot? That cocky Namekian bastard barks out a few orders and you stick out your tongue and behave like a good little boy? Stop messing around with me! Is your Saiyan pride, your martial artist pride you spoke so much shit about worth so little to you?" Vegeta grunted while Chiaotzu telekinetically manipulated all the medical pods up into the air to travel with them. They might turn off for a little while until Chiaotzu brings them to the ship, but the ships had all the power they needed, so having to rely on the mercy of the emergency power lasting won't be on their mind anymore.
"You heard what he said, Vegeta. Piccolo doesn't intend to fight Frieza, he's going there just to make sure Gine is alive, and that she returns to us. Besides, he kind of had a point, Gohan needs to heal up and the best way to make sure of that is in the ship." Goku said.
"What about your King Kai Fist technique? You could easily rival even Piccolo with that strength if you wanted to! Why are you letting that no-name slug-person intimidate you, goddamn it? Haven't you promised me we'd kill Frieza?" Vegeta quivered in disbelief. The disbelief came solely from the fact that his own body was building up to the decision to follow Goku's example and behave like a true king would and make sure his people recover safely before tackling Frieza.
"Yeah, but I didn't say that I would be the one to beat him. Plus, we agreed my friends would help. Piccolo and I had some disagreements in the past and we were mortal enemies once, but now he's our friend. Even if Frieza doesn't let up and Piccolo has to finish him off, I still wouldn't be breaking my promise to you, Vegeta. One day, when you have a family of your own, you'll understand why they have to come first." Goku's expression became more serious for a second before he realized Vegeta had already decided before he even raised any arguments about it. Thus the Saiyan that grew up on Earth took off alongside everybody else toward their ship and the landing station.
They'd need to vacate a bunch of Frieza Army gear to make space for all those medical pods and they'd still need a few more ships but somehow they'll make do. Saiyans will survive. Gine will be safe on Earth, just like Bardock wanted it. With the new Dragon Balls of Dende's making, Bardock will be back and he'll be able to appreciate peaceful life back on Earth too. Frieza was a toxic and pointless distraction right now, no matter how much everyone wanted to try themselves out against him at one point or the other. The most important things always had to come first.
Gine was gasping for breath. Out of stamina to fly, she ran across an ancient Saiyan temple made of stone that looked like nothing else on the futuristic landscape of Planet Vegeta that was once nothing more but utopic cities, massive industrial sites, and military establishments, and lush woods as far as the eye could see.
The Saiyan woman screamed out when a pink beam hit just a few steps away from her and blew up, flinging her like a rag doll to a nearby column. Despite her burning ribs, despite having little to no energy to keep running and the fearsome space emperor Frieza having found her. Even with Bardock's sacrifice. Despite the tears running down her face and her trembling whisper begging whatever forces were listening to let her see her son just one more, even if it was to be final, time before one of these beams pierced her chest. Gine kept swinging her arms as if swimming through the dense air of Planet Vegeta that reeked of blood and murder right now.
"There you are…" Frieza's bemused voice aimed for the woman's gut. A hole there would leave her drowning in her own blood, but not enough so to choke her in it. She'd die wallowing in the worst pain imaginable for hours, giving him all the time in the world to help this Saiyan acclimatize herself to the new home dimension she'd be headed off to. After all, Frieza trusted himself to be quite an emissary of some fine, hellish torture.
A determined, green hand swatted the Death Beam aside, sending it flying away into the sky. Gine turned her teary face toward her savior. She did so just out of mere curiosity as she couldn't imagine just what friendly faces she still might have had on this planet. Not even when she saw the white cape flowing and rustling in the uneasy wind racing across the ancient temple site of the Planet Vegeta could Gine recognize this Namekian nor could she understand what goal one of them might have had in rescuing her or any other Saiyan.
"Don't waste our time," Piccolo spoke to Gine without looking down at her. The Namekian lit up in a golden light and formed an identical clone of himself. "Follow me, I'll lead you to your son, Gine."
"You… You know my name?" the frightened Saiyan woman muttered.
"Yes. We've come a far way here to save you and take you to a planet where you can live out the rest of your days with your family. I'm not about to let a heap of space trash to let all that effort go to waste. Plus, your husband and I have got some unresolved issues, I need him focused on our rematch instead of worrying sick about you." Piccolo replied while his clone lowered himself and flew off, slowly, so that Gine could keep up. Without the imminent threat of Frieza on her tail, the Saiyan woman could keep her pace and not run out of breath, racing against certain death and the end to her dream of seeing her family ever again.
"Oh?" Frieza's eyes widened and his black lips formed a tiny O shape. "A Namekian, on Planet Vegeta? Unbelievable! I wasn't sure your kind still existed after the calamity that befell Planet Namek. Figured that it was just a heap of wasted real estate but with a tendency to wipe out its native species and all the bad rep that goes with it, who would have bought such a loathsome piece of land?"
"Insult Planet Namek at your own peril, scum," Piccolo replied calmly, standing still and protecting the retreat of his clone alongside Gine.
"Insult it? Oh, quite the opposite, my salad-skinned friend. I intend to pay it a visit after I am done choking you out of every single symbol of information your slug self has about just what the heck is going on here. I wasn't aware that Planet Namek has recovered enough for Namekians to become a space-faring race once more. Your planet is just at the backdoor of the crux of my empire and, from what I've heard, Namekians used to be quite an established presence in the space market," Frieza pondered out loud with an index finger pressed to his lip.
"You're really eager to sign your own death warrant, aren't you, dwarf?" Piccolo tsked.
"Oh… I thought a race as well-established as the Namekians wouldn't have lost their decorum. How sad. Near-extinction might do that to a species, I am afraid. As novel as it is to speak to a living museum specimen, I couldn't help but overhear you addressing your emperor as "space trash". I do not take such insults, not even from my jesters and, forgive me for resorting to petty insults but, you're neither funny nor cultured enough to serve as my fool," Frieza placed his hands by his sides, erupting in a transparent, pink aura of energy as he built up his second to none might before Piccolo.
As expected, scum like Frieza wouldn't allow themselves to be talked down. Oh well, at least Piccolo had the excuse of having tried the next time King Kai buzzes inside of his brain.