I limped through one the ships almost empty corridors, passing bloodied warriors covered in bandages, and dying conscripts, all of them in various states of injury and distress. It always surprises me how quickly things seem to go bad for me just as I get comfortable. I suppose I should be used to it by now, but I don't think its ever going to fail to piss me off. Just about everything was a razors edge away from falling apart and taking me with it. When had it all gone to hell?

Cook, clean, suffer, and train. My daily routine. I would wake before the crew expected me to be in the kitchen, train and ready myself for a new day, then move to the kitchens to ready myself for the command staffs daily requests. The captain would expect a sophisticated meal of my best prepared fish, along with any sides locals would claim to be of high class under the kind of duress Freeza Force was known for. Commanders Grudge, Canal, Neus, and Teal'lian would request some variation of their own favorites, and after I finished whatever those would be I'd train my energy manipulation as I waited for more orders. This would go on for hours until the time came that the majority of the crew would rest.

When it was clear I would have no more requests that night I would return to my quarters with a stomach full of what pieces of food I could convincingly steal and my daily nutrient paste allowance, and start the real . I spent hours doubling down on the talents I knew were of immediate and notable use, working to expand my reserves, increase the cutting power of blades, and of course sensing and hiding the use of ki. When I was satisfied with my own work I'd spend whatever time I had left trying to parse out techniques and abilities I might be able to imagine or recreate from memory.

It was a hellish, grueling, and painful way to spend my time, but I found it passed surprisingly quickly. In part because of the exhaustion it brought out of me, and in part because of the progress I was making. Every day I suffered under the command of warriors who cared not for my life was another day I felt more real, more tangible among the people around me. Every day I readied myself for a potential beating or execution for a meal of lesser quality was one were I felt my fear of such an eventuality fade. I found early on that it was a passion, nearly an addiction I had acquired, one that grew every time I trained.

Every night I was just a little bit stronger, and every night I was a little less weak. In my initial desperation to escape the sheer ease I could be killed by another being I had become reliant on the feeling of training, so much so that I doubted I could live without it. No, I was certain I couldn't. When I was training I was taking control of my fate, when I wasn't I was either at rest for more or working to keep my overlords happy enough to let me keep my routine. A routine I had grown used to over my time aboard the Diligent Frost.

Of course it hadn't been an easy adjustment, even with the relative safety my position happens to provide to me while my superiors were pleased. With the extra time and the extra privacy it quickly became clear that I was, rather ironically, left in the dark on how to move forward. My progress had been getting slower for months now, hindered by my own lack of experience and the low gravity environment of the ship. Not to mention my body.

Just being human was a handicap enough on its own, but the fragility of my body had been showing through ever since I got here, and now it was catching up. When I drew on my ki it was hardly worth my notice, but when I had to hide it, when I pushed it away, I was a wreck physically. My body throbbed with poorly healed breaks, nerve damage, and an ever growing patchwork of scars. Even worse was that at this point half of it was my own doing. Any wise master of ki would say that its manipulation and use without proper training was as much a danger to the user as it was to those around him, and after my own experience at just that, I fully agree.

My hands shook because I had lost control of an energy blast before it even left my body, I could barely stand on two feet without ki because I nearly killed myself in an attempt at discovering the Kiao-ken, or any other technique capable of increasing my power directly, I can't see out of my left eye because I tried to fire a laser beam from it four months ago, but failed to consider the amount of ki I needed to use to keep it intact. I was slowly but surely being broken down. It was only the precarious balance of my caution, and my advancing talents that kept things progressing even at a moderate pace. It was damning, but a price I found myself more than willing to pay.

I always figured that so long as I kept to the schedule I had meticulously crafted over my time here, I could expect real change in my power within a few years. With the right determination a breakthrough would come soon enough. Another two years at this pace and I could easily kill anyone on this ship, and move on to relatively greener pastures. Which was exactly why I don't like changes to my routine, breaks in my schedule, or new factors coming into play in my time here.

So it was easy to understand why I was particularly unhappy about the newest world we were expected to conquer. Freeza force recently came upon a new territory, some local moon called Naldinnas. The moons technological advancement, and relatively submissive nature saved their lives from the usual clearing efforts. Freeza saw no reason not to let them live so long as they paid their tithes and started producing supplies and technology for the wider Planet Trade Organization. The planet said moon was orbiting however, was another story altogether. Herridan it was called. Naldinnas' population said that meant "the world that eats."

Particularly scary name, but the planets power level was averaged in the mid forties so we didn't care too much about it until we actually arrived to take care of things. The inhabitants of the moon requested a purge for the world, and since they were loyal and willing to pay the required costs Freeza, or at least his advisors, had seen fit to answer their request. Only problem was, the planets inhabitants were more dangerous than anticipated. It was a world of bug-like humanoids, a carnivorous hive mind that commonly emerged on the planets surface every decade or so to eat their way through the local fauna, before falling into hibernation.

That wasn't an issue for the captain, or any of the commanders when they heard about it during the resupply before the planets cited destruction, but what they failed to tell us was the bugs response to an invading threat, and their numbers. When we got there we scorched the surface with energy blasts, clearing several hives worth of the creatures over the course of days, before they responded in kind. The bugs emerged from below the surface in several veritable hordes of equally competent and capable warriors, all which seemed more than competent at manipulating ki and copying the fighting styles of opponents they faced. They weren't strong individually, but they had skill and numbers on their side.

That little surprise nearly killed everybody on board the ship, including me. We were forced to retreat following the deaths of no less than half the command staff, and the previous captain. We had to jettison nearly our entire stock of slaves, and a number of non essential crew members just to properly escape, and it was only the popularity of my cooking that kept me alive. Commander Jernus assumed command by popular vote two hours later, and after we returned we sent out a report reevaluating the planets threat level, and a request for immediate aid from any nearby vessels.

Now we waited on Naldinnas, our warriors recovering while the commanders all took their frustrations out on the local populous' red light sector. Leaving me alone and without friends on a ship filled with people that didn't like me, didn't appreciate my work, and figured me an easy target. A trifecta of danger I don't quite like. So I did what any sane man would do in my position. I closed down my kitchen, kept my head low, and made for my quarters at as quick a pace as I could without looking suspicious or extra killable. The quickest and safest route was through the mess hall.

While most on board the ship didn't have the pleasure of eating my food, they did still have a place to eat their nutrient paste and talk to one another. It was public enough that anyone who tried to kill me would be seen by anybody who might think snitching on their comrades about the command staffs favorite chef dying was a good way to get brownie points. As much as the crew didn't like me, they did respect and fear the leadership enough to worry about such a thing happening, so I usually took that route. Luckily enough this time their seemed to be enough of a clamour that I might slip by entirely unnoticed.

A relatively large group of warriors were gathered in a circle, shouting and laughing even as other warriors sat and ate in a more solemn manner, the wounds taking their toll on the men's morale. Occasionally someone dragged an unfortunate conscript or two into the mess hall for entertainment, beating the poor bastard(s) into a pulp in front of a live audience. The crew got a kick out of the conscripts trying and failing to put up any kind of real fight. Apparently todays events were bad enough to warrant it again. At least it was a nice distraction.

It was surprisingly easy to just walk past them, but something about this was different. My instincts told me this was a matter of interest, something about the power signature of what was likely a conscript being beaten into the ground. It was different, around the same size as most conscripts but in a way more potent. I stopped at the threshold, my ears perking up before I could fully make the decision to leave.

"-the matter Saiyan? weren't your people supposed to be a 'warrior race'? you barely even qualify for target practice." The sound of fists hitting flesh met my ears, but it wasn't that that made me stop in my tracks. A Saiyan? Here? My focus on my own ability to sense energy sharpened from the usual lazy observation I kept on the ship, to the full and absolute surveillance of a potential threat. I knew better than anyone else in the galaxy just what kind of threat this particular kind of alien was.

Saiyans were dangerous, brutal even from the youngest ages, obsessed with combat and the rapid growth of their own strength, were particularly uncaring of others, and most importantly almost always in possession of at least one way to multiply their power ten-fold. This one had battle-power in the mid fifties, and felt angry, ashamed, and particularly murderous. The saiyan was struck a few more times before the anger that I felt building in them reached a crescendo.

A light growl sounded out before a crew member was sent flying back, cursing as he crashed into a table. My eyes locked onto a child, no older than ten, her hair almost to the floor and her fist extended outward. Immediately I felt my opinions change. I smelled an opportunity.

Her face and body was covered in cuts, her breathing heavy and labored with the beating she just took. Sharpened canines flashed with pride as laughter erupted around the room, the mockery of the crew quickly shifting from the conscript to the warrior the kid had humiliated. The crew member, a familiar lizard man, rose up with a fury on his face, ready to kill, before a hand fell on his shoulder.

"This ones not too bad, probably better to keep her around till this is all over. If your lucky, Dirge, you'll get your chance on the battlefield."

A bald headed blue alien spoke up, one that I remembered only as a failed candidate for command. A stronger fighter and a respected veteran. Dirge looked ready to fight him for a moment, before he calmed down.

"Fine."

He stalked off as someone decided to take the Saiyan back to her cell, and I started walking again before someone took notice of me, a grin forming on my face. Maybe today wasn't as shit as I thought it was. In fact, this could be the shittiest day I've had in over two years, or the best of them. After all, Saiyan potential was one of the scariest things in the universe.

Maybe it's time I considered making a friend.

Power levels-

Dennis-183