3000 Freeza Force warriors dead and in the ground if you counted our own casualties. Two ships stocked with credits, slaves, and supply were torn apart and sold from their engines to the alloy that made up the walls and flooring. Most importantly, to those among the Diligent Frost anyway, we were reduced to a scattered four hundred souls capable of the level of combat needed to conquer a world like those we often invaded. This meant two things. One, the pay every warrior could expect for the successful completion of the task was more than considerable. Two, we needed more recruits than we've had to scrape up in a very long time.

It had been about three hours since victory was declared over the world of Herridan. With the bugs leadership caste eradicated the rest were quick to fall. I was both happy and disappointed to have never laid eyes on them. Protecting the Saiyan was hard enough as it is.

I was currently scrubbing myself down with a particularly rough piece of cloth from the inside of an all but empty community chemical bath onboard the ship. I managed to sneak a quick dip into a local river before we returned to report our survival officially. Apara was in a healing pod just down the hall, sleeping off the worst of her wounds. I suspected she would be frustratingly stronger than she was before.

I was keeping a close eye on her ki. I wanted to have some kind of understanding of what kind of reaction was taking place to cause an actual permanent boost in energy. Later I was going to note my findings down. The "Zenkai Boost" was something I had some difficulty remembering the particulars of.

I hadn't went into a pod yet myself, giving my wounds a little time to breathe, and giving myself some extra motivation not to acquire anymore of them. I was still getting used to my body feeling almost good for a change. For so long it had been an exercise in willpower just to move that I was almost comforted by the trailing cuts and bruises littering my already scarred body. The reflective surface of the wall in front of me showed a man I had come to recognize with some familiarity.

I couldn't place the man across from me as myself. He seemed colder than I felt I was. His inhuman, burning gaze showed something like disinterest. His hair was a long, tangled mess trailing past a scarred, bearded visage.

I was following my own eyes, attempting to pull the dull orange they were currently shining back into the more human coloration they had been before the battle. I hadn't noticed when using my power started to come hand in hand with the intimidation tactic I had been practicing. It was becoming second nature. Harder now to pull back.

I thought about the implications of being a true member of the crew now that it was actually true around here.

I hadn't received much in the way of payment for my work before, but as a warrior I was entitled to the same take almost everyone considered of some worth was. After today that meant I was forty-five thousand credits richer. An amount I likely wouldn't be able to make for another four or so conquests. Not that it mattered all that much. I suspected our pay was tailored with the expectation we would be replaced within a few years.

Not that it wasn't lucrative work, just that we only saw a fraction of a percent of the actual value to an entire planet. We could live however we wanted when we were off the ship, but we would almost never spend any more than a week or two off board, and the people who paid us knew that. We were always hunting, always being directed to a new target. That was probably at least part of the reason we were so notoriously without things like kindness or mercy.

Freeza force warriors were always on the attack, always throwing new corpses onto the pile. There was little time for families, normality, or even something as simple as peace.

Most of the crew would spend all their pay on the next few worlds we visited while replenishing our numbers. It was both bait for the new meat, and a way to enjoy life before it got risky again. The rate of attrition had always been bad, people didn't plan for the future here unless they had a reason to think they should.

I was tempted to join them on that. Take what pleasure I could out of this reprieve. A familiar flare of energy not too far away reminded me I might need to step carefully when entertaining that idea.

When my eyes finally returned to normal I stepped away, trying to ignore the other inhabitants of the room and grabbing a fresh bodysuit hanging against the wall alongside a line of others.

The looks I was getting from the other warriors were hard to get a read on. Their energy told me there was a sort of regret. I'm not sure how to process that. Regret for what? I knew none of them cared about me as a person, and as far as anyone could be concerned my new position was a step up from before. I wasn't expecting happiness to be directed my way, but regret? Coming from them it was downright scary.

They didn't often feel regret from anything. Once my bodysuit was on I-

I stopped at the sound of a cough, turning to face a pink skinned behemoth as he looked down upon me, a number of spikes jutting from his skull somewhat resemblant of hair. It took me a moment to remember he shared a race with one of Freezas favorite generals. The alien in front of me was much less impressive, and it must have shown on my face. He looked at me for a moment, not sure what to say.

"So you ended up a warrior, Dennis?" The tone of familiarity in his voice struck me, my brow rose. Had we met before? Why ask me now, in a place like this?

I had assumed that news would have spread around the ship several times over by now. The same disappointment emanated from this warrior as all the others. I readied for a fight.

"What of it?"

His face pulled back into an ugly snarl, or perhaps a grimace. It was much easier to recognize the annoyance my words brought out in him over the feeling the others were giving off.

"Are you still gonna be our cook?"

The honestly hopeful nature of the question took me aback. It was enough for the energy building in my palm, hidden behind my back to dissipate.

"What?"

"It's just, we ain't never had a cook like you… Whatever it is you do to the things we bring you, it's like some kind of magic. Now that you're one of us and all, some of us got to thinking you wouldn't bother anymore."

"I… guess? I was thinking of actually buying some food and keeping it in stock on the ship instead of just making it on request."

Not for these assholes though. It was one of the only ways I could keep Apara under control once her power overshadowed my own. I wasn't really thinking about how it affected my place on the crew at this point. Immediately the feeling of regret I was sensing around the bath was replaced with some kind of excitement.

"Rea-" The warrior coughed. "Good. Then we'll let the others know about it."

I hummed, deciding not to give him a response as I stepped into what was normally a nearly featureless steel hall, walking to the medical bay. It was strange speaking to someone like that. Like I wasn't less than an actual person anymore. I almost didn't like it. Made me feel… naked. Exposed.

Especially when they started talking about the possibilities of what I'd make. I moved on quickly.

A number of slaves walked the halls, giving me a wide birth. Our crew, at least as far as operations and utilities, had been completely restored. Engineers tended to the damage the battle left on internals of the ship, pulling wiring out of the ceiling and wall, obstructing much of my path.

The fibrous material of the electronics and wiring was thick, and a kind of foam lined any open space between them. I hadn't asked but it seemed to hold the dual purpose of keeping things cool and cushioning any damage we might take. Those who couldn't avoid me stopped their work for a brief moment, making certain I wasn't in the mood to suddenly kill all of them.

New slaves tended to act that way. The smart ones at least.

The medbay was comparatively empty. Three "doctors" hovered around Apara's pod, mumbling between each other.

"-Amazing. The sensors have been recording minute jumps in power every few days, sometimes every few hours. We originally theorized she was experiencing standard fluctuations, but her baseline kept markedly steady throughout the readings. With this however… I can't say I understand it."

The alien who was speaking was a little thing. Only around five feet tall, and far too slight to be any kind of warrior. At least on this ship. It was a kind of sickly thinness I would have guessed to be a fatal illness on a human. He had yellow skin and a wispy white beard dangling from a lengthy chin.

There was a pink female of generous proportions, her hair tucked behind her ears. She noticed me first, opening her mouth in a quiet gasp, knowing that having the attention of a crewman was bad news, especially for a female of low strength. The young blue insectoid at her right didn't react in a manner I could make out visually, but his energy told me he was feeling a different kind of afraid. The yellow one was facing away from me.

"...I'd even say she could expect to be around- What?"

I inclined my head in their direction. He hadn't noticed me, too absorbed in a conversation I was unhappy to hear them having. If it was up to me I'd have the sensors on this ship ripped apart. I had little use for scouter tech anyway, and letting others scratch at the knowledge that was once exclusive to me was all but unacceptable.

The speaker froze, stopping at the sound of a chair loudly dragging its way across the room. The alien I was focusing on turning and rapidly paled as I moved into their space, pushing the chair just ahead of me and directly opposite of the pod I was keeping an eye on.

I sat in front of them, taking some pleasure in the fact that I was still nearly looming over the smallest one. I inhaled loudly, smirking at the collective flinch that brought out of them.

"One hundred and twenty-six."

"W-what?" The yellow doctor stuttered, wanting to run but well aware of the fact that it wouldn't help him if I wanted violence.

"You can expect her power level to be one hundred and twenty-six when she wakes up, she's still growing. Like most, her species doesn't get all their potential at once. The battle probably forced some of it to come to the surface"

I leaned forward as the pod chimed, watching as the liquid within flowed back into the grating underneath Apara's feet. Apara fell to her knees without the liquid keeping her upright, her eyes fluttering open as she looked blearily across the room, before focusing on me.

I looked back to the group as glass lifted in front of me, already looking to bolt as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

"You can go, stop sniffing around the girl. I'll have to deal with enough of that as is."

Two of them were out of the room before the words even fully left my lips, the woman letting out a choked "Okay." before she stumbled away.

Apara ripped away the mask on her face, glancing at the retreating form before looking me in the eye. Her hair damply hanging down nearly her entire body.

"So we lived. What now?"

I sighed.

"We'll have some time to train, prepare the food stores, and for me to have a little fun."

I repressed the groan her excited squeal nearly brought out of me.