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Chapter 4
Complications

Directly after the destruction of New Toru City Raditz presses a couple buttons on his Scouter and speaks into it, "Vegeta, this is Raditz, Kakarot and I have destroyed our target. What should we do next?" After half a second a voice answers back, "Nappa hasn't reported in, we'll make his target our rendezvous point, here are the coordinates." Both Kakarot and Raditz's Scouters lit up showing a set of numbers in an alien language. Raditz then said, "Coordinates received, we're on our way." Vegeta replied with a simple, "Good." Before ending the call.

Raditz looked over to Kakarot with a serious expression which masked how nervous he was feeling. He worried his brother might still be angry over his previous plan, he had thought that allowing him to take charge of the next plan might help calm him down, but Kakarot's expression hadn't relaxed at all since the fight ended. He cautiously said, "Kakarot…" Before he could say anything else Kakarot waved him off saying, "I'm fine, let's get going." Raditz looked relieved after hearing his response. Kakarot then said, "I assume these numbers are where we're heading too next." Raditz nodded in confirmation and further clarified their orders, "We're headed toward Nappa's target, he hasn't updated us on the status of his target."

Kakarot grumbled, "He better not be sitting on his ass while we're doing all the hard work." Raditz and Kakarot flew off in the direction of the coordinates they were given. After a short flight they arrived at a massive empty crater. Raditz and Kakarot didn't doubt this was Nappa's handy work; however, there was still activity in the crater. Kakarot and Raditz detected several, much weaker power levels along with Nappa's. Kakarot gritted his teeth out of agitation, Raditz spoke cautiously, "Brother, please don't complicate things." Kakarot ignored his brother's plea and headed for Nappa's position. Nappa at this time was holding a half dead Scout by his leg. "Y-you M-monster…" The Lead Scout weakly said.

Nappa spoke in response, "Don't give in now, I'm starting to enjoy this." He then slammed the beaten scout into the ground two more times before tossing him into the ground creating a small indention in the ground partially in his shape, breaking the man's arm in the process. Surrounding them was the beaten Checkers Squad as well as a squad of Shield-men and Cannon-men who were unlucky enough to be sent to rescue the scouts. Out of both squads only a handful were still breathing, though they were so badly injured that they couldn't even find the strength to crawl. Nappa let out a hearty laugh and said, "I wonder what I should break next."

He began to approach a nearby Shield-man before getting hit by a flying kick to his jaw. He was pushed back by two feet and briefly stumbled to one knee before standing back up. He rubbed his sore jaw and looked at his attacker while saying, "Someone has some bite left in em'… wait a second?" Kakarot stood before him with a rage filled expression, "What the hell are you doing? I mean other than wasting our time!" Nappa yelled back, "It's not my fault you weaklings are so slow." Kakarot repeated that last word to himself under his breath, "Slow?" Kakarot raised his right open palm to the sky and spoke angrily while conjuring a Ki Blast, "I'll show you slow!" Raditz dashed toward Kakarot yelling, "Kakarot don't!" Nappa got into a fighting posture. Again, Kakarot ignored his brother and gripped the Ki blast into his hand but surprised everyone when he threw it into the air.

Raditz stopped in his tracks, surprised by the move. Kakarot then clenched his hand in a gripping motion. All three Saiyans' eyes were glued to the floating Ki ball. Kakarot then screamed out while closing his clenched palm into a fist and then thrusting his arm downward. "Haa!" The Ball suddenly split into multiple small Ki waves which simultaneously hit each and every surviving PDF soldier finishing them all off. Nappa cried out, "Hey, I wasn't finished with them yet!"

Kakarot ignored his protest, now turning away from Nappa seemingly satisfied with stealing his kills. Nappa took a step forward, "Why you low class filth!" Before he could make a move on Kakarot, Raditz landed in front of him and attempted to say, "Hold on Nappa we were told…" Before he could finish Nappa backhanded Raditz knocking him on his back. Nappa spoke in an arrogant tone, "I'm not about to be told what to do by Raditz of all people."

Kakarot turned to Nappa looking as angry as he was earlier. He was about to take a step forward when Raditz got on one knee placing an open palm toward Kakarot motioning him to stop while wiping the blood that was dripping from his cheek. Kakarot reluctantly stopped his advance and crossed his arms.

Raditz got up, looked at Nappa and quickly spoke as to avoid getting hit again, "Vegeta sent us, you hadn't reported in so he made this our rally point." Raditz then pointed to Nappa in an accusatory manner, "If Vegeta hears that you were wasting time, do you think he'll be pleased?" Nappa froze knowing Vegeta would indeed be displeased with having his time wasted. Nappa stammered, "N-n-now wait a minute, I was just messing around after finishing my job, I didn't mean to waste our time!" Raditz let out a sigh realizing Nappa was back under control.

Raditz says, "Ok then if that's the case then we should cool down and wait for Vegeta." Nappa took a step back and said, "Alright, alright." Nappa retreated to his pod in order to calm himself down. Raditz looked relieved while Kakarot took some time to examine the dead bodies, specifically their equipment. This was an aspect of their squad and Saiyan society as a whole that both Kakarot and Raditz hated with all of their hearts. To Saiyans, power was literally everything, the Saiyan Hierarchy was based on how high your Power Level was at birth. Their father, Bardock and their mother, Gine were both low class warriors.

However, despite Bardock rising to around the power level of 10,000, his children were still born with exceptionally low power levels, Kakarot himself got stuck with a measly power level of five. This would have made him a laughingstock in Saiyan Society, had it not been erased by a meteor. This may be part of the reason Bardock stuck him with his brother's squad instead of risking him not having any connections with the future squad he would have eventually been assigned to, assuming he survived that long. Of course, Saiyan elites like Vegeta and Nappa would look down on them even if they have come a long way.

Despite being a thousand or so behind Nappa, Kakarot still gets flak for his status as a low class Saiyan Warrior. Kakarot especially hates Nappa's tendency to put both him and his brother down for their status. At this point Kakarot is able to put up a good enough fight to get Nappa to back off though he's still weaker than him. Years earlier Kakarot would still do this but would wind up more often than not, getting laid flat on his back by Nappa. Raditz on the other hand has learned to roll with the punches, his confidence took a hit due to his time as the weakest member of the squad. However, where he loses out to his squad in power level and confidence, he makes up for with an impressive cunning.

Raditz knows that the only thing that will put Nappa in his place outside of a decent punch to the face is convincing him he's wronged Vegeta. Vegeta is the one Saiyan who's name alone is enough to get Nappa to behave. Of course, Raditz's cunning tends to put him in hot water with Kakarot but that's a simple trade off he's willing to take if it means avoiding getting caught in the middle of a fight between Kakarot and Nappa. An hour passes and Vegeta finally arrives and is pleased to see everyone has arrived and they all look in decent condition, mostly.

He spots a small bruise on Raditz's right cheek, but he waves that off as Raditz being weak as usual, thinking an enemy soldier did it. Vegeta being by far the strongest member of the squad, he's also the leader. The other three Saiyans approach him and wait to see what he has to say. First off Vegeta looks at Nappa and asks, "Nappa why didn't you call in after destroying your target?" Vegeta was curious as to why Raditz and Kakarot, the weakest members of the squad, reported their task finished before him, especially after he caused that massive explosion. Nappa, doing his best to keep his composure says, "I finished early but some of the locals arrived to counterattack. I lost track of time while beating them."

Vegeta pauses for a moment before accepting the response and replying with, "I received a similar greeting." Vegeta then turned to Kakarot and Raditz and added, "I assume the same happened to the two of you." Raditz nodded while Kakarot replied with, "Yeah, they were strange though." Vegeta raised an eyebrow and asked, "How so?" Kakarot immediately started explaining, "Those guys were wear'n some advanced tech, their gear was oddly advanced too and they could lock into each other n' an odd way." Raditz chimed in, "Their power levels read 500 but the barrier they made was so tough even Kakarot couldn't break it."

Vegeta thought for a moment, "Damn, maybe I disposed of them sooner than I should have." Nappa let out a short laugh and said, "You sure y'all weren't just too weak." Kakarot growled in agitation but didn't make an attempt at a retort while Raditz completely ignored Nappa's teasing, he was used to Nappa's games by now. Vegeta shook his head and said, "Whatever, the point is we've wiped out their cities. Our next target will be their military presence and if the intel we got from Freeza is anything to go by then we will be dealing with only two military bases." Before they continued however their Scouters suddenly detected something nearby, something with a power level of 2,000.

Vegeta and Nappa didn't make a move while Kakarot braced himself for whatever was coming. Suddenly the whole area they were in was bombarded by a massive Ki Wave throwing dust and debris everywhere causing a dust cloud to form in the area obscuring their position. A hundred yards away a group of four PDF Mobile Artillery Cannons set up sitting side by side to each other. They were in the middle of firing a set of large red Ki Waves into the distance. The Ki Waves melded together creating one massive red Ki Wave.

Surrounding them were twenty-five, eight-man squads of Cannon-men and Shield-men, creating an overall number of 200 soldiers supporting a single artillery unit. There were a few standard soldiers in the area too, primarily there to defend against counterattacks. The General of the Artillery unit gave the order to cease fire while having a pair of Recon Specialists observe the Saiyans position. A number of portable radios were set up far in the back of the artillery unit giving the army a direct line of communication to their military bases. The dust began to clear up, but the Recon Specialists immediately reported, "No effect, the enemy is still standing." Back with the Saiyan squad, no one took any real damage.

Vegeta let out a short laugh before saying, "Looks like they've found us already." Nappa with a grin said, "Now that's more like it." Nappa then checked their power levels and in response did a high whistle and said, "They are really pulling out all the stops for us." Raditz, stepping out from behind Kakarot said, "They are well organized, even if it was only an hour, they still amassed quite the army." The words Raditz spoke struck a chord with Vegeta, he thought to himself, "That is strange, why do they have such a strong counterattack up their sleeve? Not to mention their equipment is much more advanced compared to what we were expecting."

Letting the question drift away they watch as the power levels begin to move towards them. Back at the Prune Defense Force artillery unit, the general said, "All Cannon men charge the enemy! Artillery Unit, switch to flack mode, give our men cover fire! Shield-men, get into defensive positions, we may need your shields in this battle!" The long and solid barrel of the cannons segmented half an inch apart and shrunk in length by three feet and began to fire a barrage of red Ki Blasts while every Cannon-man charged the Saiyans position while shouting a war cry, "For Prune and her the Toru people!"

The general gave one last order to a couple standard soldiers floating next to him, "Send a message to Commander Jade and debrief him on our situation, we need a status report on the air fleet." The soldier saluted him and said, "Yes sir!" Before flying to the back of the artillery unit, toward the Mobile Radio camp. The Saiyan's saw the enemy coming from a long way off. Vegeta said, "Here they come." Nappa balled up his fist and lightly punched the palm of his other hand saying, "This is gonna be fun." Raditz turned to Kakarot and was in the middle of saying, "Well this is what you wanted broth-..." Raditz stopped when he laid eyes on Kakarot who looked absolutely livid.

Kakarot angrily said through gritted teeth, "Those cowardly bastards, attacking from a distance like that!" Suddenly Kakarot's power level shot to max, and a deep purple aura covered his body surprising even his own squad. Kakarot stepped in front of his allies and punched the ground causing a mini earthquake which stalled the advancing Cannon-men and Shield-men. Kakarot suddenly yelled, "You three handle the grunts, I'm going to wipe out those weasels in the back!" Vegeta yelled in protest, "Hold on a second Kakarot…" Kakarot suddenly shot upwards far above the clouds, not even hearing what Vegeta was in the middle of saying.

Vegeta grumbled angrily, "That damn moron has gone off the deep end again." He quickly turned to Raditz and said, "Shadow that moron and try not to get killed in the process!" Raditz did as ordered and followed Kakarot into the sky. Doing this he narrowly avoided the endless volley of Ki Blasts fired from the Mobile Cannons however Vegeta and Nappa were stuck enduring the barrage. They didn't hurt or do damage, but they were plenty distracting. Kakarot's rash actions didn't help either, their focus was split and there was no time to plan their counterattack. Kakarot was already far above the firing line and used it to figure out where the artillery unit was located.

Kakarot charged his Ki to the max and placed both of his open palms forward. After this he began to build up Ki in his hands, his aura glowing ever brighter. Raditz finally caught up with Kakarot and was in the middle of saying, "Kakarot calm down." Kakarot shot him a scornful glare which shocked Raditz into silence. Raditz compared this to his previous bout of anger, but this glare felt personal for some reason. Back with the Artillery Cannons, the general noticed a purple light in the sky which then turned blood red. His Recon Specialists identified it as one of the Saiyans charging up an attack. Worry clouded his face, but he had little choice but to give a couple new orders.

He yelled out, "Artillery Unit, cease fire and switch to Focus Fire Mode. Aim for that purple light in the distance! Shield-men prepare to make a shield large enough to cover the Artillery guns!" The mobile artillery cannons switched back to their previous firing mode and began to aim for the red light in the sky. The Shield-men began to gather their Ki and prepare to defend the Mobile Artillery Cannons if necessary. Suddenly the volley that was keeping Vegeta and Nappa busy ceased firing giving them a chance to focus. Angry over how the situation has gotten so out of hand he gives Nappa an order, "Nappa retreat, I'm going to wipe them all out at once!"

Nappa immediately complied, flying high into the air, something Vegeta did as well, going directly above the army of 100 Cannon-men. They saw his ascent and decided to focus fire on the Saiyan in blue, they fired a massive barrage of red Ki Blasts at Vegeta who ignored them as he charged up his own Ki. The Ki inside Kakarot's hands began to change into a crimson red which culminated in creating a massive red aura. Kakarot suddenly yelled, "Have a taste of your own medicine!" Kakarot suddenly fired off a massive red Ki Wave which clashed with the Mobile Defense Platforms Ki wave, creating an ocean of red in the sky.

Meanwhile Vegeta fired off one of his favorite techniques, a massive Ki Blast Barrage; an endless number of purple Ki Blasts were hurled at the Cannon-men overcoming their own barrage. Kakarot's Ki wave began to overwhelm the Mobile Defense Platforms. Sensing that they were going to lose the beam struggle the general commanded the guns to cease fire and ordered the Shield-men to put forth a full power Ki Barrier. Kakarot's Ki Wave clashed against the massive Ki Barrier, which was immediately shattered, shocking the general who only had a few seconds to register he and a lot of his people were about to die.

Kakarot's attack punched through all the defenses and reached the cannons triggering a massive explosion which wiped out the whole Artillery unit as well as the radio camp behind it. Vegeta on the other hand was easily able to overwhelm the Cannon-men's own barrage, killing them all as well. By the time both attacks were finished the whole battlefield was reduced to a massive field of ash with smoke rising into the sky as a result of the battle's climax. Kakarot looked a lot calmer after the blast, having spent a lot of energy on that attack but then his eyes drifted down to Vegeta who was giving him a displeased look. Vegeta and Nappa flew up to him and before Kakarot could say anything Vegeta planted a fist into his stomach knocking the wind out of him.

Vegeta then grabbed him by the head and rammed him all the way down into the ground below creating a small crater using Kakarot's face. Raditz and Nappa followed Vegeta both looking very uncomfortable. Vegeta kept the pressure on Kakarot's head as he planted his face deeper into the ground while saying angrily, "I am the one who gives the orders in this squad, I will not tolerate insubordination, especially from Low Class trash!" Kakarot was so stunned from the sudden physical punishment that he couldn't make any retort or show any signs of defiance.

Vegeta let go of Kakarot's head and allowed him to rise into a kneeling position. Kakarot rubbed the back of his head and began to cough up dirt. Raditz and Nappa looked relieved, Nappa tended to not care for Kakarot or Raditz, but he didn't like seeing Vegeta's angry side. Vegeta then said, "If you get in my way again I will kill you, you will not receive another warning." With that over with, Vegeta got back to business. He pressed a button on his Scouter and started examining the area. By the time he finished Kakarot got back up on his feet.

He decided against saying anything to Vegeta, knowing full well that his warning was actually a promise. Vegeta then got out his pod remote control and pressed a few buttons. Suddenly two sets of coordinates popped up on everyone's Scouters, split among the group. Vegeta and Nappa received one while Kakarot and Raditz received the other. Vegeta then said, "These are the coordinates to this planet's two only military bases. Nappa and I will go to one." Vegeta then turned to Raditz and said, "You and Kakarot will go to the other. When either of our targets are destroyed, we will contact the other pair and decide on our next move." Vegeta was sufficiently angry over the situation with Kakarot so he simply barked an order to Nappa, "Nappa, you're with me!"

Without saying a second word Vegeta and Nappa flew off toward their target leaving Raditz and Kakarot alone. Given the stressful situation and the fact Kakarot was reprimanded by Vegeta, something that happens more often than he was comfortable with, Raditz wanted to try and calm Kakarot down before they went off to their objective. Kakarot was known for making reckless plans when in a bad mood. He looked at Kakarot and said, "Kakarot…" Before he could even properly start his sentence Kakarot shot him a glare. This time Raditz was confused and irritated. He spoke in a high tone, "What the hell is your problem? Ever since we got hit you've been acting strange, what's going on?"

Kakarot scoffed and said in an agitated tone, "We got hit?" Raditz flinched at his choice of wording. Kakarot let out an aggravated grunt and said, "You mean I got hit while you hid behind me." Raditz took a step back realizing what Kakarot was angry about. Kakarot said, "I ain't your shield, you either take the hit, you dodge, or you die." While Kakarot was being unreasonable, he detested cowardly acts especially when he was directly involved in the act. Raditz realized he did use Kakarot as a way to avoid the blast, but it was by instinct and not intent, he moved without thinking.

He was in the middle of his excuse when Kakarot spoke with venom in his voice, "If I can't rely on you in the thick of battle, then how can I call you a brother?" This shut Raditz up, he had a look of defeat and sensing Raditz wasn't going to make a retort or another excuse he ended the conversation by turning his back to him and saying, "You can be better Raditz, you just have to get over your cowardly nature, i'll be waiting for you when you decide to behave like a Saiyan." After this Kakarot left for his target and Raditz followed without saying a single word.

Editor's Notes: Only replacing bad grammar and those kinds of errors.

Power Level Guide:

Vegeta– Full Power 18,000

Nappa–Base 4,350

Raditz–Base 1,400

Kakarot–Base 3,000

Mobile Defense Platform–Individually 500 (X4) 2000