Chapter 3: Time To Do The Salza
After a dozen minutes, the Namekians and Bardock descended towards their first stop, only to freeze in the air.
"Are we too late…?" Necke whispered worriedly, gazing down at the ruined houses and smoke that rose up in several spots.
"No. I sense that some of our people are still alive down there. But… they're also still under attack!" Tsuburi declared.
"You can sense them?" Bardock questioned.
"Yes, but… later!" Tsuburi interrupted.
"Fine. I'll distract 'em while you get the people and the Dragon Ball outta here, then," Bardock told them.
"Are you sure you can handle these guys? There seems to be a lot more explosions happening here than where you saved us," Cargo inquired.
"Warrior race, remember?" Bardock simply retorted before descending rapidly, touching down to face the aggressors alone.
Meanwhile, the three Namekians snuck around the edges of the village, already knowing where the Dragon Ball was kept. They spotted some children and the village Elder hiding in a storage room, and crept inside.
"Tsuburi! You shouldn't be here! There-"
"It's going to be okay, Elder. We have a strong alien warrior distracting the invaders while we escape with you, the children and the Dragon Ball," Tsuburi reassured him.
"I… I'm scared!" one child exclaimed in a frightened tone.
"Not to worry, all of you. Our plan is solid. We're going to leave from the west side of the village. All the attackers are with our friend Bardock to the east side. Follow me. Cargo, carry the Dragon Ball," Tsuburi commanded.
"Right!" Cargo patted one of the children's shoulders and held the three-star ball under his arm.
As the remnants of the villagers and the Namekian team left, Tsuburi turned his head to glance at the spiky-haired… 'hero', who stood a ways off, in front of the threats.
"Don't be too reckless, Father of Goku. Our planet needs you," he whispered.
Dore stood tall, and chuckled, "Heheh. We haven't found any of their precious Balls yet, but I'm certain we're close!"
"Well, we've still got plenty of time to have some fun with the Nameks 'til they give 'em all up!" Neiz chuckled with a sqwarky voice.
"Zis place isn't fully cleaned out yet. Dore, Neiz?" came an accented command from a man with blue skin, who stood behind the two with a smirk on his face.
"We'll get right on it Salza!" declared Neiz.
Before the three could continue their destruction, a lone figure landed right in front of the trio. The three invaders' stances changed in an instant.
"A Saiyan? And here? I thought that your race was almost extinct!" Salza pointed at Bardock.
'So… they really did get practically wiped out, huh.' Bardock felt a tinge of sadness but then ignored it in favour of getting more angry. "Enough about me! Hope you give me a good warm-up before you die!" Bardock manifested a ki ball in his right hand and stood in a lowered stance.
This positioning reminded Salza of something, but he couldn't recall what exactly. He instructed Dore and Neiz to advance and attack the Saiyan… after posing, of course.
"Cooler's…"
"Armoured…"
"Squadron!"
…
Bardock looked thoroughly puzzled. "What the hell are you-"
"Raaaa!"
"Yaaaah!"
The two bolted towards Bardock and began landing blows on each other. It soon became apparent however, that Bardock's reflexes were sharper than theirs. Where Dore would aim to strike his gut, he would shift swiftly out of the way, then he'd dodge Neiz's Full Power Energy Barrage. Neiz was not as deterred as Dore began to feel.
"Hmph! A swift little monkey, aren't you! It's too bad that you're about to face the fastest warrior in space in close-quarters!" Neiz boasted, "No dodging these hits!"
He swooped into the fray, while Dore looked for any openings to attack Bardock from range instead. Neiz proved to be a worthy opponent in the speed department, but Bardock's punches proved to be the most powerful. And as any fight goes, you need power to back up your speed, or it's not much of a fight.
"Weak little twig, aren't you?" Bardock taunted, mimicking Neiz's earlier taunt.
"You dare insult me?! Grrrraaaaaaahhhhhh!" Neiz kept pushing for victory.
Bardock felt like he had an easier time as the battle went on. Neiz and Dore started to get desperate and attempted to use their more elaborate attacks such as the Neiz Bind Wave. Unfortunately for them, the attack missed and only grazed Bardock's arm. It did however make him flinch, giving Dore an opening, which he took advantage of by using a Thruster Kick.
"Oof!" Bardock held his stomach.
Dore grinned evilly as he witnessed his pain. But his expression dropped into an angry grimace as he noticed Bardock was now smiling back at him as though to say, 'Is that all?'
Salza hung back, observing the battle. Something seemed off about this Saiyan. From what he knew, Saiyans were not supposed to last this long against elites like them. 'Seems we found one who knows how to fight…'
Bardock twisted his torso to dodge a ki blast from Neiz, which conveniently found its way to Dore instead. Dore fumed at Neiz, and shouted across the area, "What'd you do that for?!"
"It's not my fault! You should've- guh?!" Neiz retracted his alien head inside his body to dodge a ki blast that he hadn't been on guard for.
Salza's brows lowered. This wasn't right. He and his men were elite soldiers! Just who was this guy?
Salza reread Bardock's power level with his scouter to make sure he'd checked correctly the first time. He frowned.
"Dore! Neiz! Fall back to me!"
"Salza?" Neiz said.
"His power has increased and is more troublesome for us than I previously thought. We shall all attack him at once!" Salza commanded.
"Right…!" Dore retreated to Salza's position followed by Neiz.
"I'm gonna send you all to Hell!" Bardock charged.
Salza manifested a ki blade much to Bardock's surprise and began slashing non-stop. It was a brutal assault. Bardock was unaccustomed to fighting an opponent with a blade that couldn't be taken away.
"Raaagh! That's it!" Bardock yelled mid-assault as he grabbed Salza's forearm and head butted him, before punching Salza with his free hand in the cheek. Salza flew away some distance and lightly touched his face. That hurt.
"Rgh… zis is ridiculous," Salza grumbled as he witnessed Dore and Neiz attacking Bardock, but now both were faltering even more frequently. Neiz was then hit head-on and his arm was twisted, while Dore had a ki blast launched into his chest plate which was now half-broken. 'His power level… keeps rising. We might not be able to win at zis rate…'
"Fall back!" Salza shouted.
Dore recoiled. ""Fall back"?! But-"
"We will fall back! His power is growing by ze minute! Any more minutes and we will be pasted by zis Saiyan! Retreat so we can discuss a new strategy!" he commanded.
"Yes sir!" they shouted, while attempting to evade Bardock's continuing assault.
Soon they began to leave the area, but there was something vitally important that they did not consider…
They couldn't run from him.
Three bonks on their noggins, and they were out for the count in quick succession. Bardock scratched his cheek.
"Hm. Well he was certainly right about getting pasted. Obviously didn't know that Saiyans grow stronger when fighting strong opponents. Now onto the less fun part..."
—
As Salza and his henchmen came to, they realised they couldn't move; each were bound tight around a single tree.
"Who do you work for?"
Their heads immediately swivelled in Bardock's direction, their faces sporting that of shock.
Salza then composed himself, smirking. "I think we should entertain zis barbarian. It's not like he can stop ze fate zat is to fall upon zis planet anyway."
"Hurry up and talk then, dimwit." Bardock was frankly not in the mood for any witty comments from these elite soldiers.
"The great Lord Cooler."
"Who?" Bardock snapped.
"He is the brother of Lord Frieza and the eldest son of the late King Cold. But of course you wouldn't know that now would you, Saiyan? Since you were tied to the hip of Frieza's army and his father before him."
"Alright. Anything else you feel like mentioning to make my day even worse than it already is?" Bardock pinched his brows.
"Lord Cooler is on the other side of zis planet as we speak, out collecting the planet's precious Dragon Balls! Lord Cooler will obtain any wish he desires, and then he shall seize control of ze entire planet!" Salza chuckled evilly.
"As if I couldn't tell that was what was happening already. You're just like Frieza's lot," Bardock spat.
"Au contraire-"
"Zip it."
Bardock knocked him out. He knew enough about the situation to grasp everything that was going to happen now anyway.
"Guh! What the- ow!"
"Oh no- gahhh!"
He followed up by knocking out the other two dimwits.
Bardock left them there to starve while he seized and wore Salza's scouter and stole the other two as well.
'They might be able to sense their own kind but can they sense the enemy? These might just come in handy for those Namekians,' he thought, unaware that in fact, yes, they could also sense the enemy.
He flew back to the place where Moori resided and found that the others had made it there too.
"Bardock! You're okay!" Cargo exclaimed.
"Those vile murderers were far too strong for the warriors stationed in the village to handle. Thank you, Bardock, on behalf of the children and the rest of our people." the Elder of the village bowed respectfully.
"You look all banged up. Let me heal you!" Esca said, stretching his palms out in front of a restless Bardock.
Bardock was stunned at the fact he was being healed for a moment but then he refocused on the info he'd discovered. "Right. Healing. Great. Listen up - Their leader is on this planet right now. His name is Cooler, and he's Frieza's brother. Wouldn't you know it, he's after your Dragon Balls to make his own wish. Also, I took those guys' scouters and configured them so that you won't be tracked using 'em. Didn't know whether you were able to sense the enemy, so you can have these two if you want 'em." Bardock put two scouters in Tsuburi's hands.
"Frieza… Cooler…" Moori whispered.
"I appreciate that, Bardock. Though you must know that we can sense the energy of any being, even yours." Tsuburi smiled. "And it's very noticeable."
"That so." Bardock looked thoughtful. "How d'you do that?"
"Well, since the energy you use in battle comes from inside you, it can be sensed when you focus deeply on it. Anyone can do it," Necke explained.
Moori approached Tsuburi and inspected a scouter, a device that reminded him of some unhappy memories. "It's a similar principle that the scouters use for finding people," he commented.
"I just "focus on it"? You make it sound like child's play," Bardock grumbled. The children of the group scratched their heads awkwardly, because to them, it was.
"How about this? Try sensing our most powerful warrior here. It helps to close your eyes." Moori gestured to a warrior for him to focus on.
"Right. So I'm just gonna stand here like a tree 'til I pick him up in some way?" Bardock lowered his eyelids unimpressed.
"Oh, sit down if you want to," Necke suggested.
Bardock sat on the floor and the Namekian warrior slightly boosted his own ki to help the fellow warrior.
As he closed his eyes he realised they were making him do something akin to meditation. Well, whatever it took to sense a foe without a scouter, he was up for it. A couple of minutes passed and Bardock just knew those other Namekians were still standing there, watching him the whole time.
It had turned into seven minutes of sitting.
"Alright, it's not working," Bardock conceded.
"You won't get it right away. We can't spare another moment I'm afraid. We must give you something to eat, and then we must sleep for the coming battles ahead," Moori said sullenly.
"Sleep? It's midday."
Everyone chuckled at that comment.
Bardock glowered at them, clearly disliking the fact he was out of the loop on something. "What?"
"We don't experience what you know as 'night'. It's always bright on this part of our planet! But you could say it's 'night time' now," Esca explained.
"Ugh, alright."
Esca added, "We don't grow food for ourselves. It's more like a hobby, 'cause we Namekians only need water to live. You can have some of our vegetables!"
"Hn." Bardock pictured Berry in his mind, offering him their produce. He wasn't fed meat for weeks on end. Nevertheless, he nodded in acknowledgement.
"Oh, before you eat, allow us to mend your clothes." A Namekian pointed a finger at him in concentration.
"Wha-"
*Bwip!*
Bardock looked down at his green armour, and to his great surprise, it was as though it was brand new. He was speechless for a moment before he shook his head.
"You guys have got a bunch of neat tricks you're keeping to yourselves, don'tcha? Healing, restoring clothes…"
The Namekian nodded with a smile. "You're welcome. Now let's get you some food."
After eating a bunch of vegetables, Bardock headed outside and stretched. Cargo spotted him.
"I guess I'll hit the hay for a few hours. Someone had better wake me up if this place gets attacked. I'm not missin' out on any action." Bardock rested against a building, preparing to sleep.
"Oh, we'll make sure you're up, don't worry about that. But are you really going to sleep out here?" Cargo didn't look impressed.
"Yeah?"
The two stared at each other.
…
"…Okay, but we do have something you would feel more comfortable sleeping on," Cargo offered in a concerned tone.
"I'm not trying to sleep like a log here. M'fine." Bardock dismissed him by pulling his bandana over his eyes to block the sunlight.
'That can't be comfortable,' Cargo thought as he watched Bardock drift off while sat against the wall.
The other Namekians regarded the Saiyan too, then made their way indoors, except for some warriors who stood guard in case the invaders found them.
A few hours passed, and Bardock had managed to get a few winks of sleep before a huge explosion was heard even as far away as their current location. Every Namekian prepared themselves while Cargo went to wake up Bardock.
…But, it did take a little effort. Bardock was indeed a log right now.
"Bardock! Bardock!" Cargo shook him.
Bardock snorted awake from his sleep then quickly pulled up his bandana.
"There's been a huge explosion really close by! One of our villages to the south west is under attack!"
"Ugh… fine. Here we go again, already," he groaned.
"Well you did say you didn't want to miss out on any action right?" Cargo smirked. Bardock pushed him away and stood up.
"I'm assuming those warrior guys over there are looking at me because I'm supposed to go with 'em?" he surmised.
"Yes, they are. Good luck, Bardock!" Cargo nodded.
Bardock made his way over to the warriors and they all took to the air in tandem.
'If it was a huge explosion, I'm betting it's probably Cooler himself,' Bardock thought with a hint of anger.
He sported a determined expression. 'I won't let another one of Frieza's kind have their way. He's going down!'