Vegeta was extremely annoyed when Kyanna left him almost immediately after kissing him, leaving him with a hard-on for the second time since his arrival to Planet Pilaz. Unfortunately, Kyanna had business that needed tending, and there was nothing he could do to stop that. Patience had never been his strong suit, but he could do nothing except endure.
Before she had left though, the princess had leaned in close to his ear, whispering that she would not leave him in such a state next time. Kyanna was already gone, and Vegeta still had chills from her words. Now he understood why Raditz often joked that women could be dangerous, and not just on the battlefield. Vegeta stood there for a long time, regaining his bearings, which was more difficult than he thought it would be when his mind and body kept dwelling on how electric it felt to kiss the sorceress princess.
Finally, after a quick visit to his private chambers to rapidly take care of his own needs so he could regain some sanity, Vegeta headed back to the room where they had been briefed on the plan. Most of those who had been inside during the briefing were now lingering outside in small groups, caught up in side conversations.
Just to the side of the entrance, he saw Jhainer and Kynton with the two combat pilots, Dassius and Rokk. Jhainer was listening with Kynton calmly trying to speak, but the pilots in particular looked pissed. Though the Trikan teenager appeared stoic, Vegeta had known him the entire time he'd been in Frieza's service, as Jhainer had been handed to Frieza mere days before his own arrival. As such, the Saiyan Prince recognized the subtle, agitated twitches of Jhainer's thick tail under his black cape.
Jhainer noticed him first, and with a jerk of his head, motioned for him to come over. Vegeta scowled and walked up to them, crossing his arms over his silver armor as Kynton, Dassius, and Rokk looked over at him. Dassius in particular shifted his hateful look from Jhainer to Vegeta, but the Saiyan Prince had been on the receiving end of hatred since his arrival in Frieza's ranks. Such a thing to him was like being surrounded by air, hardly noticeable.
"Kynton and company were just telling me about this 'Orrin' they want us to rescue," Jhainer softly said, though Vegeta recognized the annoyance in his voice.
"Oh?" Vegeta asked, easily fielding Dassius' glare. "Who is he then, and why should we waste our time rescuing him?"
"Watch your mouth, Saiyan. Orrin is my younger brother," Dassius snapped, his eyes burning with loathing as he looked between both young soldiers in front of him. Kynton stepped closer, putting his exoskeleton hand on Dassius' shoulder and squeezing it, as though to calm him, but the pilot was heated as he started yelling, "And he was taken by your people, Frieza's men, right before they PURGED OUR HOME PLANET!"
"Dassius," Kynton said, his strong voice finally drawing the pilot commander's attention. Too angry and flustered for words, Dassius just threw his hands up in frustration before he turned and stalked off to be alone.
"He'll be fine," the other pilot, the Vice Commander Rokk gruffly commented. He crossed his arms tightly over his stocky chest, sizing up the two teenagers before him. Though not brimming with hate like his fellow pilot, his orange eyes were not friendly either. "This all happened very recently, so he is still processing it. Our planet was purged; unfortunately, most of our Aerial Combat Unit was off planet when it happened, or we would have mounted an appropriate defense. At least we still have our fighter wingcrafts, so all is not lost," he sighed. "Dassius' brother Orrin was off planet as well, so he survived the purge – however, he was captured by Frieza's men."
"Maybe you two know about it?" Kynton asked, looking between Jhainer and Vegeta. "Orrin was participating in the same youth fighters' tournament where you met Felsin on Planet Nioren. He did so well in the tournament that he came in first place. Our sources say he was last seen being forced into a space pod by one of Frieza's men, but they were gone before anyone could help…the soldier was wearing armor that matched yours."
Vegeta and Jhainer both exchanged a weighted look that lasted for a few seconds, both of them realizing the boy in question was Manzin's recruit, the young muscular kid with the curved blade for one arm. Jhainer narrowed his eyes pointedly at Vegeta; the prince scowled at him, before he looked back at the other two before him.
"What exactly is the strategic importance of rescuing this kid?" Vegeta demanded.
Rokk looked at him with visible annoyance. "Aside from the fact that the boy is one of us, and the only surviving family member of our commander? Do we need more reason to request assistance with his rescue?"
"We agreed to use our resources to help find Dassius' brother, in exchange for their aerial combat assistance when we set the plan into motion," Kynton explained, looking at both young soldiers expectantly. "You are in our ranks now, which means you can assist."
"Hn. Jhainer and I must confer in private."
Without another word, the prince abruptly spun on his heel and stalked away in the opposite direction Dassius had walked in. He felt Jhainer walking closely behind him, and when they rounded a corner in the intricate aerial palace and found themselves alone, Vegeta turned back to him.
"What do you think?" he quietly asked, raising one gloved hand up to stroke his chin as he frowned.
"This…is inconvenient," Jhainer muttered, folding his arms over his chest. One blue clawed finger tapped at his bicep a few times before he continued, "Manzin is not going to let that boy out of his sight once he and Cui return from their purge. He will probably maximize the training with him as much as possible before the recruits fight in their tournament. Even if there was a lapse where Manzin left Orrin alone, and we got involved, it's nearly impossible for us to get the boy to a space pod and send him away without anyone noticing a missing space pod…all approaches that come to mind leave me and you exposed and at risk."
Vegeta nodded his agreement. "Strategically, it would be beneficial if we could make Orrin disappear. Then the odds of our recruits winning increase from 1 in 4, to 1 in 3…however, I agree that an actual rescue is dangerous. There is nothing in this for us, it only helps these pilots who hate us."
"I am inclined to agree," Jhainer softly concluded. "But Kynton seems to expect us to cooperate."
"That certainly does not mean we have to," Vegeta mumbled thoughtfully.
Jhainer looked at him curiously. "What are you thinking?"
"They want Orrin to be free from Frieza's service, so I say we just resolve this by discreetly killing him. He has no rank at all, and thus the boy's life is worthless. We tell these pilots and Kynton, and whoever else may ask, that we got him off planet safely and did our part. If they ever get someone else on the inside, they can confirm that the boy is no longer there. It wouldn't be our fault if he never made it to his brother, as we cannot be held responsible for his safety once he's gone into space…space pods malfunction sometimes," Vegeta concluded, his voice cold and methodical. "Thus, we 'satisfy' what these pilots want, Frieza won't care, Manzin won't know where the boy went, and it is all at minimal risk to us. Plus, it helps our own recruits. Well, it helps my kid, Adriel, who will undoubtedly kill your recruit and get me another point."
"It likely does not matter who wins or earns rank in the end, as this plan is likely to succeed."
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "If you truly believe that, Trikan, then when we return to base, go tell Frieza that you are dropping out of the squad and forfeiting your effort to earn rank," he challenged.
Jhainer glared at him, looking absolutely menacing with his dead eye; when he looked like that, Vegeta could concede that he probably made for a terrifying last image before his victims died at his hand.
He easily held Jhainer's glare for a few long moments, with his own intense stare. When the silence stretched on, he took it as Jhainer conceding the point, and he snorted.
"That's what I thought."
"It's wise to continue the effort with the rank qualifying squad…just in case," Jhainer relented.
Vegeta nodded his agreement. "Then we agree that we will kill the boy?"
"Yes, you can take care of him. I will take care of killing the lead technician."
"Fine by me," Vegeta said with a malicious smirk. The boy he was going to kill meant less than nothing to him, but the idea that it would harm Manzin's chances for earning rank pleased him.
Jhainer nodded, and then frowned. "You will have to take care that Princess Kyanna does not pull this thought about Manzin's recruit from your mind…we also do not know who else here may be able to read minds. Perhaps Kynton can as well."
"Not a problem for me, Trikan. I have mental discipline. You make sure you keep your thoughts well in control."
Someone chuckled from the side. "I see you have personally met Princess Kyanna."
They both looked over as Felsin came up to them. Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest, a brooding look on his face as he surveyed the furred alien. He had not been able to speak to Felsin in private since their tense encounter at the tournament where he had recruited Adriel. Upon reflection of that covert meeting, he was reminded that Felsin said he had dealt with his own father through his allegiance with Planet Vegeta.
For a fleeting moment, there was part of Vegeta tempted to ask about his father…but the desire was quickly gone, replaced with a familiar hatred and resentment towards the man who should have protected him, and instead gave him up like a coward. He stubbornly refused to learn anything about him, for his father did not deserve it.
"Indeed…especially Vegeta," Jhainer said with a smirk, earning a glare from the prince next to him.
"I see," Felsin said thoughtfully. "Well, I wanted to see you both about the poison we want to use on Frieza's men on the base planet, before the aerial and ground assaults are launched."
He removed one vial of liquid from the cloak he was wearing. It was small and thin, the size of a finger, in a red container with no label. He raised it up for them both to see.
"If you use your ki and burn this whole vial, the poison will go airborne in a clear, undetectable gas. It will spread until it covers the entire northern half of the planet and will weaken, if not kill, a majority of Frieza's men, without them even noticing."
Jhainer and Vegeta both looked warily at the vial, which did not look as powerful as Felsin claimed it was. However, neither wanted to put it to the test. Vegeta finally nodded, and took it from Felsin, tucking it into his armor.
"This is the antidote," Felsin continued, holding up a similarly sized vial, this one colored blue. It contained far less of the liquid in the red vial. "You take one drop of this, and give one drop to anyone who you do not want affected. Do it before you use the poison."
He handed the vial to Jhainer, who took it and stored it within his armor.
"Did the others speak to you both about rescuing Orrin?" Felsin pressed.
"Yes, Kynton and the pilots spoke to us. We will free the boy from Frieza's service," Vegeta gruffly said, with Jhainer giving a nod of agreement next to him. "We will send him here in a space pod soon after we arrive back on base," he easily lied.
Felsin nodded. He took out two more green vials, extending them to both young soldiers. "Each of these will help you both recover in the days ahead, if necessary. I know if half the rumors of Frieza's brutality towards his own men are true, you may need these. It won't help you recover completely, but it may make the difference in helping you each survive long enough to get real medical aid."
Jhainer took one of the vials, and Felsin extended the other to Vegeta, who scoffed.
"I am not a weakling like Jhainer, I do not require these tricks," Vegeta sneered, purposely ignoring the fact that the last vial Felsin gave him had easily saved his life. Jhainer glared at him, but Vegeta ignored the Trikan soldier as he continued, "What is next?"
"Well, your direct portion is over now," Felsin explained, putting the vial away. "You are most welcome to stay for the next two days while we go over the plan in more detail with the others. Your combined insight into Frieza and his men, along with their methods and operations, cannot be overstated.
"However…considering that Frieza has granted you both a few days to be here…if you feel you would like to leave and go somewhere else in the greater universe, without his knowledge, we can jam the signals on your space pods and scouters, and you may have the next few days to travel freely without any tracking. Frieza will assume you are still here. So long as you return within a few days, or make your way directly to your base planet afterwards, he will never know you took your own leave. If you are interested in this, let me know, and we will arrange for it soonest. Else, the palace is yours."
Felsin then bowed to them. Jhainer immediately bowed back, but Vegeta just rolled his eyes.
"You going to stay or go off-planet?" Jhainer asked him once they were alone again. Vegeta shrugged.
"Likely stay," he conceded. Though strategically it was better if he left soon to help train Adriel, he did not think having mere days would make a grand difference. And if he was being honest with himself, having a few days of general safety and sufficient food felt like an unheard-of luxury. He did not know when, if ever, he'd have either of those things again, much less both. "And you?"
"I may depart and see if I can visit my home planet for a couple days," Jhainer softly admitted.
"Tch."
Vegeta's nose twitched, bitterness and jealousy churning in his stomach at the thought that they had both been offered to Frieza as little boys, around the same age, around the same time…which had spared Jhainer's planet, but not his own. Though Jhainer had not gone back home since that time (to Vegeta's knowledge), at least he still had a home.
Without a word, he abruptly turned and left Jhainer, a rush of anger swirling through him. The young prince wandered the palace alone for some time, brooding to himself.
It was the smell of fire that finally drew him out of his own mind. Vegeta paused curiously in front of a dark wooden door at the end of a long hallway of the palace. The door caught his eye, being so different from the rest, and looked older and almost out of place in the luxurious palace. He leaned closer, straining his hearing, and could hear some whimpering inside. Remembering that Felsin had said that the "palace was his," Vegeta pushed the door open.
The room was small and mostly dark, though there appeared to be a shrine at the front that was filled with candles, the flames growing red and giving the room an eerie vibe. There was what appeared to be an altar with different kinds of engraved symbols. He noticed a handful of levitating stone slabs in front of the altar where one could sit down, and finally recognized that this was some kind of prayer room.
Kneeling at the front and lighting a candle was Princess Kyanna. She was murmuring softly under her breath, and while this was not entirely a shock – though he himself was not religious, the Saiyans had honored the God of Death and thus he was not completely ignorant of the ideas – what he saw next to the altar did surprise him.
There was a black iron cage there, and inside, what appeared to be a young humanoid alien boy with wisps of green hair and green eyes – about the same age he'd been when he was handed over to Frieza. The boy was on his knees in the cage, his hands bound behind him, a tight gag around his mouth. He locked eyes with Vegeta; there was desperation and terror in his tear-streaked face, a look that Vegeta recognized very well.
"My father and I consulted with the oracle this morning before dawn," Kyanna finally said, drawing Vegeta's immediate attention again. She was still focused on lighting the candles in front of the shrine, completely ignoring the whimpering boy in the cage to her far right.
"With who?" he asked warily.
"The oracle. There is one in almost every galaxy across the universe. They are psychic, and can commune with the dead, and maybe even once or twice with the gods if they are strong enough," she quietly explained, shaking off the match. "She gave us a warning."
He frowned. "What warning?"
"She has heard some rumors in the afterlife that one of the most powerful gods has been backing Frieza," she replied. "There are many gods, some who protect…others who destroy. There is no way to know for sure which one it is, and no oracle is currently powerful enough to find out. Thus we must turn to the God of Sorcery, the only one who we know is on our side. With prayer and sacrifice, he will protect us against whichever god has sided with Frieza. He will give us strength to emerge victorious against Frieza."
Vegeta moved to the front of the altar, surveying the shrine closer as he crossed his arms over his chest. He did not recognize any of the engraved symbols that were there. Below all of them, in front of the candles, was a large knife with a black blade that was the length of his forearm. Shifting his gaze, he regarded the princess from the side; Kyanna appeared quite serious as she lowered her head, reciting a short prayer in a language he did not understand.
He looked back to the cage, and he had an idea of what she meant by "sacrifice." Something about the boy's sheer hopelessness resonated with him, much in the way that Adriel curling up into a ball after he had punched him in the face had struck him. Fleeting moments where he found himself feeling…something, but he stifled that down with expertise.
"Bring me the boy now, Prince Vegeta," Kyanna ordered once her prayer had concluded, smoothly rising to her feet.
His nose twitched, years of familiar agitation flooding through him. "I do not take orders from you, Princess Kyanna," he growled.
Kyanna stared at him then, eyes narrowed and gaze unreadable, her lavender eyes darkening. For the first time, Vegeta believed her when she had said that she was well-versed in the horrors of the universe. He easily maintained the stare, both of them ignoring the boy who was quietly crying again in the cage.
"Is that the real reason you don't want to bring him to me, Prince Vegeta? Because you do not want to be given orders?" Kyanna finally asked, turning back to the altar to pick up the black blade. She twirled it with dexterity between her fingers. "Or are you truly not the savage I thought you were, and you would rather not see me slaughter an innocent boy?"
Vegeta's eyes narrowed dangerously at what she was implying. A heartbeat later and the Saiyan had already opened the cage and roughly thrown the crying, terrified boy to the floor at Kyanna's feet. The prince then crossed his arms over his armor, scowling as he looked pointedly at her, as though daring her to question his viciousness again.
But her attention was solely on the boy now, as she easily forced him back up to his knees on the altar before the candles and symbols Vegeta didn't understand. The boy was sobbing so much his face was flushed red, but he was helpless to remove Kyanna's strong grip on his hair that held him in place.
She twirled the blade again. "The blood of the innocent helps the God of Sorcery grow even stronger, thus we must do this from time to time. For it is from him that we strengthen our magic. And we need as much strength as we can get to face Frieza."
With that, Kyanna's arm moved in a flash faster than Vegeta could see, viciously slicing the boy's throat open. She roughly held him over the altar with a tight grip on his hair while he made strangled choking noises as he quickly bled out. Vegeta frowned, moving out of range of the thick, dark green blood quickly spreading over the floor. He did not want to stain his white boots, after all.
The prince looked up right as Kyanna released the boy, letting him collapse on the altar. Vegeta knew from experience that the boy would be dead in seconds, thus he shifted his attention to the princess who was wiping the blade clean of blood. Kyanna then placed the blade back, and then sighed deeply as though she had quenched a tremendous thirst, leaning her head back. Vegeta raised an eyebrow when a soft yellow glow surrounded the princess right as the boy died.
Kyanna then turned to face him, and a wary look came over Vegeta's face as she approached him. Her normal lavender pupils were gone – now her pupils were black, with a bright pulsing ring of lavender encircling each of her eyes. The yellow glow was pulsing with her new strength as her white hair flowed in waves.
The prince tensed and instinctively uncrossed his arms, shifting one foot back and swallowing with uncertainty as he braced for some type of attack. The defensive stance was enough to make Kyanna pause.
"Are you afraid, Prince Vegeta?" she asked, and he couldn't read her tone.
Vegeta scoffed. "I'm not afraid of anything or anyone," he sneered.
Kyanna smiled, the glow around her dissipating. Her unchanged pupils were challenging.
"Then prove it."
With speed and strength that left him breathless, Kyanna forced him to sit down hard on one of the levitating slabs in front of the altar. Vegeta had barely realized what was happening before she suddenly was straddling him, making him gasp inaudibly and his heart pound. He hadn't taken another breath before she captured his lips in a heated kiss, drunk in her new power and her desire for him. He quickly met her force with his own, as though this was a battle he was unwilling to lose. He grabbed her roughly as he pulled her closer to deepen the fervent kiss. His tail had unwrapped at some point, the fur standing on end as it flicked behind him, as his blood was set on fire.
She broke their kiss then, pulling up and fully against his body; Vegeta made a most un-Saiyan like whimper when he found his face against her chest as she rocked against him. His heart was racing so much and he was so hard that he was almost dizzy; he could barely do more than put one arm around her waist and hang on tight.
Vegeta finally regained his sanity though when Kyanna boldly reached down to his erection. He snarled and seized her wrist tightly without even thinking about it, forcing her to stop before she could touch him.
Kyanna chuckled; one did not need to be a mind reader to know he did not trust her.
"You are wise to be cautious," she whispered in his ear. "If I swore to the God of Sorcery that I will not harm you, would you believe me?"
"No," he growled. "Your god means nothing to me."
"I thought not."
She raised her free hand, and the black knife she had used to kill the boy – who was still in the room with them – suddenly shot forth to her hand. Vegeta's eyes widened in alarm, sensing an attack, but before he could throw her off him to defend himself, Kyanna put the knife handle in his hand so he could grip it tightly.
"This blade is made of a special type of glass, only found on our home planet, which was destroyed. It's the key to my magic. If you were to stab me with this blade, I would die."
Vegeta looked at her warily; revealing such a weakness was unheard of where he came from. Though he and Kyanna were not enemies, he would never have shared such a thing if their positions were reversed.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because if I hurt you, you now have the means to kill me in return…now do you believe me?"
"Hn."
He did nothing for a few seconds, but then finally let go of her wrist, keeping his grip tight on the knife with his other hand, strategically to the side and close to her chest. Kyanna easily ignored that he was holding the weapon, especially when he made no move to stop her hand from moving down to what she wanted from him. Both could seriously injure, if not outright kill the other at any moment, and that assurance seemed to be enough for him to allow the contact to continue.
Vegeta was tense with anticipation, but as soon as she finally touched him, he gasped raggedly. The brief conversation had left him only half-hard, but Kyanna corrected that in seconds with deft fingers that knew just how to get him rock hard again. No one had ever touched him so intimately, and he would never have guessed that it could feel so good as a moan escaped him.
"You may not have the experience of a man, but you certainly have the size of one, Prince Vegeta," she whispered in appreciation as she stroked him harder now. The uniforms of Frieza's men were capable of stretching almost infinitely to accommodate a variety of transformations, and thus his pants left very little to Kyanna's imagination. Her words and continuous touch made him shudder, and the prince quite literally found himself incapable of responding. The whole experience was so intense it made his chest burn, and he had the vague notion that he was suffocating.
Sensing that she was quickly overwhelming the inexperienced young Saiyan, and that he was unconsciously holding his breath, Kyanna slowed down the pace. Vegeta finally exhaled as he began to breathe heavily. His face was flushed now and he was starting to break a sweat. He grunted as she kissed him again, deep down never wanting this kind of pleasure to end. As though catching the thought, Kyanna deepened their kiss as Vegeta's tail wrapped around her thigh without him even realizing.
When she reached just underneath his armor to find where his pants began so she could undress him, he again seized her wrist tightly to make her stop.
Vegeta swallowed, his face appearing to redden even further. He was loathed to admit, even to himself, that Frieza's words were ringing in his ears – but he could not deny it. The tyrant's recent warning of what he would do if Vegeta ever sired a child was not something he could take lightly. The resistance movement had no guarantees of success, and thus his sanity won out in the end.
"I…can't risk children," he rasped.
Kyanna looked in his eyes as she ventured into his mind to see what he was not saying. The memories and thoughts of Frieza – along with the loathing and fear he inspired – were dominating Vegeta's thoughts. She was able to hear the warning the tyrant had given loud and clear. This reinforced her belief that she was on the side of righteousness, and that anything that needed to be done in order to defeat Frieza was worthwhile. The end justified the means.
"I was badly wounded in a fight a few years ago," Kyanna admitted, making him raise an eyebrow. "I barely survived. Children are not in my future as I cannot have them."
Vegeta scowled at her words, and Kyanna could see and read that he did not trust what she was saying. Reminding herself that he had never done this before, she took a deep breath to settle her own surging lust. The Saiyan's body heat was elevated, and it was delicious, but she decided to go a different way to ease him into things better. Changing tactics, she once again reached for the waist band under his armor.
"It's fine. There are other ways to give and receive pleasure without that risk. Allow me to be the one to show you, Prince Vegeta," she assuaged him.
Vegeta swallowed again but reluctantly let her wrist go, his other hand still tightly holding the blade in preparation to immediately retaliate if she tried to injure him. He watched avidly as Kyanna lowered herself and hooked her fingers into the waist band of his pants, beginning to pull them down. His face reddened in a mixture of embarrassment and desire when she freed his erection. It felt vulnerable somehow for her to look at him in such a state, vulnerable and awkward…but also stimulating. He realized what she wanted to do, and his grip tightened so hard on the handle of the knife that his knuckles were as white as the gloves he was wearing.
Before he could think himself into stopping her, Kyanna ducked down with a mischievous look and took just the tip of him into her mouth.
Vegeta's mind immediately went blank with a sharp gasp as his whole body jolted in surprise, before he leaned his head back as his mouth fell open. The heels of his boots dug hard into the floor as she took him deeper, making him whimper helplessly and his eyes roll. His nerve endings were on fire, the intensity of his pleasure blinding as Kyanna worked him with precision. His free hand awkwardly landed somewhere near her face, then moved to the back of her head; he had no idea where he was supposed to put it, but he couldn't think of anything other than how moist and warm her mouth was. He never noticed her make a motion with her hand that moved one of the levitating slabs behind his back to give him support, but he felt it and was grateful for it.
It was all too new and too intense, as he panted roughly through his nose. He lasted less than fifteen seconds before he cursed in his native language as his body stilled; Kyanna hummed her satisfaction over making the Saiyan prince moan loudly as he hit an intense climax. Fortunately for her, they hadn't coupled properly, for he had no endurance yet and would have left her dissatisfied. Practice made perfect though, and she was a huge fan of practicing.
Vegeta meanwhile was in a drunk haze of pleasure, grateful for the support for his back as he tried catching his breath, his head still leaned back. For once, his mind was totally clear as he briefly allowed himself to just relish in the new sensations. He had brought himself to climax before, but it had never felt like that. His tension eased, he grunted and raised his head, eyeing the woman with him as though she was an enemy about to strike while he was weakened. Kyanna boldly stroked some of the fur on his tail, and he shuddered, his blood rushing and threatening to make him hard again.
Before she could make another move though, there was a sharp knock on the door. Vegeta and Kyanna both looked over, and she casually called out, "Yes?"
"Princess Kyanna," Felsin said from the other side of the door. "You and Prince Vegeta are both requested immediately by your father. We have unexpected visitors…Frieza's men," he said anxiously.
Kyanna instantly looked at Vegeta suspiciously when the Saiyan tensed, but her mind reading allowed her to know that he was as caught off guard as she was. She stood easily, and he was standing soon as well as he tugged his pants back up. Neither of them cared that her white gown and his white boots were wearing the dead boy's blood. Vegeta nonchalantly stepped over the body as he put the black knife back on the altar where it had been.
"Do you know who it could be?" Kyanna asked as she made her way to the door.
"I do not," Vegeta conceded, following her out of the room as they met with Felsin, his tail wrapping around his waist.
They finally stopped walking when they entered a room off a hallway in the palace, and entered into what looked like a technical operations center. There were technicians in front of holographic monitor displays, clicking in the air and moving information on the digital screens as other technicians scurried about. In the center was a hologram of Planet Pilaz, and they could see two holographic space pods rapidly approaching. Jhainer and Kynton were both standing before the display talking in hushed tones, but then turned upon Felsin, Kyanna, and Vegeta entering.
"What is happening?" Princess Kyanna demanded as she went over to the display.
Kynton's gaze drifted down his daughter's gown, seeing the blood from the sacrifice; he looked briefly pleased. However, when his gaze shifted to Vegeta and he saw matching blood on his boots, and the way his face was still flushed, his mismatched eyes narrowed angrily before he looked away. He was not a mind reader like his daughter, but he did not need to be. Jhainer shook his head at Vegeta in exasperation, but the prince just shrugged carelessly.
"We have two space pods approaching, but can't identify them from this far away," Kynton replied as Vegeta came to stand next to Jhainer.
"Won't you do an interrogation like you did for us when we were approaching the planet?" Vegeta gruffly asked, crossing his arms over his armor.
"They are just out of range of our communications," Felsin explained, going over to examine the holograph. He typed on some alien keys in front of the display, and a blue sphere surrounded the planet, but the space pods were still outside the sphere. "Once they enter the blue sphere, we will be able to communicate."
"I say we shoot them down now and kill them before they even land," Vegeta suggested, frowning as he examined the display.
"Are you mad, Saiyan?" Jhainer demanded, his soft voice more forceful than usual. "We take those two space pods out, you know what Frieza will do."
The prince scoffed. "We take them down, then we leave immediately, and explain to Lord Frieza that they were casualties of the sorcerer king. However we can say that we eliminated the threat afterwards," Vegeta explained, not even aware that he'd referred to Frieza respectfully.
"So we were strong enough to defeat the sorcerer king, but not strong enough to prevent this from happening? Frieza will find out the lie." Jhainer shook his head. "I say we let them land, and see what they want. Our orders were not to purge the planet, but to free the planet from Kynton's supposed tyranny. We can meet with them and say we completed our mission so nothing comes of it."
"Let them land and see what they want?" Vegeta scoffed in disgust. "Why do you think he would have sent them, Trikan, when this mission is ours? To check on our well-being?" he sneered. He shifted his gaze to Felsin, Kynton, and finally Kyanna. "Unless you all want to put your resistance plan to the test within the next twenty minutes, I am telling you to kill them immediately."
"Would Frieza want retribution for the loss of his men?" Kyanna asked thoughtfully, eyeing the Saiyan before her. "And is there any possibility that Planet Pilaz may be forced to pay the price?"
Vegeta scowled and didn't reply, even as Jhainer nodded next to him. Kynton took a deep breath.
"We will ask them for identification before landing. Then you both can meet with them. Tell them I am dead and you were about to leave the planet. This palace is too high altitude to be detected by Frieza's scouters, we have confirmed that," Kynton said, making Jhainer and Vegeta exchange a look between them. They did not want to ask how exactly that tidbit of information had been confirmed. Kynton looked towards Felsin. "Perhaps you can be there as well, to confirm that all is well on the planet."
"It's a foolish mistake to let them land at all," Vegeta adamantly said again. "The best way is to-"
"When I want your opinion, boy, I will ask for it," Kynton snapped, his annoyance over the Saiyan's involvement with his daughter bleeding through.
Vegeta's eyes flared with indignation, his arms lowering to his sides as he clenched his fists. "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" he snarled.
"Stop!" Kyanna snapped at them both in frustration. "We do not have time for this. These two may need to leave the planet immediately to maintain the ruse." She shifted her gaze over to Felsin. "Have their space pods been fitted with the new communications panel?"
Felsin nodded, looking towards the two young soldiers before him. "In your space pods, if you say, "Run diagnostics test X12", it will disengage the built-in communication and mute your scouters. It will also link you to us directly. To end the transmission, simply say, "diagnostics test X12 concluded" and it will make your space pod's built-in communications operational again. The modules have been put directly into the panels, so unless someone literally takes the electrical components apart, they will never notice. Please do not use this unless there is an emergency. Too many transmissions risk Frieza's technicians noticing the signal."
"We will lift the signal jamming now on this planet to prove that you have succeeded in your mission here," Kynton announced, signaling with his exoskeleton hand to a technician and making Vegeta scowl in disapproval as he crossed his arms tightly over his silver armor.
They all looked to the hologram in front of them as the space pods entered the blue zone. Kyanna nodded to a woman technician, who slipped on a communication device over one ear that blinked with a blue light.
"Unknown space vehicle, identify yourself at once and state the purpose for your visit," the technician stated almost mechanically.
"We come in Lord Frieza's name, representing the Planet Trade Organization," Manzin's voice responded, making Vegeta and Jhainer look at each other in surprise. "We come to assist our men already on the ground. We do not wish Planet Pilaz harm, but if anything suspicious is tried, we have further backup ready to be deployed."
The technician paused and looked at the group behind her expectantly. Kynton just nodded, and so she replied, "You are authorized to land. You will be met upon your landing."
She ended the transmission. Kynton nodded again, then turned to the group behind him.
"We must go now. They will make landfall soon. I will teleport you three together back to your space pods, as it looks like they will land in the same area. Your scouters will work now."
"One minute, Father, if we may," Kyanna said, her voice making it clear she wasn't asking. She looked at Vegeta and motioned for him to follow her, ignoring her father fuming. She was the stronger of the two, so he relented. Vegeta shot Kynton a smug and arrogant look, before following the princess to a quiet part of the technical operations center. She then turned to the young Saiyan as he came closer to her, his arms defensively crossed over his chest.
She turned to them once they had some semblance of privacy, though it wasn't much as some technicians still scrambled near them.
"So, your father seems to like me," Vegeta chuckled.
Kyanna frowned at him. "Did Felsin give you a healing vial?"
"Tch. Don't need it."
She looked irritated, but had no time to argue with him. Instead, she regarded him studiously.
"Vegeta…" she started, finally dropping his title. "I did not tell you earlier, as I had other business to tend to. However, when we consulted the oracle, I took the liberty of asking about you."
He blinked, looking suspicious at first, and then confused. "Why?" he finally asked.
"I wanted to know. I ask about those I find interesting. You are the last of your lineage. I was curious to know if you would ever find peace in your life. She said that one day, you would indeed find peace, though she cannot know how or when. That, combined with the oracle telling us that Frieza's reign will end one day, must mean that we will be successful in this movement."
Vegeta scowled, shifting his weight awkwardly between his feet.
"These oracles are not the ones who will defeat Frieza," he gruffly informed her. "Only strength can do that."
"Of course," she nodded her agreement. Her eyes were soft lavender again as she glanced back to her father who was signaling for her to wrap it up.
"Well, then this is goodbye for now. We will be in touch. In the meantime, remember your discretion, and stay safe."
She reached out and put her palm on his chest plate. Vegeta nodded once, then turned back to where Kynton was waiting for him, his black cape flowing behind him. As soon as he was there, they blinked out of sight.
Back on the level ground of Planet Pilaz, Vegeta stood next to Jhainer as they watched the space pods spiraling through the atmosphere. They were both standing outside the crater where Vegeta's space pod was, with Felsin standing off to the side as he anxiously waited for the landing. The Saiyan's red scouter was back on and with the jamming lifted, he was watching the numbers scroll – his guess had been right, and Cui was the other man coming in with Manzin. The sky was a mix of blues and purples with the approaching early nightfall, the planet rings bright above them, where Halo City was. Now without complete darkness surrounding them, he could see that they had landed in the midst of a desert. The sand was a mix of soft pink and dark blue, complementing the sky.
"So did you get far?" Jhainer asked softly as the space pods crashed in two large explosions of sand not far from where they were. Vegeta passed him a smirk, and the Trikan snorted. "Figures."
"Well, let's go see what these fools want," Vegeta growled, levitating up, before taking to the air.
Moments later, he landed on the edge of another crater in the sand. This time, the space pod below belonged to Manzin. Jhainer landed behind him shortly afterwards, with Felsin re-materializing with their native technology and appearing behind Jhainer. Vegeta crossed his arms, an intense glare on his face as the pod opened and Manzin emerged.
Manzin looked up and made eye contact with Vegeta, and then his eyes changed into black slits as he began walking up out of the crater.
"Vegeta," he tersely greeted, his eyes shifting to the Trikan soldier coming to stand next to the prince. "Jhainer."
"Manzin," Vegeta sneered. "What are you doing here?"
"Not happy to see me?" Manzin snorted, finally climbing out of the crater. He set his sights on the stranger with them, and he frowned with recognition. "You are one of the Pilazians, I gather?"
Felsin bowed. "Yes, I came to ensure that all was well here. And to let you and your other man know that Vegeta and Jhainer have both helped this planet tremendously, by eliminating the threat here of the sorcerer king who had us enslaved."
"Hmm…" Manzin hummed. He folded his arms over his chest, his eyes a light blue as he examined Felsin, then Jhainer, then Vegeta. The Saiyan prince knew that light blue meant that Manzin was suspicious, and he scowled as he tried to act normal.
"Well? What are you here for?" Vegeta peevishly demanded as Cui came over to them, having climbed out of his own crater. Both Manzin and Cui's matching silver sets of armor were dirtied with some remnants of blood, and Vegeta knew without even asking that they had come straight from the planet they had purged.
"Vegeta, impatient as always," Cui chuckled. "We finished the purge for our joint mission, and got orders to come here immediately afterwards."
"What are the orders?" Jhainer asked.
"Well Trikan, it's simple. We are here with three objectives," Manzin explained, his gaze landing on Vegeta again, his eyes once again black with hatred. His gaze made it clear that he had not forgotten about his brother, and there would be future retribution to pay.
"The first was to check on you both and your status. Since the interference on this planet was jamming our signals, base had no way of communicating with either of you. We were sent to check that you had completed your mission, and to assist you with defeating the sorcerer king if you hadn't done it yet," Manzin said.
He reached up and activated his scouter, with Cui doing the same thing. They both instinctively began scanning for the highest power levels. Vegeta had already done the scan though, and he had already verified what he'd been told earlier – the aerial palace was so high up above the planetary rings, that the scouters did not pick up on the warriors that were still up there, conspiring against Frieza.
"Tch," Vegeta scoffed arrogantly. "We eliminated the sorcerer king shortly after landing. Felsin-" he gestured his head towards the Pilazian with them, "-in his gratitude allowed us to stay and rest for one night in the capital after the fight, while they worked on lifting the jamming that the sorcerer's men had around the planet," he smoothly lied, well-aware that with their scouters back on, base could hear what he was saying.
"Where is the sorcerer's body?" Cui asked curiously. "Lord Frieza wants his head, if possible."
"Blasted to ashes," Jhainer said softly, his tail waving behind him.
"You there," Manzin growled, looking towards Felsin now. Felsin approached and bowed again. "What is your name and rank?"
"I am Felsin, a diplomat of Pilaz. I travel often on official business representing the planet, for business and government purposes, and occasionally for technological scouting."
"So you are qualified to speak on behalf of your planet?"
Felsin nodded. "I am."
"Are the leaders on your planet satisfied with the work Vegeta and Jhainer have done here? Enough to swear your allegiance now to the Planet Trade Organization?" Manzin demanded. He gestured to his scouter to silently tell Felsin that others were listening.
"Yes, we are quite satisfied. In exchange for their services rendered, we do swear our allegiance to Lord Frieza and the Planet Trade Organization," Felsin easily replied, bowing again.
"Looks like you imbeciles wasted your time," Vegeta growled. "Next time, tell Zarbon that I can complete my own fucking assignments without any assistance," he snidely added. He was well aware that Zarbon would have heard that and would likely make him pay later, but in the moment, he did not care.
Manzin and Cui both exchanged a look, and then observed Felsin and the other two teenaged soldiers with them. Vegeta and Jhainer were both tense, but this was not unusual, given their icy history. Manzin shrugged then, not picking up any power level of note, just picking up cities with civilians around the massive planet. By what his scouter was saying, they were the strongest on the planet; and just the fact that he could even use his scouter at all meant that the jamming was lifted now. He had no reason to push the issue further.
"Well, that makes life easy then," Cui said with a grin. "How's about we stay here for a night too, Manzin? I could use a decent meal."
Manzin passed him a look of annoyance. "We cannot, idiot. We have our second objective."
"Which is?" Jhainer pressed.
"To bring you both back right away. Lord Frieza wants to call another 'all hands' meeting, for there is some kind of emergency. He wants you both there. Since you're both still alive – unfortunate, really, I was hoping you were both dead – it means that your little vacation is over."
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "Emergency?" he asked, his voice neutral. "What kind of emergency?"
"I don't know, Saiyan, I'm not his confidante," Manzin snapped. "I just know he found out about something and now he's pissed, so we should leave soon."
"What's the third objective?" Jhainer asked, undeterred.
Manzin grinned, and then Vegeta, Jhainer, and Cui's scouters all beeped.
Before they could react, Manzin raised his hand and fired a vicious ki blast. Vegeta instinctively got out of the way, but Manzin still had the edge on him in speed and strength; he had no time to see that Felsin was the target of the blast. By the time he looked over in surprise, the old Pilazian was gasping his last breath, a hole the size of a fist burned through his chest. He and Vegeta briefly made eye contact, before Felsin collapsed on his back, dead before he even hit the sand.
Vegeta was briefly stunned, but Jhainer was faster on the uptake as he yelled at Manzin, "What did you do, you fool? He is a high ranked man here on this planet, that we are now supposed to be protecting!"
"He mouthed off too much when he and his men consulted with Lord Frieza on base. Lord Frieza wanted us to send a message, and he thought Felsin's corpse was the best way of doing that. Now they will think twice before challenging Lord Frieza."
Vegeta was tense as he looked back at Manzin, unsure if Kynton and Kyanna were somehow keeping tabs on what was happening. With their advanced technology, to say nothing of their magic, he had no doubt they were aware that Felsin had just died. As such, he had no idea if they were going to retaliate against Manzin right where they stood.
But nothing happened. Manzin carelessly turned around and started going back down the crater as he called out, "Well, this was a short mission then. Good thing it wasn't out of the way. Let's go. We do not want to be late to the meeting Lord Frieza is going to call."
Vegeta and Jhainer exchanged a look as Cui departed as well. They both then looked down at Felsin's corpse. There was no retaliation; if the sorcerer duo was aware of the situation, they must have decided Felsin's life wasn't worth instigating anything with the other two soldiers who worked for Frieza. His life was not worth jeopardizing the resistance, and both soldiers silently realized that the same likely held true for them as well.
Jhainer took a deep breath. "Well, let's go then, Vegeta. Manzin is right. We do not want to be late."
Vegeta nodded, frowning as he looked down at Felsin's body. Quite suddenly, he found himself feeling a hint of regret that he hadn't asked about his father when he had the chance. He took a deep breath as well, and then turned to head back to his own space pod, chastising himself for the thought.
A couple of minutes later, and all four pods blasted back into space.