Bardock awoke in the darkness of his space pod. He would soon reach his destination, Planet Vegeta. Many other one-man ships headed for the reddish sphere as well, all by order of the Emperor of the Universe, Lord Frieza.

Every single Saiyan being there at once was something unheard of, at least since twelve years ago, when they first took to the stars. Since then they had become the most feared warriors in the known universe. The thought of bringing his entire species together in one place made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It reminded him too much of similar tactics, employed by their enemies as well as by themselves. Annihilation tactics.

The capsule entered the atmosphere, and for an instant, the world was covered in fire. After landing on the padded landing platform, the hatch opened. After months in space, he breathed at last the warm air of his home planet. The spaceport seemed in chaos. Hundreds of alien servants hastily removed the capsules from the platforms to make room for those that kept arriving from all corners of the universe.

"Bardock!" Gine said, raising her voice above the tumult.

Bardock walked towards his wife. She was no longer pregnant and her eyes were red from crying. They flew to the outskirts of the spaceport, away from noise and prying ears.

"What's with you? Where is Kakarot?" he asked.

"He was born ninety-four standard days ago." Gine looked weary, clasping her hands together. "They said he was too weak, a power level of 2. He was sent into space as soon as he was born. I couldn't even hold him..."

2 units. He had never heard of such a low power level in a Saiyan, not even a newborn. No doubt, he had taken after his mother. Gine had always had a weakness uncommon of their kind, not just physical. Any other Saiyan woman would have gotten out of bed after giving birth and don her battle armor again, ready for the next mission. But for her, something as common as sending babies of lesser power to remote planets to depopulate them and return with glory, or die, proving they were not worthy of being called warriors, was just disheartening.

Raditz, their eldest son, came flying up to them and snapped to attention to greet him. "Are we going to the feasts, Father?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The warriors gather in the squares in front of the bonfires day and night, eating and drinking as much as they want."

"Perhaps," said Bardock. "Raditz, take your mother home. I still have something to do here."

Feasts every day and night, with plenty of food and drink to satiate thousands of Saiyans. It couldn't be cheap, of course everything would be paid for by Frieza. The Emperor had not given them a single day of rest between one battle and the next since he inherited his father's throne five years ago. Too many things didn't fit.

Bardock flew towards the spaceport's central spire, the air traffic control building. He walked through the corridors until he found the being he was looking for, a little man with bluish skin and a long head, the chief of that department.

"Mr. Bardock, to what do I owe this visit?" asked the alien, with a tremor in his high-pitched voice.

"I want you to look up some data for me."

"I'm afraid, Mr. Bardock, that would not be entirely corr-"

Bardock lifted him by the neck with one hand, causing his thin, little legs to kick in the air. "You were saying?"

"Alright, sir." The being nodded as best he could. After putting him down, the weakling ran to his computer while trying to catch his breath.

"I want the travel logs. All programmed entrances and exits."

The alien typed away, and the screen lit up with a long list of names and dates. But all the entries had something in common.

"It's all arrivals. No departures scheduled?" Bardock asked.

The spaceport's chief searched for a few moments, until he found something, judging by the way his bulging eyes opened. "There is one tomorrow, sir, the only one in the registry. Prince Vegeta and his personal escort, on a special mission with the authorization of Lord Frieza himself."

Bardock remained silent. It was known by all that Prince Vegeta was Frieza's favorite among the Saiyans, both for his youth and his power. If he planned to gather all the Saiyans but kept his favorite away, things looked even worse. An idea crossed his mind, but first he had to take care of one last thing there. "I also want the specs of the planet my son, Kakarot, has been sent to. When you find it, you can go."

The little man obeyed, and soon he was done. The door closed automatically behind him. Bardock sat down and flipped through the report. The planet in question had just been discovered by an exploration probe at the edge of the known universe. No high power levels detected and a full moon every twenty eight rotations to its sun. It was more than most babies sent to the stars could hope for. If Bardock's suspicions were correct, his youngest son's meager power level could save his life, for the moment at least.

Leaving the building, Bardock spat on the ground and took flight towards the royal palace, perched atop a colossal rock formation. On the way, he fixed his attention on the feasting Saiyans, all happy, with full bellies and half-empty glasses. Distracted. Vulnerable.

Upon arriving at the palace, he ordered an attendant to inform General Nappa of his presence. He was not a general when he met him years ago. Bardock had fought at his command during the war with the Tuffles for Planet Vegeta's control, which was called Plant at the time. The Tuffles were much smaller and weaker than them, but used their advanced technology to fight.

Nappa showed up much sooner than he would have expected. He was still the biggest Saiyan he'd ever seen. After the war and the annexation to Cold's army, he had risen in the new society, becoming a trusted man of the King and the protector of the young Prince.

"Bardock, boy!" Nappa exclaimed with a smile on his face. "I haven't seen you in years. Look at you, already a man. Have you come to remember old battles?"

"I'm here to collect a debt," Bardock said.

Nappa's smile twitched for just an instant. "I was beginning to think this day would never come."

After an ambush that killed the rest of their group and left Nappa badly injured, Bardock saved him from dying at the hands of the Tuffle soldiers, receiving a wound on his left cheek that he would carry for the rest of his life. After lugging the massive Saiyan to safety, he hunted for both of them until Nappa recovered from his injuries. Before parting ways after the end of the war, Nappa swore on his tail, the defining trait of the Saiyan race, that if he ever needed him, he would have him by his side.

"I've always thought that without honor among us, we'd be no better than Frieza's lackeys," Nappa said. "What do you need?"

"For my son, Raditz, to accompany you and the Prince tomorrow."

"How did you find out about that?" Nappa asked with narrowed eyes. "I guess it doesn't matter. Consider it done, we leave tomorrow at dawn from the palace's spaceport."

"He'll be there. Thanks," Bardock said, holding out his hand, which Nappa shook.

As he flew back home, Bardock couldn't hold back a smile. His son, a low-class warrior who was almost sent to another planet at birth, would fight besides two Saiyans of the elite.

King Vegeta III hadn't been able to sleep for days. Sitting on his throne, he needed to maintain an image of unquestionable power and authority, but on the inside he felt as fragile as the stained glass windows that adorned his great hall. Twelve years had passed since the Saiyans became part of King Cold's empire. He was a harsh but fair regent, unlike his son.

The Saiyans had increased in number over the past decade, and the power level of their warriors had done nothing but grow. If the trend continued, the Saiyan of legend might soon appear. The one called to transcend the limits of their race's power and become the supreme warrior of the universe. He could have already been born. Frieza must have seen the signs, just like him. Vegeta knew well how the Emperor would deal with such a potential threat.

Perhaps there was still time to do something. It would be a death sentence for many, but if he disobeyed Frieza's orders...

"Your Majesty, Lord Frieza is in orbit and awaits you in his ship," one of his heralds announced.

Damn it! It had taken him too long to realize Frieza's deception, and a general evacuation would take days at the earliest. King Vegeta boarded the vessel that awaited him in the palace's spaceport and headed for the colossal ship that hovered over his planet like the shadow of death. The lower hatch opened and devoured his small transport, trapping him inside its mechanical guts.

He entered the command room and gazed down at the majesty of his homeworld through the huge window. Frieza was waiting for him guarded by Raimu and Dodoria, his right-hand men.

The King knelt down, swallowing his pride. "Lord Frieza, all Saiyans are on Planet Vegeta as you ordered."

"Perfect," Frieza said, turning his hovering chair to look at him for the first time since he entered. "I need all of my Saiyan warriors together. There is a world I wish to wipe off the face of the universe. Planet Vegeta."

"King Cold could not have allowed this betrayal," King Vegeta protested, getting on his feet.

"My father will never know," Frieza said with a cruel gleam in his red eyes. "I've made sure not to arouse the faintest suspicion. I've even given your race hundreds of contracts to conquer planets. I guess it will be the young Prince who will carry them out."

It comforted him to know that his son would live, for the moment at least. He was born with an unprecedented power level, 519, making him the Emperor's favorite pawn. It didn't matter. He would have the chance to grow and get stronger. And when the time was right, who could say?

Frieza let out a cackle, soon echoed by his lackeys. King Vegeta summoned all his power, and the aura of energy that covered him created a gale in the great command room. He charged forward at full speed, in a desperate attempt to kill Frieza.

Raimu got in the way, but he wasn't fast enough. With a well-aimed blow to the throat, Frieza's lapdog went down, dead before hitting the ground. Dodoria stood next to his master, who also remained still. The bastard underestimated him. All the better. He struck with all his might, yet it was not the tyrant's neck that broke, but his own hand.

"Did you really think you could kill me?" Frieza asked him, getting down from his hovering chair. "That arrogance is the reason your people must be eradicated. If an insect like you thinks he can defy me, the scum who call you King would soon stand in open rebellion."

He still had one move left, though he knew it would be his last. Ignoring the pain of his broken hand, he concentrated all his power in the other, in the form of a sphere of pale light. If he succeeded in creating an artificial moon, he could at least give his people a small fighting chance.

A purple light shone on Frieza's finger, and he fired. The bolt of energy pierced the King's chest, and he fell to the floor of the ship with a taste of blood in his throat. His vision became blurry, and he was beginning to lose feeling in his limbs. The last thing he saw was his killer's vicious smile.

"That demon is up to something!" Bardock shouted to the Saiyans gathered in the great square, in front of countless bonfires. "The King hasn't yet returned from his audience with Frieza, and I don't think he will. What do you think he came here for?"

"What I think is that Bardock has drank too much," said a voice from the crowd.

The laughter didn't take long to start, and the jeers followed. A fruit flew in Bardock's direction, which he blocked with his hand. And another. And several more. The Saiyans started booing him and yelling at him to leave. Bardock resisted the urge to bash their skulls in. Damn drunken cowards, they made his blood boil. He brushed a piece of fruit from his wild black hair and heeded the crowd.

He landed at the door of his house, carved into a rock formation. He had spent very little time in it since he had built it for his wife. "They didn't listen to me," he said after entering.

Gine hugged him. She didn't share her husband's fears, but neither had she seen the same horrors as him. She had a very different worldview than most Saiyans. Perhaps that's why he had chosen her to be his wife.

"We'll soon know if you were right," she said with tears in her big black eyes. "For everyone's sake, I hope you're wrong and soon we can laugh about all this, when the four of us are together again."

Bardock decided there was only one way to confirm his suspicions. He adjusted his black and green battle armor and tied his tail around his waist like a belt. Armor would be of little use against Frieza, but he had already gotten used to wearing it, like most Saiyans. He decided to leave his scouter at home. Knowing the power he would face up against would only make him lose his conviction.

He walked out to the street of stomped red earth. Gine ran over and hugged him from behind. Bardock turned around and kissed her. After a last moment of peace, the warrior raised his gaze to the sky and took flight, straight towards the ship above their heads.

As he approached the upper atmosphere, he felt the ever-closer chill of space. The sky darkened and the stars became visible. Hundreds of small figures in the distance, Frieza's loyal soldiers, returned reflections of the light of Planet Vegeta's two suns. They belonged to countless conquered and subjugated species, scum without pride or honor.

They rushed him with their bigger numbers, but this also caused them to hinder each other. Bardock launched a wave of energy into the center of the formation, shattering it in an instant, dropping many to their deaths and scaring away the rest.

He continued his ascent, punching and kicking his way through Frieza's men, neutralizing them as fast as he could. Their attacks took their toll on him as well, but despite the pain and injuries, he was getting closer to his target.

Tired from the enormous effort, he could not prevent a soldier from grabbing him from behind. Others followed, and he soon found himself held by a dozen soldiers. Using all of his strength, he unleashed his energy in all directions and disposed of his enemies. He flew past them and found himself facing Frieza's spaceship.

"Frieza, come out!" Bardock yelled.

The surviving soldiers rose to surround him. Bardock, exhausted and wounded, would not last much longer. The upper hatch of the ship opened, and from it, on his floating chair, appeared Frieza himself. The soldiers hurled themselves away so that their master's wrath would not fall upon them. The small pale, pink and violet alien looked at him with eyes full of contempt and a mocking smile.

The emperor held up a single finger, on the tip of which floated a tiny dot of reddish energy, matching his eyes. Frieza raised his arm and the sphere multiplied its size hundreds of times, thousands. An attack like that would not only kill him, it could destroy the entire planet.

Bardock charged an energy wave with all the power he had left. Frieza, with a light movement of his finger, hurled the sphere towards the planet, like a huge fiery meteor. Bardock unleashed his energy in a blast from his hand. The beam of bluish-white light collided with the Emperor's attack, which continued moving forward, gaining momentum and speed. Bardock's struggle was in vain, but if he was to die, he couldn't think of a better place to do it than between Frieza and his homeworld.

Frieza's attack came closer and closer, radiating a terrible heat. Bardock released all his energy, but the fire consumed him.

Under the cover of a cold, dark, moonless night, Prince Vegeta ate by the fire. Nappa and that low-class kid cleaned up the few remnants of the local population, the weakest who had taken refuge far from the cities and villages.

He heard something approaching at full speed and put his scouter back on. The device detected a power level of 4,500. It was Nappa. He landed with his face contorted and covered in sweat. He breathed hard to catch his breath and knelt before him. "Prince Vegeta, a message from the Frieza Force... It seems that Planet Vegeta has been destroyed by a large meteorite. Most of the Saiyans are gone."

Raditz landed while Vegeta thought of what to do. The low-class warrior, a few years older than him, stopped rubbing his bloodshot eyes and knelt beside Nappa.

"Looks like I won't become King anymore," said Vegeta. "Did they say anything else?"

Nappa took a moment to respond. "Yes, my Prince. The Emperor summons us to Frieza 1 for a personal audience with him. We had just finished when we got the message, we can leave whenever you're ready."

Vegeta walked in circles around the fire. The destruction of a planet was something very rare, and it coinciding with the moment when most of the Saiyans were gathered there was even more strange. Vegeta scratched his head, ruffling his black, flame-shaped hair. "Nappa, report that the job is completed. We go now."

The three Saiyans flew to the craters their space pods had caused upon landing and climbed aboard. Vegeta set a course for Frieza's capital, it would be a two-month trip. Leaving the planet's atmosphere, he received the signal on his ship's interface that both Nappa and Raditz had activated their pod's suspended animation function. Vegeta couldn't sleep right now, he had much to think about.

Like every day, Son Gohan woke up with the rising sun. He made his bed and left the one-bedroom house for his morning stretches. Once his old muscles were warmed up and his joints well oiled, he started training. Slowly at first, with fluid movements of his arms and legs, but soon the blows he threw to the air gained force and speed.

An hour later, his body was tired but his mind and spirit had become invigorated by the exercise, so he set off down the cliffs to the river. He bathed in its fresh waters while also washing his clothes, enjoying the imposing natural beauty of Mount Paozu. After so many years it still managed to surprise him.

He rested for a while in the morning sun, which filtered through the tall, narrow mountains. Once dry, he combed his thick white mustache and put on his pants, shoes, and shirt, all black, and wore the orange vest over his rolled-up shirt. He put on the little cap that covered his head from the sun, as his hair had been gone for years now, and he prepared to return.

In the clearing by his house, he built a small fire and picked up his old iron pan. After a good meal, he put the leftover rice with fish and spices in a clay pot, as he always overcooked, and decided to take a nap to spend the midday hours in the shade.

A loud crash woke him up, and he felt the earth shake beneath him. He hurried out of the humble house and scanned the horizon for any sign of where the tremor may had come from. A plume of smoke and dust rose several miles to the north, deep within the mountain. Gohan made his way through the virgin forests and steep cliffs in the direction of the smoke, which the wind was beginning to blow away. He came at last to a huge crater in the depths of a bamboo grove.

At the bottom of the crater lay a white metallic sphere. Gohan jumped down to the contraption, as tall as him. On the other side, he found a red window that allowed him to see what was inside: a butt-naked baby boy with a wild black mane.

He seemed to be feeding through a tube ended in a teat. At the contact of his hand with the window, the thing opened with a mechanical hiss. The inside was padded and the boy rested inside a smaller transparent sphere, with thick cables connected to its lower half. On its surface, made of some kind of plastic, strange lights danced. They resembled letters from a language unknown to him.

He pulled a release on the top of the capsule, causing it to split open and making the lights disappear. The baby, who hadn't paid any attention to him until then, dropped the feeding tube and lunged at him. Gohan grabbed him so as not to hurt him, but the boy kept trying to hit him. After a couple of failed attempts, he managed to connect a hook to his jaw. Gohan felt the blow, something unthinkable even for most grown men.

"You pack quite the punch in such a small arm," he said with a smile.

After a couple of unsuccessful kicks, Gohan held his tiny arms and legs with one hand, but then something hit him in the face again. Gohan dodged the second blow with no problem and noticed that the baby had a furry brown tail, like a monkey's. He had never heard of something like this. Where would this child come from?

He returned to his house with haste, holding the boy as best he could to prevent him from trying to attack him. He laid him down on his bed and after several attempts, managed to put a makeshift diaper on him, using part of a bed sheet. The boy didn't stop trying to attack him, until he caught the scent of the pot Gohan kept the rice in.

"You're hungry, eh?" Gohan asked him.

The boy's eyes, as black as his hair, widened as he stared at the pot, and his mouth began to water. While he fed him, the baby offered no resistance for the first time since he had found him.

The sun would soon set, so he tried to lull the boy to sleep, but to no avail. Neither of them slept a wink that night. At dawn, the boy finally fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

Gohan would have to go out to pick fruit and maybe catch some fish, but he couldn't leave the boy there. In the few moments he hadn't tried to attack him last night, he had meant to escape from the house. He decided to put him in a tall basket, being careful not to wake him up, and he slung the basket on his back.

After spearing a large fish with the shrpened trunk of a bamboo tree and taking it out of the river, he put it over a fire. When the fish was ready, the basket, which he had left on the ground, began to rattle. He undid the wicker lid and the baby jumped out, ready to continue his assault, but smelling the delicious roasted fish, he took his attentions away from the old man.

Gohan sat the boy on his lap and fed him, piece by piece, the tender fish meat. He was glad to see how the boy calmed down in the presence of food. By the time he was full, more than half the fish was gone. After resting for a few minutes, the baby resumed its attempts to hit him, so he reduced him and put him back inside the basket, making sure to tie the lid twice.

After wrapping the remaining fish meat in a big leaf, he headed home, wondering how he was going to deal with this boy. As fate would have it, he had no experience with children, but there was no other person for hundreds of miles. Perhaps in time the boy would get used to him and start behaving better. After all, he must be scared with only an old stranger for company.

What seemed clear was that he was not an ordinary child. That crater he had picked him up from, it was as if it had fallen from the sky. And the strength and appetite he had, greater than most adults'. And the tail. Gohan had known animals that talked and even walked on two legs and lived among men, but this boy seemed something else.

Immersed in his thoughts, he took shelter in the shade of a peach tree that grew on the edge of a cliff. He heard the boy's babbling behind him, but the sound came without distortion. The baby had managed to free himself and was trying to reach a peach, balancing over the edge of the basket.

The boy fell in an instant, plummeting to the bottom of the cliff and certain death. Focusing all his ki, Gohan launched himself at lightning speed and managed to grab the boy by the tail, breaking his fall. The boy began to cry, and seemed to fall asleep. Gohan jumped up again over the rocks and held him in his arms. He soon woke up, trying again to reach the fruit above their heads.

Gohan picked one up and placed the boy on the ground well away from the cliff. While he ate the peach, Gohan took the opportunity to pick the ripe fruit and filled half the basket with them. He put the baby inside and instead of putting the basket on his back, he decided to carry it in front so as not to lose sight of him again. He was going to have to be careful if he didn't want the boy to kill himself, but right now his main concern was what he would do if there were no peaches left when they got home.

Power Levels

Bardock (28 years old): 2,900

Gine (25 years old): 260

Raditz (10 years old): 420

Average Saiyan: 800-1,500

Nappa (35 years old): 4,500

King Vegeta (45 years old): 10,000

Raimu (40 years old): 7,000

Average Frieza Soldier: 500-1,000

Frieza: 530,000

Vegeta (5 years old): 8,000

Kakarot (4 months old): 2

Son Gohan (79 years old): 102