A/N
Here is the winner of the May Side Story Poll! Thanks to everyone who voted. I hope that you enjoy the chapter.
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On with the story!
…
CHAPTER 20 – PLANNING STAGE
(Dalatrass Linron POV)
How dare they?!
Honestly, Dalatrass Linron wasn't even sure who exactly she was referring to in that thought, as she sat in her secret saferoom on Sur'kesh three kilometres underground. There were certainly plenty of parties that it could apply to, for various reasons.
The first was obviously the saiyans. Those disgusting, filthy, barbaric, upstart pyjacks! Ever since they crawled out of whatever hole they had appeared from, they had caused nothing but trouble for the civilised races of the Citadel. Their actions were monstrous; crimes against reforms and agreements that had been formed and tested over centuries. The countless lives they had destroyed in their quest of misrepresented peace. It was clearly a scam as they used whatever mild justification that they could to conquer the good states of the Citadel in their thirst for violent expansion. There was no other reason for them to have destroyed Khar'shan otherwise. They might have gotten away with it if they hadn't destroyed the planet after they had finished devastating the batarians after that mockery of a war.
Alas, for their own sakes that is, the moronic king of the moronic people had to show his true colours and destroy the planet in front of a bunch of Citadel journalists, then brag about it. The idiot. If he hadn't done that, then they might have been believed that the war was done with righteous intent.
Not that it would have changed the current situation. After all, if a race of beings has that much power, it would only be natural that they needed to be controlled by their intellectual masters, to make sure that they don't become a threat to the greater public or themselves. And, given the history that the saiyans made public, it was only a matter of time before one of those obscenely powerful jumped up vorcha got it in their head that they should be the ones controlling the galaxy merely because they were 'stronger' without a single care for their mental capacity.
It was not acceptable! It should never have been in contention that a check and balance needed to be put in place. Yet, somehow, those goody five-fingered asari and those militaristic brutes the turians both were happy for the saiyans to continue without punishment, with objection and without a plan to stop them when, not if, they go too far.
How dare they!?
That brought her thoughts to their so-called longest allies, the asari. Nearly three millenia, hundreds of generations of salarian lives, and even at least two full generations of those long-lived blue skin fishpants, all gone in a moment. Forgotten were the wars they had fought together. Forgotten were the trade agreements they had come to share. Forgotten was the civilisation that they had created together from the outlaw wilderness that was the galaxy before they found each other on the Citadel.
How many potential children that could have been born salarian have been lost over the last two thousand years? How much territory could have been kept by the Union and not given over for the sake of treaties or to prevent conflicts, if they knew that the asari would just turn against them anyway? The salarian people, and the Union by extension, could have progressed so much further. Their population could have been so much higher, their outpost world more populous. And the asari, with their stunted genetics, would have had far less children and far more ardat yakshi, to their shame.
All they would have had to breed with would have been the rachni and the krogan. No big losses there. The asari would have found themselves defeated and enslaved by either of those armies were it not for the Union! Sure, it might have been a salarian team that activated the Relay into rachni space, but nearly no one remembered that as it had been carefully edited out of most historical archives, thanks to the efforts of the STG. But that information was purely happenstance now, nearly worthless. All the asari could have done was hope that they ran into the turians faster than they did.
That thought gave her someone else to turn her ire toward. The turians.
How dare they?!
The turians should be begging to part of the solution. They had lost the most in terms of soldiers and material, save for the batarians. They had lost an entire fleet, been publicly shamed and cowed. Where was the fortitude that they had shown when they had used the genophage the salarians had created in their wars against the krogan? Where was the mental capacity to see that a threat needed to be neutralised, and the dedication to see it through, no matter the cost?
However, those emotional thoughts were torn away by her practical mind. One didn't survive too long as a dalatrass if they let their emotions be what guided them. Otherwise she would be just another easily manipulated minion parading as a dalatrasses, subject to the whims of those more powerful than she was.
She loved those minions. It made controlling them so satisfying.
But it went without saying that the Citadel system had collapsed. Even if it wasn't official yet, the Salarian Union would have no recourse but to withdraw their membership out of protest for the inactions by the other Council races, primarily the asari and the turians. The salarians would need to strike out on their own and try to survive this war against those accursed pyjacks.
She just needed to get guidance.
She pressed a button on her desk. "I am not to be disturbed until further notice," she barked to the peon on the other end. It was someone politically connected enough to be employed in her office but not important enough for her to bother remembering their name. "Unless the saiyans themselves come here, you are not to contact me until I contact you."
She didn't bother to wait for the reply. Whoever they were, they were not really worth listening to. She tapped out a few instructions on her terminal and the room flashed as the door locked, the holographic indicator turning red.
She stopped for a moment, taking a steadying breath, before tapping out a long command and password. It was a command that only she knew, everyone else that might have learned it had suffered… unfortunate fatal accidents, leaving her the only person to know them.
After tapping away, she placed her hand on a hidden scanner, not even flinching as a needle punctured her skin to take a blood sample. Several seconds passed, before a faint blue light flashed across her eyes to take a retinal scan.
Finally, a beep sounded from the terminal and the wall behind her hissed open.
She turned and stood, waiting for the wall to slowly rise to reveal the hidden safe beyond. Finally, it revealed the object of her current desire.
A glowing sphere.
It was something that one of the STG scouts had found, hidden in some nameless base. It was brought to her with due haste and the team were reassigned, then silence. After all, none of them were worthy of the majesty that this sphere connected her to.
"I need assistance," she declared to the sphere.
There were no voices, no physical replies. No words flashed across the surface of the orb. But still, she heard what it was saying to her, clearly.
"The saiyans are coming," she explained. "They have declared war on us, seeking to overthrow my leadership for their own ends. I need to know how to beat them."
There was another long stretch before the reply came. Once again, to anyone watching, there was nothing but quiet. Dalatrass Linron knew better.
"We have tried to gain their genetic material," she replied to her masters. "However, they were more vigilant and paranoid than we had accounted for. The operation was a failure. I do not believe that we will be able to succeed against their leaders, regardless of our own numbers."
There was a long pause before she jerked upright. "What are you saying, Great One?" she begged.
Another long stretch of silence. "No!" she gasped in shock. "That cannot be!"
This time, another silence. However, at the end of whatever metaphysical reply she received, the sphere stopped glowing and turned black.
"No!" she cried out. "Don't do this! Don't abandon us in our time of need!"
Her plea was in vain. The orb stayed dark, declaring a disconnection with her masters. She stumbled back, falling into her chair, her eyes staring in shock and fear as she realised that she had been abandoned by their last ally.
"What do we do?" she whispered to herself.
…
(Vegeta POV)
Standing always felt more natural to Vegeta than sitting. And he did so much of it now, he swore he could almost feel his muscles shrinking. His energy levels felt like they were dropping. He knew he was going to have to spend more time in a gravity room with one of Whis's training bodysuits to make up for being forced to sit in one place for long periods of time.
Still, when conducting a war, those long meetings were a crucial, if annoying part of the planning phase.
When you could teleport across the universe with a thought, logistics were less of a hassle to organise. That was, unless you needed to evacuate millions of slaves out of the combat area to safety. Then you needed thousands of ships to make the journey feasible. That took planning and, for a group as small as the saiyans, allies who had resources.
When conducting a war that didn't involve large numbers of ships, it cut a lot of that unnecessary baggage out, making it a more streamlined process. But there were still other things that were required. Anyone who went to war without knowing their enemy was a moron. And Vegeta refused to be a moron.
As a result, the salarians who had surrendered became a critical asset for the planning phase. Padok Wiks was a conflicted man, but he had certainly proven his worth to the budding Saiyan Intelligence Division.
Which all led back to Vegeta standing in front of this group of warriors, briefing them on the information he had received.
"The main targets in this operation will be the eight people here," he pointed to the screen behind him. "High Dalatrass Linron is, or rather was, the driving force behind the recently deceased salarian councillor in harassing us. She was the one that ordered the attack against us and specifically ordered the targeting of children for experimentation so that they could create a genophage targeting our people."
His words generated a round of angry muttering and curses from the gathered saiyans in front of him. He allowed it for a moment before he pulsed his energy and they quieted instantly.
"The next target is this one," he pointed at another salarian, though this one was wearing a uniform and had several scars on its face. "This is Findon Plist. He is the Director of the STG, the salarian infiltration and sabotage group. You will remember them as the main group of salarians that were infiltrating the nurseries."
Another round of angry mutterings but Vegeta cut them off quicker this time. He wanted to get on with the operation.
"From our information, he is smart, resourceful and ruthless," Vegeta explained. "He will do whatever he can to turn any situation to his advantage. He prefers to dabble in poisons and toxins. The team sent to take him will need to be quick and make sure that they have something to let them breathe in case he has something that will take them out.
"Additionally, he is likely the only person who is aware of all of the STG bases and operatives. We want to capture that information. But he won't just give it to us and we can be sure that he will have those secrets under the biggest lock and key set in the galaxy. In fact, it will probably be booby trapped to make sure that only he can access it. So, while we definitely want him dead, he needs to be taken alive, at least for now. That means that you need to check him for false teeth that would be hiding poison or a bomb that would kill him before we can get that information."
He sent an impressive glare around the room to make sure that everyone here knew he was serious. "I don't care if you have to drag him back here kicking and screaming, with all of his teeth mission and every limb broken. I don't care if he is unconscious. But he cannot be dead and he must have all of his own limbs. If he is dead and any of you are the ones that did it, I will be very… displeased."
He looked around to make sure that everyone understood and accepted it. He saw a vicious smile on Pan's face.
"The rest of this group are the ones that were part of the planning stages of the attack on us, or are the next to take over," Vegeta continued with a negligent wave of his hand. "While getting them is important, the mission critical ones are the High Dalatrass, and the Director. We need that information."
"What about the rumours of salarian STG units on Tuchanka?" Gohan asked.
Vegeta looked at the saiyan god in front of him. Gohan had disappointed him in the past with his lack of drive to become a warrior. When his rival's son had become a father, he had almost completely turned away from the path of a saiyan warrior. He had eventually found himself again after that first Tournament of Power, but he had fallen behind a long way from where he could be, even if he was a saiyan god. Still, he had gained the skills necessary while masquerading as a businessman to best represent the saiyan people to the wider community as their ambassador. And he had learned enough from those boring business meetings that he could be trusted to handle any negotiations on Vegeta's behalf.
And now Gohan had gained himself an apprentice, one that would let them get a massive amount of influence over the krogan. It made sense that he would be interested in knowing what was going to happen on his minion's home world.
"The rumours are true," Vegeta stated evenly. "Our sources confirmed them and even gave us the coordinates of the base they kept there. I think it would be a good opportunity to have your little trainee take care of it. It should be a good test for him. Have him lead a team of krogan. You can supervise and report on how they go."
Gohan nodded, a small confident smirk coming on his face.
Vegeta looked around. "Pan," he said. "You will lead the attack on the STG commander. Remember," he glared at her to emphasise his point, "I want him alive, with limbs attached." He gave the furious scowl she directed at him a smirk. "All other conditions are acceptable."
Her scowl slowly disappeared as she considered that for a moment, before she gave a vicious grin of her own and nodded.
"You'll have to take Trunks with you," he added. "While you are focussing on the director and his staff, he will be looking into the computer systems."
Sadly, saiyans were still not the most technologically educated to a salarian level. Luckily, his son, while most definitely a capable warrior and one of the most powerful in the Universe, had inherited his mother's brain, if not her ingenuity. His wife had been able to create time machines in her personal workshop at home. Something like a prothean-based computer would have been a breeze for her.
Trunks may not have been able to create that technology himself, not all of the things Bulma had created anyway, but he was capable of repairing anything his mother made and being able to replicate it by himself later.
With his skills, he had been taking apart prothean technology since it had been discovered. Now Vegeta was confident that if anyone was able to break whatever security the salarians had put on their systems, it was Trunks.
"While you are doing that, I will be heading to Sur'kesh to deal with the dalatrasses," Vegeta continued. "I will take several others, such as Gohan, Kori and Andur, who will help make sure that none of them escape while we are capturing Dalatrass Linron, and all her support staff. We will proceed with the list of other dalatrasses after they are secured in our detention centre."
He saw the group of saiyans nodding. Good. No need to hear stupid arguments.
"We leave very soon," he declared. "Everyone get what they need and meet at the spaceport in no later than ten minutes."
The crowd broke up and he waited as they left the conference room. Pan and Trunks headed off together, with Trunks reading something on his omnitool.
Finally, Vegeta was left alone with his thoughts. His people were fighting another war. In the space of a year, they had completely annihilated the Batarian Hegemony and were now drawn into a war with the salarians.
He loved it. If only the salarians were strong enough to give him a good fight it might be more interesting. He really should organise a spar with Goku, or Whis. As much as it was good to exercise his mental faculties in a chase down against a wily foe, he felt like he needed a physical challenge right about now.
Still, as warlike as his people usually were, when they had brought his saiyans back to life they had only brought back those who wanted peace. While the fighting was being done by primarily the saiyan gods, his people would prefer to not need to fight at all, except to get stronger against themselves; not for conquest.
Not that any of them were complaining about fighting against those who attacked them. Yet the fact remained that most of them just wanted to be left alone to rebuild. And Vegeta knew that in the future, when the reapers attacked, they were probably going to need to fight again.
Hopefully after this, there would be a little bit of a break, just to let his people focus on rebuilding their world some more. While fighting was all well and good, they needed some more saiyans.
After all, every universe could do with some more saiyans.
…
(Goku POV)
The planet was small but Goku couldn't deny that he had some great memories here over the last couple centuries. There was the first time he died, then the second time he died and stayed dead for a while longer… huh. Maybe that wasn't supposed to be a normal thing?
Still, he had gained a lot of knowledge and experience training here, under his good friend and trainer, King Kai. And he always came back to life anyway, so Goku wasn't all that worried. He was more concerned that King Kai would make them do stuff before they could head off to see what this Sleet guy was doing.
"This is where you learned the Kaio Ken technique, Grandpa?" Gotel asked as he looked around. The younger saiyan had never actually stepped foot on the planetoid before, now that Goku thought about it. Probably because he never died before.
"Yeah," he replied. "When I died the first time, I came here to train with King Kai so that I could train hard to face Vegeta the first time. King Kai helped me learn it as a trump card to beat him. But back then I could only do a level three safely. When I fought him I went to level four and it did a lot of damage to my body." He considered for a moment. "Man, that was a long time ago."
"Wait," Vegeta Jr said with a frown. "I knew that you and grandpa were rivals but you make it sound like he was an enemy."
Goku looked at the younger saiyan in surprise. "Huh? Noone ever told you?"
"Told me what?" Vegeta Jr demanded.
"Wow," Goku hummed. "I thought it was common knowledge among at least the saiyans gods." He shook his head. "But yeah, the first time I met Vegeta was when he came to Earth to destroy it for Frieza and capture the dragon balls. He had someone else with him, a big guy. I forget his name. I beat him and Vegeta killed him. Then we all fought him and Vegeta was losing so he transformed into his Oozaru form. He almost killed us all but Yajirobe was able to cut off his tail, which cancelled the transformation. I let him escape afterwards and we eventually became allies to stop Frieza from using Namek's dragon balls.
"That sounds like a lot of information has been left out," Gotel said from his spot next to Vegeta Jr.
"Oh, yeah," King Kai said as he walked up to them. "In fact, there would have been dozens of episodes between those two events, including Krillin's first death, the Ginyu Force and Vegeta almost getting immortality from the Namekian dragon balls. Almost half a season, if I can remember right?"
Episodes? Goku had no idea what King Kai was talking about. Neither, apparently, did anyone else.
"What do you mean, 'episodes'?" Vegeta Jr asked.
King Kai shook his head. "Don't worry about it, just an old Kai rambling." He turned serious. "Anyway, thanks for showing up, everyone. How much has Goku filled you in?"
"He just said that Frieza's grandnephew was crazy powerful and looking to conquer Earth as vengeance for his ancestors," Gotel said, looking over at the short Kai.
"Crazy powerful is right," King Kai said. "Normally, an arcossian has three stages. The base stage, the first transformation and a second transformation. Frieza was the first to get a fourth transformation, which made him look gold. When Sleet was born, either at his birth or shortly after, it was discovered that he was already strong enough to transform into that golden form that Frieza used. Since then, he trained to get stronger. I don't know what his strength is right now, but I know that without you saiyan gods then he would likely be the strongest person in the universe."
"Man," Goku said rubbing his head with a grin. "I almost want to see how strong he is in a fight!"
Goten rolled his eyes and flicked Goku in the forehead.
"Hey! What was that for?" Goku complained.
"Dad, you know how stupid it is to try and have a fight with someone evil just because they are strong," Goten said flatly. "How many people did Frieza kill after you thought you were all buddy-buddy with him after the end of the Tournament of Power? How many worlds did he destroy? How much death could have been prevented if you had just done the smart thing for once and not given into your rather idiotic forgiveness trait for the however many times? I thought you had learned that lesson by now. I know I did after Buu ate Gohan."
Goku couldn't help the wince. It was true that he loved to fight strong opponents. The stronger the better. It got his blood pumping faster than anything else. Vegeta claimed that it was their saiyan heritage that made them enjoy fighting.
It was also true that he forgave people a lot. He didn't kill as a first option, the way Vegeta did. But nearly all of his best friends had once been his enemies. He knew that most people could come around once they had worked out their issues.
Frieza though, Goku could admit that it was somewhere he had miscalculated. It had only taken him five times, but that had been enough for Frieza to begin rebuilding his empire. He had ruthlessly beaten, tortured killed and conquered for five more years after the Tournament of Power before Goku and Vegeta had finally put him down for good.
It had been too much time for the dragon balls to revive them all. They were only able to save people for up to a year after an unnatural death. The only way to revive everyone that Frieza had either killed or ordered dead would be to find the Super Dragon Balls that were scattered around the different Universes. Unfortunately, Goku didn't have access to those Universes to try and collect them.
Frieza was too set on being in control of the whole universe, on being the emperor. He enjoyed killing and dominating too much and didn't want to change. It was the same with Doctor Gero, who had wanted to conquer Earth and was willing to do anything, including putting his brain in an android body, to make it happen. Beating them hadn't lessened those desires. It had only hardened them. They were never going to change.
He had even destroyed Earth, which would have been preventable if Goku had just taken him seriously and would have strayed destroyed if it wasn't for Whis' ability to turn back time for three minutes.
After they had finally put Frieza down for the last time Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks and Chi Chi had all sat down with Goku and finally, finally, sunk it into his head that they could have prevented millions of deaths if they had just put Frieza down first. They also said that there would be others in the future that would be the same, and Goku had better start acting smart and taking out enemies faster to prevent innocent people being hurt, killed or enslaved because Goku had not taken a fight seriously and had let enemies go.
Still, he wouldn't be Goku if he didn't make at least a token objection.
"Come on guys," he complained. "If it wasn't for me showing mercy, then Vegeta would have been killed on Earth, Piccolo would have died centuries ago, the Earth dragon balls would be lost, we would never have known about Namek and we would have been conquered by Frieza the moment that Raditz came to Earth."
"We're not saying that mercy doesn't have its place," Gotel said with a shake of his head. "But when you have seen that someone like Frieza wasn't going to change, you need to put them down quick. This Sleet guy is Frieza's family, whose ancestors died on Earth. I don't think he is looking for mercy and it wouldn't be clever to let him go if he is going to just do the same thing that Frieza did."
Goku let out a resigned sigh. It was always the same argument, and he couldn't help feeling a little tired with it. "Fine," he conceded. "If a fight is inevitable, then I will go all out. But there had better be some real good fights at the next Tournament of Power." He tapped his chin as he considered. "I will have to call Zeno and see if they are interested in having another Tournament. Oooh, maybe we can get all the other Universes to fight in the Tournament this time. We still haven't seen the strongest fighters from Universes 1, 5, 8 and 12."
The other four, King Kai included all gave sighs that sounded relieved for some reason.
"Don't let it get to you Goku," King Kai said, sounding mollifying. "You've done pretty good at that so far, but you can't win them all. Just focus on getting the job done quickly so that you can get hold of Zeno as fast as you can."
That brightened Goku's mood. It had been fifty years since the last Tournament of Power. They were clearly due and Goku couldn't wait to see how strong the other Universes had gotten.
"That being said," King Kai said with a mischievous grin. "I almost feel bad about this. Sooo, as the humans say: sorry, not sorry."
Goku stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Before King Kai could reply, a pulse of familiar energy came just as someone grabbed Goku's arm tightly.
"Goku!" a bright shout came from his left side, causing Goku to freeze.
His Ultra Instinct mustn't have registered this as a threat, which is why he didn't move to avoid the death grip on his arm. That was the only thing he could think of. Or maybe he had let his guard down too much, like Whis had told him he was prone to do. It was one of the things that had come up repeatedly ever since he had started training with the angel. He had gotten much better over the last couple hundred years and rarely got so relaxed anymore, but maybe he had thought he would be completely safe on King Kai's planet. Those were the only possible explanations he could think of.
Regardless of the reason, he couldn't help staring at Caulifla with a dumbstruck look on his face as she grinned up at him.
"Caulifla?" he cried out, trying in vain to remove his arm from her vice grip. "What are you doing here?"
"You didn't think I was going to let the future father of my children go off into a dangerous situation alone, did you?" she asked with a pout that didn't match her features at all. "Of course I would join you to help you keep safe."
Goten and Gotel choked at hearing that while Vegeta Jr roared with laughter.
"All right," King Kai announced before Goku could reply with any objections to her claim. "Gather 'round. I am going to sense Sleet and you can all go there through instant transmission. Everyone, grab hold."
Huh. It must have been serious if King Kai wasn't even going to ask the others to tell him a joke. Shaking off that thought, and all of his confusion regarding the saiyan woman still gripping him tightly, Goku put his free hand on King Kai's shoulder and closed his eyes to focus as the Kai let him piggyback off of his sensing abilities.
It usually didn't take too long to find… woah. That was some power level. Whoever this Sleet guy was, he was certainly strong. Not stronger than Goku or Vegeta for sure, but definitely stronger than a lot of the younger saiyan gods. Gotel was below this guy's level. Vegeta Jr too. Maybe if they fused they would be able to take him, but of the four of them, only Goten and himself were stronger.
He had no idea how strong Caulifla had gotten these days but she had always been a quick learner, so it was possible that she was stronger. He just hadn't fought her for so long he couldn't know for sure.
"All right," Goku announced. "I've got him."
Without needing to say another word, the other three saiyan men reached out and put their arms on his shoulders, Caulifla not moving from her spot at his side as she grinned victoriously. Goku kept his focus on that power level and took his hand off King Kai.
"Thanks, King Kai," he said gratefully. "We should be back real soon."
"Sure thing, Goku," the kai said. "But don't get cocky. Do what you need to quick and get back home."
"Right." With that, Goku put his fingers to his forehead and a moment later, they were gone.
…
(Padok Wiks POV)
Surrendering had seemed like a massive sacrifice. Turning your back to those you have sworn to obey. Many would call him a traitor. He knew that there were already plenty of the dalatrasses that had heard of his surrendering and called for his capture and execution.
Ultimately though, it was sound tactics.
There was no way for the salarians to defeat the saiyans. Oh sure, they might get some of the lower ranked ones somehow, but the higher ups? Not a chance. They were far too powerful for anything that the salarians could hope to use against them. Even if the STG and their best biologists somehow made a genophage to target the saiyans, there would be no salarians left.
King Vegeta had started a war with the batarians purely from his outrage at the plans of the Hegemon's slaving fleet. That war had ended up with the confirmed destruction of the batarian home world and the total collapse of the Hegemony. Padok knew that the information had been correct. He had been the one to take a scout ship to Khar'shan in the first place. There was nothing left but rocks, and far too few of them.
That power scared him more than he could possibly put into words. And the idea that the saiyans might turn that power against the Union filled him with dread at the mere thought. Which is why it made no sense to him that the Dalatrasses and STG boss Director Plist would guarantee that the saiyans would use that power against them by organising an attack on their children. It made no tactical sense. Even best estimates only granted the teams a 0.72% chance of success. There was something that Padok wasn't seeing.
But now there was something else that Padok was seeing. Something else that filled him with awe at the power of the saiyans. Something that both amazed and terrified him, if only for the implications that could be made from them.
Khar'shan was back. Someway, somehow, Khar'shan was back.
He might have dismissed it if someone else had told him that the planet had somehow reformed. After all, when you fly through the asteroid field that was left in the wake of the destruction used against it, that was generally compelling evidence that the planet had been destroyed.
Now he was standing on the planet's surface.
Sure, there were some changes. For instance, there were none of the buildings that had been part of Khar'shan's infrastructure and industry. In fact, the only buildings were prefabricated portable structures that had been set up by the saiyans to care for the hundreds of thousands of refugees. All of them were former slaves who had been rescued during the Batarian Massacre.
It was a little humbling to see. In the matter of a month, the saiyans had done what no one else had dared to do. What no one else could do. A look around the planet made Padok expand on that. What no mortal could do. To destroy a planet so completely and return it in pristine condition… that was the realm of the gods.
"Padok Wiks," a voice called out to interrupt his thoughts. He turned to see a saiyan standing next to a human in military uniform. The badges denoted a captain.
He walked over to them. "Yes?"
The human stepped forward. "I am Captain Gideon Hersch, Alliance Navy," he introduced himself. "I am a scientist in Alliance R&D. You obviously know Skash here," he gestured to the saiyan. "Pleasure to meet you. I understand that you are a biochemist by trade?"
Padok nodded. "Correct."
The human smiled. "Good," he said. "I am in the process of setting up a combined research facility on this planet, in another location. The Alliance and the Saiyan Kingdom will be working together to study and develop several things. I was hoping that you would be interested in joining my team."
Padok blinked slowly as he considered. He was still assisting the saiyans in developing their fledgling Intelligence programs. They had a long way to go, but any of his prior team could do the job as well as he could, if not better. He was drafted into the STG for his high skills in biochemistry, not for his infiltration skills. Those were something he had just picked up along the way.
Not to mention the politics and the death mark he had against him from his own people. The death mark he could deal with. But he couldn't help feeling frustrated with the political interference in the STG research teams. Nothing he did in an STG base happened without the right people being interested. None of whom were in the STG.
Also, these were two different civilisations that had come from vastly different technological backgrounds and with some rather extreme differences in biological makeup. It would be interesting to be part of the process again. He did miss working in his field of qualification at times. This might help him scratch that metaphorical itch.
"I accept," he replied simply.
The human grinned. "Very well, let's head to that building over there and start talking about particulars, shall we?"
With that, he led Padok off to a new future, far from the scheming of the dalatrasses.
…
A/N Padok is not going to be a major part of this story going forward. I just felt that he needed some closure to his part in this whole thing. He might make an appearance now and again, but don't expect to see much of him.
Caulifla reappeared. Who knows what part she will play in the future?
The glowing ball is referenced in some other canon materials. It is a device that allows the Leviathans to monitor space and control anyone who gets too close to it, in case you didn't know. Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks again for all of your support.