Chapter 2
Vegeta wished he could see Zarbon’s pod as they plummeted to the surface of Rihon 8, knowing that Zarbon would probably come out of the ship fighting, needing to catch the Saiyans off-guard. He scowled and tapped the edge of the console impatiently, wanting to just get the whole business done with, even though he was looking forward to the fight. Zarbon was certainly a more than worthy opponent. The surface loomed in the window and Vegeta braced himself for impact.
“Is the plan perfectly clear?” Radditz radioed Nappa as they saw Vegeta’s pod
zooming towards Rihon 8’s surface.
“You made sure the pod was reprogrammed?” Nappa said, sighing. Leave it to
Radditz to find a way to save his own skin.
“Yes. Once he reenters and closes the door it won’t allow him any access to any
of the ship’s functions, unless the pod itself malfunctions. He’ll head
straight for Earth, and upon his arrival a recording of our voices will tell
him about Kakarott and what we’ve done.”
“Leaving you and I alone to destroy Zarbon,” Nappa said, sounding dubious.
Radditz himself only had a power level of several thousand, and although Nappa
himself ranked in the 10-15,000 range, Zarbon was rumored to have a power well
above 46,000. The two of them together couldn’t defeat Zarbon.
“Of course,” Radditz’s voice crackled over the private frequency. “I’ll get
Vegeta into his pod while you distract Zarbon. Once Vegeta has taken off and is
out of Freeza’s reach I’ll create the moon-sphere, and then we can squash
Zarbon easily when we’re in oozaru form.”
Nappa smiled, the ends of his moustache twitching. He had forgotten all about
going oozaru once he found out Rihon 8 had no moon. Even Radditz would be able
to destroy Zarbon once he was an oozaru. “Tell me why we’re sending Vegeta off
alone to fetch Kakarott?” Nappa said testily after a moment. “He’s your
damn brother, after all.”
Radditz sighed. “It’s the only way we can get Vegeta out of Freeza’s grasp. I
don’t like the way that slimy alien looks at the Prince. That will leave you and
I to radio Freeza that Vegeta and Zarbon are dead, and report radical weaponry
on Rihon 8. We could say it nearly took us out, but we managed to clear the
planet.”
“Um, Radditz, how in the hell is Freeza going to believe that Zarbon and Vegeta
were killed by weaponry when we survived?” Nappa said angrily.
“Zarbon and Vegeta killed each other. Zarbon attacked Vegeta, which he will
anyway, and then we can say that Vegeta powered up so much to kill him that
they both were destroyed.”
“Oh, like the first Super Saiyan,” Nappa said, chewing on his moustache
thoughtfully.
“Exactly. It will make sense to Freeza, since he knows all about Vegeta being
the One and all. He’s familiar with our legends,” Radditz asserted, and Nappa
found himself nodding in agreement, even though he knew the other Saiyan
couldn’t see him.
“Very well, Radditz. I’ll do my part if you do yours. Prepare for landing,”
Nappa cautioned, and terminated the signal.
The landing was very rough, but the second the door to his pod opened Zarbon
leapt out, powered up and ready to fight. He saw Vegeta and Radditz climb out
of their pods, and wondered for a moment where the biggest one, Nappa, had
landed. His brows knitted together as Radditz suddenly charged at Vegeta for no
apparent reason, his shoulders hunched and his head lowered. Vegeta shouted a
curse and blocked Radditz’s blows easily, if frantically, as the other man
tried to get a grip on him. What in the hell were the Saiyans doing? He scowled
and decided it was none of his business. He couldn’t allow Radditz to kill
Vegeta, and since Radditz was supposed to die anyway...he pointed a
well-manicured finger at Radditz and fired
.
“Radditz!” Vegeta screamed as the larger man hurtled towards him. Vegeta
grunted with the impact, expecting some underhanded trick, but was instead just
pushed around. He looked into Radditz’s face with surprise, not comprehending
what was going on, only knowing that Radditz was foiling his plans to eradicate
Zarbon. He was about to bat Radditz away when he saw the beam of light shooting
straight towards them. Radditz froze as the light pierced his shoulder,
knocking him to the ground. “What in the hell are you doing?” Vegeta screamed,
not really knowing if he was talking to Radditz or to Zarbon.
“I have to destroy you,” Zarbon said offhandedly, shrugging and taking aim at
Vegeta.
“No!” Radditz howled, picking himself off of the ground and lunging at Zarbon.
“You won’t hurt the Prince!” Zarbon’s eyes widened as Radditz struck him across
the face with a fist. He grunted as he slid across the rocky ground, face
stinging. He sat up and wiped his face with his arm sheath, snarling as it came
away bloody.
“You damned Saiyan!” Zarbon hissed. “You’re going to wreck my complexion!” he
spat as he launched himself at the Saiyan, who was bleeding profusely from the
wound in his shoulder. He shot forward with his right fist and smiled as
Radditz grunted with the effort of blocking with his wounded arm. He saw
Radditz sink a little in his stance as a foot connected with Zarbon’s ribcage.
Zarbon hissed as he felt the ribs strain, but nothing broke. He grabbed the
Saiyan’s foot and twisted, feeling the bones crunch in his grip. A smile
crossed his face as battle exhilaration took over him. This particular Saiyan
was no challenge, but he had to admit it was sort of charming the way he was
trying to protect his little prince. He heard Radditz fall with a thud to the
ground and quickly scanned the area for Vegeta’s whereabouts. A noise behind
him caught his attention and he whirled to face it, shocked to see Nappa
trying, fairly unsuccessfully, to restrain an enraged Vegeta.
“What in the hell is going on here?” he heard the little prince screech, trying
to get a good grip on Nappa’s arms. Zarbon smiled and turned his attention to the
Saiyan at his feet, his eyes widening in amazement as the realized there was no
body lying on the ground in front of him. He lurched forward as the back of his
head was dealt a sound kick from behind.
“You bastard,” he heard Radditz snarl, and pitched forward as a ki ball
exploded in the small of his back. He landed face first in the dirt and coughed
up a little blood, feeling his stomach fill with rage. Standing quickly, he
shot forward and caught the startled Saiyan by the throat, squeezing slowly. Radditz's
eyes bulged a little before he squeezed them shut, his face turning the color
of a plum.
“What’s the matter, Radditz?” Zarbon chuckled. “Feeling a little choked up?” A
foot lashed out at his midsection, but he dodged it easily, burying his fist into
his opponent’s stomach. Radditz made a gurgling noise and struggled harder, his
fingernails digging into Zarbon’s skin. “I tire of you,” he said with a scowl,
and blasted Radditz in the face with a point-blank ki ball. Radditz screamed
and flew out of Zarbon’s grip, landing solidly in the doorway of Vegeta’s pod.
Zarbon strode over and stood over the fallen Saiyan, who was coughing blood all
over the glass of the window. Face expressionless, he raised a hand and punched
the Saiyan repeatedly on his scorched face and stomach, dispassionately
ignoring the Saiyan’s gasps and screeches of pain. With a final kick he
deposited Radditz in the pod completely and prepared to blast the entire thing
out of existence. Suddenly the door of the pod snapped shut and he heard the
characteristic whirring of a pod about to take off. He lowered his hands in
surprise as he saw Radditz pound his fists against the ruby-colored glass of
the viewing window, his face a mask of alarm through the burns and blood. His
mouth rounded in an anguished “no” and the pod took off, blasting up into the
sky and away from them.
“Damn it,” he heard Nappa spit behind him, and he turned around to see Nappa
releasing the irate Prince.
“Nappa, what in the hell is going on?” Vegeta bellowed. “How dare you keep me
out of the fight!”
Nappa looked down at Vegeta in shock, his expression the same as if he was
seeing the prince for the first time. “It all backfired,” Nappa said simply,
and turned his eyes back up to the sky.
“What backfired?” Vegeta screeched, brandishing a fist. “The only thing you
should worry about now is how slowly I’m going to kill you for disrupting my
plans!”
Zarbon watched in amazement as Vegeta began to power up. His scouter blipped
and continued to climb as an icy-blue aura surrounded the Saiyan’s body.
“Vegeta!” he shouted, remembering his orders. “Stop! You’re taking in too much
power!” Zarbon spat a curse and ran over to Vegeta, determined not to let the
Prince self-destruct.
“Vegeta, calm down!” Nappa said, sweat pouring down his bald head. “This was
all just for your own safety!”
“I don’t want to hear it, Nappa!” Vegeta roared, his aura blazing higher.
Zarbon was nearly to the Saiyans. “Vegeta, you’ll self-destruct!” he screamed,
throwing himself at the smaller man, knocking them both to the ground. There
was a whistling noise above their heads and suddenly they were covered in a
warm, sticky liquid. Zarbon looked around in shock as Vegeta pushed him off
roughly.
“What in the hell was that?” Vegeta spat, staring at Zarbon.
Zarbon blinked. Where Nappa had once stood there was only part of a leg and
some scraps of armor. He turned his head to face Vegeta and blinked again.
“You’re covered in blood,” he said blankly.
Vegeta’s brows shot into a deeper scowl and his black eyes scanned the area.
“You’re freezing up, fool,” Vegeta hissed. “Besides, you’re covered in blood,
too.”
Zarbon looked down and saw that he, in fact, was covered with more blood than
Vegeta, since he had been on the top when it had happened. He glanced over to
where Nappa had been standing and realized through his shock that something had
simply blown the huge Saiyan off the face of the planet. His gaze shot back
over to Vegeta, and he could tell by the stupefied look on the other man’s face
that the same realization had just overtaken him as well.
“Nappa,” Vegeta breathed, eyes wide, as two more distinct explosions sounded
around them. Zarbon whipped his head around and realized that two of the pods
had exploded. He grabbed Vegeta by the collar of his armor and hoisted them
both to standing as the third and final pod was blasted out of existence.
“Snap out of it, Vegeta,” Zarbon hissed as he drew Vegeta’s arm around his
shoulders. “You were just going to kill him anyway.”
“Nappa,” Vegeta answered, limp in Zarbon’s grasp.
“He’s dead, Vegeta!” Zarbon snapped. “But we can’t let that happen to us.” He
looked around, but to his alarm he couldn’t see the assailants. The air would
be their only sure escape. “Hold on,” he cautioned the dumbfounded Saiyan, and
took to the air. He had only gone a few tens of meters when he saw what had
been causing the destruction. There were hundreds of barely discernible beings
on the ground, all seemingly armed to the teeth. Arms which could, apparently,
destroy despite ki shields. Zarbon gripped Vegeta more firmly and tapped the
button on his scouter. “Lord Freeza, this is Zarbon, I repeat, this is Zarbon.
We have run into radical weaponry on Rihon 8, half of our party has been
terminated. Requesting back up. I repeat, we have run into radical weaponry,”
he transmitted, then dodged as a thin beam of light whizzed at his head. A heat
welt raised on his cheek and he shuddered as his scouter disintegrated into
millions of pieces. “That was too close for comfort,” he whispered to himself,
and shifted the incredibly heavy Saiyan in his grip. “Let’s get out of here,
Vegeta,” he said, and sped off.
Radditz let his forehead rest against the cool glass of the pod as the stars
rushed past him. He was badly burned, maybe dying, he realized as he relaxed
into the seat of the pod. He heard the whir of motors as the stasis system
switched on, remembering that Vegeta was to have been put into stasis to keep
from accidentally destroying the pod. Radditz felt the warm fingers of slower
metabolism slide over his body, and he smiled as the pain from his wounds
slowly ebbed. The stasis would keep him alive until he reached Earth, he
decided as he ran a few calculations through his head. Suddenly his scouter,
which was lying on the floor of the pod, crackled to life. “...Freeza....this
is....repeat, this is Zarbon....radical weaponry on Rihon...party has been
terminated...repeat...radical weaponry...” the transmission ran, full of
static, before there was a loud bang and the scouter fell silent. Radditz was
too far into stasis to be able to howl in rage, but as it was he could only
hope that Vegeta was left alive and would continue to be so until Radditz could
return with help.
“Lord Freeza! There’s a weak transmission coming in from a remote scouter!” a
purple saurian shouted from one of the control panels.
Freeza opened an eye in curiosity. “Is that so?” he said, sounding
uninterested. “Patch it through,” he ordered lazily, scratching his arm.
The saurian punched a few keys and the sound came pouring from the monitors.
“...Zarbon...radical weaponry...party...terminated...radical weaponry...” the
transmission ran before a loud bang was heard. The saurian turned around and
stared at Freeza, face pale.
“What course of action would you like to take, sir?” the saurian asked, sweat
beading on his brow.
Freeza shrugged and closed his eyes. “Zarbon has obviously failed in his
mission,” he hissed. After a moment he pressed his thin black lips together and
rose from his chair, beginning to stride from the room.
“Lord Freeza, are you all right?” Dodoria asked him, falling into step.
“Both Zarbon and Vegeta have been destroyed,” Freeza snarled, red eyes
narrowed.
“My apologies,” Dodoria said, dumbfounded. “Would you like to issue any
orders?”
Freeza halted and stared at the fleshy pink face. “Dispatch backup to Rihon 8
immediately,” he said, voice grinding. “There is still a chance they’re alive,”
he whispered to himself, putting a finger to his chin and tapping. “Yes, send a
rescue mission at once,” Freeza said loudly, and whirled around to face the
room. He was met with the uneasy stares of the bridge staff. “Are you people
deaf?” Freeza screeched. “I said dispatch a mission at once!” he screamed,
balling his hands into fists and raising his arms.
“Cancel the order,” a voice said behind him. Freeza snapped around to be
confronted with another pair of slanted red eyes.
“This isn’t your jurisdiction,” Freeza hissed, eyes narrowing again as he bared
his teeth.
“It is when you are unfit to command,” the voice replied. “And you are far
too...upset...right now to be considered fit.”
“You aren’t the one who decides whether or not I’m ‘fit’ to command,” Freeza
said coldly, regaining his composure and standing up straight.
“Oh, but Freeza, isn’t it an older brother’s job to make sure nothing happens
to his younger sibling?” the voice said smoothly, the tone edged with razors.
Freeza ground his teeth. “Cooler, I will not stand here and be insulted on my
own bridge!”
Cooler glanced around the room and snorted. “Did you cancel the order?” he
asked the purple saurian. The saurian just blinked. “I said cancel the order,”
Cooler said again, voice low and dangerous. The saurian gulped and stared at
Freeza.
Freeza drew in air sharply between his teeth, staring into his brother’s eyes
hatefully. “Cancel the order,” he agreed, and stormed out of the room.
“What’s gotten into him?” Cooler wondered idly, imitating his brother’s gesture
of tapping his chin.
Dodoria sidled up to him. “His Saiyan pet was just destroyed on Rihon 8,” he
offered, glancing at the door Freeza had retreated through.
Cooler scowled. “Saiyans? I thought he wiped all of them out years ago. That
was what our father wanted, at least.”
Dodoria shook his head. “No. He deliberately sent their prince, Vegeta, on an
off-world mission when he destroyed their planet. Two others just got lucky.”
“But they’re all dead now?” Cooler asked idly, eyes focused out the window on
some far away point in space.
Dodoria studied the other alien for a moment before replying. “Yes sir, that’s
what we believe. Zarbon was sent with the three Saiyans to Rihon 8, where he
was to terminate all but Vegeta.”
Cooler turned to him, eyes fractionally wider. “Again with this Vegeta fellow?”
Dodoria nodded. “Apparently there was radical weaponry on Rihon 8. Zarbon’s
last transmission was one of utter defeat.”
Cooler made a humming noise and crossed his arms over his chest. “Too bad.
Zarbon was a good soldier,” he muttered.
Dodoria scowled and didn’t reply for a few moments. “Sir, would you like to
send another mission to Rihon 8?”
Cooler smiled and shook his head. “No, I don’t think so, Dodoria,” he replied
coldly.
“Rihon 8 is in the next system over from Rigel 7, which is where I believe the
Saiyans had trouble before. If they have the technology to kill Zarbon, this
Vegeta character, and two more Saiyans, they are well worth keeping around,
just in case,” he said, and walked slowly over to Freeza’s hoverchair, resting
a hand lightly on its polished armrest. “In fact, let’s wait a few weeks until
everything cools down, then extend an offer of peace in return for their
technology. One can never be too careful,” he said quietly before rising into
the chair.
Dodoria blinked away a drop of sweat that had worked its way through his spines
and into his eye. “Yes, sir,” he replied with a bow, and backed out of the
room.
Freeza burst into his quarters and blasted a chair into oblivion, his vision
clouded by rage. If only he could do the same thing to that blasted brother of
his, he thought, snarling. That damn Cooler was always getting in his way. It
was bad enough having lost his best soldier and his favorite one, but then
Cooler had to come prancing in and take over his operation! Freeza picked up a
bauble from a table and crushed it in his bare hands, not even noticing as the
material sliced through his palm.
“Cooler,” he hissed, “I’ll find a way to bring Vegeta back, and when I do
you’ll pay.”
*~*~*~*~*