Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Payment in Full: Saiyan's 2nd Chance ❯ Seeds of Destruction ( Chapter 19 )

Epilogue

The Seeds of Destruction

***

 

Tomic shivered despite the warmth of the fire raging before them. Already the first stars were peeking through the hazy smoke billowing up. Still she sat in her mate's lap, licking her fingers of the juice of meat Nappa had freshly roasted. Cabernet seized another skewer, then thrust the contents into her mouth. Beeping jolted her out of a daze, and she glanced up at Nappa.

 

"What? Yes, we're HERE! Sheesh, by the Legendary stop shouting!" Cabernet growled. "Come over here you lazy bastard! Why did you turn your COM of?"

 

"I was training!" Nappa shot back. Tomic blinked once more, realizing she lay with her head pillowed on someone's brawny arm.

 

"Relax, you have to eat more to regain your strength," chided the voice of her mate. Her grief temporarily melted at the sound of concern in his gruff voice, and she buried her nose in his hair to assuage another wave of tears. With a throaty chuckle Raditz gave her backside a suggestive squeeze. Her tail uncurled and wrapped itself around his booted ankle.

 

"Yes, I know but DAMN it, you could take calls once in a while!" Cabernet yelled at her mate. Nappa snorted, hitting a button on his scouter that activated his link.

 

"Yes, Nappa here. Yeah, we've cleared. The new recruit's passed her final test," Nappa nodded, glancing down at Tomic with a look of grudging respect. "She was a bit too clean though, but nothing we can't fix. Yeah… I'm sure she'll be able to continue the mission, right?"

 

"Is there any doubt?" Raditz grumbled as Nappa's gaze fell on him. Tomic swallowed another lump in her throat, peering at the charred ruins of the city she'd vaporized.

 

"No, she didn't transform," Nappa said. "Yeah damn it I KNOW! We'll take care of that! Well I DO like not having to depend on that old man's stupid fake moon trick! This is an ELITE unit we shouldn't have to transform to take out a customer!"

 

"Remind them about the aurites!" Raditz interrupted.

 

"Shut up whelp I know! Yes, that was Sgt. Raditz. He's tallied up the spoils. We'll let them wrap up here while my subordinate and I go on ahead," said Nappa.

 

"What's his orders?" asked Raditz.

 

"You've got to take her out. Even if you have to do that trick of your old man's. Show her how it's done. She's got to learn to control it. Some bonehead wants us to prove we can do a deal in ape mode as well," Cabernet rolled her eyes. She reached in the dirt and brushed something off. Tomic saw the gleam off the gold necklace worked with many beads that belonged to one of the Delphian high priests.

 

"I'm going to keep this bauble. Looks like it'll fetch a pretty penny," Cabernet laughed.

 

"Keep it. As a souvenir," Nappa laughed. "Team Vegetasei out!"

 

A lone wind whipped across the surface, stirring up dust on the arid plane. Tomic sat upright in her mate's lap, huddling closer to him for his body warmth. Fortunately he was interpreting this as a need to mate, and was nibbling her neck. "Hey, whelps, you can do that LATER!" Nappa shouted.

 

"Apologies," they both muttered, sliding out of their embrace to kneel.

 

"You two mop up here. Commander Turles wants me and Cabernet to return back for some last minute things before we go to our next customers," said Nappa.

 

"I thought that we were only a few parsecs from the Mantissan system," said Tomic.

 

"This was just a loose end they needed tied up. You're looking at the future sight of the new Mantissan zoo," said Nappa. "Why the hell they want to preserve any creatures is beyond me."

 

"For hunting, naturally," Raditz snorted. "You really make me wonder how you were promoted?"

 

"Superior strength, and don't you two forget it!" Nappa snorted down at them.

 

"Considering that she cleared this place in only a few days I'm sure some of the other teams are going to wonder what we've been teaching you two," Cabernet said.

 

"Shove that in your old man's face," Nappa laughed.

 

"Don't encourage him," Raditz rolled his eyes. "I've had enough of any pissing contests."

 

"Oh I forgot you two are nice-nice now," Nappa corrected himself. "Well, have fun you two. Don't mess this place up TOO much while you try your old man's move."

 

"Later kids," said Cabernet. "Meet back at the ship in two revs."

 

"Yes ma'am," they nodded. Nappa motioned to his mate, and she strode on tall booted feet towards the direction of their landing site.

 

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, girl," Cabernet winked at Tomic. Tomic nodded, sitting down on the flat rock where the female Saiyan had occupied an hour before. Raditz watched their commanders disappear over the horizon, and then turned his attention back to Tomic. Dark brown eyes peered into the fire as if wishing to see beyond the flames. He sensed her doubt and confusion, then sighed deeply. What would it take to toughen her up to their way of life? At first he thought she was over her squeamishness, and yet he saw the vacant look of sorrow on her face.

 

"You mourn for these idiots?" Raditz asked, sitting next to her.

 

"It doesn't matter does it? They are all dead. I did the job, can we please just finish and leave?" she asked.

 

"There is still one more phase. You've only transformed once, and that was during rutting season," Raditz said gently.

 

"I can't REMEMBER anything!" Tomic glared up at him in horror. "What if I lose control? I HATE not remembering…"

 

"Father claimed he could," said Raditz quietly, resting a hand on her shoulder. "And I've almost achieved the same measure of control. There is little I don't recall during the times. You just have to master it. It gives a Saiyan their true strength. It's not something to fear."

 

"What if I never regain my rationality?" she whispered.

 

"Ridiculous. You come to your senses regardless. Now I've been patient with you, but it's time to stop dwelling in the past. You know as well as I do there is nothing you can do," Raditz said sternly, climbing to his feet.

 

"I don't remember the exact frequency," Tomic said quietly.

 

"I shall show you, love, now pay attention," Raditz said with a slight chuckle. Sometimes when she seemed helpless he was even more attracted to her. The rest of her question was laced with the desire to continue training, or she would not have asked for his assistance. He extended a gauntlet hand to her, palm facing up. Hesitantly she reached out and grasped hold of it. With a hefty tug Raditz pulled her to stand next to him.

 

"Now you know it's not unlike a Saturday Crush," he said quietly. "But the hand positioning is like the other that I've shown you."

 

"I remember THAT part," she complained, standing opposite him on the plane. She automatically raised her hand with the palm facing upwards and directly before her armored chest. Raditz nodded, mimicking her pose.

 

"Good, now remember Father said that the trick was the wavelength, but keep the frequency down. You're not trying to blow something up…" he murmured.

 

"Not the frequency, but the amplitude," she corrected him. Both Saiyan glanced down into their extended palms, dark eyes staring inward to the pit of their beings. Tomic inhaled a series of deep breaths to center her emotional quagmire. First on Raditz palm appeared a small glowing sphere of yellow power, then on her hand purple chi crackled at a similar size. Raditz dark brow knit as he attempted to match the frequency he remembered.

 

"That's not it," Tomic corrected him. "Towards the blue end of the spectrum."

 

"So you DO remember," he glanced back at her.

 

"I just like it when you get all protective on me, it makes me desire you," Tomic blurted out, ashamed she had been caught out.

 

"Smart female," Raditz chuckled. Flickering chi on her palm gleamed off the lens of he scouter. Purple shifted to indigo, then to a light robin's egg blue. Sweat beaded on Tomic's brow, indicative of the concentration she poured into the move that his father had perfected. He dissipated his own artificial sphere then moved forwards to where Tomic continued to growl.

 

"That's not it either," she grunted, seeing the blue glow flickering momentarily back to purple, then to a faint green.

 

"Allow me," Raditz offered, cupping his hand under hers. He moved around behind her, his body pressed to her back. Chikara crackled between them when Raditz rested his other hand on her navel. Tomic's memories were searching for a visual reference, but for some reason she was having great difficulty wrestling one that was reliable. Inside the courtyard of her thoughts she felt his mental tendrils pushing. Tomic opened the rapport between them to let Raditz send her very clear images. Silvery blue energies bathed their faces in prickling tingles.

 

"That's it…" Raditz growled. "Let it go… as high as you can!"

 

To his annoyance Tomic's eyes were tightly squeezed shut. Under Raditz direction the artificial moon levitated upwards, then hung overhead at an altitude of a thousand feet. Against his chest her back trembled spasmodically. Raditz broke their link so he could turn her around in his arms to face him. She whispered against his armored chest, "I'm scared to look. Please Raditz, I hate this."

 

"I know love, but I'll be with you," he urged.

 

"I want to remember," she pleaded.

 

"Hold onto who you are. Remember who I am. You will not loose control if you remember us. Don't fear your strength, embrace it," Raditz growled.

 

Tomic's eyes flickered open to glance up into his face. Backlit by the artificial moon, his waterfall cascaded like silver on ebony, each curve of his features ethereal and even more savage. Tomic squeezed his gauntleted hand even though he pushed her gently away to stand on her own. "I don't want to be a wimp but I need you…"

 

"I'm here," Raditz nodded. "Just let it happen. See how beautiful it is. You've done it love…"

 

Tomic swallowed hard, staring into the depths of the orb. Silvery needles shot over her skin's surface followed by a thumping in her very soul. At the base of her spine buzzed energies in response that flared like silver fire along her spine and every nerve ending. Before her eyes Raditz mouth and nose merged and stretched into a muzzle, dark hairs erupting from his skin and face. In that moment she knew that she could not go back. A wild red miasma whirled around her vision, as the entire world became blood red.

 

The world tilted and shrank under her, falling away at a fast pace. Invincibility bulked every muscle. Tomic seized onto that feeling while the silvery moonlight threads merged with her being. Still she felt the tight squeeze of a massive paw around hers painfully tight. Next to her the terrifying monster threw back his muzzle and roared. Furry spikes almost brushed the ground. Two red glowing coals blazed into the eerie twilight. Before her vision drifted a shaggy arm that she knew was hers. Wild blinding rage shot from the core of her being into a blaze of energy surging from her throat forwards.

 

***

Out of a haze she blinked upwards into blinding bright sunbeams. Under her she felt the flat surface of a hard rock. It had substance that grounded her into sober reality. Tomic glanced wildly around at her surroundings. Charred husks of ruined buildings stretched for miles, obscured by the haze of smoke and debris.

 

"Raditz!" she screamed, not seeing him anywhere near.

 

Tomic leapt up, then tripped. At the pit of her being was that great gnawing emptiness. Not sorrow but primal nauseous hunger. Wildly she glanced down at her body and found she was still wearing her armor. Scrapes covered her fingers and legs that were now bare as his. The leggings she had worn the day before were in tatters so she could see the gleaming leg ring on her upper left thigh. Just why she would be sitting instead of laying she did not question.

 

Fleeting images faded despite her efforts to remember. "Damn it," Tomic cursed, squeezing shut her eyes. As if that action would snare any memories she wondered. Unfortunately the gray haze like times before blurred violent actions of smashing rubble and blazing blasts echoing in her ears.

 

"Raditz where are you, you big baboon!" she hollered. Tomic gathered her energies so she could slowly levitate up out of the bowl shaped crater she occupied. Ground vanished to a slight curve festooned with battered bones of buildings and miles of rubble piles. She then recognized the charred smoking craters in the same configuration of the Delphian and Aridian population centers she had cleared of life. What now remained were smoking pits of billowing dust? Every trace of civilization was all but obliterated under the morning suns.

 

There had been ruins before from their war. Tomic numbly soared across the skies and surveyed the damage. Not a trace of anything except the occasional battered spire rose off the landscape. Mountains and hills seemed sheared and decimated. Ash and cinders blew in the morning winds. Oceans and pools lapped lightly in the swirling howling gale. Tomic screamed her mate's name, trying to activate her scouter to trace where he was.

 

At last her scouter locked onto a huge power level greater then her own. Tomic gasped with relief, drifting down into the slagheaps of twisted metal that had once been the main fortress of the Aridians. Two hundred miles she had flown to see two space pods nestled in the small spots of wild that had survived the secondary carnage. She saw her mate gnawing on a sizable carcass. No fire existed, but the growing pile of bones and other objects indicated that he had hunted for breakfast.

 

"Tomic, down here!" he shouted, spotting her hovering overhead. "Get down here and eat something love!"

 

She swallowed the sob, never so glad to see anyone in her life. Were they the only living things left on this word she had granted the gift of death. Raditz stood up, striding towards her. To his delight she threw herself at him wildly. Her gauntleted arms latched around his throat while one leg threw over his hip. Raditz grasped her up and relished the feel of her lips closing over his.

 

A second later Tomic pulled back making an awful face. She gagged and shivered, causing him to frown. "That's a fine greeting for your mate!" Raditz scowled.

 

"What the HELL were you eating! You taste horrible!" she winced.

 

"Just some of the local waterlife," he shrugged. Turning his face he spat out the mouthful of food he had been chewing on. He then realized the rather unpalatable mouthful had not been swallowed before he had returned her openmouthed kiss. Still he clutched Tomic but dropped to one knee. He seized some of the fruit he had gathered and bit into it, then shoved the nibbled fruit into her face.

 

"Eat this, it should clear the palate," he mumbled apologetically. Tomic chewed and then spat, finally able to take away the nasty acrid taste. She had forgotten that some Saiyan carnivorous habits left a soiled taste if they did not eat enough fruit or vegetable matter. Inside her stomach was that empty wretched ache while every muscle in her body quivered. Something as elusive as a dream danced and she shivered with the effort to remember. Frustration overwhelmed her thus prompting her to seek the physical comfort of another body. Namely her mate clutching her while he continued to devour whatever food he could find. Sweet pink mottle with orange fruits were about the size of her fist but packed with honeyed nectar. Oddly enough they predominated along the waterholes. An acrid sourness permeated the mouthful and she gagged.

 

"It's… poisoned. They poisoned it to kill the delphinians," she hissed in his ear.

 

"So, it won't kill you or me. Saiyan constitution is many times stronger for a mere bio toxin. Food is food, and you need to eat as much as you can. I can't have you passing out on the middle of a mission!" he growled back. Raditz set her down then shoved more of the fruit into her hand. Doubtfully Tomic glanced down at the 'poisoned' fruit that had killed many of the Delphinians slowly through small levels of toxicity in the water. Their entire ecosystem was pure poison generated by Aridians pouring small amounts of ratchta weed juice in. In small amounts it was odorless and tasteless, but in high levels building up in the Delphinian's fatty tissue would cause liver and kidney failure. Overdoses resulted in the mottled skin lesions that literally festered into infectious sores. Then as the adults grew too weak to fight, the Aridians would kill them.

 

"Miserable bastards," she mumbled, eating huge bites of the poisoned foodstuff. "Couldn't even fight honorably in the open. They just poisoned the other race then picked off the weak like animals."

 

"Why should you care love, they're dead now," Raditz asked. Tomic swallowed hard, forcing back tears.

 

"Yes. They couldn't take care of their planet. They'd fight to the death, and there were only children fighting back in the end…" she whispered.

 

"Tomic, look at me," Raditz said softly, noticing her firming jaw. "Just think of it this way, they couldn't care properly for their world, so the next people to come along will benefit. Only the strongest survive."

 

"Damn social Darwinism," she whispered, making a face.

 

"Who the hell was Darwin?" asked Raditz, blinking at her.

 

"Someone who said only the fittest survive. I can't remember where I heard it," Tomic muttered, spitting out the pieces that were far too bitter. If a Saiyan had tasted the fruit and water they could instantly tell from their enhanced smell and taste that eating and drinking was pure death. Raditz simply handed her more fruit seeing that she devoured it so readily. For a time Tomic stuffed her face with the killer fruit knowing that she could eat what the Aridians promised would destroy the 'inferior' species.

 

"You got involved didn't you love?" Raditz asked. He wiped fruit juice off his mouth with the back of his gauntlet hand. Tomic knelt near him in the shade of one of the palmlike trees. Another cold wind whipped across the new featureless plane pitted with rocks and scorchmarks. Everything for hundreds of miles was razed to the ground thanks to whatever force. Overhead two scorching suns rose into the air, so Raditz decided it was high time to get her out of the direct line of their influence. Carefully he pulled her up by her gauntlet hand clenched in his, nodding towards the nearby clusters of trees.

 

"It's damn hot. I don't want you getting sunstroke," he chided. "Come over here with me."

 

"I was curious," Tomic looked up. "To know their culture and technology before I… eliminated it."

 

"That is permitted. You had indicated they had some technology that might be useful to sell," Raditz nodded. "The Aztecs had a smelting process far superior in the refining of Aureate. I made full recordings and broadcasted them to our scientists."

 

"The Aridiains were masters at using focussed solar energies," she said, scrabbling in the dirt with her finger to show him the design. "The Delphinians had great caches of poetry and music. But nobody remembered how to play them."

 

"Commander Turles will be pleased for the additions to his library. Anything you think he might like or could sell to the Archalisei library, I hope you put aside," Raditz said. Tomic nodded, knowing at least he had some comprehension of what things were worth. Unlike Nappa, Raditz picked clean what bits of artifacts and curiosities could be sold to a high bidder on the artifacts and curious market. Turles had taught him that much about stripping the culture of its treasure. In some way it would survive.

 

"I put the artifacts nearby," she said. "In one of the underground locations to be picked up later. There wasn't much left to save."

 

"You were almost killed by those weaklings. Why didn't you use Father's technique earlier?" he asked.

 

"You saw?"

 

"I saw everything that you did, love," Raditz said, tapping his scouter. "Even when you thought you had the link turned off there's an override frequency that links yours to mine. A little trick I wired into it."

 

"Great, just great," she mumbled.

 

"You're vastly improving the techniques I taught you. But you can afford to be more… aggressive. But don't be afraid to play. After all, it is your decision how to do your job. As long as it's completed in the appointed time," he said.

 

"Who decides?" she asked.

 

"Pardon?"

 

"Who decides what planets are worth even taking on?" she asked.

 

"Supreme war council did. But Lord Paragus must approve all 'missions' slated to him by the exploration parties," Raditz answered.

 

"How many more 'jobs' before we find what we're looking for?"

 

"This was your first love. You should be happy because when we've finished here, we'll continue with the prime mission. While you were busy here, we've made the final negotiations with the Mantissans for the exchange," Raditz informed her.

 

"So when are we 'done?' What happens to this planet next?"

 

"As soon as you feel strong enough and recovered, we can signal them and leave the rest to our employers," said Raditz. Tomic hauled herself to sit on something under the tree in direct cool shade. Her head ached with the efforts to recall.

 

"Why can't I REMEMBER," she cursed.

 

"Give it time. You did very well for only your second transformation," Raditz reassured her.

 

"What did I DO?" she asked.

 

"Can you not see for yourself? Perhaps an aerial view would show you," Raditz suggested. He helped her up so she stood next to him. In the hot bursts of air his hair swayed lightly back and forth like a lazy banner. Tomic glanced at the twin shadows spread behind him that stretched far before fading into the nearby craggy rocks. Her full height she came to just above his collarbone at eye level, tall enough that he could rest his chin on the top of her head. Next to his shadow she saw her own merging in, complete with the menacing shape of the shoulderpads and shaggy locks. Shading her eyes with her hand she walked out from under the tree after him.

 

"I did THIS?" she asked, sweeping the area with one hand. White straps crossed her palm from one side of the gauntlet to the other, while a second curved across the inner surface of her thumb. This left her hands clear to deliver energy in devastating blasts. She had soon discovered why Nappa and Raditz went with the shortest AE spandex beneath because the blood and gore generated by their hostile takeovers would soak any cloth otherwise. Streaks of gore and blood were encrusted on her flesh along with hardened splotches of ichor on her black and brown armor if she looked down at herself. Along one arm she peered down at the mess. Scratches and wounds still crisscrossed her bare thighs and upper arms from the Aridians trying to smother her in their war parties like a beast.

 

"Ugh I need a bath," she grumbled. Breaking away from Raditz she wandered over to the nearest hole. She reached the shore where she started to fuss with the armor. Straps under the shoulder pads held it to her chest that could be unfastened. Then she pushed it up and over her head so it landed next to her. Next came wristguards and the boots around her calves. Saiyan females had taller boots, much like Fasha's outfit. Yet unlike Fasha she wore wristguards that let her fingers and palm bare for larger energy attacks. Lower class females wore guards or gloves. Their armor was different colors based on their preference after 'graduation'. Scientists and engineers were green, specialists were blue. Epaulettes were a choice of the older ones like Toma, she had discovered. Only when 'promoted' to a Prime unit a Third class wore the brown shoulder epaulettes and armored skirt. Raditz armor symbolized the highest rank a Third Class could attain. No longer a Guard, but a direct underling to an elite.

 

Nappa's gold and black armor was Second class standard. White symbolized Elite or nobility. Anyone connected to Lord Paragus or Prince Vegeta had such accoutrements. Scientists wore long robes around their epaulettes. Bardock did not because he was both a squad leader and an engineer. Although he had the brain rating of scientists like Melaka and Planthor, both aliens, he forwent the 'smock' in favor of more functional armor. Green showed his leader status. Spacefaring Saiyans who were commander elite like Turles wore blue breastplates. Toma's blue indicated his former status as a primarily spacefaring Saiyan. Armbands indicated mating pledges. They could be cloth or copper. Fasha's gift of a white band tied on his upper arm showed a humble token of mating but that was not uncommon for the rank and file. Raditz expensive armband on Tomic's upper arm was the more expensive version. The copper hued metal was native to Vegetasei, long gone, called Arbolite. Unlike Aureate, it was darker and more ductile, conforming to body heat.

 

Pieces of long dead Vegetasei on her upper arm and thigh. Turles had such jewelry but it was more heavily ornamented. She fingered the arm ring, then stepped towards the blue pool. Raditz had watched her with predatory intensity, reached for the straps and clasps of his own armor. Bathing seemed another good distraction, and he sensed her warring mental processes. Only pure sensation could expunge them, and Saiyans were masters at sensual pleasures of sex, eating, and fighting.

 

She was not surprised to hear another splash shortly after hers. Water flowed around her body unencumbered by the bodysuit and armor. Energies from her purging had negated the biotoxins in the water rendering it sterile. Native fish still swam, but she could see no ruins of civilization. Just as her eyes diverted to something like a bit of statue, arms clasped her tightly to a chest. She whirled and looked into the face of Raditz, her mate. Completely nude as she, he gripped her legs and eased them up to wrap around his waist.

 

"Going somewhere, precious one?" he laughed, nuzzling her ear. Sexual tension eclipsed her last thoughts. Tomic blinked but couldn't remember what was so urgent.

 

She felt his hardness poking between her thighs and welcomed it. Some urges were undeniable and the urge to screw was next in line. Already she was wet and ready for him to thrust deeply inside with strokes that would have killed her in human form. Tomic's eyes flushed hot with tears at a sudden memory. Raditz grunted, stopping his pounding up to look at her.

 

"Tomic, am I not pleasing you?" he growled.

 

"All these memories, I can't…" she trailed off at a sudden wave of guilt.

 

"Let it go. Focus on me, on us. Harden yourself to whatever weaknesses the demons of darkness give. I'm here and that's all you need hold onto," Raditz whispered. "I promised that no harm would come to you, did I not?"

 

"I love you," she whispered softly, using words that were human. Raditz covered her voice in a kiss, pulling her tightly against him. He almost seemed afraid she would vanish into the stillness around them. For a time he kissed her wading waist deep in the water.

 

"You did the inhabitants here a favor," Raditz said quietly, stroking her back. "They could not properly take care of this world. They would have destroyed themselves. You gave them the taste and gift of oblivion. Did you not say the beings wasted their resources?"

 

"Yes, I suppose," she whispered.

 

"They would die anyway. Regardless of who killed them. Now another race will use this world where these fools did not. If you morn loss of life, then know this world will soon team with it, when our customers see what you've done," he said.

 

"The Delphians deserved better," she whispered. "I had no qualms killing the Aridians."

 

"The Delphians asked for your help. You gave it to them. The only escape they could have," Raditz chided her. "All prey welcome the end whether it comes sooner or later."

 

"They did not ask for this," she said.

 

"They asked for help, and you gave it to them," Raditz repeated.

 

"You are right," she said. Suddenly it seemed all so clear now. Guilt washed away with the cold comfortable Saiyan logic. Part of her shivered but the rest welcomed an end to the sorrow. They were dead now. No more suffering or dying, but the promise of another race.

 

"We're part of the natural order of things. Do you mourn for the carcass that gave you life?" Raditz asked. "Do you think a beast of prey evil for trying to stay alive?"

 

"No, I don't," she said.

 

"Then do not mourn. The Delphian's culture will be preserved in Turles collection. They will be studied and admired for their 'contributions' to technology. While the Aridians forgotten for the fools they were. That is immortality."

 

"How will the universe remember the Saiyan Race?" she asked.

 

"As those that are the strongest. And we will push aside our masters when we find our Prince," he promised. "You and I will not be slaves forever. You know the one called Commander. He was once a Third Class, but he found the path to power."

 

"Turles was one of us?" she asked. Raditz nodded, releasing her. He sat her down on the steps and began to stroke water through her hair. He lathered surfactant from his field kit to get rid of the slime and stench of battle. He wasn't used to bathing in water and it was a strange sensation for him.

 

"Yes. He is a good master to serve. With compassion for those that put him where he is. His memory is long. That is why he favored you for me. I rather think he thought us a good match, even before," Raditz laughed.

 

She nodded, and then helped him clean off. Before long they left the pool and flared themselves with ki to dry. She noticed a small wrapped something that Raditz had taken from his armor, and unwrapped it. To her surprise something was contained within. A small grapefruit sized pod with spikes surrounding it.

 

"What's this?"

 

"Nothing you need worry about," he said. "In fact, I could use your input."

 

"What?" she asked.

 

"Where would be the most fertile soil?" he asked. She blinked at Raditz, and then pointed to the remaining tracts of land unblemished by civilization.

 

"I thought so," he nodded. Taking her hand he led her after him. He dropped to his knees and started digging with his fingers. She wondered if it was a sort of Saibaman.

 

"A Saibaman?"

 

"Something far better," he said. "That should be deep enough. Now hand it here."

 

She unwrapped the thing, and saw the slight glow. Raditz dropped the spiked pod in the soil of Aridia. Tomic helped him cover it up with the soil that was soft and moist. When they were done he motioned for her to return with him. They still had to put their armor on once more. Fortunately it was now clean from the filth of her hostile takeover.

 

"When do we leave?"

 

"Now is a good time, we've finished here," he said. He led her to the spacepod that she had occupied, and she noticed that his was parked next to hers.

 

"Where to?"

 

"Barnard," he said. "The Mantissan research HQ. It will be a journey of many months. But now you are one of the team. You've passed your final test."

 

"Good," she nodded. He leaned down and kissed her, then helped her into her pod.

 

"I'll next see you on Barnard love. Sleep well," he said, nipping her ear. The door clanged shut and she gasped at the feel of it closing around her. Another thump and grunt just next to her told her he had climbed into his.

 

"I hate this," she whined.

 

"Prepare for departure!" he said sharply over the scouter.

 

"Computer start launch cycle!" Tomic said shakily to her pod's VA system. Fortunately it was all automated and she did not have to fly the blasted thing. It would take its preprogrammed course set there by Turles engineers. Still she wondered what was growing just outside the window by the time her pod lifted up. Steadily the shoot rose from the pod, spreading into the sky with its roots and branches. Tomic could swear she saw it almost a mile high by the time they saw the planet become curved.

 

"Commencing hibernation cycle," the pod computer said to her. Cryogen mist hissed around with perfumed spices. She felt her brain settling into pink mist. Yet the last glimpse she had of the world was a huge tree reaching almost into space.

 

"What was that?" she asked.

 

"What?" Raditz asked.

 

"What was planted?"

 

"A Godly tree," said Raditz. "Turles will be quite happy at the site you've chosen."

 

"what?" she asked suddenly straightening up in her seat. Where had she heard that thing before, and why did it disturb her?

 

Beneath them, Aridius was sucked dry of its last life. All the beings cleared had poisoned it, but the remainder of its life would catalyze the small crop. It would be meager, but enough for their Commander to renew his power. As his cruiser approached, Turles caught a glimpse of the two pods hurtling through the depths of space. He smiled in delight at the fruit of Tomic's labors far below. Shouting orders to his crewmembers he brought the ship to the upper lays of the atmosphere so he could descend. Soon the special soldiers would sweep the planet and strip it of any cultural artifacts.

 

They would bring a hefty price on the market, Turles nodded as he catalogued each one. The Tree was growing well he noted, but it was dismally small compared to the one on the Destroyer's homeworld that had just matured. Three small pods grew into life on its branches while its leaves shimmered with chi. Great roots tangled in the planet's soil, breaking up the surface of the world while the trunk sucked in its atmosphere and water. Around them the life grayed and decayed. Nobody had really wanted the world save he, and the Mantissans had seen it as a loss. But Turles was not about to admit defeat. He had the 'aurites' that he could take and the rich cultural database for his own libraries.

 

Carefully he flew up and harvested the crop. Each spiked pod was wrapped in a white cloth that he secured in a pouch at his hip. Except for one that he held in his palm. Licking his lips he cracked open the surface of the glowing fruit. Eager anticipation readied him as he bit down to the concentrated sweetness of chi. Soon his consciousness soared high as his body was wrapped in a surge of golden power. Through his veins flowed the lost energies of Aridius. Bulking up his muscles and his chi to enormous heights to be stored till next they were needed.

 

The other two would have a specific purpose. Perhaps a wedding present for his favorite cousin Raditz whose mate had given him this gift. The other would do well to plant on the next world slated, Argelis. Where the Prince would be brought to recuperate after being found. Then all the parts of his intricate plan would play out. Bardock's team was even now preparing the smaller worlds for the Idsarjins to conquer. All the aurites would be available for the huge ransom for the Zelbranians when his concubine would be reunited with her brother in a year's time. And if he was the only one to face Brolly, he would do so fully charged.