Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Being of Sound Mind and Body ❯ So They Got Worse ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z.

Author's Notes: I'm getting more into this story. I've never written anything this original, and I'm enjoying it. Hope you enjoy it too.

Chapter 2: So They Got Worse

You know, there's just something about space. It's so calm-peaceful. Oh sure, you know people are being violently killed left and right, but it doesn't show up in a space pod. All you can see is the expanse of black, riddled by stars, planets, meteors, nebulae… all working in perfect harmony with one another. Unchanging. And even if a star goes nova, or a planet falls victim to nova, meteor, or ki blast, there is an infinite number of stars and planets to compensate for the loss. It's reassuring. One, I don't really have to worry about job security. There'll always be planets that need purging, and never enough warriors to do them all. Second… the amount of people I've killed amounts to a speck of space dust in relation to how many people that are really out there. I'm not making that much difference. I'm not…

Right. Where was I? Oh, yeah. I was in charge of the honor guard. Now, I'm not exactly talking about a no-brainer job. I wasn't getting a free ride. I was second only to the king and the general of the Saiyan Army. A good portion of the burden of building and maintaining the Saiyan Empire was sitting squarely on my shoulders. I not only had to protect the king and royal family, but also had to take on the most delicate of missions. I remember spending a week taking over a planet that had technology to wipe out the entire solar system. I had to keep them from using their technology without destroying it… plus my legion was at a quarter strength. I did it, though.

But we didn't know Frieza had plans for the planet as well.

Of course, we'd heard the horror stories of the Kold Empire, and especially Frieza. Destroyed entire civilizations, assimilated warriors into his own army, killed anyone who rebelled or got in his way… Big yawn. What's so special about that? We did that. Maybe not so much with the killing, but our empire wasn't as established. We were so far removed from the true horror of the Kold Empire. We had no idea.

We were fools.

I was still on that planet-I can't even remember its name-when they showed up. Warriors of all races-some I'd never even seen before. Some I thought were extinct. But there they were, packing heat and making threats. They were idle threats. The weakest of my soldiers was more than a match for the strongest of them. The strange soldiers must not have realized this, for they attacked. But it was child's play for my legion. I laughed at them and pretty much ridiculed the Kold Empire in general.

You know, there are moments in life that we would give anything to change. Those infernally stupid mistakes made in youth you will regret for the rest of your life, starting from the moment you've made the mistake. Alright, I didn't regret the words instantly. I didn't even regret it when Frieza and his best warriors descended from the ship. I did regret it when my legion was torn apart.

Beaten thoroughly.

Killed to a man.

Except me.

I'm not sure why Frieza spared my life. I never begged for my life, or even made a sound as he was beating me. When I did come to, though, I found myself healed, on his ship. And he was ready to talk business.

He had been in communication with King Vegeta. Not for ransom, because anyone would know that would be a ridiculous idea anyway you look at it. Instead, he wanted to offer an alliance. Now, it sounded beneficial at first. In exchange for technology, nearby planets, and resources, we would take planet purging missions for him, all the while keeping our sovereignty. On the surface, it actually sounded like a dream come true. Even for me. One of the conditions that Frieza gave was that I would become general of the Saiyan army. There were no hard feelings about the recent battle, since both sides lost virtually the same.

But on the inside, it was slavery.

Both sides had not lost the same. While Frieza had lost a few expendable troops, we had lost a portion of the honor guard, the best of the Saiyans. Frieza had proven his power, and was giving the Saiyan Empire the role of live-in servant. Making us dependent on him. And placing a man-a very young man-at the helm of the army. A man who already had-if not fear-then a healthy respect for Frieza's power.

But it was this, or entropy.

I returned to Planet Vegeta in neither pride nor disgrace. It was kind of a time of shock for the empire. We had been unbeatable. We were the great Saiyan Empire, for Pete's sake. The ultimate warrior race. And those tricks of empire-building that we were just learning had now been used on us by a seasoned pro. We were now a minor ally. The great Empire, instead of being fully born, had miscarried, and instead of quick death, we were forced to slowly bleed to death, the victim of a sadist. Which was why upon my arrival to the royal palace I found General Baen dead.

Suicide, they'd said. Well, the only way a suicide is performed on Planet Vegeta, a ritual battle you're sure to lose, usually against your own offspring. In this case, his daughter.

Baen knew what would happen. He believed the stories of Frieza, and had been the one to keep the Kold Empire removed from us. He'd tried, and he'd failed. I don't know whether it was cowardice-fear of Frieza-or shame of failure, or penance for dooming the Saiyan Empire to dead-and believing his death would help cover so many others. But if I was any kind of Saiyan, I would have followed him to the grave-not succeeded him. I took the office in shame. Though King Vegeta tried to pep talk me, I took the office with blood on my hands and shame on my head. A puppet general.

I watched the funeral, bearing the insignia barely cooled from being torn from General Baen's lifeless corpse. The funeral was short; we do not wallow in sorrow. His flesh was eviscerated, his bones preserved for posterity-a memento of a great man. General Baen, the warrior. General Baen, the hero. General Baen, the mentor. General Baen, the lifeless skeleton.

Okakra was beside me, in a place of honor. There was no widow-only the daughter. She was…

I won't go into how I felt. It was inappropriate. We'd known each other all our lives and she had just lost her father. Besides, it was a time of disgrace. For me-for her-for the empire. I had to begin a job I'd gotten by default, and preserve the precarious situation somehow. This was not the time. I couldn't…

Okakra had other plans. Or, at least, General Baen had. He'd named me as his successor-to everything. I would have his wealth, his title, his daughter… everything. It was all written in his sarka. The announcement of our espousal came a week later.

The mating was… passionate. Perhaps it was our sadness of losing a father and mentor. Or the fear of the Kold Empire, our new positions in life, the future in general.

But she despised me. She blamed me for the death of her father and the Empire. She believed I should have died along with my troops. I had been thoroughly overpowered by Frieza. She thought of me as a pawn of Frieza. She hated that I loathed myself as much as she loathed me.

I despised her. For killing Baen. It wasn't logical. I knew the custom. Once Baen had requested death by her hands, she couldn't refuse. Even if she had, the old general was stubborn, well near implacable. Once he got an idea in his head, the only thing that could stop him was death. So, his wanting suicide was really a win-win situation. But, as I said, none of this was logical. It was all chaos. That's what happens when you allow emotion.

I wonder if I ever did love Okakra. I respected her strength and status. I mated with her. We resided at the same house-her father's house-though I could rarely be at home. But love her? In the traditional Saiyan way of choosing a mate?

I wonder…