Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Being of Sound Mind and Body ❯ Suffer the Little Children ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z.

Author's Notes: Well, here I am again. Sorry for the delay in the update. Everything I would write I would deem as junk, so it took me a while to write something good. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3: Suffer the Little Children

I actually had a dream.

Do you realize how long it's been since I've dreamt anything? Probably not, since you've never met me. Which is fortunate for you, because unless you're stronger than me, you'd be dead. Of course, everyone dreams, but I just never remember dreams, until last time I slept. It wasn't that profound a dream, either. It was just a reliving of my days as a general. I guess I've been thinking about that a lot lately.

Those days were not so bad. So what if we were conquered peoples? We weren't dead. Life went on as usual. I was constantly busy, so I didn't have time to feel anything. We started receiving assignments, and I had to rebuild and mobilize the army. Many soldiers were not ready to follow my rule, recognizing me as a poor substitute for Baen. Frankly, I agreed. But I had to fight against that. I couldn't let it get to me, or show weakness. If I had a lot on me when I was in charge of the honor guard, I was near overwhelmed in Baen's job.

I really hate talking about this. I hate talking about my life. I feel so self-pitying. Like I'm saying I'm both a helpless victim and a gullible idiot. I am neither of those. I am a Saiyan warrior. I am strong.

But let's be realistic. There are always those who are stronger. It took me a while to learn that lesson, but it's never left me. I know I'm not invincible, though by all rights I should be dead by now.

In the dream I died.

Killed by the king, actually. You'd think my imaginary demise would come from Frieza, or an elite soldier. Not a dead man. Only, the king looked different. Shorter, maybe…

I guess him killing me would be logical at my dream's timeframe. The king was rather unstable. He was under constant threat from Frieza, since Frieza usually displaces the king with another, more loyal king. Though that wouldn't have worked. Only a male heir from the line of Vegeta could command the Saiyans, via telepathic bond. We are only loyal to him. Of course, Frieza knew that. Smart devil.

King Vegeta was also lacking a male heir. He'd been reigning for a decade, and all attempts had failed. He'd taken mate after mate, but either the woman died in childbirth, taking the child with her, or she would miscarriage constantly, or she would simply lack the ability to conceive. It was getting to be quite a problem. Some of the more superstitious Saiyans said the king was cursed because of his failure at the hands of Frieza. Man, I loved killing those people. Nothing's better than the scream of a traitor.

No, really. First they start blabbing their treachery, believing they can get others to join them. Then they start insulting everyone and everything-me, the other soldiers, the king, Frieza… The list just goes on and on. Then they power up, determined to go down fighting. That's why a clever executioner always has all people of higher power levels and greater battle experience to witness the death-we don't want to give a traitor the honor of taking someone with him. He's lucky we give him last words and a final power up. Then we attack, usually just one person. It was actually a treat for me, for each one was different. If he stayed strong, I'd give him a quick death. But the really fun ones were those that started begging and crying. Then I could slowly beat them to death. I'd slap them around some to humiliate them. Then I'd cut their Achilles tendons so they couldn't walk or stand. They'd try to give me some trouble by fighting with their arms, but that wasn't a problem after I ripped their arms off. Usually they would just painfully fade into death. Their screams-were beautiful. The only music I could appreciate. They were the shame of the Saiyan Empire-weak traitors-and their extermination could only serve to strengthen us. They deserved it. They went against the king, and that is unforgivable.

Besides, it's not like failure causes you to be without child. If it had, I would have remained without child. As it was, a year after our joining, Okakra bore me a son. The only good thing to ever come out of our union. And the only thing we've ever agreed on was our child's name-Baen.

I was so proud of the boy. His power level alone made him first class elite. He matured a year ahead of the other boys his age. His intelligence was greater than my own, which is saying a lot for a Saiyan. I was accused of favoring my son above the other soldiers. Well, I did, but I never gave him any special treatment. He moved up in rank all on his own. The boy sure was something, destined to be a great man like his namesake.

I regret I couldn't see him much. I had my hands full as it was. Every day there was something new that had to be dealt with-new recruits, new assignments, new technology. I wasn't alone, though. I had a few warriors who remained loyal to me, rather than my rank-mostly those left over from the old honor guard. Bardock was one of them. He was the only one who could understand Kold Empire technology. Despite his third class status, I convinced King Vegeta to make Bardock an advisor. I wasn't criticized for this change of policy-no one wanted to die a slow and humiliating death.

Oh yes, people came to fear me. I'd taken measures to that end. Thankfully, advanced medical technology caused a sudden increase in birth rate; otherwise, I would have severely depopulated the Saiyan Empire. Those who didn't follow the king, as well as the general, were killed. It was as simple as that. And there were many, at first.

Another superstition was also circulating-one that was not treasonous. In fact, it was downright patriotic. The legend of the Super Saiyan. It was a story about a legendary Saiyan transformation, greater than Oozaru. No one knew what it would look like, but prophesy told of another Super Saiyan to be born. Many children were considered. Even Baen was considered. Of course, it was all nonsense. I mean, the power levels much have been exaggerated. No one could handle that much ki. Even if they did, how could one Saiyan topple the entire Kold Empire in one fell swoop? It's not logical. Even if Frieza died, others would take his place, like his brother. No empire could be formed without precautions. Anyone knows that. And no one warrior can take down Frieza. It'll never happen. Never.

Well, the Super Saiyan myth was just that-a myth. But it was a unifying myth. After two years of near anarchy and utter hopelessness, the warriors had something to rally behind. Something to work toward. I used this myth for all it was worth. Super Saiyan became a national obsession. Either you could train in hopes to reach that level, or you could train to produce stronger offspring-children who had more of a chance to transform. If my power level raised by half a point every time I used the transformation as an incentive for a soldier, I would have transformed within a year. The incentive was useful. Not only did we have a boom in birth rates, we also had a boom in power levels. Babies were getting stronger. Children were maturing sooner, since they had to be recruited earlier to make up for the loss of older warriors. In fact, the population grew so large, we were hard-pressed to get enough resources for all of the babies. It takes a lot of food to feed a Saiyan. Our planet was too arid to cultivate, even if we could keep enough slaves to handle such a project, and the resources we got from Frieza weren't enough.

This is where Bardock's genius shone through. I think this plan was one of the few things that ever made King Vegeta smile. Bardock and I worked long and hard on his idea before it was ready to implement. But then, a year later, the first Saiyan baby was sent into space.

The plan was brilliant in its simplicity. If Planet Vegeta gets too full, send the excess off-planet. Namely, the ones below a certain power level. More often than not, the children were third class. Well, both parents were in the army, therefore unable to care for the child. The child would be raised in the barracks anyway, with no one to personally look after it. Not being of a high inherent power level, the child would be an expendable warrior that took up too much food and resources. On another planet, the child could have abundant food and experience in battle and killing. Power levels would grow, and they would return to be a useful warrior. The children would learn everything better than they could in the barracks, and the planet they purged could then be turned over to Frieza. When the warrior returned, they could stay in space with planet-purging legions. Plus, the Saiyan race would be so widespread, simply destroying Planet Vegeta couldn't possibly destroy all the Saiyans. I mean, as long as the child retained his memory and didn't die…

You'd think Frieza wouldn't have allowed this. But he appeared to applaud it. Maybe he saw the bigger threat in Saiyan solidarity. This was definitely a move away from the clannish quality of Saiyan families, especially those of the third class. Saiyans had begun as tribal, and now our family ties were disintegrating. Or maybe Frieza didn't care one way or the other, although he did look uneasy about the growth in population and power levels. Though I didn't truly know how nervous he was…