Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Being of Sound Mind and Body ❯ A New Life ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z.

Author's Notes: Depressing enough for ya?

Chapter 7: A New Life

Alright, here's a joke for you. How many Saiyans does it take to replace an illumination unit? Give up? Three-one to actually do it and two others to remark on how much better they could have done it.

OK, yes, an old joke. But it still cracks me up. I don't know. I guess I'm trying to break up the mood a bit. `Cause we're getting into some pretty depressing times in my life. Not that my life has been a pleasure cruise or anything. It's just that it keeps getting worse, and there's nothing I could do about it.

If I'd had any say about my life, I would have definitely chosen not to be alone-in Frieza's Army. And especially not under Zarbon's command. Yes, he'd been watching me-and Vegeta. He'd already recruited Raditz in his non-elite force, so maybe he just wanted a full set of Saiyans, like we were collectible action figures or something. Well, we were an asset to him since we were so strong. I really don't know what his reason for recruiting us was, but his was probably the toughest command. Besides Frieza, there was none who ranked him, so he had to work to keep that position. That meant he sent his squadrons on the toughest missions, and expected the greatest efficiency.

One thing that most people don't understand is that Frieza is not a military tactician. Sure, he is very strong. He's the strongest being in the known universe. And I've heard rumors that he's a changeling, so we may only be seeing him at a fraction of his actual power. Yes, he's fast, he's strong, and he can fight, but he's no military commander. He's not even the king of the Kold Empire. His father is. He's just the younger prince, and may never ascend to the throne. So what is he then? Well, besides being things that I won't name since I don't know the age of the reader, he's a business man. Now, he could sell just about anything. He's got the business and financial sense to dominate any market. But what market is truly worthy of the prince of the Kold Empire-the strongest being in the known universe? Nothing but planets would suffice. Mass depopulation and colonization. The universe became his very own board game, and he could move or get rid of anyone at will. To run it, all he needed was a huge amount of soldiers and true military commanders to command those soldiers. They took care of the actual conquering so he could get to the fun of selling. That's what Zarbon and Dodoria, and plenty of other commanders, were for.

You know, there was something strange about Frieza's Army. While I was playing the fool, I got very good at listening. It seemed everyone I met or saw was the last of their kind. Even the commanders. I once met someone who looked a lot like Dodoria, and turned out to be the same species. That's when I learned that Dodoria had been royalty. In fact, Zarbon and a lot of the other commanders had royal blood. This started to get me worried, so I went into full detective mode.

Not that I had much time to research. I was in deep training. It wasn't only strength training too. There were new protocols-new ways of doing things. It had been a long while since I hadn't commanded a mission. I had to learn how to take orders all over again. I had to learn to work with people I didn't know and didn't care to know. One slip-up and I was in for it with Frieza, who kept tabs on all the newest soldiers; Zarbon, my commander; the sergeant of my squadron, whose name is unpronounceable in Common; and all the others soldiers. Suffice it to say, there were no slip-ups.

But I was military. I could easily adapt. I'd grown up in this type of atmosphere. In some sick way, it was like home. Almost comforting to me. This was why Raditz had experienced little trouble in adapting to life in Frieza's Army. He'd grown up military as well. He was even better at adapting than I was, because he'd never had any power or command. As soon as he came to cope with the extra abuse, paranoia, and competitiveness, the boy fit right in. I just wish I could say the same for Prince Vegeta.

Think about it for a minute. His life had taken a complete 180 turn. He went straight from everything to nothing. Although he learned to cope, he never could lose the attitude. For every time he was struck for insubordination, his defiance only worsened. The only thing that kept him from being killed was that he was so darn cute. Most of those warriors had never seen a boy younger than ten-the usual age requirement for enlistment-without the child being a purge victim. And the boy was cute, no doubt about that. His childish voice and stature made his grandiose and defiant speeches ridiculous. I'm not sure if Prince Vegeta has ever realized what he was only kept alive because he provided good comic relief. If he does realize, or even remember, he would never mention it. The shame would be too great.

So Raditz and I adapted better to the fighting part of our training, but there was one aspect of our training in which Vegeta far surpassed us. Technology. There's an old saying - You can't teach an old slave new tricks. Now, I hate the connotations when relating the saying to me, but it does relate. Sure, I'd grown up with technology, but this was completely different. Seems that Bardock had changed every machine's design when introducing it to the Saiyan Empire. Thus, everything was different-scouters, ships… even light panels. And you can forget about the computers. I had the hardest time learning those devices, while Prince Vegeta took to it like a fish to water. We were all required to be licensed to pilot spacepods, and Prince Vegeta got his license before I did. I did well in theory, but when I would have to react fast in the simulated flights and revert to my old reflexes, it would always end in disaster. I finally retrained my reflexes, but it took a while.

When our initial training was complete, getting a pilot's license didn't seem so important, since we never got to use it. Instead, Prince Vegeta and I boarded Zarbon's personal ship with the rest of our squadron and the non-elite squadron that Raditz was in. We were going on a planet-purging tour.

I guess I should record the other men in my squadron, since I remained in that squadron for ten years. Elite squadrons were very small. Enough power was concentrated in a few individuals, and those with enough power to reach elite were few enough. Consequently, there were four other soldiers, as well as the sergeant. The sergeant-I already told you his name was not pronounceable. He was an insect type being whose multi-faceted eyes missed absolutely nothing - sort of like an overgrown fly. He was as hard and ruthless as they come. It was strange that he wasn't a full commander-he had all the qualities. Actually, he was one of my biggest initial problems. Took me the longest time to understand his accent. It was distorted by a low drone that truly grated on my nerves. I couldn't understand his orders. Though, when I think back on it, his punishments should have been a lot rougher for those times I misunderstood an order. I'm beginning to realize he was pretty understanding for what he was. He was a bit more tolerant of us than other sergeants, especially for Prince Vegeta.

Let's see, what were the others' names again? I am NOT gifted with names. Getting too old. Oh, yes, it's coming back. The soldiers' names were Tolin, Xientlap, Kriei, and Insics. Tolin was saiyanoid, with deep red hair that laid flat, a tall well-built stature, and extremely pale skin. He was about my age, and could cope with anything. He was a bit weaker than I was, but no one messed with him because he was so darn likeable. He could charm just about anyone. In fact, I heard the joke about the three Saiyans from him. I would have made friends with him if he didn't make it so easy to trust him. He was too likeable. I had to wonder if he spied on his fellow warriors for Frieza. Therefore, most of the squadron could joke around with him, but only that.

Xientlap is the person I mentioned earlier-the one of the same species as Dodoria. Instead of bright pink he was a deeper purple, and far less tubby. He was probably the best friend I've ever had, even including Bardock. He was reserved, but extremely smart. Since our power levels pretty much matched, we would usually spar with each other. I don't know if he was extremely perceptive, or slightly telepathic, but he saw right through my façade of stupidity. Of course, when I explained my reasons, he understood, and even helped me. One night, before we left on our planet-purging tour, we both got extremely drunk, and ended up telling each other our life stories. The man had been, of all things, a priest. Or maybe it was a monk. I'm not sure when the difference is, not being a religious man myself, as you may well have guessed by now. He had been the greatest and most revered scholar on his planet, and had even tutored young prince Dodoria in religious studies. That is, until his planet was destroyed. Frieza thought it an extremely good joke to enlist a holy man in his army. By the time I met him, Xientlap had murdered millions. He went between believing that he would be punished forever in the afterlife to complete atheism. I guess he truly did lose more than I. I only lost a family, position, and planet. He lost a god.

Well, enough about Xientlap. I may talk more about him later. Where was I? Oh, yes. Kriei. Kriei-well-I heard several rumors about him. I do have to say he was a bit disturbing. He was rail-thin with stick-like arms and legs. Strangely enough, he was semi-transparent. He was like a ghost, or a shadow, and could blend into the background extremely well. Not only that, he was mute. Silent as-well-a shadow. Or maybe he just didn't talk. I don't know. But I was certainly glad to be more powerful than him. The most plausible rumor around was that he was a serial killer BEFORE being enlisted, with unusual ways of killing people. If even half of the stories about his victims were true… I just shudder thinking about them. And I wouldn't have put it past him. We could tell his moods by his color changes, and he was definitely happiest when killing people.

I guess the last one is Insics. The boy was the equivalent to fifteen years old with perfectly white skin and no hair. The boy was fully organic, but looked and acted like a machine. Each movement was measured and calculated, with no fidgeting prevalent in most young ones. He spoke in a flat monotone. I heard that his native language was actually a complex form of binary, except using four numbers instead of two. Would that make quandary? Anyway, Insics was the most precise warrior, as well as the best with technology. His only problem laid in his lack of creativity (and personality, if you ask me). He was exactly like a machine, with absolutely no sense of free will. I guess that made him the perfect soldier, but it really creeped me out.

So this was the group I spent practically ever day with for about ten years. A bug-man, a charmer, a priest, a homicidal maniac, an organic machine, and a child prince. We weren't the strongest elites, but we turned into the most effective team in Frieza's Army. We had to. We worked under Zarbon.

The planet-purging tour was certainly an experience. It lasted a full year of just going from planet to planet. We were cooped up on the ship for weeks at a time, with absolutely nothing to do. The ship had limited space. It housed thirty-five-that counts Zarbon, the seven elite soldiers, twenty non-elite soldiers and their sergeant, and the seven technicians who ran the ship. And this wasn't a cruise ship. It was a top-of-the-line warship, having been built for speed and maneuverability as well as power. It also had to carry quite a bit of plunder from various planets and supplies for the trip. That meant most of the room was taken up by the engine, the computer, and large cargo holds. No room for gyms or recreational facilities. Besides, any training would probably damage the ship.

I know I'm going a lot into descriptions, but I spent years of my life on that ship. I still remember everything about it. There was the bridge at the front of the ship, which connected to the engine room. Three bedrooms for the crew and Zarbon's office connected directly to the bridge. The technicians were only allowed to the back of the ship for maintenance. In the back of the ship there were cargo holds. One hold had been refitted to hold all the non-elites. Although, sometimes the non-elites would find themselves sleeping among boxes.

At the very back of the ship was Zarbon's bedroom. It was large and lavish, at least for a room on a ship. He was rarely in there, though. He spent most of his time in his office, planning attacks, keeping up with supplies, sending endless reports to Frieza… I almost sympathized with him. Merely a year before, I had been in his place, doing the exact same thing. I remembered falling asleep at my desk, only to awaken to see my workload doubled the next morning. And that was just the paperwork.

Let's see, the only thing left is the elite quarters. They were rooms about like those at the base, only there was just room for four of them, so we had to share two to a room. The sergeant got a room to himself, of course. I really wanted to room with Prince Vegeta-I still felt I needed to protect him-but I guess Zarbon wanted to put a little distance between us. Or maybe it was just a little reminder that we don't always get our own way, and that he had complete control over us. It wasn't so bad, though. I ended up rooming with Xientlap. Maybe he was just going with age, because he put the two youngest-Prince Vegeta and Insics-together. That left Tolin and Kriei in a room together. Needless to say, Tolin didn't get much sleep on planet-purging tours.

Our first stop was a planet called-oh, what was it?-Mortechat or something like that. It was a full purge. You see, there were different types of missions, all color coded. On a green mission, we just had to bully the leaders a bit-usually by destroying one or two cities. We'd stack the bodies outside the leader's house or something cheery like that. A blue mission was a slaving mission. We'd rendezvous with a slave barge on the way to a planet, kill the most troublesome, and capture the rest. Purple missions were for plundering. Just as on the blue missions, we'd kill the most resistant, take the goods, and leave the rest alive. But Mortechat was a red mission-purge. Not only was it a red mission, but it was a red mission type two. Type one is a population thinning type thing. We'd kill a third of the population, or maybe just ones of a certain race, creed, gender, social rank… Didn't really matter why. We just did as we were told. But type two was a full purge. Everyone died.

I had rarely killed so many people at once, and never without a reason. Zarbon gave the elite squadron this job, while the non-elites would serve as the clean-up crew. Being the newest soldiers, sergeant gave Prince Vegeta and I most of the workload. I remember something shut down within me, and I fell back on my training and instincts to carry me through. I've never had any qualms about killing, but this seemed-wrong. I would eventually get used to it, but I remember that sick feeling I had at that first purge. It was like I was crossing the final line-the point of no return.

I was also strangely aware of everyone else's behavior. Tolin was for once serious, concentrating on the job. He would occasionally crack a joke, but never in sergeant's hearing. I think he knew sergeant didn't really like him, and just didn't want sergeant to find fault in his fighting. Kriei was as happy as we ever saw him while killing people. Sergeant was all business, just like always. So was Insics-disintegrating a person just as mechanically as keying a command into a computer. I wasn't sure what to expect from Xientlap. I just couldn't picture him killing people. I could have told you he'd been a religious figure before he'd told me. I mean, I knew he killed people, but it was just weird to thing about. I think he coped with it as I did-just kind of shut down. There was cold indifference in his eyes as he cut short all those lives. He didn't even think about it too much. Neither did I. Kept us sane.

I mostly worried about Prince Vegeta that day. And rightfully so. I could tell he was not taking it well. Sure, he'd killed people before, but it was like me-never so many and always for a reason. Also, he'd killed much fewer people than I had, and he'd always been supervised by his father. Now he was more on his own, he didn't know why he was killing, he couldn't choose not to, and he was killing more people in one hour than he had killed in his entire life. Talk about your childhood trauma. And he didn't seem to shut down like Xientlap and I. He saw every victim, hear every scream, felt the alien blood on his hands… and he was only a child! Five, almost six years old. It was insane.

He did shut down later. I remember that. He remembered all my warnings about showing emotion-how his only objective now was to stay alive to kill Frieza. No matter how horrible he felt, he always remembered that.

For a full year we did this. For weeks, we traveled between planets, usually spending the time telling stories or playing cards. Most nights we'd get permission to mix with the non-elites. I really enjoyed those nights. The non-elites didn't have as much pressure put on them, so they were far more social. On those nights I could talk with Raditz-usually I never even saw him. I guess I grew an affinity for the boy. Since Bardock had cared for my son, I felt I needed to care for his son.

Since telling stories was kind of risky-anything could be interpreted as having anti-Frieza content-we played cards. Fizzbin mostly, but occasionally one of us would teach the others a game from our planet. Everyone joined in the games-even Kriei. We'd play long into the night, and hold championships. No need to write down scores. Insics kept up with all of them perfectly. In fact, since no one wanted to play against a boy who was practically a computer, he became the scorekeeper and referee of all card games. That way no score cards could be tampered with. Not that we played for anything important, other than bragging rights. We couldn't play for money. Frieza's soldiers, except of course the commanders, don't get paid. We really have no need for money. Everything we needed was furnished. That saved Frieza money in the end. Not that warriors didn't get money through less than legitimate means, but it was risky. Really not worth the risk. I mean, what could you buy? Anything you bought would instantly incriminate you. Plus, without money, you didn't have to worry if you lost at cards.

Well, before we knew it, we were back at the base. I was actually glad to see the place. We each received a commendation for a year's work, and then told that we wouldn't go on any more missions for a year. That's how it works. We work for a year, and then train for a year, alternating back and forth. Good thing too. We were all tired, stir-crazy, malnourished… I really worried about Prince Vegeta's health. The rations on ship had been small for normal people, but they were horrifyingly inadequate for Saiyans. I could cope well enough, but Prince Vegeta was a growing boy. I'd never seen a malnourished Saiyan, but I was afraid I was going to.

Just for the record, I was right. Prince Vegeta's growth was severely stunted. He should have been maybe a few inches shorter than I am, like his father, but he's extremely short now. I'm not sure if he'll ever grow any taller. I mean, he's about thirty now. He's been the same height for the past fifteen years. Yet another reason Frieza needs to die.

Life on the base went to how I remember it, except a bit more relaxed. We trained on our own and with our squadron, but we still had time to spare. That's when I decided to get on with my research about the commanders. But right now, I'm sick of writing. These memories have made me sick. I can't bear any more for now.

Reviewer thanks:

Bardocksgurl and yamin0kage: Thanks for the reviews, peoples. It may look like I put a lot of effort into this fic, but I really didn't. I'm an obsessive fan who theorizes very deeply into the DBZ universe. Most of my ideas came from me just setting a few of Nappa's characteristics, using a few parts of the show to justify them, and then just getting into the character and writing. All the details occurred to me at the moment. Of course, I keep up with all the details I've created to make sure of continuity. Actually, this fic was the easiest fic to write, because I could just be free. If I wanted to rant a little bit (with Nappa's character), I would. I didn't have to be as disciplined. I'm glad y'all enjoy it.

Until next time.