Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Full Spectrum ❯ Dangerous Assumptions ( Chapter 12 )

Special thanks to Prince's Jewel for beta reading this for me.*blah* = italics

Full Spectrum

By Ginia

Part 12
Dangerous Assumptions

Brietoth briefly noted the flurry of movement within the structure beneath her shuttle, then turned her attention back to the controlled release of the gas which would ensure her victory. Just a few moments more and it would be time to collect the remaining Saiyan – and perhaps a surviving hybrid or two as well.

The commander’s smile was infectious and, despite his misgivings, Vaner found himself smiling back at her as he gently settled the craft beside the secluded mountain home. At the first opportunity Brietoth opened the hatch and, armed only with her satchel, approached her goal.

Strolling through the front door, Brietoth’s smile of triumph shifted to shock, then fury as one quick glance revealed her imagined victory to be as empty as the abandoned home in which she stood. * * * * * * * * *

When the monitoring screens in Brietoth’s base ship suddenly lost contact with the entire set of Saiyans, the crews’ initial thought was that the mysterious flaw in the tracking system had reoccurred and system checks were started.

As the Commanders furious voice rang through communications scarcely a minute later demanding to know where her Saiyans had gone – they realized it was no fluke. The ship went on full alert as it was confirmed; somehow the Saiyans on the mountain had vanished.

Immediately, preset emergency orders were initiated: repair work on the damaged hatch was halted, the ship sealed as well as its damaged condition allowed, preparations made for rapid planet-side relocation and the eventual rendezvous with the Commander in a more secure environment. They had been as prepared as possible for this possibility and intended to be underway in record time. * * * * * * * * *

When the fleeing group materialized at the Capsule Corp bunker, more than half their party sank to the floor in various states/levels of distress. With the aid of Professor and Mrs. Briefs, all of the afflicted individuals were soon being treated within the relative safety of the underground medical center.

Only Goku, Piccolo, and Tien seemed to have escaped the silent attack unscathed. Krillin and Gohan were in fairly good shape considering they were nearly as green as Piccolo but the rest were either unconscious or too woozy to even sit up on their own.

Yamcha, who had been waiting with the Briefs’ in the bunker, would be the only other addition to the rescue team. With the deadly attack on Goku’s home, there could be no doubt that the stakes had been raised. There was no option but for the attack on Brietoth’s ship to go as planned – only now with far fewer fighters than had been anticipated.

Just before they blinked out of the hidden bunker, Bulma cried out to them. “Goku! Don’t destroy the computers! Tien show him the room we found… the controls… I need…” As Mrs. Briefs held her swooning daughter, Goku nodded once and the rescue was underway.

Less than 10 minutes after their narrow escape, the four remaining warriors stood ready to battle for all their lives and Vegeta’s freedom. * * * * * * * * *

The foursome arrived at the site of Vegeta’s last power-up prepared for a fight. They had not been ready to find the area eerily silent, the damaged spaceship they expected just a distant speck in the night’s sky – moving ever farther from them.

Streaking to overtake their retreating target, they had a new goal. That ship had to be brought to earth and fast. * * * * * * * * *

What had begun for the crew as a smooth, if rapid, departure suddenly became a losing fight for control as the already damaged ship was relentlessly hammered from the sky.

Once the craft was successfully brought to ground, the rescuers lost no time entering the ship through its shattered hull. The initial resistance was intense as the ship’s limited number of defenders rushed to meet them head on. Within moments, however, that opposition had been eliminated.

As Tien led his friends swiftly to the computer filled room that he and Bulma had discovered earlier, the team discussed their search strategy. Even Goku could find no trace of Vegeta’s ki within the ship, which meant that the missing Saiyan was either ki blocked, dead, or no longer on the ship. The only way to know for sure would be to search every inch of the ship.

Arriving in the observation room, the searchers had at least one fear relieved – Vegeta was still on ship. The same monitor as before was focused on the unmoving body of the missing warrior.

It was decided that the search would fan out from this room and once Vegeta had been recovered, it would end here as well. A Ki signal was arranged to recall the team members and at that point, the mission would shift from one of rescue to one of security. Before Bulma could begin digging into the equipment in this room, the ship would have to be completely secured.

Moving out individually, Tien, Goku, Piccolo and Yamcha began their search. Every door was opened or simply blasted out of the way. The occasional remaining crewman they encountered had no real interest in fighting and did little to slow the progress of their search.

When Tien forced open a set of double doors halfway down the corridor he was searching, that situation changed. Through those doors he was met once again with determined opposition. That brief exchange left two more crewmen dead and the final one injured… but it also yielded the grand prize.

Tien had found the lab where Vegeta lay drugged and ki blocked – but very much alive. * * * * * * * * *

“I won’t let you take him.” Amberge announced as he struggled to his feet in an attempt to intercept Tien. “This specimen is vital to the Commander’s research!” The small man stood directly between Tien and Vegeta’s still form, desperately scanning the lab for anything he could use as a weapon against the intimidating creature that had so simply overpowered two armed guards.

“You…” growled Tien, recognizing Amberge as one of Vegeta’s torturers. “Consider yourself lucky that I know longer walk the life path of an assassin – or you would be my next target… as a free service to the Universe.”

With one clean strike the unarmed man was out cold and securely bound with the tubing that had, only moments before, been pumping Vegeta full of drugs. Tien quickly removed the Ki block – crushing it – before attempting to rouse the unconsciousness warrior.

“Come on Vegeta! Wake up!”

“Three-eyes…” Vegeta slurred after his eyes fluttered open to the surprising visage of the three-eyed giant.

“Come on lets get you outta here.”

“…Bulma…?” murmured Vegeta, looking around as if he expected her to step out from behind Tien.

“She’s safe, Vegeta.” Trying to hoist the groggy warrior to his feet was turning out to be no easy task.

“The woman and brat… they’re both alive?” questioned Vegeta while trying to push away from Tien’s grasp.

“Yes, they’re fine. Now quit fighting me and get moving or I’ll carry you!” snapped Tien as his patience with Vegeta’s resistance reached its limit.

“No! Fool… can’t leave here… can’t go near her… ‘m dangerous to her… dangerous to everyone,” groaned Vegeta as he continued to ineffectually bat at Tien who simply grabbed the Saiyan and tossed his smaller form over his shoulder and headed for the door.

For a few brief seconds Vegeta continued his protest from his inverted position before succumbing again to the darkness, his arms hanging loosely down Tien’s back. Even without the ki block and the constant drip of medication from the IV, Vegeta was still heavily sedated and it would take time for his beleaguered system to fully purge the drug from his body. * * * * * * * * *

When Brietoth received the communication that her ship was under attack, she had immediately ordered Vaner to alter the shuttle’s course and head at top speed for the struggling ship.

Vaner cringed as the commander screamed her rage at having been ‘tricked’ into going to the mountain and leaving *her* Saiyan in Amberge’s incompetent hands.

“If that fool looses Prince Vegeta… he’ll take the Saiyan’s place and I’ll explore all the details of *his* reactions to pain!” * * * * * * * * *

All was quiet when the shuttle settled beside the remains of the base ship. Brietoth had assumed an icy calm as the approached the scene, now she shouldered her satchel and reviewed its contents. Vegeta belonged to her and anyone who thought otherwise was about to be taught the foolishness of their ways.

Vaner checked his weapon and followed his Commander into the ship and toward her lab, their first intended stop in reclaiming both the commander’s ship and her belongings. * * * * * * * * *

Crossing paths midway between the lab and the Observation Center, Brietoth smirked as Vaner blocked the way of Tien and his limp burden.

“I am Commander Brietoth, this is my ship/you are an intruder on my ship and you have something that belongs to me.” Brietoth stated icily.

‘So this is the boss’ thought Tien as he looked at the woman. The weapon her companion brandished was no real threat to the powerful warrior so Tien used only a quick push of his ki to forcefully slam Brietoth’s armed man into the corridor wall, his useless weapon dangling from his fingers as he fell unconscious at the Commander’s feet.

Returning his focus to the woman who still blocked his path, “It’s your choice,” he told her. “You can take what’s left of your crew and leave this planet in whatever functional escape pods are left – or you can die – either way you won’t get your hands on Vegeta again.”

“Oh, I don’t think either of those options appeal to me.” Brietoth told the grim faced giant. “I’m quite comfortable with this craft and I *certainly* have no intention of giving up that Saiyan you’re carrying. So why don’t you just put him down – hmm?”

As Brietoth spoke, Tien found it nearly impossible to concentrate on the words leaving her lips as his eyes were drawn the lips themselves. Brietoth smiled as her scent enveloped Tien and the gentle giant was drawn inevitably closer to his doom, finally dropping to his knees before the beautiful woman.

“Now, put Vegeta down, won’t you?”

Obediently Tien let Vegeta slide from his shoulder to land roughly at his side in a jumbled pile with Vaner. Tien’s face was nearly level with the small woman’s neck as he began to worship her body with his hands and mouth, able to nuzzle her full breasts with a simple incline of his head.

Brietoth observed the kneeling man. “Such a waste…” she murmured as she withdrew from her shoulder case a pre-filled syringe intended for the missing Saiyan’s sedation but instead would be the source of Tien’s death. “You don’t appear to be typical human stock…”

The fall to the ground had succeeded in again rousing the drugged Saiyan and his position atop Vaner gave him a clear view of Brietoth’s current treachery. Tien would be dead and Vegeta back in the hands of his living nightmare if he didn’t do *something* fast. Still too weak to summon any measurable ki – Vegeta grasped at his only viable option…

Movement drew her attention away from her target in time to meet Vegeta’s glazed but determined eyes as he pulled the trigger on Vaner’s discarded weapon. A burst of loosely aimed projectiles struck the surprised woman in the shoulder and head - shattering the top of her skull and just missing the kneeling man. The syringe fell harmlessly to the ground as the dead woman hung supported by Tien’s massive arms.

For a moment Vegeta simply stared at the dead monster. All his plans for an appropriately painful and lingering death… gone in an instant. But Bulma was safe and his son would never know the horrors of Brietoth’s lab. It was good enough.

As if in a scene from a horror movie, Tien continued to caress the body of the dead woman, unaware and uncaring of how closely death had just past him by – both from Brietoth’s hand and Vegeta’s.

“Of course *humans* would be vulnerable to that creature’s stench… damn fool weaklings…” sighed Vegeta as he pushed himself upright. With Brietoth dead there was no reason not to return to Bulma and the sooner they got moving the better.

“Hey Three Eyes!! TIEN!!” he shouted, poking the man with the muzzle of his borrowed weapon. Tien’s eyes slowly cleared as the overwhelming scent of blood replaced Brietoth’s previous aroma.

Tien gasped, shoving the bloody form away from him, then stared in shock as a gory puddle bloomed around the body.

Vegeta smirked at Tien’s panicked expression. “If you’re done fondling that corpse I’d like to get outta here.” * * * * * * * * * End Part 12