Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Prince, Warrior, Killer, Slave ❯ Replaced ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: Replaced

When Nappa woke up the quarters he shared with Vegeta were empty. He was half-way to the infirmary before he remembered that Vegeta hadn’t needed a regeneration tank the night before. Nappa spent the next hour searching the ship for his Prince. To his surprise he found the eight-year-old Prince staring out a view port at Vegeta-sai, watching the his home planet as they orbited around it.

“I won’t be allowed to leave the ship this time either,” Vegeta said without looking away from the planet.

Nappa nodded. He joined the boy in staring at the one planet Frieza would never permit Prince Vegeta to set foot on.

“Where is the Palace?” Vegeta asked. “I don’t remember what the terrain around it looked like from space.”

“Do you see that mountain range? The one that doubles back on itself? The capital city is in that valley,” Nappa said.

Vegeta nodded. After a moment he turned toward Nappa revealing his bruised, split cheek from his ‘training’ session with Zarbon on the pervious day. “You’ll tell Father that I can handle it here,” Vegeta instructed. “I’m not weak. I’m going to break Zarbon’s nose!” Vegeta grinned evilly at the though of disfiguring the vain warrior.

“Then he’ll kill you,” Nappa pointed out drily.

Vegeta shrugged. Some days the thought of wiping the smug look off Zarbon’s face seemed worth any price. “I wouldn’t have gotten this strong on Vegeta-sai.”

Nappa couldn’t disagree. No Saiyan would have taken their Prince to the verge of death. Frieza’s men did it on a regular basis. “Just stay patient until you attain your full strength.”

Vegeta gave Nappa a twisted smile. “Just another seventeen years huh?”

Nappa winced but he couldn’t argue with the truth. It would only be more than twice the amount of time Vegeta had been alive until he grew into his adult strength.

“Oh go make your report Nappa,” Vegeta said. “Tell Father that he can count on me.”

“Of course my Prince,” Nappa said.

He left Vegeta watching the planet his well-being had been sacrificed to keep safe.

Nappa sighed nostalgically as he walked through the palace on Vegeta-sai. When he’d been here he’d been happy.

He had done his duties well and with pride. He’d protected his young prince from many assassination attempts. Vegeta’s mother wasn’t the King’s only concubine and the others would have done anything to have their offspring take Vegeta’s place but the young prince had been born with an almost unheard of power level and as he grew it quickly became apparent that he was cunning and clever as well as strong, none of his half-siblings had any chance of unseating him through their virtues. So their mothers employed other means to try to dispose of the prince. Nappa had been proud the day when Vegeta had spotted an assassination attempt himself for the first time. He’d stood aside and watched his charge take down the would-be assassin with ease, it had been then that Nappa had known beyond all doubt that his destiny had been tied to a rising star.

Now he was a joke. The Saiyan Prince’s bodyguard but all he could do was stand off to the side and watch while Frieza’s Lieutenants abused the boy in the name of training him. The only protection he could offer Vegeta in Frieza’s court was advise; generally something along the lines of how it wasn’t wise to tick off everyone he came in contact with. Or how it didn’t do Vegeta any good to try to demand respect from those stronger than he was.

All he could do for his Prince was pick him up afterwards and put him in the regeneration tanks so that Vegeta would be healthy the next time one of Frieza’s elite wanted a punching bag that mouthed off.

Nappa turned a blind eye when the boy had skipped meals before a purging mission or threw up after one, although that happened less now than in the beginning. He disabled the bugs in their quarters so that he was the only one who knew Vegeta suffered from nightmares about Frieza and for the sake of the young Prince’s pride he pretended that he didn’t hear the nightmares either.

Before he’d been proud of his job, proud that he had a roll in preparing Vegeta-sai’s next king. Now his job seemed to have been reduced to putting band-aid over bone-deep wounds.

Nappa presented himself at the door of King Vegeta’s study and waited for permission to enter. Once Nappa had made the proper obeisance King Vegeta asked “How does the Prince fare?”

“Prince Vegeta has successfully spear-headed almost three dozen purging missions. His battle prowess grows daily and he is learning to hone his temper into calculation,” Nappa reported. He did not say that Vegeta lost most of the exuberance for life that he’d once had or that Nappa considered it an accomplishment when Vegeta managed to avoid the infirmary for two days in a row.

The King nodded and did not ask for details. “And is the Lord Frieza satisfied?”

‘He humiliates and tortures your son at every opportunity,’ Nappa thought but he said. “Yes, Lord Frieza appears satisfied.”

The door slammed open and childish laughter filled the room as a young boy ran in just ahead of his harried looking guard. Nappa suffered a moment of serious deja vu, the boy could have been Prince Vegeta five years ago.

“I apologize Sire!” the guard exclaimed as he dropped to the floor... after he’d managed to grab hold of his three-year-old charge. Even coming face to face with his king wasn’t reason enough for the guard to give his charge further opportunities to run amuck.

The boy sketched a quick bow. “Hello sir,” he said as if he hadn’t just been caught misbehaving.

The king frowned. “Cheek won’t get you out of trouble Vegeta. You know better than to behave like that. Now back to your lessons and I will be discussing a fitting punishment with your instructors later.”

“His name is Vegeta?” Nappa asked once the boy and his guard were gone. “Then...” Nappa trailed off uncertainly. By custom only the heir to the throne bore the name Vegeta. If Nappa’s prince had been replaced the boy would have to be rechristened.

“There will be two Prince Vegetas,” the king said. “And Frieza must never suspect that he doesn’t hold my heir.”

“I understand,” Nappa said. His gaze slid back to the spot where the boy had stood and the king could hear him thinking how much the younger boy looked like his charge.

“You’ve served the Prince loyally since his birth,” the king said after a long pause. “I suppose you deserve the truth. Frieza took Vegeta to quell any thoughts of a Saiyan uprising, but the plans move forward. I couldn’t allow one person’s fate to mean more to me than the fate of this planet, even if he is my son and my heir.” The king glanced at the door the young boy had disappeared behind. “But I couldn’t bring myself to allow one of those second rate brats to replace Vegeta. The boy is Vegeta, down to the last DNA sequence.”

Nappa just stood there, too stunned to completely digest what he was being told.

The king looked troubled. “Sometimes I wonder if this is worse. By the time that boy is an adult no one will even remember that he wasn’t the first child I chose as my heir.”

“I want you to stay with Vegeta,” the king said quietly. “I don’t want him to ever think I abandoned him.”

Nappa walked out of the king’s study, his mind reeling. Now he fully understood what his job had been reduced to. He wasn’t expected to protect Vegeta any more, just to see that the boy didn’t die alone.

  When Nappa returned to Frieza’s ship he found Vegeta ‘sparring’ with Dodoria.

Vegeta stood up and wiped blood off his lips. “You can’t hit any harder than that, you pink tub of lard? You’re pathetic.”

“Smart mouth for such a stupid brat,” Dodoria growled as he lunged at the boy.

Vegeta evaded his attack and drove his stiffened hand into Dodoria’s eye.

“You can’t do that to me!” Dodoria shrieked. “No escaped lab monkey can do that to me!”

“Looks like I just did,” Vegeta sneered but there was a question in his eyes.

Dodoria lashed out with a ki blast that not only slammed Vegeta into the far wall it also scattered a half dozen spectators like bowling pins.

“Don’t cause a hull breach you idiot,” Zarbon snapped.

Dodoria leapt at Vegeta. He kicked the boy in the gut before Vegeta could recover from the earlier blast then stamped on his chest. Vegeta bit back a scream and the sound of his ribs breaking was clearly audible.

Nappa watched as Dodoria kicked Vegeta in the small of the back.

Dodoria stepped back and let Vegeta try to push himself back to his feet. A look of panic crossed Vegeta’s face when his legs wouldn’t respond.

“Beg me for mercy, lab monkey,” Dodoria snarled.

Vegeta’s expression froze over, all trace of emotion disappeared from his features. “Why don’t you go screw yourself Dodoria,” he suggested flatly. “It’s not like you could get anyone else to do it.”

Dodoria aimed his next kick at Vegeta’s temple with the intent of crushing the boy’s skull. Zarbon intercepted the blow before it could land. “Do you want to incite a Saiyan uprising?” he hissed in Dodoria’s ear. “The brat’s a hostage you moron.”

“Who cares about the damn monkeys?” Dodoria growled.

“Lord Frieza specifically told us to break the brat, not to kill him,” Zarbon hissed. “I’m not getting killed because you can’t follow orders.”

Dodoria glared hatefully at Vegeta out of his remaining eye then backed down.

Vegeta laughed so hard his injuries caused him to black out.

Nappa picked up his prince and carried him to the infirmary for yet another session in the regeneration tanks.

“The one in back is still set for him,” one of the med techs said when he saw the familiar pair entering the room.

Nappa dropped Vegeta into the regeneration tank then stepped back while the tech placed the respirator over the boy’s mouth and activated the tank. “So who was it this time?” the tech asked conversationally.

“Dodoria,” Nappa replied then muttered to himself, “The damned brat is going to get me killed one of these days.”

“Or cause your hair to fall out,” the tech laughed missing the dark look Nappa sent toward Vegeta.

Vegeta was a little surprised not to see Nappa waiting for him when he woke up after healing in the regeneration tanks. He walked back to the quarters he shared with his bodyguard alone. When he got there he went to Nappa’s room and demanded, “What did the pink blob mean by calling me an ‘escaped lab monkey’,” without preamble.

Nappa glared at the boy.

“Monkey I’m used to,” Vegeta continued. His tail unwound from around is waist to illustrate his point. “I’m going to kill everyone who ever called me that one day but I get it, the rest I don’t get.”

“Vegeta, I’m busy,” Nappa said.

“So?” Vegeta asked.

Even though Nappa was still upset about what he’d learned on Vegeta-sai habit made him give in. “I’ve taught you how we over threw the Tuffles and took the planet for ourselves,” he said.

Vegeta nodded. He sat cross-legged on Nappa’s bed and waited for a story. Hearing about his history was something Vegeta always enjoyed. His ancestors had conquered all obstacles and one day he knew he’d conquer Frieza.

“Before the great war for the planet the Tuffles saw Saiyan as being beneath them, an inferior species,” Nappa began, “because we didn’t have technology and they did.”

“The Tuffles kidnaped our people and used them in their experiments,” Nappa grinned wickedly as he got caught up in his story and the way his audience was entranced by it. “They increased our natural ki abilities ad created our Oozaru forms. They were trying to make super-soldiers. They were also working on some sort of mind control project to keep us obedient, but it turned out to be a lot harder to control us than to make us powerful.”

Vegeta snickered at that.

“The first King Vegeta organized a mass escape, it almost failed but something happened that went beyond anything the Tuffles’ science could explain.”

“He became a Super Saiyan,” Vegeta interrupted.

Nappa nodded. “The escape was a success. Vegeta the First reunited the escaped Saiyans with those who’d remained free and led them all into hiding. He’d listened to the Tuffle scientists and understood what had been done to the escapees more than most and he constructed a plan. Matches were made to spread the changes the Tuffles had introduced to as many children as possible. When those children had grown Vegeta the First led them to war against the Tuffles...”

“And we crushed them with the weapons the idiots gave us,” Vegeta finished. “We took the planet and all their precious technology for our own.”

“Not at first,” Nappa corrected. “At first we wanted nothing to do with their technology. But the changes the Tuffles had made in us didn’t come without their drawbacks; only four out of ten females survive the Oozaru transformation.”

“Why do only the females die?” Vegeta asked.

“They don’t,” Nappa said. “Males die as well but not nearly as often.” He shrugged. “I heard once that the original group that the Tuffles experimented on were male and that’s why it doesn’t cause them as much grief.”

“Once the Saiyans realized they were dying out they figured out enough of the Tuffles technology to get into space,” Nappa sighed and sat down. He didn’t know why he was bothering to tell Vegeta this, the boy would never become king, he didn’t need to know their full history anymore. “It’s a genetics thing; the Oozaru transformation and the in born aptitude for ki manipulation were spread throughout the population, but no one knew how many people would die from the side-effects. And the truth is it probably wouldn’t have mattered even if we did, we needed the power we gain from the transformation. We do what we have to, we take what we need.”

“The purges.” Vegeta said flatly.

Nappa nodded. “We’re the best fighters in existence, but we needed scientists to figure out what the Tuffles had screwed up when they changed us. So we became mercenaries. And it wasn’t just going into the planetary black market, it’s the infant missions as well. We can’t afford to carry any dead weight, so we started sending away male babies who weren’t strong enough to contribute anything. We need any female who can survive, but the scientists tell us we can’t afford anymore problems, the infant missions cull the weak.”

“We met Frieza’s father and made a deal with him. King Cold was just beginning to conquer his empire; we agreed to become his army in exchange for him finding scientists for us.”

“But we’re not partners anymore,” Vegeta said.

“No, over the years Cold amassed a mercenary army,” Nappa said. “And the less he needed us the less we were treated as equals.”

“And now it’s time to dissolve the deal,” Vegeta said. “When I become a Super Saiyan we’ll give it to Frieza and his father and no one will look down on us anymore.”

“Yeah,” Nappa said without conviction. “Something like that.”

“So what’s the job?” Radditz asked his commander.

At fifteen Nasu was the oldest of the five of them and had been chosen as their leader for basically that reason. Radditz was eleven and the youngest member of the squad.

“Some team of old farts couldn’t get the job done and called for back up,” Nasu reported arrogantly. “Come on, we’re shipping out now.”

The squad quickly geared up and headed for the launch pads. As they made their way there Nasu followed up with some details. “We’re supposed to meet up with the other team on the dark side of the planet’s moon for further instructions but I’m gonna set our coordinates for the planet. We’ll land in their main populations center and come out fighting; show the old guys how it’s done.”

The technician who’d readied their pods had a knowing grin on his face as the five Saiyan boys climbed into their pods. While they strapped in he activated his mike. “I’ve preset your coordinates,” he said. He owed Bardock a favor but the looks on these kids’ faces at being out flanked made him think that maybe he wouldn’t count this one. “I guess the ‘old guys’ are a step ahead of you,” he laughed and launched the pods.

At eleven years old space flight was already commonplace for Radditz, he fell asleep before his pod left the Saiyan System. Four days later their pods landed with bone jarring impacts on the dark side of the Fruit Moon. Bardock and his squad were waiting for them.

Bardock gave his son a quick grin before getting down to business. “We aren’t the first group to try to take this planet,” Bardock told the boys. “They’re prepared for invaders... but the other team wasn’t Saiyan, they’re not prepared for giant monkeys.”

“No one is ever prepared for giant monkeys,” one of the boys commented drolly.

Bardock and his team chuckled at that. “They’re good fighters and if they organize themselves they could overwhelm us but they’ve got a few main cultural and religious centers if those are destroyed in a night there will be chaos.”

The boy beside Radditz elbowed him. “Hey, that’s a girl,” he said as he stared at Celipa.

Radditz nodded without too much excitement, he’d met his dad’s team before.

Disappointed with Radditz’s reaction the boy elbowed his other neighbor and repeated his observation. “A pretty one too,” the other boy responded. Soon all five of the boys were whispering and staring.

Bardock coughed loudly. “Yes, Celipa is a female. You got that out of your systems now?” he asked.

The boys straightened and made an effort to look mature.

“We’ve already scouted the planet,” Bardock continued with a gesture to his team. “Each of you will pair up with one of us to get in position...”

All five boys immediately darted to Celipa’s side; the older four with visions of saving her in the coming battle and having her fall madly in love with them. Radditz with an apologetic glance toward his father. Being the baby of the group ensured that the last thing he wanted was to look like the baby of the group.

Celipa sighed and pointed to one of the boys. “You’re with me and if you don’t stop thinking with your hormones, I’ll rip off your balls so they won’t cause you so many problems, got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” the boy said with a small gulp.

Radditz went to join his father as the other three boys paired off with the remaining members of Bardock’s squad.

“Any of you brats stay in control when you change?” Bardock asked.

He got blank looks in response to that.

Bardock shrugged. “Well it doesn’t matter so long as you’re in position before you go Oozaru. That means you better not go looking at the moon until I give the signal.” He smiled with the light of inspiration in his eyes. “Remember, Celipa doesn’t like guys who can’t get the job done.”

Panbookin and Toma guffawed at the possible double meaning. “Get your minds out of the gutter,” Celipa ordered. As she walked past Bardock she added, “For your sake that had better of been unintentional.”

Bardock tried to smiled innocently at her.

Bardock and Radditz wore heavy, deeply cowled robes to blend in with the pilgrims approaching Planet Fruit’s primary religious center. They kept their heads lowered and the cowls pulled low more to avoid an accidental glimpse of the moon than to hide their features.

Bardock spoke softly into his scouter. “Is it going to be a problem Toma?”

“Well, we had to change our travel plans to accommodate the military but we’re close enough to get a nice view of the capital.”

“Should I have Borgos join you?” Bardock asked. Borgos’ target was of secondary importance and if there was an unexpected military presence in Fruit’s capital city he’d scuttle that part of the plan to ensure that the Capital fell.

“You’re hurting Nasu’s pride,” Toma laughed.

Bardock grinned. “Well, have fun on your own.” Toma wouldn’t have joked if he didn’t think he could handle it.

“You were on Kelp?” Bardock asked Radditz while they waited for the other teams to check in. “I heard they put up some pretty stiff resistance.”

Radditz nodded. “Ki-abilities were pretty common in their fighting forces. We were just there to keep the lower level fighters from swarming our Elites while they took on the top fighters but we weren’t bored. I ended up fighting this one guy who liked shaping his ki into whips. Even glancing blows stung like a son of a bitch.”

Bardock nodded sympathetically.

“Nasu’s getting a tattoo after every battle so he can keep track of his wins. I think it’s kind of neat,” Radditz hinted.

“Battle scars’ll just fuck them up,” Bardock said. “Besides, two dips in a regen tank and the color fades.”

“Not to interrupt, but we made it to our destination,” Celipa checked in.

“Good going,” Bardock replied.

“So where’s Mom now?” Radditz asked.

“I ran into her on Frieza’s planet #36,” Bardock said. “She was going to do a couple of quickie missions then take some leave time on Vegeta-sai. You should stop by and see her.”

Radditz nodded. K’on’s team had a tendency to pull duty in the far reaches of the Cold Empire so it was always an event when she was home.

Bardock looked thoughtful. “Frieza’s been keeping all the Saiyan teams closer to home recently,” he said then shrugged off the coincidence.

“Hey kid, what would you think of a sibling? Ko’n and I were thinking, you turned out pretty good after all...”

Radditz grinned at the praise.

“Last but not least,” Panbookin checked in.

Bardock’s expression turned fierce. “Okay people,” he ordered. “Let’s start the party.”

He nodded to Radditz and the two Saiyans threw back their cowls and turned their faces up to the moon.