Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Time & Tide ❯ Vegetasei in Danger ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four

"Sire, the troops are ready," an elite soldier knelt before King Vegeta within the imperial saiiyan ship. The king stood before him dressed in black, red and gold saiiyan armor, only used when going into combat...or war. Frieza had pushed him too far. The last few elite squads that were sent to purge planets were eliminated by one of Frieza's task forces because they hadn't finished it on time. They were seconds too late and Frieza was in the killing mood. The king would no longer stand for this. This would be a suicide mission, many would die in this battle, but they would all fight till their last breaths. Frieza's shadow would loom over them no longer. It was a shame General Nappa was no longer up to par. He would've been a great addition to his troops, but now he was even weaker than the prince and he wanted his most powerful men at his side. He sighed, wishing Sdhoirm were by his side at that moment.
The imperial ship was on a direct course for Frieza's ship.
"We're within range, sire," one of the saiiyan pilots said as a picture of the Tsiru-jin's vessel came on-screen. The king sneered and rushed out of his seat, his troops following suit. They stood at the entrance of the ship.
"Be aware that not all of you will return alive on this mission. Hell, none of us might. But just remember who you're doing this for. For your mates, your children, your friends and comrades. And when we succeed, they will be free to be the most powerful beings in the known universe!" the king spoke and his elite men and women cheered.
"Sire, we're ready to open the doors," the pilot's voice spoke through the p.a.

"L-Lord Frieza, we have an incoming ship headed this way," a meek servant timidly bowed before the evil lord. Frieza's brow rose.
"Funny, I'm not expecting any visitors. Who is it?" Frieza asked.
"The saiiyans, the imperial vessel to be exact," the servant spoke. Frieza's brows rose once more.
"...And they seemed to be armed to the teeth with lasers and all sorts of weaponry, some that even rival our own," the servant said with worry.
"Tell the men to be prepared for a squabble," Frieza said and the servant took off.
So Vegeta, you stupid fool...you finally found the balls to face me, eh? It's a shame your cause will go in vain, Frieza thought with a laugh.

"We're in Sector 4 sire," one of the elite spoke as he patched into his scouter.
"How long before we reach Frieza's quarters?"
"He's in Sector 2, sire," the elite spoke as they continued to run down the halls. Pretty soon, Frieza's soldiers came bursting out through the sliding doors, attacking the elite and a rumble blew out. The battle ended in favor of the saiiyans and they took off down the hall, leaving the floor littered with carcasses and burns on the walls with broken lighting.
Outside the ship, the imperial saiiyan vessel was firing at Frieza's ship and wasn't doing so well because the ship's shields were activated. Frieza chuckled as he watched the whole scene from his personal monitor. Soon the king and his men would be here where the final scene would play out.
"We're almost there, sire!" one of the men said, activating his scanner.
"Good," the king said. They reached Frieza's door and blasted it. Unfortunately, none of their weapons would work, so they fired ki blasts at it. Soon, a hoard of Frieza's men came and another battle took place. At that moment, the doors slid open and the king rolled inside. The doors slid closed quickly behind him.
"So, you just couldn't keep your temper in check, could you Vegeta?" Frieza asked, humor dripping from every word.
"We've had enough, I've had enough of you Frieza! You will torment my people no longer!" the king yelled.
"No, Vegeta, you will no longer be a thorn in my side and neither will your race of monkeys," Frieza said, finally stepping out of his hover chair.
"YAAAH!!" the king yelled as he ran headlong into the Tsiru-jin who side-stepped, the king missing him completely. The king threw an array of kicks and punches that couldn't be seen by the naked eye, but were too slow for Frieza. He merely chuckled and wrapped his tail around the king's neck before flinging him against the wall. When the king tried to rise up, Frieza fired a thin red beam through his side, causing the king to yell out in pain, keeping him in his place. As Frieza began to slowly walk towards him, he spoke, "Tsk tsk tsk. What a waste of power. And to think, after all I've done for you, this is how you repay me. Not that it matters. Without you, your planet will crumble without a monarch."
King Vegeta was about to speak, but Frieza interrupted, "And don't think your queen will be able to run things. She was my general before she was your mate, remember? Your kingdom will belong to me once you're gone! Of course, I could always find a better use for her. Zarbon has always had a thing for your queen. I'm sure it would make him very happy if I gave her to him."
The king yelled in rage and jumped at the Tsiru-jin, only to be punched through the heart. Frieza chuckled and pulled out his bloody fist, allowing the king to fall dead to the floor. Frieza wiped off his hand on the king's cape and activated his scouter.
"Yes, my lord?"
"Send in the medics to sew up his wounds. Make it look like he was ambushed," Frieza said calmly.
"Yes, sire."

~*~
"My queen, my queen! Urgent news, the imperial ship has returned!" a servant rushed into the throne room, bowing before the queen as she sat in her seat, looking through proclamations.
"What's the matter?" she asked warily as she rose to her feet, detecting a hint of fear in his voice.
"When the ship returned, no one was at the helm to intercept our link," the servant said. Zafira's eyes grew wide and she was out of the throne room and running down the halls to the docking bay.
Once she arrived, she found Prince Vegeta already waiting for the ship to land. Elite soldiers and guards were all armed just in case. When they got a good look at the vessels, cries of shock filled the area. The thing looked like it had been through hell. There were scorch marks and holes all over it. Once they had gotten it open, soldiers rushed in with medics close behind. A few minutes later and stretchers were being rushed out of the ship with bodies on top of them, covered with blankets. Soon, the last one came out with two elite soldiers standing on its right and left, both with their heads lowered. Zafira's brow rose and she rushed over and reached for the blanket and the soldiers stepped back. All eyes rose.
Sdhoirm entered shortly with Vaya behind to the sound of the queen's screaming. Upon hearing this, Sdhoirm immediately ran to her side to see why. There, the king of their mighty race lay dead on a stretcher, bruises and gashes of all kinds covered his body and cracked armor. Sdhoirm immediately grabbed Zafira and made her face him. He had never seen her so broken up in his life. Upon reflex, he pulled her into his arms and she buried her face in his chest, screaming and crying and pounding her fist against him. The prince, who was still taking time for this all to register in his mind, blasted off into the sky.
"Vegeta, wait!" Vaya yelled and rushed after him.

~*~
Vaya followed the prince deep into the forest, a place where they used to play as little children. He didn't bother covering his tracks and they led her to a cave. When she came inside, she found him sitting on the ground, his back to her. She approached him with caution, "Vegeta..."
"What?" he answered icily, not even turning around. Vaya knew that nothing she could say would take away the pain of losing one's father, so she walked in front of him, to find him staring at the ground. He finally looked into her eyes. She could see the hurt and pain in his expression and placed a hand on his shoulder, lowering her head. He looked up at her, a little surprised at her action and placed his hand over hers.

~*~
"...I was deeply saddened when I heard the news. It must be so awful for you to lose your king and mate, my dear. My condolences," Frieza spoke into the monitor with a phony sympathy act before his comm was cut off. Suddenly, a slender fist burst into it. The saiiyan technicians and staff all gawked at her in disbelief while others gawked at their now broken scouters. Zafira pulled her gloved fist out of the monitor, a look of utter hatred written on her face. During the funeral, there wasn't a dry eye anywhere. And where there were dry eyes, there were also looks of contempt. They all knew this wasn't some ambush. It had to have something to do with Frieza, but no one had proof and no one would dare speak out against the tyrant, for fear of their lives.

Back in her bedchamber, Zafira sat at her table, her head on the tabletop, buried in her arms. He was gone. The love of her life was gone. Love was considered a weak emotion among the saiiyan people, to the king most of all, so she always kept silent about it. But at that very moment, she wished she had said something, even at the cost of getting told off by him. She hardly saw him enough as it was with the Planet Trade. Speaking of which, that bastard Frieza was still expecting saiiyan troops to continue the purging missions. In order to save face and not blow a fuse, the queen explained that they had lost so many in the ambush and so many were still mourning over the loss of the king. Frieza gave in and left them alone.

~*~
"It appears that I don't have as much control over Zafira as I used to," Frieza thought aloud as he tossed his glass on the smooth, waxed floor of his room.
"What will you do now, Lord Frieza? Without the saiiyans, the Planet Trade will be move incredibly slow," Dedoria said. The Tsiru-jin sighed.
"I think the saiiyans have worn out their welcome. I get the feeling they know what I've done and it won't be long before Zafira herself will wage a war against me," Frieza said, a distant look on his features. Dedoria and Zarbon both looked at him in disbelief.
"Sir?" Zarbon spoke.
"Plot a course for Vegetaseii, I want to pay them one last visit."

~*~
Ever since the king's death, Zafira tossed aside her royal robes for her battle armor, the one she used to wear when she was still in Frieza's military: your everyday saiiyan armor, except without the spandex pants. The outfit was strapless, save the black shoulder-pads that connected to her white cape. She wore knee-high white boots with gold lining. She also donned matching gloves that came up slightly past her elbows. The inner part of her cape was also a goldish color. She chose to keep her golden crown on her head and wore the king's amulet in memory of him. No one had seen the queen wearing battle attire since before her fight with Cyrene. Frankly, it scared a lot of the people while others were very happy, wondering if she'd ever fight again.
At that very moment, she was outside training new soldiers mercilessly. Just as Frieza had predicted, she was going to wage war on him. She was already rebuilding the planet's military with fresh new soldiers and training them vigorously. Sdhoirm had chosen to stay by her side and help her raise her son by increasing the prince's level of training, dramatically raising his power level.

~*~
"Curse it! I missed!"
Vegeta strode over to retrieve his sword from where it lay in the grass. He was trying to strike a nimble birdlike creature, as Sdhoirm watched from his perch on a rock nearby. Cassinian was seated like a sphinx beside his master.
"The target is agile, Spitfire. You didn't allow for it. Try again!" Sdhoirm encouraged.
Developing muscles rippled with promise, and Vegeta drew back his sword-arm, preparing to release another assault...then he paused, and put his arm down.
"Why do you hesitate?" Sdhoirm asked.
"I...don't know!" Vegeta replied uncertainly, staring at the sky. "There's...something..."
Sdhoirm rose to his feet and breathed in deeply...testing, sifting the varied scents carried by the night air. Cassinian began to growl.
Suddenly, Sdhoirm shot straight into the air, his eyes wild with terror and rage.
"Sdhoirm? What do you see?" Vegeta called from the ground.
He did it! Sdhoirm thought with fear, focusing on a bright star-like ball in the distance. Blast him to Hell, he actually did it! "Vegeta! Fly to your mother!" Sdhoirm called down to his soul-son. "Tell her I need her help! We're all in danger! Go! NOW!"
Vegeta obeyed. As he climbed onto Cassinian's back for speed and took off, he had just enough time to see Sdhoirm disappear in the opposite direction. Vegeta shuddered. He had never seen his soul-father look that way before. And what was that bright star in the sky? He didn't remember ever seeing that...
Sdhoirm flew through the sky, elevating into the higher atmosphere. He knew what the star was. It was Frieza's death ball. The tyrannical little monster had finally decided to destroy the Saiyan race. Sdhoirm knew that they had all been on this path to conflict for a long time...but it was still a shock to see the horror put into motion.
Frantically his mind searched for a plan. He had to do something to stop that enormous energy that was slowly advancing toward his planet--toward Zafira, and Vegeta--toward Vaya. Then he realized that there was only one thing he could do.
Looking up, Sdhoirm saw that he was directly beneath the golden-red death ball. He pulled out his sword. For a moment, he remembered the special charm put on the shining weapon. It would deflect any energy attack, so long as Sdhoirm himself was strong enough to withstand the blow. He prayed that the enchantment would be enough to save them.
He gripped the sword hilt as he thought of what he had to do, and he almost turned back. But then he thought of the others, the ones he cared for. Zafira needed to live, and his daughter and soul-son, so that they could continue to grow. He took a deep breath and swooped upward. Bringing his sword back over his head with both hands, he swung it hard and it struck the death ball with a flash.
The energy sphere rippled, slowed, and finally shuddered to a halt.
The ball could proceed no further with the magic of the sword countering its power. But not even Sdhoirm had the strength to drive the ball back into space. He could not move it, and he refused to let go of the sword. But already his body was beginning to tremble from the effort of keeping the seemingly infinite sphere of ki at bay.
Just then Zafira arrived, alone. She had already been unnerved by the sudden presence of the bright star, and when her son had reported to her what Sdhoirm had said, she became more suspicious and worried. Then she learned from Vegeta that Sdhoirm had gone off alone, and her fears were confirmed.
"Sdhoirm!" Zafira cried. "What are you doing?! Are you insane?"
"I won't let Frieza destroy everything!" he gasped, straining to keep control. Zafira could see that he was being overpowered.
"I'm going to help you!" she cried, starting forward.
"NO!" Sdhoirm snarled, so forcefully that Zafira stopped dead. "Stay BACK!"
"You can't hold it by yourself!" Zafira shouted back angrily, darting towards him.
Suddenly, a huge shock of electricity sent her reeling backward. When she regained control, she looked in surprise at Sdhoirm, whose obsidian eyes were smoldering. He had put a barrier around himself, and Zafira could not get close. She didn't realize that Sdhoirm had made up his mind.
"Zafira, do you want to help?"
"Yes! What are--"
"Then just blast the damn thing!"
Zafira gave Sdhoirm a horrified look. "WHAT?"
"Listen!" Sdhoirm yelled desperately. "We're not strong enough to push it back, even together! But YOU are powerful enough to destroy it! So BLOW--IT--UP!"
"No!" Zafira cried. "You'll be killed!"
"Just do it, Zafira, please!" Sdhoirm shouted back, and his voice was pleading. "You HAVE to trust me!"
Zafira was about to refuse again, but then she stopped. In all the years that she had known him, she had never seen Sdhoirm look more determined. His decision had been made. Nothing would change his mind now.
Clenching her teeth in frustration and sorrow, Zafira flew away to where she would be out of range of the blast. Relief flooded Sdhoirm's mind as he saw her go.
Thank you, Zafira...
Zafira turned around to face the death ball in the sky. She began to power up for her ultimate attack, the Final Flare. She lifted her arms above her head and her ki started to circulate around her arms. The energy was blue and flashing with light, sparkling with power. It gathered into a huge energy ball between her fists.
She released the blue ball and it shot toward the immense golden-red sphere. Upon making contact, the Final Flare seemed to disappear inside Frieza's death ball...
Suddenly, the death ball appeared to ripple from the inside out. There was a low rumbling as the ball began to quake. Even from so far away, Zafira's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of the triumphant look on Sdhoirm's face, an instant before the death ball ruptured and exploded.

After the immense explosion and blinding light had cleared, Zafira immediately sought out Sdhoirm. She couldn't find him anywhere and that made her worry. What if he hadn't made it? Suddenly, she picked up the faint sound of flapping wings. She turned around to Cassinian in the distance. Her eyes rose and she flew to him. He appeared tense and agitated and suddenly flew downward. Taking the hint, Zafira flew downward after him. Somewhere, deep within a gorge, lay Sdhoirm, severely injured and unconscious. Without a second thought, Zafira rushed to his side and lifted his head, cradling it in her arms and checked for a pulse. She sighed with relief, still alive.

~*~
Sdhoirm was immediately rushed to the palace infirmary where he was placed in a rejuvenation tank.
"He'll probably need a few days to recover. He's lucky to have been brought here so quickly after the attack. He should be fine, just allow him time to rest," the medic said as he watched the queen who stood before Sdhoirm's tank. She placed her hand on the glass, watching his unconscious form and sighed.
"We'll have round-the-clock staff members monitoring his progress, your highness," the medic spoke. Zafira merely nodded and stepped outside to find Vegeta and Vaya running towards her. The two skidded to a halt.
"How is he?"
"Is he gonna be okay?"
"How badly is he injured?"
"How did it happen?"
"SILENCE!!" Zafira yelled, hushing the two teenagers. The two could see that she was under a lot of stress ever since the king passed away.
"He'll be fine. He just needs a few days to recover. Until then, Vaya, you will live in the palace with us," Zafira said and walked off.

~*~
That night, Vaya slept for the first time in a royal bedroom that had been prepared for her. It was huge and comfortable, and the bed had soft blankets and many pillows. But Vaya couldn't sleep. She kept tossing and turning. She was not used to being separated from her father, and panic kept rising within her as she thought about how he had looked. His clothes were almost shredded and he was bleeding from many deep wounds.
Please, not him...not Dad and King Vegeta both... Vaya sobbed in her sleep. Sdhoirm had been her only parent for her whole life. She had never had a mother figure. She wouldn't know what to do if her father didn't make it.
After tossing and turning for several hours, Vaya finally sat up in bed. She pushed back the covers and climbed out in her pajamas. She was going to visit her father.
Padding silently down the halls, Vaya soon found her way to the infirmary. It was dark inside, but there was some light cast by the glow of the rejuvenation tanks. Inside the middle tank, Sdhoirm's unconscious form was being healed by the special liquid.
Vaya walked over to the tank and gazed at her father for a moment. Then, feeling comforted, she sat down next to it and brought her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs.
Just then, her sharp ears caught the sound of footsteps, and the plush sound of paws on marble floors. She looked up just as Vegeta and Warfrost entered the room. Vegeta halted when he saw Vaya, but Warfrost trotted over to give her a friendly sniff. Vaya patted him.
"What...are you doing here?" Vegeta asked in surprise.
Vaya gave him a dumb look. "I would think it would be obvious that I came to see my father, your Highness."
Vegeta looked uncomfortable. "Oh, yeah. Me too."
There was silence.
Vegeta tried again. "So...how is he doing?"
Vaya shrugged indifferently. "He's fine." But then she couldn't keep up the cold act. Vegeta gave a start as the girl's eyes welled up with tears and she buried her head in her arms.
Warfrost cocked his head and whimpered sympathetically. Vegeta didn't know exactly what to do, but he figured it would be safe to sit down next to her and put his arm comfortingly around her shoulders. Vaya didn't respond to his touch in any way except to sniffle.
"What are you crying for?" Vegeta asked.
"Because," Vaya choked back a sob. "My dad is all I've got. It's just me and him. You had both your parents, at least in some way, but all I have is Dad. I can't go on by myself. I don't know how. I mean...Your mom's nice and everything, but...it's not the same as having a real family. It's just not the same." She buried her head into his shoulder as she cried softly.
Vegeta was shocked; he didn't expect this, but instinctively put his arms around her in an awkward embrace.
"Don't worry..." he whispered. "My mother said he'll be fine. Remember?" He couldn't do anything else but hold her.
They stayed that way for a few minutes until Vaya's body stopped shaking from her sobs. When she was done she looked up at him. Vegeta took a good look at her for the first time.
Her hair was long and straight and black, as soft as silk, falling down to the middle of her back. Her ebony eyes were wet from tears, but they shone the same way that Sdhoirm's had, and they seemed to pierce Vegeta to the very depths of his soul. For fifteen, she had an amazing figure, which her nightgown fitted snugly. All Vegeta could do was stare at her. He had never seen anyone who was so incredibly beautiful.
Vaya felt his intense gaze on her, and she blushed slightly and pulled back, out of his arms. "Thank you, your Highness. I think I can go back to my room now."
She stood up and strode quickly out of the room. Vegeta got up as well and started to follow her, but he was just too shy around her. "You can call me Vegeta..." he whispered to no one.
Warfrost rumbled in knowing amusement.