Going Native: Touch of Bah (ch.35) (Patreon)

“You’re going to pick him up?” Vegeta asked, crossing his arms as he leaned his back against the doorframe that marked the entrance to Castle Vegeta. I glanced at my brother before I nodded. 

“It’s for the best. Broly needs to get used to fighting with other saiyans and hiding his power level. And it’ll be good for the others as well. I want to see how they act when I’m not looking over their shoulders,” I answered. Matillo had reported some promising progress with Olaive and Kakarot, and things got...pretty weird after my fight with Vegeta. They seemed to hang off of every word I said to a worrying degree, but I needed to see if they would follow through with that promised progress when they thought I wouldn’t find out. 

Vegeta nodded, accepting that answer. “And he’ll be attached to your 501st,” he commented with only a trace of bitterness in his words. Which was fair, honestly. Because Vegeta was a part of Frieza’s personal army, it was too big of a risk for Broly to travel with Vegeta. We didn’t know how powerful Broly was currently, but given that he had had a power level of over nine thousand as an infant...well...there was a reason only me and Vegeta could go pick him up. 

“Don’t worry. I won’t get too much stronger than you,” I teased, flashing a grin, only to get a scowl in return. 

“In what universe does the youngest surpass the eldest?” Vegeta scoffed with a shake of his head. “You’ll always be weaker than me, little brother. As it should be,” he decided firmly. My grin grew a fraction, knowing that after these few days of...vacation were done, the next time I saw Vegeta he was going to be crazily strong. And I had to make sure I could match him. 

Three presences that I recognized entered my range. I glanced over to see Mom and Fasha with Elery hanging on Mom’s shoulder. Elery’s gaze met mine for a brief moment before she quickly looked away, ducking behind Mom’s shoulder guard. My heart clenched in my chest -- it had been a few days since I fought her somewhat seriously, and she had barely spoken a word to me since. 

There were times when her presence could be annoying, but now she was flat out avoiding me...I hadn’t realized how used to her presence I was until it was gone. Still, I was made of sterner stuff than that, so I didn’t let it bother me. Too much. Instead, I focused on Mom and Fasha. 

“I figured I would see you off,” Mom decided with a shrug. Which prompted my gaze to shift to Fasha. And since my vision wasn’t blocked by my visor, she saw the question in my gaze. 

“You should have some backup. Just in case anything goes sideways. The Old Man can handle the kids. Pretty sure he secretly loves it,” Fasha explained with a shrug of her shoulders, mirroring Mom. I haven’t seen much of either of them since I arrived on Planet Vegeta, but it seemed that they were getting along well enough. Much better than Vegeta and Bardock, at any rate. Not that was a high bar to get over. 

I mulled it over for a second before I nodded, thinking that was fair enough. I was planning on taking a small shuttle to and from the planet, but adding another person wouldn’t do any harm. And in case we did run into any Reach forces, I would be glad to have Fasha watching my back. 

“Sounds good to me,” I agreed, gesturing to the saucer ship that we would be taking. I glanced at Mom and Vegeta, a question on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask it. However, Mom seemed to sense my hesitance and answered my unspoken question. 

“Your father is probably pretending that he’s busy, or something,” she told me. From what I gathered, they still didn’t see eye to eye about Dad staying on Planet Vegeta. And I doubted that they ever would. In the end, as much as I would like them to get along, it didn’t change much if they didn’t. The results remained the same. 

“I see,” I said, wondering if I would see him again before I left for the war again. After picking Broly up, it would be the final day and the hundred saiyans under my wing would challenge the Sky King. After that, we would leave for the front lines again, take a weaker planet to get the saiyans under my command used to war...then we would take Antiople, the next shield world. “Tell him I said goodbye if I don’t see him.”

Vegeta nodded, and I was reassured that my message would be passed on. With that, I turned away from my family to head to the shuttle. 

“Don’t die!” Elery called out, peeking up from Mom’s shoulder. A tension that I wasn’t aware of until it was gone eased out of me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Mom grinning as Elery peeked over her shoulder so only her eyes were visible. 

“I won’t,” I said, waving goodbye. Fasha followed me up the staircase into the ship. I was compelled to look over my shoulder one last time as the staircase closed, sealing tight enough to be worthy of space travel. It only lasted for a split second before the staircase blocked my vision, but I saw Vegeta waving goodbye right back at me. 

My gaze lingered on the spot with some disbelief before Fasha reached out to rub the top of my head. I glanced up at her to see that there was a soft smile tugging at the edges of her lips. 

“Is it everything you’d thought it’d be?” Fasha questioned, and it was simple to guess what she meant. 

I didn’t even have to think about it. “It’s even better,” I told her. For so long, I had fought for my place amongst the royal family. And now I had it. I could call Vegeta my brother. Mom and Elery loved me. My father was proud of me. My team respected me and the issues we had were gone. 

“Well, I’m happy for you. Now where are we going?” Fasha asked, making me realize that she wasn’t in the loop. I glanced at her before I started walking toward the cockpit. I had absolutely no idea how to fly one of these things, but that’s what autopilot was for. I input the coordinates as I explained the situation. 

However, there were some things that I just had to leave out. The plot to overthrow the Cold family as the head of the Trade Organization...that was so much bigger than me that it wasn’t up to me who learned of it and who didn’t. I’m not even sure what I should do about the plan. But, still, there were some things that she needed to know. 

“We’re picking up a saiyan around my age,” I started to explain as the ship lifted off. “His name is Broly. Dad sent him to a planet called Vampa to keep him out of sight until now.” At that, Fasha cocked an eyebrow at me, a questioning look on her face. “When he was about a year into gestating in the tank, he had a power level of eight hundred.”

Fasha sputtered, caught completely off guard by the ridiculous number. And that was the perfect time to follow it up. “However, when he started to cry, his power level skyrocketed to the point that it broke the older versions of the scouter. The final reading before it broke was ten thousand.”

“Wait one second there -- you’re telling me that a baby still in the tank had a power level of ten thousand?” Fasha held up a hand, her voice shifting from shock to deadly serious as she realized the implications. It had taken me years to break the ten thousand barrier. My team spent most of their lives inching towards that threshold and most of them still hadn’t managed it despite how close they were. 

Broly was elite-class twice over, in a league of his own.

“I am,” I confirmed with a nod. 

Fasha thought about that, taking a seat in the pilot’s chair. “Why was he sent to Vampa? If King Vegeta wanted him out of the way, then killing him would have been the smarter option,” she said. At that, I shook my head. 

“Dad wanted him out of the way, but he didn’t want to get rid of him. Back then we had the population cap, and he was worried about what Frieza would do if such an unusually powerful saiyan was born,” I explained. 

Fasha scoffed, “more like he wanted to keep his throne secure.” As soon as she said the words, she sent me a look that told me that she hadn’t meant to say that out loud, or she forgot who she was talking to. 

I gave her words a moment of thought before I shook my head. “If he wanted that, then he could have just killed him like you said.” I refuted easily enough, hearing a small sigh and a nod from Fasha. I wasn’t surprised that she didn’t have the highest opinion of him. I wanted to defend him by telling her that he was a better man and a better king than anyone thought, but that would lead to questions why I thought that. And I wouldn’t be able to answer. 

“So, what changed? Do we know how powerful the kid is now? Is he even alive?” Fasha asked as the wink-drive teleported us hundreds of lightyears away from Planet Vegeta. Given that Vampa was on the very fringe of the galaxy, located in the least populated sector that was cleared out by some Warlord some time ago. As far as hiding places went, there was no better one. 

“The war happened. Now Lord Frieza would welcome a powerful soldier in his army,” I answered. The last two questions I was less certain about. The wink-drive gathered up power for another jump. It was going to take a day to get to Vampa and another day to get back. I understood the basics of it -- the larger the jump, the more likely there would be a failure and we would be wiped from existence. So, the wink drive was best used in bursts with time to recover between those bursts. 

“We don’t know how strong he is though. But...given how wildly his power fluctuates...I’m guessing strong,” I answered. “And if he’s strong, then I’m willing to bet that he’s alive.”

“Fair enough, I guess,” Fasha conceded, scratching at her cheek in thought. Her gaze lingered on me for a moment, a question in her eyes. It was a look I was starting to recognize, but instead of not asking or asking a different question when I prompted her, she asked what was on her mind. “What’s going to happen to the other kids? I know that the elite-class is being divided up between the royal family and Matillo, but no one’s said anything about the mid and low-class.” 

That...was a good question, actually. 

“I don’t know,” I admitted, which seemed to surprise her. “I’ve been more focused on dealing with the troops that I was going to be in charge of. The 501st is going to be put up to full strength soon and given how many saiyans are going to be put under my command...well, I’ve been preoccupied.” Fasha nodded, accepting that point. Even still, it felt too much like an excuse for comfort.  

Her lips thinned as she looked out the viewing window. 

“I’ll find out when we get back. I’m assuming that they’ll be assigned to units like how we were before,” but that had some issues. If we weren’t careful then our population was going to be blasted back until we were nearly extinct. And because there wasn’t a lot of genetic material, there wouldn’t be a massive population boom like this again. 

We had to make sure as many saiyans as possible made it to their prime. Just like Dad instructed us to make sure as many as the elite-class made it to their prime. 

That gave me an idea. 

“Would you feel comfortable leading your own units?” I asked as I puzzled the problem out, the offer surprising Fasha. 

“What?” She asked, blinking at the offer. 

“Would you want to command your own unit? Like the 501st,” I explained with a frown, thinking it over. “It’s just an idea, but...I would feel more comfortable putting saiyan lives in saiyan hands. I know it’s impossible to do it with everyone. And for those that I can’t, I’ll do what I can to make sure they get good commanders. But if we assign...ten thousand or so to each of you -- the team, and the other few saiyans remaining.” 

Fasha considered it for a long moment as if she were carefully considering her words. “I...wouldn’t be opposed to it. And I don’t think the other members of the team would be either,” she said at least. That was good. Between Tora, Fasha, Shugesh, Borgos, and Parslee, that would be another fifty thousand saiyans in saiyan hands. And maybe I could talk to Mom about having more of them attached to our army. 

“But, couldn’t we just take them all?” Fasha questioned, looking at me with an unusually heavy gaze. “I mean, of course we wouldn’t be in command of all of them,” she quickly explained. “I just think that our race was nearly wiped out because we were scattered about. So, instead, the team would be in command of...I dunno, twenty-five thousand, or something?”

I shook my head, “logistics are the real limiting factor.” I refuted, agreeing with her in spirit. In an ideal world, all three million would live to see their prime. That was impossible, though. “We eat too much. With the elite-class that’ll be joining us, we’re already gaining near a hundred thousand more mouths to feed. And things were bad enough when there were only fifty of us.”

The fact that saiyans were bottomless pits wasn’t news to me. I learned that lesson back on Rench when thirty saiyans impacted the food reserves enough that having us eat corpses bought us a day’s worth of food to feed thousands. 

I didn’t plan on being in that situation ever again, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t be. Not only that but adding a hundred thousand saiyans was already going to mean a sharp upturn in the amount of food that we would need. I didn’t want our supply line to be a lifeline, and the moment it was severed our situation became dire. 

“Adding another fifty thousand would be pushing it. The capsules make transporting it better, but the sheer amount of food we'll need is an issue." Especially when we pushed to take another shield world. 

Unlike the last time, Lord Frieza wouldn't pave the way for us. We were going to have to fight to take it. There were shield world's that hadn't fallen since the war began. I had to assume that would be the case with us and prepare for that scenario. 

Fasha looked like she wanted to argue, but realized that was right. Instead, she let out a deep sigh as she nodded in acceptance. "What about Lotuce and Gine? Would they be commanders too?" I considered the question before I gave a hesitant nod. 

"I trust Lotuce to lead a unit well, but...I haven't seen Gine fight. I don't know her. I'll trust your word if you say she can lead them well, but you've said it yourself -- she's too soft hearted to be a warrior." I understood her motivations better than most. She was only coming because she didn't want to be separated from Kakarot. She wasn't joining us to fight. 

Fasha appeared pensive before she spoke. "I'll talk to her about it. I think she would be good at it, but she shouldn't if she doesn't want to. For everyone's sake," she pointed out, getting an agreeing nod from me. She ran a hand through her hair before she nodded to herself. "I'll go shoot a message to the others. Might send one to Bardock too, while I'm at it."

While she did that, I pulled up my own assignments. I was behind on them, and Technician expected them to be done when I got back to the fleet. And I hadn't even started them.

Pulling up the first one, my gaze landed on the first math problem. Then my eyes narrowed into slits. 

"Why are there letters in math!?" 

…

Vampa looked more desolate in person than it did as a hologram. The surface of the planet was a sickly yellow, there was no sign of plant life at all. The catalogue said that this planet had two species left after an apocalyptic event some centuries ago. Blood sucking insects and some kind of eel dog that lived in craters. 

"We're picking up an SOS down there. Night side of the planet, directly in the middle of a storm." I said, highlighting the position. I felt faintly proud at the simple action. I wasn't used to using technology yet, but I was steadily learning how a lot of things worked. 

"Should we wait until it clears up? I'm betting that the constant storms are the reason they're stuck on this planet," Fasha asked as she looked at the swirling clouds on the dark side of the planet. 

"No. I want to get back to Planet Vegeta as soon as possible. We'll leave the ship in orbit and take down a few oxygen masks so Broly and Paragus can make the trip up." I was looking forward to meeting Paragus. He cared enough about Broly to steal a ship to free him from his exile to this waste hole. Dad didn’t seem to think he would still be alive -- Paragus was low-class, and a fairly weak one as well, so his odds weren’t great but I was holding out hope that he was still alive. 

Though, just in case something did happen, “send a message back to Planet Vegeta while I get the masks on when to expect us back.” 

Fasha nodded, “sounds good to me.” With that safety net done, both of us donned our masks and descended down toward the planet’s surface. 

As we entered the atmosphere, immediately we were hit with powerful winds and sand that would have flayed any non-saiyan member of the 501st. It was no shock at all that this planet was completely devoid of plant life, the wind and the sand must have killed it. I stretched my hands out and formed a bubble shield to keep the sand from getting in my eyes. Fasha did the same. Then I formed a ball of light in my hand and tossed it upward, illuminating the intense darkness that surrounded us. 

“You can use two techniques at once now?” Fasha commented, looking at me as we descended. 

“Only easy ones like this. I can’t prepare two attacks at the same time. Yet,” I tacked on. I hadn’t managed to do it yet without one technique blowing up in my face, but I would manage it eventually.

Fasha simply shook her head as she eyed the ball of light, “so it’s like a Solar Flare? I remember you using yourself like a flashlight back on Rench.”

I nodded, confirming the guess as we neared the ground. “I created it back when I was trying to make the Power Ball emit certain kinds of light waves. I never had a chance to use it before, though.”

“What are you going to name this one?”

That was a good question, I thought, glancing over my shoulder at the small ball emitting light. “Nightlight? Light Ball?”

A chuckle escaped Fahsa’s lips, “you might be a genius at creating techniques, but at the very least I’ll know you’ll always be bad at naming them.”

Oi...what does that mean…?

I didn’t get a chance to ask because we reached the ground. Like we saw from space, the ground was a pale yellow of harsh stone. I pressed down on the side of my scouter to activate the map function. Through the storm, I saw the forms of jagged outcroppings of rock formations, and, more importantly, I saw a dot on the map that was the source of the SOS. 

What I didn’t pick up on were any power levels. Either they were beneath the ground...or….they were dead. Which would really throw a wrench in Dad’s plans. 

I traded a look with Fasha, who nodded before we took off in the direction of the SOS. It was a saucer ship nestled in a rock formation, kept out of the sandstorm but not buried to the point that it couldn’t broadcast. I didn’t know much about ships, but I could see that it was well taken care of at least. There was some wear and tear, but it didn’t look like it was wasting away. That was a great sign. 

My eyes found a tunnel near where the ship was set up. I flew toward it, standing at the-

I felt a presence and it was like a punch to the gut. Not because I had nothing to compare it to, but because I could. 

The presence was comparable to Vegeta in the first stage of the Wrath State. Not quite as strong, but comparable. Almost numbly, I pressed down on the side of my scouter to get an exact number. The numbers kept ticking higher and higher until they settled on...a completely ridiculous number. 

83,755.

Unless...unless Broly was in the oozaru form or the Wrath State, then...that...was his base power level. I expected him to be powerful, but this was insane. I would have said that it was impossible, but clearly it wasn’t. How? How could he be this strong? Were the two species here really strong enough to push Broly to this extreme level of strength?

I wasn’t sure if the plan could work anymore. The plan was that I would be able to keep him in line easily enough. If he learned the Wrath State…

Broly would have a power level dangerously close to a million. That was a sobering thought. 

“Holy shit,” Fasha muttered, picking up on the same power level. Now that the initial shock had worn off, I realized that there were two other power levels. One that was 3,360 -- who must be Paragus given that was about a five hundred increase from his last recorded one, and the other was a mystery of 1,002. 

“Let’s take this slow,” I told her before I decided to take off my mask and scouter and sealed them away with a capsule. I had picked an older model of armor so my tail was free for the first time in what felt like years. That way they would know we were saiyans just by looking at us. Fasha nodded as she did the same, and only then did we start to walk down the tunnel, my Nightlight illuminating the pitchblack tunnels. 

The walls occasionally had some kind of egg built into them. I knew that they were eggs because most of them had the shell broken so the yoke inside could be eaten. The tunnels themselves were a maze, dozens of tunnels leading one way or the other. If it wasn’t for my ability to sense ki then we would have been lost. 

Steadily, we drew nearer to the only sentient presences on this planet. I let my Nightlight die off as I saw light illuminating a tunnel up ahead, hinting at another source of light. Then we stepped into the light.

The first thing we saw as we turned the corner was a boy sitting on a rock. His hair was a shaggy mane, his skin tanned with a few scars visible. One on his face that split his cheek and another on his left arm at his bicep. His armor had seen better days, almost to the point I wasn’t sure why he bothered to wear it. Underneath was a deep blue undersuit that cut off at the thighs and left his arms bare.

He paused midway to bite into a leg, his face covered in greenish blood. I figured he would have gone through his first growth spurt, but he looked to be around my size. Yet smaller because he appeared to drown in a light green fur blanket that was tied around his shoulders. He lowered the leg, revealing some kind of metal collar around his neck as he blinked a few times at us. 

“Who...are you?” He spoke, sounding uncertain. I eyed him for a moment -- Broly was prematurely ejected from the gestation tank, so I wasn’t sure how many lessons he got before he was sent to Vampa. Still, he was able to speak saiyango, so that was a promising sign. 

“My name is Prince Tarble, and this is Fasha, my teammate. We’re here to bring you back to Planet Vegeta-” I introduced us, stepping forward. I saw a flash of light to the side and I reacted instantly. As a ki blast was launched at me, I lashed out with a hand and batted it to the side, sending it into a wall. Only then did I pay any attention to the interior of the cavern. 

It looked lived in. The beds were ripped out of the ship, a floater from the ship that was being worked on as well as a place with various tools laid about. The source of the light was coming from some kind of stone, illuminating the cavern. 

Two other people were in the cavern. One was Paragus. Instead of just sporting a mustache, a short beard was growing out, and he was missing an eye. Oddly enough, he was showing signs of leaving his prime, even though he wasn’t that old -- wrinkles gathered in the corner of his eyes and his black hair was sporting a few strands of gray. 

The other one was scrawny, almost hollowed cheeked and haggard looking like he hadn’t slept easily once in the past six years. He almost looked familiar, but I had more pressing concerns. Like how Paragus had taken a shot at me. 

“So King Vegeta sends another one of his spawn to finish the job that he’s too cowardly to do himself?” Paragus spat, preparing another ki blast. Broly took his cues from his father, dropping the leg and jumping to his feet as he started growling at me. 

I looked at Broly because he was by far the biggest threat, but I spoke to Paragus as I did so. “You jumped to conclusions then, and you’re jumping to conclusions now. If my father wanted Broly dead, then he would be dead. If I came here to kill you, then you would be dead. Yet, you’re all alive. What does that tell you?” I was many things, but a diplomat wasn’t one of them. 

Paragus sneered, anger blazing in his eyes. This wasn’t going to be a simple conversation. Not when he was staring at me with black eyes full of hate and loathing, like I was the source of every misfortune that he had ever had. 

“Wait- Wait, everyone, just wait one second,” the other guy said. Oddly enough, Broly calmed down almost instantly at the request. He stopped growling at me and looked over at the other guy. “You have a ship, right? You can get us off this rock?” He asked almost desperately. Actually, there was no almost involved, he was desperate. 

“We do,” I confirmed, sliding my gaze to Paragus. “Like I said, we’re here to bring you back to Planet Vegeta. Then you’ll be accompanying me to the frontlines.”

A hint of confusion entered Paragus’s hateful gaze, “frontlines?” He echoed before his eyes narrowed at me, “the war with the Reach?” He hazarded a guess.

I nodded, “the war has been going on for about six years now. Our population cap has been lifted, and things have changed. My father sent Broly here for his own protection. If Lord Frieza had found about him before now, Broly would have been killed-”

Paragus snarled at me so intensely that I’m pretty sure that he pulled something in his face. “Don’t lie to me, boy! King Vegeta was jealous! He was jealous of my son and the power that he has!”

“Paragus! Listen to reason -- does it matter why King Vegeta sent Broly here? We’re your ticket off this planet,” Fasha tried to reason with him, but there was no reasoning with absolute hate. 

“No,” Paragus shook his head, glaring at me with a lone eye. “We’ve spent years in this...hell. Because of your father. We’ll take that ship of yours and your father and brother will be joining you here. After you’ve suffered long enough, I’ll allow you to leave this hellish planet.” This wasn’t going as well as I hoped it would. Not in the slightest. Pargus couldn’t be reasoned with because he didn’t want to be. He wanted revenge for a mistake that he made.

“My father wasn’t the one that crashed your ship,” I refuted. “And he didn’t send anyone to stop you. If you had left Vamp with Broly, that would have been fine because my father’s goals would have been fulfilled -- keeping Broly out of Lord Frieza’s hands. Blame yourself for being stuck here. We aren’t your enemies.”

I could see that my words had an effect. Just not the one that I wanted. The truth fanned the flames of his hate until I could see them. He blamed Dad because the only other option was blaming himself. 

“Broly!” Paragus snapped, making Broly flinch at his tone. “Kill!” He shouted, pointing at us. 

Broly looked at us, his gaze wide and...reluctant. That caught me off guard. Though, not as much as what came next. Broly’s eyes went wide as his hands went to his neck, a scream ripping from his throat as he collapsed to the ground, covered in the green fur blanket. My gaze darted to Paragus to see that he held a controller in his hands. 

“Kill him Broly! Kill!” Paragus shouted and, for a moment, I just looked at him. He...was completely consumed with his vengeance. All because of the symbol that I wore on my chest. Perhaps it was a mistake to send me here, or any member of the royal family. I should have just sent Fasha. Because, right now, actually leaving the planet was the very last thing on Paragus’ mind. 

I raised a hand and blasted the control out of his hand, and only then did Broly’s screams stop. The boy laid in a heap underneath the blanket, shivering as he gasped for breath. Shakily, he pushed himself up, looking at me with eyes filled with fear. Paragus was so consumed with his hate that he hadn’t realized that he was hurting Broly too much to let him obey the crazed order. 

I walked toward him, my eyes blazing yellow as I slipped into the Wrath State with ease. Broly, finally able to follow through with his father’s order, lashed out with a fist. It was wild, no form in the slightest. He...wasn’t used to fighting. I saw it easily. Which raised the question of how exactly was he so strong. I expected some level of strength with his wild fluctuations recorded in the tank. If he didn’t have a growth spurt…

Did...Broly grow stronger over time naturally?

His fist slammed into my palm, and stopped dead in its tracks. Broly’s eyes widened, a look of shock on his face. Given how strong he was, I imagined he was used to the things he hit being broken. Grabbing his hand, I held him in place, his eyes growing fearful as I reached out. Then that fear melted into confusion as I ripped off the collar, identifying it as what caused Broly to scream. 

Broly rubbed his neck tenderly, looking at me with no small amount of confusion once I let go of his hand and made no move to attack. 

This...was disappointing as hell. 

“Paragus,” I spoke slowly, turning to the aging saiyan, who met my gaze firmly, thoroughly unrepentant. “I’m going to pretend like that didn’t happen. For your sake. In exchange, you’re going to shut up, get on the ship, and then go to planet Vegeta with us. From there, you can do whatever the hell you want. I don’t care. However, two things are set in stone -- Broly will be accompanying me to the frontlines and you won’t put another collar on him. Is that clear?” I spoke, my words as cold as ice. 

“I…” Broly interrupted, looking between me and Paragus. “I don’t want to be away from Dad…! Don’t...take him away...please!” Broly looked like he was on the verge of tears at the mere thought of it. He grabbed onto the green blanket, curling it around himself as if it was the only source of safety that he had ever known.

That decided that then. 

“Fine. Three things are set in stone. You’re joining us on the frontlines,” I informed Paragus. His expression was rebellious, and I knew he was going to be an absolute pain in the ass. But Broly wanted him to be there, and right now, what Broly wanted, Broly was going to get. 

“Paragus, just accept it for now,” Fasha spoke, trying to reason with him again. “There’s a time and a place for vengeance, and this is neither.” That...was a good idea. Instead of trying to reason with him with logic, she was appealing to his desires for undeserved vengeance on Dad. At the very least, it would make him cooperative enough to get on the ship with minimal complaining. And once he calmed down enough, he could be more open to a rational discussion. 

And if that didn’t work, I would punch him in the face until he agreed.

Paragus looked at Fasha, his eye darting to me before he scowled deeply even as he nodded. For now, that would be enough. 

“Good,” I said, reaching to my belt and tossed a capsule containing the spare oxygen masks and tanks. “Take those and follow us up,” I said before I narrowed my eyes at Paragus. “And here’s some advice on trying something on the ship,” I started before I turned around and started walking down the tunnel, expecting to be followed. 

“Don’t.”

…

People respond to stress in different ways, I learned over the years. I had a habit of throwing myself at the problem until it went away. Tora buckled down and worked his way through it. Shugesh ate to deal and...well...the list went on. Likewise, different people responded to relief. 

Broly took off his mask, looking around at the interior of the ship with a hint of wonder. Paragus looked like he ate something sour as he strode forward, barely paying any attention to his surroundings. Thankfully, Fasha followed him to make sure that he didn’t blow up the ship out of spite. 

The third saiyan, on the other hand, broke down crying. He dropped to his knees, his chest heaving as tears ran down his cheeks as he held onto the ship hard enough that the grating warped underneath his fingers. 

“I...I thought I was never going to leave that place,” he sobbed, crying his heart out in pure relief. I...think this was the first time I had ever seen a saiyan cry before. Elery did early on, but only when she was a baby. The only other time that I could think of was myself back on Rockoroad when I participated in unprovoked genocide of another race...my first taste of war. 

I shared a look with Broly, who looked outright concerned for the guy. He walked over to the sobbing saiyan, hovering around him before he held out the blanket that was tied around his shoulders. 

“You can pet Bah’s ear. You’ll stop being sad,” Broly offered, pushing the furry ear into the saiyans face. Then his concerned expression showed some apprehension, “but only for a little bit. And you can only pet Bah’s ear,” he laid down the restrictions, and through his sobs, the saiyan let out a wet chuckle. 

“Thanks Broly. I appreciate it,” the saiyan said fondly, his voice thick with emotion. He wiped his eyes with the back of his forearm, glancing up at me before he swallowed thickly. “Sorry about that sorry show. I...I...I thought I was really going to die down there, you know? Shit...I’ve...I’ve been lying for years about the ship, and I thought Paragus was going to figure out any day…” 

That caught my attention. “Lying about the ship?” I questioned, giving the saiyan a moment to gather himself. 

“Back when the ship crashed, Paragus was going to kill me to save on food. So, I lied and said that I could fix the ship with enough time. But the main floater was broken, and there was no way that I could. So, I just...kept lying. Every day, I thought that Paragus would figure it out and…” Kill him because there would be no reason keeping him alive. 

The saiyan pushed himself off the floor, choosing to sit on it as he wiped away the last few tears. “I’m really lucky that you arrived when you did. I think he was starting to suspect something,” the saiyan admitted, taking in a calming breath as he gave a thin smile to Broly, who receded the offer to pet Bah’s ear. There was a story there as well. “But I never expected that you’d be the one to rescue me.”

Huh?

“You know me?” I questioned, confused. If he was stuck here for years, then he couldn’t know me from the war and he was a Mechanic, not a Nurturer, so he shouldn’t know me from the Nursery. 

“I’m not surprised that you don’t remember me. We only met briefly a couple of years ago...but…” the saiyan looked apprehensive for a moment while I tried to place him. I knew he looked familiar...but…

“You’re the Mechanic that was working on my team’s ship,” I realized. That was ages ago, and it was briefly. However, what I didn’t expect was for a pained expression to pass over his face. He hesitated to speak, or even nod, and that was alarming. 

“I am,” he agreed, swallowing thickly. “I...well, my name is Beets. Not sure if you remembered. You probably didn’t. I didn’t know you were royalty, though. But I probably should have -- you have the look,” Beets said, dancing around the issue. 

“I wasn’t. I was born low-class and had to earn the right to join the royal family by becoming high-class,” I explained, making his eyes widen. 

“Huh. Well, I can believe it. Broly is pretty strong. Stronger than I thought possible, really,” Beets commented, making Broly smile widely. “But...there's something...something that you should know...about why I was working on your ship.” Beets started, swallowing thickly as he braced himself. “You should know. Especially after you saved me.”

I gave him a slow nod, “alright...why were you working on our ship?” This reaction...it couldn’t be because of scheduled maintenance. Beets was too nervous. 

Beets didn’t continue for a few seconds, long enough for me to think that he wasn’t going to. But when he did speak, I almost regretted asking. 

“King Vegeta ordered me to plant a bomb on your team’s ship. A timed one that would detonate when you activated the FTL drive to make it look like an accident of shoddy repairs. I was in the middle of installing it when...when you came onboard...I…” Beets looked away, his eyes filled with shame. 

“I’m working-class. I’m not a warrior. I...I don’t have it in me to kill a kid...so I didn’t go through with it. I was freaking out, convinced that King Vegeta was going to kill me because of it. That’s why I offered to help Paragus get off the planet to rescue Broly.” He explained, but I didn’t hear a word that he said. 

My hands curled into fist as I clenched my jaw, my heart hammering at my ribs as my blood rushed in my veins. 

I…

“I guess it was too good to be true,” I admitted to myself. I had known since the beginning that Dad didn’t care about me. It’s why he okayed me going on a suicide mission. But, I had accepted that. I rationalized it. I told myself that when I made it to the elite-class, that Dad would accept me. That...that was the bar I had to reach to earn his love and acceptance. 

But...he had lied to me. Back on Planet Vegeta. When he said that he allowed Bardock to be the face of the saiyan race. I suspected it, but I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to believe in the family that I now had. 

King Vegeta tried to kill my team. He tried to kill me. He never cared about me at all. He only cared that I was elite-class. 

Broly walked over to me, reaching out and pushing the filthy green ear towards me. My heart clenched in my chest at the silent offer and even as tears stung at my eyes, I gave Broly a small smile. 

“Thanks Broly,” I told him, reaching out and petting the ear. 

Unsurprisingly, I didn’t feel any better.