My Tomorrows   von Nevaeh
                           (Updated English version)
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                             Kapitel 5: Zukka - 3
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Mame had just folded her headscarf  and unraveled her hair when her phone
started ringing. It had been a long day  and all she wanted was to lie down,
smoke and sleep. Whatever it was, it  couldn´t be important enough for her to
leave. She even got a room for herself,  it was such a rare occasion on those
damn space stations! It ringed again and  Mame caught her lower lip between her
teeth, chewing on it slowly.
 
To hell with it. She grabbed the  phone, skimming over the text. The message had
no sender, it just told her to  meet three doors to the left.
 
She eyed it suspiciously, already  grabbing her scarf. Probably from her son. It
was an important meeting and he  surely was nervous that she had taken him with
her, but she knew he would  handle it well. At least a little pep talk wouldn´t
take long.
 
Mame dressed quickly and got to the  door a few minutes later. It slid open
before she had even knocked, leaving her  stunned for a second. It wasn´t her
son. She didn´t know that person. She  hardly realized the blow on her head
before everything went black.
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
Mame woke up to agonizing pain in  her head and the disgusting feeling of fabric
against her face. She tried to  figure out where she was, but… something was
pulled over her head. She couldn´t  see, it was all dark. No way to prepare for
the punch that followed shortly  after, making her head jerk to the side. She
tasted blood in her mouth and  couldn’t even spit it out.
 
“Awake, Saiyan? Had a good sleep?”
 
She moaned lightly, her ear was  ringing from the assault. She couldn´t make
out where the voice came from, it  was male though. Probably. Could be any
species.
 
“We wanted a private interview.”
 
“I´m a saiyan diplomat on my way to  a meeting on GW889. It´s about coal
mines. I don´t think you want to interview  me about that.”
 
The hood was yanked to the site,  rubbing painfully against her cheek and
straining her neck.
 
“We know who you are, you stupid  bitch. The Saiyans don´t care about coal
mines. Where are you headed?”
 
“All my travel information is on my  datapad. I can give you the password. Do
you know the punishment for forcefully  capturing a diplomat?”
 
The person huffed, yanking the hood  again, for good measure. “Of course. But
I highly doubt anyone will know that  punishment should be in order after we
flush your remains down the toilet.”
 
Mame swallowed the blood, grimacing.  This was exactly what she had hoped to
avoid. Of course there was always a  risk, but… she had hoped she would at
least make it to the planet.
 
“What do you think I know?”
 
Someone grabbed her from behind, a  second person. She tried to move away, but
her hands and feet were bound,  tightly. She hardly had any feeling left in
them.
 
“We think you know that the coal  mines on GW889 are none of your business….
Mame. We think you were interested  in something different on the planet. Want
to share?”
 
Mame felt someone grabbing her tail,  spreading it out over the surface she was
lying on. She gritted her teeth,  there was no doubt what was about to come.
 
“What happened to my entourage?”
 
“Uninteresting. We kicked them out  of the airlock. You can have a quick death
as well, you know? It´s so easy…”
 
Mame closed her eyes shortly,  thanking all known gods for their mercy. There
was not much she had told her  son and her other companions about the trip, it
was all on her. Nothing  would´ve been lost had they been tortured, but…
dying in the vacuum was quick  enough. It was good enough.
 
“You killed three people for  nothing. I am a saiyan diplomat on my way to the
coal mines on GW889. I can  tell you everything about that. I…”
 
She was interrupted by something  hard smashing on her tail. Screaming was the
only thing she could get out for a  long time.
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
“What do you think he´s doing?”
 
“Excuse me?” Pepper looked up from  his tablet, looking like he wanted to
figure out if he missed half the  conversation.
 
“I mean, the Prince. There is hardly  anything on the news lately.” Zukka
shrugged, putting her cigarette back into  her mouth.
 
“Are you worried?” Pepper grinned  slightly. It wasn´t funny. Not really.
 
“Don´t know. `s no reason for it, is  there? Everything´s been … just like
usual.” She sighed, scratching her  eyebrow. “Somehow I expected something
to happen, after he had to leave. I  mean, what´s the point?”
 
Pepper huffed, turning back to his  tablet. “Did you want something to happen?
It´s not as if we… stand much of a  chance anyway.”
 
Zukka took a drag of her cigarette,  contemplating that for a while. She knew
that it was the truth. And it was not  as if something had to change. It had
worked for so long. It would work for a  long time to come. But…
 
“What if… someone would kill him. You know of that fairytale stuff,  the
Super Saiyan? Kids like that.”
 
“Of course they like it, everyone  likes to think they are the chosen one.
Where have you heard it, anyway? My  daughter told me it was quite popular again
some time ago.”
 
“Heard the cadets talking. You think  there´s something to it? Some people
are born with unusual high power levels.”
 
Pepper didn´t look up, but he also  just stared blankly at the display.
“Yeah, but none high enough. Wouldn´t be  here if it had happened already.
Though… it probably won´t change anything  anyway.”
 
Zukka frowned, leaning back in her  chair. “You think so? Everything would
fall apart…”
 
“Or someone else would rise and it  would all stay the same, except for a lot
of dead Saiyans.”
 
Zukka finished her cigarette in  silence. Pepper was probably right. She had
never believed it was true anyway,  too easy, too miraculous. But maybe… she
had to think back to that soldier, the  one who had trained like a maniac. Maybe
it didn´t even need some mystical  bullshit. Maybe they just held themselves
back on their own accord.
 
Pushing the chair back, she got up.  It was idle thinking and she got better
things to do.
 
“I´m gonna shower.”
 
Pepper waved his hand, already  focused on his reading again.
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
The beeping of his scouter startled  him awake. Groggily, he grabbed around,
trying to find where he had put… “Yes,  Nappa speaking.”
 
“Commander Nappa, incoming ship with  Saiyan insignia in two hours. The crew
asked for a meeting with you in the  hangar bay.”
 
“They say who they are?” He rubbed  his eyes, trying to focus. He hadn´t
expected visitors.
 
“Commander Yasai of the royal  guard.”
 
Huh. “I´ll be there.”
 
Nappa jumped up, shooting a short  glance at the display. The resting period was
almost over anyway, enough time  to get ready for the meeting.
 
“Vegeta, get up.” With a grunt,  Vegeta opened his eyes, his tail swishing
behind him angrily.
 
“`s not time yet.”
 
“It is time when I say so. Now move,  we haven´t got all day.”
 
Grumpily, Vegeta slipped out of bed  and walked over to the bathroom. Nappa
waited until he disappeared before he  sat down hard on the bed, breathing out
loudly. He didn´t know why Yasai was  coming, he didn´t know why she thought
it had been necessary to leave the  planet and his brain couldn´t stop going
over every possible scenario he could  imagine in the course of two minutes. It
was exactly what he had tried to  avoid.
 
Rubbing over his face again he tried  to get rid of the thoughts. He would know
soon enough.
 
Two hours later they were standing  in the hangar bay, Vegeta fidgeting as much
as possible to show his disdain.  Nappa tried not to roll his eyes. A tough
challenge.
 
“Who is coming anyway? I should be  training right now…”
 
“I told you already. Those are  important visitors, so show some respect!”
 
Vegeta didn´t think it much of a  challenge to role his eyes. Nappa just wanted
to slap him, but it had to wait.  Right now it would be enough if he just kept
quiet for once.
 
A few minutes later the ship  arrived. Yasai got off first, looking around
shortly before she noticed Nappa  standing a few meters away.
 
“Prince Vegeta. Nice to meet you at  last.” She bowed down, her fist
covering the royal emblem on her chest.
 
“Commander Nappa.” She inclined her  head. “I heard you are doing good
work at keeping our Prince entertained on  this boring station.”
 
“Commander Yasai. I do my best.” He  nodded as well, tightening his grip on
Vegeta´s shoulder. He didn´t even have  to look to know that he wanted to say
some nonsense again.
 
“I hadn´t expected you here.  Messages for the Prince surely could´ve been
sent.”
 
She looked away, shortly, frowning.  “I´ve got no messages. Three diplomats
have vanished in the last month, and as  leading commander of the royal guard
it´s my duty to look into the matter.”
 
He had the feeling she stared right  into his soul, daring him to comment on
that.
 
“Of course. It was nice meeting  you.” He stretched his hand out, and after
hesitating shortly she shook it. He  made sure she put the piece of paper away
without anyone seeing it before he  pushed Vegeta towards the exit. They could
talk later.
 
“Why did we have to waste time for  that! She didn´t even say anything! Can I
go training now?”
 
Nappa waved him away, not really  caring what the Prince wanted to do. He had
other things in mind.
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
It was well into his resting period  when Nappa entered the showers. Quickly
undressing, he turned on the water on  all stalls, using the one nearest to the
door. It didn´t take long until he  heard the sound of the hydraulics and felt
a wave of cold air.
 
“What a waste of water.”
 
He turned around, grinning. “I don´t  care.”
 
“Hm.” Yasai shrugged, slowly pulling  her shirt over her shoulder. “So,
what´s going on? Got some news?”
 
Nappa leaned against the tiles,  crossing his arms over his chest. “No. I
don´t think they bought it that I just  tagged along to take care of the
Prince. I stopped asking inconspicuous  questions and they stop talking when
I´m around.”
 
Yasai pulled her pants down, trying  to not get them wet.
 
“Well, it was a risk. What about  Vegeta? Are they wary of him, too?”
 
Nappa shrugged slightly, his tail  moving nervously along the wall. “I don´t
trust him to keep it to himself if I  ask him about it. He talks too much.”
 
“Then punish him.”
 
“It doesn´t help. I tried. Must be  in the family…”
 
Yasai grinned, finally all her  clothes were gone. He knew her for so long and
he was still surprised how  someone that tiny could be so powerful. Must be in
the family as well.
 
“Enough of that. I´ll have to leave  in a couple of hours and who knows…
should use it well.”
 
Even on her toes she couldn´t quite  reach up. Nappa didn´t mind, he lifted
her, pushing her against the wall.
 
“Missed me?” She laughed deep in her  throat.
 
“I missed the whole goddamn planet.”
 
Yasai stroked over his cheekbone,  probably thinking if she should punch him
right there.
 
“Uh, that´s a mean answer. I thought  I was special.”
 
It didn’t deserve an answer. Not a  verbal one. He kissed her, pressing her
harder against the tiles. Who knew if  it wasn´t the last time.
 
She interrupted it, pushing him away  at arms length.
 
“Are you alright? It wasn´t that  long since we last saw each other…”
 
“I thought you would stay on the  planet.”
 
It took her a second to realize what  he had said.
 
“Excuse me? You think I´m hiding?  Are you fucking kidding me?”
 
She pushed him harder, but he didn´t  budge. There was no real force behind it
anyway.
 
“I got you the job so you could stay  on the planet! It´s safe there!”
 
She gritted her teeth, ready to do  some real violence.
 
“I can handle myself. You know  that.”
 
“And I don´t want you to!”
 
He let her down, moving a step away  from her. It was a mess. They were all
expecting something to happen, right  from the day their Lord wanted Prince
Vegeta on his flagship. Everyone was  preparing for a war that may come, they
were almost sure it would happen. And…  Nappa pressed his hands into fists,
trying to calm down. Yasai was capable of  leading the royal guard, he had
raised her, he should know. But despite knowing  it all, he didn´t want her to
leave the planet and get into the fights, if it  should come to that. When. It
was idiotic, but…
 
“Why couldn´t you have been born a  man?”
 
Yasai looked pained for a second,  before she got her composure back. “Yeah
tell that my mum. She would´ve been  delighted having produced the next king in
the first try.”
 
The showers were horribly loud all  of a sudden.
 
“Three diplomats have vanished. One  of them was on her way to GW888 to talk
to the Pentyrians. She never arrived,  we have no idea what happened. Nappa,
there is no way anyone can find out why  she traveled there!”
 
He huffed. “I know that. You hope to  find her?”
 
“Maybe. No. Probably dead. I want to  pay the Pentyrians a visit and find out
if contact had been made. Who knows why  communication was cut off.”
 
“And if she hasn´t made it?”
 
Yasai shrugged. “She was trained to  withstand torture. Should be fine.”
 
Maybe he should leave.
 
“Are we gonna fuck now or what?”
 
Maybe not.
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
He should get to bed, his resting  period was almost over. Then again it would
be a fucking awful day anyway.
 
“Nappa? When it starts, do me a  favour and try getting off the station. With
or without the Prince. There are  enough children to replace him.”
 
Nappa grinned. That was harsh coming  from one of those children. “You wanna
be queen next? I always knew you were  ambitious!”
 
“Shut the fuck up! You´re not the  only one who cares!”
 
“Hn. Don´t worry, I won´t stay  longer than necessary. And I´ll do my best
taking the Prince with me, no matter  what a pain in the ass he is.”
 
Zukka raised her eyebrows, waiting  for something more.
 
“But I won´t play the hero.”
 
“Good.”
 
He couldn´t sleep when he got back  to his bed. Hopefully it would start soon.
He just wanted to… get it over with.
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
When his scouter started beeping  with an incoming message, he got a bad feeling
already.
 
“Yes, Nappa speaking.”
 
“Commander Yasai here. I was asked for  a spar before I leave. With General
Kiwi.”
 
Nappa´s eyes widened. He knew it.
 
“What for?”
 
“Training. You wanna come?”
 
“I´ll be there.”
 
There was absolutely no good reason  for this to happen. Maybe this was it. He
picked up Vegeta from one of the  study rooms, despite his protests, and got to
the training rooms right in time.  Yasai was already inside, only in her dark
red bodysuit, the armour tossed  aside. Her entourage was also there, two
soldiers from the royal guard, he  briefly knew them. They nodded in his
direction when he got near.
 
“Quite an audience, Commander.”
 
Kiwi sounded amused. Maybe he hadn´t  expected it, if he wanted to kill her. Or
maybe he didn´t care, since he was  easily strong enough to get rid of all of
them. Nappa gritted his teeth,  waiting for them to start.
 
Or maybe he was wrong all along and  it really was just training.
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
It took a few hits to get  acquainted, a few blows to get serious. Yasai held
her own well, she was quick,  but she was also confined into a small space.
Nappa knew that she preferred and  excelled in using ki attacks…
 
Kiwi managed to punch her hard in  the face, making her slam against the wall.
She spit the blood out, while  trying to block the incoming assault. A bit
longer and he would break a bone.
 
Nappa looked down at Vegeta who watched  the display excitedly. He wasn´t sure
if the Prince knew what he was  witnessing, probably not. He had complained
enough about not being allowed to  train with some elites, despite having been
invited by their Lord himself. It  was a blessing he didn´t know half of it.
 
A sickening noise made him look up  again, Kiwi had managed to kick Yasai in the
ribs, probably breaking a few. A  neat energyball shot barely past Kiwi, his
counter hit the mark and went right  through Yasai´s shoulder.
 
Nappa expected the fight to end, but  obviously… it wasn´t training after
all.
 
“What´s wrong, Princess? Can´t fight  anymore? Is that all the saiyan elite
can do?”
 
She spit out some blood, trying to  stand straight. The broken ribs made it
hard. Nappa wanted to get in there,  punch Kiwi and get this over with, but
there was no way that would happen. He  wasn´t strong enough anyway.
 
“Don´t get cocky, General. You  haven´t even seen half of it.”
 
Yasai attacked again, clearly at a  disadvantage with her damaged shoulder. She
still managed to get a few good  hits in and when Kiwi punched her down, she
slammed her fist right into his  knee. His screaming was a delight, the only
good thing that had happened so  far.
 
It didn´t last for long. He was  barely down on the floor when he shot a quick
energy ball at Yasai. She barely  got out of the way, it hit her side… and
ripped it open.
 
“Stop the fight NOW! This is a  training fight!”
 
Kiwi got up, looking over Yasai´s  entourage. He gestured at the door, inviting
them to get in. Yasai was standing  against the wall, her hand clutched over the
wound, breathing heavily. They had  to get her out fast, or she would bleed to
death.
 
One of the soldiers had barely  stepped inside when Kiwi killed him with another
ki blast right through his  heart. The other one followed a second later.
 
“Commander Nappa. You wanna join?”
 
Nappa grabbed Vegeta, but he seemed  to be too shocked to move anyway.
 
“What do you think you`re doing?”
 
“My fight with Commander Yasai isn´t  over yet. I don´t like interruptions.
Princess? Ready to continue?”
 
“She can´t even fucking stand!” If  he would try to interfere he would die
as well. But he couldn´t just…
 
“Well then we better get this over  quickly.” Kiwi grinned at him.
 
“Nappa, leave it. I´m still… I´m  good.”
 
Yasai staggered away from the wall,  her hand slowly moving away from the wound.
She was weirdly calm and Nappa was  afraid she would do something stupid.
 
“Nappa… do something! I…” Vegeta was  already trying to get out of his
hold.
 
“Stay where you are!”
 
Nappa looked up again, maybe he  should… it didn´t matter. Yasai would die.
And then they would die as well. He  couldn´t just…
 
He had barely moved when Kiwi rolled  his eyes and readied himself to shoot
another blast in his direction. Nappa had  already anticipated that, he could
very well avoid one blast, maybe that was  already enough…
 
“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”
 
An enormous energy wave blew both  Nappa and Kiwi against the wall. Nappa felt
his shoulder slam hard against the  doorframe, almost dislocating it. Broken
glass from the view window was  everywhere, Vegeta… he was lying not far away,
covered in shards. He was fine.  It had happened so fast… Yasai was standing
on the other end of the room, her  energy flaring around her wildly, almost
making her look… like she was glowing.  It was mesmerizing.
 
“Prepare to die.”
 
Nappa looked over at Kiwi who  struggled to get on his feet again. He hadn´t
seen it coming, the punch that  dislocated his face, followed by some nasty
kicks. Nappa didn´t know where she  took it from, but he hoped she could keep
it up before she passed out. Her  wound was still bleeding profusely.
 
Leaving it to her, Nappa struggled  to get up, cutting his hands on the glass
lying everywhere. Vegeta was still  alive, that was good, and awake, even
better.
 
“Vegeta, get up. We´re going to  leave.”
 
He shook his head, glass was flying  everywhere. “Okay. What happened? What´s
with the commander?”
 
“She´ll handle herself. Come on, get  up.”
 
He knew the sound. The gurgling,  smacking sound of intestines falling on the
floor.
 
“She´s… she…”
 
Vegeta stared behind him with wide  eyes. He didn´t want to look. He didn´t
want to.
 
Someone was staggering through the  shards next to him. He looked up, it was
Kiwi. It was him. Barely able to  stand, but still alive.
 
“Get out of my way.”
 
Nappa couldn´t move, he didn´t want  to. So this was it.
 
“Get back to your fucking room, I´m  not in the mood to play catch today, so
don´t try running.”
 
Kiwi walked away slowly, probably to  one of the healing tanks.
 
“Nappa, what… what are we gonna do?  Is someone coming for us?”
 
He got on his feet, dragging Vegeta  with him. “I don´t think so. Let´s get
back to our room, wait what happens.”
 
He should´ve told him that  everything was good, it was fine, don´t worry, but
he couldn´t. He didn´t know  anything, he didn´t know what to do. What just
had happened.
 
A short glance was all he dared to  do. She was lying there, hole in her chest,
eyes wide open. It was already too  much.
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
How many days have passed, how many  hours… something must´ve happened, they
were taking her away, without the hood,  hopefully, finally…
 
The door opened to a brightly lit  room, hurting her eyes, her head, she didn´t
even know she could still hurt,  everything was pain, it melted together, a
blur, fading…
 
They put her in front of a window,  next to two other people, both held by their
captors. One woman, her eyes  halfway turned into her skull, shaking, brain
damage. The other one, a man,  looked fine, too fine. Traitor.
 
“Thought you would enjoy the show  before we release you from this world.”
 
Someone in the background was  speaking, leaving afterwards, just the ones that
held them were left. They were  needed, Mame didn´t know if her foot was still
there, it didn´t matter much.  She couldn´t stand alone.
 
“Did you know something?”
 
The man looked up, frightened. He  stood on his own.
 
“I…” His eyes moved quickly, afraid  he might get hurt, but no one
reacted.
 
“Where were you headed? We´re gonna  die, now´s the time to say.”
 
“Why are you so calm? You look more  dead than alive.”
 
Mame grinned, or tried to. It hurt  so badly. “I knew too much, I had to keep
quiet. Did you tell them something?”
 
“Everything I knew. It wasn´t too  much, I don´t know what they expected,
but they stopped torturing me.”
 
The guy holding her shook her  lightly. “Think you got something to add?”
 
Mame groaned, her head was killing  her. “Of course not. I never had something
to say.”
 
A planet came into view, it looked… Vegeta-sei.
 
“We´re home.”
 
The man was confused, utterly. “But…  the moons, how did they get past…”
 
“Told everything? Did you tell them  the algorithm for diplomats, to get past
the moons?”
 
His eyes widened when he realized.
 
“Well, I guess you don´t have to  live long with the regrets of having killed
your people.”
 
“Why should they? Why would you?”
 
He turned around, panicked, till the  guard hit him over the head. He cried out,
but didn´t try to ask again. Mame  could laugh, it was so ironic. She knew
everything and kept quiet for so long.  Maybe they had decided to get rid of the
Saiyans no matter what. She could´ve  died so much sooner.
 
“Are you Freeza´s troops?”
 
“Of course.”
 
Of course. She should´ve known.  Hoped for it not to be true, that he would
save his best soldiers, come to  their rescue.
 
It was a magnificent sight when the  planet exploded. The moon closest to them
was hit by the remains a few minutes  later, the whole sky a painting of fading
light and stone. At least it was  quick.
 
At least…
 
They broke the necks of the woman.  Then the man, screaming and wailing. Then…
 
At least it was quick.
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
It took a whole day to finally get a  message. Called to the office. Nappa
didn´t like to leave Vegeta alone, but he  was still pretty shaken, so he hoped
he would just sit in bed and wait till he  came back. If.
 
Kiwi looked fine again, more than  fine. “Commander Nappa, a pleasure. Take a
seat.”
 
“No thanks.”
 
Kiwi´s smile faltered, kicking the  chair out with his foot. “Sit on the
fucking chair.”
 
Reluctantly Nappa grabbed it,  sitting down. He was still alive after all. Maybe
he shouldn´t push it.
 
“Although it would be a pleasure to  see your face when you see it in the
news, considering recent events I decided  to tell you beforehand. Vegeta-sei is
gone. Lord Freeza is personally on his  way to blow it up.”
 
Nappa tried to figure out if this  was some kind of sick joke. “Are you
serious?”
 
“That´s nothing to joke about. When  I heard that another one of you is
coming to this station, I asked to kill her  and her companions. Was a bit more
tricky than I thought, but, you know.  Surprises are never bad.”
 
“I guess.”
 
Kiwi grinned again, leaning forward  in his chair. “You probably wonder why
you are still here. See, the official  news will be that Vegeta-sei has been hit
by a meteor.”
 
“No one will believe that. What  about all the others, in the troops, the
colonies?”
 
“Doesn´t matter, it´s official. The  rest will be killed in time. It´s just
like purging, you know purging. Nasty  business and everyone likes to pretend it
doesn´t exist.”
 
“And the Prince? Why… bring him  here?”
 
Kiwi leaned back again, his gaze  drifting through the room.
 
“Now that is interesting, isn´t it.  Lord Freeza thought keeping one of you
alive as his personal pet would make  sure that other nations stay in line.
Losing the Saiyans is hard enough on our  troops.”
 
Nappa wasn´t shocked. He wasn´t  surprised. He wasn´t… effected at all.
They had been so sure they would get a  chance to fight. Go down with honour,
maybe send a spark through the rest of  the damn galaxy to get some other
nations mobilized. Not this. Not like that.
 
“And since the little Prince should  be adequate to serve as a pet, he can
start on his first mission tomorrow! And  finally train with some elites, he
wanted to do that badly anyway as far as I  recall.”
 
Nappa nodded, his mouth was too dry  to answer.
 
“Listen, Commander. You can stay to  keep the little Prince in check. But
believe me, you are not that important.  Try some bullshit and you can join the
Princess in the nasty hole that is  reserved for your lot in the afterlife. Are
we clear?”
 
“Yes.” Dying was tempting. But  dying… it was easy. Everyone could die. He
still had Vegeta, as long as Vegeta  wasn´t on his own, inevitably integrating
into Freeza´s troops Nappa could  still make sure he would grow strong. He
would grow close to Freeza and if he  had to wait for ten years he would if he
could just watch Freeza die. He could  swallow his pride till then. His personal
feelings weren´t important. Neither  was Vegeta. Everyone had to play their
role.
 
“Then welcome in our Lord´s personal  troops! I´ll send you your new orders
later today. Dismissed.”
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
Three days off was more than Zukka  had had in a long time. It was almost too
much, she started to get bored. She  even considered talking to the other
Saiyans on the station, those two women,  probably on business, or that one boy
who might be on his first mission, though  the other two men with him weren´t
old enough for supervisors. She could ask.
 
“Hey Pepper, the news site isn´t  working all day, you know what´s up with
that?”
 
Pepper looked up from his lunch,  staring into the distance. “Hmmm… well, I
tried calling Khaaki earlier today  and he didn’t answer. Maybe there´s a
problem with the transmitter on the  station.” He shrugged.
 
“No, I don´t think so, all other  sites are working, just not the one from
Vegeta-sei. It´s weird.”
 
“Sunstorm? It sometimes causes  trouble, you know?”
 
“I thought that wasn´t an issue for  decades now.”
 
She put her tablet away, annoyed.  Well, as far as she knew they would get
another assignment from Khaaki in a few  hours. Maybe they could spar a little,
would shorten the time.
 
Five hours later there was still no  word and Zukka was starting to get pissed.
“Did he call you, Pepper?”
 
“Don´t you think I would´ve told you  that already? I wanna get off this
fucking ship as well. Gives you a bad mood.”
 
Zukka sighed, gesturing at the  bruise that was already big and swollen on
Pepper´s right eye.
 
“Hey sorry about that, didn´t want  to hit that hard. But seriously, it´s
his only job, what´s keeping Khaaki so long?”
 
“If I knew I would tell you.”
 
She sat down, still in her bodysuit.  She should just shower and go to bed, they
probably need to spend another  resting period on the station anyway.
 
“Zukka, do you smell that? I think  something is wrong with the
ventilation.”
 
She got up, irritated. It just  started and it was clearly… “Yeah, don´t
know how they managed that, but that´s  definitely not our air that´s coming
through.”
 
“The door is locked.” He stared at  her, waiting for her to make a call.
 
“Attack. Okay, let´s get out and  find whoever is doing this.”
 
Pepper nodded, getting a step back.  With a hard kick, he dented the door, a
second one broke it lose. The moment  they stepped outside, blaster fire was
shot from the far right corner of the  corridor.
 
“ What the… WHO THE FUCK IS  SHOOTING?”
 
It stopped shortly, some green  scaled creature looked over the edge.
“Surrender, Saiyans. There´s a galaxy  wide bounty on you, you´ll die
anyway. We could need the money!”
 
“Are you kidding? Who would set a  bounty on us?”
 
“All Saiyans dead as soon as  possible, by our merciful Lord Freeza himself.
Don´t you read the news, bitch?”
 
“Is he serious?” Pepper made a  grimace halfway down laughing or crying.
Zukka felt pretty much the same. It  was ridiculous. Why should he…
 
“The war started.”
 
“What war? When was there ever…”
 
“Not now, Pepper. There are five  others, get them and then let´s get the
hell out of here!”
 
Zukka shot a few ki blasts in their  direction. Blaster fire didn´t really harm
her, but it was annoying. Pepper was  already on it, two doors down he kicked it
in, getting the two women out, both  coughing badly. The air was already getting
thin where Zukka was standing, they  had to move.
 
“Pepper, hurry up! We need to get  out of the corridor!”
 
The wannabe bounty hunters had to  die, and quick. Zukka sprinted down the
corridor, ignoring the few blasts that  actually hit her, mostly her arms. The
first one was down with a punch, blood  and brain splattering over the wall. The
other two were quickly eliminated as well.  Two others were waiting further
behind, killed with their friend´s blaster. No  need to waste energy.
 
“Okay, here we are.”
 
“Right, you two, are you diplomats?”
 
The two women were in shock, but  after slapping one she turned responsive
again.
 
“I… no, no we are on our way for  business, ehm, we are expanding. In…
investments.”
 
Zukka nodded. So no combat  experience. “Okay, can you fire a blaster?”
 
She nodded and after elbowing her  partner the other one nodded as well.
 
“What´s with you three?”
 
“We are on a training mission. Two  cadets, one Lieutenant, practical course
during a purge.”
 
“Okay, no need to go there anymore.  That´s what we know - Freeza himself has
set a bounty on all Saiyans, so our  best guess everyone at home is already
fighting a war for us. All we have to do  is get off this ship and help them.
Understood?”
 
Everyone nodded, though hesitantly.  It was all a bit much to take in, but they
didn´t have time to get adjusted.
 
“Right, Lieutenant, take your cadets  at the back, Pepper, with me, you two
stay between us. Let´s move!”
 
Most of the other travelers weren´t  as stupid as their first interaction and
didn´t even try to engage in a fight,  trying to suffocate them or not. Opening
the door to the hangar bay they were  welcomed with heavy shooting and some
stray ki blasts.
 
“Zukka, we need to get rid of those  soldiers. They´re not strong, but… I
don´t think our package can take a hit.”
 
Zukka looked behind her, the cadets  were calm, good stock, but the two women
were shortly before a breakdown. She  nodded, gesturing the Lieutenant to stay
behind. “Take the one´s on the right,  I´ll take the others.”
 
They didn´t put up much of a fight.  Probably weren´t expecting that Zukka
would blow them away together with the  ship they were hiding behind. A few
technicians thought they had to play tough,  she didn´t even bother. There was
some blaster fired, her backup probably took  care of them.
 
“PEPPER? Done?”
 
He came running from behind another  ship, hands bloody. Looked good.
 
“Let´s take this one, it´s already  fired up.”
 
“Perfect.”
 
She waved, gesturing the other´s to  come. She didn´t even wait for them to
enter, already getting to the cockpit.
 
“`kay, we get this going, right?”
 
Pepper shrugged, starting to press  buttons. “I think. Doesn´t look to
complicated, does it?”
  
Giggling, she strapped into the  seat, activating the motor. “Everyone´s
here?”
 
“Yes Captain! Strapping in!”
 
Pepper grinned at her, pulling the  control stick to him. “How did he figure
that out?”
  
“Who cares, see if you can open the  exit.”
 
Zukka hadn´t even realized she had  held her breath until they were out of the
damn ship. It had been pretty easy,  but then again the news couldn´t have been
out for long and not being able to  fight off a few civilians… that would´ve
been embarrassing.
 
“Shit…”
 
“Pepper, why are we powering down?”
 
“I don´t know, nothing is working  anymore!”
 
Maybe it wasn´t so easy after all.
 
“There is an incoming call…”
 
Pepper pressed the button, some ugly  insectoid in uniform appeared. Probably
the commander of the station.
 
“Hello Saiyans. Thank you for being  so cooperative, despite some lost people
who thought they could keep you up.”
 
Zukka stared darkly at the monitor,  not bothering to answer.
 
“We need your bodies as prove, so  brace yourself and have a pleasant
journey.”
 
There was some sobbing in the  background. Dying in the vacuum wasn´t the best
way to go out, but it was  fairly quick. She huffed, a million thoughts running
through her head,  hopefully they fought back, they could win the war, they
could turn it around,  her little monster survived, maybe, she could… the
promise…
 
“Was nice working with you, Pepper.”  She grabbed his hand, it was steady.
Good soldier.
 
“Likewise, Zukka.”
 
Dying was best done alone. She let  go of his hand.
 
Fin.

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