~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The men up on the news
They try to tell us all that we will lose
But it's so easy in this blue
Where everything is good
Buzzcut season – Lorde
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The smoke was constantly blowing in his face, stinging his eyes. The air-conditioning was really the worst. The other bodyguard was staring daggers at him, her eyes constantly flickering to the sign he was standing next to. Don´t smoke. He doubted that she really wanted to uphold the rules and regulations on the ship, probably was mad she wasn´t bold enough to do the same.
Grinning, he held his pack to her. She only hesitated for a second before she took the offer. Vegeta threw his stump into the potted plant next to her, lighting another one. He hardly ever got bodyguard duty and he had almost forgotten how boring it was. Got no details, but Freeza himself asked him to do it. He leaned back against the wall, trying to ignore the nauseous feeling he always got in low gravity. Probably money. It was always money that made people important.
The other bodyguard hid it better, maybe he just couldn´t read her face. She was tall, dark, scaly skin and immensely dilated pupils. She wasn´t quite his type, her boobs were barely visible under her uniform, if it took much longer though… he could at least ask.
“You staying longer on the station?”
She eyed him, a grin half stuck on her face. The door opened before she could answer, dropping his mood instantly. They both threw their cigarettes into the potted plant before either of their clients got out. Shook hands, went different ways. So much to that.
Vegeta slowly walked behind his client, trying his best not to jump around in the low gravity.
“Is my ship ready for UU459?”
“Of course, Sir Kelicx.”
He rolled his eyes, hard. It would be really impressive to fuck up a job that easy. The same moment his scouter started beeping with an incoming message. Something important, only his Lord´s messages were forwarded during missions.
“Sir Kelicx, I just got an urgent message from our Lord Freeza. I won’t accompany you back home.”
He didn´t even listen to the long rant that followed, not in the contract, what if something happens, that´s what bodyguards are for bla bla… Vegeta left once Kelicx was inside his ship. He got no information what his new mission was about, only a destination and a seat in one of the public transport ships.
Couldn´t be that important if he didn´t even get a pod.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He hated it when he couldn´t get personal messages through on missions. The clutter was horrible… a lot of stuff from Radditz, he deleted most of it instantly. He did occasionally feel bad for him, they both had started out nicely right after they lost their home, but in the end Radditz was just another garbage foot soldier and he simply… didn´t get it. Vegeta didn´t feel especially related to him just because they both were hatched on the same long gone piece of rock. It was a good thing they didn’t have time to imprint on him too much, unnecessary baggage anyway.
A few ones from Nappa, mostly asking inconspicuous questions. Vegeta became wary of him a long time ago. He didn´t know what his real intent was, he could barely still be in a mission he started when Vegeta-sei was still existing. He sure acted like it though. Always wanting to know what Vegeta was doing, where he was going, who he knew, what he should do for their Lord… Eventually, he would slip. And Vegeta could finally give him up. He was already in their Lord´s favour, getting in a bit more… it never hurt. Sometimes he wondered why Nappa had to be like that. He could just accept the new world order and be happy with it. At least he was worth more than Radditz.
With a sneer, Vegeta deleted all his messages. Actually, he was worth way less. Radditz could be trusted.
The rest was rather useless, some spam, some potential missions he wouldn´t do anyway, General Ginyu was annoying him as always with trying to get him into the dance squad… Group work was awful. Dancing… he grinned. It was funny to watch, yes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The trip to one of the outer base stations took him a few days. Bored him out of his mind, there was not much he could do on the small transport ships… he tried to work out a bit, read some comics, actually talked to Radditz and regretted it immediately, read some more comics, slept for what felt like two days. He tried to reach his Lord´s office, the secretaries didn´t even try to be subtle that they didn´t want to talk to him. Well, he didn´t want to do that either, it would be great to know what it was all about. Maybe they didn´t know. Maybe they just hated him. He suspected the latter when they just hung up after his third call.
It was all rather weird. He knew the station he was headed to, Aza was its commander. She had left him two messages as well, hadn´t answered any he sent her lately, he wondered why. Maybe she got a promotion, he could only imagine how boring it had to be, commander of some out of reach station in the middle of nowhere. Aza had been a lucky hit, he hadn´t even played out his best card, the fact that he was a personal favourite of their great lord, she still felt inclined to fuck him occasionally. He had to find out where she was transferred to, it was too good to let it pass.
When he finally arrived, he was already expected by the second in command. He looked horrible, pale and anxious and terrified. He wondered what this was all about, maybe one of the neighbouring planets had tried an uprising, or they started a war with each other, always a hassle. He didn´t want to have to deal with that, already feeling annoyed out of his mind.
“Hello Vegeta.” Second in command bowed shortly. He couldn´t remember his name, what had it been…?
“I haven´t been briefed yet, is there a problem with the planets?”
Second in command fidgeted some more. He wanted to slap him to get a grip on himself, it was embarrassing. Populations who couldn´t behave themselves were always a nuisance, but nothing that couldn´t be handled.
“No, everything is fine. Commander Aza… ehm… it´s…” He started walking faster.
Vegeta frowned, a bad feeling in his gut. They were headed to the lower level of the station, restricted access to personnel only.
“I don´t know any details, but she was connected to some plot to… to disturb the order.” Second in command´s voice wavered. They entered the mortuary.
Vegeta pushed the button to open the box with her body. So she was a traitor as well. His Lord had been right, barely anyone could be trusted… it still pained him seeing her mangled body. He turned her around, broken spine. Considering how the rest of her looked she had been tortured before, thoroughly. He always thought she was rather smart, reliable. Good soldier. She should´ve just talked, she… He pushed the cart back in, disgusted. He had been fooled. That was why he had been ordered to the station, to see his mistake with his own eyes, another failure. His jaw tensed when he turned around.
“So what I´m supposed to do? Lead an investigation?”
Second in command shrugged, still afraid. What was his problem?
“I was told to show you, nothing else.”
So that was it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He hadn´t seen his Lord in quite some time. Audiences weren´t granted too easily, it made them more important. Vegeta didn´t want anyone to doubt who he was and what privileges he had. No one liked Saiyans, it didn´t matter that Vegeta didn´t care about them, it didn´t matter that almost all of them were gone, it only mattered that he had been chosen by Freeza. He trusted him. Freeza was strong, he was reliable. Vegeta wanted it to stay that way.
„My Lord.“ He bowed, deeply, hand over his chest. Still the royal emblem, the only thing he actually liked about his heritage. Everything that showed Nappa and Radditz that he was better than them was welcome.
“Vegeta. Have you seen Commander Aza?”
He got up, slowly walking next to him. No one was there, a rare occasion. He wondered if Freeza would punish him for having been in contact with Aza for so long without realizing she was just another traitor.
“Tortured and dead. Yes.”
“Did you see your mistake?”
He had been right. “Yes. I hadn´t suspected anything, but we didn´t talk about business. We just fucked.”
Freeza stroked his cheek, his hand was ice cold. He hated it.
“How often do I have to tell you not to trust anyone? I am the only one who has no ill-will against you. Everyone else is weak, everyone…”
He nodded, weakly. It was embarrassing, he knew Aza for so long.
“I´m so sorry, my Lord.”
“We learn from our mistakes. Don´t make more. The ones closest are the ones to be most careful about.”
Vegeta knew what this was about. If he just said that he suspected Nappa was up to something, he could just as much kill him himself. It was that easy. But Nappa… Vegeta didn´t want to give him up like that. The only legacy he felt he had was to make sure his execution was based on some evidence. So far he only had his suspicions. He didn´t say anything.
“You have anything to add?”
“No, my Lord.”
Freeza grinned, finally letting go of his face.
“Make sure you don´t forget it next time.”
He bowed again, deeply. It could´ve been worse. He should give up Nappa soon, he wasn´t worth falling in disgrace for.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There was nothing to do, some more quiet days. Vegeta didn’t like it particularly, all the waiting, boring him out of his mind. He didn´t dare to find someone to fuck on the station, not right now, not on his Lord´s ship. He wondered if Freeza ever fucked anyone, maybe Ginyu… he grinned, rolling around on his bed. Now that was an interesting thought.
Training was better on the station, some people he could spar with. Read some more comics, slept a lot. He wasn´t in the mood to go through open missions, he´d just wait until something came up. Something interesting.
Four days later Radditz arrived. One day he would insist that they forbid him on their Lord´s personal station. It was safer and way less annoying.
“I heard Aza is a traitor now?”
Vegeta didn´t even look up from his reading. He didn´t want to hear it, Radditz never had anything worthwhile to say anyway.
“Yes.”
“Based on what? Did anyone even tell you what she did?”
He rolled his eyes, still not putting his comic down. “No. I wasn´t involved, why bother?”
“Why bother? You were basically dating!”
Now that was a stretch. He just visited her occasionally. “And that´s why I went to her station to see her body.”
“You what?”
“Listen, Radditz, I know it´s hard to understand for someone like you that we all have different duties. I didn´t fulfill mine so I went there and looked at the mess that I CAUSED! Is that so hard to understand?”
Radditz shook his head, slowly. “You didn´t do shit. What did they even send you for? To show you what would happen if you fucked up? You know that!”
“To see my mistake.” He threw his magazine away, not in the mood to read anymore.
“I bet Aza didn´t even do anything. They just murdered her so that you wouldn´t … wouldn´t be distracted or whatever!”
He rubbed his eyes. It was so hard trying not to beat him to shut up. He should just do it. “What do you even care, it´s done.”
Raddit came closer, leaning over the table. His tail was swaying angrily behind him. “I care that you don´t even seem to realize what is going on around you. Maybe I just don´t want to die next.”
“Then don´t do anything stupid to make me do it!”
Radditz let go of the table, his lips pressed in to a fine line. “Do you even know anything of loyalty?”
“More than you do.” He got up, moving quick enough for Radditz to be startled when he stood in front of him. It would be so easy, he could bash his head in before he even blinked. But where was the sense in that. He was just stupid and mouthy, but at least he brought in money. Vegeta didn´t want to get another audience for another mistake that could´ve been avoided easily.
“Now get out.”
Radditz huffed, but he wasn´t quite as confident anymore. Good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The hallway was dimly lit, endless rows of plain steel walls, the carpet on the floor well worn and shabby in some patches. One of the lights was flickering, the same one every fifteen steps, it was repeating itself, over and over. Vegeta walked slowly, his feet making barely any sound on the gray carpet, everything was so grey. The buttons on the doors threw deep shadows, slightly moving, shivering when he walked past. He wanted to stop, wanted to look at them, but he couldn´t, he had to go, something…
Aza was lying in the middle of the hallway, he passed the same spot so many times, she appeared just now. He wondered why. She looked so beautiful, her eyes staring at the ceiling, not moving, it was so calm and her long hair was flowing, flowing in a pool of blood. The red looked nice on her green skin. He moved, getting closer, wanting to get her up, maybe she wasn´t quite that dead, but she just sunk in further into the ground, all the blood, so much more than her own…
He opened his eyes, irritated by the pain in his bladder and the slight pounding behind his eyes. He tried to shake it away when he got up, the pain, the weird dream. He didn´t want to think of Aza, he hadn’t even liked her all that much. Gritting his teeth he walked to the bathroom. He was relieved when it wasn´t too far away for him to reach. Fucking dream.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Radditz hummed to himself slowly when he called Nappa. He liked good news, they sure as hell weren´t the norm. It took some of his spare free time and a lot of good graces from his connections all over the galaxy to get everything in order, it was better worth it. He wanted to rub it into Vegeta´s face, all the times he had been told his incapacity, his supposed stupidity, especially for befriending workers on all the stations he came across, but Vegeta never cared about getting any missions. He just waited for someone to call him, missions that were good enough for the fucking Prince.
Radditz huffed, thinking about that. Fucking Prince alright, the only time he cared about his people, when he could brag.
“Yes, Nappa speaking?”
“Radditz here. Listen, I was going through the archives, you know, looking for planets and I found one.”
“… don´t you have work to do?”
“Sometimes I do have time off? Anyway, that planet´s been on the list for long time, it´s pretty far away, guess that´s why.”
“And you wanna take over now?”
“Could you let me finish? Guess what, ages ago some saiyan baby was sent there to kill the population, never returned obviously. Could be dead, could maybe just be stranded, who knows? The planet is pretty high quality, lots of natural resources and if the inhabitants are still there… Could still be useful. What you say?”
He heard Nappa sigh on the end of the line. Radditz rolled his eyes, trying not to be annoyed.
“You wanna purge that planet on your own or what?”
“Obviously I would call it in. Or maybe you and Vegeta could join in if it´s not too much work? Or whoever was stranded?”
“If he´s still alive.”
“Yeah sure. No ghost is gonna fight. You think we could keep him if there is still someone there?”
“I don´t know. Vegeta should decide that, should it come to it. Or just kill him when you´re done, not worth it either way.”
Radditz thought of that already. It was a waste, sure, but he preferred to live much more.
“Right. You gonna tell him about it? He´s still a bit mad about me, what I said about Aza.”
“Who?”
“That commander, she had that station out there, next to the system with the three suns. They were fucking.”
Nappa was quiet for a while, thinking. “Oh, that one. Didn´t know her name.”
“Yeah they killed her for treason and I told him that it´s bullshit and they killed her because of him.”
“You really have a death wish, don’t you? What does it matter, dead is dead.”
“But we´re dependent on him and I don´t like it that he doesn´t even realize how he´s treated!”
Nappa huffed. “Of course he does. Radditz, Vegeta doesn´t like being ordered around and he managed to find a way to keep it down to a minimum. And if he has to ignore some actions that are done to humiliate him then he will. He cares most about himself.”
Radditz didn´t answer immediately. He knew that, he just didn´t like it. If he had been in Vegeta´s place… well, it would never happen. Better suck it up.
“So you gonna ask him?”
“Yes, I will ask him.”
Nappa hung up without another word. Radditz shrugged, getting back to planning his mission. He didn´t like things the way they were, he tried his best to change them, everything else was out of his reach. Feeling slightly better, he opened the tab about the infant who had been sent away decades ago.
Had the same mum as Radditz. What a fun coincidence.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
She didn´t go away, almost every night she was there, lying on the floor. If she would just say anything, if he could do something, maybe that was all it took to get rid of her!
Vegeta hated it. He didn´t dream, it was like an accusation, he hadn´t done anything wrong! So what if she was innocent, that wasn´t a term dealt with in Freeza´s empire. He was okay with it. Maybe a little disappointed, that didn´t excuse all the bullshit he had to suffer through every night!
The beeping of his scouter distracted him from his thoughts. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed it. Better be a good mission, he wasn´t in the mood to listen to some crap.
“What?”
“Nappa here, I got news from Radditz. He´s dead.”
Vegeta´s eyes moved frantically. That wasn’t good. Some woman he fucked was one thing, if he was accused that one of his subjects had to be executed…
“That guy they sent to purge the planet was still alive and killed him. Didn´t want to leave.”
He exhaled loudly. That was okay. He would´ve killed Radditz eventually anyway.
“So what? Just call it in, someone´s gonna purge that planet.”
“You should listen to the transmission. We should go there.”
“I really don´t have time for this!”
“Listen to it, for fuck´s sake! Radditz died for it!”
Nappa hung up, some audio file started loading. Fine. If Nappa thought he should mourn by listening to some last words… maybe it would distract him enough to get rid of Aza. Finally.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It did not.
Fin.
