From Bad to Worse (26)

"His power level is only 2?" Bardock exclaimed, shocked at the number.

When he himself was born he had a power level of around 25 and his childhood and upbringing were plagued by this fact. He couldn't even imagine the life his son would be forced to live as he grew up and trained on Planet Vegeta.

Bardock had also heard the news that some Saiyans tried to escape Planet Vegeta but they were all murdered by Freiza's army, they were assured that they were only killed because they betrayed the Freiza Empire but something about the whole situation didn't sit well with Bardock.

"Bardock! You're back!" Gine said running up to him and hugging him from the back.

A small smile formed on Bardock's face.

"Why didn't you tell me when you arrived?" Gine pouted.

"I'm sorry there was an accident on our last mission, I just came out of the stasis chamber-"

"What! Are you ok?" Gine said, hurriedly checking Bardock for bruises.

"No, I think there's something wrong with my mouth"

"Where?"

"Here!"

Bardock spun around, picked up his wife and kissed her passionately.

"Mfffff! You rogue!" Gine said, her face reddening. She then wrapped both legs around his waist and nibbled on his neck.

"Later," Bardock said decisively.

"Oh? What's on your mind?" Gine said, surprised at Bardock's patience.

"Have you seen the boy's power level?"

"Yeah," Gine sighed, cartwheeling off of Bardock, who smirked at this.

"I'm thinking of sending him off-world early"

"Why?" Gine said, taken aback at why Bardock wanted to get rid of their son.

"I have a feeling he's not going to be safe here," Bardock said stoically.

Gine couldn't argue, she too had a feeling something bad was lurking beneath the surface and Planet Vegeta wouldn't be safe for their son, he was only a low-class warrior.

"I picked out a planet..." Gine said with reluctance.

"One where the people are weak and the technology is old, he'll survive there," Gine said resisting the urge to cry.

Bardock embraced his wife, she wasn't like him at all. Gine was the assistant to the head of the culinary division, meaning that although she had combat training she hadn't killed a person a day in her life in high contrast to Bardock who destroyed civilisations on the daily. Bardock knew Gine was soft and loved her for it but he also knew how hard it was for her to let go of her son especially after seeing the way she pampered Raditz when he was growing up.

The Saiyans were not idiots, they knew good and well that if they tried to flee Freiza's grip then they would undoubtedly die so they tried to push this reality to the back of their minds. Although they knew that Freiza exploited their love for fighting and turned them into cruel killing machines because this type of thought was not healthy for the mind they justified it as the Saiyan race conquering others.

Gine let out the greatest sigh she had in her life.

She struggled out of Bardock's hug and opened the portable Incubation Pod after their baby was cleared, they were given a low-class incubation pod to keep their son in.

A few hours later.

Bardock hopped into the air, a small navigation pod on his right shoulder. Gine leapt behind him as they traversed the deserted plain. Since they were low-class Saiyans they lived on the outskirts of Vegeta City so the surrounding area was more or less guaranteed to be completely deserted at this time of night.

Bardock placed the pod on the floor, hoping very few people would see it. Although he had classified the departure as an early mission which was perfectly legal, he still wanted few people to know about it.

"The planet you chose is perfect," Bardock said somberly.

"It's not a very valuable planet so I hoped it wouldn't even pop up on Freiza's radar," Gine said quietly

The sleeping baby boy inside the pod woke up at this moment and reached towards his to parents, his hand obstructed by the glass layer.

Bardock smiled and placed his hand opposite his son on the glass layer while Gine placed her hand on top of Bardock's.

"Listen well my son, do whatever it takes for you to survive on planet Earth," Bardock said worriedly.

"We will see you very soon," Gine added.

The pod was activated and slowly levitated off the ground, hovering in the air.

"Goodbye Kakarot!" Gine said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Bardock embraced Gine once again, who was on the verge of breaking down.

"We did the right thing," he assured her.

"BARDOCK!"

Bardock's scouter erupted.

"It's a trap! Lord Freiza's going to-"

The audio cut out.

Bardock and Gine were both shocked by the sudden noise.

"You don't think..." Gine couldn't even bring herself to finish her sentence.

"I think I already know," Bardock said his face crumpling.

Bardock detached from Gine and walked towards the city.

"Where are you going?" Gine called out, behind him.

"To gather the Saiyans, Lord Freiza is going to learn what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you," Bardock said harshly.

On Planet Kanassa, a few moments ago

"D-Dodoria sir!" Toma saluted nervously.

"Toma, Fasha, Chugesh, Borgos and Ba-" Dodoria scanned the Saiyans only to find one missing.

"Where's Bardock!" Dodoria shouted.

"He's-" Toma began.

"Why does that matter?" Chugesh interrupted.

"Surely you can tell us the news and we can relay it to Bardock later," Borgos continued.

"Or is there something so pressing, we all need to be present?" Fasha ended.

All three Saiyans apart from Toma were on the same page, their fighting instincts nagging at them something was amiss.

Toma realised belated, they were surrounded by Freiza's troops, many of which already had ki at their fingertips. His eyes narrowed.

"Tch! What's one less pathetic monkey anyway?" Dodoria said with a serious scowl on his face.

The Saiyans winced, returning his scowl with their own.

"Lord Freiza has introduced a new policy for all Saiyan soldiers!" Dodoria announced, a dastardly smile blossoming on his pink face.

"In addition to the current healthcare agreement, Freiza has added a new privilege!" Dodoria continued, his smile getting wider.

"Swift departure to the afterlife!"

With a wave of his hand, his forces opened fire on the Saiyans showering them under a rain ki blast.

"Hyah!"

"Hmph!"

"Tch!"

The Saiyans in the centre, deflected the initial volley smacking the ki blasts into the incoming ki causing a massive yellow smoke screen.

"I can't see shit!" Chugesh yelled.

"Me neither!" Borgos grunted.

"Aaaarggh!"

Not even a few seconds later more ki blasts smashed into the Saiyans, exploding on impact.

"I don't care if they're already dead! Keep firing!" Dodoria ordered.

The soldiers complied, effectively emptying the ki reserves on the Saiyans who were long silent and absorbing the impact.

A few moments late the smoke cleared and five battered Saiyans were revealed, a single one among them still having the strength to stand.

Dodoria changed forward and held him by his neck while he was powerless to defend himself.

"I-I don't understand! Why are you doing this?" Toma spluttered, coiling under Dodoria's grip.

"Freiza wants you Saiyans dead, I just happen to be the soldier given the order," Dodoria said his face unmoving.

"Don't you get it! He's just gonna kill you later like he did to us!"

"Well, I'm a more in the now kind of guy: what am I gonna eat now? What am I gonna kill now? And in this case? You're probably gonna be both!"

"You won't get away with this!"

"Answer me this Saiyan! What looks like shit, feels like shit and probably is going to be shit in the morning?"

"I-it's me isn't it?"

"And that's the punchline!"

Dodoria threw Toma a few meters forward and then buried his fist deep into Toma's chest, knocking him far away.

"Pack em' up!" Dodoria ordered making his way back to his ship.