Chapter 14: Strategy

Over with Vegeta…

Rage filled Vegeta's mind as he rocketed over the barren, Namekian landscape. He was pissed. Absolutely furious at what Bardock had done. The lesser Saiyan had made a complete fool of him, playing him like a fiddle. And now, Vegeta was out for blood.

Frieza only had five Dragon Balls, which meant there were two Dragon Ball-holding villages left. Vegeta smirked! Nothing would fill him with more joy than murdering a bunch of worthless Namekians!

Vegeta's eyes scanned the ground below. Eventually, his sinister grin spread as he noticed a Namekian settlement on the horizon. Vegeta charged a blast in his hand and landed in the middle of the village, launching it at the nearest building and laughing. "Hand over the Dragon Ball, or prepare to-"

The Prince's face sank. He looked around at the other buildings that he hadn't opened fire on and saw, to his disdain, that the place was deserted. He peeked his head into each house and only found scorch marks where Namekians had once stood.

Buildings were broken apart by a war that had apparently gone on without him. The prince walked into the main building of the settlement and found, to his anger, a stand that had once contained a Dragon Ball left totally empty. Next to that stand, Vegeta found a severed Namekian arm. He picked it up and looked it over, scowling at the presence of red blood on the knuckles of this severed appendage. The prince gripped it so hard that purple Namekian blood ran down his arm.

Wordlessly, Vegeta tossed the limb aside, livid at the thought that Bardock might have a Dragon Ball while he did not. Taking off, the prince flew even faster over the Namekian horizon. He was out to kill now, and someone would be satisfying his bloodlust.

Meanwhile, over with Bardock's Group…

Bardock wiped the side of his face, cringing at the busted part of his lip. The older Saiyan could deal with all variety of injuries with little more than a grunt, but he always cringed when something managed to do that to him, mostly because it annoyed him how badly it stung. And also because he could never stop himself from prodding it with the tip of his tongue. Bardock was broken away from this distraction by Krillin calling up to him. "So, what are we going to do, Bardock?"

The older Saiyan turned and faced his son's best friend. "Whaddaya mean?"

Krillin's face was draped with fear. "W-We have one Dragon Ball, right?"

Bardock nodded. "Yeah. 'Cuz I know how to do my job efficiently."

Krillin flinched at the barbed comeback, but pressed on. "We have one Dragon Ball... b-but that Frieza guy has five! What are we going to do?!"

Bardock raggedly sighed. "Well, it sucks that the ball I came across was the Four-Star Ball. If it were the Seven-Star, then we might've been able to just wait Frieza out. Hope that he convinced himself that the balls were useless and then just left... but, luck is a bitch sometimes..."

The older Saiyan turned to the human. "But I wouldn't worry too hard about it! We have an advantage in that the balls don't work unless you have all seven of them together. As long as we have one, then we still have a leg in this race. We'll just have to plan our next moves more carefully..."

A vein popped up on Bardock's head as he spoke a little more loudly. "And keep our goddamned tempers under control!"

Taking up the rear, with the still silent Dende on his back, Gohan quickly apologized. "S-Sorry, Grandpa!"

Gohan glanced over at the miserable-looking, little Namekian and frowned. Dende had just seen everyone he loved die in front of him, he had to find some way to build up the little guy's spirits. He glanced up at his grandfather and smiled, thinking that maybe Bardock could help a little. Gohan picked up speed and flew up next to Bardock. "Hey, Grandpa..."

Bardock grunted and glanced over at his grandson. "What?"

Gohan put on a nervous smile. "S-So... you found a Dragon Ball. It's awesome that you found it so quickly..."

Bardock sighed. "You and Krillin are like broken records. I don't need any damn pats on the back for doing my job properly. That's just what you're supposed to do!"

Gohan nodded and nervously chuckled. "R-Right..."

The boy cleared his throat and composed himself. "So, what about the Namekians that you got it from? Frieza isn't going to attack them, is he?"

Gohan knew his grandfather was blunt, but he was hoping that that would be helpful in this case. Maybe, just maybe, a blunt answer would comfort Dende a bit. Maybe Bardock could give a bit of reassurance. Bardock turned to Gohan and smirked. "Eh, you don't have to worry about Frieza killing that village."

Gohan smiled and looked down at Dende to see if the little Namekian would react. To his relief, Dende did seem to relax a little. But then, Bardock continued. "I didn't need the Frieza Force following our tracks, so I cleaned up there good. There's nothing left there."

Krillin and Gohan went silent. Dende, meanwhile, gasped in horror. The three of them stared at Bardock, utterly chilled, right up until they all landed in front of the cave. Bardock turned to his followers and smirked, only to be surprised by the terror on their faces. "What the hell is up with you three?"

Gohan and Krillin both stared at their leader, nervous to voice their concerns to him. Dende, meanwhile, had finally had enough. The little Namekian snapped and ran up to Bardock, pounding the larger man's thighs with his little fists. "Murderer! You murdering monster! You're no better than the rest of those invading demons!"

Tears streamed down Dende's face as he hit Bardock. Bardock glared down at him and shrugged. "Can't really argue with that. I'm a shitty person and I know it. But what's your point? What do you want from me?"

Krillin and Gohan both stared, speechless, at how cold Bardock was. It took a moment, but Krillin finally swallowed the lump in his throat and mustered up the courage to interrogate the older Saiyan. "Bardock... d-did you really murder a village of Namekians for that Dragon Ball...?"

Bardock genuinely looked confused at this question. "What the hell would be the point in doing that? Killing potential collaborators is just wasteful..."

At the same time Bardock said that, another person entered this tense discussion. Emerging from the cave, the lead warrior of the Four-Star Village stepped out. "Nice to see you've made it back, foreigner, where did you get that young one from?"

Bardock glared at the warrior. "Piss off with that 'foreigner' bullshit!"

Dende, sniffling and wiping his eyes, turned, and stared in shock at the sight of one of his older brothers. "Talus!"

The little Namekian ran from Bardock and over to Talus, hugging his fellow Namekian. Talus gently patted his younger brother's head. "Dende... what are you doing here? Did these foreigners do something to Elder Moori's village?!"

Dende sniffled and glanced back at Bardock, Krillin, and Gohan. And then, his voice wavering, the younger Namekian spoke in his native tongue. His tone was frantic and his voice broke, but as Dende spoke Talus' face became stricken with grief.

Talus lowered his head and grabbed the grieving Dende into a tight embrace. And then, he glared back up at Bardock. "So, Bardock... it seems your call to abandon our village was justified..."

Bardock nodded. "Yeah. I told you that Frieza doesn't screw around."

Talus sighed and picked Dende off of the ground. "Don't worry, Little One. Elder Tsuno would be happy to accommodate your needs for the foreseeable future..."

The Namekian warrior retreated back into the cave. Bardock turned to Gohan and Krillin and motioned for them to follow. "Come on. We need to stay out of sight as much as possible."

Inside the Cave Base…

Gohan and Krillin both looked on in awe at the sight before them. Within the spacious cave they had found, Bulma had set up her Capsule House and satellite phone. And in front of that, the Namekians of the Four-Star Village had managed to set up a nice little camp to live in while they were in hiding. As they got closer to the house, an older Namekian stepped forth and reached out, taking Dende from Talus.

The two of them spoke to each other in Namekian language and then grief streaked across the village elder's face. After a moment, the elder turned to Bardock, Krillin, and Gohan. Slowly, he walked up to them and bowed his head. "My name is Tsuno. Thank you for being so brave as to save Dende from the same fate that..."

He swallowed hard. "... Moori... faced..."

Elder Tsuno fell to his knees in grief and Gohan and Krillin both tried to comfort him. Bardock stood to the side and waited for him to compose himself. Once he did, the elder addressed Bardock directly. "While you were gone, the human within the main dwelling was heard screaming in frustration and anger..."

Bardock rolled his eyes. "Sounds like her. Why don't you join us inside? Bring the kid too. We have to talk about our next move. We can't afford to rest for too long."

Tsuno stood, gently grabbing Dende's hand. "Of course."

The elder turned to his lead warrior. "Talus. Please stand vigil and watch for any approaching dangers."

Talus nodded. "Of course."

Once Bardock, Krillin, Gohan, Dende, and Tsuno were inside the Capsule House, Talus stepped in front of the door and crossed his arms, ready to face any threat.

Inside the Capsule House…

Once inside, Tsuno took a seat with Dende sitting next to him. The two Namekians watched on, with a bit of amusement, as Gohan and Krillin gawked at the Four-Star Ball sitting on the table in the center of the room. Gohan touched it. "It's so big! Why is it so big?!"

Tsuno chuckled. "The Dragon Balls serve as both wish-granting relics and as a codex of Namekian history. As the status of grand elder is passed on from Namekian to Namekian, he is able to add his knowledge and experiences to the Dragon Balls. From there, with the help of any elder, such as myself, you could view any and all of the accumulated information housed within."

Krillin cocked his head. "Wow... You would figure that Earth's Dragon Balls would be bigger for how long Kami has been alive. How old is the creator of these?"

Elder Tsuno smiled. "Grand Elder Guru is over 500 years old."

Finally, Bardock snapped and began to shout. "Woman! Where the hell are you?! We need to have a meeting!"

Bulma called back from the back of the house. "Quit shouting, I'm in the shower! Jeez!"

Bardock snapped at Bulma. "Why the hell are you in the shower?! Do we look like we're on this planet for fun?! We don't have happy-go-lucky shower time!"

Bulma snapped back. "Well excuse me for not wanting to smell like a third-rate high school gym! Why don't you give chilling out a try, you massive, high-strung ass?! I'll be out in 10 minutes!"

Bardock scowled and flopped down into a nearby chair. He leaned back and shut his eyes to get a bit of rest. "Goddamned frivolous Earth woman!"

Over on Frieza's Ship…

Sitting on the bridge, comfortable in his hover pod, Lord Frieza sipped from his wine glass and glared out on the Namekian landscape. He swirled his glass of red and then gave it a sniff before taking another sip. It had been 2 hours and yet Dodoria had not yet returned. Frieza sighed as he lamented. "If that fat, pink fool has allowed himself to be killed off by some mere pests..."

Frieza turned to one of his lesser attendants. "You. Orlen!"

Orlen snapped into attention with fear in his eyes. "Yes sir! How may I help you, Lord Frieza, sir?!"

Frieza pointed to the door. "Fetch Zarbon from his quarters."

Orlen ran from the room and, a few minutes later, he returned with Zarbon. Frieza waved Orlen and the other troops from the room and, once they were gone, he turned to Zarbon. "Dodoria is most likely dead."

Zarbon nodded and sighed. "It seems like Dodoria's style to die at the hands of rodents. The fool always allowed himself to be easily taken advantage of. It is unfortunate, but quite predictable."

Frieza nodded in turn. "Indeed. Therefore, Zarbon, I will now be handing his duties off to you. Scour this planet and either return with news of a Dragon Ball, Dodoria's carcass, or those interlopers that dared intrude on my business. Understood?"

Zarbon nodded and bowed to his master. "Of course, Lord Frieza."

The pretty boy turned and made his leave, exiting the ship and then flying off to find something to please the incensed Lord Frieza.

Within Bardock's Head…

Bardock grumbled as he walked through a misty, black plain. "Goddamned future vision. What the hell do you want to show me now?!"

Bardock continued to stumble through the empty, black expanse. Eventually, he came across a surprisingly clear vision: a massive, ancient Namekian.

The older Saiyan stared at the size of this Namekian until the vision dispersed, reforming at his feet as all seven Dragon Balls. Bardock reached down to touch them, but they turned into mist upon the contact of his finger. Bardock watched as the mist came together again. This time, it was the sight of him standing in a fighting stance with Gohan and Vegeta on one side and Krillin and some unknown Namekian on the other.

Bardock cocked his head. "Why the hell…?"

And then, the mist swirled and became five more warriors. However, these warriors sent a chill down Bardock's spine. "The Ginyu Force?!"

Bardock was uneasy, but he was shocked by Captain Ginyu suddenly opening his mouth and firing a golden beam. This beam fired into the air and exploded. Bardock squinted his eyes and watched as the beam flashed three times in the sky, each time showing the same outline of a golden warrior that he had seen before.

The vision ended with the mist returning to the shape of the ancient Namekian, this time soaked with his own blood. The Namekian looked up at Bardock, clearly struggling. But then, the ancient Namekian exploded and the silver ghoul from before charged right at him.

At the Capsule House…

Bardock awakened with a start, letting loose a terse shout. This sudden grunt gave a startle to everyone present. Gohan, Krillin, Tsuno, and Dende all looked spooked. Bardock sniffed, his nose livid with the scent of rusting metal.

Bulma flinched as well, but her fear quickly shifted to annoyance and anger. "What the hell is up with you?! First you yell at me for showering, but then I come out and find you snoring in the chair! And now you're waking up and screaming and shouting at every friggin' one in the room?!"

Bardock grunted and buried his face in his hands. "Sh-Shut the hell up..."

He took a deep breath and sighed. "Just... give me a second and then we can discuss what we're going to do next..."

Bulma huffed, but then she sighed. "I actually agree that we need to discuss our future plans. I made contact with my dad. Goku and the others are on their way."

Krillin smiled and chuckled. "What a relief! Maybe with Goku here, we can actually have a chance at winning..."

Gohan was cheerful. "Yeah! With Daddy here, that Frieza guy will be taken care of in no time!"

From his chair, Bardock grunted. Gohan and Krillin both glanced over at the older Saiyan and immediately felt bad. Krillin stuttered. "S-Sorry, Bardock. We didn't mean-"

Bardock sat up and waved him off. "Shut the hell up. I was thinking the same thing. Kakarot and Raditz being here will give us more of a chance to fight back, especially if they're training the entire way here..."

Bardock wiped a waterfall of sweat from his face and leaned forward. "Okay..."

Gohan walked up to his grandfather and placed a hand on his arm. "Are you okay, Grandpa?"

Bardock nodded. "I'm fine. We need to hurry up and get to work for the moment when Kakarot and Raditz get here. So, we need to start with the obvious... Frieza has five Dragon Balls, and we have one Dragon Ball... so where's the seventh?"

A bolt of lightning shot up Dende and Elder Tsuno's backs. They shot each other a nervous look, but they remained silent. Bardock glared at their two Namekian guests and bluntly grunted. "Keeping knowledge from allies, even if only situational allies, is only going to get us all killed. Would you rather we find the Dragon Ball and keep it and its guardians safe, or have Frieza find it and kill them all?"

Elder Tsuno remained silent, squeezing his knees until his hands began to shake.

Bardock remained calm, but firm. "You know what? You're right. This planet has too much blue and green covering it, a little more purple wouldn't hurt."

Tears built up in the old Namekian's eyes and he eventually spoke. "The final Dragon Ball... is not stored in a village. It is with Grand Elder Guru... at his home... on the highest point of Planet Namek..."

Bardock smirked. "Now was that so hard to say?"

Silence filled the room as Tsuno began to weep for his fallen brothers. "This Frieza monster has... he's killed so many of our people. Please... do not let him do the same to the Lord and father of all Namekians since the Great Cataclysm..."

Bardock closed his eyes and remembered his vision of an ancient Namekian. But he kept that to himself. The older Saiyan stood up and cracked his neck. "Okay then, let's go and get it."

He motioned for Gohan and Krillin to follow him and the two quickly stood. The three of them reached the door before Tsuno finally spoke. "I... have reservations about sending foreigners to visit with Lord Guru. But I know what his reaction would be to the news of you wanting to see him..."

Tsuno glanced at Bardock. "I beseech you... treat the Grand Elder with kindness and keep him safe from these evils..."

Bardock didn't verbally respond. He shot Tsuno with an aside glance and gave him a curt nod. Tsuno turned to Dende and gently touched the boy's shoulder. "You have seen terrible things... things that I cannot provide insight upon. You should lead these foreigners to Lord Guru and, while there, seek guidance from him."

Dende appeared to be scared, but he looked at the inviting, caring faces of Gohan and Krillin and stood. "Y-Yes... I will lead them..."

The little Namekan walked across the room to join Bardock, Gohan, and Krillin. Tsuno spoke to Bardock once more. "Please, keep Dende safe as well."

Bardock was blunt. "No promises."

And then, the older Saiyan reached into his armor and pulled out Vegeta's broken Scouter. "Hey, woman! Make your lazy, showering ass useful and fix this while we're gone!"

Bardock tossed the Scouter at Bulma. The human woman scowled and flipped Bardock off. "Rude asshole! Take this Scouter, shove it up your ass, and go f-"

Bardock ushered the kids out the door and slammed it shut behind him. He smirked as he heard Bulma shouting and throwing a fit. But he trusted her to get the job done. The group of four excited the cave, Dende waving goodbye to all of his brothers from the Four-Star Village, and then they flew off.

Much later, over with Zarbon…

Zarbon flew over the endless, barren Namekian landscape with a scowl on his face. Nearly a full day of searching and yet no results. No Dodoria, no humans, no Dragon Balls. This fruitless quest was beginning to get to him. He did not want to return with nothing for Lord Frieza. The lord was already annoyed, Zarbon did not want to be the catalyst that led to anger.

The pretty boy snarled to himself as he scanned the latest cluster of islands. "Surely these slugs must have more than a mere five villages amongst themselves!"

He glared around. "Surely-"

A sudden kick to the face sent Zarbon flying to the ground. The princely rogue landed and skidded across the ground, taking a quick stance and glaring at his attacker. Hovering above him was a bloodthirsty-looking Vegeta. "Hey there, pretty boy. Looking for something?"