54

2,963Chapter 54: Feeling of Unease

Something was wrong. I felt it almost as soon as my eyes opened and the traces of sleep left my mind. The mask on my face didn't fit right and when I went to move to check it, the healing pod that I slept in felt far smaller than it should. I was hardly in danger of bumping my head, or anything, but it was like someone had shrunk my healing pod while I was sleeping.

Reaching out, I nearly put my hand through the shell when I meant to engage the draining sequence. Once the fluid drained away and the pod opened, I stepped out of it. Everything was wrong. Everything in my room had shrank. When I looked at something, my brain was telling me that I was viewing it by the wrong angle unless I was flying.

Then I looked down at my hands and saw that they were larger. The same for my body. After twelve years stuck in the same form, never growing or changing, the major changes stood out to me. My shoulders felt broader, my body felt longer… I felt like I had a growth spurt. The thought of it put a slow smile on my face as I summoned a mirror.

I looked different. Older. Some of the softness around my face vanished, and I had grown a considerable amount. The past twelve years were spent at knee height for most people - now, after over a decade, I was finally at waist height. But, oddly, little else had really changed. The scar that started at my sternum and ended at my hip was still there, just a bit longer than it had been. The two scars that were connected by Lord Cooler to form a small x over my heart were still there as well. And my hair was still in the same style.

"Hm," I grunted before I began to put on my usual armor complete with a blood-red cape. The undersuit and armor were a one size fit all, so they adjusted to my new height easily. Putting on my blood-red scouter, I saw that the time and date would still put us in slip-space. "I need to train."

I needed to adjust to my new height. My arms were longer, the same with my legs, so I needed to compensate for that additional reach. Which was why Saiyans only grew in bursts - to avoid issues of being hit by attacks because a Saiyan hadn't realized they grew an extra centimeter overnight. Though, why I had to spend the past twelve years as an ankle bitter remained a mystery.

Stepping out of my sparsely furnished room, I made my way towards the training room I made for myself. The halls were empty because of most of my army being in stasis. There were plenty that were out and about, but I ran across none of them as I walked through the halls. I reached the cargo bay within a few minutes, casually walking to adjust to the new difference in steps.

As I stood in the center of the room, I walked towards a device built into the wall and turned it on.

Instantly, I felt the gravity in the cargo bay increase by ten Gs, bringing it to the same as Planet Vegeta. After a few years of experimenting with my gravity technique, I concluded that it was something that was best left to technology. It was difficult to maintain the technique at the proper amount of Gs when you were straining yourself. More often than not, I found the number of Gs being lowered or raised when I was training depending on how much I was exerting myself.

Technician created the gravity chamber for me, allowing me to scale up to Gs that I hadn't been able to reproduce safely with my technique yet. I let out a small sigh as my body quickly adjusted to the more intense gravity. Stepping away from the command center, I stood in the center of the room and closed my eyes for a moment.

When I opened them, despite the fact he was there only in my mind, I stood before Vegeta. It had been six years since I last saw him or spoke to him. It was easier to find out where he had been by keeping up with what planets he took. Vegeta had expanded fast and recklessly, making the absolute most of his special privilege. He even went as far as to attack other Frieza-force aliens and seize their planets when they attempted to get in his way.

In half the time, he amassed an empire that surpassed the size of mine. Only every single planet was underdeveloped, some untouched. The few that he did bother to develop were turned into industrial worlds to support his war effort. And more often than not, to support that effort, Vegeta found himself taking supplies from others - materials, money, and personnel. I would say stealing, but Vegeta didn't exactly care about the acts of theft. Not enough to stop him at any rate, and those that did challenge him on the acts of theft found themselves dead and their possession seized too.

Either way, my brother stood before me as he had the last time I had seen him. Only this time I found that I was the taller one. By a surprising amount too. I wondered if I would be taller than him the next time I saw him? Vegeta did have his growth spurt rather early, and mine was fairly late, so he could have had his second growth spurt already.

"Begin audio," I ordered, and the speakers hooked up to the system obeyed. Several audio files started, each of them overlapping and each of them speaking about different subjects. One was an audio file teaching a minor language worth learning, another explained advanced physics, while the final spoke about spiritualism in relation to magic. Each something that I was studying so it mattered little if I learned something poorly now.

As I tried to pay attention to each of the three streams of words, I activated my scouter and it was filled with information. The details playing out a mock battle. There was barely enough room for me to see as I blocked a punch from the imaginary Vegeta and retaliated with an elbow towards his face. Vegeta ducked underneath the blow, my attention pulled in a half dozen different directions.

I was training in multitasking because in large scale battles, the kind that engulfed entire planets, the biggest issue was information. Knowing where to be, where the enemy is, what they number, and so on. It was my weakness as a general and I wouldn't rest until I had eliminated that weakness.

I leaned out of the way of a punch sent by Vegeta, the fist racing past in a blur while I help guide it away by placing a hand on the back of his fist while my other hand went to bury itself in his gut. Vegeta caught the fist, prompting me to shift my footing, bending my arm so my elbow raced towards his eye. Vegeta responded by catching the blow against his forehead instead.

A flash of light warned me to back off as a ki blast nearly sheered me in two. The only damage the surroundings suffered was in my mind. And while I was vastly more powerful than I was back on Planet Vegeta all those years ago, it felt weird making Vegeta weaker than me. Wrong, almost.

Flipping back, I blocked a flying punch to the face and countered with a roundhouse kick to his sides that he blocked with a forearm. It wasn't like my leg had actually hit anything, but my kick stopped dead in its tracks before Vegeta pushed it to the side, prompting me to use the momentum and lash out with another kick after a quick spin, this one Vegeta darted back to avoid. The moment my feet touched the ground, I launched a high knee at his face and blocked his counter.

Each movement felt easier than the last, more fluid, and natural. And it got less weird fighting someone smaller than me rather quickly. Our fists moved in blurs as the intensity of our fight increased, our footwork too fast for the untrained eye to follow. I felt myself slip into the Wrath State like it was an old glove and the Vegeta in my mind did the same. And despite it only being make-believe, a smile tugged at my cheeks because I knew the next time I fought Vegeta he would shatter every expectation I had of him.

"Tarble?" A voice questioned, making me pause the fight. I glanced over to see Tora, who was looking at me with an almost stunned expression. "With that power level, it's got to be you. You had your growth spurt."

"Finally," I agreed looking up at Tora. I was still shorter than him by half, but only by half. That was a marked improvement of nearly fifty percent.

"Huh," Tora muttered, "I guess I lost some food. I figured that you already had your growth spurt, you just didn't actually grow so you would be stuck looking like a toddler for the rest of your life." He said, thoroughly amused with the idea. I sighed as I silenced the audio and cleared up the clutter on my scouter.

I wish I could say that I was surprised by those bets, but I couldn't. My growth spurt should have happened years ago. I was just a very late bloomer. In certain definitions of the word. "I hope you lost a lot," I informed, earning a grin from Tora.

"Does anyone else know?" He asked as he strode forward, unbothered by the increased gravity.

I shook my head, "Not yet. I figured I should get used to the differences before I accepted the challenges." I didn't want anyone thinking that they could get a lucky shot in.

"Have you checked your power level yet?" He asked, and I hadn't. It was odd, in a way. For so long, I had nearly obsessed over making that number climb higher and higher. Once I reached my goal of ten thousand, then my goal was to grow stronger to defeat whatever the Reach could throw at me and keep pace with Vegeta. Now I had outpaced both by a significant margin. Watching my power level climb just felt… redundant. Especially when the only decent fight I had in years was with Broly.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I'm guessing I'm still in second place?" I hazarded a guess as I walked to Tora, figuring that he was here for a reason.

Unsurprisingly, Tora nodded, "But it's close," he informed. That earned a blink of surprise from me as I read the number backward from his scouter.

250,000.

"Huh," I said, slightly stunned. Over two hundred thousand. My last reading had put me at just under two hundred thousand, meaning my power level jumped around sixty thousand points. And the first growth spurt was always the smallest jump in power. "I guess Broly can look forward to learning the fifth and sixth stages of the Wrath State."

Tora let out a small huff, "I guess so. He's only a hundred thousand points ahead of you. Who knows, you could end up the most powerful Saiyan alive for real at this rate."

I shook my head, "Only a hundred thousand points?" I questioned, wondering when that gap became jumpable. But he wasn't entirely wrong. Broly's progress was limited by mine. If he went out of control, and I couldn't stop him, then no one could. Worse, Broly just continued to grow stronger - every punch he threw, every blow he took, in every fight he improved, Broly just grew stronger.

Tora could talk as he liked, but the position as the strongest Saiyan alive was forever out of reach because of Broly. But the strongest didn't mean most powerful.

"Only a hundred thousand," Tora agreed. "But you'll have to close that gap later. That Dox guy wanted to speak to you whenever you woke up," Tora informed, making me straighten a bit. Vril Dox was a member of the Board of Directors, and a patron of mine. Of sorts. The man was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. All I really knew about him was that he was incredibly intelligent - enough so that he could do the math to teleport onto my flagship while we were in slipspace, a hole in time and reality.

Technician had called that feat impossible before Vril Dox made a habit of it.

The door opening caught my attention to see the man himself striding into the cargo bay. The intense gravity didn't seem to bother him any. His skin was lime green and his hair was a golden yellow that was smoothed back. He wore a white suit that was slightly looser than the normal undersuits that were marked with armor plating, yet it didn't really look like armor. It looked like civilian clothing impersonating armor. Though, on one sleeve, he had several markings announcing his rank.

"Greetings Prince Tarble, I hope I haven't interrupted anything important," Vril greeted as he walked down the steps, his hands clasped behind his back. On one ear, he wore a white piece of plastic that was molded to the shape of his ear and projected a hard light scouter. I could probably do the same at this point, but my red visor was something that was attached to my image at this point. "But I'm afraid I have rather urgent news for you."

"I was just training," I said, a hand going up to my necklace to adjust the lantern ring that rested on it to make sure that it was still there. Vril nodded, his eyes flicking to Tora as he approached, who simply raised his hands in a careless gesture.

"I'll get lost," Tora said, knowing that the conversation was one well above his paygrade. And I knew him well enough to know that he couldn't care less about what we were speaking about. I nodded my thanks and Tora left the same entrance as Vril entered, however, I noticed that he didn't break pace as he approached. I obeyed the silent command to fall in step with him.

"Is it a sensitive topic?" I questioned, earning a curt nod from Vril before I sealed away my scouter into a capsule. His eyes lingered on the ring at my neck, but that didn't stop him from continuing as we left the cargo bay and walked in the opposite direction that Tora had gone.

"The Thangarian Empire is about to declare war," he informed, his voice causal(,) and I couldn't tell what he thought about that.

"Huh," I muttered, thinking over that for a brief moment. "I was starting to wonder if they ever would. They've been marshaling their strength for nearly six years at this point."

Virl made a noise of acknowledgment, "Their vessels are proving to be their greatest weakness. A great many of them are unhappy with the concessions to Lord Frieza, so the Thangarian leaders have resorted to less savory methods to ensure their cooperation. In any case, they have marshaled their full strength and they are ready to use it."

He looked down at me, "Lord Frieza intends to make you the High Commander in charge of the Thangarian's front." That got my attention. "I cannot say for certain what you will be given to accomplish the task, but provided that you earn it… Lord Frieza is prepared to allow you to keep that title permanently." My mind raced at the revelation as we walked through the empty halls.

I had a taste of being a High Commander back when I… broke the Shield Wall. Saying that left a bitter taste in my mouth. Even just thinking it. The Frieza-force celebrated the breaking of the Shield Wall, but they conveniently forgot that another Shield Wall had formed in its place - this one far larger and greater. Regardless, being a High Commander was a jump in the chain. From there, there was only one more promotion to go - the Supreme Commander over the Frieza-force military forces and that would place me on the Board of Directors.

"I see," I allowed, filling the silence. More than that, the Thangarian Empire wasn't the Reach. They wouldn't raze their planets to dust and ash to be a pain in the butt of the soldiers that fought to take them, and in Lord Frieza's case because he would have to terraform them before selling them. My empire was in full swing at the moment - there were planets in the edges that were being terraformed but the rest were producing. And because of Ada'la's advice and my contacts throughout the Trade Organization, my hundreds of planets were producing a great deal. "It's an honor."

"It's intended as a punishment," Vril corrected. "No one likes a rising star. The current Supreme Commander will do whatever it takes to sabotage you. You won't find any aid from the other High Commanders. You could likely find yourself fighting this entire war by yourself."

To that, I shook my head, "Not by myself."

Virl nodded in acceptance, "Not by yourself, but in every way that matters. I will do what I can, and you have done well to secure various alliances, but succeeding with the Thangarian's will set you on a collision course with the current Supreme Commander. If you don't replace him within a year of becoming High Commander, he will cripple your war effort." He spoke the words with certainty and, by now, I had learned to accept that he likely was right.

The Supreme Commander. That was the goal. Taking his seat on the Board of Directors meant I was still following through with the plan of increasing the Saiyan influence within the Trade Organization. And I would like to see Vegeta or King Vegeta ignore me then.

"I can manage that," I reassured, knowing that it was true. Despite my personal perception of my failure at the Shield Wall, the rest of the Trade Organization didn't hold that perception. Oddly enough, Lord Cooler had even sung my praises. I didn't trust that in the slightest, but it meant that I had the public support of both Frost Demons that controlled the Trade Organization. Provided that support held out and I continued to remain undefeated in the eyes of the public, I could snatch that title from the current Supreme Commander.

Vril nodded, "I believe so as well. Which is why I'm warning you of the agents for the Reach in the Board of Directors." That made me go still mid-step and I looked up at Vril with growing horror because I knew he wasn't the kind of person to joke. "There are several of them. Of the dozen members of the Board, I suspect at least six of them are agents of the Reach. Or, at the very least, they engage in selling Trade Organization secrets."

"Does Lord Frieza care?" I asked because I highly doubted that he didn't know.

"Not particularly," Virl answered with a small shrug. "Not enough to do anything about it, at least. So long as he continues to reap his rewards, he cares little about the backroom dealings his Directors engage in. Even if there has been wide-scale sabotage of the war effort. In part, I believe you and your kind have had something to do with his tolerance. Without your successes, the war would have ground to a halt and Lord Frieza would simply be throwing away money."

I had met a handful of the Board of Directors. Of the twelve, I met four personally. Vril was the only one I could say that I remotely liked or respected. And that was because he was a thoroughly unrepentant pragmatist. To think that half of them were working for the Reach…

"What's more, I believe them to be working for Koter Ve'sk. It would explain his stalwart defense against incursions," Virl continued, making me take a few quick steps so that we were walking side by side. And it was amazing how a few words could make so many things snap into perspective.

"That explains some things," I agreed. Ever since my defeat at his hands, I paid close attention to Koter. I studied his strategies, learned how he thought, and it was so very clear that he was always two steps ahead of his enemies. Ahead of me.

It was tempting to say my defeat at his hands was because of leaked Intel, but I had kept my strategy close to my chest. Koter had simply bested me.

"I imagine it would. So don't expect to find many allies on the Board. Your success is the last thing that the Reach wants," Vril explained, earning a nod from me. I had battle plans for the Thangarian Empire. I drew them up years ago, back when I expected their invasion to occur swiftly instead of bumbling around for half a decade. Then he held out a hand before dropping a small stick into my hand. "That contains relevant information to your current task."

Meaning that the Board of Directors weren't the only ones that could be bribed or blackmailed. I could guess what the datastick contained - Thangarian battle plans, fleet positions, and defensive measures. As Vril said, the Thangarian Empire employed less than savory means to get their vassal's cooperation and it wouldn't surprise me at all if one of them flipped to the Freiza-force for a better deal.

Vril came to an abrupt stop as he cast me one final look, "The war has reached a turning point. For twelve years, it's been fought between the Reach and the Trade Organization, but with your actions at the Shield Wall, there's a clear side that's winning. That will attract allies and enemies alike. Be prepared, Prince Tarble." And with that, Vril Dox tapped a finger onto his belt buckle and teleported out of the ship in a flash of light.

I looked at the spot where he had vanished for a long moment before I turned my attention to the datastick. I would be fighting against the Thangarian Empire. For years, I had wished for some variety in my opponents, and now that I had finally found a worthy adversary in the Reach, I had to divert my attention. Koter would undoubtedly use the time to muster his strength… but that was fine.

It gave me more time to study his tactics.

Even still, a small sigh escaped me. The war was growing. I saw the signs. I spent enough time as a commander and a foot soldier to see them. The Thangarian's would join the war, and when they faltered, that would spur others to lend a helping hand simply because they realized that they would be next. Leaving me to crush the Empire within a single year.

And I meant what I said. I'm pretty sure that I could manage that.

Before my thoughts could spiral, I felt a handful of familiar presences rush towards me. I looked up to see Elery turn the corner, and she was closely followed by Kakarot and Broly. Her eyes landed on me for a moment as she came to an abrupt stop before her eyes narrowed into slits. "You're… bigger!" She accused me with the same animosity she reserved for those that stole her snacks.

"I am," I agreed easily, continuing to stride forward. "Is there a reason you're racing through the halls?" Elery stared at me like she had no idea who I was.

"You're taller," she accused again, seemingly stuck on that revelation.

"I am," I repeated. My gaze drifted to Kakarot and Broly. Only the latter had undergone his growth spurt, and if his first was anything to go by, Broly was going to be an absolute giant of a Saiyan. But his demeanor hadn't changed in the slightest. "I'm tall enough that your feet won't drag when you ride on my shoulder now."

Elery sputtered, "I won't ride on your shoulder- I'm not a baby," she insisted. It was crazy just how much things had changed in a handful of years. My time spent away allowed Elery to establish her independence. It was good, in a way, but it would be a lie to say that I didn't miss her hanging off my shoulder a bit.

"Hm," I hummed as I passed them by. Elery landed in front of me, walking backward as she glared up at me.

"Who are we fighting next?" Elery questioned in the most authoritative voice she could muster. "I want to attack that Koter guy. He's had it too good for too long, and I wanna show him that all good things come to an end."

Kakarot joined in, walking next to me, "Can we get our own mission? We can handle whatever you throw at us." To that, I considered. Elery, Kakarot, and Olaive weren't rookie recruits anymore. Broly was stuck at the fourth stage of the Wrath State, but Elery had reached the tenth stage while Kakarot and Olaive were at stage nine.

And with my gravity technique and constant spars between each other, their strength grew considerably. Elery was a thousand pl shy of reaching ten thousand, Olaive was just below her, while Kakarot was bringing up the rear with eight thousand. They weren't fresh recruits anymore. Even if I did occasionally make the mistake of thinking that they were.

"We could get our own show," Olaive added with stars in her eyes. That, I knew, was a long-held dream to her. I couldn't even say that it wasn't in the cards. Ever since I 'broke' the Shield Wall, a half dozen spin-off series appeared as well as various documentaries that didn't just cover me but the Saiyan race as a whole. There were even some that were looking into the location of our lost planet Salada, but I didn't have high hopes that they would find it. At least not any time soon.

"You'll get your assignments soon enough," I told them while Broly hovered around the group. My gaze slid over him, wondering how he was going to handle our new enemy. For so many years, we had only fought the Reach. Certain justifications got easy to swallow after a while, but those justifications didn't apply to the Thangarian Empire. "Perform well, and we'll talk about each of you being assigned leadership positions."

That got their attention, making them exchange excited smiles. Elery was six years old, as were the rest of the recruits. At their age, I was leading thousands into combat. They could handle a hundred or so. Each already had their own team of five, even if the group could usually be found together. It was time to move things to the next stage, but first I wanted to see how they would fare against an enemy that wasn't the Reach.

"The Devastator is leaving Slip-space," an announcement informed over the intercom. I took out my scouter from the capsule I had sealed it in and put it back on. I was expecting an important call.

"I have to go talk about boring stuff. You're better off finding Matillo," I told the group, making them blanch at the idea of being forced to listen in on a conference call. Elery nodded before she flew up, a look of determination on her face.

"Okay! I'm going to ask him how to make you smaller again. And how to make me taller," She informed before she and her friends shot off to find Matillo. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too bothered. However, Broly lingered for a second as he hesitated to say something.

"Can… I stop hiding my strength?" He asked, and I had to fight off a frown because I had just put on my scouter.

I hesitated to answer - Broly's strength was still a closely guarded secret. And now it was a secret that was covered up for several years. I had taken him to the Shield Wall to offer up an excuse for his growth in power, but that wasn't what he was asking. He wanted to reveal all of his strength. He wanted to go all out.

"Not yet," I answered, making disappointment flash over his face. "It'll look suspicious if you suddenly reveal yourself now. Wait until you find a worthy enemy."

"But when will I find one of those?" Broly questioned, clearly unhappy but not to the point that he was whining.

For both of our sakes, hopefully soon. "Soon enough. You'll see what I mean in a bit," I reassured him. "And I was serious about the conference call. You're better off following the others."

Broly had grown in the past years. He wasn't the child that clung to me at every available opportunity. That was clear when he nodded and took off after the others instead of toughing out the boredom to hover around me. Like with Elery, I was both proud and I kinda missed him following me around everywhere.

I continued towards the command deck and the hallways filled with others as they left stasis. I saw Narra, who walked alone through the halls. After years, her relationship with her species had only worsened with the silence. They still called her Night Mother, and they obeyed her orders, but that was the extent of their interactions. By my orders, Narra became a pariah amongst her species.

Avery, Technician, and Vas helped some. As did I when I could. But I rarely saw her outside of her continuing the etchings into my soul - my entire body was nearly covered with them after a few years. And even after years, the pain of having your soul engraved never lessened.

Just as I arrived at the command deck, I got the notification that I had an urgent call. My fleet was parked in the same asteroid field where I had received the mission to break the Shield Wall. I had Technician investigate the place a bit and apparently the asteroid field produced several different types of radiation which made it extremely useful for masking a fleet's entrance or exit. The asteroid field itself was made by a planet exploding with enough force that it took out every other planet in the system.

I took my place in front of the hologram projector and accepted the call. Instantly, a hologram of Lord Frieza appeared.

"Ah, Prince Tarble. I see you've finally received your long-awaited growth spurt. I do believe you're taller than your dear older brother! How amusing," Lord Frieza greeted, his smile a tad too sharp as he spoke.

"Lord Frieza. It's good to hear from you again," I greeted in return. To that, he simply chuckled in response.

"Indeed. You are amongst the first to learn, but the Thanagarian Empire has finally stopped bumbling about and have worked up the nerve to declare war. I have an information blackout on the subject at the moment, so if you would like to make any real estate purchases or sales, I would recommend you do so now," Lord Frieza offered. And that was a great idea.

My empire was carved out of Reach Territory, but if I purchased a few planets, I could connect my empire. I could even get them at a reduced price considering no one likes having their planets acting as the front line to a wide-scale war.

"Thank you for the opportunity, Lord Frieza. I will make the most of it," I said, meaning it. "And I suppose they were bound to work up the nerve sooner or later. If they didn't, I figured their entire empire would crumble when the Thangarians proved that they were unable and unwilling to stand up to you." It would only be natural. The vassals were a part of the empire for protection, after all.

"I would say to think nothing of it, but I know you too well Prince Tarble. If you wish to repay me for this gift, then you can do it by crushing those pesky winged vermin for me," Lord Frieza said, proving Vril's words true. "I'm naming you temporary High Commander of the Thanagarian front that's just opened up since your empire and its are so very close together."

I bowed in response, "Consider it done, Lord Frieza." I spoke, earning another chilling chuckle from the Frost Demon.

"That is very reassuring to hear, Prince Tarble, but I'm afraid things will be a bit more complicated than what you're expecting," Lord Frieza added, "The Green Lanterns have made their move and they're joining the Thanagarian Empire in their war."

To that, I blinked in surprise. That did complicate things quite a bit, didn't it?

"But have no fear, Prince Tarble," Lord Frieza said before an image appeared on the screen of movement coming from around the ship. "I've brought you something that can even the scales just a bit."

On the screen was a man with Saiyan-like features except for his ears being tapered off into a point and his reddish skin. His hair was black and smoothed back, giving him a dignified look. He wore yellow and black armor with a very familiar ring on his finger even if it was a different color than the one that rested on my necklace.

Sinestro. One of the most powerful and famous Green Lanterns before he was disgraced and discharged for taking control of his home planet some years ago. And he was followed by dozens of others all wearing the same ring and the same colored armor.

Yeah. That balanced the scales quite a bit.

The Green Lanterns and Thanagarian Empire wouldn't know what hit them.

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