Going Native: Touch of Familiarity (ch.29) (Patreon)

Something was wrong. I felt it deep in my gut, the sense that something just wasn’t quite right. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, though -- their HQ wasn’t under attack, my scouter wasn’t picking up any enemy signatures, and there weren’t any sounds of battle. There was no reason for the unsettling feeling that I felt, but by now, I learned to trust my gut over stuff like logic. So, something was wrong. It was only a question of what. 

I reached out with my sixth sense, searching for a hint -- I found it within a moment. My range with the sense wasn't very large, I could cover a city, but that was about it. Which made it that much more apparent that something was up when I noticed hundreds of familiar ki signatures gathered up in one location. 

Frowning to myself, I walked towards the gathering. The HQ was lightly defended, only a skeleton crew as the rest of the army swept over the planet. We had already broken the back of the Garrison, now it was simply a case of waiting to see where the remnants grouped up at. After all, it was infinitely simpler to take them all out at once rather than spend the next few months clearing out pockets. 

Or, rather, that was the logic I told Mom and she agreed. 

The broken road led me towards the main building of the HQ. We set up just outside of a major city, but the deeper we delved into the Reach territory, the more developed the planets became. Now, the only hints of nature were designed parks that would produce enough oxygen to make the air breathable. Well, until the Reach filled the atmosphere with poisonous gas. 

Buildings were leveled to be replaced with pre-built structures. Using capsule tech, we were able to transport buildings and their contents with ease, so rather than repurposing structures or building from scratch, we just packed up the base when we left the planet. The capsules themselves were becoming increasingly common -- larger versions were needed for bigger and heavier things, but for smaller stuff like rations, supplies and so on, each soldier got a capsule to help them carry it all. 

This, naturally, led to a lot of people losing their food, weapons armor, and personal items, but that was a whole separate problem. Still, it was convenient and a lot easier to carry even more supplies.

I saw aliens walking about, following their patrols. As I walked by, they stopped, snapping salutes that I returned. After two years, I still wasn’t sure if I was supposed to or not, but no one had said anything about it, and after two years, I was in too deep to stop at this point. Continuing on my way, I pushed open the front door, and I heard...cheering…

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. I know that we had a moment of respite, but you can only afford to be so lax on an enemy planet. What if a soldier had taken out the energy shield that surrounded the base? I bet none of them would have noticed until they were dead. I should talk to Mom about setting up a training exercise to teach them not to let their guard down, much less cheering to the point that I could hear them all the way down the hall. 

Walking down it was a familiar face -- Technician. His elongated face covered in deep gray skin, which made his beady black eyes stand out that much more. His eyes, in turn, made his wide mouth seem even larger, especially when two slits marked his nose. And, apparently, that actually was his name, I learned some time ago. 

His species, the Gun-gorians, didn’t have names. Instead, they were called by their job title, only distinguished by certain pronunciations to indicate skill and rank. Even better, Technician was technically a promotion for him, so he didn’t mind me calling him the wrong name originally. 

“Prince Tarble, how are your studies coming?” He asked, his tone pleasant while his lips twitched upwards. I scratched the back of my head before I gave a small shrug. 

“About as well as they can, I guess,” I admitted. I was forced to study several subjects, some in pursuit of techniques, and others to sure up weaknesses, but the only subject that I had a teacher in was tech stuff. And, to be blunt, even with his help a lot of the bleeding edge science went right over my head. “I think I should drop a subject or something. I’m not where I need to be in biology-”

“A true saiyan never admits defeat,” Technician said, earning a blink out of me. I gave him an odd look, think was a little odd, and saw that his lips were fighting to curl upwards into a smile. That was...weird, but he wasn’t wrong, I guess. 

“I...you’re right. I was thinking about giving up on math, but it’s so interconnected to other subjects,” I admitted. Especially stuff like technology, and fields of science. I wanted to double down on biology, to perfect the technique I’ve been working on for the past year and a half then refocus on other subjects, but that was just an excuse for me being lazy. 

The crowd of people laughed uproariously at something, the sound coming from the mess hall. I glanced past Technician, looking at the source, wondering what was going on. What was so funny? 

"If you're in need of assistance, I can look into learning aids. I know a true Saiyan relies on no one but himself and his own power, but studying advanced topics from scratch will prove a challenging if worthy foe without them." Technician said, his lips winning the fight and curling upwards. That...was all technically true, but why was he saying it like that? And why was he smiling like that? 

"...sure…" I said, narrowing my eyes in suspicion as the 501st collectively laughed down the hall. I looked down at the doors that would open up the mess hall for a long moment. "Do you know what they're laughing about? I didn't miss a meeting, or anything, did I?" I asked, looking back at Technician, just in time to see his smirk blossom into a wide smile. 

"Ahh...I think it is something you had best see for yourself, Prince Tarble," Technician said, not exactly easing my worries. If anything, his words caused red flags to go up and wave madly. I gave a slow nod, my eyes narrowed into slits as I walked forward, Technician falling in step behind me, failing to completely suppress his chuckles. It only took a few moments for me to close the distance, even with my short legs. 

Bracing myself for what I was about to see, a sinking suspicion settled in my gut before I pushed the door open. I was hit with a wall of noise -- four thousand people laughing in unison, their backs turned to me to face...me…

If you could call that mockery of an invitation that was displayed on the far wall as a hologram. The entire wall was an artistic rendition of a familiar setting, but the main character on the screen sure wasn't. I barely recognized myself, and it was only barely because it was a highly detailed animation. My eyes were covered with a blood-red visor that stretched from my forehead to my nose. The single lock of hair that drifted in front of my eyes was pronounced to comical levels. It was almost as hilariously bad as the cape that I was wearing. 

The fake me trembled, his fists clenched as he glared up at the sky. A Champion scarab flew up above, exaggeratedly evil as it cackled in the background, mocking me. "Foolish saiyans, you can never hope to match the power of the Reach empire!”

The fake me coughed, struggling to his feet as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, “you really believe an attack like that could defeat me?” He returned, his voice full of confidence. Then the narration kicked in. That was really close. Maybe he’s right...maybe there is no hope-

No! I am a saiyan warrior! Everyone is counting on me! If I fail here then everyone will die! I will win! I have to!

Okay. That was...eerily accurate. I recognized the moment the show was portraying, even if it was animated and butchered. The fake me had a few scuffs, but no blood or wounds that had nearly killed me. Now I’m starting to worry that someone had read my mind, or something, during that moment. 

But...that couldn’t be the case. There was no pale woman or man with an aura of shimmering red. 

“I can’t fall here. You say the Reach empire can never be defeated? I beg to differ,” animated me gasped out-

“DESTROY HIM!” I heard a voice that I recognized scream at the top of her lungs, and immediately it was followed by the entire room laughing. I suppose that explained what the 501st was laughing about -- they were reacting to Elery’s reaction to the...whatever that was. 

I walked forward, sticking to the back of the room, as my animated version cupped his hands to his side, one of my techniques forming. Down the main walkway between the hundreds of tables needed to sit around half of the 501st, I saw her back. She wore older model armor, leaving her tail free to dart around in excitement. Her shaggy mane of hair was flowed down in thick spikes similar to Mom’s, while she was even smaller than me. It was obvious even though she was standing so far away. 

I guess it was to be expected as my counterpart kept screaming -- not even to prepare his attack, but screaming to power up and the scarab let him, for some reason. Normally, Elery would be in a gestation tank for the next three years, but Mom decided against it. I don’t remember the exact reason, mostly because she had nearly killed us all when she gave birth while we were en route to our next destination. Regardless, going by normal standards, Elery had another year and a half before she would be considered just born. 

“Pathetic!” The Champion shouted, readying its blaster. Memories played of that fight just under two years ago. It felt wrong, in a way, to see Leek portrayed like this, even if that scarab really hadn’t been him. It was all too easy to recall what their final words had been -- a thank you as he nearly cut me in two. “You, a mere saiyan, think he can challenge the might of the Reach alone?!”

“DESTROY HIM! RIP HIM APART!” And, if it wasn’t obvious by now, Elery took after Mom. 

Fake me coughed, the light growing brighter. “Alone?” He said and I knew what was coming next. I felt deep in my bones and I wanted the ground to swallow me up so I wouldn’t have to witness what came next. “No...but I’m not alone...everyone’s hopes are driving me forward. I’m not alone in this fight. Everyone below, they’re with me in spirit -- right now, you’re fighting the entire 501st!”

That didn’t even make sense. 

“Spiral...Buster!” Fake me shouted launching the attack and the Champion’s face twisted into one of absolute shock right before the attack washed over him. Which it wouldn’t do because- my thoughts were interrupted when the mess hall erupted in cheering, Elery the loudest of them all as she jumped up and down, basking in my victory, no matter how badly they screwed up the details. Seriously, it was like no one knew the difference between a Kamehameha and a Spiral Buster.

“What is this?” I asked with a quiet sigh, rubbing my eyes as overwhelming exhaustion overcame me. “Didn’t they already make a movie about this?” 

“This is launching a new holo-vid series aimed towards young adults and children. From what I read about the pilot, it seems they’re following your story since your birth.” Technician sounded way too amused for his own good. “It seems that the previous movie sold a tad too well.” Given the sheer number of ads I had seen for it when I figured out what the extronet was, it had better sold well. They were everywhere. Enough so that the second thing I learned how to do with the extronet was to download an adblocker. 

“So...propaganda?” I guessed, glancing at Technician to see that he nodded. I was getting a handle on how other species thought. Sort of. Well, it was mostly how blatant it was, and I knew this would feed into Lord Frieza’s ultimate plan of making me the face of the saiyan race. "Well...that's...something," I said after a long moment.

I'm guessing they were going to use our mission reports for reference. Though, if it was aimed at kids, I'm not sure how they're going to gloss over the whole...genocide, thing. I couldn't even guess how many I had killed over the years beyond that it was a lot. Something like that wasn't exactly family-friendly, but I guess that was the Trade Organizations problem. 

"H-how is this possible?!" The fallen Champion scarab shouted, his tone filled with shock. His armor was battered, an arm missing but for some reason, the scarab didn't cap over the wound and make a new one with nanites. 

Fake me breathed heavily, a triumphant smile tugging at his lips. "When will you scarabs learn that you can never underestimate a Saiyan warrior? With the support of my friends, nothing is impossible. Until every planet has been liberated from your tyrannical rule, heroes like me shall never be defeated!" 

...I...I don't even…

"YEAAAAAAAHHHH!" Elery shouted with triumph as if it was her own victory. She threw her hands into the air, craning her head back as she let lose a triumphant war cry. Naturally, that prompted everyone else to do their own. A great big cheer echoed throughout the mess hall, through the building until I'm certain that it echoed until it bounced off the energy some. 

As if she could sense my amusement and embarrassment, Elery turned around to look right at me. A great big megawatt smile was plastered on her face, her eyes lit up. Pivoting, her grin became sharper in nature as she launched herself at me, racing down the way as she flew past hundreds of soldiers, leaving momentary confusion in her wake that confusion turned to fear as the 501st seemed to collectively realize I was in the room at the same time. 

I caught Elery’s punch with ease, a loud smack echoing out over the suddenly very silent mess hall. Her grin only grew as a leg whipped around, trying to kick the side of my head. I threw up a forearm, blocking the blow, easily seeing what she was trying to do, but decided to let it play out. Her smile became absolutely ferocious, eerily similar to Mom’s, before she launched a fist at my face, certain that I couldn’t block this one. 

I absolutely could, but I decided to lean my head out of the way instead. Elery’s eyes widened to comical levels, unable to conceive that her attack wouldn’t land. Still, like a true saiyan, she didn’t let one failure stop her. She lashed out again, only for me to dodge again, then she tried to knee me in the face. At that, I let go of her arm and leg, granting more options to attack me with. 

She flipped away from me, landing for a brief moment before she sent a flying knee at my face. I blocked it, staying where I was, and doing the same with another kick with ease. Her expression grew more and more frustrated, her attacks coming faster until I made her pay for her recklessness. As I blocked a punch to the face, I guided her arm away, hooking a hand around her wrist, then pulling her arm back. To avoid having her arm dislocated, Elery pulled back, letting me guide her so that I pinned her arm to her back before I grabbed the base of her tail. 

“Ughhhhh…” Elery groaned, going limp. “I...almost had you that time…” she decided, muttering darkly as I let her go, chuckling lightly. 

“Almost,” I agreed before I turned my attention to the 501st. They all flinched as one when my gaze landed on them, those that could sweat were doing so profusely. “Oh, don’t mind me. Enjoy yourselves. While you still can,” I added with some reluctance. I understood that not every race enjoyed fighting as much as saiyans did, and this was a rare break for them. Why they wanted to spend it watching that trash was beyond me. Especially when this movie and the last one butchered the details of what we went through. 

“Yes sir!” They shouted as one, relieved that I wasn’t going to dish out any punishments for annoying me. Or killing anyone, I added mentailly, my gaze glossing over a new face in the 501st. 

Because, in the end, they were soldiers and soldiers died in war. Over the years, members of the 501st steadily were chipped away, their spots filled by replacements. Of the original four thousand that had escaped Rench, only about two thousand remained. I did what I could, shouldering the hardest of problems, but, in the end, war was a meat grinder. The 501st had the lowest casualty rate several times over, but I couldn’t shake the suspicion that in another few years, only a handful of the original 501st would remain. 

“Let...go…!” Elery, never one to give up, weakly punched my ribs. I obeyed, letting go of her tail. And, naturally, as soon as I did, she launched a knee at my chin. I sighed, catching it with a hand as I smirked. 

“You’re feisty today,” I commented as I gently pushed Elery away, sending her out of the mess hall so the others could enjoy themselves without having to worry about me looking over their shoulders. Technician followed me, so he likely had something to say, but was waiting until Elery gave me a break. 

She answered me by throwing herself back at me with a pugnacious determination, “yeah! Prince Tarble is so strong and awesome! I can’t wait to beat up scarabs -- do you think I could go with you next time?” The complement caught me off guard, almost enough for her to kick me in the stomach as I continued out of the building. 

“Prince Tarble is strong, huh?” I asked, preening a little bit. I knew compared to some members of the Ginyu force and people like Lord Frieza, I was nothing in comparison, but it was nice to hear anyway. 

“Yeah,” Elery said, giving up on attacking me to gush about me. “He beat up so many vanguard and champion scarabs, and all of his attacks are so ‘wahhhh!” She mimicked my Spiral Buster, thrusting her hands out. Technician chuckled as her stance shifted, a Destructo Disk forming in her hands with some concentration. 

And, of course, she launched it at me. I continued forward, holding up a hand and catching the disk of ki. For her age, it was a powerful technique, but it still broke against my palm, the shape shattering as it washed over me before fading from view. Elery puffed out her cheeks, clearly expecting her sneak attack to do some damage.

“If you want, I can start teaching you how to do it,” I offered, continuing to walk forward. Elery blinked at me, tilting her head to the side, an uncomprehending expression on her face. 

“Learn what?” She asked, earning a look from me. 

“The Spiral Buster?” I asked, already knowing what she was about to say next. Her eyes bugged out, her jaw dropping -- she looked like I just offered to fly into the sky and bring her one of the suns this planet orbited. 

“You know the Spiral Buster?!” She shouted, her voice full of disbelief. Technician sounded like he was choking on his laughter, and I hoped it killed him. What else was I expecting? “But that's the Low-Class Hero’s secret technique!” I’m going to muder whoever produced that show. I’ve killed a lot of people during this war, but I don’t think I’ve murdered anyone yet, but I’d happily do it if the producer was standing in front of me. 

“No, that’s my technique,” I clarified, making Elery scoff, not even entertaining the notion. “And I’m Prince Tarble, you know. That’s me. It’s my technique. You can ask the rest of the team.” But, Elery couldn’t be swayed it seemed because she sent me a disbelieving look. 

“You’re not Prince Tarble, the Low-Class Hero! He has a really awesome mask and a cape, and he’s super strong!” She pointed out with the stubbornness of those that were certain they were right were capable of. Technician sounded like he might actually die from his laughter, and no matter how hard he coughed, he couldn’t disguise it. 

“...So, if I’m not Prince Tarble, then who am I?” I know she was only a year and a half old...well, technically speaking, she was still a year and a half away from having her ‘birthday’, but...seriously?

“You’re my brother,” Elery pointed out. And, you know what? Fair enough. That got a smile out of me as we continued walking, Technician still in step behind us, letting us enjoy the moment. Or, me rather, because Elery still looked put out that she hadn’t managed to put a scratch on me. I guess I’ve been giving her too many oprotunities during our spars. Her getting cocky could get her killed. 

She hadn’t fought on the front lines yet, nor had she seen her first battle, but it was only a matter of time. Elery was born into the elite-class, even though she was still over a year from the cut off mark. At the end of the three years in the gestation tank, I had a power level of sixteen. Elrey had a power level of three hundred already. If anything, she was closer to Vegeta than the average saiyan warrior.

But, as of now, she would need the Wrath State to battle against scarabs. There were disturbingly few in this sector because the Reach had all but pulled out of it. We broke their back, and now it was only a matter of time before we moved towards another shield world. If I had to guess which one we would be hitting by the end of the year...of the three that we could, my bet was on Antinople. Though, we still had some time before that. 

I looked at Elery, who was now ranting about how awesome Prince Tarble was and tried to picture her using the Wrath State. She would have to learn it sooner or later, that was just how it was, but this early? No, there wasn’t a point. Even my team and the other saiyans that had managed to survive so far still hadn’t mastered it and they were much stronger than her. 

An idea lurked in the back of my head as we continued to walk aimlessly -- Elery listing off every virtue Prince Tarble had, the fact that he was super strong was mentioned more than once, and he had a bunch of really awesome techniques as well. An idea I had been sitting on, unable to make progress with it simply because I had other techniques to work on and there wasn’t a pressing need. But, if Elery was going to fight on the front lines with me eventually, then I would need to create a way for her to get used to the Wrath State rather than drop her into it head first. 

“Ah,” Technician said, looking up. “It seems those reinforcements have arrived. Finally,” he added. I nodded in agreement, looking up to see a saucer transport ship floating down towards our landing area. Further beyond a teal colored sky was our fleet positioned up above, sending down orbital bombardments to shake up whatever was left on the planet in terms of resistance. 

“Hm. Hopefully my request for more saiyans went through,” I muttered more to myself than the others. I said hopefully simply because it wasn’t a given at this point. 

“I’m not certain which ones the other forces could spare,” Technician commented, earning a frown out of me because he was right. I hadn’t noticed it because I spent most of my time with saiyans, and Mom had the most since she was our queen, but saiyans were starting to become a rarity outside of this army. 

No, they weren’t starting to become one -- they were a rarity. Our population cap had been three thousand when the war began, but...a lot of that was made up by the low-class. After six years of war...as much as we might enjoy it, it wasn’t like we always won. Our numbers had been chipped away. I didn’t know the exact number, but it was starting to look like what was in this army was just about it. 

Which was scary considering that there were only about twenty saiyans in the entire army, myself included. There were a few other sprinkled about -- a few mid-class generals, and we had put in a request and it wasn’t rejected on the grounds that there were no other saiyans, but outside of the mid-class...it was starting to look like the fifteen or so low-class saiyans were all that was left. 

“We should go check on the others,” I decided, knowing that they were training. They were always training. 

“Are we going to see the old man?” Elery asked, looking up at me. I know I shouldn’t enjoy it as much as I did, but it really was nice having someone look up at me for a change. Then I remembered I was six years away from my first growth spurt. Another six years of being eye level with peoples knees…

“Yeah, we’re going to see Matillo-” I answered with a nod. Elery’s face lit up, grabbing my armor as she flew upwards. To my suprise, Elery grabbed Technician by his sleeve as well. He sputtered as she yanked both of us up. I quickly started flying as well, letting Technician hold onto me to keep himself stable as we rushed across the HQ. 

The energy shield stretched a lot further than necessary. It was a matter of convenience -- since the air outside was filled with poison, Mom didn’t want the training area to have its own shield since she would have to put on a mask, then take it off a few seconds later. Because of that, I could see the fight happening in the distance. They didn’t use their techniques since the risk of breaking the shield was too great, but I saw two figures darting about.

They clashed above the smoldering wreckage of a suburb -- to Technician and Elery, I knew that they would be little more than blurs. I could follow their movements rather easily, letting me see that it was Fasha and Mom that were sparing. 

I felt their presences, like a tug in my mind. They were burning brightly, powerful as they struggled to master the Wrath State. Mom was dominating the fight, forcing Fasha on the defensive as her fists flew in an unending barrage that Fasha blocked or evaded. The strain was visible on both of their faces -- veins bulging, jaw clenched, their eyes blazing yellow that radiated intensity. 

Mom planted a foot in Fasha’s stomach, sending her flying to the ground like a speeding bullet. She slammed into the ground, shaking the planet as dirt and concrete flew upwards in a cloud. Mom threw her head back and roared in triumph, and it was really clear where Elery got that habit from. 

“Mom!” Elery announced our presence, letting go of Technician, making him squawk as he held on for dear life. Taking pity on him, I formed a disk made out of ki and placed it underneath his feet. 

“Thank you...could...you make it bigger? I...I don’t like heights,” Technician admitted, crouching down and holding onto the disk like a lifeline. Fighting off a smile, I did as he asked-

“My babies!” Mom shouted, burying me into her chest right alongside Elery, who tried to escape, but it was no use for her. Judging from the lack of a scream between every word, she wasn’t in the Wrath State. It would be a simple task of breaking free, but I didn’t. While I savored the crushing embrace, I reached out, trying to find the others. 

Matillo and Lotuce were fighting their own match, and Fasha seemed to have recovered already. Borgos, Tora, and Shugesh were nowhere to be found, though, and I knew Parslee was out herding the resistance. Perhaps one day, my awareness would stretch over the entire planet that I happened to be on, but my range wasn’t anywhere close to that yet. 

“I figured I should check in on all of your progress,” I informed Mom, prompting her to let us go. Elery gasped for breath dramatically while I glanced down to where Matillo and Lotuce were fighting. Matillo was leading her along, focusing more increasing her time in the Wrath State than growing stronger. 

“The others wimped out,” Mom explained when she caught me watching the match. “Tora gathered up the others to go harass the Reach so they were at least doing something. Lotuce is the only one of them with any spine.” She commented, sparing me a glance. “So, at least, she deserves to learn the Wrath State.” 

I nodded, watching as Lotuce visibly struggled with the pain and rage. “Still, even if they’re only gaining seconds at a time, that’s still something,” I pointed out. Two years later, and no one had mastered the Wrath State. And it wasn’t for a lack of effort. They just couldn’t push away the pain and rage like I could. 

“Hm. I guess it doesn't matter too much at the moment,” Mom agreed before laughing as Elery launched a flying knee to her jaw that she caught effortlessly. “Most fights don’t last longer than a few minutes. And, as much as I hate it, having one or two others to offer a distraction while I catch my breath is pretty useful.”

Which is why it wasn’t a priority to create a lesser version until now. At our level of strength now, vanguards weren’t too much of a challenge. Fights with them lasted barely a fraction of their timers. 

“But that only works until you end up in a fight for hours,” I pointed out-

“Like Prince Tarble! Did you know he fought the entire Reach by himself for six days?!” Elery pitched in, pausing her assault to gush. Mom sent a glance my way, which I could only shrug at. I don’t think she would believe me even if I shoved overwhelming evidence that I was Prince Tarble in her face. 

“Is that so?” Mom said, turning her attention back to Elery, her gaze softening a fraction. “Well then, if you want to do the same as him, you better start training then!” That was the only warning Elery got before Mom jabbed at her, forcing Elery to block. They wore matching grins as they drifted off. I watched them for a moment, Mom pulled her punches, but if Elery had a hole in her defenses then she paid for it with bruises. 

“Ummm…” Technician began, looking at me pleadingly. I nodded, lowering us to the ground while I watched them spar. As soon as we touched down, Technician continued. “There were two saiyans in the reinforcements,” he informed me, gesturing to his tablet as proof. I looked at it, seeing two saiyan names that I didn’t recognize.

I fell silent for a moment before handing back the tablet, “it’s better than nothing, I guess.” 

“Your race...isn't nearing extinction, is it?” Technician asked, sounding like he wasn’t sure how to phrase the question. 

I shook my head, “no, we have another generation back on Planet Vegeta. Millions, but I don’t know when they’ll be joining the Frieza-force. So, right now...there’s probably about forty saiyans left active.” With the Wrath State, we could hit a lot harder than the majority of the Frieza-force, so just forty was too small of a number. “I guess going oozaru made a lot of us too big of a target.”

My lips pressed together into a thin line, “but it’s going to be about twenty years before that generation hits their final growth spurt. They’ll need the Wrath State just to keep up. I’ll have to expand the team system…” I mused,  trying to prepare for a problem that was soon to come. Early on, I based the system on how the others fought when they could only manage the Wrath State for a few short seconds. 

One would fight and the others would act as support until the one fighting couldn’t handle the Wrath State anymore. 

“I’m certain you will think of something,” Technician said, sounding like he meant it. However, then he brought the table back to my attention. “And it seems that...your agent has arrived on the planet as well-”

“We need to leave,” I said, thinking that this must be what my ominous feeling was about. My...agent...person. She was here. On this planet. I couldn’t just block her calls anymore...was this my punishment for not killing those that annoyed me? I bet Vegeta or Bardock didn’t have to put up with stuff like this. I bet their agents were too scared of them to follow them halfway across the galaxy-

“Prince Tarble!” I heard someone shout, a voice I recognized, despite only hearing it for snippets of a time before I hung up. My gaze zeroed in on her as she entered my range -- Her skin was a dark purple, her features were saiyan like, but her eyes were a solid black, as was her hair that was carefully styled to make it look like she just rolled out of bed. 

For nearly my entire life, I’ve only ever seen people wear Frieza-force armor and undersuits. My...agent...wore...something. I’m not entirely certain that it could be called clothing. Her collar fanned out, large enough that it would prevent her from looking over her shoulder. More puzzling were the large gaps in coverage around her sides -- that was asking to get shot there. It didn’t even look like she had a protective shield, or anything. 

Her build was slender, her odd clothing flowing down into some kind of...thing that encased her legs -- she wouldn’t be able to kick without tearing it. Even more confusing, there was another layer of cloth that was all rippily that was cut at an angle that didn’t seem to serve any purpose. At the very least, the club-like shoes she wore were tapered with a high heel that could be used to shove into a Reach soldier's eye. 

“My prince,” she greeted me, bowing slightly as she floated in midair with the aid of her shoes. “I’m so very glad to finally meet you in person. Communication on the front lines can be so unreliable,” she said...did...she not know that I was hanging up on her? Either way, it was an excuse, so I nodded along, going with it. “Because of it, we have so much work to do! Your numbers had lulled for a time, but with the release of Frieza-force Heroes, they’ve hit even higher marks than-”

She started talking but it would be a flat out lie to say that I understood a single word of it. I looked at Technician, hoping he had an excuse to bail me out of...whatever this was. He gave me a small shrug, leaving me to suffer through this. I really should be more like Vegeta and Bardock -- they would be so scary that their agent would flee for the hills. 

But… “I’m going to be honest,” I interrupted her mid-sentence. “I don’t really care about any of this. My priority is winning the war.” I stated, having learned that blunt honesty tends to work best. Aliens had a habit of talking around subjects that seemed rather pointless. Why not just be direct? 

“Naturally,” my agent agreed easily, sounding like she had a retort prepared. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she did. “Just by seeing you, our soldiers' morale shall rise. Oh, you do need a catchphrase -- the development team had something in mind...what was it...ah! ‘Have no fear, for I am here!’” She said, lowering her voice an octave before looking thoroughly pleased with herself. 

I shook my head, “no, I mean I’m not going to do pointless things when my men are dying.” At that, her pleased look fell. “This is a war. Thousands are dying at this moment all across the planet. Do you think I would be okay doing a photoshoot, or whatever, when my team could be fighting for their lives?” 

Because this was war. The meat grinder never stopped. Not on this planet, and not on the thousands we were invading. This moment of peace between my family was only going to last a moment. Tora and the others would return, then it would be my turn to thinning out the Reach as we herded them into one final pocket to be crushed. 

“So, unless you can tell me whatever you want me to do is more important than my soldiers' lives, then I’m not doing it unless Lord Frieza himself gives the order. That’s just how it is,” I continued. Her expression was neutral for a moment before she gave a very controlled nod. It was rather obvious that wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but she knew better than to argue the point. 

“Would you be amenable to more passive ways to increase your marketability?” I don’t even know what markerability was but I could tell that I didn’t like it. “You could wear a cape-” she quickly switched tracks when I grimaced at that. I tried to fight with a cape for a bit, and it just got in the way. “Or, would you consent to wearing a scouter similar to the one in your show Frieza-force Heroes?”

She saw that I was on the fence, wanting to reject it simply because I didn’t see the point of it. “This war could last generations,” she said, her tone serious. “Frieza-force Heroes is a show geared towards young adults and children -- when they watch it, they could grow up with you, Prince Tarble, the leader of the Hero-force, as their personal hero. The show is based on you. On your life. Of all the challenges that you managed to overcome despite every odd.”

A second passed as she paused for effect, “except it’s not just a show. You’re not just a character in a holo-vid. You’re real. Your exploits are real. We want them to look at you and think you’re the person that they grew up watching that saved the day and won, no matter the odds. And all you have to do is wear a visor to convince them.” She finished, delivering a powerful point. 

I was going to regret this. I felt it in my bones. 

“Fine.” 

It felt like I just took my first step on a slippery slope and all I could do is hope that I didn’t fall.