Going Native: Sounds of Family (ch. 46) (Patreon)

I haven’t heard from Vegeta in three years, ever since we last saw each other on Planet Vegeta, and the silence was telling. Ever since I joined the royal family, I would get the occasional message or call, usually in response to me, but in the past three years, there was only silence. Any attempt to contact him went unanswered. Perhaps it was simply a case of him being busy, but giving the timing of the silence, I couldn’t believe it. 

It was weird technically being in charge of an empire. Even if most of the territory in my empire were desolate planets that were being terraformed into various kinds of planets. I followed the guide that Ada’la had provided me -- listings of what various planets would be best suited for from mining to food or energy production, to entertainment. It was going to be a couple more years before the planets were done terraforming, but things had changed greatly for the Saiyan race. 

And for me as well. King Vegeta had gone dark as well, and I could only assume it was in response to the special privilege that was granted to me. I couldn’t even ask him about why he had tried to kill my team after years of gathering my thoughts on the subject. Both of them had practically shut me out and there was nothing I could do about it. 

King Vegeta was the King of the Saiyan race, but I held several dozen planets under my power. 

I wasn’t sure if I was even a prince anymore. 

A sigh escaped me as I pushed myself up, my arms struggling with the simple task. A puddle of sweat underneath me proved that I had been at the task for some time. Push-ups. One of the few pieces of knowledge leftover from my time as a human. Push-ups, crunches, squats, and other exercises to keep a flimsy human body in shape. All were made fifty times more difficult when the gravity was increased by fifty times the galactic standard. 

Despite the pain in my arms, I continued to do push-ups, no longer bothering to keep count but pushing myself to the point that I simply couldn’t do anymore. My tempo was steady, my breathing even as rivers of sweat dripped off of me with each movement, my undersuit soaked with it. Even it was working against me, the weighted fabric felt like it weighed… a ton because it actually did. 

A disk of light was above me, controlling the gravity within its circumstance. It had taken me a year to get a handle on the technique. A year of studying gravity and how machines could produce it artificially. The biggest hang-up was keeping it leveled while I was distracted -- without paying much attention, it could grow more intense or weaker without me noticing. Three years later, I was still hesitant to call the technique complete, but it could be used and that's what I wanted. 

My arms burned with effort and I hit my limit. Instead of stopping, I increased my pace of pushups, forcing myself to go further. Swear flew off my face, the pool beneath me expanding, and only when my arms threatened to give out from underneath me did I stop. 

I flipped over, moving away from the puddle of sweat, and started to do sit-ups. 

"Prince Tarble," Ada'la spoke in my ear. I resisted the urge to reject the call, knowing what she was about to say. I didn't simply because I knew that she would keep calling until I did answer or, worse, show up in person. "We’re about to leave slip-space and you’re booked for a VIP visit," she informed and I bit back a groan. 

"I'll be there," I told her, ending the call and dismissing the disk that hung overhead. Instantly the gravity returned to normal levels, and I couldn’t feel lighter. I swallowed my annoyance at before forced to greet random aliens who wanted to gawk at me, especially when I wanted to continue training or anything else that was a vastly more productive use of my time… but I couldn’t. 

Because, even if neither my brother nor my father were speaking to me, I was in the best position to complete the plan. My influence across the Trade Organization. I was on merchandise, the three shows about me were all in the top ten most-streamed shows in the entire Trade Organization, and I was being hounded by important people for this or that. So, I would grit my teeth and force my way through meet and greets, ad placements, commercials, and so on. 

Whatever it took to free the Saiyan race and complete King Vegeta the First’s plan. 

Turning towards the shower, I washed off and put on my normal attire, including the cape. I got used to wearing it, and I liked the added weight. Technician had done a nice upgrade on my armor -- it was now weighted, and my scouter didn’t permanently dye my vision red anymore. My cape weighed about a hundred pounds with another two hundred spread out across my body. Small things that slowly helped me build up my strength with the lack of worthy opponents. 

A door opened and I saw it was Matillo. He bowed as a greeting, “My Prince,” he started as he looked down at me, “Off to… shake hands?” He questioned, and I swallowed another sigh as I nodded. None of the others saw a point in what I was doing, not even Mom, but as always I could count on Matillo to have my back. 

"Yeah. I don't know who it is though, but with the level of secrecy and pull the person has, I'm guessing a Board Director," I said, leading the way to the command from a small training area that was made for my personal use. Time had proved that it was a necessity. I used specialized equipment to help me gauge the effectiveness of techniques or monitor things to let me fine-tune it beyond what instinct was capable of alone. When I left them in public training areas, they kept getting broken. 

"Another one?" Matillo questioned, understanding who I was rubbing elbows with. The Board of Directors were some of the most powerful people in the galaxy even if none of them had any physical abilities. They helped Lord Frieza rule the Trade Organization, and each one could be considered an emperor with the vast stretches of territory they controlled. Each one oversaw a sector that specialized in a certain field like pharmaceuticals, or food like Slurm Cola. 

And in the past three years, quite a few of them have tried to endear themselves to me. Some had more success than others. 

Like my fleet, for instance. Smaller than most but it was tailor-made to my and my tech support's requests. Twenty-five ships, each equipped with a slip and wink drive, and enough weaponry that I would feel comfortable fighting twenty-five hundred normal Frieza-force ships. All courtesy if a Director named Vril Dox. Apparently my career was one he had watched closely since Rench, and he had ships being built for me ahead of time. 

I still wasn't sure how I felt about that. 

“Probably. Can’t imagine why else they would make it a secret,” I said, walking through the halls of my ship. The flagship of my fleet -- given what it was capable of, the name the Devastator seemed more than fitting. The ship itself was designed to house the 501st with various other features like a stasis bay. Given how much time we spent in slip-space, where seconds of real-time were days in slip-space, a significant portion of the crew chose to enter stasis to avoid losing years of their life. 

Only a handful of long-lived species, like Avery or Ada’la, or saiyans remained awake. It wasn’t something that I thought about often, mostly because it never really seemed feasible or relevant, but I was going to live for thousands of years. I had Technician and Narra look into Matillo’s lifespan, mostly to sate their own curiosity, and they found there was a direct connection to strength and lifespan. 

Roughly every thousand pl was a century added onto a Saiyan’s natural lifespan of about eighty years. 

I was going to live for around five thousand years if I didn’t grow any stronger. And I was absolutely going to grow stronger. If anything, whatever years I would inevitably lose in slip-space would more than be made up due to training. It was just something odd I thought about every once and a while. 

We walked through the halls and I let my mind wander. Children saiyans flew through the air, chasing each other and fighting. They barely paid Matillo and me any mind as they passed us. Most noticeably was the fact their eyes were blazing yellow. 

The past three years had been filled with progress. The saiyan recruits were growing stronger with each fight, most of them had reached stage five with the Wrath State, and there had only been a handful of casualties. More than that, they were developing their own techniques. Some barely used the ones that I taught them anymore. 

"They're ready," I commented to Matillo, who made a noise of agreement. "With the average power level being around two thousand five hundred, we can look to moving some squads to more active roles in combat." For the past three years, the Saiyan recruits were stuck in support roles, much to their displeasure. 

The few casualties that there were over the years were mostly caused by a Saiyan child deciding to ignore orders to fight. Sometimes entire teams. And that fact didn't go unnoticed by others. But, my kind sought challenges, regardless if they were too much, so I implemented much more attainable challenges to occupy them until they were ready. 

"Elery will be overjoyed," Matillo agreed, a small smile in his voice. He wasn't wrong there. 

As if she had been summoned, I felt Elery's presence rush towards us. Over the years, my range for my ki sense grew until it covered the entire ship. So it was easy to keep track of Elery. She rounded the corner, her face set in a scowl. 

"Did you see a bunch of idiots fly by here?!" Elery shouted, her expression demanding blood and suffering. She looked the same as she ever did, if only slightly bigger now that she finally entered the positives in terms of age. 

"That way," I said, jabbing a thumb over my shoulder. Elery blew past me, her presence powerful amongst the others. Elery was always powerful for her age, but as time passed, she grew into her strength. Amongst the tens of thousands of children that were attached to my fleet, Elery was among the strongest. Olaive remained her rival, Kakarot was just behind both of them. Broly, on the other hand… 

Broly remained in a league of his own three years later. And I wasn't sure if that was ever going to change. 

"Elery has proven herself worthy of a leadership role amongst the children," Matillo said once we were out of earshot. As we walked, there was the occasional crew member or soldier that made their way to the mess hall to get something to shake off the stasis disorientation. I gave the words some thought before I nodded, having thought much the same. 

"She has. Her squad has moved on, and it's time to have those that were educated to be leaders step into their roles," I agreed. It was clear who had received that education in the tank. Olaive was among that number, and so were the rest of the hundred I had taught years ago. "They've done well with being the leaders of five man squads, but it's time to scale up. Let's start at twenty five and see how they handle that." 

"I'm guessing our next target is a soft target to test them," Matillo questioned, sounding like he thought he knew the answer. And he did. Whenever I tested something or changed a strategy, I preferred to try it out on a soft target first. So my troops could get used to the change before testing them out on a harder target. 

"An ocean world. Well, it was before the Reach froze it over," I confirmed with a nod. 

"What will this one be turned into?" Matillo asked out of ideal curiosity. I think he was still mystified by the concept that all of the damage done to the planets could be undone with technology. 

"A food production planet, I think. Ada'la said that there were a bunch of fish based species that were renowned for their taste. Apparently, we can bring the species back by finding bodies and using them as a genetic base to clone them." As well as edit out some traits to make it easier to mass produce the species. I didn't like it -- if anything, we should be making the species larger and stronger with gene editing, but I understood that was my Saiyan instincts talking. Gene editing was incredibly expensive and if we did what I wanted, then we would never recoup the losses spent. 

And money, now that I was in charge of dozens of planets in various degrees of terraforming, actually had use. 

"Hm," Matillo acknowledged as we walked. An announcement made itself known through the intercom as the stasis pods were forced open. Warning that we had ten minutes before we left slip-space. We made our way to the command deck in a comfortable silence. 

We arrived to find that Ada'la was already there, looking as impractically dressed as she ever did. Her dress changed every day, and she never wore the same thing twice. The only thing her dresses had in common was that they were impractical for combat. 

"Greetings Prince Tarble, I hope you're excited for our latest opportunity," Ada'la said, sounding like she was excited enough for the both of us. I simply nodded, wishing I had spent the time I would be stuck waiting training, but knew better than to say anything. “I’ve done my best to figure out who our mystery VIP is and I’ve narrowed it down to a few choices. Virl Drox is a likely candidate given your previous history, but there are also a few others. Likely factions trying to lure you to them.” 

I swallowed a sigh at that. The further up the ranks I climbed, the more divided the Frieza-force seemed. The Board of Directors was divided up by factions that were determined by specializations in production -- weapon manufactures teamed up with armor producers and tech developers. Pharmaceuticals unionized with food exporters. Slavermongers with any kind of production that was manpower intensive. 

Worse, absolutely every single faction was not only competing against the others but they outright hated each other. The only thing keeping them from declaring war against each other seemed to be Lord Frieza. And Lord Cooler, given that his half of the Trade Organization seemed to be Lord Frieza’s direct competition. 

“We’re exiting slip-space, so brace yourself for normal time,” The admiral of my fleet said, a yellow skinned alien with three sets of eyes to give it a near three-sixty view around himself. His warning was unnecessary since there was no real side effect to leaving slip-space, but I’m told that Admiral Shen liked to think of himself as funny. 

A second later, we left the slip-stream portal at our designated coordinates. There was no planet in the immediate vicinity, but the system we found ourselves in was absolutely filled with asteroids. Mineral rich asteroids, so the Reach were fighting tooth and nail to remain in the asteroid field and, worse, with so many places to hide it was next to impossible to completely root them out. 

"We were just pinged by friendlies," the admiral informed us. "But given that the Frieza-force encryption is utter shit, I'm keeping shields up. Any movement?" He asked while a hologram of the surrounding area appeared. There were asteroids everywhere -- there had once been planets in the system, but something had destroyed every single one of them. Now they were an asteroid belt that surrounded a red sun, and it stretched for billions of miles around. 

Several pings were marked on the map. A video feed displayed them and my eyebrows quirked up when I saw that the ships were attack balls. Six of them in total. They moved in sync from behind an asteroid, moving towards our flagship. I-

As the attack balls moved closer, it felt like I was hit in the face with a planet I was suddenly so disoriented. I stumbled a step back, swaying dangerously just from the presence that washed over me. Any trace of moisture vanished from my mouth -- it was impossible to compare the presence to any other I had felt before. If the presence of my team, some of the most powerful people I had fought beside, could be described as a candle flame then this presence was a sun washed over me. 

"I'm going down to the docking bay," I informed, turning around and flying off without another word. Grim determination filled me as I flew right through the door, my hands curling into fists as my mind raced faster than my body did. Ada'la said something in my scouter, but I didn't hear her. The presence was bearing down on me, muting every sense as an overwhelming sense of danger slammed into my brain again and again. 

I tore through entire floors, letting the repair drones do their work, in order to arrive before the attack balls did, wanting to confront whoever the presence was in as favorable terrain as I could. Whoever they were, if it came to a fight then I would need every advantage that I could get. 

With my cutting corners, I arrived at the docking bay just in time to watch as the attack balls landed. I stopped in front of them, my eyes trained on the one that contained the monstrously powerful presence, so powerful that they others were swept up in it. I could barely feel them, and at this close, whoever the presence belonged to -- I could feel the weight of their strength pressing down on me. 

The door cracked open to reveal a black and white alien that I recognized instantly. Neatly trimmed hair, a clean shaven face with black markings that surrounded his eyes that glowed red. 

Captain Ginyu of the Ginyu force. 

His eyes widened dramatically before he darted forward so quickly it was as if he had teleported. He reappeared some feet away, his arms spread out in a T-pose while one leg was curled up and angled so it went across his waist with his foot pointed to the side. "I am Captain Ginyu of the Ginyu squad!" 

A crack of blue lightning filled my vision and thundered in my ears, a second alien appearing behind Captain Ginyu. "Burter of the Ginyu Squad, fastest person in the universe!" A large blue reptilian alien informed, blue lightning cackling of his body. His arms were pointed towards the ceiling, one arm stretched out while the other was bent. 

"Recoome of the Ginyu squad," Recoome shouted, matching Burter's pose behind Captain Ginyu. A large alien that looked like a Saiyan without the tail and a spot of red hair on top of his head. 

"Bardock, vice captain of the Ginyu squad," I heard a familiar voice inform and I could barely believe it as Bardock struck a pose directly in front of Captain Ginyu, his arms pointed directly down at an angle. He looked as he ever did, minus a scar that slashed through his shoulder with a small gap between the muscle. His hair was still ridiculous as ever, he still wore his black armor without an undersuit. 

But, more than that, he looked strong. And alive. 

Bardock offered me a small smirk, clearly enjoying my dumbfounded expression at the sudden reunion I hadn't expected at all. But I could dwell on it for long as the remaining two members of the Ginyu squad introduced themselves. 

"Jeice of the Ginyu squad," Jeice, a red skinned white haired alien informed as he posed directly before Bardock, his arms fanned out upwards to form an X with Bardock's as he crouched. 

"Guldo of the Ginyu squad," the smallest member of the Ginyu squad proclaimed, striking a dramatic pose before Jeice. He was around my size, a large green head with a set of much larger eyes at his temple, flanking a set of normal sized eyes. 

I looked at them all for a second, so dumbfounded by what I had just witnessed that my control over ki sense slipped. And the moment I wasn't bombarded with a sense of overwhelming power, it let me gather my words. 

"General Tarble," I introduced myself, torn between staring at Bardock and Captain Ginyu. "Welcome aboard the Devastator?" 

Captain Ginyu let out a boisterous laugh, "It's good to see you again, Prince Tarble! You clearly moved up in the world with your numerous television series and toy lines, but you still haven't quite beaten out Ginyu Adventures, which is still the number one most streamed show in the entire Trade Organization," he said, walking over and bending down so he could slap me on the shoulder. I blinked as he dislocated it, but that didn't stop him from continuing to slap it as he let out a laugh that sounded faker with every passing second. 

"I'm surprised you remember me Captain Ginyu," I confessed. I met him very briefly years ago. 

"How could I ever forget the person that has been Employee of the year for five years running? I thought I would have a chance with my high risk missions and Bardock being on my squad, but I should have known better!" He started laughing again really loudly and it sounded extremely fake. 

I… didn't think he liked me very much. 

"...Right," I hedged, that pressure that had nearly suffocated me still fresh in my mind. I had always known that Captain Ginyu was powerful, but feeling that pressure… the only thing I could think to compare him to was Lord Frieza, and that was deeply unnerving. “But what brings you here? Are you escorting the VIP, or…?” 

Captain rose, coughing into his fist, “My apologise for getting ahead of myself -- I and the rest of my squad are on a top secret mission,” He said in a stage whisper, his voice echoing through the docking bay simply because of how quiet it was. “You specifically have been requested by Lord Frieza himself. The nature of the mission isn't something that could be spoken about over scouters.”

“The Cooler-force hasn’t advanced an inch since the war began and it's clear that Cooler won’t step in,” Bardock spoke up, crossing his arms as he looked down at me. I could feel the weight of his gaze, the expectations he was putting on me. After years of being a commander, then a general, I was accustomed to the weight. “Since you’re the Shield World expert, Frieza wants us to lend a helping hand.”

That would mean completely abandoning the front I was in. Putting all of my plans on hold, possibly for years. 

“The Shield Wall,” I said, speaking the name that was given to the front that kept the Cooler-force at bay for the past nine years. A string of Shield Worlds and other defensible planets that repelled invasion after invasion after invasion. Hundreds of billions had lost their lives trying to break through that Wall. A Wall that was manned by a Reach alien named Koter Ve’sk. 

“That’s the one,” Bardock confirmed. 

“Naturally, this task will take some time. I understand if you’re unwilling given your special privilege,” Captain Ginyu began, pausing when I shook my head. 

“No, it’s fine. I could use a challenge,” I decided. “The situation on this front is… sustainable,” I explained with some hesitation at Captain Ginyu’s surprise that I was willing to drop whatever I was doing to go halfway across the galaxy to fight in another front. 

“Sustainable?” Bardock questioned, prompting me to look up at him. It was so weird seeing him again after all these years. We had exchanged messages and spoke around once a year, but that was it. The nature of the Ginyu force meant he was deep in Reach territory causing trouble, so it wasn’t easy to keep in touch. 

“The momentum on this front isn't going away. Ever since I got my privilege to own planets I take, that seemed to spruned the entire front into action to take planets before I could. Doesn't work most of the time, but it’s made commanders and generals rather… reckless with their armies,” I said, putting it lightly. Each planet for the other forces were utter bloodbaths on both sides. “It’s gotten bad enough that most forces in this front are using clone armies.”

And, at the end of the day, clones were expendable. They were mass produced and cheap. Most wouldn’t live to see the end of the year without seeing a Reach soldier. Most weren’t smart enough to do anything more than point their gun, shoot, then die. 

The commanders were reckless for profit. And it was working. I still didn't know how I felt about that. 

"Do you just need me?" I questioned, looking up at Captain Ginyu. He nodded, so that simplified things. "Then let me pass things over to Tora so he can execute my invasion plans while I'm away." 

"Of course!" Captain Ginyu said, walking forward. "I'll let the two of you catch up and make your preparations, General Tarble." 

I looked up at Bardock and he cracked a smirk as he reached down to thump me on the head. I let the blow fall, feeling overjoyed at the action that used to piss me off. "You did good, Tarble," he said. "I left the team in good hands." 

A warm feeling entered my chest. A feeling I hadn't felt since King Vegeta accepted me into the Royal Family. 

"It wasn't always easy, but I got everyone through it. Kakarot and Gine are here too," I informed, turning to walk with Bardock. "How have things been on your end. You seem stronger," I remarked, looking up at what I could only describe as my mentor. The man whose shoes that I had to fill. 

"I'm not the only one," Bardock deflected. I reached out with my ki sense, limiting my awareness, and felt Bardock's strength. He was strong. Extremely strong. But, I guess fighting beside people like Captain Ginyu would do that. Then he let out a chuckle, "But I'd probably be dead by now without the Wrath State. And the Medicine Ball," he admitted, giving me a pointed look. I guess it wasn't a shock that he figured out I used the Power Ball as the base for the technique. 

I smirked right back at him, "I'm going to be disappointed if you didn't come up with something in the past five years." 

"Then you'll be disappointed. I've learned my lesson about using techniques around you. Let you steal and repurpose another one of my techniques? Fat chance," Bardock shot back, sounding amused. It… felt good to talk to him like this. For the first four years of my life, I just nodded and obeyed whatever he said. And one of my greatest regrets in those four years was how I had simply gone through the motions, spending months sleeping instead of connecting with my team.

"I prefer the term improving," I replied, making Bardock huff. Then he sighed.

"The Shield Wall is going to be a tough nut to crack," he started. "You sure you're up for it?"

I nodded, "I'm sure. The biggest issue with Shield Worlds is stopping them from self-destructing. With the Ginyu squad hitting the Shield Worlds, we should be able to handle it easily enough." 

Bardock cocked an eyebrow at me, "That's a lot of confidence." He noted, and I agreed with him there. 

"I've been following news on that front for some time now. Lord Cooler isn't committed to the war at all," I stated. "The invading forces that he uses are bottom rung trash and the fleets are repurposed junk. Stuff that would be salvaged and sold as scrap. Which he does. Lord Cooler is making an insane profit from the war by doing pretty much nothing." 

While the Frieza-force was losing money. War was expensive and while the Frieza-force could afford the expenditure, there was no question whose numbers looked better. 

"But I'm hoping to divide the Reach. Right now, my front is the only one making significant progress. And because of it, the Reach is willing to throw everything that they have available to slow us down. We punch another hole in their defenses, and then those resources get divided." I explained my reasoning as we walked. 

Bardock nodded, "That's what the Ginyu squad should be used for, but we're stuck doing deep cover missions behind enemy lines. Which isn't bad. We get to fight some of the prototypes and new tech, but with powerhouses like Ginyu and Burter… feels like they’re wasted on those kinds of missions.” 

I went to respond, but I was interrupted by two people rounding the corner. 

“Bardock?” Gine spoke softly, coming to a stop as she nearly ran into us she moved so fast. Her eyes were wide, a tremble in her voice as a hand went to cover her mouth. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, seeing Bardock for the first time in nearly ten years. 

“Gine,” Bardock returned, a gentleness in his voice that I had never heard before. He closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her, a soft breath escaping him while his shoulders seemed to straighten, an unseen weight lifted from them. He held her for a second before he pulled back, gathering himself. His gaze shifted over to a child with a matching hairdo. 

Bardock’s smile grew by a fraction. “And you must be Kakarot,” he said, dropping down to a knee before his son. 

Kakarot looked up at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw, unable to believe what he was seeing. 

“Dad?” He questioned, almost sounding unsure. 

I watched the scene for a moment before I walked away, giving them their privacy. While Bardock said hello to his family…

I would say goodbye.