It wasn't surprising that the Citadelians had hired mercenaries, or even that they had hired other Saiyans.. I figured it was a possibility since, In the end, the four of us alongside Kori and Komand'r had utterly devastated the first fleet they had stationed over Tamaran. So I could imagine they would want something to tie us down, if only for a little bit, while they commenced the invasion. Provided that there was no intelligence leak of any kind, as far as the Citadelians were aware, they could steamroll any resistance they encountered if only by sheer weight of numbers.
I just hadn't expected the mercenaries they hired to be Bardock and his team.
They were strong. I could sense them from my position, and while I couldn't tell who was who, I could tell that Bardock had gotten even stronger since last I saw him. In the past year and a half, his power level had increased to around 27,000pl. The other four were 20,000pl, 18,000pl, 15,000pl, and 14,500pl. Bardock was by far the strongest, but that didn't make any of the others weak by any means.
"King Myand'r," I said, tapping into the broader communication line. "We have some heavy hitters coming our way," I informed, deciding it would be best to hold off on the fact that they were Saiyans and that Bardock was Raditz's dad.
"Then we shall act accordingly," King Myand'r replied, and I knew that was my cue. Glancing at the others, I gave them a small nod before I left the salvaged shield to fly forward.
Flying in space was a little weird, I mused, knowing that I was just distracting myself. The lack of resistance made it hard to tell if you were really moving forward. In the void of space, it was hard to judge based on the size of things around you.
But the fleet was getting bigger, so I was about in range for my opening attack.
I'd given a lot of thought on how I could deal with so many ships at once. And there were a couple of points of inspiration -- like Buu's Human Extinction Attack, only I wasn't strong enough to pull something like that off. So, I had to think more efficiently. After a few months of effort, I had my answer.
"Darts," I said, two ki balls the size of marbles forming above my palms. Those ki balls were joined by others, all of them pressing together, layering on top of one another in a growing pattern. Darts was the first ki technique that I could truly claim to have created myself.
The idea of the technique was simple enough -- I would throw the ki blasts, they would disperse into smaller ones mid-flight, and the smaller ki blasts would spread out. Each one would have its own target that it would aim for. And, given that I had the designs for the Citadelian's ships, I knew where the important bits were. The reactor, the weapons systems, or life support. I hit them, and the ship was dead in the water.
In theory. Let's see it in practice.
Flinging both of the ki balls, they streaked across the distance before the smaller balls began to spiral off to their own targets. They left a thin trail of green ki in their wake, punching through the hulls of the ships when they reached them. The Citadelians probably hadn't even realized they were under attack before their ships began to give out -- some exploded, others began to veer off course, while most just went still. My aim wasn't perfect, but…
"Two hundred ships down. About… five thousand to go," I mused, forming two more Darts in my hands. The ships were starting to react, taking some evasive measures as they tried to figure out what just hit them. I'd anticipated that and I had a solution, even if it was something I struggled with.
I could aim at the people on the ships - one person in particular. Someone on the middle deck, near the center, as that's where the power reactors were kept. But killing them felt more deliberate this way, and I wasn't sure if I was entirely comfortable with it. Blind firing into a ship and the people on it dying as it exploded felt… Impersonal. There was a degree of separation, even if the result was the same. Using someone as a target bead to lock on to was more…
Personal.
All the same, I flicked the Darts forward and they split up to race towards the evading ships. My aim was less precise this time, but even a miss was still troublesome -- it didn't matter if a hole in the hull was the size of a boulder or a needle point, the vacuum of space was punishing and the internals of the ships were compromised. Dozens of ships exploded as the reactors were struck, but most ripped themselves apart with explosive decompression.
Another two hundred ships down. It was as I formed two more Darts that I received an open transmission. I knew who it was even before I answered as I sensed their reaction. "Bardock," I greeted him, sensing his team's rapid approach. They left their ship behind and while I couldn't see them yet, I knew they were coming as they could apparently see me. "I don't suppose that you're reconsidering your contract yet?"
"No chance of that, brat," Bardock returned as I flicked the Darts forward once more. I had the time for it and I needed to do as much damage as I could before I got… distracted. "I've been at this for thirty five years, and not once have we ever backed out of a contract before."
"But Dad, we're on the Tamaraneans' side! The Citadelians are jerks! We don't like them!" Raditz protested and despite it all, there was a note of childish nativity in his voice. "We can fight together and blow up that dumb fleet!"
"Sorry, Raditz," Bardock replied and I started to see them as they raced right for me. "But the Citadelians pay well. I'll try not to kill you or your friends. Your mother wouldn't let me hear the end of it, otherwise." I could almost hear the shrug in his voice as two hundred more ships began to fall away. I had taken down nearly a thousand of them in the opening volley. A lot, but not enough. In every simulation, I had to destroy upwards of two thousand before the Citadelians cut their losses early.
"I think you're a little more confident than you should be, Bardock," I said, turning my focus to his approach. He streaked forward in a flash of light, a shimmering white aura around him with his team right behind him. "We haven't been idle."
"Oh yeah?" I heard the grin that only grew when I blasted off towards him. "Show me what you got, brat!"
We raced towards one another and the taunts brought my team out of position to join in on the fight. I paid them no mind, them or Bardock's team. He got closer and closer and closer until we met in the middle, our fists clashing.
I felt the impact travel up my arm, but I didn't give way. Beneath a face mask that was a similar style to my own, I could almost see Bardock smirking before he blurred into action. He must have said something to his team because they went around me as the fleet continued to surge forward. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to take a breath as the fists began to fly.
Bardock was stronger than me twice over. I had an idea of the gap between us because of my bout with Master Ulf, but it was different against Bardock. He fought with his fists instead of a weapon, and the raw difference in speed was keenly felt.
I emptied my mind and began to react, dodging the blows that I could while countering the ones that I couldn't. If the raw difference in physical ability wasn't enough, Bardock was also bigger than me. Not so much bigger that it almost became an advantage for me like against Master Ulf, but he had a couple of feet and longer arms. Which meant I had two real ways to approach the fight.
I could back off and try to fight him at range… or I could dive right in to reduce his reach advantage.
I chose the latter.
"You've improved," Bardock noted as I pressed the attack, diving for his chest and lashing out. It forced him to tuck his arms a bit, moving on the defensive, but I was forced to recall his special episode where he fought against Chilled, Frieza's ancestor, who was roughly my size. And how he had beaten the stuffing right out of him. "That royal blood comes in handy, huh?"
My concentration didn't slip. I couldn't let it. For nearly a year now, I had been training to fight like this -- scratching at the technique of Ultra Instinct. My focus wasn't something so easily disturbed by a comment about something Bardock shouldn't know. Instead, I responded, picking up the pace of my blows that Bardock deftly blocked or deflected. "It's too early to be impressed, Bardock. You haven't seen anything yet-"
A fist buried itself in my stomach, folding me in half with a burst of speed I wasn't prepared for. "I would hope not," Bardock said before I was sent flying back. "If you're serious about protecting Tamaran, you'll need to do a lot better than this."
As he spoke, the Citadelian ships sailed past his position and the real battle began. Blasts of light started to fill the space between us and Tamaran, making me tsk under my breath as I realized that the Citadelians knew about the ambush. Much like an anthill getting kicked over, all around me the Tamaraneans began to spill forth from their hiding places as the Citadelian's carrier ships began to release starfighters.
The battle had begun in earnest all around me. Tamaraneans were fast, very fast, and the awakening of their potential allowed them to fully make use of their innate strength. They clashed against the starfighters, tearing through them with raw physical strength or starbolts. Others were pounced upon, struck by their blasters and injured if they weren't killed outright. All the while, the ships flew forward in the face of defensive platforms both in space and on Tamaran beginning to fire upon them.
"You're right," I admitted, my attention drifting to my team, who clashed against Bardock's to stall them. "I should have gone full throttle right out the gate. No way I could win otherwise," I admitted. I couldn't hear a thing. All around me, there was chaos that only grew with intensity, and yet there was absolute silence. But I could feel it. The ki signatures that vanished and those that shone brightly as they pushed themselves beyond their limits.
I had to let it go, else I would be overwhelmed. There was no way I could keep a level head if I could feel hundreds of people dying around me, both Tamaraneans and Citadelians.
Clenching my hands, I pulled at the well of ki in my gut and a shimmering red aura emerged from my body. Only for a second, however. Even now, even in this situation, I couldn't let myself fall into bad habits so I forced my body to contain the ki. It strained against it, every muscle bulging until it felt they were going to rip free of my skin. Yet, unlike my previous success with it, the explosion of power was stable. Refined. It was something that I could maintain.
"Kaioken!" I exclaimed, making sure Bardock heard the name of the technique before I blitzed forward. Bardock flinched, caught off guard at my sudden power and I planted a fist square in his gut to send him flying, repaying the favor.
Only he had a warship to break his fall that he smashed into, the armored hull warping and giving way underneath him as he continued to tear through the interior of the ship.
I raced after him and we smashed through the other side of the warship.
Despite the hit, Bardock was smiling beneath his mask.
"Much better."
…
"Aw, it's little Raditz! Hey, do you remember me? I stopped by your house a couple of times back when you were in the tank!" Raditz heard as a fist smashed into his face, snapping his head to the side. The others were in the same position, more or less. His father's team were toying with them, chatting as they fought.
Raditz knew that his father's team was strong. He took some pride in it -- his father and his team had all started out as Low-Class warriors. But little by little, they had worked their way up to become Mid-Class. They had the record of most successful missions, and together, they had the most contracts completed in the Saiyan race's history. His mother would tell him all about it when he was in the incubator, and he used to imagine himself fighting alongside them.
The taste of blood filling his mouth was a stinging reminder that things didn't always go to plan.
"You're Fasha," Raditz replied, swallowing the blood because there was no place to spit it out. The short woman Saiyan aimed a beaming smile at him just before she lashed out with a kick that he almost regretted blocking.
"You do remember!" Fasha said with a laugh while Raditz's eyes darted around for someone who could help him. He wasn't prepared for the sheer difference in power. Raditz was strong. He was even stronger than his dad had been when he was his age. But Fasha and the others felt like a massive unscalable wall put before them.
Caulifla was fighting against Tora, his father's second in command. She was holding out on her own, but she was in no position to help. Cabba was fighting Borgos, the tallest member of his father's team, and the fourth strongest. His small size was helping him out a bit, the ki spear in his hands allowing him to match his opponents reach. But he was still losing, steadily but surely.
Shugesh, the final member of his father's team, wasn't even fighting. He was watching the battle unfold with his arms crossed, waiting to see if he needed to jump in. He didn't. Not when Raditz was struggling to put distance between himself and Fasha, but the woman always seemed to have already arrived at his destination before he could even move each time.
Desperately, he looked off in the direction of Tarble and his father in the hopes that one of them could help him, only to see the two clashing through the ships and leaving nothing but rent steel in their wake. Fasha noticed his look, and she glanced in the same direction as him, letting him hear the low whistle that she let out. "They're really going at it, huh? I didn't think you kids had managed to improve enough to push Bardock like that."
Tarble was fighting his father. That was a pretty weird feeling for Raditz, he thought as he backed off, using the distraction. He wasn't sure who he wanted to win. At first, the natural choice was his father -- Tarble was… Tarble, but it would be shameful if his father managed to be defeated by a kid who hadn't even spent a year out of the incubator yet. Something like that was something people would remember, and that shame would reflect on him.
But…
"Going somewhere?" Fasha asked, kicking Raditz in the gut as she just seemed to appear before him, sending him smashing into a piece of floating debris. He grit his teeth against the pain -- oh, how he hated pain. He had no idea how idiots like Caulifla managed to deal with it, much less seek it out like she did. Tarble wasn't much better.
"Friend Raditz!" Raditz heard Kori shout in his ear a split second before Kori slammed into Fasha. At the same moment, Komand'r started to fight alongside Cabba, only to get attacked by Shugesh. "We are here to aid you!"
"Don't!" Raditz shouted, his body moving of its own will to dart forward as Fasha caught a blow from Kori. Her hand went for a chopping motion at Kori's neck, and it nearly reached it before Raditz arrived, kicking the hand away to the surprise of Fasha. Her eyes widened a fraction, but she reacted effortlessly, wrapping a hand around his ankle before using him as a club to swing into Kori, sending them both tumbling through space.
Kori was nice. Komand'r was nice. The Tamaraneans were… nice. They were weird, but not… not in a bad way.
His mind went to that moment months ago when they delivered the Tamaraneans back to Tamaran. The entire time, he had felt a little uncertain. Why was everyone making such a big deal about buying some slaves? Why had Tarble nearly lost his cool and done something so stupid over it? If Raditz hadn't stopped him, then Tarble would have gotten them blacklisted from the Trade Organization. The king guy… he had given everything that he and his people had to get a bunch of their people back and…
Why? What was the big deal? There were plenty of Saiyans in slavery somewhere out there, Raditz was sure. He didn't particularly care about them. He wouldn't break down crying just because a bunch of Saiyans so weak that they couldn't even stop themselves from being enslaved got returned to Planet Vegeta.
He still didn't get it, even months later. Yet that sight wouldn't leave his head. A bunch of Tamaraneans on the field, holding onto each other and crying. It didn't matter if they knew each other or not.
Raditz hadn't known it was possible for so many people to be happy at once, like their joy was infectious or something. And… he knew deep in his gut that if they lost here -- if his father won and Tarble lost… those same people who laughed and cried tears of joy would fall into despair.
He clenched his jaw as he righted himself and Kori, clenching his fists so tightly that they hurt. They had to win. No matter what, they had to win.
"Guys! I have an idea!" Raditz said, speaking to everyone on the team -- Kori and Komand'r included. "Just gather them up in one place and get ready to dodge on my mark! Got it?" Raditz said, earring an enthusiastic nod from Kori as she flew right back at Fasha. They didn't have long. Fasha and the others were simply too strong.
"Got it-ugh!" Caulifla exclaimed, getting hit by Tora. The others sounded off their affirmations while Raditz flew up. He took in a slow breath as he cupped his hands in the shape of a triangle and began to power up. His ki rushed to the space between his hands as he condensed it more and more while the others were struggling to push their enemies into one central location.
Tora was a loss when he sent Caulifla flying, but Cabba managed to get Borgos in the targeted area. Fasha allowed Kori to tackle her back, weaving between the blows as she delivered punishing counters. Shugesh followed Komand'r when she retreated. Three out of four wasn't bad.
"TRI-BEAM!" Raditz shouted at the top of his lungs, using a technique that he had stolen from Tarble. In response, the ki blast erupted from his hands, racing down at the others, and they only noticed when they started to look up too late. He gritted his teeth against the strain, veins bulging in his arms before he wordlessly roared his effort, trying to take them out of the fight.
He put everything that he had in that one attack until dark spots started to dance across his vision. He put more and more and more until he felt like he was pulling up nothing, and the attack tapered off, fading into nothing.
However, everything went black before Raditz was sure if it was enough.
…
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a massive blast that looked vaguely familiar. But, what drew my attention to it even during the pitched fight was the presence of those who were getting hit by it. It slammed into Fasha, Borgos, and Shugesh -- Borgos, the biggest of them, managed to react in time to use his body as a shield, but the others were still hurt.
Borgos was unconscious, but Fasha and Shugesh were still awake. There was an issue, however.
Their masks were destroyed.
"Bardock!" I exclaimed through the flurry of punches, "Your team! Their masks have been damaged!" I told him, not wanting them to die. Not really. I'm not sure if I would call them good people exactly, but even if he was fighting on the wrong side, Bardock had helped us and I knew he was one of the few Saiyans to redeem themselves, if only slightly.
Bardock's attention faltered, his gaze snapping in the direction of the beam. Beneath his mask, I saw his expression tighten before he looked at me. He offered a small nod before wordlessly blasting off after them, scooping them up in his arms and continuing on down to Tamaran. Which… was less than ideal tactically, but I could keep up with Bardock with the Kaioken, even if I wouldn't say I was winning the fight.
Regardless, his temporary absence gave me an opportunity. It was difficult to take stock of the overall situation without the handy tactical map that Warcraft offered, but at a passing glance… things were going okay, but they were sliding in the wrong direction. In my ear, I could hear the tactical commands, and even that AI I played against. The Tamaraneans in space were getting hit hard, and some were pulling back to the planet.
"Darts," I growled, the ki condensing to my palms quickly as the small marble-like balls of ki layered upon themselves rapidly. I only had a small window of opportunity, so I had to make the most of it. A hundred darts became two hundred, and then two hundred became three. Within seconds each ki ball contained five hundred Darts and I didn't hesitate to let them fly.
They streamed through the void of space, cutting through the already ravaged debris. My aim was sloppier this time, and I couldn't be sure that every hit disabled the ship in question. However, the AI in my ear immediately started to reassess the situation and rather than pulling back, it recommended going on the offensive in key points.
It would have to be enough, because I did notwant to leave Bardock unattended on Tamaran for long.
I blasted forward, going to my team to see that they were jumping Tora with the help of Kori and Komand'r. Raditz was drifting unconscious in space, making me stall until Caulifla called out. "We can handle the big guy! You go beat up Raditz's dad!" That almost got a smile out of me, but I gave her a nod instead.
Grabbing Raditz, I blasted off down to Tamaran, following Bardock's ki signature to find that he'd touched down in a vast plain not that far from the capital itself. Which told me of his intentions. He was laying down the members of his team, who were all hurting. Bardock glanced up my way, tearing off the mask to reveal the frown on his face.
"Don't think for a second that's going to make me take it easy on you," Bardock said as I laid out the unconscious Raditz next to the rest of Bardock's team.
"Wouldn't want you to," I replied, taking off my mask and facing Bardock. I clenched my fists once more as the two of us began to fly upward, neither of us fresh, but the victor was still undecided. The Kaioken was wreaking havoc on my body, and I doubt I'd be able to move for days after this, but for now, I needed every last ounce of strength I had left. "Ready?"
"Ready," Bardock said, his lips curling into a smirk before he blurred towards me. His fist raced for my face, and I sailed forward even as I leaned my head out of the way, going for a kick that he blocked. My heart thundered in my ears, and my blood itched in my veins, yet I kept my breathing even. My focus was sharpened to a razor-edge and it didn't falter as we exchanged rapid-fire blows.
Bardock was still stronger than me, but more than that, he was more experienced. He had decades of hard fights under his belt, and that was what I was lacking. His blows slipped through my guard and still connected despite my attempts to dodge -- yet, every single time, it felt like he was knocking all the loose thoughts right out of my head. The taste of blood was heavy on my tongue, my muscles ached, and there was no small part of me that wanted to just fall from the sky and take a nap.
I could feel it as we fought, exchanging attacks that rang out with thunderous force. I could feel myself approaching some kind of precipice, but I didn't know what kind. Only that I couldn't afford to dial it back, so I had to go full speed ahead.
Fighting as a Saiyan was fundamentally different from fighting as a human, and that was because of flight. Omni-Man said it best -- when you could fly, you could create your own leverage, and Bardock was beating that lesson into my head as he proved increasingly elusive to my blows. When I charged to punch him in the face, he flew down and underneath me, kicking up, and when I rolled out of the way, he darted up with a knee that I was barely able to block, sending me flying further up.
I had to be a fast learner, though, because even with the Kaioken, I could feel victory slipping out of my grasp.
"Not enough, Tarble!" Bardock shouted at me, elbowing me in the face and one of my eyes was covered in blood before he went to knee me in the gut. My hands snapped to my stomach, catching the knee before leaving it to flip off of. With a sharp spin, I managed to kick Bardock in the side of the head, but he was already getting ready to deliver a sharp uppercut.
I flew up, lessening the impact, but it still collided with my ribs, and I could feel some of them giving out. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I reacted, "S-Solar Flare!" The white light that I emitted gave me a split second to recover. Or, so I thought as I found myself dodging a kick that felt like it could have taken my head off.
"Nice trick, but still not enough," Bardock repeated, apparently not blinded, following the kick up with a knee that snapped my head back.
I was losing. Steadily but surely, I was losing.
Should I go for a Kaioken x3? I don't think I could manage it for long, so if I didn't win fast with it, then my defeat would be certain. I had a handful of ki attacks that could maybe turn the tide of the fight, but I wasn't confident in them. Not against Bardock, who was not only stronger than me, but I knew had some tricks of his own up his metaphorical sleeves.
The Riot Javelin was a particularly annoying technique that was designed to punch through powerful energy blasts to hit the person standing behind them since they would be stationary while delivering the attack. I hadn't quite figured out how that one worked, but I decided to make an effort to master it if I didn't die here specifically to piss Bardock off.
No. My problem was more fundamental. It was how I fought.
"Agh… what a pain…" I sighed, clenching my fists so tightly until they bled. My body was too wound up. Too tense. It was easy to pull off in training because there weren't any stakes to be had, but with the fate of an entire planet hanging in the balance? Of an entire race? That was a heavy weight to carry and it was slowing me down too much.
I needed to be faster. Looser. I needed to get rid of every stray thought and focus on the only thing that mattered -- winning. My body knew what to do. I trained relentlessly, I fought just about every day. Maybe my instincts weren't perfect, but I knew what to do. I just needed to do it.
A slow breath escaped me, and Bardock shifted, knowing something had changed, but he wasn't sure what just yet. Not wanting to give me a moment to recover, he punched my face. And, for a split second, it was all that I could see. I breathed in, and I could feel the air in my lungs expanding before I just moved.
It wasn't Ultra Instinct. I knew that much. It was the result of months of training clicking into place, and that allowed me to take my first real step towards it.
My body responded faster than it had before, giving me more time to dodge, even if it was only a microsecond. And yet it was that microsecond that completely flipped the trajectory of our fight. My tail lashed out as I dodged the attack, wrapping around his arm and using it as a lever to send me flying at him.
Bardock felt the change as I delivered a knee to his face, flipping off his counterattack, and even as I spun out of the way of an uppercut, I still was able to kick him in the chest. There was a burning intensity in his gaze as I pushed him onto the back foot and onto the defensive -- I didn't know how to describe it really. It was like a wall I had been chipping at had suddenly given way. My eyes saw more, things that I'd never noticed in a fight before, and my body reacted seamlessly. Not without input, but still much faster than I had ever accomplished before.
My body and my mind were finally in sync.
"You-" Bardock started to hiss as I drove an elbow into his diaphragm before he backed off, flicking a ki blast in my direction, but I smacked it away as I pressed the attack. The bruises and scrapes were starting to pile up while his armor was cracking under my assault.
I returned the favor, sending out a half dozen ki blasts at him, blind firing as he pressed the attack. Most I let loose, but there were three that I maintained a grip on as I raced to meet Bardock, ki gathering in my hands. I made to throw the ki blast, but he lashed out with his hands, catching it, and for a moment, it was a contest of strength. One that Bardock was bound to win.
At least until those three ki blasts came racing toward his back and struck with explosive force, making his attention falter. I dove in, letting the ki in my hands dissipate to lash out with a kick to the bottom of his chin and following it up with an axe kick to his up-turned face with a sharp flip that sent him plummeting to the ground.
"Tsk," Bardock spat, recovering swiftly, but the confidence in his eyes was gone. He was losing and we both knew it. I just needed to deliver the final blow to take him out.
If only it were so easy.
Beyond Bardock, I saw something entering the atmosphere. I barely paid it any mind at first, giving the fight my undivided attention. However, it became increasingly difficult to ignore when it began to emit a red light. It took me a second to place it, but I saw that it was the capital ship of the Citadileans -- it hovered above Tamaran like a moon, charging up a weapon.
Bardock noticed it, too, and chose to tsk rather than punish my lapse in focus. "Those stingy bastards. They're going to level the capital. That's coming out of my paycheck," he noted, sounding annoyed by the prospect but otherwise unbothered. He turned to face me once more, but I only had eyes for the flagship.
They were going to level the capital. The capital that had millions of Tamaraneans huddled in the mountain for safety. For what? Why? The move had no tactical benefit. If anything, destroying the capital was completely against their interests. I…
Spite. They were going to kill millions because of spite. A last ditch effort to break the will of the Tamaraneans with mass slaughter. And I…
I blasted past Bardock, ignoring the swing that he sent at me when he thought I was attacking. "Hey, wait a damn minute- get back here!" Bardock shouted, but I ignored him too as I raced to the capital as the flagship continued to charge its weapon. The weapon shone bright enough that it began to dye the sky red around it, and it only stopped getting brighter when I arrived to place myself between the beam and the capital.
I took a breath and let it out, "Ka…" I began to speak, cupping my hands to the side. It was a technique I had been saving. One that I didn't want to use too lightly. I was probably putting too much weight to it, but it didn't feel like something I should throw around casually. "Me…"
The red eye of the flagship pulsed, a warning of what was coming. "Ha… me…"
A massive blood-red stream of plasma raced down from high orbit, filling my vision until it was all that I could see. It contrasted the green light that slipped between my fingers, the ki layering and compressing as I poured my strength into the attack. There was a low thundering roar that announced the beam's arrival and I roared right back at it.
"HA!" I roared, thrusting my hands forward as my first Kamehameha erupted from my palms, racing up to slam into the beam. They clashed in an ignition of purple light, and my arms nearly buckled from the weight and force. Lightning crackled around the point of contact as the beam stalled in the air, the bolts carving outlines in the surrounding area uncontrollably. My arms trembled from exertion even as I felt the beam starting to push my way.
Unacceptable. Completely and utterly unacceptable.
This… might kill me, but I found that I didn't give a damn.
"Kaioken times three!" I roared in defiance, a shimmering red aura exploding from my body. The pain was indescribable, but power surged to my attack. The stream of green ki doubled, bulging against the red beam before it began to push it back. Then, like a thread pulled too hard, the tension snapped, and my Kamehameha surged forward, carving its way through the beam up to the moon-sized ship above.
I couldn't see it myself, but I could feel it when the Kamehameha stopped encountering resistance. The sky above was dyed white with a flash and even as my strength failed me and darkness encroached upon my vision, I wore a smile on my face.
A DBZ classic.
…
"Not bad, kid," Bardock said, catching the brat by the tail before he could fall too far. Bardock looked up at the remnants of the explosion above, watching as chunks of debris started burning up in the atmosphere. In his earpiece, he could hear the orders to retreat, the Citadel forces fleeing, along with his paycheck. Despite the black mark this would put on his record, Bardock found that he didn't mind too much.
This little jaunt to Vega only started because Gine insisted that he shadow Raditz on his first outing. Then when the Citadel came calling he only took the job because it promised a big payday, one large enough that it'd give him a big leg up with his future ambitions. He never expected to come into contact with his son and his team on the opposite side. He'd be lucky to keep both of his ears when Gine found out about this.
But it was worth it. His son had taken out half of his team in a single attack.
So, he chuckled to himself before he looked down at Tarble, the brat who put up a better fight than he had any right to and managed to eke out a win despite all the odds. Who now slumbered away, bloodied and bruised but victorious.
"Not bad at all."