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Breaking the Prince (Part 2)	By : Doog Category: Dragon Ball Z > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2235 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters. I will not make a profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Chapter Three

          Vegeta immediately recognized his Saiyajin comrade when Nappa emerged from a newly-arrived pod. At well over two meters tall, he was easy to pick out from across the dock, but Vegeta did not move to greet him. Instead, he waited quietly near the main entrance to the base. Unable to evade the exhaustion from the past weeks of sleeplessness on Freeza’s ship, he was saving his limited energy for the source of his stress: his upcoming mission.
          Nappa eventually spotted his prince, his eyebrows rising in recognition as he strode forward energetically. Vegeta felt his diminished power all over again as Nappa’s bulk neared; his comrade towered almost twice as tall and was easily twice as wide. Though Nappa was obviously elated to reunite with his superior, Vegeta could feel only dread. The meeting had simply been an excuse to leave Freeza’s ship quickly once it had landed on Freeza Planet #138.
“Prince Vegeta!” Nappa greeted him with a bow. “I heard of your success on Gijisei.” He smiled cockily, as if to share in the victory for their race. Vegeta’s expression remained dark, his arms crossed in silence. He was already agitated that their greeting was going as anticipated. Observing Vegeta’s sullen reaction, Nappa’s smile fell.
He’s noticing, Vegeta thought as Nappa studied his gaunt features. Thankfully, Nappa knew better than to discuss any perceived weakness or illness without careful thought, let alone in an area as public as a dock. Taking a cue from his leader, Nappa remained silent until Vegeta finally spoke.
“We need to review the plans for Bachisei,” he announced dryly, and turned to enter the base. Nappa followed him obediently, adopting a more serious demeanor as they made their way to one of the many rooms used to discuss strategy. Walking around a fully-operational base was still an exercise in over-stimulation for Vegeta, but his fatigue was helping him reach a level of functional indifference. Guided by their scouters, they reached a small space equipped with a computer. Once the door to the room had closed, Vegeta was able to take a full breath before he poured himself into his work.
His back turned to Nappa, Vegeta immediately linked his scouter with the available system, transferring the data for their upcoming mission so they could review it together. The planet of Bachisei flashed to life before them, a spinning gray orb on the large screen. Vegeta focused on the image, then used the vision-based interface to pull up and arrange the documents he had studied while on Freeza’s ship.
Staring at the information spreading out before him, he tried to once more push aside the fear that Bachisei, like Gijisei, was another false mission. After receiving the assignment, his research and planning had been his only sources of comfort. The more he confirmed Bachisei’s existence and visualized his coming battle on it, the less he was plagued with thoughts of continued torture.
“How are you, Vegeta?”
Vegeta flinched at the question, closing his eyes as a familiar shame shot through him. Turning angrily to stare up at Nappa’s attentive features, Vegeta let his mouth contort into a sneer.
“That is nothing for you to be concerned about,” he hissed, hoping that would end any further questioning about their time apart. He couldn’t talk about what had happened. He didn’t want to acknowledge it; he had to focus on anything besides his ordeal. Even if he had wanted to, needed to, he could never have shared his burden with Nappa. Though surely loyal to his death, Nappa would never be able to comprehend the complexities of Freeza’s cruelty, nor could he be trusted with the knowledge that Freeza had been the destroyer of their race and planet. Nappa was too hot-blooded and stupid to compose himself for the time required to exact vengeance. Furthermore, though he did not acknowledge this as a reason for his secrecy, Vegeta could not bring himself to surrender Nappa’s respect. How could he survive if one of his two remaining subjects knew how easily he could be overpowered, or even worse, how he had disgraced himself? This did not mean, however, that he did not resent Nappa for his ignorance of the utter despair of their situation.
          “Prince Vegeta, I only wish that you receive rest before we leave,” Nappa spoke more formally, apparently confused by Vegeta’s tense demeanor.
“We don’t have time for rest. If you had reviewed the mission, you would know that the Bachijin are well-aware of Freeza’s intentions to conquer them. The longer we wait to act, the more time they will have to prepare their military.” Vegeta spoke as though he were shouting, but without the increased volume.
Nappa smiled at this, placing a hand on his hip dismissively. “The Bachijin will surrender quickly once they know the power of two Saiyajin elite. After Giji—”
“Nappa!” Vegeta snapped, and something in his facial expression silenced Nappa completely. There was rarely a break in Vegeta’s cold, indifferent attitude. Though Nappa could not know the cause, he finally acquiesced. Satisfied that he could return his focus to strategizing, Vegeta returned his gaze to the image of the planet behind him.
          Bachisei was the most difficult assignment they had received by far, at least out of the missions Vegeta had actually completed. Though its planning had brought him excessive stress, he felt a hunger return to him when he imagined conquering the Bachijin. He had been born a warrior, fighting before he had been able to form memories of it. Gaining power and strength through killing defined him; it was the outlet he had most missed during his imprisonment. Life directly under Freeza would always be a misery, but this was his first opportunity to find release, to escape. Freeza seemed to mean this as some test, another difficulty to plague him during his moment of weakness. Vegeta only hoped that the opportunity was real so that he could begin the process of rebuilding himself. If there was one thing that could restore him, that could remind him of his true self and reunite him with it, it was battle.

****

          The cold of the planet felt harsher than it had appeared when it had only been a statistic on their scouters. Vegeta and Nappa hovered several hundred meters above the ground, surveying Bachisei in person for the first time. Their pods were concealed on the ground below them where they had landed minutes before. They had to get their bearings quickly, as the Bachijin were an advanced race who were waiting for an attack. As such, they were likely to have detected the incoming pods at some point during their descent, so Vegeta and Nappa had a hour at best to make the first move.
Vegeta turned 360 degrees, the gravity of the large planet tugging at him as his scouter scanned for the precise location of the nearest military base. The plan was fairly simple but tailored to the desires of the PTO: Vegeta and Nappa would work together, destroying several of the nearest bases so that they could then turn their attention to the residential cities in the vicinity. If they worked quickly enough, they could devastate a small portion of the Bachijin population, demonstrating the power of the PTO and hopefully forcing a surrender. The Bachijin were a useful race, fitting the general build of most PTO soldiers and having been adapted to the harsh environment and heavy gravity of their home planet. If they could be recruited instead of destroyed, the PTO could raise generations of versatile, durable soldiers. Though either result would leave their resource-rich planet to be butchered for profit, the former was shown to be overwhelmingly preferred in the mission specifications. Vegeta and Nappa simply had to gain a swift and decisive victory.
“There,” Vegeta spoke simply as his scouter bleeped furiously and encircled their target on its screen.
“Let’s go have some fun,” Nappa announced giddily. This was usually a sentiment that Vegeta shared, but the cold had already settled into his joints, making him feel sluggish. Vegeta nodded in patient agreement, leaning forward as he began to cut through the cloudy air. Nappa took an early lead, his ki fanning out in a small ring around him as he disappeared into the darkness and mist.
Vegeta adjusted his ki, or at least attempted to. When he tried to release more, he felt as though his body were slow to respond. Far from enjoying his first opportunity to fly through open air, Vegeta felt confusion, then concern as he sped toward their first target. It has been a long time, that is all, he thought, gritting his teeth and forcing more speed.
The first parts of the base to emerge out of the fog were the slender turrets housing defensive energy cannons. Still slightly ahead, Nappa blasted the first few with his ki, sending explosive fragments of the metallic structures tumbling away. As they drew closer, the remaining cannons perched on the dark gray buildings began to fire brilliantly hot beams of energy. Nappa easily avoided the first rounds, most of which were aimed at him. Vegeta was left to barely dodge the last few blasts before Nappa eliminated those cannons as well. Startled by the already fast pace of their initial approach, Vegeta sharpened his focus and blasted forward to complement Nappa’s attack as his comrade circled back on the large buildings.
Vegeta scanned for activity below him, but the initial defenses were all automatic, targeted to any foreign aerial object. The hangers for the fighter ships came into view, spread among the protective turrets. Focusing his attention on these, Vegeta attempted to fire a round of concentrated ki blasts.
Another aspect that made the Bachijin a formidable opponent was their shielding technology. Most of their military buildings and ships were swathed in layers of protective energy. Only very thin, concentrated blasts of energy could penetrate them. Such an attack was difficult on a large scale given the PTO’s usual ships and soldiers, but the Saiyajin were well adapted for the task.
The ship hangers erupted in small domes of colliding energy, but when Vegeta doubled back to observe the damage, there was almost none. Growling in frustration, Vegeta drew more ki from his core, rolling it down through his arms and pushing it out forcefully. Numerous spikes of energy rained from his fingertips onto the same targets. Even through the heavy mist, the result was obvious: little more damage had been done.
Feeling his heart quicken at the site of the buildings still standing below him, Vegeta stopped in mid-flight. He could feel the ki within him, ready to be unleashed, but it was as though his body were hesitant to obey his will. Frustrated, he tightened his hands into fists before bringing them out in front of him, palms facing forward, wrist to wrist. He yelled in rage as he summoned a steady arc of ki through his being. The desperation of dark hours spent attempting to overcome the K.R.I. device resurfaced as he fought to maintain the steady output. Narrowing his ki to a continuous beam of destruction, he directed it in a zig-zag across the crop of buildings. Images of his torment, of his helplessness at the hands of Freeza mixed with the eruption of blue fire that swallowed his targets below.
The outburst left him panting, staring with still-locked arms stretched forward as he surveyed the damage. The attack was successful: his concentrated beam of ki had sliced open the structures and caused the enemy fighters inside to explode. Turning to find that Nappa had destroyed all of the remaining cannons and several of the other buildings in the same amount of time, Vegeta’s heart sank. His attack had been successful, but it had exhausted him.
“Vegeta!”
Vegeta heard Nappa call out to him a second before his own scouter erupted with a series of frantic beeps announcing an incoming attack. He spun in a circle, detecting the approaching ships from several directions. “Fuck!” he shouted, glancing at the ground below: there was still almost no activity below them. Why are they already attacking from other bases? Why is this one nearly empty? He cursed some more before contacting Nappa via his scouter.
“New plan: take out their first wave until we can have a chance to destroy the city as planned! Stay close!” he commanded. The Bachijin knew Freeza was preparing to attack, but they probably wouldn’t assume that such a small strike was on behalf of the PTO. Nappa and Vegeta still had the element of surprise on their side. If they could handle this initial defensive force fast enough, they could gain a window of opportunity to proceed with their original strategy. This is it. I have no choice but to succeed, Vegeta thought bitterly.
Nappa may have responded but Vegeta did not hear him; the Bachijin’s craft were on top of them in an instant. Vegeta shot upward, bringing his legs in close to his chest to avoid the flurry of blue beams spilling out of one of the agile fighters. Their silvery sheen made them well-masked in the ground fog, allowing them to approach unseen then spring up from the rocky terrain to rally around their hemorrhaging base.
Out of the various dots swimming on his scouter, Vegeta could make out several larger ships racing to join their comrades. Swarms of smaller, crescent-shaped interceptors were already plaguing them from every direction. Vegeta had fractions of a second to react to each attack as the blips on his red screen erupted from the haze as actual fighters. He released a large blast of ki to escape the center of the flurry of energy beams, but two craft were instantly trailing him, firing furiously enough to limit the motion of his flight. He changed directions suddenly to lose them, but another replaced them instantly.
Vegeta was shocked. The sudden onslaught was beyond what he had anticipated, especially at this point in their mission. The Bachijin had somehow detected their presence more effectively than their technology would warrant, and they had mounted a counterattack in almost no time at all. These sorts of difficulties were usually manageable. Vegeta had handled intensive, close-range combat many times before. In fact, it was a type of fighting he enjoyed, one that allowed him to celebrate his full range of power and speed. His current efforts, however, were suffering immensely from a yet-unknown obstacle.
Gaining enough of a lead to attempt an attack, Vegeta continued to move forward as he spun back to face his enemies mid-flight. He fired a group of ki blasts that arced from several directions to collide with the nearest target. He could feel the ki leaving his body, but could still not summon as much as he wanted, nor could he fully control it. The small craft erupted through the explosive impacts, rolling downward to evade him. I’m not penetrating their shields! Vegeta thought desperately. As he dodged its attack, he caught sight of Nappa above him, creating a spark of ki in the air. As one of the larger ships moved past, Nappa shot forward, forcing the the ball of ki to elongate into a bolt that stabbed its underbelly. The connection point bulged outward in a bubble of blue electricity before the shield was overwhelmed and the ship’s underside exploded.
Taken off-guard by the blast and slow to prepare himself for the result, Vegeta was hurtled through the air. It was a second before he regained his composure long enough to see the fighter racing at him from directly below. A blue laser entered the right side of his abdomen, passing through his front and out his back. The chaos surrounding him seemed to implode, translating into a single rumble that shook his body as he stared down at his scorched armor. Another explosion rocked him, deafening him as he was knocked toward the ground. His hand gripped the dark, empty wound as his vision danced with the mass of white specs converging in the center of his scouter’s screen. Another hot pain pierced him somewhere in his shoulder on the same side, twisting him in the air as he continued to fall. He could feel the heat of more blasts flying past him as the ground neared. White blasts of ki mingled with the blue around him. A bulk slammed into him from the side, crushing him. There was shouting, then nothing.

****

Vegeta had never failed before, not at a mission. He stood, frozen in self-loathing against the wall of a wide, empty hallway. He would have gone to his quarters on the base, but it was not clear where those would be after his recent debacle.
The defeated Saiyajin’s body tightened as he recalled the past few hours. It had been terrible enough, waking up in a healing tank, thinking that he was still being held prisoner. This fear, however, paled in comparison to the disgrace he felt once he had realized that he had been injured during his mission. Nappa had saved him, an act which went against the Saiyajin code. Despite the age he had left his people, Vegeta knew it well: the weak die, the strong live. It didn’t matter that it would have been a suicide mission for Nappa to continue the fight on his own.
However it came about, failure was a source of deep humiliation for a Saiyajin elite. Still, wouldn’t it have been better for both of them to die than to return in this way? Remembering the uncomfortable, questioning expression Nappa had given him once he had emerged from the medical tank, Vegeta’s anger coiled his muscles into knots. Why save me if only to share in the disgrace of our people?
          There had been little time to discuss such matters, however, as Vegeta had been summoned to Freeza’s control room on the base. The outcome had been painfully predictable: complete and utter humiliation. Demotion. Disgust. Vegeta could still see the myriad of faces concentrating on his while Freeza had expressed his complete disappointment and rage. Vegeta had seen it in their eyes: they had all expected this to be the end of him, for him to be executed on the spot for such a terrific failure. Vegeta had expected it too. A part of him still did.
Most of what Freeza had said was a blur. He was no longer speaking with dual meanings; he was now expressing his contempt for Vegeta openly. For most of it, Vegeta had been numbly dumbfounded, consumed with his own thoughts of the mission. Before seeing Freeza, he had learned of the fate of Bachisei. Shortly after Nappa and Vegeta had botched the initial attempt and returned to Freeza Planet #138, another force had been sent out to attempt to convince the Bachijin that their surrender was the only viable option. There were a large number of losses on the PTO’s side, as well as the destruction of more than half of the Bachijin and their valuable planet before the desired result had been reached. Overall, it was a meager win that reflected poorly on Freeza at a crucial point in his move to a new galaxy.
The outcome of the mission reflected far worse on Vegeta, which was an entirely new experience for him. All Vegeta could focus on, however, were his thoughts on what had actually happened on Bachisei. As soon as he had been able to reflect on the course of events, it had been obvious to him that the Bachijin had known of their attack, down to the location of their first target. What else could explain the fact that the base had been empty, but a swift counterattack was in place minutes after their arrival? Freeza had not intended the mission as a test. He had intended it as a set-up.
He could see Freeza, his tail swishing angrily from the side of his seat as he had verbally abused Vegeta at length. Monkey scum. Useless Saiyajin idiots. Fools. At the end of it all, when any object of such desecration would usually be preparing for death, everyone had trained their eyes on Vegeta. He, in fact, had been the only one looking directly at Freeza when the tyrant had let his enraged sneer slip into an elated little grin, a playful smile meant only for Vegeta. I have you, he had seemed to be saying. Freeza had obviously been delighted that his sabotage had translated so neatly into Vegeta’s public downfall.
Vegeta growled to himself, still standing alone in the bright hallway. That wasn’t it, though. It wasn’t that Freeza had gotten the better of him again. It made perfect sense that he would purposefully undermine Vegeta’s attempt to restore himself. Whether the mission would have been possible as it had been outlined in the first place was even somewhat debatable, at least with as low of casualties as had been projected. Vegeta was initially surprised to think that Freeza would waste so many of his own resources to humiliate him, but Vegeta soon concluded that Freeza was not the serious, ambitious ruler that he wanted everyone to perceive. Freeza appeared to have so much power that he could squander some of his empire away for entertainment. The senselessness of it made Vegeta sick. No Saiyajin king would ever do anything counter to the success of his people. However, all of these things were also inconsequential. What was truly devastating to Vegeta was something that not even Freeza knew. It was that Freeza’s plan should not have worked. The battle on Bachisei should have been well within Vegeta’s reach, but he had not be able to pull himself together. His defeat was by his own hand.
“I’m surprised you’re still alive,” a voice startled Vegeta from his thoughts. He turned to see a soldier striding arrogantly towards him. As he neared, Vegeta recognized him from Freeza’s ship. It was the purple alien with the face-antennae. Vegeta adopted a more alert stance, facing the approaching soldier and inspecting him more closely. He wore one of the standard forms of battle armor, but with black pants, white gloves, and green boots. Vegeta noticed he had two large holes on either side of his slightly oversized head, a potential weak point if he had to defend himself. The unwelcome company stopped well within Vegeta’s personal space, making it clear that he was not afraid of the worn Saiyajin. Vegeta could make out the small, slimy perforations in his purple skin as he continued to speak.
“I don’t know what Freeza-sama ever saw in a failure like you.” The alien shook his head with mock disappointment, looking up and down Vegeta’s tensed body.
“No one will see anything in you if I blow you into pieces,” Vegeta countered, his rage finding an outlet at this new antagonist.
“Really? I wouldn’t think someone in as much trouble as you would risk angering Freeza-sama any more,” the alien laughed, placing both of his hands on his hips.
“I don’t think Freeza would care if I were to kill an annoying peon like you,” Vegeta replied. His new enemy flinched at the sound of Freeza’s incomplete title, but he regained his casual attitude, smiling and tilting his left temple towards Vegeta as he held eye contact.
“I am disappointed that this is the elite fighter who supposedly decimated the great Gijijin. Quite ridiculous, really. I can’t believe Freeza-sama had me do your work.”
“What?” Vegeta’s eyes widened then narrowed. “Who are you?” This inspired another laugh from the soldier.
“As I said, I am the true conqueror of Gijisei. Freeza-sama wants that to be his and my little secret, however, so you can call me Kewie-sama.” He posed cockily with his chin in the crook of his straightened thumb and index finger. Vegeta’s newly-healed stomach plummeted. So there had been a real Giji mission, and this was the soldier responsible. Why hadn’t he heard of him before?
“You don’t know me?” Kewie asked, reading Vegeta’s expression. “You will soon. You see, Freeza-sama sees great potential in me, and has enlisted me in special training. In exchange for my excellent work on Gijisei and the clean-up job I did on Bachisei, I am to be the latest elite fighter of the PTO.” Kewie paused to regard Vegeta’s glare. “As it would happen, there is a new opening with just that title.”
Vegeta could hear his heart pounding in his ears. Who was this nobody to mock him, the Prince of the Saiyajin? He had fought for years under Freeza, had contributed an unfathomable amount to the PTO. It made his blood boil to think that someone could swoop in with the intent to replace him, disgraced or not. As Kewie’s words sank in though, Vegeta suddenly relaxed, his chest shaking slightly with the trace of a laugh.
“I look forward to seeing your progress,” Vegeta began, turning to walk away down the hallway. He could hear a surprised noise escape from Kewie at his unexpected change in demeanor. “I only hope that Freeza treats you as well as he has me,” Vegeta called out without turning around. There was a stunned pause before Kewie responded.
“I won’t need any special treatment like you did, monkey scum!” Kewie called out after him. Vegeta cringed inwardly but kept walking away. Kewie didn’t follow, his mission of kicking Vegeta when he was down apparently accomplished to his satisfaction.
Vegeta didn’t make it far before he remembered that he really had nowhere to be and nowhere to go. Turning a corner, he leaned his back against the wall of another forgotten hallway. Closing his eyes in exhaustion, he wondered about Freeza’s intended result. He hadn’t been killed at his “debriefing,” but he couldn’t imagine how much longer Freeza planned to keep him alive. How long would he have to regain his former power, become even more powerful, and claim revenge? His goals were appearing increasingly unattainable. It was seeming more likely that he would be returned to a state of torture, but there was no choice but to wait. His memories returned to the last words Freeza had spoken just after he had reached the height of his feverish reprimanding. They still sent a chill through his body.
Get out of my sight...I will decide what to do with you later.
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Breaking the Prince (Part 2)