"... a fucking abomination."
"Why would you... God?"
"... wrong with you?"
I opened my little bitty eyes and took my first look at the world around me.
My first thought?
Oh fuck me!
The diminutive King Vegeta floated just in front of my tube, glaring into my newly opened eyes as he almost growled in primal rage.
Behind him and to his right was a large (understatement of the millennium there) bald man with muscles that could make Arnold Schwarzenegger blush. Goddamnit... Nappa.
"So, scientists... tell me why you all decided to waste my father's money on this little bastard!" Vegeta said as he shook with rage, his voice getting louder the more he spoke.
"Th-this child seems like it can be a great asset to the empire my Lord..." the scientist muttered dejectedly, seemingly knowing where this was going.
"Shut up!" The child voice of King Vegeta roared. "I want this abomination off my goddamn planet, just like that fucking anomaly Paragus brought to me."
"Yes my Lord," The scientist said in a sad and resigned tone. "Where would you like me to send him?"
"To that shit hole of a planet we found on the scanners earlier... Hiari or something."
"It will be done my Lord."
"Measure his power level before you send him out. And fit him with a scouter and battle armor. If he finds his way back, maybe we can use him."
"Yes, my Lord."
They scanned my power level (125), did a blood test, and fitted me with a scouter and armor. Finally, the scientist that I assume revived me, put me in a pod and set the destination. He put his hand on the glass and looked at me with a strange sort of face.
"Do well, little one. We scientists are rooting for you."
My pod took off, sending me on a course to Hiari.
My eyes blinked hard as my tiny mind began to process information.
I... I just got sent to commit genocide. For a tyrant.
Huh.
Welp, I guess that tells ya what kind of people the Saiyans are.
I mean, I had no illusions of what this world actually was, but by the Kami...
Anyway, the Pod had more information than the Incubator, so I began to view things on my trip, like my physiology, my tail, and Ki.
The thing also gave me relevant information about where I was going, telling me about the locals. They were literally just Fire Ants with humanoid shapes. Their average power level on planet was about 50, with outliers being around 700.
The planet had a moon that orbited the planet fully twice in a standard month.
Finally, it gave me my "mission" which was to destroy every living thing on the planet and return to the Saiyans and be assigned more missions to purge planets of life.
Hmm... I don't know anyone from the Hiari race in any of the media I've consumed... so it shouldn't be a problem to handle this like... well... a real Saiyan, now would it?
I'd guess this planet was something like Arlia, where the big species that was present was most likely just something that was fabricated for this purpose. So I could really go all out testing my power here.
The journey towards the planet was wholly uninteresting, although I did learn that the Pod was an excellent learning tool.
I don't think Saiyan babies were supposed to have the mental capacity to work it, but because I did, I was able to learn how to use my ki in the most basic ways possible.
Finally, I learned that the class system was based on the natural growth rate of a Saiyan's body, which corresponds with a growth in power.
Most Saiyans multiply their birth power level by 100, with absolutely minimal training and challenges.
What really concerned me was the fact that my power level was slated to be 12,500 at maturity, which is higher than the previous King's 10,000. Based on that, I was considered an Elite after the augmentation of my body.
Fortunately, the king that we know and love from before was slated to reach 18,000 in adulthood and being a king would most definitely curtail his chances of getting any higher than that.
Which meant that if I just grew naturally, I'd be more than strong enough to become a grunt in Frieza's military and could possibly grow to be more with some well placed Zenkai boosts.
But that was in the future. For now, I had finally arrived on Hiari.
You have arrived! The Pod said.
The Planet Hiari has a breathable atmosphere, with Galactic Standard Gravity and Air Pressure.
A/N: For reference, Galactic Standard is the same as Earth.
The Pod informed me that most of their civilization was underground, with them behaving much like Earth ants.
Their bite was venomous and quick, which would be deadly if I wasn't such a small target. They generally only attacked when provoked by different clans of ants, but they were known to collaborate when necessary to defeat a bigger threat.
Guess it's time to become a bigger threat.
My Pod landed gently on the surface of the planet, opening softly as I stood and got out.
My full height was only 3 feet, but I stood as tall and strong as I could... just to remember that the bastards live underground.
I was wearing an almost textbook copy of Nappa's battle armor, with the fingerless gauntlets, blue and yellow armor with the white trim, and a skintight black bodysuit underneath. I rolled my shoulders, grumbling slightly at the obnoxious shoulder pads that slightly hindered my movement.
I reached up and pulled both of them off, disposing of them on the barren red dust that covered the surface of this world.
I reached into the small inner pocket my armor had and pulled out a black rubber-band.
My hair was long and unruly, so I pulled most of it back and into a high ponytail, with one large bang that framed my right eye.
I placed my blue Scouter on the left side of my face, looking at myself in the reflection on my Pod.
I looked like a young Trunks, if Vegeta had gotten his way and taught him about Saiyan heritage. Oh, and of course with black hair.
Shaking those thoughts out of my mind, I began to play with the settings on my Scouter. Instead of the native Saiyan language, I chose the Galactic Standard, which just so happened to be English.
As soon as I powered on the Scouter fully, it detected over 3 billion life forms with power levels of 50 and above, with one going so far as to hit 700.
Before I pursued them, I had some experiments to perform.
See, I knew was a Bio-Saiyan, created from the mixture of DNA from Saiyan and a few other races. The only way I could see which other ones was trial and error.
I stretched my body, trying and failing to extend my limbs like a Majin or a Namekian. Figures.
I sliced my palm with a rock and watched the skin knit itself together and heal faster than I could even bleed.
Huh... so epic regeneration, and I could even feel my skin growing tighter, requiring even more force to cut after the first one.
Next, I tried to manipulate my ki... and let me tell you, it was a BREEZE!
I mean, I knew Saiyan children had it easy, but this made even Kid Gohan look like an amateur.
I definitely had some Namekian cells, with how easily I got ki down.
I took it upon myself to try and fly as well, cushioning myself with ki.
It was almost like... wrapping myself in a cushion and pushing the cushion around with my will. I also noticed that I felt strain depending on how fast I pushed myself to fly.
Once I got the hang of that, I floated higher and higher until the air got thinner... but I didn't really feel a strain from not breathing.
I kept going up and up and up and then... I was in space.
My body didn't flinch from the cold, my tail instinctively wrapped around my waist, and I looked down at the rusty red landscape that was far below me.
As far as I know, there's only one major race that breathe in space.
Frieza's Race.
So I definitely had Saiyan, Namekian, and Frieza Race traits.
I cut off my flight abruptly and began to descend towards the ground, falling at terminal velocity.
The only thing that I felt the moment I passed through the atmosphere was elation as the flames that ignited around me did nothing to the skin on my body.
I grit my teeth and clenched my fists, feeling my ki travel through my veins as a savage grin adorned my face.
I dropped down and hit the surface with incredible power, but I wasn't done yet.
I wasn't nearly powerful enough to destroy the planet in one go, nor was I good enough with my ki to destroy it from the inside. So I simply shook the tops of the ants homes.
I pushed myself backwards, floating in the sky and glaring down as the ants flooded outwards, scattering all along the surface.
I dropped like a stone, planting both feet into the abdomen of the ant with the highest power level on the surface.
I tapped the button on my Scouter once, pulling up translations for the ants language as I surveyed the group that had come to fight me.
They were clicking and clacking their mandibles in a fashion that sounded almost like Morse code.
Regardless, my Scouter told me they were saying something about getting an elite ant or something?
"Ahem." I said, my Scouter playing the translation out loud. "I'll keep this short and sweet. Bring every ant that you have to the surface right now, or suffer the consequences later."
The ants looked slightly taken aback, as if they didn't expect me to do anything other than fight.
While I did want to see if I could battle the entire race at once, it would be much more prudent to try and build myself a fighting style while also pacing the carnage into something more manageable.
So, after a few moments of clicking amongst themselves, the ants agreed to gather on the surface.
I grabbed the remains of the ant on the ground and began to chow down, eating through the damn thing's exoskeleton, chewing on the disgusting flesh below when my stomach turned.
I looked down and into my hand, witnessing the flesh burn through the skin on the palm of my hand.
"Huh." I muttered out loud. "Must be the same venom they bite people with."
I let the food and the burns on my hands run their course (that is to say, they passed in almost an instant), then continued beyond that.
Slowly, as the hours passed and more ants filled my field of view, I cracked my knuckles and grinned.
I floated up, towering over the ants as all of them looked up at me.
Two of them, one that was positively gigantic in comparison to the other and one that had a golden circlet on top of its head, approached me at the front.
I inputted the words 'prepare for battle' into my Scouter and dashed forward, sending a fist straight through an ants head.
Honestly, killing these ants was almost as easy as killing ants back when I was human.
My body felt light, strong, and easy to move as I snapped mandibles, broke exoskeletons, and used sharp legs to pierce the heads and bodies of other ants.
My blood sang and my body burned with excitement as I moved through the army, killing several ants at a time.
Hmmm... if I could fly, then maybe I could...
I pushed my ki into the palm of my left hand, condescending it into the smallest point possible.
It was as if a bowling ball was in my hand, the weight almost throwing off my balance.
I righted myself and twisted my body, throwing the blast and using the momentum from the twist to kick the head off of one of the bigger ants, with a power level of 98.
Even though they had lower numbers than me in terms of power, my reflexes and movements were being tested as I charged, each bite and swing of the leg coming close to taking off an arm or a leg.
My blast connected with a group of 7 ants, each with a power level of about 100, turning them all into ash.
I raised an eyebrow at that, looking down at my hand.
I didn't feel any stronger since I'd made it to the planet. Honestly, I wasn't even stronger than Roshi when he blew up the moon.
I guess... maybe it was all about my inheritance.
I inherited powers and abilities that made combat almost laughable in terms of difficulty.
I could see why Frieza grew to his own weight class then stopped training or anything like that.
Opponents like this? They make it easy to feel like a big fish in a small pond.
Unfortunately, with my power, I wouldn't even be considered a single celled organism to Frieza. Hell, he wouldn't even acknowledge me as a person at my current level.
My face tightened as I continued to punish the ants, my gaze leveling at the King and Queen ants, the two behemoths I'd seen earlier.
The Queen had a power level of 700 even, but from the looks of it, she was as pregnant as pregnant could get.
The King was defending her, along with three of the Knight-class ants.
Each of her defenders had a power level of 300 or more, with the King himself topping 500.
By the time I had made it to anywhere near them, I tapped my Scouter and found that there were still hundreds of millions of ants out there.
Sure, the area I was in was littered with the corpses and crushed insides of the about 3 billion ants I'd killed over the course of... maybe two days? Three? I hadn't kept track.
But the thought of going through a hundred million more of these bastards ignited an annoyance in me that quickly grew into the flames of rage.
My Scouter pinged, and for once it wasn't a power level on the outside. I raised an eyebrow as I saw my power level grow.
I felt my ki boil in anticipation at the massive powers in front of me.
My Namekian and what had to be Majin regeneration coupled with my Saiyan Zenkai Boost made every bruise, bump, and burn push my power even further.
In total, I'd amassed 467 wounds, 267 of them being bite wounds, 152 bumps from stabs of ant legs, and 48 burns from the acid they all produce.
Each injury must've increased my power level by about 0.1 times.
But if you multiply 125 by 467? Well, technically you get 583.75, but the Scouter naturally rounds that value up to the nearest round number.
Therefore, my new power level was 584. And I used every ounce of it to move forward, causing the air to condense and release around me in a resounding CRACK of wind.
Did... did I just move faster than sound?
Aw screw it, need to kill ants!
My elbow crushed the first one's head and flung it to the side immediately, with two of the others flanking me reaching out to bite.
I jumped, preparing to fly, but I felt something hard above me.
I turned and my eyes widened into saucers as I leaned back, dodging what could've been fatal blows if I'd been normal.
The King had flown above me with his natural wings and put his pincers directly in the path of my heart.
I gulped as I moved backwards.
Even though I was stronger than everyone here except the Queen, these ants had long life spans.
They'd been fighting and killing other ants of similar power and speed for their entire lives.
As I was right now, even being faster than sound, my combat reactions couldn't match the speed at which those damn ants hit.
Now, the Knights flew upward, surrounding me in a triangle formation.
I scowled, keeping the King in front of me while the other two hovered behind me.
The Queen moved slightly, rolling a bit to get a better view.
I guess this was interesting for them, the last bit of fight their race had left.
It wouldn't last long though.
Both Knights dashed forward, both of their mandibles chomping into an Afterimage.
My foot entered the bottom of the King's abdomen, then slid upward as I used my ki to slice straight through the tough carapace.
The King was good though, pushing himself up with a single hard stroke of his wings, showering me in acid.
Unfortunately, the blood of his people didn't even make my skin tingle.
I flew straight through the river of gore and grasped the King's throat (or at least where a humanoid throat would be) with my right hand.
Wispy light blue ki surrounded my left hand as I brought it down in a chop, taking the King's head off and holding it on display for the rest of his damn race to see.
Time slowed down as every ant that lived, besides the Queen, made a mad dash towards me, their mandibles snapping and their mouths leaking that despicable acid.
Despite the multitude of vengeful insects that made their way towards me, I smirked.
I pushed my ki into my left arm, slowly cocking back the head as I charged, flying downward and screaming with rage.
"Now, take this you pathetic insects! Die with your precious king!"
I spiked the head of their King straight through the Queen's swollen abdomen, destroying the entire next generation of ants in an instant.
But that wasn't all.
The head pushed through the top layers of rock and dust, the sediment and fossils of other ants, going deeper and deeper and deeper until it finally pierced straight through the core of their world.
My eyes gleamed with pride and excitement as my Pod ascended, stopping and opening next to me as I slipped into it, cackling as lava poured from the surface of Hiari.
As my Pod pushed me back towards my home on Planet Vegeta, Hiari became a giant burst of golden light.
Then nothing.
My laughter didn't stop until the starmaps on my Pod changed, showing nothing back space dust where Hiari used to be.
I leaned back in my pod and sighed, content with a hard days work.
My eyes closed, wondering what my next destination would be.
#############################################################################################################################################
Turns out, I didn't wanna know what my next destination was!
The Saiyan race literally rejoiced madly as I returned from my first mission victorious and more than 4 times stronger than I had been at the start of it.
After my first mission, I had been given my Saiyan name. Arlic, as a bit of a play on Garlic.
Hey, I like it!
The praise and excitement were short-lived, however, because King Vegeta had more orders for me.
Over the course of the next 12 years, the races, planets, and people that I killed, stole, and destroyed began to become a huge blur.
I was numb to the blood on my fingers, indifferent to the screams of the weak being crushed beneath my feet. My blood had stopped boiling every time I fought, because most of the time when I fought, there was no danger.
I was 15 now, having gone through a small growth spurt.
I was only about 4 and a half feet tall, but it was still better than the other Saiyans my age. They were all barely scratching 4 feet.
Regardless, King Vegeta and I were the only Elite Class Warriors on the Planet besides Bardock, whose power had capped out at about 12,000.
King Vegeta, who was still growing just like me, was very close to his last growth spurt, with his current power topping out at 16,000 and still being projected to his 18,000.
My own power had gotten to 14,236, but because I had trained extensively, I was one of the only Saiyans in existence who could raise and lower their power at will. Officially, my number was only 13,400.
At this moment in time, I was training with Bardock's two sons, Kakarot and Raditz.
Yes, Kakarot was still on planet. No, he was not born with a power level of 2.
He and his brother Raditz had been born with the respective power levels of 70 and 16.
Raditz had hit his final growth spurt and was fighting with the full weight of his power level of 1,600, while Kakarot was only at about 5,000.
I took on both of them with ease, though their teamwork wasn't bad.
I was keeping my power at just above both of their's combined, and this was good exercise for raising and lowering my Power Level on a dime.
I ducked under an elbow from Kakarot and moved to punish him, but Raditz shoulder checked me, moving me just out of position for long enough to miss.
I made to sweep Raditz's legs, but he jumped and pushed forward, using his ki as a springboard to switch sides.
I blocked a punch from him with my right forearm, while I ducked a right hook from Kakarot on my left.
My left elbow connected with Kakarot's ribs, and I turned to place my fist into his jaw, sending him out of the fight for a moment.
I lifted my left foot and pivoted, placing the ball of said foot into Raditz's awaiting guard.
Or, at least I thought it was a guard.
He grasped my foot and twist, spinning me in midair as he sent a front kick into my very own block.
I flew straight at Kakarot, who took advantage of my disorientation to kick me upwards, with Raditz capitalizing with a hammer fist to slam me down.
In an instant, both of them were in the air above me, charging ki attacks.
RIOT JAVELIN
VACATION DELETE
Two balls of energy, one purple, one blue, came down at me in a ferocious pace.
I grinned as I lay on the ground, chilling the air around me as my blood roared.
I dashed upward, surging my power to knock away both blasts, then rocketed my knee into Raditz's chin.
His eyes went blank immediately, taking him completely out of the fight.
I slid him down my shin, hooking the toe of my boot to his chin, and sent him flying at Kakarot, who caught him and tossed him upwards.
I sent both feet upwards and into his sternum, hearing the creak of his bones as I pushed, then vanished upward as he flew, driving my elbow and shoulder into his back to send both of us into the ground.
"Incredible as always, Arlic."
The hair on the back of my neck rose as I rolled off of Kakarot's body, kneeling before the King of the Saiyans.
"My King. I was under the impression Bardock was watching us."
"He was. He's healing those little brats of his as we speak."
I turned and saw Bardock give me a nod, then inject his sons with the green medical fluid that instantly woke them up.
I bowed once more to Vegeta and bit back a sigh. I hate groveling, even more so to a bastard whose barely my damn height.
His power made plenty of sense though, and for the time being, I was just going to have to grit my teeth and bear it.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" I said, raising my head to meet his eyes.
"Hmph. You've been doing well. You're 15 and you've conquered more worlds than everyone here other than Bardock. You put down rebellions of the Vargaz and the Keon. You enslaved the Zexea AND arranged their sale to the Frieza Force. Hell, you even showed strategic prowess in finding a way to outmaneuver those damned Mistycs and their esoteric arts. And let's not forget your very first purge. Hiari was completely turned into ash because of you, a three year old child!"
I raised an eyebrow at this. King Vegeta didn't praise people who didn't deserve it.
I mentally flicked through each of those battles, remembering the difficulty that those technologically advanced races had given me. Together, those two races made up the bulk of the universes agricultural and medical equipment. Hell, the Vargaz made the Scouters and Pods we use to this very day.
Those two rebellions could've spelled doom for the Saiyan Empire.
Oh right, I guess I forgot to tell you all.
The Saiyan Race hasn't been inducted into the Frieza Force. In fact, as far as I know, we weren't even a blip on Frieza's radar. He was currently embroiled in civil war with his older brother after killing his father and trying to profit off of the chaos.
As everything stood right now, we wouldn't have a problem with him for a long time.
"Beyond the normal things, you're also a tenacious and intelligent fighter." Vegeta said, ending his small praise session with a smirk. "That's why I've decided to grant you a position that only the Royal Family of Planet Vegeta can afford."
He smiled at me and pat my shoulder as he did.
I could sense that something was beginning hidden from me, hell, I knew Vegeta probably wanted me dead.
Everyone knew I was a government experiment gone right, but no one knew exactly what I was other than Vegeta and the scientists.
Even then, they didn't know where they had gotten the cluster of DNA from, they just knew that it bonded with me with ease.
Regardless, people were saying that maybe I'd be a better choice as King, if only for the fact that I was more experienced, a better strategist, and trusted by the other Saiyans.
I had no excitement for the hype surrounding me and I didn't wanna be part of the line of succession at all anyway,
Vegeta, however... he could have a problem with it.
He might... be sending me to die.
All of this flashed through my head as I mustered a fake smile, one that almost made Vegeta's facade crack.
This one was a lot more subtle than the one in canon, due to having to maintain galactic relationships and managing an empire.
Anyway, we both kept our fake ass faces and Vegeta removed his hand, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm giving you free reign to choose 4 people to join a team that you will run. You will be under the direct jurisdiction of your King and you will follow my orders to the letter."
That definitely caused my smile to falter, putting a wince in its place.
"What would this team be called?"
"The Strike Forces of the Saiyan Army. Otherwise known as the SFSA."
"Hmph." I said, crossing my arms and tilting my head to the side. If he let me choose people, that means it doesn't matter who I bring, something bad is going to happen anyways.
Bah. Let him set his pansy ass trap, make his stupid royal plans. I'll do what I always do and exceed the expectations set before me.
"I want Bardock, Kakarot, Paragus, and Broly."
Bardock was one of the strongest Saiyans in the Empire, it'd make sense for me to want him... Kakarot was also a good choice because of his potential. Paragus was a Saiyan commander and an excellent strategist with a power level of 4,200, while his son Broly was born with a power level of 100. He was the same age as Kakarot and I, but he was born with even more potential than Bardock's son. He also had his dad's knack for tactics, and a great head on his shoulders. Lastly, his power level right now was 7,400.
All of these factors made this an excellent group. In total, the group's power level was about 42,000, so once we got our tactics down, we might even be able to take on Zarbon and Dodoria at the same time.
Either way, from the way Vegeta's face changed, I could tell I'd caused his worst case scenario. Both Bardock and Kakarot were biased towards me, due to training with me. Paragus and Broly were staunchly against Vegeta due to some complications with the previous King.
I knew that I'd picked a team that, if I couldn't trust them, I'd at least be able to have support against Vegeta if I had to fight him.
Vegeta had Nappa, whose power was just over 8,000, but both of their skills were unpolished and underdeveloped. In a straight fight, Bardock would demolish Nappa and I'd most likely beat Vegeta.
On paper, I had more experience, better reflexes, better battle intelligence, and overall tenacity.
Regardless, I wasn't planning a coup... yet.
Right now, I'd follow his orders and strengthen my men... then it would be time to either leave peacefully... or take the planet by force.
"Hmm. Excellent choices. You're the Supreme Commander of the Strike Forces, Arlic. Beyond myself and Grand Vizier Nappa, you're the highest military power in the entire Saiyan Race. Go and gather your team. Your first mission will be assigned in a month."
I nodded and turned, tapping a code on my Scouter.
I informed the members of my team to meet me at an abandoned Wyvern Nest, to get an assignment and train.
In 30 minutes, all five of us were present.
I cocked an eyebrow at them, looking lax and calm as I approached.
"Gentlemen. We five have been recruited to become an ultra powerful fighting force known as the Strike Forces of the Saiyan Army, otherwise known as the SFSA. You four have been selected for your brains, brawn, growth potential, and learning ability. I will be your Supreme Commander and the leader of this team on missions. As of now, the hierarchy is as follows. Myself, Bardock, Paragus, Broly, and Kakarot. Any questions?"
They all straightened when they realized that we were about to become a serious group. They also confirmed that there were no questions.
"Now, before we get any missions or anything, we have a month to build cohesion and learn new skills. Every day, at 0600 hours, we will meet here and begin the team training. At 1200 to 1300 hours, we will eat lunch. From 1300 to 2200 hours, I'll teach you all techniques that I've learned through my experiences as a warrior."
The seasoned and blooded men before me all shuddered at the thought of learning under me... they heard how disciplined I was with my own training, so there was no telling how meticulous I'd be with others.
"Don't worry, our first session will be tomorrow. As of now though, we will be abstaining from the four S words. Sex, sugar, and stupid shit. If I catch any of you all participating in any of the listed activities, you will either hurt or die. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal!" The Strike Forces responded.
I smirked, feeling a bit of excitement towards this group.
"For now, let's go out to eat and get to know eat other."
And so it began.
I learned that Broly and his father had been almost inseparable since the death of his mother and sister, something that Paragus blamed on the previous King's stupidity.
Regardless, Paragus had no kind words about the Vegeta family and Broly followed that.
Bardock and Kakarot had been closer than Raditz and Bardock since their childhood, so Kakarot was like the stoic old Saiyan in many ways, from his combat style to his facial expressions, and even the way they moved and spoke.
Kakarot was much more vocal though, stoicism not coming naturally to him at all.
I let a bit of my true personality slip in ever so often. I knew I came off as a train-o-holic that didn't care for anything else, but I was also a thinker, which was a rare trait amongst Saiyans.
I made things, not just destroyed them, and my techniques and abilities all stemmed from the ridiculous amount of experience I had gained at such a young age.
All in all, we learned quite a bit about each other. We'd work out quite well together as a unit.
Unfortunately for them, the next day was where the rubber met the road.
In the morning, at 0600 hours, my entire squad was set and ready, while 35 Low Class Saiyans approached us, all with power levels at or below 1,200.
"Um... Supreme Commander?" Kakarot said.
"Ah! Don't call me that, call me Arlic! If you're in the SFSA, you're welcome to call me my normal name." I said with a wave of my hand.
"Yeah... ok. Well, I was wondering why do those Low Classes over there outnumber us 7 to 1?"
"It's our first lesson in team tactics. Theoretically, those 35 over there have the same power level that we do combined. What they have over us is the synchronization that you gain over years of fighting as a unit. We're going to battle them and steal their knowledge through the only way a true Saiyan should. Combat."
"Oh. Yes sir." Kakarot said with an... odd look on his face.
I shrugged it off and gave the signal, sending us into combat. Needless to say, it went badly.
"Kakarot and Broly! Bardock and I may have higher power levels than you, but we don't have more goddamn limbs! You can't expect to split the numbers into even portions because none of us can handle that many foes at once! Paragus, you had an excellent strategy, but you held your damn tongue. I don't give a flying shit about power levels or other bullshit. You're one of the greatest Saiyan minds that we have right now and by the Saiyan God we will listen to you! Bardock, excellent job with your foes, but don't try to lighten the burden on others. Conserve your strength for when it's really needed and use it to save a life, not relieve a person of pressure."
All four tired Saiyans nodded, then got back into their stances.
"What? What are you all doing? Where's my critic?"
Paragus raised an eyebrow while Kakarot and Bardock sent each other mystified looks.
"What do you mean, sir? You gave us our orders, now we're ready to use them." Broly said
.
"No, I gave you all constructive criticism that will improve our next bout. I need the same thing for you all. How am I supposed to hold you accountable when I can't even hold myself to that same standard?!"
Every Saiyan on the battlefield balked at that, some of them exchanging looks of disbelief.
My eyes narrowed as I pointed at Paragus, turning toward him as well.
"What did I do wrong?" I asked pointedly, glaring at the voices that murmured off to the side.
"Ah... well..."
"C'mon man, out with it! Your opinion matters! I put all of you on this team for a reason and I'll be damned if we aren't ALL improving. So tell me, Paragus, what did I do wrong?"
"Well, you diverted a group of enemies away from me while I was setting up a trap." Bardock said blandly.
"Yeah! You also kept jumping in everyone's way! It was like you were everywhere on the battlefield at once!" Kakarot said.
"Indeed." Paragus said with a slow nod. "You just... didn't let anything come to fruition the way we wanted it to."
"Hmph." I said, suppressing a small smirk. I guess I did have a tendency to rush in when I felt someone was in trouble, but I didn't think about how it would disrupt the flow of their combat style and tactics.
"Alright, I've got it. Thank you all." I turned to the Low Classes, who had caught their breaths by now.
"Let's get this going! We've got 4 hours till lunch!"
As the time passed, everything grew by at least a tiny bit. We had the rest of the month to hammer out the rest of our flaws.
For now, it was time for techniques.
"Alright gentlemen. We've got three things to learn this week, then we'll practice for the rest of the time. The very first ability is a passive skill that I gained on my second mission. On that world, there was a constant, pungent smell of sulfur, with thick clouds of fog roving around the landscape at all times. My eyes, ears, and nose were all against me. I had to use a different method to find my enemies. I call it Ultra Sensitivity. Essentially, using my physiological advantage as a Saiyan, I was able to sense things like fluctuations in the air pressure, temperature, and vibration. With it, even blind, deaf, and without a sense of smell, I was able to exterminate a race."
"How would we go about learning this then? Are we headed to that planet?" Paragus asked.
"Nah. It's being cleaned right now, slated to become a branch world off to a new solar system. No, we're going to use a sensory deprivation drug." I said simply.
"A... what?" Bardock said.
"A sensory deprivation drug." I said, before clapping and grabbing a pill bottle out of my armor.
"Everyone grab one and hold it between your teeth, any objections and I shatter your rib cage. Understood?"
"Yes sir!" My soldiers said in unison.
Soon I saw 4 men with pills clenched tightly between their teeth.
"Excellent. Now, plot the room with your eyes, nose, and ears."
I gave them five minutes, then smiled.
"Alright boys. I recommend you don't touch anything or anyone while you are on this drug. I'm told it hurts like hell. Your mission is to feel no pain while on these drugs. Each pill lasts for about 30 minutes and we have until 2200 hours. So, let's get to work."
They all swallowed as on, feeling the effects of the drug almost immediately.
"Welp. Here we go." I muttered as Kakarot and Paragus screamed as they touched arms.
It took about 6 hours for all of them to grasp the concept. Which was quite good, considering it took me about a day.
Although, the pain that got from touching must've been an extremely powerful motivator. I almost felt bad. Almost.
By 2100 hours, they were performing the passive skill to the same level as me, which made me grin.
Once it wore off, all the men looked at me warily, expecting another dose of the pill they hated, but I simply waved them off.
"Good job this evening, gentlemen. We'll expand upon our lesson tomorrow at 1300 hours."
The next day was similar, but we were much more cohesive in the morning. I even saw Kakarot and Broly collaborating and watching each other's backs.
Once we made it to our Afternoon session, things got serious once more.
"Alright gents. Now that we've got a more fundamental understanding of our bodies, it's time to use it to an even greater degree. Today we'll be learning two skills that go hand in hand. With these two skills, paired with your Ultra Sensitivity, the final skill will be almost laughable."
The men looked downright jolly when I said that, with even Bardock cracking a smirk.
"Alright, so the way to begin is simple. First you close your eyes and focus your Ultra Sensitivity, bringing it to the forefront of your mind."
I waited, observing until they all did it.
"Now, you're going to draw your awareness inward, focusing on the ki that you've been using since you were children."
They all gasped at once, feeling their ki in a more detailed way than almost any other Saiyan had ever felt it.
"It feels like a flame within your gut, doesn't it? Like a controlled burn that being used constantly? Well, now reduce the size of the fire. Don't douse it completely, just make it as small as you possibly can for right now."
I sensed all four men's powers diminish, making me smile softly.
"Now, ignite them to their highest limit! Now back down! Halfway! A quarter! 36 percent!"
The numbers got more and more arbitrary until they got used to the unnatural movement of their ki.
"Good. Now, instead of pushing your ki to your maximum level, push it outside of your body, linking it with your Ultra Sensitivity."
Surprisingly enough, the old man Paragus got it first.
"Incredible. It's like seeing the world with a new set of eyes!"
Slowly, each of them learned to sense ki just like me. I actually knew the technique passively because of my Namekian genes, and I could also sense intentions and good and evil. No one else needed to know that though.
They all learned it perfectly in the time frame, and as they flew away I heard Kakarot joking that he could sense his future mate right around the corner.
I shook my head at them, smirking at my soldiers progress.
For the rest of the week, we made great strides in the morning and I taught the men about Wild Sense.
"Wild Sense is an ability I gained from fighting the goddamn giant beasts on Palph. Those big bastards could move almost as fast as us with double the amount of physical strength as the average Saiyan. They combined their ability to sense ki and their natural Ultra Sensitivity due to blindness and used it to counter every technique thrown at them. Even the ones that had lower power levels than me gave me a run for my money, simply due to the fact that they could literally counter before I knew what movement I was making." I winced as I thought about it, absentmindedly rubbing a scar the bastards had given me on my left shoulder.
"At the highest level I've seen (and the one I still struggle to achieve), the King of their people was able to read the fluctuations of my ki and call out my moves to me before I performed them. The only reason he didn't kill me was because of one fatal flaw in the technique. One that is nearly impossible to circumvent. I was faster than him. He knew where I was going, how I was going there, and what I was going to do when I arrived and he couldn't do shit about it because he couldn't catch me. Speed, gentlemen, is just as important as senses."
I clapped my hands, breaking up my monologue and pairing the men up, Broly with Bardock and Kakarot with Paragus.
"The only way to understand the technique is to perform it unconsciously, so you're going to fight until both of you are performing the technique. Ready? Begin!"
Bardock and Broly kicked it off with an elbow from the younger Saiyan.
Bardock's eyes narrowed and the elbow passed through an Afterimage as Bardock put his foot into the back of Broly's knee, sending the boy down.
The elder Saiyan raised his fists to hammer the top of Broly's head into the dirt, but his fists passed through midair as Broly performed a front kick that passed through Bardock's midsection like nothing.
They continued that dance as Kakarot and Paragus did something similar near them.
Kakarot's fist passed through Paragus' Afterimage, and he turned, expecting an attack to the back.
Paragus surprised him with a hook to the body that Kakarot barely dodged, then countered with an elbow.
Paragus went even lower and spun, attempting to take Kakarot's feet, but the young man was already stepping back then sending a kick towards Paragus' chin.
I grinned and called for a stop, congratulating each of my men with a pat on the back.
For the rest of our time, we beat the hell out of the Lower Classes in the morning, so everyday we added 5 more until we made it to a grand total of sweeping 55 Low Classes off of their feet, the equivalent to a power level of 66,000.
We also sparred and performed strength, stamina, agility, and endurance training in the evenings.
All in all, none of us had gotten a particularly huge boost in power.
I had gone from an official 13,400 to my actual maximum, 14,900.
Bardock actually pushed himself to 13,200, while Kakarot hit 5,700.
Paragus himself had gotten to 4,800, while Broly had hit 8200.
I'll admit, it wasn't much, but it was absolutely huge because of the fact that we'd only trained together for a month.
Vegeta was highly impressed, having been keeping tabs on us throughout the whole of our process.
Vegeta brought us before the entire Saiyan race and inducted us into the Saiyan Army, as the First Strike Forces of the Saiyan Army.
He also sent us on our first mission just after, subduing a world on the border between our territory and Frieza's rapidly deteriorating territory.
That was how the most tedious year of my life began.
For a full year after the induction of the SFSA, and the official endorsement from the King, we were the busiest men in our galaxy.
There were 10,000 Saiyans on the planet, and 99% of them on active duty currently, with 70% of those being Low Class. That's 6,930 Low Class Saiyans (with an average power level of 1,500). 29.9% of them were Mid Class, which is 2,961 Saiyans with an average of 5,000. Finally, the 0.1 percent, 9 Saiyans. Vegeta was the strongest of us at 19,000. Bardock had 13,700 now, while I was at 15,300. Nappa had also caught up at 12,000 now. Us four were the top of the Saiyan pyramid, with the last 5 each having powers of 10,000.
The total power level of the entire Saiyan Army was at about 25,310,000. We were a little less than a quarter of Frieza's full power in his Final Form.
After the first official mission of the First Strike Forces, us five were ordered to split off and form the rest of Saiyan Army into Strike Forces, along with teaching them Ultra Sensitivity, Ki Sense, and Wild Sense.
In total, we had 594 teams of Strike Forces, with everyone in Low Class forming the Infantry Forces.
These Strike Forces seriously sped up the subjugation of planets, along with the specialized skills that almost 3,000 Saiyans knew
.
When Vegeta organized us, we became the most efficient fighting force in the Galaxy, second only to the Frieza Force and Cooler's Army.
And from the looks of the missions we were sent out on, we were fighting to get even higher.
We got caught in small skirmishes with the Frieza Force and slowly claimed planets that Frieza probably didn't care about much.
At the end of the years, the Frieza Force had lost 27% of their full might since the beginning of the war, with 17% of that being due purely to Saiyan attacks.
After the year was up, the damages were assessed, and the galactic tally of power was calculated, the Saiyan Army was officially the third strongest power in the Galaxy and we were only going to get stronger.
Especially after the bonds between every Saiyan, no matter their class, family, and personal power were forged.
Especially after the First Strike Forces of the Saiyan Army had become just as feared as the dreaded Ginyu Force. And just as respected too.
And especially after the words that King Vegeta just told us, his leaders.
"My Lord... Vegeta, if I may. What the fuck did you just say?" I said simply, ignoring Nappa's movement at my disrespectful tone.
Vegeta waved a hand at Nappa, quelling his rage instantly and knit his fingers together as he leaned forward in his throne.
"What I said, Arlic, is that the First Strike Forces will be hitting the planet Snortivan. Your mission is to weaken Frieza Force presence there and kidnap the strategic genius of their army, Snort Prime. Is there a problem with that?"
Vegeta's power began to expand, causing the room to tremble just a bit as I bit back a curse.
Damn him and his Napoleon complex. Damn him and his cockamamie schemes. Damn him and his fucking pride.
No, Arlic. You've worked too hard. Done too much. Relax and think. You must get stronger than him first. You can do it. Just calm down.
"No, my liege." I said with a bow, gritting my teeth as my own power struggled against the tight restraints I had put it under.
I could feel my squad behind me, aching to wreak havoc in this damnable throne room, each of our auras tinged with killing intent.
But we would hold back for now... for now.
"Essentially, this is a declaration of war to the Frieza Force, is it not?" Bardock asked with a glare in his eyes. "You want to join a war between galactic tyrants and forces that outnumber our own 100 to 1. You want to fight beings who literally cause genocide with a flick of their finger?"
The grin on Vegeta's face was unmistakable, that filthy fucking pride of his radiating off of him in waves.
"Why yes... yes I do. You are to leaving in less than 5 hours and if I catch head or tail of any of you on the face of this planet, I will wipe you off of it myself. Understand?"
"Yes, my liege." All five of us said in unison.
"And First Strike Forces! I hear Dodoria is planet side. Do be careful, will you?"
Petty bitch.
The words that almost flew off of Paragus' tongue were stopped from a shake of Broly's head, but it didn't quell the rage within any of us.
For a full year, these men had spent time away from their homes and friends, and now he wanted us to go and fuel the flames of a war that had been going on for 16 years now?
I swear to you, Vegeta... I'll kill you with my own damn hands.
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Alright!
Welcome to the reading experience that is Dragon Ball: A Limitless Adventure.
Our protagonist here is quite a bit different from "happy-go-lucky" Goku, but that's ok!
Battle hardened, battle tested Saiyans are about to enter the field of battle with Frieza and Cooler, and let's just say things could get ugly!
Unless otherwise informed, my posting schedule will also only be once a month on Saturday nights. Hopefully all 8 of the people who read this will be ab le to keep their excitement in.
Also, if you like this story and you'd like to see more, please comment and share it so that I can get criticism and traction!
I think that's all!
Thanks and I'll see you all in the next installment of Dragon Ball: A Limitless Adventure!
