Bardock's Pod

Bardock grunts, coughing up blood. Dodoria's single blast really did a number on him; it's a miracle he was able to call his pod and crawl inside. He saw even more of the future while he was out… and enough of it was actually relevant to the situation at hand.

"I for one, feel SO much better now…!"

Snarling, he slams his fist on the upholstery as Vegeta grows in view, as red as a blood ruby and adorned by the Winged Rings. Even if Freezer destroys the planet, he will make damn sure he has to work for it. His Scouter's already been crushed; a symbolic rejection of the Freezer Force. In exchange, the bandana dyed in Tora's blood is wrapped tight around his head. "I… will change this future. For… for my blood, Kakarotto and Raditz and Gine. And for you, Tora."

He slips back to sleep as the pod enters the atmosphere.

Five Minutes Later: Dawn at the Spaceport

"Bardock! Y-you're under arrest for stealing royal property and probably murder! Let us execute you quietly!"

"Fuck off, Chishan. I was on Meat. Like I was assigned by the de facto 'king' itself."

"Sure, sure, and where's the rest of your crew?!"

"DEAD. Go away, I need to get straight to recovery! They really messed us up this–"

"Whaddaya mean de-*GACK*!"

"Look here you little shit," he says, jamming a finger into the young man's face while the other hand holds him up by the neck. "I don't have a damn to give about what you're trying to do, and I'm sure you feel the same way about me. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people with power levels as low as yours. If you get out of my way right now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, even if you get out of this death grip, in my last few hours of life I will look for you, find you, and crush your fucking head like a rotten grape DO YOU UNDERSTAND, CHISHAN."

"Y-gkkacgckckk…!"

He drops the blue-blooded brat; "Get out of my sight." The whelp scampers off in the direction of the palace, cursing.

"GET ME PLANTHOR AND MALAKA!"

"W-w-why?!"

"DON'T QUESTION ME! Have them at the royal library in ten minutes or I will blow this spaceport to pieces!"

"Y-yes sir!"

Bardock looks down at his muscles, mildly surprised. He must have gotten a hell of a zenkai from those beatings he's been taking; what must his power be? Nine, ten thousand? Must be a very impressive number if he was able to manhandle what was honestly an upper-mid class warrior like that.

The Royal Palace

Bardock pushes his way through the ex-royal palace, towing his mate behind him. Questions like "Where the heck are we going?!" are brushed aside by firm declarations that they don't have much time.

"Bardock! Seriously, you're taking this way too far! What proof do you have?!"

"The proof of Tora's blood on my hands! Also, I showed you the records my Scouter picked up from Dodoria's gloating."

She takes a deep breath: "… Okay, okay. Let's say that Freezer's going to blow us up right now; who is on this 'crack team' you've assembled?"

"You… might not be too impressed."

"He got his butt kicked, that's what's wrong with him!"

"Bardock gets his tail whipped and it's the end of the world, right? Maybe you goons should stop pretending to be elites!"

"He needs to get to recovery!"

He shakes himself out of his reverie, snorting at the thought of the bar assholes. She shrugs. "I guess all the best warriors besides you are offworld… or dead…"

The dude kicks open the entrance to the Royal Library, and Gine gasps.

"Is that Chishan?!"

"He's just our errand boy."

Gine is absolutely speechless as she looks around at the motley crew. A scared-as-shit heir to the Vizier sitting in the back, behind two nonsaiyans; a technician and a physician? Her eyes can't decide whether or not to narrow or widen as she starts to choke on laughter.

"H-honey? This… is who we're going to save the planet with?"

"H-hey, Gine."

"Uh, hey, Chishan… where's Dendretta."

"… Home."

"Huh."

Bardock coughs into his fist; "Gine, it might not look very impressive, but that's… because it isn't. Any saiyan worth their salt under Freezer's status quo basically laughed me out of the room. They, er, probably won't believe it until death is staring them in the face."

"Oh…"

"Docs, what have ya got for us?"

Chishan gives Bardock a strange look as he defers to the doctors; trusting in xenos is not usually what a saiyan would do, either logically or by his very pride. Bardock, however, understands that these eggheads know far more important particulars of the situation than a warrior would.

Malaka coughs, and elbows Planthor. He creakily stands up…

"Well, Bardock, the way I see it there are three possibilities. First of all - Freezer could simply try to detonate the planet's core in as quick a manner as possible. However, given your recent boosts in power due to your beatings you may very well be able to deflect that. This leaves is with two main dangers."

Malaka then takes the stage. "The first one is that Freezer attempts to destroy the entire planet in a colossal blow. His power level is a whopping five hundred and thirty thousand-" upon hearing this, every saiyan in the room blanches. How could any monster be that strong?! "- so I'm afraid you might not be able to stop it. However, despite the spaceports and planetary weapons being disabled we do have a form of attack that might work."

A simultaneous "What?" erupts from everyone in the room.

"A saiyan pod!"

"WHAT?!"

"B-bardock, Freezer may have disabled them but we can easily reverse that if given enough time. And… well, have you ever seen what happens to a planet when a pod impacts it without slowing down first?"

"I… wow, at relativistic speed? That doesn't sound… damn, that might actually work. You want to launch a pod right into his ultimate attack?"

"Indeed. Since it won't get up to interstellar speed without a passenger, I have volunteered because Chishan is too chicken and Planthor… well, he shares a similar phenotype to you. Do you all agree?"

Gine pipes up. "Wait, will you survive?"

"I might! Going that fast, it's possible that as low-density as a planetoid sized ki construct is I may simply plow through it on my way to our destination. You see that pod back there on the spaceport?"

"Yeah. Wait, what?! You set it up in ten minutes?!"

"Well, yes, but actually not yet. It isn't ready to launch, but the location is set. I'm on my way to Freezer Planet 79 baby!"

"Isn't that just Kanassa?"

"Yes! Look; if you all fail and I survive, then it won't be that suspicious since I look like… a big lizard. But if you do all succeed, then either I die or I don't! And if the attack does kill me… lucky you! You didn't die!"

"… huh."

"Mister doctor," Chishan begins, warily eyeing the man who forced him into this, "What is the other possibility?"

"Ah, yes, yes. You see… Freezer is, er…" he tails off and allows Planthor to speak again.

"Freezer is, to put it simply, a lazy bastard. While he may be strong enough to shatter a moon with a punch… it is very likely that if his first attack fails, or he simply is feeling lazy, he might send in a cadre of his elites to exterminate you saiyans… and everyone else on Vegeta, I might add, individually."

"Damn… and there's still only a few million of us left after the Tuffle War, too."

"Quite."

The saiyans in the room frown, and Gine deigns to ask questions.

"So, mister Malaka, how come I'm here? I mean, besides the fact that this is Bardock's whole thing."

"Ah, yes! That is because you (and your husband, though that's likely marital influence) show a trait very rare among your kind…" Malaka spews the words out excitedly. "empathy. Or at least, emotional vulnerability." He takes out a seemingly ancient tome from one of the deep shelves, labeled Hanasia: Queen of the Saiyans in overly-fancy script, and another, even dustier old scroll whose only discernible marking is the name Leonard.

Chishan stammers; "Hanasia?! I've heard about that in passing, but… well, Ive never read it. I'm a saiyan, after all."

Planthor grunts. "And what a shame it is, because if any of you meatheads had remembered that the Royal Library existed the Super Saiyan might not have been such a mystery to the Freezer Force and to you saiyans so long!"

Every saiyan in the room audibly gasps. Chishan stutters out a "You mean-?!"

"Not for you, I'm afraid. You may be cowardly and a brute-" the noble glances back at Bardock, just checking to make sure he's still able to stop him if he went after the doctor, "- but I'm afraid you lack… well, what I just said you need. Empathy."

Bardock scrambles to catch the book Malaka tosses to him, as the shienil pops open the other to plants a finger on a few lines.

"*ahem* This Leonard was apparently a saiyan scholar; amazing, I know. His work states that Saiyans use but a piece of the total power their bodies can hold, and that they can become much stronger. Looking at your progress, this is evident, Bardock. And according to him, the key to reach this higher level is empathy. The ability to feel for others. To share their pain, to be sad for them and, to suffer when they suffer."

"That's completely idiotic!" Chishan blurts out.

"Is it, Lord Abbac? Is it? If you'd turn your attention to page four hundred and seventy nine, you would see that…"

Chishan groans, lamenting his academic fate under Bardock's glare and Gine's giggles. He has a feeling he is not going to like being part of this resistance. At least he'll only have to do the manual labor…

The Spaceport: Thirty Minutes after Dawn

"You two ready?!"

Planthor calls out from besides the pod; "Almost, Bardock! Just another fifteen minutes or so. Malaka's inside the ship, and the physical work with Chishan is done."

He grunts. "Alright, Chishan, you've actually earned your keep as a worker instead of just as a royal snot for once. Go sit with Gine in the palace if you want - things are going to get ugly soon enough."

The whelp nods enthusiastically as he scurries away with the second to last of the Scouters; the very last is with Malaka in the pod. As soon as he's able, he hands it off to her.

"GINE, GINE CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"Y-yes, Malaka!"

"GREAT, GREAT. OKAY, SO YOU'RE SURE YOU'RE UNIQUE?"

"Yeah… sorry, I can't think of any other saiyans that are quite as much of a white sheep in my community…"

"THAT'S FINE. YOU'LL BE PLAN B. SO… JUST KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE SKY, OKAY? TRY TO GET VERY ANGRY, OR SCARED, OR FEEL SOME OTHER INTENSE EMOTION THAT MIGHT CHARGE UP YOUR ENERGY. ESPECIALLY IF BARDOCK STARTS TO LOOK LIKE HE'S IN TROUBLE, TRICK YOURSELF INTO FEELING THAT IT'S FATAL."

"A stunning sight… sometimes I amaze myself, with how callous I can be."

"I… Okay, yes! I can do that!"

"TELL CHISHAN TO FETCH YOU SOME ARGININE-VASOPRESSIN INJECTORS FROM THE HOSPITAL IF YOU'RE REALLY NEEDING THE BOOST IN ANGER. YOU AREN'T A FIGHTER, BUT THE SHEER AMOUNT OF EMPATHY YOU HAVE FOR A SAIYAN MIGHT BE ENOUGH TO OVERCOME THAT IN CASE BARDOCK FAILS TO LIVE UP."

"Got it! I can do this! Yeah!"

"I, for one… feel so much better now~."

"ALSO, GINE, YOU'LL BE GLAD TO KNOW THAT… ER… OH, NO, THIS IS A BIT TOO EARLY FOR US. OOPS!"

Gine and Chishan look up into the heavens and grow pale as snow, before the light of an awful sphere of fiery death above makes them turn red and gold. And far above, the mad glaeris Emperor cackles with sadistic delight as his generals rather cautiously reopen the hatch for him to descend into his materialistically opulent yet sleek and simple-seeming throne room.

Royal Streets before the Palace and Spaceport

"Commander Apio!"

"Huh? Nizuch? What is it?"

"You know how we're supposed to be clearing the streets to get ready for Freezer's announcement… and, uh, arresting that Bardock for stuff?"

"Uh… I think we might have our priorities out of order," the saiyan enforcer mumbles as he points to the encroaching Supernova. Apio's jaw drops as the world starts to turn red.

"You… oh god, Bardock was right?!" he screams as the atmosphere almost ignites. The entire company around him stops and stares… shrieks of "What the hell?!" and "OH MY GOD!" and "Is that a meteor?!" ring out. The few pods which are fired up in desperate attempts to escape are shut-down remotely; and panic breaks out among the saiyan populace.

Except for one ridiculously determined spiky-haired psychic who a few notice out of the corner of their eyes.

The Spaceport

"PLANTHOR! How much longer?!"

"J-just five more minutes, Bardock! We need more time!"

"WE HAVE NO TIME!"

"HOLD! IT! OFF!"

Bardock grumbles something about xeno backtalk before making a snap decision and launching into the air. They just need it held off for a few minutes?! Fine, he will fucking do that.

"Oh my Beerus is that fucking Bardock oh shit he can't hear us oH FUCK APIO HE"S FLYING RIGHT TOWARDS IT"

Royal Airspace

Bardock whistles through the air, cursing under his breath. That fucking bastard just couldn't wait, couldn't he?! Couldn't wait five damn more minutes until he was ready for him!

Oh, they've noticed him all right. Those are Freezer Force uniforms he sees filing out of the ship, up just at the edge of the atmosphere. Though, that's not too far away; high gravity leads to smaller ones, after all.

He skids to a stop a good ten kloms off the ground, staring down the Supernova barely a kilometer away from his position. It's now or never; he starts to build up as much power as he can.

"Seven… eight… ten thousand?! When the hell did Bardock get that strong?! What's he been doing this whole time?!"

"EeaaaaaarrrraaaaAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGHHHHH!"

Heart filled with fury and body bloated with ki, brilliant blue energy of a ferocity not seen in ages bursts out of Bardock's palm as he swings it forwards; the air itself twangs like a taut string as he punches through it.

"FINAL SPIRIT CANNON!"

And the orange sky is streaked with blue…

"Holy shit."

The ki explodes out of Bardock; it is quite clear he is not holding anything back. The recoil forces him to grab his arm and hold it in place as the Spirit Cannon careens into the Supernova. "Freezer… FREEZER… FREEEZAAAH!" bellowing in rage, and the beam doubles, quadruples in size until it dwarfs Bardock himself. He is a mere conduit for the overwhelming power flowing through him.

Then… the saiyan warrior starts to laugh. Because for all his power, for all his fury being poured into this final desperate assault, the Supernova slows down only minutely. The great sun of ki staggers forwards, shoving Bardock's ultimate effort out of the way. Ten meters away… then five… then one! The pain next to such a source of heat is absurd, not to mention the strain on his retina; he isn't even outputting a beam anymore, just a wave of pure power in a valiant but doomed attempt to delay his death by another moment for every kili he can spare.

And with a flash, it's over. The beam is diffused under the sheer pressure and every ounce of energy he outputs is pumped directly against the binding construct of his enemy; his hands are scorched to the bone, and if it weren't for the sheer amount of power he was expelling his appendages wouldn't even be recognizable. His howls of exertion turn to wails of pain as the infinite mass of death pushes forwards, surrounds and envelops him: he shrieks as he feels himself start to burn to ash in the unending heat, the only thing even close to matching the torment he is going through being his unyielding rage at being SO DAMN HELPLESS!

And then, two things happen… indicated by two great sounds…

*fWOMP*

*HUUUUAAAAAAAGH!*

Malaka, whooping in mad excitement befitting of a repressed scientist of his caliber blasts off at light speed from ground level in his ridiculously illicitly modified pod ("Aaaaaiiiiiieeeeeeehaaaaaaaa!")… and… the legend of the Super Saiyan is fully realized for the first time in over three millennia as golden power explodes from the screaming warrior behind the Supernova.

"F-f-f-five hundred thousand?!"

"Supreme kai almighty remind me to not get on his bad side."

And with a resplendent shouting of the tyrant's name heralding, the two surging forces slam into the ultimate attack at the same time, blowing it to pieces. The scattered shards of ki and plasma jiggle before dissolving spectacularly, leaving the air with an ambience of gold over the red, streaked with the blue of the space pod's trail.

"FREEEEEZAAAAAH!"

The fuckmassive explosion sears every onlooker's eyes; there are only two options for any saiyan on the same hemisphere here. Either one is whooping in excitement at the show of force, or just noticed it due to the massive blast and is now an observer. Either way, it's pretty obvious now that goddammit Bardock was right.