Ignorance is Bliss- Initiation

Initiation

Easy Quest

Requirement: Must be a Saiyan or Half-Saiyan.

Reward: 1,000 zeni and a Third-Class Commendation.

You may be a member of the Saiyan Army now, but you have a long way to go before you can prove yourself, runt. King Vegeta has a simple task for you to test your ability. We want to resale a nearby planet, Tranex. Go there with your squad, wipe them out, and reclaim the planet in the name of the King.

Third-Class Commendation - You are considered the rank of Third-Class Saiyan.

The ship looked like a shining star in the night sky of Planet Vegeta, a blue-white streak in the deep red midnight. Screams echoed from the traveling tribes far below, shrieks from inside the ship itself. Tears flew from the pilot's face as she wished farewell to her kin, while Alucard gripped his seat's arms tightly, muttering spells under his breath in a futile attempt to stop the plummet. Goku's eyes were shut tightly. So this...this is it...No one will know I died this time...I won't be coming back from this one...

The ship was fragile, not made for crash landings. Had they maintained the original Capsule Corp. ship, perhaps...Perhaps they would have made it. But this was really it. Goku silently gave his farewells to Chichi, Goten, and Gohan, then sprinted to Amico and Alucard, dragging them together and forging a shield around them. If they were going to crash...He'd make sure that those two, at least, made it out alive. With a glance back, Goku stepped through the shield, pouring a little extra energy in. He continued his march to the door, wrapping either hand around it and forcing it open.

"Goku!"

"You idiot! You'll burn up if you go out there!"

Amico and Alucard...The twins who had volunteered to pilot his ship for nothing more than College Credits and the thrill of adventure...They wouldn't die here. Goku set his brow, throwing up a similar but smaller psychic shield around himself. He turned towards Amico and Alucard, and gave a salute before falling backwards out of the Capsule Corp ship. He plummeted, and his clothes instantly felt heavier. The extra gravity of Planet Vegeta was taking a toll, and he'd barely been on its surface for a second.

The Saiyan of Earth turned up towards the ship, charging his hands with Ki so they wouldn't burn away when he touched the shuttle. He took a deep breath, then shoved his palms into the bottom, charging more energy up his arms, unleashing it around the surface. The ship began cooling, the flames around it dimming a bit. Next, Goku worked his way to the back of the ship, jamming his fingers into the steel. He watched blood drip down the hull, but ignored it as he strained to spin the ship so that the back was facing the ground, and the front looking off into space. Below him, the thrusts blasted into the dirt below, just a few dozen yards from the wandering tribe. With that done, he aimed his bloodied but open palm at the thrusters, using his psychic abilities to cool the flames down to a minimal, causing the ship to free fall.

Finally, he unleashed his full speed and dove to the ground, turning so that his feet pressed into the burnt grass. By now, his orange shirt was burnt away, and the blue undershirt was halfway gone. His pants had conveniently survived, though, which was a plus. The ship fell, and Goku flung his arms up, bracing for the painful impact that was about to strike.

As the ship fell, though, he finally noticed the wandering tribe was slinking ever closer to them. Were those...Pitch forks? One of them sprinted forward, causing the others to do the same. Goku's eyes widened; the ship was about to crash land, and the warlike tribe was about to attack. What was to be done!? One of them launched a javelin that just barely missed Goku's foot, burying itself deep in Vegeta's soil instead. Another Javelin whizzed by, this time cutting through what was left of his undershirt and scraping his skin. And then dozens of others were launched at once, raining down from the red heavens.

"Damn it, NO!" Goku shoved with all his mind, forcing the javelins to scatter and land in a circle all around him. He turned three back on the throwers, puncturing a couple of legs and heads. Another spear launched forward, and this time Goku side stepped, reaching up and catching the weapon out of the air. He gave the ship a glance, and guessed he had a few minutes left. With a battle cry, he sprinted forward, spinning the spear so that the butt and head knocked away projectiles coming towards him. Within a time frame of ten seconds, he reached the first of the tribe, battering them with the flat of the spear or its butt, stunning them more than anything. It didn't take long to reach the middle, where he shoved the spear through the left leg of a tribal warrior, then deep into the dirt. With that accomplished, Goku caught the warrior's right arm before he could shove his weapon, breaking it, then repeating with the second arm. The few remaining warriors stopped them, fear evident in their eyes. For a brief second, Goku thought he'd actually scared them... Then he turned, and realized his ship was only a few short seconds from crashing and turning the area into a crater.

"No! DAMN!"

He sprinted towards the ship, taking the air when he gained an adequate speed. The Saiyan of Earth put everything he had into the flight, throwing rocks and dust into the air behind him as his electric blue aura ignited. His arms were placed forward like an arrow, making him that much more aerodynamic. He had to make it in time...He had to save Amico and Alucard...

A wave of javelins barreled down from above, digging into Goku's back like a series of punches. He plummeted into the red dirt, skidding a few times. He found himself face down, just a few feet from where the ship would inevitably crash. Three javelins were buried in his back, and dozens of more cuts were all over his body. In the last seconds before they crashed, he heard the screams of Amico, the angry shouts of Alucard...

"Goku! Why didn't you save us!?"

"I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL, SON GOKU!"

And then...there were flames. Rocks. Metal. Goku felt as if he were flying at one point...

******

"Kakarot...We've landed. We're at Tranex."

Great...One step closer to getting home, I guess...

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T/WC: 1,033

The invasion began abruptly; one moment, Goku and the other Saiyans were seated, and the next most of the ship was empty, energy and weaponry flying everywhere. Multicolored explosions turned the green-and-yellow sky into a much darker, much scarier color. The ground shook as the Saiyans forced the Tranexians back towards the Citadel, where they would completely and totally annihilate the majority of the species. Then most of the Saiyans would return to Vegeta while a few upper-class Saiyans would remain to rally up those who remained alive. They'd then be sold with their planet.

Goku stared down at his hands, staring at the shock bracelet around his left wrist. If it weren't for that, he'd have left as soon as possible; stolen a Saiyan Pod and headed for the nearest non-Saiyan planet. But it was there, and it would probably kill him if he left without permission. It was a vile, putrid plan to turn even the most pure hearted person to the path of insanity...And it was, without any doubts, destined to work. Goku raised his gaze ever so slightly, watching as the Saiyans decimated the innocent planet of Tranex. Within a few minutes, the entire place would be gone...No more peace for these people, just slavery and death. And just like before, there wasn't a thing Goku could do to stop it, unless he himself were to die. And dying...Would get nothing done.

Three Tranexians charged him, three who had gotten past the Saiyans and were thirsting for revenge. Goku stared down at the dirt, a cold, hard truth settling over him. All of his resistance couldn't fight what was to come now; garbed in brown rags, scars all down his back and arms from the javelins, he would be forced to kill these three innocent warriors simply to prolong his own life. Had it not been for his blood and upbringing, he would surrender himself...But there it was. That Saiyan instinct, that drive to survive birthed through Roshi and Shen's trainings. Without looking up, his arm deflected two punches, and his body spun. His hands planted on the ground, his weight shifting into a kick that drug one of the Tranexians into the ground. Like a dance, he was back on his feet, spinning gracefully behind a second Tranexian and driving his elbow through the poor thing's skull. He felt the bone crack...And felt almost satisfied. All of his aggression and anger at the turn of events flowed up through him, and, he was sure, a strange glare shone through his shadowed out face.

The third Tranexian seemed to move in slow motion, and Goku easily caught him. As he slammed the body down, it felt more as if he was simply setting the creature down, as he would a bird. None of them were actually dead, he was certain of that as their Ki signatures were still evident, but none of them would be moving for a few days. Goku finished the movement, swinging back up to his full height and staring down at them. The world seemed to spin as his almost calm anger ebbed away, replaced again by the empty feeling of defeat. By this point, the war was practically over, and not only had he only defeated three of the other soldiers, he'd let his anger out. That was a sign of Saiyan hood...And Saiyans were a species Goku had heard nothing but bad about.

Was he...becoming one?

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TWC: 1616