Age 737 – Planet Vegeta
The skies over Planet Vegeta burned crimson as the two moons hovered above the horizon, casting long shadows across the jagged rock formations and fortress-like structures that littered the Saiyan homeworld. Thunderclouds loomed distantly over the horizon, but closer to the outskirts of the Saiyan capital, a wide, flat plateau stretched into the distance—isolated, quiet, and far from prying eyes.
The wind howled faintly, rustling the short brown grass that grew in scattered patches across the red earth. In the center of the plateau, a lone figure knelt beside two identical Saiyan space pods. Bardock's hands moved swiftly, fingers dancing over the consoles as he entered coordinates with purpose. The reflective surfaces of the pods mirrored the sharp furrow of his brow and the battle-hardened focus in his eyes.
"This planet…" Bardock muttered, confirming the destination with a final tap on the screen. "Remote. Weak power levels. Lots of food. Should be perfect."
Behind him, the quiet sound of footsteps approached. Gine stood with her soft features taut with unease. She clutched a small, wriggling toddler in her arms—Kakarot, tiny tail curling playfully around Gine's arm. Her soft black hair fluttered in the wind, and her eyes, full of concern, glanced down at her child, then up at Bardock.
But just behind her stood a third figure—a small boy, only seven years of age, yet already bearing the hardened edge of a Saiyan warrior. Daiko, their eldest. His stance was straight, his arms folded, and though his posture tried to mimic confidence, there was still the rawness of youth in his eyes. His jet-black hair jutted out wildly like a chaotic storm, more unkempt than Bardock's but sharing the same intensity. His brown tail swayed behind him, alert and steady.
Daiko was silent, his body still aching faintly from his most recent mission. The wounds had scabbed over, and though he'd been told to rest, he had insisted on returning home. A faint scar curved along his shoulder where an energy blast had grazed him—just a whisper of the brutal battles he had already experienced.
Gine stepped forward, watching Bardock with growing alarm. "Why are we sending both of them away? Daiko just got back. He's injured—he's supposed to be resting." she asked, voice barely rising above the wind.
"I know," Bardock said, facing her. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes— calculating —softened when they fell on Gine. "But I don't trust Frieza. He's plotting something by calling all the Saiyans back."
Daiko's ears perked up. He stepped closer, eyes flicking between his parents. "You think he's… planning something?" His voice was steady, deep for a boy his age, but tinged with youthful curiosity.
Bardock looked down at his son, and for a moment, the Saiyan warrior in him gave way to something else—something far rarer in their culture. A father. He placed a hand on Daiko's shoulder.
"He's scared of us," Bardock said. "He's been asking around about the Super Saiyan. He smiles and gives orders like we're his pets, but asking about the legend shows the one thing he tries to hide. Fear. The kind that makes people do stupid things."
"But why this planet?" Gine asked, her grip tightening on Kakarot.
"It's called Earth and it's far enough out that no one cares about it. The people there? Weaklings. They couldn't hurt a low-class Saiyan even if they tried. And the food—it's abundant. You won't go hungry there," Bardock added, nodding toward Daiko.
"I thought you were like all Saiyan men and didn't think you were the type to worry about the kids…," Gine replied, a half-smile breaking through her concern.
"No," Bardock admitted. "But you've rubbed your damn coddling ways on me."
Gine chuckled.
There was a brief silence, filled only by the wind. Then Daiko stepped closer, staring up at his father.
"When we land on this Earth," he asked, "should I kill the inhabitants?"
Bardock blinked. A smirk curled at the edge of his mouth. "No. You lay low. Blend in. The last thing we need is Frieza catching wind of where you both are."
Daiko just nodded.
He looked like a miniature warrior—his frame still small, standing at 3'11", but his eyes were sharp, intelligent. His features were a clear mix of Bardock's rugged jaw and Gine's gentler eyes. He had the face of a fighter. Too young to be hardened fully, yet too experienced already to be naïve. He had already been sent out to conquer three planets since the age of 5 meaning he has experiences the battlefield.
As Bardock opened the pod door and helped Daiko step inside, Daiko paused and looked up. "Why can't you come with us?"
Bardock sighed. "Because they'll track us. Me and your mother, we're adults. Our scouters… they'll know. But these pods," he knocked twice on the hull, "I've taken out the trackers. The communication devices and scouters too. No one will know where you're going. You'll be safe."
Daiko swallowed his question, biting back further in protest. He understood. But he didn't have to like it.
The pod's interior was spacious for his small size and it was warm. It hummed softly as it powered up. Beside him, Kakarot was being gently laid into the second pod by Gine, he looked concerned, seemingly aware of the danger outside the comfort of his mother's arms.
Gine turned to Daiko, resting her hand on the edge of his pod. Her voice wavered. "Please… take care of your little brother. Like you used to take care of Raditz, remember? You've always protected him."
"I will," Daiko said softly.
Bardock's voice came next, firmer. "Don't look at the full moon unless you face a dangerous opponent. Try and train your control in your Oozaru form, and train Kakarot in his too so that he can aim for his enemies."
Daiko nodded. His chest tightened, a storm of uncertainty swirling in his gut. He didn't know what lay ahead, only that his instincts told him this wasn't like the other times he deployed when he knew he would come back.
"Goodbye," Gine whispered, her hand lingering against Daiko's pod, then Kakarot's.
"Live on," Bardock said. "No matter what."
The pods were sealed shut with a hiss. Within seconds, the engines roared to life. An aura blazed from around the pod as they lifted into the air, streaming toward the clouds. Gine took a step forward, eyes wide with tears.
"Watch out for the Galactic Patrol!" she shouted.
The two pods shot into the crimson sky, vanishing into the dark canopy of stars.
Far above Planet Vegeta, the void of space stretched endlessly, glimmering with distant stars and the dim glow of faraway galaxies. The twin Saiyan pods cut through the darkness like comets, blazing trails of blue fire behind them. Inside the lead pod, Kakarot slept peacefully, already slipping into stasis. Behind him, Daiko's pod drifted steadily, its systems activating the hibernation sequence.
But not far away, nestled within the observation deck of Lord Frieza's mothership, a very different scene unfolded.
The deck was cold and metallic, lined with monitors and blinking consoles. Scientists and engineers moved briskly across the floor, most avoiding the central figure who stood gazing out the massive viewport window. Lord Frieza, small but impossibly dangerous, hovered in his floating pod, his tail hanging lazily off the side. His crimson eyes were observing the dark canvas of space and Planet Vegeta.
Behind him, his Chief of Science, an amphibian-like form of Kikono, scuttled forward. A holographic display hovered in front of him, showing readings from the surface of Planet Vegeta.
"Lord Frieza," Kikono croaked, voice nasal and reedy. "A Saiyan just departed the planet. We've detected a power level of… 168."
(Kikono was unaware that the singular reading of 168 was the scouter making a mistake and adding the power level of 4 that Kakarot had to the 164 power level of the still slightly injured Daiko).
Frieza turned his head to Kikono, his lip curling into a smirk. "It seems we have a disobedient monkey among us."
Kikono nodded fervently. "Shall I dispatch a patrol to intercept, my lord?"
Frieza waved a finger lightly. "No need to panic. 168 is hardly a threat. Let it get farther away—don't want the other Saiyans getting suspicious, do we?"
"Of course not, my lord."
"Let them think they're safe," Frieza mused, eyes gleaming with cold amusement. "Then… erase them. Quietly."
Kikono bowed low. "As you wish, Lord Frieza."
XXXX
Daiko sat in silence inside his pod, gazing at the swirling stars beyond the viewport. The hum of the hibernation gas had begun to fill the capsule, slowly easing him toward sleep.
But then—impact.
The entire pod jolted violently. A harsh alarm blared in his ears, and red warning lights pulsed across the dashboard. Daiko's eyes flew open, instinctively gripping the armrests as his pod rocked.
"What the—!?"
Outside, a faint glint of energy shimmered past—a blast. Frieza's soldiers must be firing on him. His pod hissed, smoke leaking from the back of the pod. The trajectory data began to spin wildly on the screen.
Daiko couldn't do anything, when a second blast struck. This one didn't destroy the pod—but it sent it spiraling even more. Sparks flew from the back of the pod. The hibernation sequence was canceled. Daiko was now fully awake, wide-eyed, and heart-pounding.
"Damage detected," the pod's AI droned in a monotone. "Flight system offline. Navigation damaged. Stabilizers failing."
He turned his head sharply, peering through the viewport. In the distance, Kakarot's pod, steadier, was continuing on its original path, undisturbed, its occupant peacefully asleep.
"Kakarot!!" Daiko shouted, slamming his hand against the reinforced glass.
His voice echoed uselessly in the sealed capsule. The vacuum of space took no pity.
Fear—a cold, foreign sensation—gripped him.
He had faced death before. His missions. Beasts with teeth like blades. Alien warriors fighting back against him. But this… this was different. Dying in space wasn't a battle. It was slow, helpless. The pod was sealed—there was no escape, no ki to fight, no way to break free.
The computer chimed again.
"Proximity alert. Approaching cosmic storm. Scanning for viable landing coordinates."
Daiko grits his teeth. "C'mon, don't die here… not like this…"
Outside, the void distorted. Purple lightning crackled across his field of view. The stars bent unnaturally. And then—a tear in space itself.
The pod's sensors screamed warnings, displaying strange gravitational distortions. The tear grew wider, shimmering like a jagged wound in reality. A wormhole.
Daiko barely had time to scream as the pod was pulled forward, gravity twisting, lights flickering.
The Frieza soldier who had shot Daiko's pod hovered nearby in a small cruiser, watching as the pod was yanked into the anomaly. The tear was sealed behind it with a flicker and a flash.
He activated his communicator. "Reporting in. The Saiyan pod was… consumed. It flew into a black hole of some kind. The Saiyan is dead."
The soldier turned his ship and retreated, never knowing the truth.
Daiko's vision blurred. The wormhole distorted his senses. Time had no meaning. Space folded upon itself like a crumpled scroll, and his pod twisted through dimensions that defied logic.
Then—stillness.
The storm was gone. The pod coasted silently and quickly through empty black space, surrounded now by an unfamiliar starfield.
Daiko opened his eyes slowly, still screaming but eventually, he stopped when he noticed he wasn't in the wormhole anymore. His pod's systems flickered back to life.
"Unregistered celestial body detected," the AI stated flatly. "Breathable atmosphere confirmed."
Ahead loomed a massive world—a brown, dusty planet, much larger than Planet Vegeta. Sparse patches of green clung to its surface, and oceans shimmered in the lower hemisphere. Two moons hung silently in the sky.
Daiko forced himself to focus. He squinted, trying to memorize the location of the nearest green area since the pod was angled toward the browner terrain.
The pod hit the atmosphere hard. Flames licked across the hull. The sky turned amber as the ground loomed closer. Trees gave way to rock, and rock to endless dunes of reddish sand.
Then—impact.
The crater blasted outward in a thunderous explosion of dust and earth. The pod sat at the center, hissing and sparking.
The door opened with a groan. Heat poured in. Daiko stepped out—and collapsed immediately.
*Daiko's POV*
"F-Fuck…"
The sand burned beneath my palms. Every muscle screamed. My spine felt like it was being pulled toward the center of the planet.
I couldn't move. Couldn't even lift my head.
"Damn gravity's too strong…"
I'd landed on three other worlds before. Each I'd purged for Frieza's market—two weaker than Planet Vegeta, with gravity so light I could soar without effort.
This place… this was hell.
If I had to guess—it was twice Planet Vegeta's gravity. Maybe more.
I clenched my fists, pushing Ki into my body. My arms trembled. Sweat poured down my face. I had to crawl—crawl—back into my pod. Less than a foot away, and it felt like climbing a mountain.
The pod's light illuminated the interior in soft blue hues. I collapsed into the seat, gasping.
"Where… am I…?"
The screen flickered to life. "Location: Unknown. No galactic registry. Isolated region of space."
I cursed again.
No comms. No beacon. No scouter. No way off this rock.
And worst of all—I lost Kakarot.
I just hope there is civilization on this planet.
I laid there, slumped in my seat, chest heaving.
My arms still trembled. My legs ached like someone had poured molten iron into the bone marrow. I'd felt pain before—but that was different. That was constant. Unrelenting. Every second under the gravity was like trying to breathe with a mountain crushing my chest.
I sucked my teeth at that and glanced over at the control panel.
"The pod… still online," I muttered.
The screen displayed internal systems, but almost everything related to flight was marked with red warnings or total failure codes. Thrusters offline. Navigation damaged. Internal communication radio—removed, thanks to Father.
But not all was lost.
The hibernation system still worked.
The life support had about 20 years of power.
And I had supplies.
I reached toward a compartment on the side and yanked it open, straining as my muscles resisted the movement. Inside were four items:
A nutrient solution rack, filled with eight vials of thick, golden paste—each meant to keep a Saiyan satiated for roughly a week.
Five injectable medical solutions, each filled with a luminous, glowing-green liquid, swirling inside pressurized syringes.
A remote for the pod and full moon projector, no larger than my palm, with a single red button at the bottom. I recognized it from previous uses: a tool to project an artificial full moon for Oozaru transformations on planets with no full moon.
A short-bladed survival knife, still secured in its sheath.
I stared at the injectors. My body was on the brink. Every second without immediate healing risked permanent damage. The old wounds from the mission that got me time off were still raw. The new ones, from the pod crash and gravity strain, were layered over them like flame over frost.
"I'll die if I don't use this now…" I hissed.
I grabbed one of the medical stims. My fingers fumbled with it. The needle was long. Its weight felt heavier than it should have, but I didn't hesitate.
With a growl, I jabbed it into the meat of my upper arm and squeezed the trigger.
AGHH!
I gasped aloud as the fluid surged into my bloodstream. It was cold—like ice spreading through every vein. I grit my teeth and slammed my head against the back of the seat, eyes shut tight, as the pain morphed into a burning tingle. My muscles clenched. The fibers twisted and repaired—not fully, but enough to keep me from slipping into unconsciousness.
The lights dimmed briefly as I pressed a button on the control panel.
"…Processing metabolic feedback. Preparing hibernation sequence," the AI droned.
"Good," I whispered, "I just need to rest for a little while…"
The hiss of pressurized gas filled the capsule. A translucent mist poured from the vents along the pod's frame, enveloping me in a thick, chemical fog. It smelled sterile. Bitter. But familiar.
A moment later, my limbs stopped hurting.
My breathing slowed.
And all I knew was darkness.
XXXX
Age 761 – 24 Years Later
A breeze rustled across the crimson dunes of the now named, Planet Savage.
Twin moons hung high above, casting silver shadows across a windswept canyon. Rocky outcroppings jutted from the sand like the bones of dead titans, and the night echoed with distant, alien howls.
Among the twisted spires of stone and thick-leafed jungle brush, something moved.
A shadow darted between trees, agile and impossibly fast.
Its muscular form hunched low and its tail swayed behind it.
Far above the planet, a ship descended.
It was large and industrial in design—carved from Frieza Force engineering. It was similar in design to Frieza's main ship, but a little smaller. Its engines burned with full power as it pierced the atmosphere, shaking clouds away with its descent.
Inside, ten Frieza soldiers prepped for surface recon. They were middle-class scouts, each clad in reinforced suits over their standard Frieza force combat gear. Arm-mounted ray blasters clicked into place. Scouters were green across their visors as they prepared to scan for surface activity.
The ship landed with a heavy thud, the back ramp opening with a hiss of depressurization.
Dust billowed outward, stinging the air.
"Atmosphere's breathable," one soldier muttered, tapping his scouter.
"Gravity seems… unstable," another said. "We're currently at double the average planetary-normal, but further away it's triple the average."
(Meaning this was around 5 times Earth's gravity and half of Planet Vegeta's).
One scout held up a probe, letting it scan the ground. "Dirt's mineral-rich. Mark this for future resource extraction."
A third was already preparing to gauge power levels when he paused—scouter blinking wildly.
"…Wait. I'm getting something."
*Daiko's POV*
From the edge of the forest, I stood, watching them.
My eyes narrowed.
It had been years—decades—since I'd seen that armor. Those scouters.
I took a bite out of the orange severed arm I held—I called them Rognarrs, it was hot and smoking since I perfected the art of cooking with my Ki. The meat was still tough and sinewy though, but after years of surviving on beasts like them, I barely noticed.
Then I saw the ship.
My eyes lit up.
I tossed the limb aside and shot into the sky excitedly, flying fast like a predator who had been waiting decades for prey.
XXXX
The Frieza Force recon time turned towards the direction their scouter was fluctuating towards. Their eyes widened.
"It's been a long time… since I've seen those uniforms."
The voice was deep and gravelly, distorted slightly by years of isolation and harsh living. The figure stood tall, at about 6'1, and broad, silhouetted against the moonlit treetops. Muscles rippled across his chest where his armor had been torn away long ago, leaving only the frayed remnants of the bodysuit clinging to his waist. His wild, untamed hair blew with the wind. A long brown tail curled lazily behind him like a predator savoring the moment before the strike.
And on his chest—three long scars, left by the claws of a Rognarr.
The soldiers froze, their scouters beeping wildly.
"S-Saiyan!" one gasped.
He was right to be afraid.
Daiko grinned.
"Yeah. Saiyan."
A moment later, precise blue beams of energy snapped from his fingertips, blindingly fast. The scouters on their faces shattered in synchronized bursts of sparks, ripping off with violent cracks. Screams echoed as their visors exploded on impact.
Daiko stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. The sound was loud in the tense air.
"You boys look like you know your stuff. Maybe you can help me out," he growled. "I've got a few questions."
One of them panicked. "Open fire!"
They raised their wrist-mounted blasters and let loose—dozens of energy bolts flared through the clearing, crashing into rocks, trees, and the scorched earth.
But not a single one hit Daiko.
He vanished.
A blur of motion—then silence—then—
"GHKK—!!"
Blood burst from the mouth of a soldier as Daiko reappeared behind him, hand shoved clean through his chest. He didn't even look at the man as he pulled his arm free.
A flick of his wrist—three more soldiers turned to ash, consumed in a focused wave of ki.
One soldier tried to drop from the sky with an axe kick, but Daiko didn't move. The blow landed directly on his head—and didn't even faze him. He turned his neck slightly, bored.
"Cute."
He grabbed the man by the leg and slammed him into the ground so hard the armor cracked and bones snapped audibly. Before the soldier could scream, Daiko ended it with a brutal stomp, snapping his spine like a twig.
Another screamed and rushed him with a blade extension on his forearm. Daiko turned lazily and backfisted him—crunch. The man's jaw broke before he was vaporized in a simple flick of energy.
Four soldiers remained.
They backed up, forming a line, with Daiko standing between them and the ship. None dared move.
Daiko tilted his head.
"Hmmm… I only need two of you."
He extended his hand. Two pinpoint blasts surged forward, and two soldiers evaporated into smoke and ash.
The remaining two fell to the ground, crawling backward in terror.
"He's too strong!" one shouted. "We can't even read his power level—he destroyed our scouters!"
Unbeknownst to them even if they did have their scouters, Daiko had learned to suppress his power. A trick he developed to lure beasts on this planet without alerting them since they seemed sensitive to Ki. He wasn't using more than five percent of his strength.
Daiko knelt between the two cowering soldiers, his voice calm. "Tell me what you know about Planet Vegeta."
The first stammered, "P-planet Vegeta… It was… destroyed! Twenty-four years ago! A meteor hit it—wiped it out!"
The words made Daiko still. His breath caught. For a second, he just stared—then something inside him snapped.
His ki exploded outward in a sudden burst, a visible aura erupting around him. Wind kicked up dust. The ship behind him shuddered from the pressure alone.
"Lying… piece of shit…"
His voice was low, seething.
"That bastard Frieza…"
He could feel it. Knew it.
His father had been right. The meteor story? A cover. Frieza had done it. The monster had destroyed their world.
Daiko's fists clenched, nails digging into his palms.
His voice was colder now. "Does this ship have autopilot?"
The soldier hesitated—but the fear was too strong. "Y-Yes! Yes, it does!"
"You idiot!" the other shouted.
Too late.
Daiko smiled.
"Thanks."
He vaporized them both with one casual flick of ki.
Their screams lasted less than a second.
Daiko turned back toward the ship, now alone under the moons of this cursed world. He stared at the vessel—gleaming with promise.
A way out.
"Finally… after all this time," he whispered. "I'm free."
XXXX
The fridge in the kitchen was full—meat, and vegetables, all fresh. He took a few strips of meat and devoured them raw, savoring the taste and forgetting to cook it.
There was a medical chamber—better than the injectors he'd long since run out of.
And there was space.
Space to sleep. Space to eat. Space to relax.
He knew the ship had enough supplies to last months. But first—he needed to get his things from his home.
The cave was carved into a high cliff of dark red stone, surrounded by jagged trees and vines as thick as a man's arm. It was primitive—but it was home.
Inside, his old pod sat like a monument at the far end of the cave. The unit still held power due to him turning off his pod at times to save energy. Bones from the food he hunted littered the floor. A makeshift bed crafted from the fur of the native creatures on this planet. Spear shafts made of sharpened bone and trees leaned against the wall.
In a stash near his bed was a fruit he called Amber Fruit. The orange, gel-filled fruits glowed faintly. They were the only reason he managed to survive on this planet. Their special properties made them precious.
He filled his broken pod with all of the Amber fruit he had and flew back toward the ship. There was around 60 of them. It was a good thing they took a long time to spoil.
Reaching the Frieza ship, the hanger bay hissed open. He slid the pod inside—just barely fitting.
His heart pounded as he walked to the ship's console and entered the coordinates from his pod's preprogrammed destination.
The screen flickered, then locked on.
"Planet: Earth – Destination confirmed."
Daiko stared at the screen.
"Kakarot…" he murmured. "You better be alive."
He pressed the ignition.
The ship lifted, engines burning bright, and in a matter of seconds, it pierced the atmosphere, disappearing into the stars.
Six Weeks Later – Earth
The sky over a peaceful grass plain in the wilderness tore open as a vessel screamed overhead. Birds scattered. Animals fled.
The ship landed in a field of tall grass, steam hissing from the undercarriage as the engines shut down.
The back ramp extended slowly.
And then—footsteps.
A figure walked down, stepping onto Earth's soil for the first time.
He was clad in Frieza Force armor—dark navy boots, navy blue-green chestplate with red forearm bands, and no shoulder pads. The undersuit was black, tattered slightly at the seams. A brown tail flicked casually behind him.
His wild hair blew in the wind.
His eyes scanned the horizon.
Daiko grinned.
"So this is Earth…"
He took a deep breath.
"…A hell of a lot nicer than Planet Savage."
He narrowed his eyes, searching.
All over the planet, the power levels were laughably low, but three were noticeably higher than the rest. Three signatures, all clashing in the distance. One was larger than the other.
He scowled.
"That one better be Kakarot and not an earthling."
And with a burst of ki, he shot off into the sky.
*Goku's Pov*
Pain burned through my broken ribs as I held Raditz in a full nelson.
"Do it now, Piccolo!" I shout.
Piccolo growled, charging his fingers to his forehead. "Special Beam Cannon!!"
The spiral of yellow energy screamed towards me and my supposed brother.
Raditz's eyes widened in horror. "NO—WAIT—!"
And then—something moved. I couldn't really see it at first but I felt it.
A figure flashed between us and the blast. And with a single slap, the beam was deflected, crashing into a distant mountain.
*General Pov*
Goku gasped, stumbling back and collapsing from his injuries.
He expected a counterattack from Raditz to probably kill him—but the Saiyan stood frozen, staring in disbelief at the figure who just arrived.
Goku followed his gaze.
The man standing before them had armor like Raditz, a brown tail, and eyes sharp with disappointment, annoyance, and recognition.
"I show up after being 20 years late, and the first thing I see is my two little brothers trying to kill each other. Figures. Normal Saiyans never did care about family ties often."
The figure smirked.
"Good thing I got here in time."
Goku blinked. "Wait… little brothers?! Just how many brothers do I have!?"
Raditz's voice trembled.
"…Daiko? Is that really you…?"
The newcomer chuckled.
"Yeah. It's me, Raditz."
.
.
.
Author's Notes:
This is the first chapter of a new Dragon Ball story I want to work on. Give it a read and tell me your feedback. The chapters will probably be around every 3-4 weeks since I still have the Invincible story going and I know I'm not good enough to do both at once.