Preparation

The following week was incredibly dull for Vegeta. His ship was under construction, which seemed to be taking forever, and all he could do was wait. He even considered taking an Attack Ball and heading out into space just to get away from all the busywork.

"Gah. Kakarott is probably out there training as hard as he can at this very moment. And yet here I sit, subjecting myself to this ridiculous boredom." Vegeta flew off the base in a rage. He didn't care that there was no air. Most Saiyans had learned to hold their breath long enough to survive in space for a few minutes, and Vegeta just needed to get away. As he flew, he began to think about his upcoming confrontation with Cooler. Vegeta would not be caught unprepared this time, no matter what Cooler threw at him. The Frost demon's brother would likely try some of the same moves Frieza had, especially if he became desperate. It seemed that their clan always had a trump card. Vegeta knew better than to allow himself to be caught off guard.

For a few days, Vegeta repeated his trips across the planet, enjoying the freedom to train without destroying any part of the base in the process. At first, he found transforming into a Super Saiyan to be quite draining. But as he practiced the technique over and over, it became second nature to him. By the end of the week, he could transform quickly, not wasting any energy and maintaining his stamina as easily as if he was still in his base state.

As Vegeta flew back to base on the seventh day, he felt satisfied. "Hah. I'll wager Cooler will have more than a few surprises in store for him," he thought, smiling. His vessel had finally been completed.

Vegeta stepped forward, out of the elevator and into the massive launch bay in the shipyard. The room was dark. He nodded to Malaka, who gestured to the attendants. Immediately, spotlights blinked on in a semicircle around the chamber, revealing the ship resting at the center of the room. A moment later, the ship's own internal lighting began to glow, illuminating it from within. It was magnificent.

At 80 meters in length, the Bringer of Death was noticeably larger than the capital yachts used by the Frost Demons. Frieza's engineers had adapted Vegeta's chosen design well: the body was long and pyramidal, highest in front, with broad angles sweeping back around it. The spacious bridge, set at the apex of the triangular prow, had wrap-around windows allowing a 180-degree view. The portholes spread across the side of the hull were long and rectangular, a stark departure from the usual round design of Frieza's old fleet. Past the bridge, the body of the ship dropped to the level of the wings at a shallow angle.

Twin struts protruded forward out from under the cabin – massive reinforced beams tipped with titanium-alloy rams. These would be used in battle to penetrate another ship's energy shields, allowing the Bringer of Death to fire blasts through the crippled vessel's hull. Two turbofan jets on either side of the prow provided forward lift while in the atmosphere.

The wings extended 60 meters on either side of the body, slender and sharply curved. They would fold back around the body in spaceflight, but they had their own two turbofans to balance those in front for vertical takeoff in the atmosphere. Oniya had opted for external engines rather than the integrated design used in most of Frieza's ships; this would allow for greater stability if the Bringer of Death took battle damage. The remaining four engines were mounted on the back and sides: two small thrusters for propulsion and two massive slipstream generators for superluminal interstellar flight.

Flexing his aura gently, Vegeta lifted slowly off the ground and flew around the back of the ship. A broad skylight in the rear of the body revealed a heated pool in a relaxation chamber with space for entertaining a large group. He smiled in satisfaction – the engineers had met his every specification. Fortunate for them, at least.

Landing on the wing, Vegeta walked toward the side of the body. The angled sides were equipped with dual Attack Ball docking bays: circular doors that allowed the pods to enter the equipment bay without breaking airlock. Inside, there was space for a dozen such pods, as well as a luxurious open-air shuttle that could be lowered out of wide bay doors on the ship's underside.

Vegeta walked forward, out of the bay and down the hallway underneath the pool. The crew's quarters on the right weren't exactly spacious, but they looked serviceable, nestled between the sick bay (equipped with dual regeneration tanks) and the cargo hold. Two guest cabins, the galley, and the Prince's quarters were on the left.

At the end of the hallway, a spiral staircase led up to the bridge. Beyond the staircase, a single reinforced door led to the gravity chamber and training room. Its walls were specially engineered to absorb energy blasts and direct them to the ship's power supply.

Vegeta climbed the staircase, emerging in the bridge. He surveyed the controls with marked disinterest; those were what pilots were for. He approved of the thronelike captain's chair in the center of the room, though: it was black leather with a sleek golden frame. Glancing back, he saw that double doors led down a spacious hallway to the entertaining chamber and pool. Oniya would have to be promoted – perhaps she could take the role of pilot. She had seemed to be particularly quick to meet his needs ever since he arrived from Namek.

"My lord, Viceroy Cooler has sent coordinates to us of the place he would like to meet you. It's a small moon orbiting a gas giant in the neutral zone between your territory and his. With your new ship's speed, I estimate a travel time of four days."

Vegeta crossed his arms, his fingers twitching almost imperceptibly. This display of excitement wouldn't have been noticed by most, but Malaka had known the prince a long time. It was obvious that Vegeta was extremely anxious for a battle, and the doctor was relieved to see him go. Having a ruler around who frequently disintegrated his subordinates caused everyone to live in constant fear.

"Fine. One final touch before I head underway." Vegeta lifted the severed head of Frieza, which had been preserved in a cast. "Mount the remains of my once-great enemy on the front of my vessel, Malaka. I want the entire universe to know when they see my ship, that there's still one Saiyan alive with true pride." Vegeta smiled his crooked smile, eager to test his limits in battle once again, and boarded his ship.

The crew had been hand-selected by the Prince. He wanted only the most skilled and trustworthy aboard his ship. Oniya, who had been responsible for constructing the vessel, was chief engineer and pilot. Among his other crew were a tech officer who also handled communications, a maintenance chief, a medical technician, a gourmet chef, and an android. The small crew had each shown enough aptitude at their individual trades that Vegeta considered them at least somewhat useful. The android, designated C47, had encountered Vegeta on the outskirts of the base, where it had expressed appreciation for the prince's gift for violence. The Saiyan had found the droid mildly amusing when it had addressed him as "master" and requested that it be allowed to "join him in engaging in unadulterated carnage." It had been permitted to join the crew, if only for entertainment purposes.

The large circular ceiling above the ship split in the middle and began to slide back, exposing the shiny new vessel to its first glimpse of the stars. Everyone was on board and ready for the launch. The Bringer of Death's maiden voyage would be glorious. "Set in course and engage," ordered the prince.

Vegeta didn't care for the pomp and circumstance, but he did have an appreciation for significant events. This was the first time he actually felt like a Prince for as long as he could remember. After losing his race, Vegeta had despaired of ever experiencing his first command. These memories only served as a reminder of his loss, however, and Vegeta quickly stormed off to his new gravity chamber. The moment of melancholy evaporated as the Saiyan immediately set the gravity to ten times that of his home planet, Vegeta. The machine hummed with a low steady pulse as it engaged, causing even the light in the room to seem heavy.

"Pah, is this all?" Vegeta laughed as he kicked a few lightning fast blows to his side. "I'm not going to get anywhere training at such a low level." He quickly upped the intensity to over thirty times that of his home planet. When it had fully initiated, he found the effects to be quite desirable. "This is more like it." He could have easily handled much higher levels had he turned into a Super Saiyan, but it bothered him that Goku's normal state had been above him on Namek. "I will surpass you, Kakarott – in every way!"

The first three days of training went well, although Vegeta found that he overdid it a few times. Never could it be said that another trained harder or exerted himself more fully than the Prince of Saiyans. He pushed himself to his limits and beyond, despite needing to be at full strength against Cooler in a few short days. The medic aboard had not expected to be so busy, but Vegeta never once slept in his own bed. During the first three nights of the voyage he spent all his time in either the gravity chamber or the healing tank. He had worked himself up to 40x gravity (four hundred times that of earth) in only 72 hours, to the amazement of his crew.

Vegeta was cleaning himself up from his latest "light" training session. It was light because he had only emerged with minor bruises and his armor was only mostly melted off his torso. "My lord, we are approaching our destination," Oniya informed him. "Arrival will be in one standard hour. Are you injured, my lord?" The prince ignored her question, ripping off his damaged chest plate. He donned fresh new battle armor but discarded the cape; it would be too restricting for his tastes when he faced Cooler.

"Finally," Vegeta thought. "It feels like months since I've had a battle." He walked to the bridge of the vessel and took his seat in the Captain's chair, which afforded a perfect view ahead. His scouter was already in place on the left side of his face, slightly skewing his perception of color. It gave a gilded tinge to the rocky moon and the glassy-ringed gas giant it circled, both already aglow in the light of a blue supergiant.

Cooler's ship had landed on the designated moon below, but Vegeta had other plans. "Maintain orbit. I will take an Attack Pod down to the surface. While I am gone, I want you all to follow the orders I have already given. "

His crew assented immediately. The android responded on an encouraging note. "Go show the meatbags who's boss, master." Vegeta smiled wryly as he boarded his small pod and blasted out of the side of the ship, toward the moon.

The pod crashed violently into the surface, as they always did, leaving a crater about seven meters deep and just over double that in width. Vegeta emerged, levitating himself slowly upwards and onto the barren terrain. The air was thin, due largely to the low gravity on this moon. He had intentionally landed a good distance away from Cooler's ship. The Frost Demon would have to come to him.

His arms crossed, Vegeta detected not one but three power levels headed his direction. Each of them rivaled Captain Ginyu in strength, zipping towards his location at their maximum speeds. "Hah, I can't believe he actually sent these fools."

Within seconds, the three warriors landed in front of Vegeta, striking an embarrassing pose. The two tall ones, the brown one on the left and the green-skinned one on the right, froze in their stance. Their bodies joined to form a triangle between them and the ground. Between them, a shorter fighter with blue skin crouched down, his left leg extended with one fist braced against the ground. "We…are…COOLER'S ARMORED SQUADRON!" they shouted together in unison.

Vegeta gaped at their stupidity briefly before chuckling to himself. "Just why would Cooler bother sending you three bumbling idiots?"

"Ah Vegeta," spoke the one in the middle, Salza, in his characteristic strange accent. "Destroying Frieza waz a feat only a few could pull off. Would you be interezted in dizplaying your zkills for uz?"

Just as Vegeta pondered how annoying the enunciations in Salza's voice were, the three attacked simultaneously. Doore, the muscular green one, charged straight ahead with a sloppy downward punch. Neiz, the slender brown one, teleported behind Vegeta and tried to knee him in the back. Above, Salza charged a purple beam which he intended to fire after the others had crippled Vegeta.

Without flinching, the prince vanished from sight, causing the two goons to hit each other rather than Vegeta. As they looked at each other angrily, Vegeta appeared above them, his arms crossed in an X in front of his chest. Two elbows smashed simultaneously into two skulls, and the two soldiers collapsed on the ground unconscious. Salza fired his beam just as Vegeta reappeared, the blast zooming toward the prince. Vegeta simply turned his head, smiling. The blast connected directly with the right side of his face, exploding brightly on impact. Salza shouted, "HAH! Zat's what happen when you mess with Cooler's Armored Squadron!" His face, momentarily triumphant, suddenly turned sour as the smoke cleared.

"Your plan of attack wasn't all that bad, but you failed to account for one thing, Salza." Vegeta's face was completely untouched by the blast, his eyes glaring angrily up towards the cowering armor-clad soldier. "I am hundreds of times stronger than you, fool. Your cockiness in thinking you could even make a dent in my Saiyan prowess is mind-boggling! And now you will pay the price for your impudence." Vegeta extended his right arm up towards Salza, taking no time to charge whatsoever, and fired a crackling ball of blue energy.

"AH! What iz zat?" the soldier trembled. Thinking quickly, Salza thrust out his right arm in a karate chop. It quickly began to glow with purple energy, humming softly. He had no time left; the blast was upon him. Using all his might, he gave the energy blast his strongest swipe, severing the ball into two halves that crashed into the surface of the moon behind him.

"Whew, zat waz too close," the soldier sighed as he wiped sweat from his forehead with his left hand. His relief, however, was short lived.

"Ah, so you do know a few tricks after all? I expected that blast to obliterate you, Salza, and I'm at least a little disappointed it didn't. Oh well, guess I'll have to up my game this time. Haha. Well, at least a little," Vegeta snorted.

"You ztupid, arrogant Zaiyan!" Salza charged the prince with his beam sword raised, attempting to take off Vegeta's head in one swift stroke. Vegeta only laughed.

"Oh by all means, continue flailing around angrily with that thing," he responded, dodging easily. "It's a useless trick if you can't catch your opponent!" Vegeta's speed outclassed the armored squadron soldier many times over. As he proceeded to dodge the incoming stabs and swings, he grew quickly bored.

Continuing to evade Salza's blade, dodging as effortlessly as if the alien were moving in slow motion, the prince began to reflect on the events of the past few weeks. "Now I know how Kakarott felt when he faced the Ginyu Force," he thought. "A battle as pointless as this doesn't even excite me. It's hard to believe that I thought he was a Super Saiyan then."

Pulling himself back to the present, Vegeta stopped dodging and caught the alien's arm, crushing his wrist and deactivating the energy sword. "All right, Salza, you've had your fun. But I'm afraid you have ceased amusing me, which can only mean one thing: your time is up."

The blue skinned soldier began to tremble, exhausted from his attempts to decapitate his foe. With all his effort, he hadn't even grazed the Saiyan prince. "How did you get zo strong? Your power level waz never anywhere near ze Ginyu Force, and I've alwayz been able to rival Captain Ginyu!"

"Well, fool, I killed the Ginyu Force myself! So I'd say your assumption is incorrect. And aren't you forgetting one other minor detail? I SLAUGHTERED FRIEZA HIMSELF! How could you POSSIBLY think that your pitiful strength could be a match for me?"

"Don't make me laugh, Vegeta," Salza sneered. "You don't actually think anyone believez you were ze one to kill Frieza, do you? It had to be zome stroke of luck; everyone knowz zat. Cooler himself zaid Frieza waz always too careless. You couldn't possibly win in a fair fight!"

Vegeta was briefly angered by the soldier's remarks. But, deep down, he loved to be tested. Before leaving the ship, he had ordered his crew to maintain video coverage of every moment he was on the moon. The broadcast was going live to every corner of the Planet Trade empire. The system's scanners were tuned to the scouters, providing the audience with every word that the warriors spoke. This was his first opportunity to demonstrate a fraction of his magnificent power. Even so, he definitely wanted to keep the greatest part of his strength under wraps, at least for the moment.

"I see we have skeptics in the audience. I feel this calls for a demonstration." The prince closed his eyes, examining Salza's energy signature. He focused on it, feeling the soldier twitching as he struggled to escape Vegeta's grip. It was too easy. He had first used this technique to obliterate the foolish minion on Frieza base 79 who had challenged him. It had been enjoyable and effortless – he felt it would be an intensely satisfying way to dispose of Salza. Vegeta opened his eyes again, mere seconds later. Suddenly, Salza's body was viciously shredded apart by an imperceptible release of violent energy.

The camera watching from space had zoomed in behind Salza, capturing the view of Vegeta's eyes head-on. Everyone watching the fight was gripped with fear, even from their safe distance away. Salza was reduced to microscopic grains of dust instantly; it seemed that all the prince did was look at him. Those regents who had doubted the Prince's power began to rethink their opinions, out of both necessity and out of sheer terror.

"Pathetic," Vegeta announced. He could suddenly sense Cooler above, watching. The Frost Demon had hidden his energy before, but now he proudly announced himself. Glancing up, Vegeta met the piercing red eyes and stared back boldly. The real fight was about to begin.

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We hope you've enjoyed Chapter 15. Many thanks to everyone who has left reviews!

Vegeta's ship, the Bringer of Death, was inspired by the Strahl from Final Fantasy XII, although it is much larger, with sharp angles reminscient of an F-117 Nighthawk. Later on, we may be able to release concept art for the ship, or even open up a fan art contest.

The android C47 is based heavily on the assassin droid HK-47 from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Long interstellar flights can get awfully boring if there's nothing to lighten the mood. Ordinarily, Vegeta would never entertain the thought of having a machine on his crew, but we thought C47's sadistic sense of humor would fit well with the Prince of Saiyans.

We also wanted to answer a few questions and comments from the reviews of previous chapters:

Q. It was a bit cheesy to have Vegeta go all Vader on that short, chubby, purple alien guy, but that doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable to picture. [...] I had thought that Goku would never get to learn IT had things turned out this way, but it seems it's going to end up happening anyway.

A. We thought the same thing! Vegeta, unlike Vader, doesn't need a Death Star to blow up planets. Their attitudes toward minions are very similar, though. And good catch regarding Instant Transmission! Some things simply shouldn't be changed.

Q. "I find your lack of updates... disturbing."

A. Well, we find your lack of patience disturbing! Just kidding, of course.

Q. The reason Goku was able to match [Cooler's] 4th form in base form before he changed was because Goku got a zenkai which brought his base form up to the level of Frieza.

A. Later chapters will probably go into more detail about the limitations of training-by-zenkai and why canon really never uses zenkai boosts after the Namek Saga (except, of course, with Cell).

Q. Goku spent years living alone after his grandpa died, during which he was perfectly able to cook all the food he caught.

A. During the Cell Saga, Goku said that neither he nor Gohan were able to cook well. It's possible that he simply fell out of practice since marrying Chi-chi.