Capítulo 399: My SI Stash #99 - Becoming A Monster [REWORK] by Bladedhc (DragonBallZ)

-"When your at your lowest, when you have nothing left to lose, there's no place to go but up." Man's just grinding back up with da rework, respect/

Synopsis: ???

Rated: M

Words: 37K

Posted on: https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/becoming-a-monster-dbz-the-rework.12643/#post-3575814 (Bladedhc)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics/originals mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1-3 (exceptional)

What is death? What happens when your heart finally gives out? When that blood stops flowing through your veins and throughout your body?

For most people its the end of the life they've lived. The unexpected departure from an existence we've grown accustomed to. Something to be feared, accepted only when you have nothing left to lose, or no more ability to fight it off. Even the religious, the spiritual, and the depressed tend to fight it when it comes to them. Especially when it comes unexpectedly.

I'd say in most ways death was the same to me. When it finally came I hadn't been expecting it, when I knew what was happening I was more afraid than I'd ever been in nearly twenty-six years of life, and I absolutely tried to fight it off. Even with the knowledge that it was far, far too late I struggled with an intensity and will I hadn't ever drawn upon.For a second I couldn't help but think that I'd be a lot farther ahead in my life if I had that same determination for everything else.

With teeth chattering against a sensation of cold I couldn't possibly begin to describe I grasped the sturdy wood laid out underneath me with enough force that I could have sworn I heard it crack over the commotion of my suffering. I pushed myself up and away from the source of my pain, desperately trying not to think about the sound that met my ears. The unsteady and heated whirring of metal struggling against bone and flesh.

I almost succeeded too, not that it would have helped much at that point. My shoe slipped, giving way to the sudden coating of blood decorating the floor of my garage, and sending me right back to where I started, this time for good. My arms gave out, and the metal that had already been biting into a newly made cavity in my chest sank ever deeper, breaking through and past the ribs protecting my back with ease.

I think it was the noise that bothered me the most. That damned saw buzzing away under me. For a few seconds the pain and the despair only grew, before, like the rest of my awareness, it began to fade. My sight, the feeling, even my regret, but somehow not the sound. It felt like I was listening for hours to that same whirring before even that finally faded away.

'Who would find me?' I couldn't help but wonder. Would it be my sister, coming home from school? My mother, returning from the store? The girlfriend who left me on uncertain terms not two weeks before, hoping to patch things up?

It doesn't really matter I suppose. Like it or not they aren't a part of my "life" anymore.

I spent my afterlife as nothing more than a spirit whisping about darkness I couldn't pierce no matter how hard I tried, losing bits and pieces of my identity, my memory, and my soul as time went on. I didn't even notice at first, but with nothing but time on my hands and no clear task to take up I could only think back on the life I'd lived.

It started with names, places, emotions I attached to certain events. It wasn't long before I started to lose faces, and ambitions, things I could once say and know with the kind of certainty almost everyone has. Ironically it was the little things that stuck around. I remember the first time my grandfather showed me how to cook a steak, the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I ate religiously in middle-school, even how to ride a bike, somewhat.

I don't know how long I spent dead before the situation eventually changed. I'm not certain what force pulled me away from the oblivion my soul had been slowly disappearing into. Perhaps it was the god my grandparents insisted I try and accept into my heart, maybe it was the devil, or possibly it was something else entirely. I only really know a few things about my "saviour'.

It wasn't kind, it didn't do this out of the goodness of it's heart or any obligation it felt towards my death, and it almost certainly didn't care about what I wanted. The decision that would shape the rest of my days would likely be forgotten in an instant, nothing more than the passing fancy of a being I couldn't and likely wouldn't want to understand.

I was left with only a single message in the wake of a new life, one filled with danger far beyond my ken, danger that I had no choice but to face head on.

"Amuse me." The creature said.

I woke up in an instant, the words still reverberating throughout my very soul. Gasping and coughing, crying and laughing as I took my first real breaths in what I could only assume was a lifetime of waiting. I was alive, I was awake.

I was...cold. My breath misted in front of me, emphasized by the flickering fluorescent light above me, not quite illuminating the room enough to reveal everything, but giving me an idea of where I could be, and a chance to look myself over. My clothes were torn and smeared with long dried blood, mostly around the center of my chest, just to the left of my heart.

Flakes of dried blood covered my exposed chest and arms, clashing against the pallor of my skin, now a few shades lighter than what I thought was normal.

"D-did they take you too?" My head whipped to my right in an instant, and my eyes fell upon the trembling form of a bloodied and beaten man, his light purple skin barely covered by what seemed to be a toga. A single horn jutted from the center of his brow, as clear a sign as any that he wasn't human. The pang of surprise I felt at his appearance was distant, muted by the sheer oddity of my situation and the fact that I couldn't really bring myself to care about something so trivial compared to my sudden ability to breath.

"...Yeah. They did." Something tells me that I was speaking a lie. Maybe it was selfish of me to believe but I had a feeling my circumstances where far different than this man's own. I looked around the room once more, this time catching sight of a number of huddled forms shivering in every corner, hiding just outside of the light covering the center of our current accommodations. I spoke up, addressing everyone in the room with a kind of confidence that I once didn't have. "Does anyone know who they are? What they want with us?"

For a long moment I was met with silence, and I almost thought my question would go unanswered. Many of the individuals I could see only blankly stared into space, remembering whatever horror came to them before they arrived here. Most of them resembled the purple man who first spoke, likely sharing a species with him. Eventually one of the occupants of the room answered. An alien with rough blue skin looked up at me from where it sat, his voice sounding almost like an avalanche. "It's only been a few months since my own capture, but I have an idea about what they are."

I took a moment to find an open space, before sitting and leaning against the wall as the creature moved forward slightly, revealing a gorilla-like body, and what was once two sets of eyes, one of which was missing. "They travel from world to world, slaughtering the population in a matter of days with strength beyond anything that should be natural to a mortal being." He paused for a moment, swallowing bile that had been building in his throat.

"To them we are nothing more than easy targets, they come and kill our friends and loved ones, only to sell the world we call home to whatever monsters would be willing to buy them. They value strength above all, and they take from whatever they believe is weaker and more vulnerable than themselves." Many of the people in the room drew into themselves in some attempt to appear smaller than they where, hiding from the enemy his words showed them.

"So they sell us? They sell our worlds?" A dangerously thin woman, one of the horned people, managed to shakingly speak out.

He nodded. "From what they say whenever they tolerate our presence enough to speak among each other, many ships just like this one travel the stars with the same purpose. Some have crews weaker than this one, and some stronger. I don't know by how much, but whatever standards monsters like these have for strength are far above anything we can imagine. They have some means of measuring our own strength compared to theirs, and if we don't meet the standards they set for quality slaves they use us at their leisure. If you don't have a talent or skill of some value to them you could be used as nothing more than fodder."

He huffed, settling down further into his corner. "Those without power or value are used however the crew wants. I've seen people eaten, raped, burned, and even strapped with weapons and forced to fight for nothing more than entertainment or training. Seeing as most of you have only recently been taken I'll give you some advice that might just save your lives. Find a use, a purpose. If you don't they'll kill you."

He grinned morbidly. "Welcome to Freeza force. Hopefully some of you might live for a while."

For a moment I stopped breathing, my eyes widening at the man's words. That name sounded familiar. It brought up a feeling of nostalgia I normally connected with the simple pleasure of Saturday morning cartoons, quickly followed by fear as I processed just what that meant for me.

Dragon Ball. It had pushed me into Dragon Ball. I was now so deeply at the bottom of the food-chain I might as well have been a gnat brushing up against giants. A spark of that same fear I felt as I died brushed my heart, accompanied by something I almost couldn't recognize. I couldn't help but laugh once I did, only to be cut off as the wall behind me suddenly disappeared into the ceiling, and I collapsed at the boots of a bug-like alien in familiar armor.

So thats where the door was.

Disgust rose up along the puke green of his chitinous face, and a lazy kick sent me back into the room with enough force to strike the opposite wall, and bowl into gorilla-like man I had just spoken with.

"It's time for processing, meat-bags! Those of you who haven't been tested for potential use are to line up and follow me!" Out of sheer surprise no one moved, or even breathed at the aliens words, aside from me gasping and coughing on the floor. He growled, before he slammed his fist into the nearest face in the room, causing the unfortunate alien's head to explode into gore against the wall behind it.

"Now!" He boomed. Everyone was up in an instant, gathering single file as he stomped off at an uncomfortable pace. I gathered myself, clutching my broken ribs as we were lead down a blindingly bright hallway, its only feature the single red stripe running across the walls. Passing by soldiers just like the one leading us, each of them grinning smugly at us as we passed by.

Soon we meet up with dozens of other crowds just like us as we were filed onto one side of a single large room. The white, blank surfaces of the room and the distant smell of disinfectant ironically reminded me of a hospital, except it obviously held none of the familiar safety such a place might have brought me. Aside from a few outliers like myself the people who waited alongside me were all the same species of horned alien. Six objects that look almost like airport metal detectors jutted out from the floor in the middle of the room, clearly ready for our use.

It wasn't long before the last of us had been corralled inside. A few hundred remaining members of a dying people, and a handful of aliens that had likely never even heard of each others species. There was almost no noise as they waited for whatever was to come next, only the sound of a few broken sobs from those who couldn't help themselves filling the chamber. Soon even that faded, and our new master spoke to us for the first time.

A sonorous voice met my ears, the gentle rasp of a woman I could only assume was beautiful sounding over an intercom and cutting through the relative silence of my current company. "The Geressian people. A species with an average power-level of eighteen and a seriously overfed sense of importance. Under the watchful eyes of lord Freeza you have been weighed, measured, and found wanting. Those of you in this room represent the last of your people alive today, and when our time is up here your once billions strong race will be reduced even further."

The machines in the center of the room hummed as they powered on, several lights at their underside glowing blue. "The machines you see at the center of this chamber will likely be what decides your fate. If your power level measures above thirty we will be willing to allow you to remain on our ship as slaves and prisoners of labor. You'll soon be sold to the inhabitants of Freeza world 892 or 'Dornessa' as its informally called."

She hummed, before letting out a laugh. "And for those of you who fail to meet our expectations? You had better hope you have some value as a pleasure slave or a conscript, or else I fear your fate is at the discretion of the kind members of my crew." A number of the soldiers guarding over us chuckled, and one of them even cracked his knuckles.

I didn't react as the horror on my fellow slaves grew. I already knew what was going to happen. I'm not certain what a humans power level is, but I know its not thirty. Still, I couldn't help but grit my teeth in half a grimace, and half a grin. I had wasted my life, only finding my will to live after I had died. I had failed every expectation I set for myself and been left as nothing but a husk with a ghost of his old memories. I was at the precipice of a horrible death, at the edge of the same oblivion I had faced once before. I was excited beyond belief.

If I could make it past this I could make something of myself. Reforge an identity from the shattered piece I could grasp at. I could stand among and above the monsters that seemed to dominate my life. I had never wanted to live, to survive so much as I did right now.

I ignored the weeping man ahead of me, crying as he was informed his power lay just below the threshold at 27. The machine beeped at me, before a robotic voice sounded from within.

"Designation?"

I mulled over its words for a moment. What was my name? For a terrifying second I couldn't remember, before it slammed into me like a punch to the gut.

"Dennis."

"Species?"

"Human."

The machine hummed, before beeping at me. "Confirmed. Slave #4561. Dennis. Approximate power level- three."

Chapter 2

"Bah hah hah! Three?! I think I've seen rats on this ship with more potential! This one isn't even worth the air he breaths!" One of the guards, someone that looked like the bastard love child of Tony the tiger and Lion-o, laughed out loud at the number that was connected to my strength, bringing a number of other soldiers in on the fun. They pointed and laughed at me, almost killing my initial excitement entirely.

A few of the Geressian's being processed alongside me even shot some pitying looks my way. I frowned for a moment, before taking a breath. The alien with the most experience, and the captain of this ship both advised that those too weak to have a secure position should find a way to make themselves valuable. I see no reason not to listen to their advice.

By their standards I was weak, but that could change with time. I just needed to find a way to use my ki, and give myself the tools to grow. For now however that didn't matter. Survival first. After taking a few minutes to cool down, and let everyone forget about my embarrassing battle power, I approached the soldier who laughed at me and my potential as a combatant.

The soldiers stopped caring about the orderliness of the crowd once people where scanned, stepping back to listen as those desperate for their own survival began to make their cases to individual soldiers. They had been told that their use would be decided by the crew, and like me they had taken it to heart. Already I spotted a some female and even a few male Geressians prostrating themselves before anyone willing to humor them. I suppose for most people suffering through a rape is preferable to dying as a conscript. Having seen at least one afterlife I can't really blame them.

"No." The alien drawled, his fur bristling as I walked up to him. I couldn't help but notice he was nearly four feet taller than I was. "Even if I did enjoy males you wouldn't survive the experience with your strength. I'd advise you move back to your advisor and your cell, at least as a conscript you can keep some scrap of pride as you die."

I scratched the back of my head. Not sure how to take that. "That's...Not what I had in mind. I simply have an offer I think any number of your fellows would be willing to take me up on."

He shook his head, crossing his arms. "look, there are few tasks a power level of three will get you around here. I'm sorry to say you no matter what you do around here, you aren't gonna last too long."

"I wouldn't say that." The Tiger-man tilted his head at me, but let me speak. "It's true, I doubt I can be much help to warriors like you on the battlefield. I'm clearly not suited for combat. But I'd like to put my best foot forward with the crew, avoid the fate of my unfortunate fellows." Tiger-man looked over to one of his friends, the bug man who had kicked me earlier, only to be met with a shrug.

"And what would you say a weakling like you has to offer us?" I grinned. I have their attention now.

I had taken some time to think over what few advantages being human could provide me in the wider universe, and aside from being part of an unknown race without any reputation to speak of, there was really only one thing we had over every other race. One sparkling advantage that pushed us far above the rest.

"It just so happens that I am a fantastic cook. Better than any of you have ever even heard of in fact. I could serve a few meals on this ship in return for my life and relative safety." That actually seemed to intrigue him. A massive furred hand came up to rub his chin.

Apparently the food we put together can be considered top tier. Even a god obsessed with getting a good meal, one Beerus the destroyer, would one day give earth a pass for that reason, and that reason alone.

"It has been a while since I had real food..." He seemed to think for a moment. "I'll take you up on that, human." He tested the word, seeming not to enjoy it too much. My smile grew just a bit larger. Seems I might just survive this. "Once we hit our next target you should try and take some of what they have to offer. If you make something worth my while, me and some of my men'll make sure no one accidentally eats you or something." My grin fell. That sounds an awful lot like I would have to be part of this attack.

"Couldn't I just... make you some food now?" As eager as I was to try and make myself strong. I'm not so fucking stupid as to assume I could take on whatever was waiting for me on the next world these people would invade. I'd rather stick to some half remembered high school cooking skills over my nonexistent experience in combat.

He gave me a light-hearted laugh. "Your welcome to try, but you probably wont find anything aboard. Our ship does come with something resembling a kitchen- usually a way for the higher ups to enjoy something that isn't nutrient paste, but our last cook died two years ago, meaning the captain doesn't bother with things like 'Ingredients'."He let that sink in a moment, before continuing. "-Now seeing as you have nothing else to offer, I'd say your probably gonna end up dead either way. We don't give the weak a free pass just because they say they might be able to do something of use at some point in the future, making you one of the conscripts." He stepped past me, letting a big furry hand fall on my shoulder. "If you do make it somehow, and you get your hands on something I like, I'll think about the offer. Otherwise? Best of luck."

My shoulders dropped. I didn't bother asking him anything more, he had already told me everything I needed to know. If I had anything else to offer I would have already. So I would be fighting on an unknown world with unknown danger, all for the vague amusement and small convenience my presence would provide.

I shook my head, before I marched to my surpervisor, where I was escorted alongside a few whimpering aliens back into the cold of our shared cell. I didn't have any time to waste.

No one tried to run or fight as we were pushed back into our "accommodations". Those of us who were left were more than intelligent enough to know it would be useless. Our captors could fly faster than we could follow, they could tear us limb from limb with same ease I would feel breaking a toothpick. So we clung to whatever chance of survival we could. In this case participating in the battle for the next planet they wanted to sell off. It was almost nothing, but it was more than we would have otherwise.

I didn't move when the door closed behind us, watching as the Geressians settled in as best they could. With the soldiers not looming over us we were left with our thoughts, and the crushing reality of what life was now. A woman who hadn't offered herself to the soldiers burst into tears, hugging her legs and giving up in a way she couldn't bring herself to around her captors. It wasn't long before a few more of her people joined in. In a past life I might have joined them.

Instead I sat down, and I closed my eyes. Even without the relative numbness my death had given me, I knew something these people did not. A secret to strength the killers outside our door didn't recognize even as they wielded it themselves. Something that I know has pushed even humans like me beyond the common soldiers of Freeza force, and possibly even beyond that. Ki. Life Energy. Chakra. Whatever the hell you wanted to call it. An energy that exists in every form of life in some manner or other. It was why these soldiers where so far beyond the human standard of strength, why they could project energy from their palms, why Freeza could end entire civilizations in the blink of an eye. It was why I was confident that even I had a chance.

They didn't tell us how long we had before the fighting would start. It could be days, maybe a few weeks, it could even be tomorrow for all I know. So I had to make a gamble. In the world I once lived in Ki was an impossibility, something that didn't exist in any real form that I could have known of. Hopefully that would be what saves me. If I'm right that would make the presence of ki something I could pick up on far more easily than anyone else. It wouldn't have been a part of me for my entire life. I ignored the crying, the despair and the defeat going on around me, focusing only on my heartbeat. The steady and slow thump of my blood coursing through my veins.

When I could hear nothing else I looked deeper. Mentally grasping away at whatever I could. I was searching for something I knew hadn't been there before, looking for a well of energy to drawn upon, to grow. Thump-Thump. I thought about how I felt before, lazing about a life I hadn't fully valued. Thump-Thump, I thought about how I felt now, outside of the numbness, the emptiness of a half-forgotten memories and feelings. Thump-Thump. An outlier. Thump-Thump. Something that didn't belong. I twitched as the noise changed from a comforting beat to the unforgettable whir of spinning metal, as memories of my heart beating ever slower pushed themselves to the forefront.

When I opened my eyes again my teeth were chattering and fist were clenched so hard my hands bled, stinging in the cold air. My heart. That's what had changed. It felt heavier, more substantial, stronger. When I focused again I picked up on a spark hiding just behind my heart, beating at the same pace and tempo.It was just a small flicker of warmth, but it was there. I looked around the room, my excitement clear on my face, before finally noticing the quiet of the room around me. In spite of the despair, or perhaps because of it, they had all fallen asleep.

Maybe I was at this longer than I thought. That didn't stop me from smiling. I don't doubt that I still just made record time. Now to push it even further.

I touched on that warmth, drawing it away like a thread from a spool of string, bringing all I could to my hands, and then pushing it outward in a single, concentrated blast. With a huff I threw my arms out my fingers splayed, yet no beam of light or cutting laser greeted my efforts, only a light mist of glowing white light. It was so small the only reason I even noticed was because i was looking for something, anything to show for my effort.

I cut off the energy with a gasping, strained jhuff, suddenly feeling as if I'd just ran a mile. Guess three doesnt take you very far. Not very surprising all things considered.

Still, In just a day, a few hours at most, I had made more progress than most of my race could attest to. And that? That was something to be proud of.

Sure, I was at the very bottom of the totem pole, but that was the beauty of it.

When your at your lowest, when you have nothing left to lose, theres no place to go but up.

Chapter 3

With no further use to the crew or the upper management our "supervisor" didn't even bother letting us out of the room, only occasionally stopping by to throw a few trays of what they call "nutrient paste" our way, It was an oddly smelling and stiff kind of gruel, vaguely resembling tooth-paste. Aside from the initial bad impression its appearance left on me, it isn't altogether terrible. Apparently it was supposed to meet all dietary needs, and the relatively tasteless nature of it made its value clear as day. I even managed to take some from those who where too depressed, or too distracted to notice my thievery.

I need all the calories I can get, and seeing as some people have already given up I have no reason for me not to eat my fill and more, Im no expert on training and exercise, but I do know that Ill need all the food intake I can get. It's not like anyone had it in them to complain anyway. Life was shitty enough as it was for them, starting a fight wasn't something any of them wanted, even with someone who was apparently far weaker.

Aside from the occasional whisper about the room people were quiet, and even among those few who did speak, they didn't bother to interact with me. Personally I prefered it that way, these people were in just as much danger as I was, and getting attached would be an unnecessary risk when the time came. I felt bad for them, but I wasn't gonna die alongside them if I had anything to say about it.

I spent the first few days picking at my energy, testing how I could move it about inside my body, how quickly it could be done, and just what kind of effect I could make it have. So far the best I could manage was a few different shades of orange and red light, alongside some moderate heat to occasionally warm my hands in the chill surrounding us, I made sure to expend everything I had at every moment I had it, occasionally collapsing into ragged breaths whenever I did. At first I had wanted to train my body as well, but just the effort of expending my energy exhausted me completely, and in a way I was almost always surprised at.

It always happend in an instant, I felt perfectly fine as I drew on the power, but once I forced it out of my body I would collapse, no matter the effect I tried at or the results it gave me. Still, my efforts bore fruit, the heat or the light always lasting just a bit longer, or burning just a bit brighter than it had before. I made sure to keep the most visible parts of my activity out of sight, not certain how the other people, our captors or my fellow slaves, would react to me manipulating energy. I don't think the Freeza force men would care too much, confident as they were, but the slaves would almost certainly ask for help I can't give them.

Of course that had a rather unfortunate side affect of distancing me even further from them. Without any context or information about me most of them assumed I was sick in some way, always gasping as if I was breathing my last, always on the verge of collapse. It wasn't long before they were giving me all the space our cramped quarters would provide. I suppose I can't complain on that.

On the eve of the fourth day I started to push things up a little, going through what basic exercises I could as I exerted more and more energy. Doing push ups as I worked to regulate my body temperature against the cold of our cell, and quickly finding that I was already capable of much more than I once was. I wasn't a particularly unhealthy man in the past, but after college I had sort of let myself go, abandoning boxing as a hobby, and therefore giving up on a six pack and decently toned arms for an unfortunate mixture flab and mush. Even still, with the help of ki I managed around fifty push ups, which was very close to my old personal best.

It was around a week in before I started picking up on the energy of those around me. It was difficult to parse out individuals in such a densely packed ship, but I could identify the strength and position of the people inside the room. It also gave me an idea about the size and capacity of the vessel I was currently "serving" aboard. After a few hours of tenuous examination I decided the ship was a few thousand feet across, and that it had several different levels people resided in. If I had to guess that meant there were at least a few hundred crew members, each significantly stronger than the standard slave, and a few thousand more slaves of various use.

Of course training and watching my captors wasn't everything I was doing, I was also planning. Planning how to fight, how to survive, how to thrive among a universe were the destruction of a planet was easy enough even for those on the lower end of power. Aside from the shows namesake, I could think of a number of things off the top of my head that might just be what I need to bridge the gap. The hero water, the tree of might, and any number of strength enhancing techniques come to mind. It was only a matter of finding them, and perhaps anything else that I can get my hands on. Maybe I could convince someone to train me, put me through the kind of gauntlet I would need to match the big players.

Of course in order to have even a ghost of a chance at that I would need to find a way off this ship, and that required strength on par with at least some of the soldiers here. I grimaced at the thought. To get there at least I needed training, experience, and if I was guessing right, luck. Luck to find the artifacts, luck to find a trainer, luck to win battles I know I have no real right to take part in.

"Luck." I whispered to myself, before heaving as I expended all my energy once again. I snarled once I caught my breath. I hated the idea of putting it all on something so unreliable. If I was lucky I could have lived the first time around. If I was lucky I'd remember who I am. If I was lucky I might have one day managed to find a purpose and drive in a world that was safe.

No, no I'd have to cheat, and in every way I could. Start thinking of ways to throw some dirt into the eyes of whoever or whatever I fight. I shouldn't be looking for the kind of training and skill Goku would have. I should be looking for how to kill someone with the training and skills Goku has. I don't have a lifetime of martial arts to fall back on, and if I wanna live long enough to have it I'll have to give up on fighting fair entirely.

So what do I have that the average killer won't? I was nursing some ability at sensing, and on the battlefield my own strength is likely to be ignored as the Planet Trade Organization did their work, meaning I was much more likely to go unseen and unnoticed. I know that there exists a number of techniques that can hurt those above the weight-class of the practitioner, and I know that every alien I'd ever laid eyes on shares a number of common traits with humans and each other. Most had four limbs, eyes on their heads, and I assume a relatively similar skeletal structure and body lay out. I also know that while they all have varying degrees of strength and durability, the ability to survive traditionally fatal wounds without the help of a Freeza Force standard healing tank is pretty rare.

If I managed to land a fatal blow that meant my opponent would die regardless of how much stronger he was. Assuming whatever I did was capable of piercing their flesh in the first place. That leaves out traditional means of attack like fist fighting or standard martial arts, cutting out what little experience in fighting I did have. Considering my less than stellar reserves of energy for things like lasers or power beams that also meant I needed a weapon. Something straightforward to handle and easily maintained. Maybe a blade of some kind. I think I remember someone using a sword to considerable effect in the show. I bet its not impossible to learn some ki related use for it either.

Of course I was still in trouble for the immediate future, but I bet its safe to assume I'll be given a weapon of some kind. As amusing as the soldiers outside would find it to send us out to fight with nothing, it wasn't very likely that any of us would accomplish anything aside from mildly annoying whatever force our target had for planetary defense. As far as I've seen none of the Geressians have any inherent energy abilities, and most of them are already likely to have been civilians on their world. If we were to do anything of any use, even as fodder, we would need weapons, strong ones too.

I shook my head, before getting back to work. I suppose I'll find out for sure sooner or later.

I opened my eyes when a voice sounded throughout our room, the same sultry tones I heard when we were being processed. I had been trying my hand at meditation, exercising as much control over my ki as I could before her interruption met my ears. "In four hours galactic standard time we will be arriving on the planet Xecroas prime, the only habitable planet of the Xecroas system. Our orders are standard procedure, the capture of slaves and the cleansing of any of the population who aren't taken aboard. Average power level sits at fifty-eight, with expected outliers to exist between four and sixteen-hundred. For our weaker crew members caution is advised, if any outliers are sighted you are to contact your immediate superior and request assistance.-"

I stood, before taking a moment to stretch as she continued."-The world is primarily desert, with several densely packed population centers located over a number of strangely large bodies of groundwater. Lord Freeza himself has expressed that he wants these undamaged and ready for the buyers use when the time comes. I don't need to explain the consequences of failing to take that in mind.-" A number of energy signatures on the ship twisted and curled in a particular motion I assumed was connected to fear. "-For our 'guests' alongside the purge, I'll try and translate this in a way you primitives might understand. The people on this world, even the weak ones, are all nearly twice as capable and strong as the best of you. If you have the chance to kill one of them you should take it if you want any chance at living another day, because I assure you, they have the advantage against you lot in just about every way that could count."

For a moment I thought it was over, before her voice sounded out once more."Oh, and one more thing-" Her voice took a mocking tone. "Please, some of you, try and go against us. Try and save some of these poor unfortunate souls from the evil men and women who took you from your homes, who stole away everything you know and love!" She chuckled.

"That way our boys can have a nice example for the new slaves coming our way."