Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z.

Cold War: SaiyaGene-13

Chapter: 2

Planthorr felt his age creaking in his bones as he calibrated the Medical Machine for his latest patient, Sqash having sent him a message mere minutes ago informing him that Sprou was on his way up. His movements were slow and shaky, but the memory of experience ingrained in him from his long years of service prevented him from making any mistakes. A brown-furred hand appeared by his side, a cup of warm tea being presented to him, which he took gratefully and had a sip from it.

"Thank you, Shinou," he told the dark-furred, red-eyed, humanoid creature, returning the cup to his companion before resuming his work. He heard the door open behind him and he saw the Thirteen-marked youth enter the med bay in the reflection on the pod's glass. He was holding one bloodied arm with care, and his armor was a wreck, but that was the norm for the Thirteens that visited him, just as it was for the Elevens and Twelves that came before.

"Standing this time on your own, I see," he observed before returning to his work. Sprou scowled, but nodded his head.

"Yes, for once. How's the pod coming?"

"Almost ready. Just one more second and…there." Breathing a sigh of relief, he moved back and wiped an arm across his forehead. After pushing a button to open the pod, he gestured to it with one hand. "In you go."

Sprou stripped out of his battle uniform and reluctantly passed them to Shinou before entering the pod. Planthorr attached a breathing apparatus to his mouth and various wires to his head and body before again moving away. At once the pod closed around the Thirteen and began to fill with a bluish-green liquid. Sprou shuddered as relief began to flood his body wherever the liquid touched and began to slip into unconsciousness.

"Hmmm…" Planthorr made his way over to his monitoring station and activated the screen, displaying the readouts being fed to him by the Healing Pod. No sign of further physical growth since the last time he was in here, but that's hardly surprising. Like their forbears their growth rate is…chaotic. Prince Vegeta still had not reached his adult size by the time he left Frieza's service. His eyebrows rose a little as the sensors registered a small spike.

"Doctor?" came the voice of his dark-furred assistant, long tail whipping anxiously at his expression.

"Everything is fine my dear," he replied. "It would appear that his power level has risen slightly following the battle. Sprou's Zenkai genes are functioning after all."

Although it appears they are operating at a much lower capacity than someone like Sqash, Pota or Haran. Or even the average Thirteen. "I'll have to make a note to send him on a mission to further test his abilities."

Not out of the woods just yet, youngling, he mused. Something will need to be done. Icen desires only the strong in his army. Perhaps it's time for more mental stimulation to awaken his instincts…

He glanced up at the pod. Sprou was resting peacefully within. Looking back down at his computer monitor, he pressed a button and called up a new screen.

"Activate dream mode," he told the computer AI. "Simulation, Titan."

That should help give him the motivation he needs…

From within the pod, Sprou twitched ever so slightly as the machine began to hum.

###

Sprou opened his eyes to find himself standing alone in the middle of a grassy field, decked out in full battle armor., sans scouter

How did I…? his mind began, taking a look around him. Where…?

The field offered nothing for which he could identify to determine what planet he was on, and could easily have been the long-destroyed Namekian world for all he knew, rebuilt by their supposed magic. The light of the day likewise blocked out any constellations that he might recognize, leaving him with nothing but clear blue sky dominating his field of vision.

The earth shook just then and a shadow fell over the field. Turning warily, he looked up to see a towering, humanoid giant, nude yet displaying no sexual organs. Its eyes were empty, zombie-like, yet aware of him on some instinctual level, and its mouth curved to reveal wide, thick teeth.

Sprou recognized the creature. Their kind was a pestilence in the universe, having first been discovered on a planet of little importance beyond sale-value. Where they came from no one knew, but for the society unprepared for them they were devastating.

His battle-aura flaring around him, Sprou launched himself into the air and immediately began to cut loose with a barrage of ki blasts. They detonated against the giant's skin, blowing holes in its body and knocking it back. The creature was little disturbed though and after righting itself began to lurch in his direction, mouth snapping at him while its injuries began to close and heal.

"So the rumors are true after all," he said, keeping the distance between his adversary. "Your kind can regenerate. Which likely means that your reported weakness," He tapped the back of his neck, "is the same as well."

The giant reached toward him and Sprou rose one arm and took aim, ki gathering at his fingertips.

"Cerri Spear!" he shouted, and with that a pointed blade of energy shot forth from his fingers and stabbed through the giant's hand and through the arm, blowing out the back of the shoulder. The giant didn't make a sound as the limb fell down, hanging loosely by a thread of bone and tendon for the briefest of moments before snapping off, dissolving into dust. Wasting no time, Sprou reignited his aura and flew around his adversary. Lightning laced around one arm as he raced toward the giant's neck and he slashed at its weak point. The giant howled as its body crashed to the ground, breaking down into nothing.

Sprou harrumphed to himself as the smoke cleared. "Well, that was easy…" he began, coming to a landing on the ground.

More shadows fell over him as the ground shook beneath his feet. Sprou looked up to find a dozen more such giants lumbering toward him. The Thirteen's face fell at the sight.

"Crap…"

###

The saucer fell burning from the skies, a beam shattering it into thousands of shards of shrapnel. It was quickly followed by dozens more. Kuriza didn't have to move from his spot atop the royal palace. His scouter located the ships and he burned them from the sky, sparing not a single one.

"Wasteful," he commented as he vaporized the last one. "What is Icen doing? Is he afraid to face me all of a sudden? Why does he insist on sending these useless ships and soldiers against me? All he's doing is ensuring their destruction. Does he want to lose?"

He narrowed his eyes as he mulled the thought over. No, it was unlikely that was the case. These ships didn't even represent a fraction of a fraction of the forces he had at his disposal. Kuriza had a mere 39 planets in his kingdom, but his adversary… Hundreds, if not thousands of worlds lay at his disposal, many of them having belonged to previous rulers and his family, Frieza, Cooler and Cold.

As if to give credence to his suspicions, his scouter beeped at an energy signature behind him, just as a voice, deep and amused, spoke.

"I would have thought that after all this time Lord Kuriza, you would have learned to not overestimate your strength…"

Spinning, Kuriza leapt away and fired a blast at the source of the voice. His shot passed through a shadow with red eyes and exploded in the depths of the city behind it. His eyes widened with horror, though whether it was at the visage before him or his actions could not be ascertained from a cursory glance. He felt tremors in his body as his heart picked up its pace. Humor danced behind those red eyes as they regarded the young lord.

"My apologies for startling you," the shadow said, tossing a look over its shoulder, though his tone sounded as though it were anything but. "I merely wished to have a small chat before we commence with the next stage of our little conflict."

Kuriza took in the dark figure and took note that it didn't cast a shadow.

"A hologram…" Kuriza cursed, taking hold of himself. Moving through the projection and swatting aside the small orb he found behind it, he quickly took in the damage he did to his city. He gritted his teeth together, seeing a building on the verge of toppling over, being held up by one of his soldiers as civilians began to evacuate. Fury flushed his body and Kuriza charged his battle aura. Leaping off the palace he rushed down to the building and took hold of it with one hand, lifting it up and righting it.

"Evacuate everyone out of here!" he shouted down to the soldier now bereft of the weight. He was a tall humanoid male with dark hair and standard RIT battle-armor—similar to the Saiyans his father hated so much, only the tail was absent. He couldn't remember his name, though he appeared familiar. Nonetheless the soldier obeyed without hesitation and raced inside to do as ordered. Kuriza grinned to himself before returning his attention to the task at hand. Any further similarities to the Saiyan race ended there. Saiyans, he recalled his father telling him when speaking of their genocide, were notoriously unruly and refused to be tamed by their betters.

"How does it feel knowing that your fear nearly caused the deaths of so many of your subjects?"

His head snapped up to find the holo-projector hovering above him. Its lens was cracked from when he swatted it aside, ensuring that it could no longer display the image of his adversary, but he could clearly still communicate.

"You dare mock me, Icen?!" he growled, his vision starting to grow red at the orb. "You doubt my courage?"

The orb shook slightly as it broadcast Icen's laughter. "Doubt it? No. You are still here after all, Kuriza. Your people will not remember you as a coward, but you know fear all the same. I planted that seed in your heart as I took worlds from your family's empire and I branded its mark upon your face when I cast you from the planet you called home for so long. I just simply wanted to talk to you. Talk to you about fear."

"I will show you fear!" Kuriza spat, but Icen merely laughed again.

"Words you have said before, and they amounted to nothing in the end. The next attack Kuriza will be that which your father feared. I will imprint that fear upon you as well… Burn it deep into the depths of your soul."

The orb's lens glinted and blood-red eyes manifested briefly in a shower of holographic light.

"Beware the golden fire, young lord. For when I am through with you, your capital will burn. Your people will not remember you as a coward. Rest assured of that, for they will not remember you at all.

"Just something you might want to consider…should you feel the need to retreat. Good day, Lord Kuriza… Until the next time."

With that, the holo-orb exploded, showering Kuriza with metal shards that bounced off his ki-protected skin. He narrowed his amber eyes and glared up at the sky.

"Lord Kuriza!" shouted the soldier from earlier. "The building has been evacuated!"

Taking hold of it now with both hands, Kuriza let out a roar of anger. His eyes saw red as he hurled the broken tower into the sky, watching it disappear. He briefly wondered—hoped—that it took out another enemy vessel, though he doubted the possibility. Sighing, he lowered himself to the ground where he was greeted by the cheers of his loyal subjects.

"Kuriza! Kuriza!"

He smiled as they shouted his name and he approached the soldier from earlier and held a hand up in silence. The crowd quickly quieted down.

"What I have done," he began, "I could not have done without the assistance of this man before you—a servant of the Frozen Throne." It wasn't true of course, but his people ate up the appearance of humility on his part. More importantly, this bound his soldiers loyalty to him all the more tightly than Frieza ever managed. He ruled through fear. I rule through respect. "Shout this man's name to the heavens, so that our enemies may know that they do not wage war against me, but all of us!" He turned to the man. "And what is your name, so that our citizens might know who they celebrate?"

The man's dark eyes locked with Kuriza, and for a moment there was that uncanny resemblance to the Saiyan race again.

"Zorn," the man said simply. Still smiling, Kuriza returned to the crowd.

"Three cheers for Captain Zorn!"

The crowd roared with approval as Zorn's eyes widened slightly.

"Captain Zorn! Captain Zorn! Captain…!"

4