Disclaimer: The main character and quote are not mine. Title of Chapter 1 belongs to KimiruMai. The storyline is mine, though.

I apologise for errors found.

Chapter 1: Trigger.

A lone space pod sped across the darkness of space, en route from its recent purging mission and was making its way back home. Its cargo nestled snugly and unmoving within its confinements, drugged by the sleep gas that kept it unconscious throughout the six-month long journey. The automated voice sounded and the lights softly blinked on the top console. Then a beep went off, indicating that there were minutes left till planet fall.

Heavy eyelids pried open to reveal a pair of disorientated obsidian eyes. They blinked a few times, followed by a loud yawn, before settling their focus through the porthole in the front. They then swept across the console at the top of the compact hangar and a smirk on the lips was formed to accompany the glint that gleamed in those orbs.

Six months have passed, and he was finally home – Vegetasei.

He mentally prepared himself for his own homecoming. No doubt his mother would have a spread of all his favourite food waiting for him like always, or if he was lucky, maybe even a surprise gift from his father as promised. The ten-year-old grinned, his tongue licking the tip of his little sharp canine as he tapped his feet in excitement and anticipation.

"Landing sequence denied. Location not found. Awaiting Hover initiation."

"What?" startled, the boy's raspy voice squeaked at the monotone voice.

"Awaiting Hover initiation."

Something was off. Location not found? Why wouldn't the damned pod dock? Could this be a mistake?

Quickly, the boy unbuckled his seat belt and face-planted himself at the window. His pod was fast approaching... space? There was only space!

The boy's brows furrowed in curiosity and his expression darkened. He was beginning to show signs of hyperventilation as his eyes darted aimlessly in the blackened vacuum. He should be able to see it! Where was it? Where the hell was Vegetasei?!

"Awaiting Hover initiation." the robotic, monotonous voice repeated, aggravating the panicking boy further and snapping him out of his state of puzzlement.

"Initiate Hover, NOW!"

"Hover initiated and activated." and the pod came to an abrupt halt, suddenly floating in mid space.

The boy jerked forward upon impact, smashing his face into the window and quickly falling back on his behind with a thud.

"Oomph!" he grunted and quickly sprang back up, rubbing both his sore cheeks and butt cheeks.

He apprehensively stared out of the window, this time with a frown. Everything seemed like how space was supposed to be, except that his planet was not in sight. Did his stupid pod malfunction again? It happened before but that was another pod. This one was new!

Regardless, he thought he'd better go check it out, if only to set his mind at ease and confirm that this was only a technical blunder; else he'd really better be prepared for the worst… like Vegetasei disappearing into thin air. He shrugged off that last thought and snickered incredulously at that ridiculous notion.

Chubby fingers flew across the touch screen monitor and in no more than five seconds, the ram to the pod hissed open. All he had to do was go round the pod to see if there was any damage that could have occurred during his sleep. At that moment, he didn't bother thinking about what he would do if his pod was broken – what else could he do but to fix it, if not? And thank goodness his kind could breathe in space for an hour; that should be enough time to repair it, and if that failed, he could always radio in for help.

He stepped out of the pod and stood on the ram, stretching his stiff limbs and taking in the infinite vacuum around him. His tail swirled lazily behind and he frowned hard before getting to work. He cracked his knuckles and turned to analyse the sides of his pod, starting with the door frames.

'Nope. No stupid cracks or anything here. Now to go around the stupid pod and I'm done. Hopefully there isn't any stupid damage so I can continue my stupid journey home,' he sneered and whined mentally, and then whipped around to slide over the top of the pod. The moment he did, his jaw fell dramatically and his eyes widened at the horrifying scene before him.

A huge giant ball of fire that was Vegetasei was burning into a crisp from its core right before his very eyes. The reflection of crackling fire and molten lava from afar danced on his face and shimmered fiercely in his eyes. He could almost feel the immense heat radiating from them burning his tanned skin. Shoots of flames sparked, burst, and flew in all directions as he frightfully watched the earth of his planet break away from one another.

"N-no. W-wha… my planet!" he cried, scrambling to the top of his pod as if to get closer to the view.

And then he saw them.

Those floating things, they were dead bodies of his people and they were everywhere! His breathing quickened at the sight of them and his bottom lip quivered uncontrollably. And if that deadly sight hadn't terrified him, the sight of his father's mangled body certainly pushed him to the point of trauma as it drifted towards him. It was as if it knew he was home.

He released a strangled cry and quickly reached out to his father's lifeless hand. He grabbed it and reeled his father towards him. Fearful, dark eyes stared into a pair of lifeless orbs and the little boy sniffled before pulling his father into a tight embrace. Resting his head on the broken chest plate, he choked back his tears as he desperately held onto his sire.

It felt like an eternity before he finally stopped mourning, though he knew the grieving would never end. Rubbing the tears off his chubby cheeks, he reached for his father's neck and fingered the chain that was around it. He tugged out the metal dog tag pendant and stared numbly at the engraving on it.

'Does not matter against who or where; to first blood or to death.' it read.

Another tear rolled down his cheek and he vowed to himself that it would be the last he'd ever drop. He angrily wiped his tear-stained face with the back of his chubby paws and gently removed the tag over his father's head. He wore it proudly and saluted his sire for the last time before releasing the body, pushing it forward and letting it to float back into the midst of burning chaos.

The boy has easily accepted his fate, a fact that startled and disturbed him greatly. And he thought to himself, has he really prepared himself for the worst? He figured that he probably did when he first thought this mistake was a mere technical error.

He solemnly watched his father drift back into the flames. Fate was unkind to him to allow him to return to such a mind-numbing catastrophe. He told himself that the pain would eventually subside, but his soul would continue to feed on anger. And perhaps that would be for the best. So with fierce determination set in his eyes, his ten-year-old mind began to plan for his immediate future.

Now that he was alone, there would be no one telling him what to do. As far as he was concerned, he didn't exist anymore; he would conform to his fate – the freedom to roam and conquer on his own was now at his disposal. He would build and lead his own squad, gathering all who would be willing to aid him in his crusade, and he would continue to live off what he knew best; fighting, killing, and purging.

He would reach the pinnacle and grow stronger every day, and he would not fail. He would find out all he could about the one behind this cowardly act and if the time is right and opportunity showed itself, perhaps he would even avenge his race's honour.

He looked away sadly from the inferno. He should leave as there was nothing left for him here, except to pursue his destiny, whatever that may be. It wasn't much of a choice, anyway. With that, he turned his back to what was now his past and climbed into his pod. He set his next destination to the furthest planet of the quadrant. At this point of time, it didn't matter where he went as long as it was far away from here.

His people may have been eradicated and slaughtered mercilessly; but he, Turles, would survive.

I know Turles is not the most loved character of DBZ, compared to Vegeta or Goku. But he is one of my favourites, only second or third to Vegeta.

Tell me what you think of our misunderstood space pirate. REVIEW!