This story is written for entertainment purposes only. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

Keep in mind that English is not my first language and so I do not claim to have written an error free story. If there are any inconsistencies in this story, let me know and I will correct them.

Chapter 25: The clash

The planet Vexjir was located in a dying star system. The star had become unstable due to its age. It had been ejecting stellar material for quite some time, thus affecting its gravitational pull on the planets in the system. Various orbits had thus become somewhat chaotic. Two of Vexjir's moons had smashed into each other some years ago, and the end result still affected the planet to this day.

Vexjir had a brownish color when seen from space. Also noteworthy were its rings, formed by the debris from the destroyed moons. The surface of the planet had changed rapidly over the last few years. Multiple small asteroids had impacted on the surface, creating a hazy and dusty atmosphere. Also, huge tidal waves had swept across the surface, which had destroyed forests and cities alike.

Right now it was eerily quiet on the surface. There was no indication that anything or anyone was still left alive, aside from two figures flying high in the sky. One of them was a Namekian by the name of Racol. The other was a Saiyan known as Korat. Just moments ago, they had rejoined, after days of having searched the surface individually. Currently, they were heading back to Racol's spacecraft.

Finally breaking the silence between them, Racol asked Korat what he thought had happened to the one they had been looking for. Korat turned his head aside to glance at him for a moment. He looked irritated, almost angry, although he still answered Racol's question. He expressed his belief that the Saiyan infant must have been overwhelmed by a combination of a hostile local population and the devastating natural forces at work here. Whatever had taken him or her out must have been something big.

Racol nodded in response, and told him he had reached this conclusion as well. However, he thought to himself that Korat appeared to be fooling himself with his pride. This was the fifth planet from the list from Korat's memory: the list of planets to which a Saiyan infant had been sent. Every single time, the Saiyan had been either dead or missing. And every time, Korat had told him it must have been something big, or some combination of factors. It seemed he was too proud to admit all these missions had essentially been suicide missions, most likely originating from political motivations.

Racol did not know the full story behind the Saiyan species or their leadership, but Korat had told him enough bits and pieces for him to figure out the Saiyans' pride sometimes overrode their ability to reason. He made a mental note to inform Lord Siglar of this weakness, when he would return home. He knew it would not be easy for him to betray his friend. Nevertheless, to betray the duty to his family would be even harder. A time would come when he would have to make a choice. He hoped it would still be a while before that time would inevitably arrive.

When Korat remained silent, Racol continued to steer the conversation. He pointed out that this was the fifth planet from the list. They had found no surviving Saiyans, so what would their next move be? Korat sighed, and reminded him of what he had said before. The list he had once seen included about twenty planets. These five were the only names which he could remember. So maybe there were still survivors out there. Though, without any planetary name or coordinates as a starting point, any theoretical survivors could literally be anywhere in the galaxy. They would have to visit thousands if not millions of planets to ever find them. The monotone and subdued way Korat spoke seemed to indicate he had given up hope of ever finding another survivor this way.

Racol then decided to press the subject further by suggesting they infiltrate a PTO planet to see if they could find this list somewhere in their system. Korat immediately rejected the idea for being far too risky. As Korat was thinking about the idea, it suddenly dawned on him that perhaps Frieza had used the list to wipe out all the infants as a follow-up action on the destruction of planet Vegeta. Perhaps this would explain why they could not be found. However, if it really was true, then the planets they had visited would have been under PTO control, which they were not. Some of the local populations had also still been intact, so it was an unlikely scenario.

After Korat rejected the idea, Racol remained silent, believing he had done enough to attempt to have a conversation. He had always considered himself to be the silent type, but when he was around Korat, this categorization simply did not seem to be accurate. The Saiyan rarely spoke at all these days, unless asked specific questions about subjects which were on his mind. Thus it appeared as if Racol himself was the talkative one instead.

Once they had returned to the spacecraft, Racol insisted on doing his daily prayers before they would depart. In response, Korat made an apathetic hand wave as he turned around, and told Racol to go ahead, while in the meantime he would be sitting on the rock over there.

Soon, Racol had kneeled down onto the carpet he had brought along. He then started bowing multiple times into the direction of his species' place of origin, the real Namek. In contrast, his current home of Sla'ak-Namek did not receive these same honors. Korat, who was now sitting on the nearby rock he had pointed out earlier, watched Racol silently. He still believed it was nonsensical for Racol to be doing this. Nevertheless, Korat let him do his thing, as he had found out some time ago it had no effect to try and convince him otherwise.

By this time, Korat knew exactly how many bows to expect. It therefore came as a slight surprise to him that Racol stopped bowing sooner than he had predicted. Racol then stood up and turned around to face a seemingly random point in the sky. It seemed he was onto something. Korat could feel it now too. A source of energy was approaching. Despite Racol's teachings, he still found it hard to pinpoint the location of energy sources very accurately. As far as he could tell right now, it was not coming from the planet, but from space instead.

Korat got up and asked Racol what he was sensing. The latter remained focused on the sky whilst he elaborated he was feeling two sources of energy coming from space. They were descending, and it would not be long now before they would land. Slightly concerned, Korat demanded to know how strong these energy levels were. Racol promptly indicated that both of these combined were somewhat stronger than they themselves currently were. If these two were separated, he estimated it would be nothing they couldn't handle. But if these guys were hostile and would attack together, then they might have a problem.

Racol then suggested they leave the planet unseen while they still could. Immediately, Korat refused, insisting that only cowards flee from a chance of victory. He ensured Racol that if their guests were indeed so strong, then he could always initiate his transformation as a last resort. There was no way he was going to give up the opportunity for a fight.

Giving in to Korat's demand, Racol remained where he was. He told Korat to take the lead then, if he was so eager to fight. Of course, Korat gladly accepted. He flew up into the sky, and exclaimed they were not going to wait to be found. They were going to find their guests and welcome their arrival.

A short while later, both Korat and Racol were standing on a flat rock surface just a short distance away from where Racol believed they would land. Korat was standing with his arms crossed, with a slight smile on his face. Racol could not understand what was so fun about all of this, though. To him, fighting was a tool to reach a certain goal; it was not a goal by itself.

Two spacecraft then came into view. They appeared to be PTO issued space pods of the same type as used by Korat. The latter quickly noticed this, but it did not discourage him. He was sure that whoever would be in the pods would certainly be surprised to see a fully capable Saiyan warrior, who had secretly survived his home planet's destruction.

Moments later, the two pods touched down onto the surface with tremendous speed, creating craters as usual. Once the dust had cleared and the pods had opened, a figure emerged from each respective pod. Both figures appeared to be wearing scouters and variants of the PTO armor. They hovered upwards and formed a formation as they flew a short distance and landed right in front of Korat and Racol.

Korat could not believe his eyes. One of them had black spiky hair in an asymmetrical style, and a tail with brown fur. It was a female specimen of his species. What were the odds of meeting one here and now? The other one of their guests was most certainly not a Saiyan, with his large muscular build, red hair and lack of a tail. He didn't interest Korat one bit. The female Saiyan was someone he had never seen before; she wasn't part of Ullicu's group, nor a PTO-acknowledged survivor.

When the female Saiyan started speaking, Korat tried to mask his slightly open-mouthed expression, by quickly resuming his default blank expression. The female spoke to her red-haired companion, joking that the infant they were looking for seemed to have grown up already. The red-haired alien was a bit tense, though, and could not see the humor. He told her he believed they would be having a slight problem with this unexpected encounter.

The female Saiyan then elegantly stepped forward a few paces, before telling her companion that he was being far too uptight as usual. Next, she introduced herself to Korat as Aripa, First-class warrior, Countess of Bergine. Korat recognized her name. He remembered that Ullicu had mentioned her to him before. Allegedly, she had gone rogue.

Korat decided to remain silent in an attempt to feign disinterest. This was why Racol took the initiative and spoke for him instead. He introduced Korat to their guests. When he was finished, Aripa made an exaggerated high-browed sturgeon-faced expression, and then told Korat that she liked his style: getting his manservant to introduce him without so much as a nod to give such an order. It was very impressive indeed. She then continued about how her own manservant Lakeeme was unfortunately not trained so thoroughly. This prompted an immediate remark from Lakeeme in a raised voice, aimed at everyone present, making it explicitly clear that he was not a manservant.

Racol simply shook his head lightly in response, and told Aripa she had misunderstood the situation. Good friends complemented each other. It seemed obvious to him she did not know what a real friend was. After hearing this, Aripa bared her teeth at him and subsequently hissed at him to be quiet.

She then took several more steps in Korat's direction, while he held his ground. She drew closer and closer, with her tail swaying in an elegant pattern behind her. His eyes studied her movements. Surely she was trying to be appealing to him. However, if she thought he was unable to think straight because of this, she was sadly mistaken. Korat then took notice of her armor. It was colored white and purple. Also, there was a purple crest on the left side of the chest section. No doubt this was the crest associated with the Duke of Bergine, of whom he had heard, but whom he had never met in-person.

When she reached him, she rested both her hands on his upper chest and leaned in closer so that their faces were only a few centimeters away from each other. She had to stand on her toes to be able to reach his eye-height, and even then their heights were an uneven match. She didn't seem to mind it, however. Whilst they were face to face, she let out a girlish giggle which was obviously meant to goad him. Korat kept a straight face and posture, though.

Then, she resumed speaking, telling him she had come here expecting to find a boy. She admitted she was pleased to have found a man. Still, she was curious about what had happened to the boy. Korat told her plainly that the boy was dead. They may not have found the body, but after days of searching this place, he was sure the boy was gone. Aripa's face displayed a hint of disappointment, before she resumed her charms.

She admitted she had been looking for a new companion, and that Korat was more than she had ever hoped to find on this dump of a planet. She had deemed him worthy to be by her side. All he had to do was accept. Then he would be part of something great; something truly marvelous. They would stand strong together, and grow stronger with every fight. They could get their hands on unlimited riches. They could make the Saiyans be truly famous and feared throughout the galaxy once again.

Korat simply replied he was fine without her. He then turned his head away from her, seemingly to look at something far more interesting located in the distance. Upon taking in his reaction, Aripa backed away from him and bared her teeth again. Out of nowhere, Lakeeme decided to do an attempt to diffuse the tension. He tried to advise Aripa to give Korat some room. He also reminded her of something she had told him: no-one could replace Tidane.

When he heard this name, Korat instantly turned his head back to look at Aripa, though he remained absolutely silent. He had met Tidane several times before. She used to be part of Ullicu's group. Aripa looked startled by Korat's sudden reaction; she had a feeling he could tell that something was not right. Without a warning, Korat then moved at such a high speed that he seemed to disappear for a moment. Aripa could still track him, though. He reappeared right in front of her and placed his hand firmly on her shoulder, and finally asked what had happened to Tidane. Aripa subsequently yanked herself away from his grip and snapped at him not to touch her.

Lakeeme decided to interject again, insisting Tidane had gone back to Ullicu's group. Korat nodded, but told them he wanted to hear this from Aripa herself. Aripa, who realized Korat was going to gauge her reaction and use it to judge her trustworthiness, decided to dispense with all lies and tell the truth. She told him that Tidane had been killed by the abomination known as Bolwor. Korat repeated the name Bolwor in disbelief. He remembered that pompous freak all too well. In his disbelief, he revealed to them that he and Racol had at one time been captured by Bolwor. A full moon had put an end to it. Unfortunately, though, Bolwor had escaped that time.

Aripa, who up until then had feared that Korat would accuse her of being responsible for Tidane's death, turned the situation around. She openly accused Korat of letting Bolwor live, thus causing Tidane's death. Korat was outraged by this accusation, but did not lose his temper. He countered by telling her calmly though sternly that Tidane would not have died if she had still been with Ullicu's group. Ullicu would have allowed it. At the mentioning of Ullicu's name one too many times, Aripa exploded with anger. She shouted to Korat that he had gone too far. Next, she placed her hands in front of herself, and launched a red energy blast straight ahead.

Korat was just in time to dive onto the ground to evade the blast. However, a similar second blast quickly followed. He pushed himself off the ground, turned around in midair, and subsequently kicked the second blast away from him. The effect wasn't quite what he had expected. The blast was far more powerful than he had anticipated. Although he succeeded in getting the blast away from him without it exploding, it had made his whole leg go numb. Aripa suddenly leapt forward and they engaged in a rapid close quarters fight involving countless of punches and kicks. Korat was at a clear disadvantage. She was stronger and faster than him, and his leg was only making it worse.

Racol and Lakeeme both stood by, watching what was unfolding before their eyes. Soon, Racol folded his hands together and bowed slightly. He announced that he had no personal grudge against Lakeeme. Nevertheless, Korat was his friend, and he could not let Lakeeme step in to help Aripa. Therefore, fate called for a fight between them. Lakeeme immediately made a gesture for him to calm down, and told him he had no intension of fighting anyone. It had no effect. Racol launched countless of small yellow energy blasts from both his hands. Lakeeme did his best to dodge them. His speed was a major help in this case.

In the meantime, Korat had managed to create some distance between himself and Aripa, by having managed to punch her in the throat. He wasted no further time and started to prepare his counterattack. He clenched his fists momentarily to gather the energy. Next, he placed his hands in front of him, the left one behind the right one, and started to scream loudly as he unleashed a bright blue energy blast with a beam trail. The entire surrounding area was engulfed in blue light. Aripa saw it coming just in time. She decided to hold her position and attempt to divert the blast away from herself. It soon collided with her outstretched hands, but it did not explode. Still, it took her considerable effort to stop it, and even more to attempt to divert its course.

A short distance back, Lakeeme was in the air and still evading Racol's blasts. He had started talking in an attempt to convince Racol to stop this madness. In between his dodges, he explained that after Tidane's death, he had suggested to Aripa to look for more surviving Saiyans. A list of planet-clearing missions to which Saiyan infants had been assigned had once existed. Unfortunately it had been deleted shortly after the destruction of the Saiyans' home world. He himself had seen the list only once before its deletion, but he had failed to make a local copy, because at the time, he had been busy trying to save Aripa's life. This planet's name was the only name he had remembered, and so they had come here. That was the only reason they were here. Despite Aripa's behavior pointing to the contrary, he insisted they were not looking for any trouble.

When it appeared his explanation had once again no effect on Racol, Lakeeme had had enough of it. He started flying straight at Racol with his fists forward. The latter generated a larger yellow energy sphere in an attempt to stop Lakeeme's approach. When Lakeeme made physical contact with it, the ball was smashed, resulting in numerous energy fragments, most of which fizzled out. His path was unimpeded from here on, so he smashed into Racol, taking him along as he flew into the sky.

By this time, Aripa was losing her grip on the ground. The blue energy blast kept pushing her back further and further. She knew she had to divert its course, as she suspected it would detonate when it touched a surface of a larger size, such as a torso. But for some reason, it was very rigid and stubborn. It simply refused to bend to her will. Perhaps she could let herself drop to the ground so that it would fly over her. Timing would be essential, though. She decided to try it. When she prepared herself, there was a problem, however. Korat suddenly intensified the blast even further. It happened with such a burst that Aripa failed to keep balance, allowing the blast to slip in between her hands straight onto her chest.

A large blue dome-shaped energy field enveloped Aripa completely. The ground began to shake and crumble. Rocks and other debris started flying upward. A loud thundering sound and shockwaves emanated from it. The intensity of the attack even caused Racol and Lakeeme to stop their punches halfway to look at it. Soon, the dome turned white, after which it detonated completely. The movement of debris and the shockwaves were multiplied due to the intensity of the blast. The explosion was so bright that everyone closed their eyes as a reflex. Large amounts of debris, dust and smoke were sent flying everywhere.

It took a while for everything to clear up. Once it had, Korat could see Aripa sitting in a large crater. She did not appear to be too injured. Her skin was a bit red in places, but otherwise, she was fine. Her armor, particularly her chest piece, had been torn to shreds, though. Strangely enough, she was actually smiling. She suddenly jumped up, not to launch a counterattack, but to cheer. She shouted that it had been a long time since she had seen such an awesome attack. Her jump caused the remains of her chest armor to fall apart completely, revealing her purple top beneath it.

When Korat landed near her, she continued praising the attack with a big smile on her face, while she shook the dust out of her hair. Korat's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Was this some kind of game? She didn't seem to remember why they had been fighting in the first place. Korat did not see why he should remind her, so he kept quiet about it. Instead, he told her that this attack had been his most powerful. Also, he admitted that she had remained mostly uninjured, because she was far stronger than he was.

These flattering words seemed to fill her level of joy to its maximum. She jumped up to cheer for a second time. Then, she noticed that her movement was generating a small cloud of dust around her. After briefly looking down on herself, she had found the problem. She pulled her top over her head and proceeded to beat the remaining dust and debris out of it. Without appearing to notice or care about the fact that Korat was watching, she took her time with it. Korat could not help but smile a little. He had to admit to himself that she was quite unpredictable, though he wasn't sure how much of it was acted, or if all of this was genuinely the way she was. Whatever the case was, he knew he had to be careful. If he let himself go, he could be led astray. Would it really be worth it to give up on following the path to becoming a Super Saiyan?