Gathering, Part One

Planet Vegeta.

At that moment, King Vegeta sat on his throne in the palace, with a group of noble warriors gathered below him.

"Your Majesty, what exactly happened? Why have all the warriors out on missions been summoned back?"

Below, a middle-aged Saiyan looked puzzled and asked.

"Yeah, even warriors in the middle of battle were ordered to return immediately. What happened?"

"Hmm."

King Vegeta looked at the questioning warriors around him and answered coolly.

"This is an order from Frieza. He wants all our warriors out in the field to return. Apparently, there's a powerful planet we're supposed to conquer, but its strength is so great that he's ordered every warrior away from home to come back."

"I see. So it was an order from Frieza."

After hearing King Vegeta's explanation, the nobles below him all wore expressions of sudden understanding.

But as he watched their reactions, King Vegeta remained uneasy. Though he had told them the reason Frieza gave him, deep down he still felt there had to be something else behind it.

"That bastard Frieza must have another reason..."

A few days later.

A spaceship was slowly approaching Planet Vegeta.

"Lord Bardock? Lord Bardock?"

"What is it?" A young voice roused Bardock from his sleep.

"We're almost at Planet Vegeta. It's been a long time since we came back, hasn't it? It's been two years since our last visit."

"Yeah."

Bardock folded his arms and quietly gazed at the red giant ahead.

"I really don't know why they're in such a hurry to call all the Saiyans back to Planet Vegeta. It sounds like an order from that bastard Frieza."

Piloting the ship, the young man grumbled resentfully as something occurred to him.

"Take off your Scouter."

Bardock cut him off before he could say more and spoke calmly.

"They might hear you."

"Oh! Right!"

The young man glanced at the Scouter over his left eye, then realized what Bardock meant. He took it off and set it on the floor.

"Look! Everyone's coming back!"

Ahead of them, spaceships filled the area around Planet Vegeta, all heading toward the planet.

"Look over there, too!"

Bardock pointed into the distance. "That's Frieza's ship!"

"Huh! You're right. It's not even time yet, so why is he here already?"

The young man looked where Bardock was pointing, spotted Frieza's ship, and asked in confusion.

"Don't you think it's strange?"

Watching Frieza's ship ahead, Bardock said calmly from his seat, "If he wanted to give an order, he could contact us over the Scouters. There was no need to call everyone back in person. Even if he wanted to issue us new weapons, he wouldn't need an emergency assembly. That bastard Frieza is definitely up to no good."

"What do you mean, up to no good?"

The young man steered the ship down toward Planet Vegeta and asked.

"Originally, conquering planets and selling them was how we Saiyans, a warrior race, made our living. But Frieza's father, King Cold, forced us into submission with his power, then made us acknowledge him as our king."

"That was a long time ago."

The young man replied as he slowly brought the ship in to land.

"What do you think of the way we live now?"

Bardock didn't argue. He continued questioning him.

"Well, I don't know if we have it good or not, but it's true that most Saiyans don't like Frieza."

The ship touched down, and the young man answered.

"Exactly!"

Bardock rose from his seat and picked up his luggage as he agreed. "Frieza probably doesn't like us Saiyans either. The Frieza Army has grown quite a bit by now. It wouldn't matter much if he got rid of the Saiyans he hates."

"Are you saying Frieza plans to wipe us all out!?"

After hearing Bardock's words, the young man followed him out of the ship, suddenly horrified.

"Maybe that's exactly it, don't you think?"

Bardock looked back and gave him a faint smile, as if joking.

"Don't scare me like that, Lord Bardock."

Convinced that Bardock was joking, the young man scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh.

They didn't say anything more and started walking.

"Hey, isn't that Bardock? I can't believe you made it back alive. You're quite a guy!"

A burly man suddenly called out, bringing Bardock to a stop.

"It's you. Long time no see. By the way, do you know why they sent out the summons?"

Bardock nodded at the man, then suddenly remembered something and asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe they discovered an even bigger planet, and need all of us to conquer it."

The burly man lifted his head and pondered for a moment before guessing.

"That makes sense. Maybe that's the reason!"

Behind Bardock, the young man agreed with the burly man.

With that, the two of them prepared to leave.

But as the two started walking away, the burly man suddenly remembered something and continued.

"Come to think of it, a few of Frieza's men have been asking around about the Super Saiyan."

"The Super Saiyan?"

Bardock stopped and turned around, asking in surprise.

"The one from the legends?"

Suddenly, Bardock's expression darkened. He understood.

"I see! Now I get it!"