[Zyleth's POV]
Planet Vegeta... was now part of the Cooler Force?
That... actually didn't sound all that bad...
While it wasn't very ideal since they were still under the thumb of a tyrant, it was much better to be under Cooler's command than it was to be under Frieza's.
Cooler was more tactical, more level headed than his brother ever was. If you did your job and did it well, he'll reward you. And even if you failed, he wouldn't outright kill you. You would have to either fail him numerous times or fail in some horribly spectacular fashion for him to decide to just kill you.
As much of an oxymoron this statement is, in terms of tyrannical overlords, Cooler was that bad. At the very least, he was still leagues above his brother.
With the fact that I wouldn't have to worry about my family's safety, at least for the time being, I continue on and ask another question, "What happens if I refuse?"
Cooler stared at me for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, "Nothing."
I look up at him with a suspicious gaze, "Nothing? You're serious?"
"This isn't an ultimatum, child. It is a choice. You can either serve in my Armored Squadron or continue on your own path. The only difference is that if you end up confronting my younger brother again, I will not save you a second time. And if you end up killing him, I'll hunt you down myself." He replied.
He is really making it hard to say no to this...
There are virtually no downsides to this offer. And if he's actually truthful, there are even better benefits than the usual. Experience against higher level planets, all-out training, a potential sparring partner that will push me to my limits...
Still though, willingly working for a Frost Demon...
"Where are we currently?" I suddenly asked him.
"Just outside Planet Vegeta's atmosphere." Cooler replied.
I put the chest piece down and looked towards him with a serious expression, "I'd like to speak to my family first."
He raises a brow, obviously a bit taken aback by my sudden request, but he just motions towards the door.
"Salza will take you to communications, just tell him that you need to make a call." He tells me, "You could do it from here, but I assume that would like no one around."
I nod and go to exit the control room. As soon as I walk back out into the hallway, I see Salza leaning against the wall opposite the door, apparently waiting for me.
"So?" He asked.
"I need to make a call." I told him.
Like Cooler said, he seems to understand what I meant and motioned for me to start following him.
We walk together silently for a few seconds before he suddenly asked, "Why didn't you make it from the control room?"
"It's a private call." I tell him, to which he just accepts the answer and goes quiet again.
God, this situation was weird. Not the silence between us, but the silence in general. Seeing the exact same ship layout in this ship with the one we used in the raid, having it be so empty and silent gave me this weird feeling of anxiety.
Being around noise all my life and suddenly having it gone just didn't sit right with me.
It's like if you were out in the woods, having gotten used to the sound of the crickets chirping, only to then have them go completely silent for some unknown reason.
"Why is there no one around?" I asked Salza, wanting to get rid of this damned silence.
"What do you mean?" Salza replied, asking for clarification.
"Don't ships like this usually have an abundance of crew members on board? Why is it so empty?"
He scoffed and answered, "You are too used to Frieza's way of doing things. Don't worry, that will change soon enough. Lord Cooler doesn't waste his time with having a vast number of underlings to micromanage. Besides the crew that keeps this ship running at peak efficiency and the Armored Squadron, there is no one else aboard."
"So to put it in more simpler terms, Cooler believes in quality over quantity." I replied.
"Exactly." Salza nods with a proud smile.
I guess that explains the silence...
I knew that Cooler valued strength, I just didn't think that he would only keep one Squadron on his ship. Seems he values his Armored Squadron quite a bit if they are the only one he calls on.
After my question was answered, the walk towards the ship's communications center grew silent again, but as we started to get closer to our destination, Salza began to speak.
"What are your thoughts on the offer given to you by Lord Cooler?" He asked.
I looked at him for a moment, debating if I should actually answer him before deciding that no harm would come of it.
"It's tempting." I told him.
"Of course it is. Who wouldn't want to be working under the strongest man in the universe?" He said with another prideful smile, "All members of Lord Cooler's Armored Squadron surpass that of those buffoons in the Ginyu Force."
"Really?" I asked, feigning a little surprise.
That information wasn't news to me. If I'm remembering correctly, I'm pretty sure even the weakest member of the Armored Squadron could beat the entirety of the Ginyu Force quite easily.
Well, unless Ginyu decided to cheat...
"Of course." He nodded, "After all, I even kicked Ginyu in his high and mighty behind."
Now that I didn't know. I knew that they were stronger, but I didn't know that they actually fought against each other before.
"I'm guessing that he wasn't happy with the result?" I asked.
Salza shook his head, "The man-child went on to develop a real disgusting technique. Stole some poor sod's body and then asked for a rematch. I won again, of course, but he just went onto to do it again to another."
Wait, Salza defeated Ginyu back when he still had his original body?! He's the one that made Ginyu go on his body stealing spree?!
"What did his original form look like?" I asked, wanting so desperately to know.
"Very ugly. Ugh, I get shivers just thinking about it." Salza answered, his face looking more and more disgusted as he thought about Ginyu's original form. "He was this grey and wrinkly old man. Like a Namek, only with these two hollow horns that came out of his forehead and these eyes as dead as the leviathan's on Cooler Planet-914. Don't mention anything about that to anyone, by the way. Especially not to Lord Cooler."
"What? About Ginyu's true form?" I asked, confused as to why he wouldn't want me to talk about it.
Was Ginyu really that ugly?
"No, about Cooler Planet-914. No one talks about Cooler Planet-914. Not since Dore developed Thalassophobia..." He muttered under his breath.
"Thalassophobia?" I asked, looking even more confused. "Isn't that the fear of large bodies of water?"
"Yes..." He nodded grimly.
.
.
.
I am now very curious as to what happened to them on Cooler Planet-914...
---
I stood in an empty room, the communications panel sitting right in front of me. I hesitated for a brief moment before sitting down and inputting the number for Saiyan Command into the console.
After waiting for a few moment, the line finally connected.
[Identification?]
"Zyleth. Team Black." I answered.
[Yeah right, Zyleth is dead.]
I raise an eyebrow at his statement before patching in with a live video feed. I see a fat Saiyan sitting at his desk with his feet kicked up, eating a big leg of meat.
"Do I look dead to you?" I asked with an annoyed tone.
The Saiyan on the other end of the video paused and looked at me in shock before suddenly sitting up straight, knocking a few things off of his desk in the process.
[Zyleth! You're alive!]
"No, I'm the ghost come back to haunt you." I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes, "Connect me to my father."
[Right away, sir!]
The video disconnects and the line then reconnects to my father's Scouter.
[Call back later.]
The line dropped and so did my mouth.
"Did this motherfu--"
My eye twitched in annoyance at the fact he just hung up on me before I called again, reconnecting with the same guy from Saiyan Command.
"Reconnect me with Bardock."
He does so and the line is transferred again. I hear my father pick up and before he could hang up on me again, I start to speak.
"I swear, old man, if you hang up on me one more time, no Rejuvenation Tank in the universe will be able to fix what I do to you." I threaten him through gritted teeth.
The line was silent. In fact, he was silent for such a long time that I honestly thought he had hung up on me again until I checked the connection to make sure.
"Hello?" I spoke.
[Damnit, I put twenty down on you being dead.]
I shake my head and let out a small chuckle, "Screw you."
[Right back at ya.]
Despite his words, I can hear a slight bit of relief in his tone.
"How is everyone?" I asked.
[You want it straight or you want me to tell you that we're getting along fine?]
"Don't bother. I can already tell how it is by the way you worded it." I told him, "Is mom there?"
[Yeah.]
I hear shuffling going on in the other end before I hear my mother's voice on the other end.
[Zyleth?]
I have to admit, hearing her voice released some tension in my body that I didn't even know I was holding.
"Hey, mom." I said softly.
I can hear her breath catch in her throat at the sound of my voice. It's not hard to guess that she had probably been very emotional ever since Cooler had taken me onboard his ship.
[Are you okay...?]
"I'm fine, mom. Cooler put me inside a Rejuvenation Tank." I told her.
I hear her let out an audible sigh of relief upon hearing that information, but her voice immediately went serious a second later.
[He didn't do anything to you, right? Are you coming home?]
"No, he didn't do anything to me. And about me going home... That's actually the reason why I'm calling..."
---
I press the button to turn off the communications console and I just sit and stare at the dark screen in front of me. I took a deep breath in and out before clearing my throat and standing up to walk out of the room.
Upon exiting, I turn towards Salza, who was still waiting for me, and say, "Let's go."
He nods his head and we both start walking back towards the control room.
"Did the call help you come to a decision?" He asked.
I look at him for moment before nodding my head, a small smile on my face.
"It did." I told him.
Upon reaching the control room, Salza takes his place by the door and I walked inside, seeing Cooler sitting in the chair as he looked at images of various planets.
"I assume you have an answer for me?" He asked, not even turning around to look at me.
"I do."
I walk over to the chest piece that was still laying on the small podium. As I look at it, I can't help but think about what I would be leaving behind.
My family, my team, my home...
But I can't think about those things right now. They're protected. At least for the moment.
Frieza wouldn't target Planet Vegeta in the near future thanks to Cooler's presence. And even if he did, I could get everyone I care about off the planet unscathed given that his call for every Saiyan to return to Planet Vegeta would be broadcasted through enough channels that it would eventually make its way back to me.
So right now, they're safe, and I need to start thinking about myself.
I grab the armor and slide it on over my head. I look down at it, running my fingers over the symbol that laid in the center of abdomen.
I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder, and I turn to see that Cooler was standing over me with a smirk.
"Welcome to the Cooler Force."
[Word Count: 2,086.]