Chapter Text
A/N
The first chapter of Dragon Ball Legacy. Legacy is set in an alternate timeline with Bardock as the main protagonist, the main premise being ‘what if we had a world without Goku?’. I wanted to create a darker reimagining of the story that incorporates all elements of Dragon Ball. There have some deviations from canon lore to make the story more impactful. For example, death in Legacy is permanent, no more revives with the Dragon Balls! One thing I dislike about Dragon Ball is that the stakes don’t feel as great when you know that any of the characters can just be revived, so for this story I wanted to show that every choice has meaning and consequences, every battle could be that characters last. There are some other lore deviations but I’ll save those as not to spoil them. The story is written in the third-person which might be a strange choice to some but I didn’t feel confident in properly capturing the dialogue of the characters. Though I believe I have still done well at portraying emotion through this perspective. I hope you Dragon Ball fans enjoy this chapter. Any advice or feedback would be much appreciated <3
DESTRUCTION SAGA
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In the sprawling expanse of the Seventh Universe, power was the only currency that mattered. While countless civilizations thrived on diplomacy and trade, the darker corners of the galaxy were ruled by a singular, ruthless business: the Planet Trade Organization.
At the apex of this criminal empire sat King Cold, a tyrant of immense power who treated galaxies like a personal chessboard. His method was simple: locate planets with desirable environments, eradicate the indigenous population, and sell the empty worlds to the highest bidder.
To enforce this will, King Cold utilized a subjugated race of warriors known as the Saiyans. Hailing from Planet Vegeta, the Saiyans were a humanoid species biologically engineered for combat.
They possessed immense physical strength, durable bodies capable of withstanding extreme punishment, and a natural affinity for manipulating Ki, the life energy that flowed through all living things. By harnessing this energy, they could defy gravity to take flight and project their power outward as devastating waves of destructive light.
Unlike other races that sought peace, Saiyans craved conflict. They aged slowly, retaining their youth for decades longer than humans, ensuring they could remain on the battlefield for the majority of their lives.
However, their most terrifying weapon was their biology. Every Saiyan was born with a monkey-like tail. While it appeared to be a simple appendage, it was the catalyst for a primal power. When exposed to the light of a full moon (or similar Blutz Waves), a Saiyan would undergo a horrifying metamorphosis, transforming into a Great Ape—a towering monster with multiplied strength and destructive capability. This ability made them the ultimate siege weapons; a handful of low-class Saiyans could desolate an entire civilization in a single night.
Society on Planet Vegeta was a rigid hierarchy determined strictly by latent battle power at birth. At the top were the Elites, the aristocracy led by the Saiyan monarch, King Vegeta. These warriors possessed naturally high power levels and were kept close to the homeworld for command roles or high-profile conquests.
Below them were the mid-class warriors, the backbone of the army. At the bottom lay the low-class warriors—the vast majority of the population. Deemed expendable, these Saiyans were often dispatched as infants to weak "frontier worlds" to conquer them over time, or grouped into squads to act as the vanguard for King Cold’s empire.
Though the Saiyans were a proud people, they were not free. They served as the foot soldiers for the Cold Force, wearing the armor of their oppressors and receiving orders from alien overlords they secretly despised. It was a tense alliance: King Cold used the Saiyans for their brutality, while the Saiyans bided their time, growing stronger with every battle, waiting for the day they might reclaim their autonomy.
It was in this era of conquest and servitude, amidst the ranks of the expendable low-class infantry, that one warrior began to distinguish himself.
Bardock was born in Age 707, though little was known about his early life. By Age 732, he had established himself as a low-class Saiyan warrior and leader of a small combat unit known as Bardock’s Elite. The squad consisted of five Saiyan fighters: Tora, Fasha, Borgos, Shugesh, and Gine.
Like most Saiyans, Bardock was fierce in battle and relished the thrill of combat. However, unlike the typically emotionless and brutal nature of his kind, Bardock showed signs of independent thought and a surprising level of empathy—traits that set him apart among his peers.
His willingness to protect his comrades, unusual for a Saiyan, earned him respect among other low-class warriors. Bardock’s unit was frequently dispatched to hostile worlds, where they would weaken local populations and prepare planets for sale under King Cold’s planetary trade empire.
Among his team, Gine stood out—not for her strength, but for her gentle nature, which contrasted sharply with Saiyan norms. Though she was not well-suited for combat and often relied on Bardock’s protection during missions, Gine's kindness eventually fostered a unique bond between them.
What began as routine concern gradually evolved into affection, and the two formed an emotional partnership—a concept nearly foreign to Saiyan culture, where relationships typically revolved around reproduction rather than companionship. Together, they had two sons: Raditz, the elder, and Kakarot, the younger.
Although Bardock wasn’t present for Kakarot’s birth due to his assignments off-world—something Gine openly criticized him for—he began to feel a growing connection to his family. Seeing his newborn son for the first time stirred something within him, leading Bardock to reflect on his priorities. He would later admit that Gine’s gentle influence had changed him, softening his hardened warrior instincts.
Despite Gine’s nurturing personality, she was fiercely protective when it came to her children. When Bardock suggested sending Kakarot to a backwater planet called Earth as part of a routine infiltration mission, Gine voiced strong objections, fearing for the safety of their youngest. Still, she took pride in Raditz’s growing reputation, especially when he was assigned to serve alongside Prince Vegeta—proof, in her eyes, that both her sons had potential.
Gine eventually left the battlefield behind, taking up work at the meat distribution center on Planet Vegeta, a more fitting role for someone of her temperament. Meanwhile, Bardock continued to serve on missions, though his growing attachment to his family began to weigh on him.
In Age 736, events took a dramatic turn. As King Cold’s fleet approached Planet Vegeta, the Saiyan populace grew uneasy. Cold’s arrival was unexpected and unsettling. His flagship tore through the skies, ignoring Saiyan airspace regulations and damaging structures on its descent. In the royal palace, King Vegeta received the news of Cold’s landing with thinly veiled concern, his advisors and generals visibly shaken—including Colonel Paragus, who stood rigid with fear as the alien ships passed overhead.
When Cold finally emerged from his mothership, he brought with him an even more intimidating presence—his son, Frieza. The Saiyan king greeted them with cautious diplomacy, offering his hand, which Cold ignored. Instead, Cold proudly introduced Frieza as the new head of the empire, announcing his retirement. He made it clear that nothing would change—except that Frieza was far more ruthless. Frieza, amused and arrogant, brushed off his father's gesture and delivered a cold introduction, making it clear that he had little regard for the Saiyans' pride.
As a gesture of "goodwill," Frieza gifted the Saiyans with upgraded scouters—devices capable of tracking energy signatures and measuring power levels more efficiently than their current models. During his demonstration, Frieza casually noted the presence of snipers hidden in the palace battlements.
He eliminated all four of them before anyone could react.
The fleet departed shortly after, leaving behind 500 scouters—and a deeply humiliated King Vegeta. In silent fury, the king crushed the scouter in his hand, knowing that the Saiyans’ fate had just been sealed under Frieza's iron grip.
Following the unsettling visit, King Vegeta retreated to the nursery chambers to check on his son. He proudly declared that his child was destined to rule the universe—not Frieza, whom he now viewed as a looming threat. But his moment of pride was interrupted when he noticed a strange infant in a nearby pod. This facility was meant strictly for the offspring of the Saiyan elite.
Irritated, King Vegeta demanded an explanation. A nearby technician informed him that the child was named Broly, son of Paragus. Though his power levels were unstable, they spiked to astonishing heights—possibly even higher than those of Prince Vegeta himself. Taking a power scanner from one of the medical staff, he scanned Broly’s pod. The child, startled, began to cry—and the device short-circuited and exploded. The technician explained that even if they disregarded the highest spikes, Broly’s battle power remained extraordinary. Hearing this, King Vegeta’s expression hardened.
Not long after, Paragus stormed into the throne room and demanded an audience. He begged to know why his son was being shipped off to a barren frontier world—a fate usually reserved for low-class Saiyan infants. The king tried to mask his intentions, claiming the mission was part of Broly’s training, and that world cultivation was a proud Saiyan tradition.
But Paragus saw through the excuse. He pointed out that the destination, Planet Vampa, was a desolate, lifeless rock—not even fit for colonization, let alone resale. Cornered, King Vegeta dropped the pretense. He admitted that Broly’s uncontrollable power could one day threaten not just the planet, but the stability of the entire galaxy. He argued that sparing Broly’s life at all was a generous act.
Paragus accused the king of being jealous—that he feared Broly’s power might eclipse that of his son. With icy cruelty, King Vegeta informed him that Broly’s pod had already been launched.
Overcome with panic, Paragus bolted from the throne room as he blasted toward the spaceport. There, he hijacked a spacecraft, brushing past a fellow Saiyan, Beets, who chased after him in protest. Paragus ignored him and initiated the launch, with Beets unintentionally caught along for the ride. As they sped away from Planet Vegeta, Paragus explained the situation: Broly had been unjustly exiled to a desolate wasteland because the king feared his potential. Paragus was determined to recover his son and find a livable world where they could survive together in exile. Beets was free to return, but Paragus made it clear—his path was one of vengeance.
Their destination, Planet Vampa, was little more than a hostile asteroid. Against Beets’ warnings, Paragus piloted directly to where Broly's pod should have landed two days earlier. The ship crashed during descent, but they survived relatively unharmed. After donning a breathing mask, Paragus began scouring the planet using an old scout scope.
It didn’t take long before danger found them—a swarm of large insectoid creatures known as Vampa Beetles closed in. One of them attacked Paragus, and although he broke free, his strikes had no effect on the creature’s tough outer shell. They retreated into a nearby cave. Inside, Beets, visibly shaken, admitted he was no warrior. They waited out the night, and by morning, the search resumed. Beets noticed the planet had a moon that was nearly full. Having never experienced a Great Ape transformation before, Beets was warned by Paragus to avoid looking directly at it.
Later, they entered a massive crater covered in strange, spongy vegetation. Suddenly, dozens of Vampa Beetles appeared, jabbing their needle-like appendages into the ground to drain something beneath the surface. Moments later, the earth shook. The “field” came alive as a serpentine predator erupted from below—revealing itself to be a Vampa Beast. It devoured the beetles in a frenzy, and Paragus realized the terrifying food chain of this world: beetles fed on beasts, and beasts fed on beetles in an endless cycle of survival.
They fled the scene and soon spotted Broly’s pod—wrecked and empty. Using the scope, they eventually tracked him to a cave filled with insect eggs and the carcasses of adult Vampa Beetles. Broly, now wild-eyed and cautious, emerged from the shadows, holding a torn creature’s tongue like a toy. Paragus called out to him with relief, but the boy's body language was guarded. Beets checked his power level—920, already higher than his own—but Paragus knew that was not the full extent of his son's strength. He suspected Broly might have undergone a Great Ape transformation the night before, as his armor was now loose on his frame.
The trio returned to the ship, hoping to leave Vampa, only to find the main stabilizer was destroyed in the crash. They were stranded with no way to contact the Saiyan fleet, and their supplies would only last ten days. Beets worried aloud that rescue was unlikely. Paragus agreed—and then shot Beets with a ray gun to conserve their resources. Alone with his son, he began the long wait, vowing to shape Broly’s power into the weapon he would need for revenge.
Far removed from the machinery of the Cold Empire lay Planet Cereal, a lush and mountainous world that had managed to escape the galaxy’s notice. It was a planet of quiet coexistence, home to two distinct species living in respectful harmony.
The primary inhabitants were the Cerealians. While they appeared largely human in stature, they possessed a unique evolutionary trait: a right eye that turned a deep red. This ocular ability granted them extraordinary perception, allowing them to see across vast distances and identify vital points with pinpoint accuracy. Though they were natural marksmen, the Cerealians were not a warlike people, preferring to use their gifts for hunting and agriculture rather than conquest.
Sharing this world was a small community of Namekians. These green-skinned, humanoid beings were a stark contrast to the rest of the galaxy’s violent civilizations. Namekians were a mystical race, peaceful by nature and possessing strange magical abilities, including the power to heal injuries and, according to legend, create artifacts capable of granting wishes. They lived simply, tending to the land and preserving their ancient traditions alongside their Cerealian neighbors.
For years, these two cultures had prospered together, untouched by the growing shadow of the planetary trade markets. But that isolation came to a violent end.
In Age 737, the peaceful lives of the Cerealians and Namekians on Planet Cereal were shattered when the planet was invaded by the Frieza Force, aided by their Saiyan vanguard. Under the light of the full moon, the Saiyan warriors transformed into monstrous Great Apes, using their overwhelming strength to lay waste to cities and nearly wipe out the local population.
Among the chaos, a young boy named Granolah fled with his mother, Muezli. With help from others, they found temporary shelter in a crumbling structure. However, safety was short-lived—their hiding spot was soon discovered by a towering Great Ape, marked with a distinctive facial scar. The terrifying sight overwhelmed Granolah, causing him to faint. In a desperate bid to stop the rampage, the surviving Cerealians destroyed their own moon, forcing the Saiyans to revert to their humanoid forms.
Yet, even without their transformations, the Saiyans remained superior in power. Among the returning warriors was Bardock, the scarred Saiyan who had discovered Granolah and Muezli. He entered the building, only to be met with resistance from Muezli, who fired an energy blast at him. Though it only damaged his armor and grazed his arm, Bardock made no attempt to retaliate. Something about the moment stirred a memory of his own family, prompting him to spare them.
Just then, Bardock’s partner, Leek, contacted him, announcing the mission’s success and urging Bardock to regroup before Frieza arrived. Bardock declined, claiming he would search for additional survivors. He didn’t mention Granolah or Muezli. With the mother and child in tow, he steered them toward the mountains, the rugged terrain offering natural cover from prying eyes. The path led them deeper into the crags, where a hidden alcove revealed Monaito, the last surviving Namekian on the planet, who had taken refuge.
Sensing Bardock's approach, Monaito attacked but was quickly subdued. The Namekian calmed when he saw Bardock had brought survivors, and Muezli pleaded for sanctuary. Monaito agreed, despite his initial suspicion. Bardock told them to stay hidden, warning that Frieza’s arrival would bring more devastation. When Monaito questioned his motives, Bardock simply said he acted on impulse—he just felt it was right.
As he prepared to leave, Monaito treated Bardock’s wounds and asked his name. Before Bardock could respond, his scouter picked up more signals—this time from a group approaching in the distance: the Heeters. They were a cunning family of brokers who managed Frieza's galactic dealings, working behind the scenes to profit from conquered worlds. The group included Elec, the calculating leader; Oil and Macki, information specialists; and Gas, their powerful enforcer.
Bardock, Monaito, and Muezli overheard the Heeters conspiring to betray Frieza and eventually take control of his empire. Their eavesdropping was interrupted when Granolah suddenly awakened and, upon seeing Bardock, screamed in terror—alerting the intruders. Monaito quickly rendered the child unconscious to avoid detection.
Thinking fast, Bardock donned Monaito’s cloak and confronted the Heeters, pretending to have found survivors to execute. Elec instructed him to eliminate them, but Bardock stalled by claiming the Namekian might possess unique abilities worth investigating. Elec, growing impatient, drew his blaster and killed Muezli on the spot. He then ordered Bardock to finish off Granolah and Monaito.
Instead, Bardock unleashed a concealed energy blast, but Gas deflected it with a forcefield. Using the resulting smoke as cover, Bardock escaped with Monaito and Granolah. Though they fled, Monaito mourned that his limited healing skills could not save Muezli—her injuries were too severe. Bardock grimly warned that the Heeters would pursue them to ensure their plot remained secret.
Gas was soon dispatched to hunt them down. Bardock confronted him in battle, his instincts screaming a warning that raw power alone would not suffice. The air around Gas crackled, his energy coalescing as he tapped into his "Awakened Form," a controlled state of primal power unique to the Heeter race.
Bardock lunged, his fist a blur of motion aimed to shatter bone, but Gas met the blow with an open palm. The impact never landed. Instead, a wall of invisible force repelled the strike, the kinetic energy erupting backward and sending a shockwave that tore fissures in the ground at Bardock's feet. Gas retaliated with a gesture, the very rocks and debris around Bardock lifted from the earth, compressing into jagged projectiles that hurtled toward him from all directions.
Bardock exploded skyward, a volley of Ki blasts erupting from his hands to atomize the telekinetic assault. From above, he unleashed a concentrated energy beam. Gas raised a hand, forming a swirling vortex of Ki that caught the attack, spun it into a tight orb, and hurled it back with twice the velocity. The amplified attack seared past Bardock's shoulder as he twisted away, the heat charring his armor and the force of its passage leaving a ringing in his ears.
Monaito, watching from the relative safety of the crags, called out, urging Bardock to flee and insisting he had already done more than enough. But the Saiyan’s pride refused to yield.
Descending back to the canyon floor, Bardock changed his tactics. He abandoned overwhelming assaults for guerrilla warfare, using his speed to weave between the jagged rock formations. He used the environment as his weapon, dislodging a massive rock spire with a precisely aimed blast, sending it crashing down toward the Heeter. Gas shattered the stone with a contemptuous energy wave, but the resulting dust cloud was the opening Bardock needed. He burst through the haze, his movements no longer telegraphed lunges but a series of feints and pivots. A sharp kick to the back of Gas’s knee buckled the joint; a swift chop to the neck momentarily stunned him.
Yet, the Awakened Form's regenerative properties were superior. The damage vanished in moments, Gas’s laughter echoing as he grabbed Bardock by the arm mid-strike and slammed him into the canyon wall with bone-jarring force. Dust and rock fragments rained down as Bardock slumped to the ground, his body aching but his eyes burning with defiance.
As he rose, he saw Monaito racing from his hiding place toward an open clearing, his hands raised to the heavens. While Bardock and Gas clashed, Monaito had raced home to retrieve the planet's Dragon Balls. According to ancient lore, when these crystalline artifacts were gathered, they possessed the power to summon a divine dragon capable of granting a wish, a miracle that could rewrite reality itself. Bringing the spheres together, Monaito summoned the Cerealian Dragon, Toronbo, and pleaded for Bardock to be transported back to Planet Vegeta to save him from certain death.
Suddenly, Bardock felt a strange, intrusive force wash over him—an ethereal pull threatening to whisk him away from the battlefield. He had no concept of Dragon Balls or divine wishes, nor did he understand the magic grasping at his existence, but his warrior instincts screamed in protest. To be pulled from a fight was a disgrace he could not abide. With a defiant roar, he rejected the unknown force, anchoring himself to the moment through sheer will, unwilling to abandon the fight. The magic dissipated, unable to move a soul that refused to be moved.
As an alternative, Monaito requested the restoration of Planet Cereal’s moon. The Dragon granted the wish and vanished, just as Elec and his siblings noticed the fading light in the distance.
With the moon restored, a primal instinct surged through Bardock. His body began to swell, muscles hardening and fur sprouting as he began to transform into a Great Ape. But before the process could complete, Gas moved with terrifying speed. A blade of Ki formed in his hand as he lunged, and with a slicing motion, he severed Bardock’s tail.
Pain unlike anything he had ever known exploded through Bardock’s being. The transformation halted, his body convulsing as it reverted, blood pouring from the severed stump. The shock and agony left him disoriented, his power plummeting. Gas pressed the advantage, his amusement gone, replaced by annoyance. He pummeled Bardock with a relentless assault that cracked ribs and drew gasps of agony, each blow driving the Saiyan back.
With Bardock weakened, Gas prepared a finishing blow, forming a deadly energy spear. As he launched it, Monaito leaped between them, taking the hit through his shoulder. The sight of the old Namekian sacrificing himself for a Saiyan shattered the last vestiges of Gas's control. Enraged, he fully surrendered to his instincts, entering a berserker state known as "Inner Nature Unleashed," the Heeters' ultimate transformation achieved when consumed by raw emotion.
In this frenzied form, Gas unleashed a storm of wild attacks—clawed swipes that tore deep gashes in Bardock's flesh, followed by explosive Ki bursts that forced the Saiyan into a stumbling retreat. Bardock's vision blurred from blood loss, but he endured, landing a powerful elbow to Gas's jaw that barely registered, the berserker roaring as he retaliated with a headbutt that sent Bardock tumbling.
When Gas demanded to know why Bardock continued to fight a battle so hopelessly lost, the Saiyan simply replied that in combat, survival was the only goal. He conveyed that as long as an enemy stood before him, he would fight.
This unshakable will awakened Bardock’s latent potential. It activated his Saiyan Power—an innate trait that caused a Saiyan’s strength to grow under extreme stress and injury. Power, born from agony and defiance, surged through his broken body. His movements, once labored, became a blur that matched Gas's berserker fury. Punches that had been glancing blows now landed with renewed devastation, cracking Gas's guard and drawing roars of genuine pain.
Their final exchanges became a whirlwind of energy clashes that lit up the night sky in a strobe of cataclysmic light. With his newfound strength, Bardock gathered every last ounce of his energy, and channeled it into his finishing technique. He unleashed the Final Revenger, a massive Ki-infused assault that engulfed Gas in a vortex of destructive force. The Heeter’s chaotic energy was no match for the focused will of the Saiyan. The attack overwhelmed his defenses in a thunderous explosion that echoed across the planet, leaving Gas defeated and broken amid the smoking ruins.
Exhausted and wounded, Bardock collapsed. Elec arrived to retrieve the defeated Gas and, after mocking Bardock for his ignorance of Frieza’s plans, shot him in the chest. Bardock fell from a cliff into the forest below. Elec fired several more shots at the impact site before leaving, believing Bardock truly dead. Elec rejoined Oil and Macki, where they unexpectedly encountered Leek, who had been searching for Bardock. To cover their tracks, Elec lied, claiming Bardock had attacked Gas without reason and had to be put down. Leek appeared doubtful, but Frieza’s sudden landing distracted him before he could press further. Elec, with a smirk, told Leek he should head back to Planet Vegeta—"before anything unfortunate happened."
Barely clinging to life, Bardock was found by Monaito, who used nearly all his energy to stabilize him. Unable to fully heal him with his limited skill, Monaito transported the unconscious Bardock and Granolah to his home in the mountains. With no advanced medical tools, Monaito relied on traditional methods to tend to Bardock's wounds. Though the Saiyan clung to life, the combination of massive blood loss, physical exhaustion, and the loss of his tail pushed him into a deep, unresponsive coma.
Granolah awakened sometime later and, upon seeing Bardock unconscious, reacted in panic. He grabbed a knife in a misguided attempt to defend himself, but Monaito intervened. Granolah was shocked to learn that a Saiyan had spared them—and heartbroken to hear his mother didn’t survive. When Monaito recounted the events and revealed Elec as her killer, Granolah was consumed by grief. Overwhelmed by emotion, he fled into the wilderness, vowing one day, he would avenge his people—against the Saiyans, the Heeters, and Frieza himself.
Leek eventually returned to Planet Vegeta and delivered the heartbreaking news to Gine: Bardock was believed to have perished during his last mission. Gine was devastated, but Leek expressed doubt over the official explanation, mentioning that Elec’s story didn’t add up and suspected the Heeters may have been involved in Bardock’s death.
As Gine quietly reflected, her gaze turned to Kakarot resting within his incubation pod. Something about the child reminded her of Bardock, and she clung to a hope that he may still be alive. With their older son Raditz stationed on a distant planet alongside Prince Vegeta and the seasoned Saiyan warrior Nappa as part of an ongoing invasion force, Leek offered to personally deliver the news to him.
Grateful, Gine agreed, choosing to remain on Planet Vegeta to care for Kakarot. As Leek had yet to be equipped with a scouter, he departed using a standard Space Pod.
Nearly a month later, Leek arrived on the distant world, which was already in the final stages of being annexed and resold by the Frieza Force. He found Raditz and his companions preparing to leave for their next assignment. Prince Vegeta, aloof as ever, showed no concern at Leek's sudden arrival, while Nappa mocked Leek’s low power level and presence.
Leek informed Raditz of Bardock’s presumed death. The young Saiyan was visibly shaken at first, a flicker of emotion briefly crossing his face. But Vegeta and Nappa quickly derided Bardock, referring to him as a "low-class nobody." Their disdain for Bardock’s status caused Raditz to mask his grief, and he began to echo their dismissive tone.
Just then, the trio received a transmission through their scouters—an urgent directive from Frieza ordering all Saiyans to return to Planet Vegeta immediately. Raditz was confused by the sudden command and wondered if they should comply, but Vegeta dismissed the order, suggesting they ignore it altogether.
Leek cautiously warned them, insisting that disobeying Frieza could have consequences. Nappa, unbothered, tossed his scouter to Leek, saying he wouldn't need it anymore. He told Leek to run back to Planet Vegeta and continue serving under Frieza, clearly ridiculing him.
On his return trip, Leek used the gifted scouter to contact Bardock’s Elite, off-world on assignment. When he relayed Frieza’s recall order, Tora and the rest of the team expressed confusion—they had received no such message. Before the conversation could continue, the transmission was abruptly cut short. In a brutal ambush, Dodoria, one of Frieza’s elite soldiers, and two of Frieza’s enforcers descended upon the squad, slaughtering Tora, Fasha, Borgos, and Shugesh without mercy.
Leek, unaware of their fate, arrived back on Planet Vegeta and immediately noticed Frieza’s massive flagship looming in orbit overhead. Once planetside, he learned that Frieza’s soldiers had been asking questions—specifically about the legend of the Super Saiyan. Soon after, Gine reunited with Leek and asked about Raditz. Leek informed her that Raditz had remained with Vegeta and Nappa, despite the order to return.
Gine, now deeply uneasy, began to suspect something darker was at play. She voiced her fear that Frieza’s recall may not have been about strategy or loyalty—but something far more sinister. As Saiyan warriors continued to return home, unaware of the threat above, the stage was quietly set for a tragic and historic turning point—the annihilation of the Saiyan race.
After learning of an ancient prophecy foretelling the rise of a legendary Super Saiyan, Frieza’s paranoia had deepened. The legends spoke of a warrior who would transcend the limits of their race, achieving a form of unbeatable power that appeared only once every thousand years.
Unwilling to risk even the faintest challenge to his rule, he made a fateful decision: the complete eradication of the Saiyan race. Under the guise of military restructuring, a command was sent across the galaxy—ordering all Saiyans to return to Planet Vegeta.
A month passed. On the surface, things appeared normal, but beneath the calm, King Vegeta secretly prepared for a desperate rebellion. Refusing to let his son—his heir—fall into Frieza’s grasp, the king devised a plan: launch a surprise attack on Frieza himself, eliminate the tyrant, and reclaim the Saiyans' rightful autonomy.
On the day destiny took its course, King Vegeta assembled a select force of his most elite warriors and launched a direct assault on Frieza’s hovering flagship. After cutting a path through Frieza’s guards, the small battalion stormed into the central command chamber. But when they finally confronted Frieza, their bravery faltered.
Without hesitation, King Vegeta charged alone. Frieza didn’t even stand up. A lazy backhand snapped King Vegeta’s neck. The king collapsed lifelessly at his feet. Dodoria looked on as Frieza proceeded to eliminate the rest of the elite soldiers without effort.
With no more resistance, Frieza turned to his subordinates and declared the time had come to end the Saiyan race once and for all. Dodoria questioned whether such an act was still necessary, given the death of their leadership. But Frieza warned that more rebellion would inevitably follow—King Vegeta was just the beginning. The entire race must be wiped out completely to ensure absolute control.
Meanwhile, back on the planet, a soft chime rang from a nearby incubation chamber—Kakarot’s pod. For the first time since his birth, Gine lifted her infant son into her arms. As she cradled him, she remarked on how much he resembled Bardock. A shadow passed over her features as she thought of her mate, uncertain whether he was alive or lost out there. Her quiet moment was interrupted when several Saiyans sprinted past her home, their voices laced with panic. Gine stepped outside and looked up—above the atmosphere, a burning sphere glowed like a second sun.
A few moments earlier, Frieza had emerged from his command ship, reclining in his hoverchair. He casually raised one finger, gathering energy until a blazing orb formed in his hand. Without hesitation, he hurled it toward the planet below—an apocalyptic attack to wipe out an entire people.
As the energy sphere descended, Gine’s heart sank. All around her, Saiyans had stopped what they were doing, staring silently at the sky as death came for them. Amid the chaos, she spotted a scouter lying abandoned on the ground—possibly dropped in the panic. She snatched it up and opened a transmission channel. She called out—not to any soldier, but to Bardock. Though she didn’t know if he was still alive, she believed he could hear her. She told him that he was a good man, that his heart was stronger than the fate they were born into, and that he might one day make a real difference.
As the energy blast neared impact, her last words echoed through the channel: “I love you.” Then the transmission cut to static.
The massive energy sphere slammed into the planet’s core. Moments later, Planet Vegeta erupted in a catastrophic explosion, disintegrating in a blinding flash. Frieza watched the event unfold on his scouter, counting down until the energy readings vanished entirely. Without another word, he turned his ship and departed, leaving behind only silence. In a single day, the mighty Saiyan race was brought to the very brink of extinction.
Far from the carnage, the few remaining Saiyans were spared only by sheer, random circumstance. Prince Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz—still on assignment—received word that Planet Vegeta had been destroyed. The official story? A collision with a massive meteor. Nappa expressed mild shock, while Vegeta appeared unmoved by the supposed demise of his people.
Nappa brought up Vegeta’s younger brother, wondering aloud if the boy might have survived. Vegeta shrugged off the thought—he didn’t know where his father had exiled his brother, nor did he care. The child was a disgrace to their royal bloodline: soft-hearted and lacking the merciless instinct expected of a Saiyan prince.
Raditz, meanwhile, hid his grief. His father, his mother, and everyone he knew was gone. But in the presence of Vegeta and Nappa—who already looked down on him for being born a low-class warrior—he could not afford to show weakness. So he remained silent, his pain buried beneath layers of pride and shame.
In the years following the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Frieza retained a handful of surviving Saiyans—Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz—as enforcers for his growing empire. Forced into Frieza's service, they carried out missions across the galaxy, exterminating civilizations and conquering planets on his behalf. Though obedient on the surface, Vegeta harbored a deep resentment, particularly toward Zarbon, Frieza’s polished but cruel lieutenant. Vegeta often claimed that Zarbon had spent years degrading him and treating him like a servant, a deep humiliation he never forgot.
Despite his position under Frieza, Vegeta continued to refer to himself with pride as the “Prince of all Saiyans.” He never assumed the title of “King,” whether out of respect for his late father, or because he had never officially inherited the throne. He secretly entertained thoughts of rebellion, planning to one day kill Frieza and claim his rightful dominance.
But those plans were put on hold the day he witnessed Frieza obliterate a rebel planet and its inhabitants with a single flick of his finger—an enormous energy sphere that vaporized all in its path. The sheer display of power convinced Vegeta that patience was required.
During a mission to purge another world alongside Nappa and Raditz, tensions flared once again. After successfully wiping out the planet’s inhabitants, the trio returned only to be mocked by Zarbon and Dodoria for how they had handled the task. Nappa, always the impulsive one, was ready to lash out, but Vegeta held him back. He knew better than to test Frieza’s inner circle without a strategy.
It was around this time that Nappa shared a rumor he’d overheard: whispers that Frieza—not a random meteor storm—was the true cause of Planet Vegeta’s destruction. Raditz was stunned, but Vegeta showed no visible reaction. He simply scoffed, saying that if the Saiyans had been wiped out, it was because they were too weak to survive. He vowed not to share their fate, resolving to grow stronger than anyone—Frieza included. His cold dismissal stunned both Nappa and Raditz, who hadn’t expected such indifference.
Meanwhile, one year following the fall of Planet Vegeta, something stirred on Planet Cereal. After a long and grueling recovery, Bardock finally awakened. Unlike traditional Saiyan healing in medical pods, his body had been left to mend on its own. With no advanced equipment on Planet Cereal, the healing process was slow. Bedridden and unconscious for one full year, Bardock’s body had changed drastically. His once-bulky frame had slimmed, his face now adorned with a thick, unkempt beard.
Monaito, the planet’s last surviving Namekian, greeted him. Bardock was surprised to learn that Monaito had personally tended to his wounds. He asked why a Namekian would aid a Saiyan after everything their kind had done to Planet Cereal. Monaito explained that when he saw Bardock risk his life to save Granolah and Muezli, it had shattered his assumptions. For the first time, he saw a Saiyan acting out of compassion rather than conquest. Bardock dismissed the idea, brushing off the praise with his usual gruffness.
When he asked about the others, Monaito regretfully informed him that Muezli had not survived. As for Granolah, the boy harbored an intense hatred toward the Saiyan race—something Bardock wasn’t at all surprised by. Monaito explained that in the aftermath of the invasion, Planet Cereal had been sold off by the Heeters to a displaced alien species known as the Sugarians. Their homeworld had been destroyed long ago, and after drifting through space for many years, they had purchased settlement rights to Cereal through the Heeter organization.
When Bardock asked how long he had been unconscious, Monaito told him the truth—one full year. The answer stunned him. With a tired groan, he muttered that his wife was going to kill him for disappearing without a word. He then asked for his scouter, hoping to reconnect. Monaito showed him the badly damaged device, its circuits fried from the battle with Gas. He had tried to repair it, but it might take much longer to restore. Bardock waved it off and told Monaito to keep it—sell it if needed—as repayment for saving his life.
As Bardock prepared to finally leave the planet, Monaito guided him to his old Space Pod he had hidden after the battle. Before boarding, Bardock paused and, in an uncharacteristic moment, apologized. He apologized not just for himself, but for the pain his people had caused this world.
Just as Bardock was about to launch, Granolah appeared. Older and fueled by grief, he confronted Bardock, threatening that if the Saiyan ever set foot on Planet Cereal again, he would kill him without hesitation. Bardock stared at the boy for a moment, then silently entered his pod and left. Unbeknownst to Bardock, word of Planet Vegeta’s destruction had yet to reach Planet Cereal. The fate of his people—and the course of his life—had already been changed.
Bardock arrived at the coordinates where Planet Vegeta should have been—and was met with only drifting ash, debris, and glowing planetary fragments. At first, he blamed navigation error, space distortion, or enemy weaponry. But as his aging pod circled the region again and again, the harsh truth became undeniable: Planet Vegeta was gone.
What remained was a graveyard. Twisted chunks of planetary crust floated silently in a decaying orbit, some still glowing with residual heat. There was no evidence of meteor impact, no fracture lines across the surface, no planetary shell. He scanned the debris field repeatedly, desperate for life signs, signals, or any trace of civilization. His scouter—left on Planet Cereal—had been destroyed, and the pod’s internal systems were outdated and unreliable. Alone and disoriented, the weight of it pressed against his chest. Gine. Kakarot. Raditz. His comrades. All gone. For the first time in years, Bardock felt the depth of helplessness.
As the pod drifted deeper into orbit, he detected a faint power reading from a derelict listening post floating near the debris ring. The structure, once a surveillance node for Frieza’s scouts, remained semi-functional—its interior exposed to space, but its core still powered. Bardock docked on the platform, donned a breathing mask and boarded with caution, finding the skeletal remains of Frieza Force personnel strapped to collapsed control chairs.
One terminal continued to flicker with life. He rifled through its logs, uncovering standard traffic records and surveillance data. But buried within corrupted archives, Bardock located an encrypted report confirming Planet Vegeta’s destruction. The official cause was listed as a meteor impact. But further investigation revealed something else: an unsanctioned audio recording from a long-dead technician, casually admitting that the “meteor” explanation was fabricated, and that Frieza himself had positioned his fleet over Planet Vegeta in the hours before its annihilation.
The recall order, the secrecy, the timing—it all led to one conclusion. Bardock realized the destruction of his people was no accident. Frieza had orchestrated it.
Without hesitation, Bardock searched the terminal for patrol routes, fleet data, and officer locations. One name appeared repeatedly in recent movement logs: Zarbon, who was stationed at Space Station Kureta, a minor outpost on the edge of Frieza’s central dominion. Though Bardock’s injuries remained severe, and his strength was far from recovered, he set a new course.
The journey to Space Station Kureta was long and silent. Bardock spent most of it battling his own body, which had yet to fully recover from the trauma. The fight with Gas had left him broken in more ways than one—his tail severed, his strength diminished, reflexes dulled. Still, the fire in his mind burned hotter than ever.
Kureta itself was unimpressive—a mid-tier supply outpost with minimal security and limited oversight. It was a known Frieza Force checkpoint, and Bardock banked on the aging infrastructure and bureaucratic negligence to make his infiltration possible. His pod approached under a stolen access code, and within moments of docking, Bardock stormed the facility. He moved through corridors like a battering ram, incapacitating guards with ruthless efficiency. When he breached the command chamber, the outpost descended into chaos. There, standing at the central console, was Zarbon—visibly shocked at the sight of a living Saiyan.
His surprise gave Bardock just enough time to attack, launching a flurry of blows that sent Zarbon crashing into the far end of the chamber. The fight was immediate and brutal, but it became clear almost instantly that Bardock was outmatched. Though his spirit was unyielding, his power level was nowhere near what it once had been. His time in a coma, the loss of his tail, and the strain of space travel had weakened him significantly.
Zarbon, on the other hand, was in peak condition. He recovered quickly, parried Bardock’s assaults, and began to counter with surgical precision. Bardock fought on, driven by sheer will, but each exchange ended with him further outclassed. Zarbon made it clear that Bardock’s presence was meaningless, and that any hopes of revenge were foolish. He confirmed without hesitation that Planet Vegeta was destroyed by Frieza and that the “meteor” story was simply a lie meant to pacify curious ears. Frieza had planned to exterminate the Saiyans and saw their recall as the perfect opportunity.
As the truth settled over Bardock, Zarbon delivered a devastating blow that sent him crashing through a bank of monitors. Bloodied and struggling to breathe, Bardock crawled to his feet and activated a nearby control panel, rupturing a volatile coolant line in the ceiling. The deck erupted into smoke and flame, throwing the chamber into confusion. Using the chaos to his advantage, Bardock escaped through a collapsed maintenance shaft and dragged himself to the secondary hangar. With injuries mounting and consciousness slipping, he launched his damaged pod into space just as security teams attempted to seal the exit.
Back in the command chamber, Zarbon emerged from the smoke unharmed, though his patience had worn thin. Subordinates offered to pursue Bardock, eager to redeem the outpost’s failure to contain him. Zarbon dismissed them with indifference. In his view, Bardock was no longer a threat—alone and defeated. If he had any sense, he would vanish into the void and die quietly, rather than tempt the wrath of Frieza again.
Meanwhile, Bardock’s pod limped through the cold vacuum of space, its systems barely stable. He made no attempt to stabilize the pod or set a course. There was nowhere left to go. He stared out at the stars in silence. In their glow, he saw the faces of those he had failed to protect—Gine’s gentle smile, Kakarot in the incubation chamber, Raditz in battle armor. All of it—gone in an instant. Erased by a tyrant he had no hope of defeating.
The rage that had once burned within him now felt distant, buried beneath grief and exhaustion. At that moment, he did not feel like a warrior. And in the silence of deep space, the last Saiyan wondered if he should have died with the rest.