8Planet Romei, Sadala Settlement, Training Day
Dawn was barely breaking over the horizon as most of the surviving Saiyan population were lined up in a large row standing at attention. Some of the veterans were disgruntled with their situation, having to go through boot camp all over again, while the majority of the non-warriors were rightfully nervous to endure this training regimen. Those warriors that were considered weak or low-class or were simply children - as many Saiyans began their careers at a very young age - were eager for this refresher course and willing to build strength.
Standing in a row opposite of the rank and file were Bardock's squad members, eager to run these schmucks, green or otherwise, through the ringer. Gine was not among them as she willfully volunteered to subject herself to her mate's training regimen.
In between the two groups of Saiyans was Bardock, walking along the corridor of soldiers and cadets, hands behind his back, before he took a pause to scan his charge.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Bardock announced, his voice loud but firm. "I doubt I need introductions, but for those who weren't paying attention to her highness's speech 10 days ago, I am Bardock, and I will be your commanding officer and drill instructor for the foreseeable future. My squadron behind me will be my drill assistants. For future reference, address me as 'Bardock,' 'General,' or any similar titles, but you will all refrain from calling me 'Sir,' or 'My lord,' or 'O great savior and prophet of our time.' I will be having none of that."
Tōma and Leek snickered at that last title, knowing how absurd it was. Bardock ignored this and continued. "I am aware some of you have never had proper combat training beyond the basics. I do not expect you to switch roles from whatever you were before to become a warrior, but I do expect you to be ready to pull your weight should the need arise, and it will."
"I am also aware that many of you do have combat training, as well as combat experience. This will be a refresher course for you lot, but physical strength is only one portion of true strength! If you can be so easily outwitted by weaker opponents then you would be nothing more than a waste of meat with anger issues, so you will be trained to use your minds as well."
"Before I go over my regimen, Who here thinks they can kick my ass?" Bardock asked, facing the column of trainees. "I know there's at least one of you, so you might as well step up to the plate."
A quiet murmur came from the file of Saiyans until two stepped forward. One was a very big man with several scars on his body and no hair to speak of, especially his eyebrows. Another was a Saiyan that was just as big, but far more lean with his hair grown into a mullet.
"This guy doesn't seem so tough," The first Saiyan chuckled, cracking his knuckles. "I could crush your skull like a grape."
"So we got first dibs," Bardock responded with a smirk. "What's your name, tiny?"
"Ha ha, very funny," The burly and scarred man sarcastically laughed. "The name's Oliv."
"And your combat score?"
"3,000, last I checked."
Another hushed murmur erupted from the ranks as Oliv grinned with murderous intent. Bardock only stared up at the big oaf with a bored expression, eager to make an example of him. The Saiyan commander took off his long wristbands, tossing them aside, while also removing his combat jacket, revealing several scars littering his bare torso, and tossed the armor piece not too far from his wristbands.
"Wuh-oh,~" Selypa whistled, eager to see Bardock work. "This should be good."
"You're just saying that because you get to see Bardock topless," Tōma jeered, earning a disgruntled snarl from the Saiyan woman.
Bardock fastened himself into a squatted stance, left arm raised in front of his face in a clawed pose while his right arm rested at his side.
"Your move," The scarred general beckoned, his glare unwavering.
"Your funeral!" Oliv shouted as he charged towards Bardock with reckless abandon. The palm-haired Saiyan saw this coming from a mile away and casually side-stepped out the path of the charging wall of meat. Oliv began to stumble as he tried to stop himself from running any further, and turned towards Bardock, who was standing casually. "Lucky dodge!"
"Was it?" Bardock retorted, a smirk forming on his face as Oliv began launching several punches his way, each dodged with ease. The Saiyan commander grew bored of this onslaught and launched a kick into Oliv's gut, immediately ceasing the giant's chain of attacks and forcing him to buckle over. Bardock removed his foot and rolled his neck with a satisfying crack. "Anyone else?"
The lanky Saiyan saw this and fell back in line, but Oliv was not done. "You bastard!" The large oaf screamed as he launched more punches, each more predictable than the last. "WHY! CAN'T! I! HIT! YOU!"
"Three reasons," Bardock answered before backhanding Oliv across the face, sending him into the dirt. "One, you focused too much on brute force to take me down. You were behaving exactly like General Nappa. Strong physically, but completely lacking in any tactical sense, and possibly deprived of some much-needed oxygen to the brain. It's a wonder he got to the rank of General to begin with."
Oliv jumped up trying to punch Bardock's head off, only for his massive fist to be casually stopped by the smarter Saiyan's palm. "Two, you were quick to let your frustration mount and do the fighting for you. At that point you would get similar results if you just strapped an explosive to a rabid avian with its head cut off."
Bardock pushed back Oliv's fist with ease, causing the man to stumble backwards and land on his back. "And three - and this might possibly make you piss yourself - My combat score is around 10,000, last I checked."
"10,000?!" Oliv stammered. "No wonder you had the upper hand!"
"He's also suppressed his combat score to be on par with yours," Tōma added, causing Oliv to stammer even further. "It's a technique we picked up during a particularly tough mission, and it's helped us dupe some foes who were over reliant on tech similar to scouters or even the old scout scopes. It's helped me and the rest of the squad recently to play dead when Dodoria jumped us."
"Y-You're lying!" Oliv retorted, refusing to believe Bardock's second-in-command.
"See for yourself then," Tōma suggested as he pulled out an older model scout scope and tossed it to Oliv, who promptly caught the device. Oliv analyzed Bardock to see that his combat score was indeed registered at 3,000, only for it to slowly climb. 4,000, 5,000, 6,000…
"H-Holy shit…" Oliv muttered as the device began to heat up in his hand from the analytical strain.
"Now, if you're done making yourself look like an idiot, dust yourself off and fall back in line," Bardock ordered as he put his combat jacket and wristbands back on. Oliv nervously complied. "Now, I will be going over the schedule. Starting today, you will have endurance training coached by Toteppo and Panbūkin. At around 09:00, Tōma and Leek will guide your education, with me stepping in for Tōma from time to time. Noon until 14:00 will be for rest and recovery, as well as time to eat. After that, my entire squad and I, barring Gine, will run combat drills and sparring sessions with you lot. By sunset, Selypa, Leek, and Gine will get you acquainted with the art of stealth and recon. It's not a direct combat skill, but it may prove useful down the road."
"Your goal will be to each reach a combat score of 5,000. For some of you that won't be too tough, but you have to prove to me you can put up a decent fight instead of flailing angrily. The rest of you, I will grind every ounce of strength I can out of you until you not only outclass old General Nappa in brains - which isn't much of a milestone to begin with, - but also brawn. If you plan to strive farther, then more power to you. With the schedule out of the way, does anyone have any questions?"
A hand rose from the file and Bardock gestured to the Saiyan in question - an average built warrior - and he was given the floor. "Who's Gine?" The Saiyan questioned. "I see 5 squad members, but you listed 6 names."
"Gine is the woman a few rows to your right," Bardock answered, gesturing to his mate. "She's in file because she requested to be a part of this regimen in order to build strength."
"Then how come that weakling is training us?" The warrior asked, now confused and irritated.
"What she lacks in strength, she makes up for in situational awareness and stealth. It's the reason why she was one of our top scouts. In fact, she's standing right behind you now."
The warrior turned around with a jolt to see no one behind him. He frowned thinking he was just pranked until a light tap on his shoulder swung him around to see the small Saiyan woman in question, who offered a warm smile and earned a chuckle from everyone else in file.
"Alright," Bardock continued. "Enough stalling, let's begin. Toteppo, Panbūkin, you guys are up!"
Panbūkin snickered while Toteppo grunted in acknowledgement. The two were dragging two large crates behind them, showing moderate struggle. Once the crates were where they wanted them, they dropped them to the ground with a massive thud that shook the ground. The two opened them up and offered the trainees a chance to look inside.
"You guys are gonna be doing usual exercise routines," Panbūkin elaborated. "But you'll be wearing these weighted bracers on your forearms and legs. Each weigh approximately 10 kilos in a typical 1G world, but since we're on a planet with 5Gs, these'll weigh 50 kilos a pop. Pick your favorites."
"I don't see you guys wearing these," A female Saiyan called out from the crowd. Toteppo simply removed his bracer and tossed it at the woman. She cockily tried to catch it, only for her to immediately buckle over, pinned by the heavy object.
"That bracer weighs 40 kilos in 1G," Toteppo said flatly, picking it up off the woman and fastening it back onto his forearm.
"Okay," The Saiyan gasped, pushing herself to her feet. "Point taken."
"This ought to be good," Panbūkin snickered.
Cooler's Cabin, 3 hours later
Cooler sat in his cabin bored out of his mind. He woke up from a restless dream that has hindered his sleep as of late. Whether or not it had anything to do with his new neighbors, he was not sure. He had already done his usual morning activity of meditation, and there was only so much that could be done for the mind before it backfires. Pondering for a moment, he remembered the Saiyan Queen Romei who came to his abode seeking to destroy him and his home. Cooler knew such efforts would be wasted, as while he was nowhere near as strong as Freeza, he and his squadron were more than powerful enough to withstand a charged attack from a Saiyan he could only assume had a combat score of 9,000.
He could tell that Romei had looked upon his kin with nothing but disgust and hatred, not that he blamed her. Cooler shares the same sentiments in a way. Still, to blindly charge towards a former member of Cold's Clan knowing they were outclassed was a new type of desperation. No, it was grief. Venom was spat from the Saiyan woman's actions as well as her words. Even so, the Saiyan queen requested to meet some time ago at a given time, which was soon. The purple-skinned exile was snapped from his musings when Thouser walked into the room.
"Monsieur Cooler," Thouser greeted with a bow. "I noticed ze Saiyans began a training regimen."
"Is that so?" Cooler said, tilting his head to face his subordinate. "Nothing should be expected less from a warrior race."
"What I find peculiar is the organization in zere regimen. It is not just warriors training. Zere are other non-combatives among zem."
"Oh? What are their numbers?"
"Approximately 200, give or take."
Cooler leaned back into his chair and pondered this. 200-something Saiyans, training with a mixture of warriors and non-warriors out of the blue was not something he had expected. It was then that he realized why they were training.
"So, they intend to disarm the satellite grid," Cooler mused, putting the pieces together.
"And it would seem zey are training so that ze majority of zem could take it out with a single volley," Thouser added. "Zey have ze advantage of numbers over ze satellites, but lack enough individual firepower."
"And so they're training every Saiyan they can to pack enough of said firepower," Cooler muttered. "Clever. I'm tempted to train as well."
"Zat seems unlike you," Thouser observed, slightly taken aback.
"Then you haven't been paying attention. My power as it is presently is nothing to Freeza's, and, unlike that brat, I feel there is merit in effort. Besides, Freeza had never seen the need to train a day in his life due to his gifted strength. To let such power stagnate is practically criminal."
"In addition to everything else?" Dore added as he entered the room with a yawn.
"Mind your tongue, Dore!" Thouser scolded the large green man.
"Don't chastise him, Thouser," Cooler chuckled. "Freeza is indeed a criminal in every sense of the word."
"R-Right, sorry," Thouser backpedaled. "He is still your family though."
"I understand your sentiments regarding family, Thouser," Cooler retorted, his tone firm. "But my family is a special case given their reputation and what has befallen me. When you are spurned by your father and tossed aside like trash by your own brother, do get back to me on that."
"Sometimes it's best not to be a kiss-ass regarding touchy subjects boss," Neiz muttered to Thouser as he stooped below the doorway to enter. "Most folks I've worked alongside until joining Cooler's squad were the poster child of brown-nose, and they're all dead."
"Zey were also by extension subordinates to Freeza," Thouser retorted. "You know he rules with fear."
"And paranoia," Dore added.
"Alright," Cooler said as he stood up. "If the three of you are going to bicker on, I'm going to go do something productive. I'll be visiting the Saiyan settlement if you need me."
"Isn't that a little risky?" Neiz pointed out.
"I was invited a few days ago to meet at the edge of the forest. Naturally such an invitation comes with risks. If you wish to come along, keep all actions defensive, would you?"
Dore gave a thumbs up and walked forward while Thouser sighed and shook his head. Neiz shrugged and stepped outside, looking to bag some game for dinner.
Sadala Settlement, Noon
The rookies and veterans that went through Bardock's regimen had a mixture of things to say. The veterans were second-guessing their initial assessments of this 'refresher course' as nothing more than that. The rookies meanwhile were groaning from the strain placed on the marathons Toteppo and Panbūkin had them run all while throwing various blasts of ki to keep them on their toes. Very few warrior-caste Saiyans were receptive to the study sessions hosted by Leek and Tōma, leaving most of the non-warriors to be the top learners. By the time noon had come around, everyone sighed a breath of relief, as they could finally eat and rest until combat drills were to begin.
Gathered around a small campfire was the entirety of Bardock's squad, chowing down on the freshly roasted kill of a local dinosaur - one similar to the one that chased Gine since their arrival, which pleased her even more. Panbūkin was going over how much fun it was to torment the cadets with evasion training via ki blasts while Tōma went over the pros and cons of the tactical study session they had just finished up. Usual conversation and banter went on until Leek finished the roasted dinosaur limb he had and spoke up.
"Hey, anyone see where her highness went?" Leek asked.
"Why? You got a crush on her?" Panbūkin teased, earning a disgruntled look from the lean fighter.
"She's over by the forest," Toteppo answered in his usual flat demeanor.
"Sheesh," Selypa sighed, shaking her head. "The grief is really getting to her."
"Well, as long as she doesn't start anything, we're good," Tōma commented, spitting out a wad of cartilage from his serving.
"She almost did," Gine muttered quietly. Not quietly enough as she had earned the attention of her entire squadron. Knowing they'll ask her for an explanation, she sighed and began. "The evening after her announcement, she flew off to Cooler's domain with the intent to kill him and his men, despite how vain it would be. I… I had to try and stop her."
"Good call on your part," Bardock commented, earning that warm smile Gine was notorious for. "Someone should keep an eye on her though in case she does something stupid again."
"I'll do it," Gine volunteered. "She may need a shoulder later down the road and-wait… Do you guys hear that?"
Everyone dropped the subject as they listened closely. Sure enough it was the deep rhythmic thumping of an encrypted pulsar code message: "Bardock and Co. Meet at the forest edge."
"What do you suppose Romei wants?" Tōma commented, tossing aside his leftover bones.
"No guarantee it's her," Selypa added.
"We'll find out when we get there," Bardock answered, flaring his aura and taking off, the rest of his squadron following suit. The trip did not take all that long - a few minutes at the slowest - and down at the boundary of the forest was indeed Romei along with two others. Bardock and Gine recognized them and were puzzled, while the rest of the squadron were surprised to see the two strangers. The Saiyan commander motioned for his crew to land before the Saiyan queen, each taking a knee.
"Rise," Romei sighed with an eyeroll, now growing tired of the royal treatment. "For future reference, ease up on the formalities."
"Right," Bardock nodded. "Any reason Cooler and his green buddy are here?"
"Queen Romei has invited me for discussions some time ago," Cooler answered, confirmed by a nod from Romei. "Dore is here mostly because he wants to meet the neighbors, and because he gets on Thouser's nerves far too easily."
"Oi!" Dore snapped with a chuckle. "It ain't my fault he's so uptight!"
"Yes, yes, Thouser has 'a pension for kiss-assery,' as Neiz would call it," Cooler dismissed with exasperation before turning his attention to the rest of Bardock's squadron, who looked upon him with apprehension and assumed defensive stances. "I assume these warriors are your squadron, Bardock?"
"And we'll kick your ass if we have to!" Tōma shouted, his confidence only betrayed by the sweat rolling down his face.
"I have no doubts you'll retaliate if I act hostile," Cooler commented. "But I have no intent to fight any of you."
"Stand Down," Bardock ordered his squadron. "It would be a losing battle even if all of us ganged up on him."
All members of the squad looked at their commander with hesitation, but relaxed their stances, all while remaining on high alert. The commander in question turned his attention back to Cooler and Romei. "Now, what's this meeting all about?"
"I… wanted to invite Cooler and his squadron for training," Romei hesitated before getting her words out. Everyone present gasped and looked at the Saiyan queen with surprise, Cooler included. "I know what you all are thinking, and I'm not happy about the decision either."
"What I'm thinking is why you'd want to invite him, of all people, for training," Bardock retorted, still dumbstruck at Romei's decision. "This doesn't line up with your usual decision making, Romei."
"Well it's my decision, damnit!" Romei snapped back at her new general. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we've just escaped extinction-"
"That was brought upon us courtesy of the little brother of this… thing!" Tōma interrupted, his frustration pouring over, earning a wince from Cooler at the term used to describe himself. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to rejoin your husband."
Before anyone could say a word, Romei launched a swift left hook at Tōma's left temple, sending him flying into a nearby tree, snapping its massive trunk and causing it to fall over with several cracks and creaks. The squadron second-in-command was quick to recover and vaulted towards the queen eager to return the attack launched at him, with Romei launching another fist before Bardock caught both of their attacks with a strained grunt.
"Enough! Both of you!" Bardock shouted to his superior and subordinate. "Your highness, Tōma is correct in that your judgement has been questionable as of late, and while I will defer to your authority on sound decisions, someone has to be the voice of reason!"
"And you!" Bardock shouted at his second-in-command. "I'm not going to tolerate infighting in the slightest during our tenure here, so you better save that wit of yours for combat drills only, or so help me once that satellite grid is down I'm sending your ass back to Arlia for a week! Is that understood?!"
"R-Right," Tōma nodded, not needing a reminder of the grotesque horror show that was Arlia. "Sorry boss. And, Sorry, your highness."
Romei simply nodded as Bardock released his grip on both her and Tōma's fists. The general turned his attention to Cooler who had watched this whole ordeal go down with a blank expression. "And what are you looking at?!"
"I am waiting for this meeting to begin," Cooler answered flatly. "Should I come back at a different time?"
"At this point, what do we have to lose?" Bardock sighed as he slumped his shoulders before turning back to Romei. "You better have a valid reason for all this."
"Cooler has demonstrated the ability to sense ki," Romei sighed, earning several bemused looks shot her way. "Given how we can no longer rely on scouters to gauge our opponents, and the handful of scout scopes we have will only last us so long, I figured he could incorporate this technique into the regimen."
"When was this, Your highness?" Gine spoke up. "I was there when you stormed off to Cooler's dwelling that night."
"It was shortly before you arrived, Gine," Cooler answered. "If you believed that you were too loud, that was not the case. My hearing is not as acute as you would assume. I detected Romei's presence halfway between the clearing of your settlement and mine."
"I also noticed earlier this morning Bardock demonstrate his ability to suppress his own ki at will, so as to keep his opponents in the dark, or keep himself hidden should stealth be an element required."
"How did you know that was me?" Bardock asked, now unsettled with Cooler's knowledge.
"Instrumental measurements of an organism's ki only tell a fraction of the story," Cooler answered. "Each being has a unique signature. A sort of thumbprint, if you will, that distinguishes themselves from others beyond a mere measure of strength."
"So, what you're saying is you can gauge someone's strength, location, and who they are?" Selypa asked, trying to process all of this information.
"If you ask me, that might open new possibilities for our pulsar code," Leek added, now brainstorming uses for the ability.
"You guys can't seriously be considering learning from this guy, right?!" Panbūkin interrupted with outrage.
"Stow it!" Bardock ordered. "Even if Cooler was compliant on teaching us, who's to say I would allow it?"
"I am," Romei answered, the usual scowl on her face now superseded by her tone.
"Your highness, what did I just-"
"Bardock," Gine spoke up, interrupting her mate. "Ki sense would grant us an advantage over scouter usage, and this may be a viable test to see if Cooler can be trusted."
The Saiyan commander and general looked at his mate with an inquisitive glare, digesting what she had just said. Voice of reason, like always. Bardock turned his glare to Cooler, who returned a simple shoulder shrug. Bardock turned to the Saiyans under his command as well as the queen, slumped his shoulders and sighed. "Fine. Provided Cooler and his squad are onboard, and that they don't get chewed apart by literally everyone else, he is welcome for tactical instruction tomorrow."
Panbūkin and Tōma growled at this change, but Bardock ignored their grumbles and turned his attention back to Cooler. "You said you wanted to introduce yourselves to the locals, right?" He said with a hint of humor and agitated daring in his voice. "You have until 14:00 to make yourself known."
Cooler nodded at this and turned to Dore. "Go find Neiz," Cooler requested the green man. "I will go find Thouser."
"Right'o," Dore nodded before flying off into the forest again, Cooler trailing behind him. As soon as they were out of sight and earshot, Bardock smacked his palm to his face.
"Of all the stupid, asinine, shark-jumping bullshit…" Bardock groaned as he slid his hand down his face.
2 hours later
Cooler's introduction went almost exactly as Bardock expected. Several Saiyans - specifically the veterans - snapped in rage at the arrival of the frost demon and tried in a fruitless effort to tear him apart, while the weaker non-combatants simply cowered back. The only ones unaffected were Bardock's squadron, Romei, and a few random Saiyans with slightly more open minds. Suffice to say, everyone was startled at this revelation.
This was no excuse to avoid the combat drills Bardock had planned as he assigned various Saiyans different sparring partners based on their relative combat score, pairing the more experienced veterans with one another and having he and his squadron spar with the non-combatants and give instruction. The Saiyan engineer Mung and several other non-combatants found themselves locking horns with Leek, who was using his tactical prowess to test his subjects' abilities. The rest of his squad had various low level warriors to work with, while Bardock was addressing Gine and a select few other non-combatants - one of which was a blue-haired female doctor, a male low-class sniper, and a male pilot. All four were charging at Bardock with reckless abandon, some quicker to adapt than others, while Bardock was parrying and blocking all of their attacks with ease.
"Jinger," Bardock addressed the blue-haired Saiyan. "Switch up your approach. It's a beginner's error to use the same attacks repeatedly."
Jinger proceeded to heed the general's advice and threw several punches to keep Bardock busy.
"Good. You're also not wasting movement which is a good sign, unlike Gurkin over here!"
Bardock back-handed the Saiyan pilot Gurkin to the ground after he threw a heavy punch that missed Bardock's torso, all while the sniper lobbed a sphere of ki at his instructor's head, which Bardock promptly caught and crushed with ease.
"Good aim Onio. Nice to see your sniper skills apply to lobbing ki blasts as well as common rifles, but you'll need to work on catching me off-guard."
Surprise was the key word that Bardock said that caused a tiny jolt at the base of his back. Gine had grabbed at his tail in hopes to bring her mate down, only for said tail to unfurl and throw her aside, leaving her flabbergasted.
"Clever trying to exploit your opponent's weaknesses, but your opponent might've counted on it and prepared," Bardock addressed Gine, who was standing back up.
"I forgot that you and the others toughened up your tails," Gine responded, a hint of defeat in her voice.
"Toteppo and Panbūkin will add that to endurance training later down the road," Bardock responded before turning to his other pupils. "We'll take a small break and get back to it in 5."
The four Saiyans sighed as they sat down. Gurkin was nursing the bruise on his cheek while Onio thought through strategies on how to sneak up on his commanding officer. Jinger lied down trying to catch her breath while Gine wandered over, curiosity getting the better of her.
"I gotta ask; Why's your hair blue?" The Saiyan scout asked.
"I dyed it some time ago," Jinger answered honestly. "If you don't mind, I'm not in the mood for small talk."
"Right," Gine nodded before sitting back down. The fatigue from her mate's combat drills started to wash over her, so took the time to breathe for her little break before it ultimately started up again. Before Bardock could announce their continuation, a loud, guttural roar emanated from the forest, spooking hundreds of avians from their treetop hiding places, followed by a low rumble that vibrated through the ground. "What was that?!"
"Gine, with me!" Bardock ordered before turning to the rest of the populace, who were just as stunned. "Tōma! Romei! Follow me! Everyone else, stay put and resume your drills!"
Many Saiyans didn't object, but a few groaned at being left out, specifically Panbukin and Selypa. The four flew off in the direction of the massive roar wondering what caused it, though they had a pretty good idea.
A large bipedal beast growled in a newly toppled clearing of the forest and was panting heavily. A twinge of pain shot through its entire being and let out another roar in an unknown struggle. It was not long before Bardock and his selected team arrived to see what looked like Cooler, but was far larger both in height and build, with four large horns jutting out from his cranium along with several new additions such as bio gems now on the chitin of his forelimbs, his forearms specifically developing large spikes hooking upward, and the shell around his shoulders splaying out and above his triceps.
"What in Yamoshi's name is that?!" Tōma shouted, almost in disbelief at what he was looking at.
"I've heard rumors that Cold's kin were capable of transformation, but this?!" Romei added, absolutely dumbfounded at what she was witnessing.
Before Bardock could say anything else, Cooler's newly expanded mass began to recede, the splayed horns on his head crawling back to his cranium and the gems on his limbs vanished. The frost demon was on all fours panting heavily as a fresh coat of sweat permeated his being. Bardock descended and the others followed him. Cooler took notice and tried to compose himself.
"I assume... you heard that?" Cooler sighed, his wit coming to the forefront. "Please forgive my... outburst. I will... practice this further north... past the mountains."
"Your kin can transform?" Bardock asked, now on edge as to what he had witnessed.
"Indeed," Cooler nodded. "Though what you just saw was a personal experiment of mine - a way to augment my strength when I need it. My family only bothered with regressive transformations to keep their power in check."
"What do you mean 'regressive?'" Romei asked, now concerned about what the demon had to say.
"Let me put it this way," Cooler began, his tone grim. "The state you see me in is my true form. My power barely crests over that of Freeza's third regressed form, one which I'm certain you are familiar with. Were I to take a similar form, both yours and Bardock's efforts put together could end me without breaking a sweat."
Every Saiyan present was stunned into silence. Bardock was now truly glad they fled to fight another day, while Romei came to the conclusion that the late King Vegeta, mighty as he was, had no hope in defeating Freeza if he decided to transform, even if he had the Oozaru transformation to work with. Gine and Tōma were left mortified that the little imp that they knew was a mere fraction of his true power, bottling up the rest to be released at will.
"I do apologize for informing you of this," Cooler hung his head. "However, one advantage - however small - is that Freeza's power is stagnant. The fool never saw a reason to train a day in his life due to his gifted strength. Poetic justice would it be were to have someone comparatively weak train to one day supersede his flat power and exploit his hubris."
"Well get in line," Bardock spat. "That imp may have exiled you to a proverbial landmine, but he decided to try and remove us from existence just because he pissed himself in his nightmares."
Cooler only smirked at this, enjoying Bardock's gusto. "You will have no arguments from me," He nodded. "If the stories of Chilled and Yamoshi can be repeated, I will gladly step aside."
"And what's stopping us from repeating these stories now?" Tōma threatened.
"Your current level of strength," Cooler answered. "Besides, unless you are a Super Saiyan like Yamoshi, then you will have a snowball's chance in Hell of ending me as I am now."
"Point taken."
"Alright," Bardock yelled. "We've wasted enough time here telling stories. Everyone back to the settlement to resume drills."
Tōma and Romei nodded, while Gine hesitated before following the two stronger warriors back, Bardock following close behind. Cooler was left in the clearing he had made mulling over the current situation. 'These Saiyans are not like those I've witnessed before Father passed on his tenure. Still aggressive, but far more calculating and driven. It may be due to Bardock's role in all of this, but I cannot say for certain. All in due time, I suppose.'
With that final thought finished, Cooler took to the air and flew farther north past the mountains and into the frozen taiga to practice his transformation in peace.
A/N: Okay, let me first start by saying sorry for the long gap between updates. Newton's first law of motion dictates that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by another force. I'm finally getting work again, and my drive to write seems to be proportional to that. What a time we live in, at least as of this update. Hope everyone's staying safe though.
Regarding the story, I had fun having Bardock curb-stomp an oaf for example purposes. As for the training regimen's schedule, I loosely based it on good ol' Roshi's ideas, because some foundations go beyond planetary confinement. Banter between Bardock's squad is also fun to write, however anecdotal it may be. Beans have been spilled on Freeza's transformations and Cooler is working on his badass 5th form. Hopefully this was a fun read. :)
