BARDOCK

I stayed where I was after they finished talking.

Didn’t feel like interrupting. I didn't feel like pretending I understood everything either. The King—Escarot—and that girl of his, which I was pretty sure would end up being his mate when they grew up, were talking about things.

In two months.

War was coming.

I hadn’t paid too much attention to the entire situation, but I had enough context to know what was happening.

Besides, I’d seen it before. Different planet. Different enemy.

Same shit.

I leaned against the outer wall of the structure, arms crossed, watching the young prince; Broly a few meters away. The kid was still playing with that same piece of metal like nothing had changed.

Didn’t matter that his power could flatten half the city if it spiked the wrong way. A fucking scary fact, one it was easy to ignore because he was still a baby.

I exhaled slowly. “…Two months,” I muttered.

That wasn’t a lot of time. Not when the threat was someone like Frieza. The new King sure was making a point for change, aiming for some many royals in such a short period of time.

I shifted my weight slightly, boots scraping against the ground.

We could lose.

That was the truth of it.

Didn’t matter how strong Escarot had gotten. Didn’t matter how much the others trained. There was always a chance—no, more than a chance—that this ended with everything burning, I had faith in the strength of our people, but only an idiot would pretend otherwise.

And I wasn’t an idiot. Not entirely at least.

I rubbed the back of my neck, staring out toward the horizon.

If that happened…

What then?

What was left?

Nothing.

That’s how it usually went.

You lose, you die, your planet gets vaporized. End of story.

But…

It didn’t have to be. 

“…No,” I said under my breath.

There was a way.

Not to win.

But to survive. We had to have a plan B, in the push came to shove, there had to be a way to ensure we could live to fight another day.

I pushed off the wall and started walking, slow, steady steps, letting the idea form properly in my head.

We only truly died when nothing remained.

And our future was on the cubs.

They weren’t strong yet, well, with the sole exception of Prince Broly. That said, all they needed was time.

Time to grow.

Time to become something.

Time to avenge us if we failed. 

“…We send them away.”

The words felt strange coming out of my mouth. They left a bitter taste in my mouth, like acid…

Saiyans didn’t run.

We didn’t hide.

We fought.

But as much as this felt like a cowards move, this wasn’t about pride.

This was about survival. To ensure the future generations could do what we couldn’t.

All we had to do was sent our cubs to low-value planets. Remote ones. Places no one cared about to conquer or sell. No strategic importance, no resources worth taking.

Not all in one place. That would be stupid.

Different worlds.

Different directions.

If even a few made it—

That would be enough.

I let out a slow breath.

“…Yeah,” I muttered. “That could work.”

It wasn’t a good plan, it wasn’t clean. But hey was something, and something was better than nothing.

Raditz…

He could fight.

Not the best, not yet, but he could hold his own. With time, he’d get there. It was weird to think he was almost as old as the King.

As for my youngest cub, Kakarot…

I frowned.

He was weaker than I had ever expected, yet he had a strong spirit, even inside his pod he would never stop crying, perhaps in time that stubborn nature would help him overcome his shortcomings.

That said, as he was right now there was no way he survives anything on his own. Most planets, even the weaker ones would prove to be dangerously to him.

Which meant—

“…I brought some food for you,” Gine said, pausing for a moment to look at me, really look at me. “Your tail is stiff, that only means you are worried about something, what’s going on?”

I snorted softly.

“Didn’t know that was a thing.”

Did my tail really stiffened when I was worried?

“It is with you.”

I finally turned.

Gine stood there, arms loosely at her sides, watching me with that same look she always had when she knew something was off.

“You heard?” I asked.

“Some of it,” she replied. “Saiyans love gossip as much as they love fighting, even though they will never admit it out loud, all I know is something big is coming and it’s bad.”

I nodded once.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

I hesitated. Not because I didn’t want to tell her, just… figuring out how.

“War,” I said simply.

Her expression didn’t change much.

“…That bad?”

“Yeah.”

“And you think we might lose,” she said.

I looked at her. “…I think it’s possible.”

She held my gaze for a second. Then nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ve been thinking,” I said.

“That’s dangerous,” she replied lightly.

I snorted. “Yeah, yeah.” Then I got serious again. “If things go bad… really bad, we need a backup.”

She stayed quiet, letting me talk.

“The cubs,” I said. “We send them off-world.”

That made her pause.

Gine was a pacifist, in all aspects but one, our cubs.

“Send them… away?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” I said. “Different planets. Remote ones. Places no one cares about.”

I crossed my arms again. “They won’t be strong enough to fight. But they don’t need to be. They just need to survive.”

I kept going.

“If the planet falls… if we lose… they live. They grow. The race doesn’t end here.”

I finally looked back at her.

“That’s the idea.”

She stared at me.

Processing.

Then her eyes softened slightly.

“…That’s a great idea,”

“Yeah.”

Another pause.

“And where do we go?” she asked.

I didn’t answer immediately.

Because this was the part that mattered.

“…We don’t,” I said.

Her brows knit slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“I stay,” I replied. “Fight. Hold the line. Whatever happens, happens.”

Her expression tightened.

“And me?”

I met her gaze.

“You take Kakarot.”

That landed.

Hard.

She shook her head immediately.

“No.”

“Gine—”

“No,” she repeated, firmer this time. “I’m not leaving you.”

I exhaled slowly.

“I’m not asking you to.”

“Yes you are,” she shot back. “You’re telling me to run while you stay here and—what? Die?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is?”

I stepped closer.

“The point is he can’t survive this,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “Raditz can fight. He can manage. Kakarot can’t.”

She clenched her fists slightly.

“He’s our son,” she said.

“I know.”

“Then we protect him together.”

“If we stay together, we might all die,” I replied.

That shut her up. I didn’t like saying it. Didn’t like thinking it, but it was the truth.

I lowered my voice slightly. “I’d rather one of us lives with them… than all of us die here.”

Her eyes dropped for a moment. “…You’re asking me to leave you behind.”

“I’m asking you to protect them.”

The words sat there, heavier than anything else I had said.

She didn’t answer right away. Just stood there, staring at the ground, jaw tight like she was trying to force the idea out of her head.

“…I hate this,” she muttered.

“Yeah,” I said. “Me too.”

She looked back up at me, something sharp behind her eyes now.

“I don’t like this,” she admitted.

I let out a quiet breath. “Yeah.”

Her arms crossed over her chest, holding herself together more than anything. “Raditz…” she started.

“He goes with you,” I said. No hesitation.

“He can fight,” I added. “He will protect you and Kakarot, and for me, I will stay.”

“No,” she snapped, taking a step closer. “I’m not leaving you here to fight alone.”

“You can’t help me, Gine,” I replied. “Not against this, hell, I don’t think I can help our King against them, but I have to try.”

“So that’s it?” she said. “You just decide for all of us?”

“I’m not deciding,” I replied. “I’m preparing.”

“For what? Your death?” she shot back.

“For their survival,” I said, voice steady.

That shut her up. For all of two seconds, then she shook her head again, more frustrated than anything.

“They’re your sons too,” she said. “I’m your mate, we are not supposed to be apart.”

“I know.”

“Then don’t act like you’re okay with this.”

“I’m fucking not,” I replied, punching a wall so hard it shattered.

I took a step closer, lowering my voice.

“I’m not okay with any of this,” I said. “But I’d rather you three live somewhere out there… than all of us die here.”

Her eyes dropped again.

“…You really think it’ll be that bad,” she murmured.

“I think our King has the potential to see this through,” I answered. “But potential alone might not be enough to overcome this shitshow.”

That was the truth.

She let out a slow breath, shoulders dropping slightly.

“And you?” she asked quietly.

I shrugged. “Same as always.”

“…I still hate this plan,” she murmured.

“Good,” I said, grinning. “Means it’s not a bad one.”

She let out a weak breath that might’ve been a laugh. “…You’re impossible.”

“Yeah, but you love me.”

We stayed like that for a moment.

Because if things really went the way I thought they might— This might be one of the last moments like this we’d get.