Chapter 1

I woke up with a jolt as the Attack Pod neared Suirpalam. It was a jarring awakening as the Stasis Gas that had hit me induced a sort of dreamless sleep. It was like I'd been biologically paused for the whole time I'd been in transit. One moment, I was going to sleep while my Attack Pod left Planet Vegeta, the next I was waking up as my Attack Pod entered the Suirpalam System. It was definitely a jarring contrast, though part of me thought that was at least partially the point. Warriors who were groggy when they landed weren't likely to succeed in their mission, after all. The Jarring transition seemed to at least help wake you up. At least enough that when combined with the yellowish Stimulant Gas that was now dissipating through the oxygen scrubbers, it woke you up.

"Nine months, huh? All right, let's see what sort of planet Suirpalam is." I mused.

Looking out at the Planet that was looking ever larger in the window of the Attack Pod revealed a ball of green, white, blue, and brown. One large continent, the majority of which was covered in Jungles, with a band of brown, grassy, savannahs running part-way around the Northern half, split off from the southern half by a range of snow-capped mountains. Large-scale settlements were scarce, with three main cities, one on the Savannah, one in the Mountains, and one on the coast near the Jungle. The rest of the world was largely ocean with a few scattered island chains here and there, only a handful of which were settled to any real extent. Thankfully, or not, the moon was on the other side of the planet. I probably wouldn't have to worry about going Oozaru and losing control for a while judging by the view. The view from the window could be deceiving, however. I'd like to know more about what I was looking at before I landed.

"Come on, there's gotta be some way to bring up a dossier on this computer." I frowned at the Small screen that was built into the Attack Pod.

Attack Pods were mostly packed with the equipment necessary to keep them going. It was primarily the engine, the life support, which included a limited amount of aerosolized healing liquid, stasis gas, and stimulant gas. Accordingly, the computer that was in here was fairly small and limited in power. It was only moderately more powerful than the personal databases that Arcosia Electronics manufactured for the Galactic Consumer Market. It had no access to the Galactic Net and barely had access to the Frieza Force's Company Database for the purposes of navigation and the like. However, if it had access to the Company Database, I should be able to pull up a dossier on Suipalam. Around fifteen minutes of pressing buttons and figuring out how to navigate the tech proved me right. There was a short bio about what I could expect attached to the Planetary Navigational Data.

Suirpalam had a population of around seven-hundred-million. It was a pre-industrial world that had been contacted by the inhabitants of Planet Nuts, who themselves were spacefaring, and were effectively being used by the Government of Planet Nuts as a sort of pseudo-colony. Apparently, they bought up produce that was farmed on Suirpalam at a much cheaper rate than they'd have to pay for it on Planet Nuts. They also sold Suirpalam various medicines for gemstones mined out of the mountains, including healing liquid. The Peoples of Suirpalam had no clue how badly they were getting ripped off. Privately, I thought that sounded a lot like what the Cold Family had been doing to the Saiyans and numerous other races for years, but kept it to myself while in the Pod.

Speaking of the Peoples of Suirpalam, there were three different varieties. The Savanna-Dwellers of the North were the smallest, standing at around one-and-a-half galactic standard meters tall, with black skin that was exposed on the face, feet, and hands. Their bodies were otherwise covered in a coat of light-brown fur. Like Saiyans, they had tails, though, unlike Saiyans, those tails didn't grant them any special abilities. They sort of reminded me of Anthropomorphic Vervet Monkeys. They were largely an agrarian people, and while fast, tended not to be very strong or very sturdy. The Average Power Level of a grown male adult was five, though the most athletic of them could get up to a Power Level of ten. Their main city was Dha'ji and housed seven-hundred-thousand people.

Then there were the Mountain Dwellers, who were just as tall as the Jungle Dwellers, though much more muscular. They stood on average just over one-point-seven Galactic standard meters in height and had pink skin that only really showed around the face. Otherwise, they were covered in a coat of white fur that was longer and thicker than either of the other two Peoples. Likewise, their tails were short, stubby, things barely worthy of being called such. They reminded me of Anthropomorphic Snow Monkeys. They were also the strongest and sturdiest of the three strains of People on Suirpalam, while also still being fast. The Average Power Level of an Adult Male Mountain-Dweller was fifteen, with the majority of the most athletic being between twenty and twenty-five. Their society was largely martial and they had a strong tradition of martial arts, with some Masters being known to have Power Levels in the thirties or higher. Their main city was Kha'mo and housed three-hundred-thousand people.

Lastly, there were the Jungle-Dwellers, standing at the same one-point-seven Galactic Standard Meters as the Snow-Dwellers, but far less built. They had gray skin that showed around the face and hands and were otherwise covered in medium-brown fur. Their tails were also longer, and unlike the Savanna-Dwellers, were prehensile. They reminded me of Anthropomorphic Spider Monkeys. The Jungle-Dwellers tended toward technicians and artists over farmers or soldiers, and it showed. They were the main Seafaring People of Suirpalam and the only people who colonized any of the outlying archipelago. They were fast, strong, and sturdy, though not as much as the Mountain Dwellers. The average adult Jungle-Dweller had a power level of ten, though the more Athletic could get to Twenty or Twenty-five. Their main city was called Bha'gro and housed nine-hundred-thousand people.

There was a note attached to the files, as well. This warned that there was Wildlife on Suirpalam that had power levels ranging from twenty-five all the way up to seventy-five, with rumors that there were wildlife specimens capable of reaching power levels of one hundred in the deep mountains. Those last ones were known only from the Mountain-Dwellers' legends and were known as the Srangkala or Tailless Ones. There wasn't much else elaborating on that, but I was getting Yeti vibes from what was there. At least, if Yeti were known to attack isolated parties of miners and travelers lost in the deep mountains and take the corpses back for food. Unfortunately, before I could delve any deeper, a red warning popped up on the Small computer screen.

"Warning: Atmospheric Entry in two minutes!" Chimed the Electronic Voice of the Pod.

Looking up, I saw that the planet was practically filling the window now. I frowned at that, though I didn't have a whole lot of time to do much else beyond grit my teeth and brace for impact. All too soon, the view of Suirpalam outside the window was obscured by flames as my Attack Pod hit atmosphere and I was jostled by the sudden turbulence as my Attack Pod now had to contend with air resistance. As my Attack Pod came in, I found myself screaming out over the mountains toward a patch of jungle in the southern foothills of the Mountains. I took a deep breath and braced myself, leaning back in my chair.

Then the Attack Pod plowed into the Jungle and I smashed my head on the ceiling of the Pod with enough force to knock me unconscious. . .

XXXX

The Temple of the Great Kha'zro on the Peak of Wine-Fruit Mountain was ordinarily a place of effort. Would-be warriors studied the Martial Arts in the Courtyard, while Apprentice Sages perused ancient wisdom in the Libraries, and Brother Monks made the Wines out of local fruits that kept the Temple Coffers from running out. However, when the great trail of flame appeared in the sky, all that effort turned to idleness as all looked up at the sky in wonder. Could this be a fallen star? Full of exotic ones with which to forge items of great power? Was it one of the Star-Farers' vessels, somehow blown off course by whatever strange and arcane mechanisms they harnessed to travel upon the stars as easily as one of the Southerners' Ships traveled upon the seas? Was it perhaps something else? An omen from the Great Kha'zro himself, perchance.

None could say for certain, and so they sought the wisdom of the Temple Elders and Masters. Unfortunately, scant few of them had any notion whatsoever of what the Omen meant. Elder D'nhar felt it was an omen of ill tidings and that it meant the Tailless Ones would emerge from the deep mountains to empty whole villages. He counseled that a scouting party should be sent to attempt to gain clarity on the omen. Master K'hastri felt it was a vessel of the Star-Farers whose strange propulsion system had failed it, and that the survivors might be in need of aid. Elder Z'ri felt it was a fallen star and that it should be claimed for the Temple before the Southerners found it. Master Tsi'kan felt it might be other Starfarers that had yet to visit their world as if there were one group, surely there might be others as well? A party should be sent to see if they came in peace.

It was then that Abbot Sri'kayal spoke up, the fur on his head having partly fallen out with age, his pink face wrinkled with the passage of years. All present knew that with the years also came both power and wisdom. When the Abbot spoke, the whole temple listened. They would be fools not to, after all.

"It seems as though we are all in agreement. No matter what the cause is, a party must be sent to investigate and to render aid if necessary. That is, then, what we shall do." Intoned Abbot Sri'kayal.

"But who shall we send?" Questioned Elder D'nhar.

"What of Brother Bi'raji? He is quite strong and could handle most threats." Offered Master Kha'stri.

"He is close to taking his mastery tests, is he not?" Queried Elder Z'ri.

"He is. By rights, he should have taken them by now and joined our ranks. He is certainly strong enough and his forms technically sound enough." Remarked Master Tsi'kan.

"Why hasn't he then?" Asked Abbot Sri'kayal.

"He feels he has not found an appropriate test, Abbot." Answered Master Tsi'kan.

"Then perhaps the Great Kha'zro has seen fit to send him this unknown to act as his test. Send him in and I shall ensure he knows how important this is." Nodded Abbot Sri'kayal.

"As always, your wisdom is impeccable. Who else do we send?" Questioned Elder Z'ri.

"What of Brother Sha'jan?" Queried Master Kha'stri.

"No good. Brother Sha'jan has already committed himself to study of the Destruction of Bhoojara in order to clean what secrets he may about how the King of the Tailless Ones was slain after the Great Kha'zro had died." Informed Elder D'nhar.

"That is a worthy goal. Let us not disturb him. Instead, let us send his closest companion, Brother Zhi'yangan." Mused Elder Z'ri.

"Is that wise? What if Brother Zhi'yangan dies?" Asked Master Tsi'kan.

"I do not believe Brother Sha'jan will lose himself to base thoughts of vengeance. He is too far along the Path of the Sage for that." Insisted Master Kha'stri.

"Agreed. Brother Zhi'yangan will accompany Brother Bi'raji to investigate this omen. Send them both to me and I shall inform them of their task." Confirmed Abbot Sri'kayal.

And so it was that two of the Brothers of the Temple of the Great Kha'zro on Wine-Fruit Mountain would be sent south, searching for whatever omen had crashed. One, larger than most, stronger, swifter, and sturdier than most in the Temple, even some of the Elders. The other, smaller and weaker, with average physical abilities, though wise and intelligent beyond his years. One tread the Path of the Warrior, marked out by his saffron robes, while the other tread the Path of the Sage, wearing the purple robes of that calling. Both were filled with determination to fulfill the Abbot's mission. Both carried small travel packs with three days of food and skins of water and wine for three days. Brother Bi'raji and Brother Zhi'yangan began their journey down the mountain as soon as they were provisioned. 

It would take them a day and a half to reach their destination. . .

XXXX

I awoke with a giant goose egg on the back of my head from the impact. The beeping of the Attack Pod's computer warned me that I had landed over and over again. With a groan, I hit the buttons to stop the repeating alert. A pop-up appeared asking if I wished to deploy Healing Liquid, but I cleared it away. Aside from the bump on my head, I was fine. No sense wasting a limited resource that I might need later, after all. As soon as I clicked no and the pop-up went away, a small hatch in the armrest of my seat popped open as a small arm extended, the end of which was gripping a scouter. It was one of the Older Saiyan Models that we'd reverse-engineered from the ones we'd captured from the Tuffles. It couldn't communicate over interstellar distances and was only rated to read Power Levels of up to eighteen-thousand. 

This was the sort of thing that my Grandad would have used during the Tuffle War. There was really no comparison to the Post-Arcosian Contact stuff in use today. I guess Infiltration Babies were given the worst equipment that was lying around in storage. No sense wasting the good stuff on a possible suicide mission, I supposed. I sighed and grabbed the Scouter, affixing it to my face and pressing the button on the side to test if it even still worked. The blinking lights showing me my position told me it did. A quick few button presses had the map of Suirpalam downloaded off of the Attack Pod's computer and onto my scouter. Then, I just had to try and scan myself, just to see if my brief period of being knocked out and then my recovery had given me a Zenkai. The blinking numbers in Galactic Standard Common told me otherwise, as they still read out as twenty.

"Fine. Guess this can't be too easy." I grunted before popping open the hatch.

"Good Luck Rugulo! Conquer for the PTO!" Beeped my Attack Pod.

With a grunt, I leaped out of the Attack Pod and found myself in a clearing in the middle of a section of jungle that had obviously been blasted bare of foliage by my landing Attack Pod. Looking down at my small, toddler-like, body, I was instantly aware that I had no armor, just a tiny baby jumpsuit. It clung to my skin and I realized the polymer was gonna get really hot real fast in the Jungle. Unfortunately, it was currently my only set of clothes. As I wondered on how smelly that would make me, my stomach Rumbled. I sighed at that. It made sense, the Stasis Gas may have put my biology on pause for nine months, but my stomach was still empty when the clock restarted. I could probably catch an animal to eat. If I could figure out how to skin it and dry the hide, that would also solve my clothing problem too. It would be crude, but it would serve till I found something better.

"All right, first order of business. Find an animal to butcher." I grunted.

Fortunately, I had a scouter for that. Unfortunately, as I pressed the button to try a scan of the area, I heard a growl from the edge of the clearing. As I turned to look, I spotted an animal that reminded me of a prehistoric animal on Earth, an Entelodont, or Hell Pig. Of course, this was larger than any Entelodont I'd heard of. Nine feet tall at the shoulder, with thick, bony plates on its torso, spines running down its back, and a tail that ended in a bony club. It was like if you crossed an Entelodont with an Ankylosaurus. As the Beast showed itself, the numbers flashing on my scouter resolved themselves into the number thirty. I could only groan at that, as it seemed that my first fight may well be my last. I would have to figure out how to fly and shoot Ki Blasts fast, or I wouldn't survive long enough to get to the Attack Pod for Healing Liquid Treatment, much less skin and eat this thing.

Then the Piglyosaurus, as I'd dubbed the Beast let out a Roar and charged down the side of the blasted crater, forcing me to throw myself out of the way of its tusks or be gored. I landed hard on the flame-blackened ground about twenty feet away and pushed myself to my feet. As the Piglyosaurus turned around, snorting in annoyance, I desperately tried to think of how to fire a Ki Beam. As if on instinct, I felt a heat in my core, near the base of my spine, dredging it up and willing it into the palm of my hand. A small, yellow, ball of Ki snapped into existence in the palm of my hand as the Piglyosaurus stamped the ground. I had no time to wonder how I'd done that, though, because it was charging me again. This time, as I dodged to the side of its goring charge, I tossed the Ki Ball at the Piglyosaurus. 

The Ki Ball slammed into the side of the thing with a loud boom and a flash of light. It made a plaintively whine and I saw I'd burned off part of one of its armored plates. I'd hurt it! Somehow, I'd hurt it! Unfortunately, the Piglyosaurus took that moment of joy on my part to whip its bony tail into my side. I backpedaled as fast as I could, of course, but even wounded, it was still stronger and faster than me. The body club slammed into my side and I felt two of my ribs break as it connected. I was sent skidding away, landing hard on the ground twenty feet away. If I hadn't been backpedaling at the time, that would have caved my chest in for sure. As it was, I was pretty badly wounded. As the Piglyosaurus let out a Roar of triumph and began to stomp the ground again in preparation for another goring charge, I dug deep for that warmth I'd felt earlier. I'd have to put everything I had left into my next shot, or that would be that. 

I felt the energy surge into the palms of my hands as I cupped them together. The Piglyosaurus stomped the ground against, snorting out a challenge through its snout. I pulled more energy into my hands, feeling the power there grow. The Piglyosaurus reared up on its hind legs and let out a Roar, still I poured power into my hands. It crashed to the ground with a final Roar as I poured even more power into my hands, and then it started its charge. As it came closer, I focused on the power in my hands, condensing as much power as I could between the palms of my hands. Just before the Piglyosaurus reached me, I let fly with my last-ditch Ki Blast. Instead of the beam I'd expected, however, the blast practically exploded out of my hands, picking me up and tossing me away from the Piglyosaurus to land battered and burned next to my Attack Pod. The Piglyosaurus by far got the worst of it, though. The explosion of Ki practically ripped through the armor plates on its chest, burning through its chest and killing it.

I couldn't celebrate, however, because it was all I could do to crawl back into my Attack Pod and deploy the Aerosolized Healing Liquid. As the green liquid misted down onto my body, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, two hours would have passed and I would be fully healed. As I got back out of my Attack Pod, I noticed that, by some miracle, no Predators or scavengers had robbed me of my kill, the Piglyosaurus Carcass was still sitting on the scorched ground where I'd left it. Looking at it, though, It was doubtful that much of the hide would be usable. The thing looked like it had been burned in half by my botched Ki Beam. I could probably salvage the tail for a club, or some of the smaller spikes along the back to make a dagger out of, but getting any kind of clothing out of this thing wasn't going to happen.

"At least the meat is pre-cooked." I sighed.

In the end, I managed to salvage one of the spikes as a sort of dagger. The tail club was a lost cause, it wasn't at all balanced for use by someone it wasn't attached to. The spikes, though, I managed to wrap the base of one in some long grass I twined around into ropelike strands, forming a makeshift cord to form a hilt. I then began to carve off burnt meat from my botched Ki Beam and popped the cooked chunks into my mouth. It tasted sort of like Alligator Tail if it wasn't cooked evenly. By the time I'd eaten my fill, however, I couldn't help but wonder about that final blast. What had gone wrong there? Was I just not skilled enough to keep a beam coherent like I'd tried? It had been my first attempt at a Ki Beam, after all. I idly recalled that it had taken Muten Roshi fifty years to figure out the Kamehameha, and Goku had needed to see it used first before he got it down. I probably needed to see something of the sort myself to successfully use a Ki Beam, though Ki Balls seemed within my grasp, at least.

"I guess instinct by itself only covers for so much." I mused before popping another chunk of unevenly cooked meat into my mouth.

That brought up another question, though. I clearly needed more skill, but how was I doing power-wise? I had to have gotten a Zenkai from getting my shit pushed in by the Piglyosaurus, right? If nothing else, that had to be the case, at least. Reaching up to my scouter, I hit the button and did a self-scan. As the flashing numbers rolled by, I couldn't help but wonder if Power Levels even meant anything. After all, on paper, I should have died to the Piglyosaurus if Power Levels were a strict thing. This was a hybrid world though, hybridization with DC, where Batman was a thing. A Human with no actual powers who shouldn't be able to beat half the folks he does. Maybe Power Levels were more of a general guideline on strength here instead of a hard and fast rule? Something to get you in the ballpark? I wasn't sure why, but that sounded right to me. As the numbers resolved themselves, the Scouter Beeped and knocked me out of my introspection. Thirty-five. I'd definitely gotten a Zenkai Boost, growing by one point seventy-five times my previous Power Level.

"Huh, that's a thought. Maybe I should keep getting my shit wrecked for as long as I have Healing Liquid in my Attack Pod? More Zenkais had to mean more power, I should think." I muttered.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of problems with that approach. Zenkais weren't super-consistent, after all. You could grow in leaps and bounds or you could barely grow at all. There wasn't really any real way to tell. Then there was the fact that eventually, you would outgrow the threats in your area. I doubted that I could count on the Jungle Critters to keep beating me forever, after all. Plus, that just wasn't a good training habit to get into. After all, I wouldn't always have Healing Liquid handy to fall back on. No, I think the best thing to do would be to only stay here another day or two, gather what supplies I could then head for a settlement. With that plan in mind, I figured I might as well try foraging while the daylight lasted.

As soon as I had eaten my fill, I headed off into the Jungle to do just that. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, I have a couple more of these chapters pre-written, so expect these to be what you'll get while I'm sick. At least to pad out some of the other stuff that will be slower to come out till I'm better.

Here we see Rugulo's first encounter with the Native wildlife, alongside the beginnings of what will likely be his first contact with the locals, and some background on Suirpalam and its situation. They're a planet of monkey folk in a more literal sense than how the Saiyans are. In Canon DC Comics, one of them, B'shi would eventually become a Green Lantern. Unfortunately, we don't know a whole lot about Suirpalam aside from that a lot of the planet is jungle. I've put my own spin on it here.

As for Power Levels, it will come up more in the future, but they're not nearly as important as the Arcosians in general, and the Cold Family in particular, want people to think. They impose the system on their underlings because it not only gives them a reason to feel superior but also acts as a lever of control. After all, if your Overlords have Power Levels in the Millions, what's the point of trying to rebel? You'll just be crushed if you try. In actuality, they're a gauge of General combat power, something to give you a ballpark estimate of how a fight should go on paper. They can break down fast when relying on them in actual combat scenarios.

At any rate, the next chapter will have Rugulo meeting the locals.

Stay tuned. . .