1,274Hello to all my followers! It's been a while since I published my last fic, and this one in particular has been driving me nuts enough to try and figure out how it could work. After working it all out from the beginning of Dragonball all the way to the end of Z in my head and watching the series again, I had to put it in writting. And thus, my first Dragonball Z fanfic.
This is based on MasakoX's What If series "What if Gine went with Goku to Earth?", but this story is a retcon of that, with some changes of my own on how I think the story would have went down had this previously unknown character still lived. How will the story of Dragonball go down, with Goku's mother, Gine, having somehow survived the destruction of the Saiyan race, and escaped to Earth with him?
Let's find out! And I hope you enjoy it.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a fan-based work of fiction. Dragonball Minus, Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, and Dragonball GT are all own by FUNimation, Toei Animation, and Akira Toriyama.
Please support the official release!
Also, read and review!
UPDATE: MAY 4, 2025 - For anyone re-reading this fic and if you notice any differences in wording, it is because I've been going over each chapter editing for spelling and grammar corrections but made no changes to the story.
PROLOGUE
The mess hall was extremely busy today. Gine chopped slab after slab of meat in the kitchen, trying to keep pace and not get too overheated in the cramped area. The main dining room was packed with Saiyan planetary purging crews. They were all either laughing, shouting, fighting, or drinking; creating a cacophony of sound that drowned out her own thoughts. The heat of so many sweaty bodies together in conjunction with the already thick hot air was making the mess hall more unbearable to be in by the minute.
Everyone had just returned from their off-world missions, on Frieza's orders for all Saiyans to return to planet Vegeta. No one knew why, and it was certainly the buzz in the air among everybody. Rumors ranging from one big job to be announced or a great reward for all they've done, but also complaints about how they've all been pulled from their conquests. There wasn't much that Saiyans hated more than being denied a great fight or losing one, but they were not going to question Frieza's orders. No one in their right mind did.
Gine was in the middle of slicing another giant beast leg when someone shoved past her, making her drop the cleaver. It lodged itself onto the cutting table less than a hair's breadth from one of her fingers. Angry, she wheeled around to see the head butcher rushing away and past other kitchen staff.
"Hey, watch it!" Gine called out to him.
The butcher turned to look back at her, he was much bigger and more mean-looking than her. "What's the matter, weakling? Did I push you too hard?" He said mockingly.
Now Gine was more than angry. She was used to this kind of slander against her strength as a Saiyan, but she wouldn't stand for being mistreated for following basic kitchen safety.
"You almost made me lose a finger!" She yelled, holding up the cleaver and the digit it nearly severed.
Almost immediately she regretted speaking up when he rushed back toward her, shoving several other workers aside and stopped just in front of her, shoving his face nearly into hers.
"Oh yeah? Well, what are you gonna do about it?" He threatened. The other kitchen staff stared at them awaiting her response.
Gine shrunk where she stood, willing herself not to show how humiliated she felt. She had experienced this kind of game far too often throughout her life. Being pushed around by other Saiyans for no other reason than being a particularly sorry excuse of a warrior. Being goaded into a fight that she would surely lose, be laughed at and forgotten about. Rinse and repeat.
She had it happen far too many times to count, but had never gotten fully numb to it either way. The butcher was no exception, as he reveled in causing her trouble for the fun of it. He had nothing better to do than run a kitchen, for like her he could never return to the front lines, but she suspected he wanted to feel better about himself if someone was weaker than him as subordinates. That still didn't make it feel any more bearable, but where else could she get work?
The butcher's lips curled smugly. "Hmph. Thought not. How pathetic!" He turned around and marched off as if nothing happened. The rest of the staff went back to work also pretending they didn't see anything, but she could see some of them snickering at her.
"Jerks." Gine cursed under her breath as she went back to chopping again. She briefly fantasized that the piece of meat she was slicing was the butcher's face as she drove the clever through it as hard as she could. That was never going to happen, but it was the only comforting thing she could think of.
"GINE!"
She stopped chopping and looked up; her foul mood immediately evaporated. Through the bombardment of sounds in the mess hall, Gine knew that voice anywhere. Her kind eyes, kinder than any Saiyan eyes should look, lit up in surprise and excitement when she saw who that voice belonged to.
"Bardock!" She called back.
Ecstatic for reprieve from working in this hellhole and seeing her partner, Gine set the clever down and ran her way through the crowd. Weaving her way around burly and rude customers towards the only particular Saiyan who's hair resembled a palm tree. A dashing crisscrossed scar ran across his cheek.
"Hey!" She greeted Bardock with a smile and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back too, which she thought was interesting since he was always somewhat distant even in their most intimate of moments. But she enjoyed it immensely, it's been months since she's seen him.
"I didn't think I'd see you for a while, even with this recall that's going on." Gine said as they held each other.
When they parted, she looked up at him, and Gine's expression fell into one of concern. Bardock just starred at her, and through her as if he didn't notice that she was talking to him. The look in his eyes made him seem haunted, and, if she could believe it, sad. Like he must've seen something unspeakably horrible.
"What's wrong?" She asked quietly, resting her hands on his shoulders reassuringly.
Bardock snapped out of his trance and looked at her.
"How's-." He began to say, but the sound of glass shattering made him stop and jerk toward the sound on reflex. The commotion in the mess hall was going up a couple notches. The patrons were getting rowdier, they started bumping into them and cut off Bardock from speaking further.
Gine groaned from the noisy fumbling of drunken crews and decided to take their reunion outside. "Come with me!" Gine said as she took Bardock by the hand and forced their way through the crowd of the mess hall, out the entrance and into the open.
On the streets, the capital city of planet Vegeta was bustling with activity. It had been a very long time since the entire Saiyan population was back on the planet at once. Thousands of people were out and about; walking by and conversing with old long-lost comrades or picking fights with strangers, but out here at least Gine and Bardock could hear each other. The intense heat of the red giant that was planet Vegeta's sun bore down on them in the late afternoon. Way up in the sky, faintly visible, was Frieza's command ship in orbit. While she and Bardock stood there outside, he looked up at Frieza's ship for a very long moment with a mixture of emotions she couldn't read on him.
"Bardock." She got his attention again, his behavior starting to worry her. "What's wrong?" She repeated.
He looked at her more focused this time. "Uh...Gine, how is Kakarot?"
"Kakarot?" Gine asked in surprise.
Saiyan fathers rarely if ever asked their mates about the well-being of their offspring after they were born, let alone the second-born of low-class warriors who were pathetically weak. As was the aforementioned child he was asking after. Much like herself, even as a firstborn she never knew who her father was.
Yet it seemed like something else was bothering Bardock.
"Uh, he's been doing great." Gine answered, confused by his question. "He's out of the incubator now and almost ready to be sent on his first infiltration mission if the recall is lifted."
Bardock remained silent for a moment. Then he asked, "Can I see him?"
"Huh?" Gine was taken aback. That was very unSaiyan-like, for a father wanting to see his child.
Usually once Saiyans mate they went their separate ways, but she and Bardock were something different. They were one of the few Saiyans to have actually formed an emotional bond through their physical coupling. But still, children were of no importance once they were conceived, especially weak ones, which were usually disowned. But not her, for Gine was far too empathic to be like any average Saiyan mother. Sure, it made her an outcast of their society to be so emotionally soft, but she loved her two boys regardless.
"Why do you want to see him?" She asked of him suspiciously, "Are you gonna tell me what's going on first?"
"Just let me see him, okay?!" He snapped at her, then collected himself and asked again more calmly. "I just... need to. There is something I have to tell you, but first, I need to see Kakarot. Can you take me to him?"
Now Gine was REALLY worried. She knew Bardock was as nonchalant as a Saiyan could be, no matter how bad things could get. She had seen him in battle, and even if it seemed like they were going to be killed, he kept on going as if it were business as usual. He only showed an ounce of concern if he ever saw her hurt, which was touching if she could make someone as steely as Bardock open up somehow. Seeing him now almost begging her to see his son, and admitting he had something to tell her, made her feel more than uneasy.
"O-Okay, come with me then." She complied. Whether what he had to say was good or not, it always made her happy to go see her son.
Hoping her coworkers and boss wouldn't mind her absence for a bit, Gine led Bardock through the streets of the capital city. The crowds here were very combative. She had to dodge in between street fights ranging between just two warriors to all out brawls that were breaking out. With so many Saiyans in one place, fights were bound to happen out here, but they had no time to join in on the fun.
After threading their way through a riot-in-progress, Gine and Bardock reached the main medical complex. All the doctors and emergency personnel were out dealing with the violence breaking out on the streets. The populace was getting restless.
Making their way through the maze of corridors to the nursery, she noticed Bardock looking around as if worried that others might see them. She didn't understand the paranoia, but hopefully he would explain once they saw their son.
"Here." Gine said as they reached the correct door. They could already hear the sound of their baby crying from inside.
Once the door opened, they saw Kakarot in his drained incubator, bawling his eyes out. He had quite a set of lungs, for his cry was almost ear-piercing which made Gine and Bardock wince. He even made the babies next to him start to cry too.
She felt bad for leaving him all alone in this place, even though the nursery had security systems and the robotic incubator that could attend to his every need. But hearing him crying from being alone without her always tore Gine's heart open.
"Hey, you." Gine said lovingly to Kakarot as she approached him. Immediately he started to calm down, his sobs turning to whimpers and finally thankful cooing when picked up by the loving hands of his mother. She too felt all her fear and worries disappear when she held the most precious thing to her safely in her embrace.
She was amazed Kakarot had been able to get a mission in the first place. He was born with a battle power of only two, a power so low that he would not have made it past the incubation process alone. Being injected with vaccines for every known disease in the galaxy AND having programs to kill all intelligent life on whatever planet they landed on implanted in their brains, it really took a toll on an infant. Raditz barely made it through his incubation after he was born, and he was far stronger than his younger brother.
Gine figured Kakarot must've inherited his curse of weakness from her. She never had the Saiyan fighting spirit and thus was never fit to be a warrior, let alone have the dignity of being called a Saiyan for being so weak physically and emotionally. She did what she could to support the Saiyans crews by working in meat processing, but she knew that everyone thought of her as a disgrace to their species. Even Bardock thought so out loud sometimes. But he saw something in her that went beyond what a scouter said, something that really felt like there was a place in this universe for her. She treasured that. And from it, they spawned two sons. But Bardock still felt that they had been cursed by her weakness, especially for his youngest.
Yet, here he was, wanting to see him. Maybe there was something special about her boy afterall.
"Well..." Gine turned towards Bardock with baby Kakarot in her arms. "Here he is." She said with joy in her voice as she held out Kakarot to him.
Bardock took hold of him and looked at his son intently. He was already a few months old and growing fast, and he looked so much like him. He had his untamable hair, sharp nose and cheekbones. But Kakarot had his mother's eyes, which she knew dismayed Bardock. Giving their son the face of a revoltingly gentle soul that resembled nothing like the thoroughbred warrior-to-be that Raditz was. And yet, there was something very special about Kakarot that Gine knew he had. And in that moment, it seemed like Bardock saw something in Kakarot too. For he was looking into Kakarot's curious eyes like it held the secrets of the universe within them. What was her partner thinking?
Kakarot whimpered from his father's rough touch. Bardock's expression changed to that of worry as he tried to calm his son down by holding him as gently as he could but was too late as the boy started crying again.
Bardock sighed in defeat and handed Kakarot back to Gine.
"You're not too good with kids." She chuckled as she her son back into her arms.
"Hn" was all Bardock said. He never took his gaze off of Kakarot, looking almost mesmerized.
"You know, I'm really glad you wanted to see him." Gine said. "Its not often a Saiyan father would ever want to see his children out of paternal feelings."
He looked back up at her, like he wasn't listening to her.
"Now," Gine said, her expression turning serious. "Are you finally going to tell me what's really going on with you?"
Bardock hesitated for a moment, looking around the nursery at the monitors and back out into the corridor.
"Right. Wait here." He said as he sprinted back out into the hallway. Gine thought he was just going to leave her standing there with Kakarot but he returned quickly.
"Come with me." He told her in a conspiratorial tone. She wasn't sure what he was up to but had the inclination that whatever it was, he was trying to keep discreet. But why?
Gine followed him back out into the corridor with Kakarot still craddled in her arms. They rounded a corner, and he motioned her into a doorway that led into a cramped broom closet filled with dirty cleaning equipment and reeking of disinfectant. It was a good place if one wanted privacy.
Bardock took one last look down both ways of the corridor and stepped inside, sealing the door behind him. Then he faced Gine, looking her in the eye as he spoke.
"Frieza is going to destroy our planet and kill us all."
Gine said nothing for a few seconds as she tried to digest his words. When she did, her eyes widened in utter astonishment.
"What?!" She nearly screamed, just as Bardock pressed a hand to her mouth to shush her.
"Keep your damn voice down!" He hissed, looking over his shoulder at the door as if worried someone was right outside, listening in. After a few moments he circled back to Gine, uncovering her mouth.
"What do you mean Frieza is going to destroy us all?!" She said more quietly but still in disbelief.
"Do you remember that injury I suffered on planet Kanassa?" Bardock asked.
Gine was confused by his tangent of a question. She did indeed remember that day, how she worried that he was almost killed by one inhabitant still alive on that planet. He came out unscathed, but since then he was always distracted and complaining of headaches and nightmares. She didn't know what to make of it then.
"Yeah, I remember that." She replied. "But what does that have to do with-"
"Something else happened to me on that day." Bardock cut her off, trying to explain.
"I know you may not believe me, but the last Kanassian that attacked me did something to me. Said it was some sort of curse he wished to inflict on the Saiyans as a whole for killing his people." He spat in disgust at that, then continued. "I'm not entirely sure myself, but I think he gave me some sort of psychic ability to see the future."
"See the... future?" Gine repeated, sounding even more disbelieving.
Bardock nodded. "That's what's been giving me all those headaches and nightmares recently. They're visions I keep seeing of planet Vegeta getting destroyed. And in those visions, I saw Frieza. He would launch some sort of attack that will make our planet explode. And he was laughing the whole time." Bardock said with anger laced in his voice.
"I don't know if it's real or not, but the visions kept on getting more and more clear, I'd see more details, and the pain of all of us dying felt so real. And finally seeing exactly how Frieza does it. I think... I think it's going to happen soon. As the moment of that event gets closer, I feel more and more like it's becoming true. It would make sense as to why he's recalled all Saiyans back to our planet and ordered no more launches from here. I think he intends to wipe us all out at once. And very soon."
Gine stood there in silence when he was finished, completely at a loss for words until she found her voice again.
"But...but why?" She asked incredulously, feeling hysteria rising within her. "Why would he do such a thing?! We've been his most loyal soldiers!"
Kakarot started crying, sensing the fear and anger radiating from his parents. Gine tried to sooth him by rocking him in her arms, but it did no good, she was too focused on Bardock and her gripping Kakarot too overprotectively tight.
"I don't know." Bardock answered. "I've been asking myself that same question this whole time. But I do know that I have a gut feeling that something terrible is about to happen, and these visions seem to be confirming that."
Gine couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't. This had to be a bad dream. What he said sounded crazy, and by all rights it was. If she heard this revelation from anyone else, she'd thought they were either lying or had lost their minds. But Bardock never lied to her. He was blunt and straightforward with her to a fault. As distant and cold as he could be, she trusted him with her life and the lives of her children.
But it just... it couldn't be true. Could it?
"I know it's hard to believe..." He said, as if he were reading her mind. "But I swear to you it's the truth."
Gine's legs felt weak, like they were about to give out under her.
"C-Can't we do anything about it? Warn others or something?" She tried to think of some solution. Something, anything.
Bardock looked genuinely surprised at her. "You believe me?"
"I do..." She said, sounding as afraid as she looked. "But I don't want to."
There was a flash of appreciation in his eyes before it was replaced with his steely gaze again.
"I tried to tell everyone I could." He said, in answer to her question. "But no one believes me. Not even the king. The king of all people!"
His tone then turned angry and defeated. "And I think it may not even help if anybody does believe me anyway. If Frieza suspects that we know he's going to attack us, and if we try to fight back or flee, he might just kill us all now to prevent that."
Gine was speechless, he was right. None of those ideas would work. Frieza was far too powerful to take on, even if they hurled the might of the entire population of the planet against him. And his forces could shoot down any evacuation they tried.
"So, it's true..." Her voice cracking.
In the span of a few minutes, her entire world came crashing down, knowing that they were all going to die very soon.
"This can't be happening..." She croaked, her voice trembling in fear and despair, tears starting to form. She unconsciously clutched Kakarot closer to her chest. He started crying, sensing what she felt.
Kakarot. The very idea that her little baby boy was going to die, along with her, made her feel physically ill in a way she couldn't even put into words. She wanted all this to just be a nightmare, trying desperately to think that this wasn't real, and she would wake up at any moment. Her heart thundered in her ears, despair threatening to overtake her...
Bardock grabbed her shoulders, snapping her out of her thoughts of death.
"Gine, stay calm, okay? We need to get Kakarot off this planet."
"Huh?" She asked, then remembered what he said. "H-How?"
"I have a plan." He answered, trying to keep his voice down but steady. "If we can steal an infiltration pod from the launch facility and send it off from the far side of the planet, away from Frieza, then we might just be able to sneak him away from here before anything happens."
Gine thought of this, then doubts started coming to her. "But... wouldn't they detect him? Frieza placed a no-launch order on all purging flights. Including infiltration babies."
Bardock glanced down at his son, who was looking up at him and his mother in fear, as if he knew they were discussing his very fate.
"I don't think they will. He has such a weak power level that I don't think it will register on their scouters unless they were actively searching for him."
Gine thought she heard Bardock chuckle to himself. As if the irony of the situation was making itself known to him. Here he was, a Saiyan father who wanted nothing to do with his weakling of a second-born son, being confronted with his species' own imminent extinction, now saw that his son's very weakness would save him from death, and was going to do everything he could to make it happen. She supposed it was funny in a morbid kind of way.
She sensed that Bardock had more to say, and he did.
"And...in a lot of the visions I had, I saw Kakarot too. I saw him all grown up."
Gine was taken aback. "Really?"
"Yes. I don't know why, but something tells me that his survival is critical. That it may have something to do with this..." Bardock said as he gazed down at his son. "...and if my visions are true, then Kakarot will survive. He must!"
A surge of hope filled Gine that wasn't there before.
"You sure that will work?" She asked, desperate.
Bardock looked up at her. He looked like he still wasn't one-hundred percent sure himself, but all things considered, they didn't have many options.
"It may be our only chance to save him." Bardock said to her with finality.
Gine looked down at baby Kakarot in her embrace. She almost wanted to start crying. They were going to send him off so soon, to escape certain death out into the unknown, and it frightened her. She'll never get to see him again, or worse if they detect his pod, they will kill him.
They will kill him. Those words rang in her mind. She couldn't stomach that, the precious life in her arms taken from this world not even half a year old. She wanted to scream.
But, still, she trusted Bardock. Hell, she even loved him. And she trusted him to do what he knew was right. It may be risky, but if she wanted her baby to have any chance at life, and if he could see Kakarot in the future as he claimed...
"Okay." She said quietly.
"Good." Bardock gave her a quick embrace. Through the overwhelming despair, she was surprised by his show of affection. He seemed to have changed dramatically since the last time she saw him. And she cherished it.
"Alright, we have no time to lose. Meet me tonight at the old ruins out in the wastelands. Sneak Kakarot out of here and I'll have an attack ball there by then."
He started for the door. Then Gine realized something.
"What about Raditz? Or us?" She asked him.
Bardock stopped and turned to her. He thought for a long moment as if he was unsure.
"Let's focus on saving Kakarot first, then we'll see what we can do." He turned and left without saying another word.
Gine just stood there was for a long time, the weight of the situation sinking in. From just getting from work to here, her life had changed forever. Or at least what little time would be left of it.
Kakarot started to flail in her arms, getting her attention. Then, she remembered what she had to do.
"It's okay, sweetie." She soothed him, then set to the task of trying to smuggle her own son out the building. No one may know what they were up to, but she couldn't let anyone see her take her son home without authorization. He was never meant to be sent home, just sent on his mission. So, she had to be careful.
She ran back to the nursey to grab a blanket, wrapping Kakarot up in a bundle. That done, she ran out of the medical complex. Once outside, she weaved her way through the still combative crowds to her home, not far from work, but it felt much further away this time. She clutched Kakarot close to her chest to keep his face out of sight and muffle any sounds from him. Gine momentarily panicked thinking she would arouse the suspicion of bystanders when he started crying. But thankfully, nobody paid her any mind. Everyone was too busy rioting, drowning out the sounds of his crying.
Gine finally reached her home. A small dwelling she shared with some coworkers who were still on duty. She set Kakarot down and went through all of her belongings and food storages to get all the supplies she would need to cross the wasteland to where they had to meet.
She pushed whatever lingering thoughts she had about her life and that of Bardock and Raditz. Right now, she had to stay calm and focus on the family in front of her she could save.
Later that night, Gine was flying just a few feet off the ground at high speed towards the other side of the world. She was slightly panicking since she took so long to get out of the capitol. But she had to be stealthy if Frieza had any planet-side patrols to keep the Saiyans from wondering off.
It had been a long flight out into the wastelands. Even while flying as fast as she could, Vegeta was a large planet with a lot of ground to cover. She brought Kakarot in a sling to carry him while flying with whatever food or water they would need to cross this inhospitable stretch of the globe.
In the distance, she spotted the sprawling ruins of the ancient villages that Saiyans used to inhabit so long ago. Mud huts constructed by the first Saiyans who survived their journey from the stars, to survive the war against the Tuffles. Now, the dwellings laid long forgotten.
There! She spotted a lone spherical attack ball in the village center where Bardock was waiting for her.
She landed in front of him, out of breath from the exertion of energy and the adrenaline of knowing these may be her homeworld's last moments.
"You're late." Bardock said urgently with a twinge of annoyance.
"I know." Gine said between gulps of breath. "Wasn't sure if I'd stumble across someone looking for us...Plus it's been a while since I had to fly that fast."
"Right. Forgot you were still too weak to get anywhere in a hurry." He said as if matter-of-factly.
She was slightly hurt by his words. Even after all their bonding he was still as prejudiced against her weakness as everyone else. But she pushed that aside, there were bigger things happening now.
"Well, is it ready for him?" She gestured towards the pod.
"Almost." Said Bardock, walking beside Gine towards the open hatch on the front, a holographic screen hovered over the spacecraft's main seat.
"It was already programmed with a planet for Kakarot." He said, then typed in a few more commands, then the screen showed readouts and coordinates blurring.
"I didn't want to send him there in case Frieza's men went searching for him, if they go by this particular pod leaving to its preprogrammed coordinates." He tapped on the screen again, a map of certain star systems for infiltration being displayed.
"So, I've been searching for other parts of the galaxy to send him to. Somewhere Frieza's forces haven't conquered yet or have no interest in." He tapped the screen again, more sectors popping up but none of them were to Bardock's liking.
Gine looked at the star maps. They all formed grids within the four quadrants of the spiral galaxy, most of them highlighted in the lower half that marked the extent of the Planet Trade Organization. The fringes of the highlighted areas and blank ones marked where Frieza's forces were focusing on in their conquest or have already taken. All of them were frontline worlds, and Kakarot would be found there immediately so those were out of the equation. They had to search farther and farther, but there weren't that many to count on even as they zoomed out.
Even the most isolated systems at very edge of the galaxy or near the core were no good. They have been extensively mapped and were under consideration by Frieza to see if they are worth taking in order to consolidate his empire's borders. They will certainly detect Kakarot there too and kill him if Frieza was that intent on wiping out all of the Saiyans.
Gine then noticed an area on the edge of the map and pointed.
"Have you tried the Northern Quadrant?" Gine suggested.
"That's uncharted territory." Bardock replied.
"Yeah, but that's a lot of empty space to look for a single Saiyan baby." She said, trying to sell her point.
That was true, but there was no telling what was out there. The other side of the galaxy was not very well explored, with frontier planets full of surprises that a Saiyan would not want to find themselves in. From dead rocks to poisonous jungle planets that could devour anything, or maybe even a whole other empire hiding in the unknown region that could challenge Frieza. But, given the circumstances, it may be the best place to send Kakarot if they never want him to be found.
"Alright." Bardock said. He zoomed in on a random corner of the fringe of known systems bordering the dark regions that marked unknown space and scrolled farther from there.
"No...no...no..." Gine sorted them out, looking for a suitable-
"That one!" She pointed to one planet in particular. Bardock clicked on it, and a short file opened up.
Based on what little intel was available, the planet was a small terrestrial world that orbited a yellow star. It literally bordered the edge of scanned systems for there was nothing north of it added on the map. As far as they could tell it had no vast quantities of resources to exploit or any advanced industrial capacity to aid Frieza's empire, so there should be no need for him to want to acquire it. If anything, the planet was nothing of interest or value at all, thus, a great place to hide.
Most of the planet's surface was covered in oceans of salt water, and its landmasses were a mixture of deserts, rainforests, jungles, mountains, and ice caps. It had very moderate temperatures so it should be rather pleasant. It had a substantial and diverse ecosystem of primitive lifeforms, plenty to feed Kakarot. Among a multitude of sentient species that evolved on it, only one seemed to be the dominant and somewhat intelligent kind there. A bipedal anthropomorphic type that seemed very biologically similar to Saiyans. They called themselves 'humans'. And based on data that was collected almost two centuries prior, they had not yet developed space travel nor energy-based weaponry. They were also extremely weak, save for a few individuals that barely made it to a hundred or more in terms of battle power. The planet even had a moon, which would make purging it much easier for Kakarot. Plus, it was a very pretty shade of blue.
"It's perfect." Gine said after reading aloud all the info on it. Even Bardock had to admit, it was a rather pathetic backwater world in an unknown corner of the galaxy. Frieza would have no interest in tearing that region apart just to find him.
"Alright then, to there it is." Bardock said as he selected the coordinates for that planet into the pod's navigation computer. Then selected a landing site that would be far from any populated areas of these 'humans'.
"All set now." Bardock said as he stood up.
"Where's Raditz?" Gine asked, her maternal instincts kicking in when she decided to bring up that her eldest child was still missing.
"I'm not sure." Bardock answered. "I sent a message to him letting him know about Kakarot's departure, but couldn't risk telling him everything if Frieza was listening in. But I haven't seen or heard from him in a while anyways. Last I heard he was placed on Prince Vegeta's crew. He may be with him or somewhere else on the planet."
A cold pit opened in Gine's stomach. He couldn't find their eldest son while just about to launch their youngest?!
"Should we at least go look for him?!" Panic and anger rising in her voice.
"We don't have time for that! Frieza could blow this planet up any minute now, and if we try to look for him, we'll all die for sure. Let's at least save Kakarot first while we can!"
Gine wanted to protest but knew Bardock was right, no matter how powerful her motherly love for her other child was. The planet was far too big to search for Raditz in such a short time, and if they die looking then they would have wasted a chance to save at least one of their children. For all they know, if Frieza was truly intent on killing all Saiyans, Raditz may be dead already.
It felt like Gine's heart might stop at that notion. But she couldn't ignore the reality that was happening right now. No matter how horrible this was.
No, as wrong as this was, they had no choice.
Slowly, sighing in crushing defeat, Gine held up Kakarot, taking a good long look at him.
"Well..." She started to say but could barely finish as her hands started shaking with Kakarot in them.
"...I guess this is goodbye, Kakarot." Her voice broke, choking on tears that threatened to fall. This may be the last time she would see any of her children alive.
Kakarot could sense his mother's sadness and started to cry as well.
"Gine, hurry up!" Bardock said impatiently, "We can't wait any longer."
Gine looked up at Bardock and back at her son. He was right, this had to be done. She collected herself and placed Kakarot inside the pod. Now he was really distressed, as if sensing he was about to be sent away from his parents forever into the darkness of space.
Seeing her son in that pod by himself, him looking so scared and her knowing what was about to happen, tore Gine from within. This wasn't right. This wasn't fair!
"Calm down, Kakarot, you are going to be just fine." Bardock tried to reassure his son, but his words had no effect and only made his son cry harder.
Bardock groaned in disgust but then turned to Gine.
"Alright, let's close the pod."
Gine heard what he said and looked over to the button on the command console that would seal the pod shut and start the launch procedure. She tried to summon the will power to press it, but she just couldn't do it.
"Are you sure we all can't just run away together?" Gine asked aloud, hoping that Bardock may have overlooked some detail to not make her do this. She trusted him no matter what, even if he claimed to have precognition. But she still hoped against hope that he could be wrong somehow.
"It's too risky." Bardock said. "They would definitely detect my power on their scouters and shoot us down for sure. He'll have to go alone."
Gine looked back down at Kakarot. His cries were now cries of terror. Even though he was just an infant, he knew what was going to happen. His parents were going to die, and he was going to be all alone forever. He was so frightened. Gine almost broke down in tears just standing there, seeing how scared her baby boy was. And she thought of the fate that would await him, something she and Bardock hadn't considered yet.
"Close the pod door!" Bardock commanded, but she wasn't listening.
Saiyan babies who were sent on infiltration missions were usually retrieved someday to be reconditioned, and to continue fighting for Frieza. She remembered when Raditz was sent on his first mission as a baby, he came back after a few years purging the planet he was sent to. She barely recognized him, and he didn't recognize her at all since he had been by himself on a killing spree for so long. He almost tried to kill her and anyone that came near him since he was so feral and uncontrollable; but the doctors were able to sedate him and reprogram his mind to fit back into Saiyan society. He regained his sanity and became a proper warrior instead of some kill-crazy lunatic. The torment he must have gone through broke her heart, but she was so proud of him that he made it through it all and came out stronger.
But now, with Frieza out to kill all Saiyans, he might try to track Kakarot down. Even if he never did find him, Kakarot would have no one to report back to. Nor will he have someone to pick him up.
Kakarot would be stranded on that frontier planet once he's destroyed all native life on it. He won't have either of his parents or his brother to look after him, or even any humans to keep as pets. It's possible that he may adapt to that planet's culture and become one of them, but she doubted that would happen, for the time he spent in his incubator made sure that he would fulfill his programming.
He would spend the rest of his life all alone on a ruined and forgotten planet, with only whatever wildlife he spared for food to keep him alive. He would know nothing but killing and surviving. No different than a wild animal.
No one deserved that fate, least of all her own child.
"I said close it, dammit!" Bardock yelled angrily. When Gine didn't react, he reached over to press the button himself...
But then Gine grabbed Bardock's hand before he could push the launch command.
"Let me go with him." She demanded.
Bardock paused for a moment, his anger at her stopping him was replaced with shock at what she said.
"What?!" He asked incredulously.
"I said let me go with him!" Gine looked at Bardock with determination.
"Gine, are you crazy?! I told you that we can't go! We don't have any more time to argue!" Bardock nearly shouted back at her.
"Yes we do!" She said, putting herself between Bardock and the pod. "He'll die out there if we send him away by himself! And if Kakarot makes it to that planet and Frieza doesn't go after him, he'll be all alone for the rest of his days. If I go with him, I could at least be around to look after him."
"Didn't you hear me?!" Bardock answered back hotly, "Frieza's men will detect you two if you launch together. It won't do him any good!"
"Maybe it will!" Gine shouted, this took Bardock aback.
"Kakarot is extremely weak. You know this. I'm weak too. You said that yourself!" She said while pointing an accusatory finger at him. The inspiration came to her as she explained her plan to Bardock. She was too caught up on going with Kakarot to know how, but it made sense as she spoke.
"So, with both him and I in the same pod, don't you think it wouldn't make much of a difference if they detect two weak Saiyans instead of just one?"
Bardock tried to speak but stopped. Like he seemed to understand, then spoke up.
"It won't work. They'll see you for sure and blow you out of the sky. It's too big of a chance."
"I know." Gine had to admit, that was true it was a very big chance. They didn't have a scouter to see what her power level was now, Bardock left his behind since he didn't want anyone to listen in on what they were doing. But last time she checked it may have been one-hundred-and-forty, before Kakarot was born. It was pathetic for a full-grown adult Saiyan, but still detectable on any scouter. And if she got a power boost from childbirth, which could have put her up to five hundred, they'll see them for sure.
"But we are already taking a chance as it is to save Kakarot. At least this way, two of us could be saved. And he will never have to spend the rest of his life all by himself on some godforsaken rock in the middle of nowhere."
Gine held Bardock's hand gently as she looked pleadingly into his hardened eyes. "I would be there for him. To tell him about us, about you, Raditz, our race, Frieza, everything."
She looked back at Kakarot still wailing in the pod, then back to Bardock, her eyes glistening with tears. "I will get to be his mother! He deserves that."
Bardock was silent for what felt like an eternity to Gine. She knew that he was basically deciding her fate along with their son, and that didn't sit well with her. Even if she was a sorry excuse of a Saiyan, she should at least be able to have a say in how she lived or died if this was indeed going to be their last day on their world.
And despite the risk, Gine knew deep down that she was right. Her baby deserved a chance for a better life far away from Frieza, and she could give him that by going where he went, to give him guidence and protect, like any real mother would...
"Then what of the inhabitants of this planet?" Bardock asked. "You intent to kill them all off with him or make them your pets? Should be weak enough even for you."
Gine almost laughed, taking it as a good sign. Even near the end of the world he was still taking any potshot he could at her lack of strength, but she felt that Bardock was almost convinced.
"Maybe, but at least he won't have to be so alone." She just said. Gine honestly had no intentions to kill those poor creatures unless it was for her survival and for Kakarot's. But she wouldn't say that out loud, just enough to make Bardock happy.
He looked at her, then at Kakarot for a long, long moment.
Then, finally, Bardock sighed as he relented.
"Alright."
Gine leapt at him before he knew it, wrapping her arms around him and nearly choking him. Hot tears of joy and sadness fell down her cheeks.
"Thank you." She said softly. Bardock held her by the waist and brought her back down.
"But you better get going now. We've wasted enough time as it is."
Gine nodded in agreement and collected herself. She feared that if she hesitated now, she won't be able to do what she intended to do.
In a swift motion, she picked up Kakarot into her arms and took a seat inside the pod instead. Kakarot suddenly calmed down, so happy to be in his mother's embrace.
As she strapped herself in, Bardock spoke up. "I will go face Frieza right after you launch, hopefully I can distract him enough to allow you two to escape. Who knows, I may even get lucky and land a hit on him. Besides, we Saiyans will not go quietly." He said with an ounce of pride.
Gine looked at him with awe, how a low-class warrior like him would go on to challenge the galactic tyrant himself. Even in the face of certain death, Bardock showed no fear. Not even King Vegeta himself showed that kind of courage against incredible odds.
She remembered then why she fell for Bardock.
"If you do..." Gine said, "...You know where to find us. And find Raditz if you can." Sadness returning to her at the mention of her eldest. Oh she dearly wished she could have seen him one last time. If he was still alive...
"I will." Bardock promised.
So many impossible promises were being made already, Gine thought morbidly. But no matter what, in death or on a far-flung world, they will all be reunited as a family again. Someday.
"Goodbye, Bardock" Gine said, her voice breaking again.
He nodded solemnly, "Goodbye, Gine." He then looked down at Kakarot, now looking up at him calmly. "And goodbye to you too, my son."
Bardock reached over and pressed the launch button. The pod came to life and the door closed. It locked with a hiss as she and Kakarot were sealed away from the outside world.
Gine pressed a hand against the glass window. She may never see Bardock again, so she took her last chance at what she had to say.
"I love you." She said, tears falling down her face.
He heard her through the glass, and Bardock simply smiled back at her.
"I know."
He didn't explicitly say he loved her back, but it was as close to it as a Saiyan could, and she'll take it.
A light began beeping on the pod's control panel, signaling it was ready for take off. She felt the engines come on as the pod lifted slowly off the ground, then stopped, floating in the air momentarily. She never broke eye contact with Bardock as he watched.
Then, without much warning to brace herself, the ground receded away with blinding speed. The sudden acceleration made Gine's vision tunnel for a moment. She never got a last glimpse of Bardock before he became too distant to see.
Her vision cleared when the pod's artificial gravity kicked in, nulling the acceleration on her body. Kakarot cried again, from the unpleasant takeoff. Already they were in space. Planet Vegeta was a brilliant magenta sphere in front of her through the window. It was receding fast, far enough to see it in its entirety after a minute into the flight.
Gine spotted Frieza's ship on the other side of the planet, hovering in place in high orbit. She wondered if they spotted them.
Then, she saw specks appearing around the ship, and they were moving. Her heart suddenly became a lead weight. They had been spotted. She had doomed herself and her son...
They didn't move after them though, they just stayed near Frieza's ship. Weren't they going to at least send attack squads or fire lasers at them?
Planet Vegeta got smaller and smaller as they get farther and farther. But nothing happened. They were still in one piece. Did they make it? Did she dare hope that this was all a false alarm?
After a while, planet Vegeta became far enough away that it was a pinprick of light outshone but it's parent star and indiscernible from the other stars that made up the infinite sea of outer space.
A high-pitched beep and rushing hiss of gas indicated that the pod's stasis mode was activated. Kakarot's crying ceased when he was induced into sleep for the long journey to their destination. Gine felt her mind slipping, trying to stay awake to keep an eye on-
Then, she saw a bright flash where planet Vegeta ought to be, as if it had become their star system's second sun.
Something within her felt torn away, sensing Bardock's life force through their bond disappear...
He had failed, and he, along with their entire race, and her home, was gone...
Those were Gine's last coherent thoughts before she let herself fall into sweet oblivion...
A/N: Like with any alternate history story, a minor change may seem trivial now, but the consequences will become far more drastic as time goes on; and things have now been set in motion with Gine's survival.
I used Dragonball Minus as the starting point for the story as I wanted it to be different than MasakoX's start where Gine goes by accident in his version using the Bardock: Father of Goku special. That and since DB Minus is confirmed to be canon, it would make more sense to change the story here so this new timeline will be connected to the actual Dragonball universe.
I already have all the details of how this scenario would play out in its entirety, just that I still need to flesh out dialogue and scenes while trying to balance life responsibilities. So I hope you understand if this takes awhile.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this intro and be sure to give it a good and honest review!