What if Son Goku left with Raditz

Chapter 11 General Son’s Namek encounter



The next day, in Frieza’s chamber, Goku was waiting for an assignment. Frieza called him the first thing in the morning and said, “It is time for your official promotion.”



So now he stood in the middle of the room with his head low as Vegeta told him to do and waiting patiently for the tyrant to speak.



Frieza looked Kakarotto with interest. The young man had grown a lot over the last year. His body was more fit and brawny, his expression more confident. Replacing the innocent and clueless face was one more composed, determined and with more depth. It was difficult to see through him now. Vegeta and Sagi taught him well. “Well, well. You have made remarkable progress since you joined us, Kakarotto. I have to say I am surprisingly pleased.” He paused then started again. “At this rate your power level is going to surpass mine soon. And I like challenges. Hahahaha.” Frieza laughed insincerely. Goku carefully kept his head low, long spikes hiding his expression.



“Anyway. It is only fair for you to get your due promotion. The rule of the Death beat states that anybody who becomes the champion will be the General of the ship. Although you did not kill Jeice in the end I’ll forgive you.” Frieza waved his hand with a generous gesture. “From now on you are General Kakarotto. You will have the authority to command any of my troops except Ginyu and Zarbon, both only report to me.”



“Thank you very much. My lord.” One year ago Goku could not imagine saying this. But Sagi told him to focus on getting stronger and he went with the flow for the rest. He tried to feel Frieza’s ki, knowing he was going to be his ultimate goal to defeat.



“It is time for your first assignment as General. And this is a tough one.” Frieza turned around to face the window. “All the troops I sent over to that planet never came back. Namek, it seems to possess a magic force, defying all my attempts to conquer.” He turned around and looked at Kakarotto. “You are strong so I will not give you an easy task. This is also a test of your ability. It should be interesting. I would not mind going myself if you had not won, but as a leader, I need to stay and look after my soldiers. Do you like the challenge?”



Kakarotto’s curiosity had been raised. “Of course. Thank you my lord.”

“Good. Off you go. You can take as many troops as you want. In fact I would like you to take most of my troops since I will not take failure as a result.”



“Sure.” With that Kakarotto bowed and left the chamber.



Frieza smirked seeing Kakarotto’s retreating form. It was the perfect strategy! Namek had been a problem in the past. If Kakarotto won, he would have Namek down and he would deal with Kakarotto later. If Kakarotto lost, it would be a perfect excuse to get rid of him without too much havoc. Either way, Frieza always wins. Plus, he has a secret plan that would gurantee himself a victory to anybody. Thought about that Frieza laughed to himself manicly.

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“So he wanted you to go to Namek and purge it?”



“Yes Vegeta.”



“You know none of the troops that went to Namek came back. It is said to be haunted!”



“I know, but don’t you want to find out? It would be fun!”



“Fun?! I have more important things to do than to get killed!”



“Aww…Vegeta, it is a perfect chance to get away and get stronger. Will you come with me?”



Vegeta smirked. “Of course I will come with you, you idiot.”



One month later, on Namek, Goku floated in the middle of the air. Clouds of troops parked in the air behind him, waiting for his instruction. Vegeta stood to the right of Kakarotto, arms in the same gesture as Kakarotto’s, crossed before the chest.



Goku was thinking about what he should do. As a warrior he had plenty of experience with individual fighting, but he had no experience commanding troops. Strategies and the art of war were Sagi’s specialties. Speaking of which, he had a brief chat with him before he left. Sagi promised to do some research on this mostly unknown planet.



After a month of hibernation, he was still patiently waiting for Sagi’s information.



Vegeta snapped. “Why don’t we go down to blast some people of this haunted planet? This looks really eerie to me.” To the contrary, this planet looked rather peaceful—blue meadow and red rocks – blue lakes shining under the sunshine. No visible living things moving around. Vegeta found this eerie. He’d rather have some visible enemy than this endless quietness.



“Wait. Vegeta. Maybe we should go around inspecting the planet first and asked the troops stay put. I don’t want to endanger so many soldiers’ lives.”



Jeice, who was floating on the left side of Kakarotto, nodded at the suggestion and shouted back. “All soldiers, General’s orders: stay where you are and do not engage in any fighting until you have been told to do so.” He had been designated to Kakarotto after the fight. He thought he owned Kakarotto his life and admired his strength and generosity and became an avid follower.



Vegeta and Goku shot into the sky and flew around Namek. Soon they found some villages with green skinned adults and children staring at them in horror. Kakarotto touched down and exclaimed to the villagers, “I want to talk to your king or queen. We have lost troops here. We want to get them back!”



“And if you don’t we will purge this planet and leave no living things behind!” Vegeta added. Some kids started to cry at Vegeta’s words.

“Vegeta!” Kakarotto warned, voice low but tone stern. “There is no need to scare them.”



“Quit playing the good guy, Kakarotto. We are here to purge them. You don’t want them to have false hope, do you?” Kakarotto did not answer, seemingly lost in thought.



The shouting was working. Soon after three Nameks took off. Half an hour later they returned with a young Namek, whose body was straight and his muscles tight. His posture showed he contained a lot of power. He looks exactly like Piccolo. If Goku had some doubt before now it was confirmed—he had come to the home planet of his long time opponent.

The young Namek touched down and spoke, “My name is Nail. I am the protector of this planet. If you want to invade this planet, you have to defeat me.”



Goku stepped forward. “We have no intensions to invade you. We’ve lost many troops and I want to get them back. However,” Goku smirked, “I don’t mind a little fight beforehand.” With that he jumped into a fighting stance.



Vegeta could not believe his ears. We are not invading? What is Kakarotto talking about? However the last sentence diverted his attention. He loved it when Kakarotto had battle lust. He was keen to see the Namek’s power too. He folded his arms and stood aside to watch the fight.



Several minutes later the results were obvious. Both men were still standing, panting from the battle they just had. The only difference was Nail was pale green from the draining effort while Kakarotto was flushed red from excitement.



Nail stared at Kakarotto intensely for a few seconds then spoke, “Okay, you won. Thanks for not killing me.”



Kakarotto stood straight from his fighting stance. “No worries, but it was difficult since you were so forceful.”



Nail’s face turned gray, “You have beat me. That leaves us no choice, but….” Just that moment Kakarotto’s scouter started to beep. Kakarotto pressed the button gleefully once he realized who the call was from, “Sagi, how is everything?”



“I am sorry Goku. Frieza designated me another job, which kept me busy. I finally got around to do some research on Namek. Guess what I have found? This planet is inhabited by creatures who possess magic power. They are not transformers, but some of them can be very strong, they are called the battle type breed.”



“Haha, I think I have already met one.” Kakarotto eyed Nail who stood several steps away, listening attentively.



“Don’t interrupt me! There are more important things you need to know. They can make magic balls called dragon balls, which can grant any wish. That makes them very dangerous!”



“Dragon balls! Earth has a set too! My grandpa left me one. It has tremendous magic power!”



Several gasps. Everybody started to talk at once.



Goku heard Nail exclaim in surprise, “What? Another planet has dragon balls?”



At the same time Sagi asked, “Why didn’t you tell me? You’re an idiot.”

“Can it be used to wish for eternal life?” This last question came from Vegeta.



“Wou Wou wou, everybody, hang on a minute! Nail, yes, we have a set. Sagi, how would I know you were interested? You never asked me. Vegeta, it might, but what do we need eternal life for?” Goku answered everyone’s questions as best he could.



Then he turned to Nail, “Is that how you defeated all the previous troops? “



Nail lowered his head. “Yes. That is the final measure to protect our planet. We wished the troops to another dimension, where they live as universal herdsmen or tramps. We did not kill them. And we will do the same to you if you intend to kill us.”



“Listen!” Goku stepped forward. “We do not want to kill you. We are only here to look for our missing brothers. If you can send them back, we will leave with them.”



Vegeta could not believe his ears. “What are you talking about, Kakarotto? Frieza is going to kill us!”



“Vegeta! I don’t like killing! I never did. It is time that I follow my heart and worry about things later.”



“Shit!” Vegeta knew he would be dragged into it. “You are big trouble; I knew it!” However, there was no way he would leave his lover now. Even as he said those words he stepped closer to Kakarotto to protect him from any possible danger. We are going to rebel against Frieza sooner or later. Maybe now is a good time to do it.



Nail’s eyes lit up, “Really? We don’t like killing either.” Nail looked Goku up and down, “You look pure hearted to me. Maybe I can bring you to Guru and let him decide.” He took off. Goku and Vegeta followed him.