The two immense ki signatures barreled through the atmosphere, leaving fiery contrails visible even from Capsule Corp.
"East City," Kaito confirmed, his voice a low monotone, devoid of fear. "They're landing near the outskirts. The initial readings from the atmosphere were massive, but they're suppressing their power now."
Goku nodded, his expression serious but determined. His orange Gi looked brighter, his body humming with suppressed energy. "We're ready. What's the plan, Kaito?"
"There is no grand plan yet, only an absolute necessity: survival," Kaito stated, pulling on his black and cyan combat gloves. "Their goal is simple genocide. Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, you fly ahead. I will join you after a final check of the defenses here."
Piccolo scoffed. "You're letting us lead the charge?"
"You are the shield, Piccolo. You and Goku are the power. I am the cleanup crew," Kaito replied, his white eyes flashing with fierce confidence. "Gohan, stay close to Piccolo, and for your mother's sake, be ready to run."
Goku grabbed Gohan's hand. "Let's move! We can't let them hurt anyone!"
In a flash of golden and white energy, Goku, Piccolo, and Gohan shot into the sky, rocketing toward East City.
Kaito turned back to Bulma, who was standing outside the lab doors, gripping the custom scanner like a lifeline. "I'll be back," he promised.
Vegeta and Nappa's small, circular attack pods crashed violently into the rocky outskirts of East City, kicking up massive clouds of dust and debris.
The doors hissed open. Nappa stepped out first, a giant of a man in heavy battle armor, his bald head gleaming. Vegeta followed, smaller but carrying an aura of lethal power and cold malice, his own armor gleaming, and a smirk already plastered on his face.
"Well, this dump looks like a dump," Nappa grunted, activating his scouter. "Hey, Vegeta, check this out. The biggest reading is... 1,200? What is this, a joke? Raditz was a fool to be scared of these insects."
Vegeta frowned, adjusting his own scouter. "No, Nappa. Look closely. There are six mid-tier readings converging on this location. That's unusual."
Suddenly, a patrol of three heavily armed police cars, drawn by the crash, rolled up to the scene. The police officers, rifles drawn, yelled at the massive aliens.
"Stop right there! You are under arrest!"
Nappa didn't even turn his head. He backhanded one of the officers with casual boredom. The force of the blow vaporized the man's entire upper body, sending his cruiser spinning violently into the wreckage.
"Warmup's over," Vegeta said, his smirk widening with cruel satisfaction. "Let's draw out these local 'warriors' by destroying their landscape."
Nappa raised his hands, focusing a colossal yellow energy blast.
Just as he was about to unleash the blast, a quartet of figures landed silently on a small, untouched section of the nearby plateau. It was Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu.
Kaito, watching the battle approach through his omnipresent sensor ki, felt a spike in their power levels.
'Krillin at 6,000, Tien at 6,200... even Yamcha is at 5,800. Chiaotzu at 1,280. They're all exponentially stronger than the canon timeline,' Kaito thought, genuinely surprised. 'They're still weaker than Nappa and Vegeta, but that won't matter. Vegeta and Nappa need to survive the two coming up behind them.'
Nappa grinned, raising his scouter. "Look, Vegeta, more ants! Let's see their power—"
The scouter locked onto Tien first, registering 6,200. Nappa scoffed. "Still weak."
Suddenly, three more powerful figures streaked down from the heavens, landing with bone-jarring force beside the others: Goku, Piccolo, and a young Gohan.
Nappa's scouter screamed. The digital display flashed wildly, cycling through an incomprehensible surge of numbers. The device, never designed to handle power levels beyond 25,000, exploded violently into pieces of melted plastic and sparks against Nappa's ear.
Vegeta's own scouter was slower, but no less definitive. It locked onto Piccolo first.
"What—?" Vegeta's eyes went wide with pure, unadulterated shock. His scouter registered 50,000 on the Namekian. The device instantly overloaded, cycling rapidly before shattering into a useless, smoking heap against his temple.
Silence descended upon the plateau. Vegeta stood there, his face a mask of disbelief and naked terror.
The Z-Fighters stood firm, radiating power that choked the air. Vegeta and Nappa, the feared Saiyan invaders, were now trapped, facing warriors who were nearly a million times stronger than anything they had ever conceived.
The battle for the planet had just become a desperate fight for survival, for the Saiyans.