Resistance Spaceship, somewhere on Namek…

Most of the resistance forces were marshaled before their ship. Each of the gathered warriors were veterans of martial arts and combat in their own right. Each of them had skills and nerves tempered and forged in the fire of constant near death situations and fighting with everything on the line. They knew what they had to do.

"Hey Piccolo!" Kakarot said casually, walking up to his green friend. It hadn't taken the man long to recuperate from his battle, as most of the lasting damage was self inflicted and internal. Piccolo turned and looked at the man with a raised eyebrow. "What is it, Goku?" He asked plainly, always a man of few words.

The aforementioned saiyan scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Well I was uhh.. just wondering if you were feeling better?" He asked. Piccolo narrowed hisbeyes suspiciously. "Obviously i'm fine. That's not like you to ask though." He noted accusingly.

A mischievous glint filled the siayan's eyes and he smiled wide. "Well in that case! I was actually wondering if you could maybe teach me that technique I saw you use! The kaio-something?" He asked with giddy excitement.

At hearing this the other siayans 'inconspicuously' scooted closer to the duo and pretended not to be listening intently by chatting nonchalantly while picking at their armor or kicking at the dirt.

Piccolo shook his head. 'Like children asking their parents what they got for Christmas..' He muttered internally. "No, unfortunately not." he sighed, before raising his voice and addressing the group as a whole. "I thought of the same thing. With your saiyan bodies you could have pushed the Kaio-Ken farther than I ever could." He admitted.

"Originally I was only able to use the first level of Kaio-Ken but thanks to my recent fusion, I can comfortably handle times two. For a while anyways.. But in order to master the technique in the first place you have to be in otherworld where your body is indestructible." He explained.

"What!" Kakarot shouted. "You mean I have to be dead? What a bummer.." The tall saiyan pouted.

"By the way.." Piccolo began, turning to face Vegeta and his fellow saiyans. "I wanted to say thank you.. *cough* for umm... Helping to save my people." He said stubbornly with a blush.

The prince looked stunned for a moment. "I.. what!?!?" Vegeta gasped, flabbergasted. "I didn't do it for you, or your people, green bean!" He insisted, sticking up his nose. "A saiyan saving a planet. Ha! Ludicrous. I have a personal score to settle with that bastard, Frieza. Nothing else." The saiyan prince supplied, crossing his arms.

Nappa and Turles grunted and growled in agreement.

Piccolo frowned before Chuckling. "Well, nevertheless, thank you." He said cordially. Vegeta nodded in response. "Consider it a professional courtesy." The short saiyan finished before turning away.

Just then the ship's ramp opened with a steaming hiss. A group of small Namekian children came charging down the steep decline and began running around in circles around all the gathered warriors. They formed a train, laughing and giggling wildly as they played. Unfortunately, the train of children accidentally ran into the leg of the intimidating prince of saiyans.

The lead child rubbed his nose before looking up in shock. The terrifying Vegeta leaned over slowly with a scowl. "Hmmm.." The prince breathed. His breath was hot and surprisingly fresh, like eucalyptus leaves. He expected the children to shout in fright and flee in terror but to the surprise of everyone present...

"Oh my gosh you're the saiyans!" The caboose of the child-train exclaimed.

"Oh yeahhh!" Another agreed.

"The saiyans!" The rest chimed in excitedly.

Vegeta and the others shared a confused look before turning back to the young Namekians. Luckily their curiosity was more or less placated when the child got up and excitedly began chatting at the saiyans, giving no time for a formulated response.

"Dende and Gohan have told us all about you guys! About how you go around saving people from the empire, like you did at the outpost! And how you guys used to be slaves to Frieza but you said no way! You fought back and now you're free! You're gonna save us too now, right mister? Gohan says you're the strongest beings in the entire universe!" The boy yelled, waving his arms theatrically.

Vegeta, flustered and overwhelmed, took an involuntary step back. "Gah!" He exclaimed, raising his left arm as if to shield himself from the onslaught of children's excitement. 'I am never having kids..' He thought with a disgruntled frown.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Just then the large Nappa took a step forward, and imposed himself between the talkative child and the saiyan prince. Nappa flashed the awed child a bright smile while exclaiming, "Always train hard, drink your juice and never back down from a challenge! Do this and you too, can be strong men like us!" The large brute all but yelled as he threw his head back and laughed.

The other saiyans hooted and hollered in agreement. Even Vegeta began to soak up some of the praise from the younglings, puffing out his chest and letting an arrogant smirk grace his lips.

Piccolo sweat dropped as he watched the scene play out before him. He walked over and looked at Goku with a bemused expression. "Hmph. Professional courtesy my ass." He joked.

He turned to the saiyans and the playing Namekians with a serious look. "Although I have to admit.. it's kind of cute. To think our species, as radically different as they are, could coexist so easily despite our inherent differences.. We just needed a common goal."

"Yeah." Goku agreed simply with a smile.

Piccolo sighed. "And somehow.." He wondered out loud while looking at Vegeta. "It's really not that hard to picture him saving a planet, rather than destroying one. But then.. you've always had a knack for seeing the light in people long before anyone else. How do you do it Goku?"

His saiyan friend laughed and shrugged. "I guess I just.. Want to have fun and fight strong people. And at the end of the day I want to go home to my loving family and to know i can keep them safe. I could never understand why it seemed like everyone in the universe was out to get one another."

And to that, Piccolo didn't really have anything to say.. So he simply settled for turning back to watch the kids harassing the saiyans.

Roughly half an hour later

When Piccolo's remaining clone arrived with Dende in tow, he wasted no time merging with the original. It did a lot to relieve the remnants of weakness the green man was still feeling from having lost one of his clones in battle. He suspected he had recovered enough that if he needed to, he could make three of himself again.

Bulma caught the new arrivals up on the plan and they were just about to head out, when Dende raised one of his tiny hands and in as deep a voice as he could muster (Which was admittedly discouraging) yelled, "May I speak before you facilitate your plans further please, Gohan's mom?!"

Bulma blinked in surprise before erupting in a fit of laughter. "Dende, you know you can call me Bulma." She laughed, holding her hand to her mouth. "And yes, you absolutely may. Such a polite young man. My boy could learn a thing or two." She joked, in spite of or perhaps, because of the situation.

Dende nodded in appreciation amd gestured for everyone present to gather together in a tight-knit group. Once he had everyone's attention, he sucked in a breath and began speaking. "Thank you very much everyone! And thank you for facing Frieza in defense of my people! Guru wished…" the boy's eyes glistened and his hands trembled.

Everyone waited patiently for the small child to continue, unable to imagine the pressure he must feel. Piccolo had more or less filled them in on what the elder had done and what that meant for poor young Dende.

'Come on dende.. you can do this! Father entrusted you with this task..' He internally berated himself. He closed his eyes tightly and held his breath as the world closed in on him. 'I can't do this!…'

"Huh?" The boy gasped in surprise as he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see the arm belonged to Piccolo only it wasn't Piccolo's face.. It was his old friend, Nail. When the man spoke it was Neil's voice as well, "You can do this, D. It's always been me and you, right?"

Dende flashed a smile that was brighter than the sun and nodded enthusiastically. "Right!" Turning back to the rest of the crowd, determination filled the boy once more.

"Guru wished he could be here fighting beside you all! But he knew he wasn't strong enough anymore.. So he devised a plan to help everyone defeat Frieza! He entrusted his power and this final plan to me!" The boy exclaimed, placing a hand on his chest.

Finally understanding where this was going, it was surprisingly elder Moori who stepped forward. "Dende!.." The old man began, but caught himself as he realized his mistake.

Guru's decision had been extremely hard for him to accept at first. He was not chosen to be grand elder even though he was next in line. However.. He understood why. Once again the Namekian race was faced with the threat of mass extinction. And once again it was Guru who's toils would ultimately lead to their salvation. But this…

*cough* "Sorry.. Grand Elder Dende." He apologized awkwardly. "you cannot do this! It will shorten your lifespan drastically! You dont even know if youll be strong enough to!.." He pleaded. Everyone turned to the young boy in shock and confusion but he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm sorry.. but this is what must be done." Turning directly to face his senior, he fixed him with a glare of determination. "Elder moori! Have you no faith in your Grand Elder?" He questioned.

Moori's eyes widened. Before he could stammer out an answer Dende marched forward until he was in the center of everyone present. In that moment, elder Moori saw the vestige of Guru behind the boy.

"I know I'm small, and you may not see what Guru did but I.. I can do this! I will do this. Fighters from Earth, step forward!" Dende demanded.

The Z-warriors shared a questioning look before Krillin shrugged and began walking toward the small Namekian while gesturing for the others to follow. As the group consisting of Krillin, Yamcha, Chi Chi, Tien and Chiaotzu reached the small Namekian, Dende gestured for them all to kneel. The Z-warriors chuckled at the sight of one so young being so demanding and mature but they graciously complied.

"You will be the first among your people, the resistance of the Arcrosian Empire, to receive the Grand Elder's gift! It is an honor typically reserved for our best and brightest as well as my personal bodyguards. To that end, I recognize each and every one of you as the brightest stars our galaxy has to offer! Please clear your minds, so that I may draw out your full power and you may continue to shine brightly, guiding the way for our species and many others!" He yelled.

Everyone present save the elders gasped in shock. Could this young boy truly do what he claimed? Did he possess the talent to draw out a deeper power within these warriors? They supposed they were about to find out. Each of the five warriors took a deep calming breath as they did their best to relax and fill their mind with tranquility and silence.

As they did so Dende grit his teeth and shut his eyes in concentration. He thrust his tiny hands forward and began chanting in an ancient language that only he knew. Ideally, the new Grand Elder would have at least a full year to practice using his new power and knowledge but alas, they faced a truly desperate situation and they were out of time.

Even as they spoke an explosion rocked the planet as Frieza's men tore Namek apart to find the resistance members.

But things in life have a funny way of working out precisely as they were meant to.. It was not without reason that Dende was born now in this very era. He was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most talented and pure Namekian to ever be born and he drew power now from those who needed him. Only he could do this.

Just as the boy's forehead was beginning to glisten with sweat and his arms were beginning to tremble with effort, there was a loud whoosh!

The effect was immediate as a cyclone of blue energy erupted from the five gathered warriors. The crackling, azure energy shot into the sky, forming a pillar that pushed aside the clouds for a quarter of a mile. Everyone who wasn't currently within the epicenter of the pillar, shielded their face from the wind and rubble.

"My god.." Turles gasped.

"No shitting.." Raditz mumbled beside him in concurrence. It wasn't as if any of the warriors individually could even hold a candle to one of the saiyans, of course. But collectively the humans proved themselves a force to be reckoned with time and time again. Especially now…

"Hard to believe those.. pathetic warriors we met just a year ago.." He gestured towards the Earthlings. "Could be capable of all of this." The massive general of the saiyan army observed in awe.

Soon the final battle would begin. And for once they dared to hope.. That they just might win.

End of chapter 52