Reethnam Shaonareem wasn't fond of this sort of place; too small, not enough light, the exits were too few and that was without counting the hidden one he had found by sensing a disturbance in the air. Too many people also, too many people intoxicated by heady liquid. Some might think that one was safe in a crowd that the numbers meant a measure of safety, but Reethnam knew better. Maybe it was the fact that he was a mercenary killer and had been one all his life, but killing someone in a crowd was a novice job. So easy to pinch a precise nerve, paralysing the unsuspecting victim, to pick the fallen body and pretend the old buddy had indulged too much Arkdam Liquor, and to kill under the unknowing look of a passer-by. People believed anything you wished them to believe if you knew how to trick their senses.

Reethnam sat, his back against the wall and though his drunken look and relaxed demeanour blended perfectly in the dark and dusty Spaceport Bar, the man under the pretence was dead sober and alert. Even if his arm swayed drunkenly as he dipped his rubbery lips in his glass of Arkdam Liquor, barely tasting the hot alcohol on his tongue, his predatory red gaze never once missed a beat of the action around him. Spaceport Bars weren't the safest places on a planet but it sure was the safest place to be for a mercenary like himself, to hide unnoticed in its colourful crowd. Aliens of all sorts sat on dirty cushions at low tables strewn carelessly and tastelessly across the room, beautiful long legged waitresses with silvery skin walked around the room with plateaus of intoxicating beverages, serving the already tipsy customers. In places like this, no one would notice a lone Dom Naju, sitting in a darkened corner, minding his own business. These were the reasons why Reethnam choose such places. Anonymity. In a room full of different races, nothing seemed too out of place.

The Dom Naju looked toward the exit, his rubbery black face frowning slightly when he failed to see his son.

"Where is he now?" Thought Reethnam. He should have returned from his job half an hour ago! Tyam always liked to play around but he was never this late. He wasn't too worried though; his son was too strong to have trouble with a mere murderer, even an infamous one. The tall man felt his heart swell with pride at the thought of his son's strength and cunning mind. No one, except the Imperial family, was his equal in strength and combat.

Reethnam had always referred to Tyam as his son, he had taken, a long time ago, the infant under his wing and trained and raised him as he would have any offspring of his own. They didn't share the same blood, they didn't even share a thin resemblance in species, and yet, being the only family he remembered, Tyam had always called him father. Being as different as night and day, the youngster had always known he had been adopted and Reethnam had never once lied about his son's ancestry. What would have been the point anyway? And by knowing what he was, Tyam could better protect himself, from himself first, and from the Emperor who would do everything in his power to kill Tyam if he knew of his existence.

As Reethnam's eyes darted around the dusty smelly room, his ears suddenly picked on a twist in a nearby conversation. Pretending to be nodding off in a drunken slumber, he concentrated on hearing every word.

An odd couple of vaguely humanoid form chatted away, in hushed whispers, about the Death Maker, the empire's most recent nightmare. Ever since this surprising new addition to the Lord Frieza's army, the people had new reasons to fear and hate their emperor. A shiver of hate and disgust ran up the Dom Naju's spiked back as he thought about the Maker's great appearance; a plague had been unleashed on Yssoural , a planet that was rumoured to have been plotting against the emperor for many years. What had started as a simple flu of pandemic proportion, soon turned into a nightmare. The flu was in fact the first symptom of a more deadlier disease; a disease which made your internal organs to die. A necrosis. Death was painful, and slow, every remedies tried were found useless.

Reethnam gritted his sharp teeth, his whole being trembling with hate for this faceless creature. If only he had one opportunity, he'd tried his all to rid the universe of its presence. About the emperor, it was hopeless to try and do anything, but about this disgusting being, he would certainly die to try and kill it.

Suddenly, a shadow fell on Reethnam shocking him out of his thoughts, he barely had time to grasp the thin handle of the Skinknife when the shadow became a man looking very much like himself, minus the a sickeningly content look on the face. Letting out an exasperated breath, and returning the Skinknife to the safety of his forearm, Reethnam sent a scolding stare at his son.

"Satisfied with having surprised me, yet again, son? Reethnam asked in their whimsical special language they used whenever they were in public.

A smirk appeared on the rubbery lips of Tyam as he sat at the table beside his father ,back against the wall.» Always father, nothing is more satisfying than showing the master he has been mastered." Grabbing Reethnam's glass, Tyam took one long gulp.

The Dom Naju snorted as he watched his son put the glass back in front of him.

"As if you could feel proud of being the better of an old retired mercenary like myself"

Tyam only smiled at that. Sitting back and taking a whiff of the greenish liquid in the glass, Reethnam took a second to look at his son. Again, not a scratch on him.

"So… everything went smoothly I presume?" He asked the question, even if he knew the answer .

"As if you had any doubt father!" A look of childish annoyance crossed on his son's dark face "There is no satisfaction to be retrieve in killing such a weakling" Tyam snorted loudly. "And this one was supposed to be a challenge?" The youngster opened his long hooded cloak to grab something he then threw on the table. Reethnam snatch the object and after a quick look, put it in his own dark cloak.

"This man from the planet Ro'adym is a… was a renown murderer. All mercenaries who went after him to get the bounty on his head met a gruesome death," The older man rubbed his hand on his horned skull. "I heard he was particularly talented with small knifes he called shivs."

Tyam's red gaze swept the vast room as his hand absentmindedly fingered the Erable wood pattern of the table "I have to admit father that he had a good technique" He shrugged "he was even fast for a Ro'adym. But he was no match for me."

Reethnam looked at his son with pride in his eyes. Tyam pushed the sleeve of his cloak off of his arm to glimpse at the wrist computer he always wore. Tyam went on.

"He was empty of any chi and besides his eyes, which had been shined so that he could see in the dark, he was disappointingly weak."

A knowing smile spread on Reethnam's face as he patted his cloak where he had hidden the object his son had brought with him. "And you took his goggles as a souvenir?" He was met with the devilish smirk of his son.

"Well, that's the only way I'll ever remember terminating such a renowned murderer…what was his name again…Richard B. something?"

Reethnam shook his head as he chuckled. "You are impossible son!" Another smirk flashed on Tyam's face.

"And whose fault is that Father? You are the one who trained me after all!"

The young man stood up and stared down at his father.

"Besides you know the goggle goes to that Fry woman who hired me…she was very adamant about having them, she wanted her revenge, something about leaving her to die on some uncharted planet" Tyam looked at his wrist computer once again.

"Come on father, we have to go, I've played a bit too long with our puny murderer and now I'm running low on energy.

"Then we go, this is not a good place for you to begin the Change." Taking a few crystal disks out of his cloak's inside pocket, he dropped them on the table and followed his son out of the Spaceport Bar.

Tyam , closely followed by his father, barely had the time to put his booted feet on their ship's bridge when he felt a beginning of numbness on his skin; the Change was starting. The battery that gave the energy to hold the fake DNA of a Dom Naju together, had finally ran out of power. The numbness turned into a severe and alienating throbbing, and Tyam felt himself lose the capacity to move. He barely felt his father's hand on his back, pushing him inside as he himself forced his unresponsive legs to function. Luckily he still looked like a young Dom Naju when he heard the hiss of the ship's door closing behind them. Tyam tried to control the heavy shivers that ran up and down his skin as he heard his father's feet disappear in the distance, Reethnam never wasted time to take off after a job.

How Tyam hated the Change, after so many years of having done this changing , you thought he would have gotten used to it. But no, the feeling of DNA transformation was so unsettling and disagreeable that there was no way he'd get use to it. The worst part of the change began as he felt all of his skin turn into millions upon millions of tiny crawling insects, all trying to crawl away, leaving only the muscles behind. Rubbing his armour covered skin with a passion bordering on obsession to help rid himself of the unpleasant feeling, he let out a lengthy sigh as the creepy feeling dimmed. Luckily, the Change was short term and he soon saw his own skin beginning to return under the fast dissolving rubbery skin of a Dom Naju.

As his real self emerge under the false appearance, he felt the tingling sensation disappear entirely, leaving a completely different man under the ferocious black armour of a Dom Naju warrior.

Shrugging the last remnant of the unpleasant moment off, Tyam went to the front of the ship where he knew to find his father.

"This is the captain of the Quetzalcoatl, registration 784-5846, requesting permission to take off." The young man sitting in the co-pilot seat beside his father waited for the voice of the Spaceport space travel control to give them permission.

"This is control officer 36214, you are third in line for take-off. Approximate waiting time, 10 minutes planet time." The deep nasal voice grated on the comlink. Tyam watch his father fire the engine up as they settled for the take off. When all he could do was wait for the permission to leave, he saw his father turn his head slightly, stealing a quick glimpse.

"Feeling better now Tyam?"

The young man shrugged with a twinkle in his eyes "It's now a habit to look as ugly as you father, I wear your race's appearance like a second skin…which is what it is literally!"

"Good" said Reethnam "I'll never get used to seeing you go through the Change though, I don't know what it feels like, but it sure look rather unpleasant."

Tyam let out a silent breath of air. "You have no idea."

Both men were interrupted as the same nasal voice returned.

"This is control officer 36214, permission to take off, Have a safe journey"

The nasal voice had barely finished speaking as Reethnam was already lifting the ship in the magenta sky, they rapidly left the planet's atmosphere and were soon reaching the border of planetary space territory to enter the Empire's. Once in it, Reethnam looked at his son, silently asking if the trajectory computer had finish computing the information for their travel in hyper speed . After a brief nod, the old Dom Naju switched on the shields and began the sequence to engage the hyper speed reactor. He felt the familiar rush of energy the burst to hyper speed gave his body and after making sure they were safely on their way to their home, the young man unfastened his seatbelt and left the command of the space ship to his father.

Tyam crossed the familiar surrounding of the ship to reach his quarters. He had been living on the ship for as long as he could remember, and the old ,but undeniably faithful relic, felt like a second home to him. The first being Orcamed Dom, his father's home world. Tyam punched the code on the panel beside his quarters with a smirk on his face, waiting for the feminine computerized voice to greet him.

"Welcome, Master Tyam". The young man chuckled grimly to himself as the door swished open, he'd have to remove the "master" part someday. It used to flatter him when was younger but now it annoyed him more than anything. Beginning to dislike hearing the word because of the image it evoked, seeing himself at the head of an empire built in blood like the so-called Emperor Frieza who truly was nothing more than a dictator. The Emperor was the master while he was… merely a part of the emperor's universal chattel.

Tyam removed his dusty, dark cloak and threw it toward a chair beside the door, seeing with a slight frowning of brows how blue dust rose from the garment as it fell on the chair. Tapping his armour and seeing azure puffs of dust rising with his gentle taps, he realized he was covered in a thin layer of dusty sand. Rakaslan Secondus, the planet they'd just left, was too much a dry planet for his taste. He was caked with dust, every inch of exposed skin was mated with dirty blue sweat. Tyam then began to remove his black armour, systematically discarding the armour's several parts on the ground as he moved around the shady room. He felt dirty and wanted nothing more than to erase all trace of Rakaslan off of him .The thought of a hot, cleansing vapour on him felt like paradise right now. Stark naked, he trudged toward the cleansing unit and stepped inside.

Half an hour later, emerged a very clean Tyam, taking a towel from the door's handle, he wrapped it around his waist and went to the mirror situated in the far end of the room. Having two different appearances sometimes felt disconcerting, hell it even felt down right alienating. He used his Shifter to make his appearance change to the point where he looked like a Dom Naju and each time he changed back to his real self, he had to take a second to look at himself, just to make sure he was truly himself, Tyam. Shifting his appearance to that of a Dom Naju was a part of him in many ways for he'd hidden himself all his life, but he dreamed about a day where he wouldn't have to hide his true appearance anymore. His true self, to hide the fact that he was a Saiya-jin.

Not having to suppress his seemingly bottomless amounts of strength. He knew he was powerful, but since he had no memory of his life before coming to live with Reethnam, he had no idea whether all of the almost forgotten race was as powerful or if he was "different". Since he had to suppress his strength all the time, only to release it by tiny increments, he didn't know just how strong he truly was, how powerful he could be, and how he wished to find out. To see his full potential and he had a feeling in his gut that he was barely skimming the surface. But to release too much energy would be like starting a fire on the darkest night when one didn't want to be found. Frieza would sense it, just as he could sense it every time the dictator released his own incredible strength. Sometimes, the desire to fight mindlessly was so strong in him that he literally felt his blood boiling in his veins. He had to meditate often to remain in control of his chi, not to release it in a mad frenzy of destruction. Tyam wasn't sure why he felt like that, why he needed to fight; to kill. A part of him was almost scared to find out. At least he could quench his thirst with his bounty-hunting hobby. He didn't care about the money, nor about the small fame he was getting in the backwaters world in which his father took the jobs for him. All he wanted was to fight, to dim the fire of rage in his mind and all he craved for, was a challenge. To test himself.

A smirk graced his face as he gazed at himself. He was back. He didn't know how long he was to remain a Saiya-jin, but it felt good to see his own reflection, his own face. In contrast with the tall Dom Naju he was rather short; but a fact that had never bothered him in the least. His muscles corded body and strength clearly made up for the lack of height. Rubbing a hand in his short black hair he wondered, like he did so many times, why his hair seemed to stand on his head in short spikes all the time. His father said it was because he had too much chi in is body. Deep, black-smiling eyes stared back at him before he turned around to get dressed in a black fighting suit. Thinking a good virtual fight with several War-mechs would help rid him of his incommensurable energy for a short while.

Reethnam still sitting in his seat, waited for his son to finish training. He felt uneasy and tried as he might, he couldn't dissipate the dark cloud of doubts and fear that had settled over his head. He couldn't try to hide this from his perceptive son and, hell they would be making the universe a favor by accepting this new job. The Dom Naju let out a long sigh as he rubbed his hand on his head. Nothing good would come out of this job. By the gods, what they asked was almost impossible! But, then again with Tyam it might be possible. But at what costs?

Reethnam started as the object of his thought noisily sat down in the seat beside his. Tyam was about to sent an affectionate biting remark to his father when he noticed the downcast look of his features.

«Is something wrong father?» He frowned when the Dom Naju failed to answer «You almost look pale, which is not a small feat for you»

Reethnam, without humor, grinned softly and raised his hand to activate the Sand imager.

Truly puzzled and a bit curious he waited as the sand in the small glass container began to swirl in the windy light. Soon enough the sand swirling rapidly showed a cloaked face. Tyam getting closer tried in vain to discern the face of the sender. A distorted female voice was suddenly heard in the cockpit.

«Please, forgive the rudeness of my appearance, after hearing what I have to say you shall understand why I must remain incognito. As you know Frieza has a new soldier in his army, the faceless Deathmaker. We, the Freedom Fighters, cannot allow this creature to create anymore destruction. It must be stopped! We have set our eyes on you for a long time, Dom Naju, and now is the time to act. You must find a way to kill the Deathmaker, we know you have the capacities to achieve...»

Tyam stared as the sand fell lifeless on the bottom of the now dark glass container. His heart had begun to beat furiously in his chest while watching the message, he could feel it, and this was the challenge he had been waiting for. The thirst to fight returned in a loud humming in his ears as he thought about the work he would soon do and he couldn't wait.

Not even waiting for his son predicable answer Reethnam with a sad look on his dark face began discussing possible strategies. They would need a perfect plan if they wanted to do the impossible and kill the being that no one knew anything about, who has never been seen. Who was right under Frieza's powerful hands?

End of chapter one.

In chapter 2, Tyam get the job of his life. He is to infiltrate the Emperor's army and reach the invisible Death Maker. His job; eliminate this new and formidable new threat.