Frigid Battalion Arc

The Frigid Battalion Arc is the second arc of Dragon Ball: Uprising. It takes place in Age 737, on various planets and vessels. Its plot revolves around Kaido getting used to life under the service of Frigid, an Arcosian Lord who seeks to grow his influence within the the Planet Trade Organization.

It is preceded by the Placement Trials Arc.

Chapter 11: Cantalo's Guidance
The first thing Kaido felt when he escaped his dreams was the feeling of being violently shaken. It was of course annoying, but it was significantly better to the punches to the gut he had become accustomed to when he lived on Planet Vegeta. Instead of being awoken by his father, the man in front of him was another soldier. A Sefaran with a fishy grin, horns, and strange mucus-lined skin. It was Cantalo.

“Come on, boy. Wake up, or I’ll toss you out of bed myself.”

The first words out of the lieutenant’s mouth were hostile, but they still couldn’t really inspire the young boy to get off the bed with haste. Kaido had honestly gotten used to being threatened by people on the ship, and as a result he wasn’t really scared into moving. This was probably a horrible attitude to have when it came to strong warriors like Cantalo, but to Kaido’s luck, it didn’t backfire.

Cantalo seemed to be just messing with him, as the boy was able to get up as slowly as he wanted to. After a few moments of rubbing his eyes, he was able to quickly notice that every other recruit was still comfortably sleeping. At this point, Kaido finally sat up to speak.

“You’re not waking up everyone else. So why me?”

Cantalo offered his hand, and then gave his explanation. He sounded far less hostile now, confirming the idea that he was just trying to mess with the Saiyan.

“We’re about to arrive on Cooler No. 37, and our Lord wants me to help you get acquainted with how things work. You can’t just be a part of the crew, you see. You’ll need to take on some missions to prove you’re worth his patronage.”

Kaido took the Sefaran’s hand, and once he was out of his bed he began to run all that Cantalo had just said through his mind. Immediately, two fears came forth. One about himself not being worth the patronage, and the other being a concern that he was just going to be offloaded as a garrison soldier on this ‘Cooler No. 37’. When he finally voiced his newfound concerns, he chose to only really voice the latter.

“So you’re helping me get used to things. Not just leaving me behind, right?”

Kaido, as much as he wanted to hide it, sounded displeased at the very idea. Like the Sefaran did with most of Kaido’s concerns, Cantalo brushed the question off with a non-answer.

“Not that I know off, though it does depend on how much you screw up. You might be too valuable to our lord- or maybe his favor has ended and you’re just another subject. Who really knows?” Cantalo’s smile only really became more prominent as he described the many possible outcomes, which made Kaido want to punch the Sefaran in his reptilian face. Thankfully, the silence that followed wasn’t too long, as Cantalo had an order for him. “Anyway, we should get going. Get your battle armor and scouter on, so we get moving. I want to get you briefed before we actually arrive on the surface, so I can take you to one of Lord Cooler’s assignment centers as quickly as possible.”

At this point, Kaido just kind of stood in the same place awkwardly, trying to think of what to say. Clearly, Cantalo hadn’t heard of how Kaido was constantly getting himself in brawls with older low-ranking soldiers. Otherwise, the Sefaran would know that the boy had already gotten his battle armor into beyond terrible condition.

After seconds of just waiting for the words to come out of his mouth, Kaido decided it was best to show Cantalo rather than tell him. The Saiyan boy knelt down to open the locker beside his bed, and in seconds he had both his blue scouter in one hand and one of the shattered battle armor shoulder pads in the other.

“My scouter is working, but I’ve already gotten my armor is… well, you can see its condition.”

Kaido expected to finally see the Sefaran get mad, but what he got instead was Cantalo’s roaring laughter. It was more than a little strange to hear the alien laugh so hard, and how long this lasted didn’t really help. When Cantalo stopped laughing, he sounded more amused than malicious.

“How the hell did you already manage that, of all things? I’m sure the quartermaster told you how much a replacement costs.”

Kaido nodded at this, before slowly setting the broken shoulder pad down and placing the scouter firmly on his ear. It was embarrassing to have Cantalo know, but at least the lieutenant wasn’t yelling at him.

“I brawled with a few soldiers I taunted into attacking me, to train and all. It was a big group, so eventually lost the armor. I didn’t have the scouter on since I didn’t need a distraction, and then I found out we pay for our own replacements afterward. I don’t really have the credits to pay, so..”

Cantalo was a little confused as to why the boy was picking fights in his first month, but he had heard some reports that the boy had grown quite a bit in power since he was first taken in. So he didn’t really care too much. However, a member of the Frigid Battalion not wearing battle armor was a no go.

“Well, would you like a replacement? You could pay me back once you’ve earned some credits during assignments and tasks.”

Kaido was a little surprised to hear the offer, as he hadn’t really expected anyone to be that considerate in the Planet Trade Organization, regardless of whether they were in the Frieza Force or the Frigid Battalion. Not even the kindest of Saiyans, excluding maybe some of the low-class non-combatants would do that. They’d have just stood by and watched as Kaido took more damage in battle, laughing along.

After giving it a bit of thought, Kaido nodded. Smiling, he accepted the offer.

“That’d be great!”

But this smile and cheery mood wouldn’t really last long, as Cantalo’s immediate reaction to Kaido’s acceptance was to walk a few feet away to the next bunk and open some sleeping alien soldier’s locker. Kaido immediately recognized the alien as one of the soldiers that Kaido brawled constantly, and he knew the armor that Cantalo soon held in his hands belonged to that sleeping soldier.

Before Cantalo could walk back to the Saiyan with the new armor, Kaido raised his hands in protest. He had expected Cantalo to go through the proper quartermaster, not for the Sefaran to go into someone else’s belongings.

“Not that one. Or any other stolen armors. Something from the quartermaster is what I want.”

Cantalo looked really confused at this request. With his brow raised, he put the white and yellow armor back in the alien’s locker before speaking again.

“You’re a bit of a snob, I see. You like things all new and polished. It’s a waste of an opportunity not to take to Litt’s armor, since he’s your size and no one would notice but him. It’d cost you less, too.”

Once again, Kaido immediately gave voice to his displeasure in response. He actually sounded pretty confident and angry, which was honestly not what Cantalo had come to expect from the child at this point.

“I said I wouldn’t take stolen armor. I don’t care if it costs less.”

Cantalo just shrugged, and then gestured for the boy to follow him out of the room. As he did this, he chided the boy one last time about cost, which only really served to annoy Kaido.

“All right, but you’ll be paying even more now. No idea why the armor has to be new, considering you might just get it ruined during whatever mission we get you assigned to. But, if you insist, I guess I can’t convince you otherwise…”

Only a scant ten minutes after being woken up by Cantalo, Kaido was 750 credits in debt and now proudly wearing black and blue battle armor. He was more than a little annoyed that the Sefaran had tacked on 250 credits to the price the quartermaster himself was giving the armor at, but he chose not to voice this annoyance due to Cantalo’s superior rank. After they’d left the quartermaster, the two had sat down in one of the vessel’s many hallways, where Cantalo had promised to finally begin his briefing.

“Cooler No.37 is a planet owned directly by Lord Cooler, the father of our lord Frigid and the brother to Frieza. He’s not really present in this galaxy much, which is why you likely haven’t heard of him. The planet we’re about to reach is one of the few he owns in it, and it serves mainly as a border world to garrison soldiers and give out tasks. It’s not a pretty place, and it’s beyond barren, so you probably won’t like it all too much.”

Already, the information was starting to get too much. Kaido knew Frieza had a brother, since he had already been told of Frieza’s relation of Frigid when the boy swore loyalty to the Frigid Battalion almost a month before. However, the boy hadn’t really been expecting to enter another Arcosian Lord’s sphere of influence this quickly.

“Wait, so if Cooler doesn’t have much influence in the North Galaxy, why assign soldiers for missions here?"

Cantalo had anticipated questions, and he was able to answer rather quickly.

“Lord Cooler may not own many planets in the North Galaxy, but Frieza doesn’t exercise complete control over it either. There are many primitive worlds all over, waiting to subjugated or conquered. Although he’s mostly focused in the South and East Galaxies, it doesn’t hurt to keep options open in the North.”

Kaido’s next question was one he’d had his mind on ever since he’d come to grips with the fact that he’d have to be a soldier for the Planet Trade Organization rather than a member of the Royal Guard.

“What about Saiyans? Will we encounter any of my people while we’re there?”

He had asked the question with people like his mother and sister in mind, wondering whether or he’d get to see them any time soon. Just like before, Cantalo was able to answer on the spot. This time, however, he could shake his head as well.

“There are no Saiyans that serve Cooler, aside from you, who serve Cooler’s son. Unless any of Frieza’s forces desperately need to refuel, you can be pretty sure you’ll never see them on Cooler No. 37.”

Kaido stayed silent for a few moments after this little explanation, before he gave up trying to hide his real concern. He hadn’t seen his family in years, with the exclusion of the father who had probably already disowned him. Although it wasn’t natural for adult Saiyans to care about that sort of thing, Kaido was still young.

“My mother Hipa and my sister Nachi are both in Frieza’s Saiyan army. Is there any chance I could meet them any time soon?”

Cantalo took a moment to respond, seemingly confused by the young boy lamenting the distance from his relatives. Obviously, the Sefaran hadn’t really thought the boy cared. Kaido was a Saiyan, after all…

When the Sefaran finally came up with his answer, it was surprisingly lacking in mockery. It was, however, still pretty blunt and honest.

“Unless you get personal leave, which you won’t get for a long while, I doubt you could come in contact with either of them. Frieza certainly won’t be too pleased with any Saiyans swearing allegiance to his nephew, even if you are but a small child. So you can’t expect the Emperor of most of the known Universe to aid your goal.”

It was beyond disappointing to hear this, but Kaido knew better than to stay on the topic. Cantalo had already seen a vulnerable version of the boy before, so it wasn’t really wise of the Saiyan to give him more ammunition. Doing his best to remain as composed as before, Kaido quickly moved on to the next important question- one that related more to Cantalo’s own assignment.

“Alright… well, what kind of missions do you think I’ll get? I want to change how the other see me, to get stronger than all them.”

Cantalo was obviously going to be more amused than confused about this, so Kaido was at least now able to move the Sefaran’s focus away from Kaido caring for his immediate family. This didn’t mean Cantalo would stop being blunt, though.

“Boy, you could kill off an entire world and it won’t ever stop someone from seeing you as a runt. You’re at…” At this point, Cantalo pressed a button on his scouter, making the machine give of its loud scanning noise.

PI PI PI PI PI PI PI

“...Six hundred forty-three. That’s not bad for a kid, and you’re definitely stronger than before. However, there are still many soldiers on this vessel that could wipe to floor with you. You’re not even five percent as strong as me, and I’m nothing compared to Tahini and Lord Frigid. So, you’ll just have to get used it.”

It was both nice for Kaido to hear how much he’d grown and disappointing for the boy to hear how little it really mattered. His intuition about Frigid’s power had been correct, and the Arcosian lord was far stronger than anyone Kaido had ever met.

“So, what? Taking over a planet alone wouldn’t help?”

Cantalo shook his head, before offering a response just as quickly as before.

“It might get you some sort respect from people of your own rank, but you’ll always been seen as entitled… especially since you won’t be conducting you first mission alone. I’ve been tasked with following you, to rescue your sorry ass if you come close to death. Once you get used to it, perhaps you could at least advance in rank through working alone.”

Kaido didn’t know what to think, to be honest. On one hand he wanted to prove himself and survive his first mission alone. On the other, his fear of death hasn’t at all dissipated since he killed Lero and was summoned to appear before the King of the Saiyans. He appreciated that Cantalo would be standing by to rescue him in the worst possible scenario.

Not wanting to seem overly eager about the prospect of Cantalo being a safety net, he just nodded silently at the mention of the Sefaran being his temporary protector. Then, an idea came to mind.

Pressing a button on his own scouter, the boy decided to measure Cantalo’s power rather than just rely on the Sefaran’s own words.

PI PI PI PI PI PI PI

Just as the numbers came up on his screen, Cantalo began to speak, giving voice to the result in a boastful way.

“That’d be 19,375. More than your King, which is why it wasn’t too hard to intimidate that Zorn fellow out of my way back on Planet Vegeta.”

Kaido was understandably amazed. This was a power he could only ever really dream of achieving, and it was coming from a mere lieutenant in the Planet Trade Organization. It made him a little afraid too, as it made the boy wonder what the device would show him if he used it on someone like Frigid.

But then a thought hit him. The mention of Cantalo being stronger than King Vegeta reminded the boy of the true power of a Saiyan. There was a way Kaido could vastly improve his battle power, and with the same method, King Vegeta could resist even Cantalo.

“You could beat him now. But if he could access the full moon, he could become much stronger than you could ever hope to be.” The comment came off as hostile, but Kaido hadn’t really put much thought into how it sounded until after it was out of his mouth. After all, with the Great Ape form, he could possibly overcome many enemies he had no chance of facing in his base form. Add on the fact that Kaido had come close to losing access to the form entirely, and it was basically impossible to stop himself from bragging about his race’s true power.

To his surprise, he found that Cantalo was more interested than offended at the comment. The Sefaran just turned Kaido’s rude comment into an opportunity to brag. “If you say so, boy. I wouldn’t pass up a match with your King if he were really that capable, but it wouldn’t really be smart for someone like me to go around slaughtering Client-Kings sworn to follow Frieza.”

Then an idea apparently came to Cantalo, brought on by Kaido’s out of turn comment. His signature coy appeared on his face, and then the Sefaran continued.

“This power… it’s because of his tail, right? Perhaps it might even be some use to us.”