Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or its related characters. All is the property of FUNamation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, and Toriyama Akira. I'm just borrowing them for some light-heated entertainment.

Space Opera

Chapter Two: Standard Procedure

"No, Governor, I'm not mad…" The Prince practically growled over the comm, carful to keep his face as close to impassive a mask as he possibly could.

After the battle was won, all the Ice-jin's soldiers that were still alive were rounded up. Standard procedure then followed. Separate out the officers of rank and lock them in the Patriot's detention cells to wait for interrogation. All other soldiers were then disposed of. They were of no use to the Empire as they were, basically, just foot soldiers with no information of value. Oh, they begged for their lives. But defectors couldn't be trusted. If they were willing to betray one master, they'd be willing to betray another. Once that was taken care of, the Prince's Intelligence team set to work on interrogations while his Technicians were tasked with pulling the ship's logs from the Cutlass.

While all that was going on, Captain Son opened a secure comm channel to the duly appointed Governor of Earth so that the Prince could hear his excuse for failing to respond to the Space Port Attack. "…I'm absolutely livid! My father gave you control of this planet because you assured him you could do the job. Can you do the job? I don't think I need to tell you how important Earth is."

At the Prince's side, Goten suppressed the urge to sigh. It was times like these when he didn't appreciate his position as Captain of the Prince's flagship, and more importantly, the Prince's confidant. As an officer of the Empire's Space Fleet, he understood his friend and sovereign's frustration with the local ruling body's failure to defend their own space. But, at the same time… the Earth's Governor was his uncle.

Goten watched Raditz struggle to suppress a scowl as he replied to the Prince. "I apologize for my failure, You Highness." He ground out, teeth set on edge. "I was otherwise engaged with a family emergency. If you or your father wish me to step down from my post, you need only name my replacement."

There was a beat of silence in which Goten wondered if the Prince really was going to name someone else to grant the Governorship of Earth to. He quickly ran through all the possible candidates. His father was definitely out of the question! But Gohan was a good bet. In fact, Goten was rather confident that his older brother would make an excellent government official, regardless of whatever position he filled. Unlike the rest of the Son family -and unlike most Saiyans in general- he had the perfect temperament for quiet bookwork and paper-pushing. The sort of tasks that everyone loathed but were still necessary for any governing body to function. Gohan would probably make things run much more smoothly and efficiently, too.

Then there was Goten himself. Erm… no thank you. Given the choice, he much preferred baby-sitting the Prince to sitting at a desk overlooking biannual financial reports. At least as Captain of the Prince's flagship he got to see action every now and again. Not to mention the free pass it gave him into the Imperial Court -not that he was a social climber, or anything. Then, of course, there was the fact that they were friends and he'd much rather kick it on an alien planet with his best buddy than let his ass widen in a desk chair. He was pretty sure the Prince preferred he remain right where he was as well.

After a prolonged pause, the Prince brushed his bangs out of his eyes and growled. "The report I will send to my father will not reflect kindly on you, Governor Raditz. What to do with you, however, will be his decision." He stood. "Captain, the comm is yours."

They waited to the count of ten after the Prince left before Goten sat down in front of the secure comm screen.

"Hey ya, Squirt!" Raditz smiled as if he hadn't just been chastised by the second highest authority in the Empire.

"Hi, Uncle Razzy." Goten smiled back, as if he hadn't just been watching his uncle being chastised by the second highest authority in the Empire. "Aside from the attack and being in hot water, what's new?"

Raditz sighed in exasperation. Then said, as if remarking on inconvenient weather, "Your father's dead again."

"Oh." Goten sighed, completely unfazed by what would have normally been sobering and tragic news. "What'd he sacrifice himself for this time?"

"'The greater good', ya know, the usual."

"Great." Goten shook his head, suppressing a smile. "Was that the 'family emergency' you mentioned? How's my mom taking it?"

Here Raditz flashed a self-deprecating smile. "Lets just say, I'd rather face the whole Royal Family right now rather than your mother."

"That bad, huh."

"She's convinced he keeps dying on purpose just to get away from her." His uncle laughed. Then, sobering, he asked, "Because of the Ice-jin attack, can I assume you're not coming home for a visit?"

Goten shook his head in disappointment. "Shore leave has been canceled until further notice." He explained. "The Prince is convinced that, as soon as the King reads his report, the Patriot will be recalled back to the capital. We're trying to process the enemy's ship and men as quickly as possible. Our thinking is that if we can get all the requirements of standard procedure done before the King's orders reach us, we can get at least an afternoon, or possibly a whole day planet side."

Raditz snorted. "That's wishful thinking if I ever heard it! Ugh… I do not want to be the one to tell your mother that you're not coming home. Not so soon after her mate died again." A pause. "Maybe I'll make your brother do it. Yeah…"

He didn't know whether he should cringe in sympathy for Gohan, or grin maliciously at his older brother's expense. "Do what ya gotta do."

Their conversation might have continued if a young Ensign hadn't chosen that exact moment to interrupt, presenting a datapad to the Captain. "Sir!" He said, a little over eager to please. "Here is the dossier on the Kold Family of the Ice-jin Ascendancy as requested by the Prince."

Goten suppressed his annoyance and accepted the data pad with a curt nod. The Ensign saluted, crossing one fist over his chest, before preforming an overly practiced about-face and returning to his station. Goten sighed, casting an apologetic smile at his uncle. "Sorry, but I gotta-"

"I know, I know." Raditz held up a hand. No explanation was necessary. He used to be in the Space Navy too. "Go do what you gotta do. I'll tell the family you said 'hi'."

"Thanks, Uncle Razzy. And, hey! When you wish my dad back to life, tell him he needs to come by Vegeta-sei sometime. The King's hard-up for a good spar and the Prince is sick and tired of being his only acceptable challenge."

Raditz suppressed a smile. "If we can get him to stop rescuing cats from trees and bringing hope to the fuzzy-wuzzies, I'll stuff him in a Pod and send him your way."

"Thanks again, Uncle Razzy." Goten saluted, his fist crossed over his chest, before cutting the comm feed and ending the call. Suppressing another sigh, Goten rose to find his Prince.

His Highness was in the viewing and sound booth attached to the Patriot's interrogation room, his arms crossed over his chest, a scowl on his face. He shifted his gaze only slight when the Captain entered, brushing his lavender bangs out of his eyes uselessly.

Goten held up the datapad he carried. "The Kolds."

"Thanks, Chibi." Said the Prince.

In public, on the bridge of the Patriot or at Court it was always 'Captain', or 'Son-kun', very rarely 'Goten'. But they did grow up together. Goten had been the Prince's companion ever since they were small children, seven and eight, respectively. They knew far to much about each other to maintain the kind of formal distance that military service and court etiquette required of them. So, in private, Goten was 'Chibi', his old nickname from when they were younger, and the Prince… he was 'Trunks'. An Earth name given to him by his mother because she got real tired, real quick of shouting 'Vegeta!' and being answered by two different generations of royal Saiyan ego and attitude. But it was tradition for the Heir to carry the name of his ancestors, so -like 'Chibi' could only be used in private- the name 'Trunks' was only known to the Prince's family and trusted confidants.

Goten leaned against the two-way glass of the viewing room and looked sideways at the interrogators at work. Decided he didn't have a taste for creative cruelty now that the battle was over and looked back at Trunks.

The Prince brushed his bangs out of his face as he perused the information the Patriot's archives had on the Kolds. One of the Seven Families that ruled the Ice-jin Ascendancy. 'Kold' was both the family name and the given name of the Head of the Family. Kold had two sons, Cooler and Freeza and no extended relatives. To spite how small the actual family was, they controlled almost a fourth of the Ascendancy's real estate, which meant they controlled most of its trade as well. They were a powerful enemy to have, even on their own, without the rest of the Ascendancy to back them. Trunks sighed. Great. More good news to put in his report to his father.

He set the datepad down on the soundboard and crossed his arms back over his chest. "So, how's the family?"

He was trying to change the subject and Goten knew it. "Good, I guess. Dad's dead again."

"That sucks." Trunks muttered. He ran a hand through his pony-tail mournfully. "Now I have to let my sister style my hair."

"Honestly, he dies so much, I'm not really all that- wait, what? You two bet on my dad dying!"

Trunks only shrugged.

"You dick!" Then he quickly changed his tactics. Name calling stopped being effective a long time ago. Instead, Goten went for a different and much, much newer point of anxiety for his friend. "So… what are you gonna do with the Lunarian Princess?"

The Prince bristled in irritation at the question. Uncoiling and recoiling his tail. Ha! Got ya!

"Its a sticky situation." Trunks muttered, bitting his thumbnail -a nervous habit he picked up from his mother. "I've alerted the Moon Kingdom that we have their Princess. But they want us to turn her over to them immediately. Thing is, she wasn't just a by standard in the battle, she actually participated. Which means I can't let her go until she's been fully debriefed. As if that's not bothersome enough, she's being very uncooperative. I really wish she would just sing so I can kick her off my ship and out of the territory. I don't much like the idea of having a whole squad of Senshi descending on the Patriot."

"Aw… Is the mighty Prince of the Saiyans scared of a couple of women in pleated skirts?"

His friend gave him a very serious look. "You weren't on the Cutlass when she took out the Kaerujin -Cui. She waved that wand of hers and did this thing. I don't know what it was, but it was… disconcerting. I'm starting to understand why neither my father or grandfather ever ordered a purge of Earth's moon. I couldn't get a read on her power at all. Going up against Sailor Senshi would be like fighting blind."

"Want me to try and do the debriefing?" Goten offered. "She's a Princess, so its perfectly acceptable for the Captain of the ship to be talking to her instead of the normal administrative officers."

"Anything to get her out of here faster." Trunks nodded.

…

Small Lady was sick of talking to these Saiyans. Her plan of sneaking off to Earth was good and shot to hell. By now they would have called her mother and she would be in a world of trouble when she got home. It was best to just get it over with. After that they'd lock her in her room for a few weeks then everything would be back to normal. If only these damn Imperial monkeys would just let her go!

"I cannot be any clearer than as crystal-clear as I'm being." She tired one final time. "I was just in the neighborhood."

"I'd be more inclined to believe you, Highness," said her interviewer, "if you actually had a tourist visa or any form of documentation that says you were cleared to enter Imperial territory."

She groaned. This was getting her nowhere. "That's it! I wanna talk to who's in charge. Where'd that pompous purple-haired Prince of yours go?"

…And it was at that exact moment that the briefing room door slid open. For one fleeting moment Small Lady wondered if she had somehow magically summoned the Saiyan Prince to her aid (or more likely, to her greater hinderance). But it wasn't the Prince who walked through the door, but rather another Saiyan. This one with the bars of an officer adorning his armor.

"Captain Son, sir!" Her interviewers snapped to attention, saluting with their fists over their hearts.

Interesting. 'Son' was not a Saiyan name. Not that she was any sort of expert in Saiyans and their names to begin with. But in this case, she was pretty sure 'Son' didn't fit with the common Saiyan naming schemes she'd observed thus far.

"At ease, gentlemen." Captain Son likewise saluted, his fist crossed over his heart. "The Prince has asked me to deal with Her Highness. You're dismissed."

"Sir!" They saluted again and then hustled out of the room faster than Small Lady could say 'make-up'. If she didn't know any better, she'd think they didn't like her.

The Captain pulled up a chair at the table at which she sat. He pored two glasses of water and offered one to her. She accepted it reluctantly, glaring at him with suspicion and distrust. For the most part, Captain Son ignored her glares and sipped his own water appreciatively.

Finally, after a prolonged silence, he said, "You don't have to speak. Let me tell you what we already know, Princess."

To this, Small Lady only deepened her suspicious stare.

"You were found on one of our space stations in our territory." He began. "You have no identification on you. Neither do you have any papers allowing you -a citizen of the Moon Kingdom- passage into Imperial Space. That's called 'boarder hopping', just so you know. You are in our territory illegally. But you already know this."

Small Lady gave a microscopic nod.

"Luckily for you, one of the Senshi of Queen Serenity's inner circle was able to positively confirm your identity." He continued. "We're satisfied that you are, in fact, who you claim to be. So, rather than face our punishment, we're sending you back to your own country."

"Excellent!" She stood. "When do I leave."

"Your Highness, please sit back down. I haven't finished." Captain Son continued to sip his water, unconcerned. "However, you participated as a soldier in the battle with the Ice-jin's advanced force. You participated in an Imperial battle in Imperial Space. I'm not sure just much you know about the Imperial Fleet's policies and procedures, so let me explain to you: We are a warrior nation. You might have noticed this already. It is standard procedure after a battle to treat all combatants in said battle -whether they be civilians or foreige visitors- as soldiers of the fleet until all the reports have been filed. That means, I can't let you go until you have been fully and properly debriefed."

"This report thing isn't going to get back to my mother, is it?" The Princess asked after a prolonged pause. "I, uh… I wasn't exactly supposed to be sneaking off to Earth."

"I think we've well established that fact." And here the Captain gave a small sympathetic smile. She didn't know Saiyans could show sympathy! This was incredible! She couldn't wait to tell Plu! Then his smile shifted from sympathetic to knowing. "This isn't the first time you snuck off to Earth, is it?"

Small Lady blinked at him, startled. "How did you…?"

Now that knowing smile was nothing more than the usual smirk she'd seen most Saiyans wear. "I've accompanied my fair share of royal heirs on unsanctioned excursions to places they shouldn't go and that ended up getting us both in trouble. I know the type."

She blinked at him again. Then, skeptically, "The Prince?"

"The Prince." Captain Son nodded. "You and he are more alike that you might think. Not that I know you particularly well or anything. May I assume this wasn't your first excursion to Earth?"

"Your Prince and I are nothing alike!" He was mean, and rude, and quick tempered, and egotistical, and seemed to like throwing his weight and title around. Hmph! But to the Captain's question, "But.. yeah, I've been going to Earth for a while now. There's actually someone I'm looking for. You see, there was this boy-"

Captain Son held up a hand. "You don't need to disclose your life-story, Your Highness. I'll make a deal with you. You tell me everything that happened and everything you did from the moment the Ice-jin attacked to the moment the Prince escorted you aboard the Patriot and I won't tell anyone that you've done this before and are likely to do it again. Are those terms satisfactory?"

Small Lady thought for a moment. It wasn't like they were gonna let her go without being debriefed anyway. Why not get a bit of cover out of it at the same time. "Yes, Captain, those terms are satisfactory."

…

Forty-five minutes later the Prince could not have been happier to see the Princess off to her Moon Kingdom attendants.

He, Captain Son, and the First Officer escorted the soon to be deported Senshi down the Patriot's main gangplank where two other Sailor warriors waited. One in red, the other orange with a gold-colored heartlink chain around her waist. Apart from the colors, their uniforms were identical to one another and the Prince wondered if the different colors denoted some sort of ranking system, or if they were the Senshis' personal preference. Both explanations sounded equally silly to him.

"Mars! Venus!" Exclaimed the Moon Princess, excitedly.

The Prince couldn't quite understand her enthusiasm. Wasn't she afraid of the eminent punishment that awaited her upon her return to her kingdom? If he had pulled a stunt like this, and the Prince had in the past, then he would not have been pleased to see the Lieutenants his father would send to retrieve him. Then again, neither his father, nor the members of his inner circle subscribed to the same ideals of love, light, and kindness that seemed to be the center around which Lunarian culture turned.

Then Sailor Mars spoke. Her fists going to her hips. One red heel tapping the paneled floor sternly. "Chibiusa!"

The Princess came up short. Her chipper mood suddenly deflating. Her demeanor shifting from optimistic and eager to sullen and dejected.

'Never mind.' Thought the Prince. Looks like some things really were universal. For the first time, the Prince felt a small measure of sympathy for the Lunarian Princess. What kind of punishments did they give in the Moon Kingdom? Once, during his teen years, the Prince convinced Goten to help him sneak out of the palace to explore the slums of Salaad, Vegeta-sei's capital city. When they were finally found and returned to the palace, his father started with a beating -light by Vegeta's standards- then, on his mother's suggestion the Prince was returned to the slums of Salaad. He wanted to see how the other half lived, so he would spend a couple of weeks there, living as a low-class warrior. To this day, the Prince really wanted to know what it was his mother said exactly. He was sure his father must have misunderstood her meaning, somehow.

What kind of punishment would Queen Serenity visit upon her daughter? For leaving the kingdom and crossing over into another nation without permission from either side… A temporary banishment, maybe? Or would that be a reward for the Princess? Since she was sneaking off in the first place. Either way, it would be burdensome to whatever nation she was sent to. Solitary confinement, maybe? Locked in a cell, no fresh air, no sunlight, only rice and water to eat… His father did that to the Prince once too.

"I'm sorry, Mars." Muttered the Princess, remorsefully.

"Don't be sorry. Lets just go." Venus cast an apologetic smile towards the Saiyans gathered on the Patriot's gangplank. "I think we've imposed on our hosts long enough, and the Queen and King are certainly anxious to have you back."

The Princess stepped forward and joined her fellow Senshi. "Okay, okay. Let's go."

"Ahem." Venus cleared her throat conspicuously.

"Right, right." The girl sighed. Turning back around to face the Saiyans, she flashed a disarmingly charming smile and preformed an equally charming curtsy. Perfectly polished and worthy of the Imperial Court. "I thank you very much for your hospitality, and apologize for any inconvenience I might have caused you."

Oh, now she could behave like a proper lady of breeding. Where was all that charm and etiquette an hour ago when he and his men were trying to deal with her? The two-faced magical bitch!

Still… the Prince had to admit, her smile was quite captivating.

"Do you require an escort to your ship?" The Captain offered at the Prince's side. "Some parts of the port are still unstable after the attack."

All three women smiled coyly. That all-knowing, superior smile women wear when they know they're about to do something surprising and impressive. The Prince was quickly reminded of his earlier unease about the Sailor Senshi and their enigmatic magical powers. His blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Oh, we didn't come in a ship." Mars flipped her hair off her shoulders.

Didn't come on a ship? Then how did they get on the station?

"Ready to go, Chibiusa-chan?" Venus asked.

At the nod from the Princess, all three women formed a circle, joining hands. Their brooches all glowed with a similar sparkle to the wand the Princess used back on the Cutlass. The Prince did not like it.

"Goten." He whispered. "Can you sense anything? Any ki?"

"No." The Captain muttered in answer.

Both Saiyans took minuscule steps back, unsure and wary of the Lunarians and their unquantifiable arcane abilities. This would be the second time in the course of a day that the Prince witnessed Sailor Senshi magic. That was twice more than most Saiyan warriors saw in their lifetime. Yet, he understood their power no better than he did yesterday.

"Sailor Teleport!" All three women shouted, snapping the Prince out of his reflections. There was a flash of light and three streaks of color, one red, one orange, and one pink, went arching out of the station towards the Moon.

The Saiyans stood for several moments staring at the spot they had disappeared from. Blinking in surprise and mild disbelief.

"Well." Goten straitened the collar of the jumpsuit he wore under his armor. "That was… new."

"Did… did they just teleport?" Asked the First Officer, disbelieving. "What technique was that?"

Well, whatever it was, it wasn't Instant Transmission, that was for sure. Still…

"A useful one." Answered the Prince.

…