Here I am with the next chapter!

Enjoy my lovelies!

xoxo

Pamgie

Previously:

The two men sat in the cramped room for what felt like hours, Dodoria fell asleep standing up by that point, making a horrible gargling sound every breath he took. Zarbon had also succumbed to sleep, having been working non stop for two duty cycles. He was brought out of his slumber by a beeping noise. Startled he sat up in his chair and looked to the screen.

Sure enough, the data console found something. He opened the result and saw it was from the Saiyan database they acquired when they purged that detestable planet. He had the console translate the text under the familiar image to galactic standard. "Capsule Corp."

Zarbon had no idea what that meant, he would have to do some more digging in the Saiyan database to make sure, but this was a start.

"We have a lead!" He shouted, startling Dodoria who almost tripped over himself while coming to.

Chapter 14: Hot on the Trail

"A lead huh? Well it's about damn time! You work so slow toadie." Dodoria goaded as he groggily walked over to the station Zarbon was seated at.

"If this wasn't so important and time sensitive I'd rip your eyeballs right out of your head for your insolence." Zarbon responded as he began scouring the newly acquired Saiyan database for anything about this "Capsule Corp".

"Well? Are you going to tell me what this lead is or do I have to beat it out of you?"

Zarbon raised a well manicured eyebrow in his colleagues direction. "I'd like to see you try." He chuckled at himself. "There's a marking of some kind on the ship they left in. Through the Saiyan database we now have access to, I've deciphered what it says." He answered, not bothering to look back at Dodoria, too busy with trying to get more info.

Dodoria was getting more agitated by the second at his reptilian co worker for his secretive and vague answers. He wasn't the kind of man to read between the lines, he wanted hard cold facts.

"And just what does it say?" He growled out through gritted teeth.

Zarbon rolled his eyes at the impatience of the pink blob, though thankfully Dodoria didn't notice. "Capsule Corp." He replied, not wanting to lose his train of thought with useless conversation.

"Capsule Corp?" Dodoria repeated back, poorly. "What the hell is that?"

Zarbon groaned and stopped his reading. He wasn't going to get anything done at this rate. "That's what I'm trying to find out you idiot! If you'd let me work in peace I might just figure it out in this next century!"

Dodoria laughed and shoved Zarbon's shoulder none too gently. "Relax. I was just curious. Carry on." He sauntered back to his spot near the wall but this time took a seat in a nearby chair, propping his feet up on the adjacent table.

Zarbon groaned in exasperation, none too happy with his current predicament, he returned to his task, digging through the monkey's database for more clues to what Capsule Corp means and why that idiot monkey prince was in a ship with that logo. It took several more minutes and breaking through some firewalls before he found what he was looking for.

"Ho ho, what do we have here?" The amphibious soldier sang. He scrolled down and found records of orders requested and received for pieces of technology from this capsule corp. "So it's a manufacturer of tech hmm?" He said aloud. He began to read the orders

"What's a capsule?" He asked to himself quietly. He didn't want Dodoria to hear that he didn't really know what he was looking at. He supposed it didn't matter right now anyway. What mattered was he found out the ship that detestable monkey escaped in belonged to this capsule corp company and it was based on a backwater planet called Earth, which he had no idea how to pronounce let alone why the Saiyans would even be in contact with this unknown planet.

This new information was certainly perplexing, but Zarbon figured he at least made some headway and transferred the information onto his data pad then quickly strode out of the lab, startling Dodoria from his daydreaming. He jumped up from his seat with surprising speed considering his bulbous size.

"Hey! Zarbon, wait up!"

Frieza's right hand man strode through the corridors with insane speed, causing every low level soldier in his way to quickly get out of the way or be bowled over by his menacing form, Dodoria not far behind.

They reached the chambers of their lord and master, being guarded by two soldiers that looked like they couldn't protect a Parronian fly that inhabited his planet of origin, let alone the lord of this part of the galaxy.

Upon seeing the formidable presence of the two high ranking officers, the guards stood straighter and saluted them.

"Sirs." The scrawny yellow looking one greeted. "What brings you to our lord's chambers?"

"Nothing of your concern peon, now move." Zarbon spoke threateningly.

The round purple man with garish looking antennae sprouting from his head chimed in. "Sorry, but Lord Frieza requested no visitors at this time...sir." He added hesitantly.

Zarbon raised his eyebrow at the statement. "Did he now? Hmm, that is interesting. However, I expect he'll welcome this unscheduled visit. Now move, or I'll rip both of your heads right off your bodies." He sang sweetly, despite the horrifying threat coming from his lips. Dodoria stood behind him looking as bored as ever.Y

The two guards looked to each other with fear in their eyes, but reluctantly stood back allowing them access. Zarbon smiled, smug in his victory as Dodoria chuckled at the two spinelesss soldiers as they made their way in.

"You, know Frieza could kill us for this right?" The yellow alien spoke up.

"Don't worry Grimby, if he's in a murderous mood, then he'll take out those two assholes and hopefully quell his bloodlust."

"I hope you're right." Grimby said worriedly.

The moment the doors to his chambers opened, Frieza's head snapped up and his gaze hardened at the entrance of his two top henchman.

They approached the lizard's floating chair and both kneeled.

"My Lord." They both greeted in unison.

Frieza merely sighed. "Those two bumbling fools couldn't handle one simple order? What is it you idiots want?" He snapped.

Zarbon and Dodoria flinched slightly at the harshness of their lord's words. Zarbon thinking maybe his assumption had been wrong. Maybe Frieza was in such a foul mood that nothing would lift his spirits. He gulped at the thought of what might be done to him if this information wasn't pleasing, but quickly shut down those worrying thoughts and put his arrogant, confident mask on.

"My lord, I have good news concerning the whereabouts of the Saiyan Prince Vegeta."

Frieza's expression turned to one of curiosity, and was that a bit of hope he saw?

"You've found him! I knew I could trust you with this task Zarbon, well done. Where is he?" Frieza sang, a sinister smile growing bigger on his face.

"W-Well, my lord, we haven't found him per se..." Zarbon started and Frieza's smile fell, replaced by seething anger.

"If you haven't found him then why are you even here? Have you interrupted me when I explicitly stated no visitors to tell me you haven't found him?!"

Dodoria would have laughed at the situation if he weren't also caught up in it. He hoped Zarbon got the beating of his pretty little life, he certainly deserved it in his opinion.

"No, that's not it sir, we came to let you know we have an...interesting lead sir. One that could lead to the monkey's capture."

"Really? Well spit it out Zarbon, you're wasting my precious time."

"Y-Yes sir." Zarbon stood, as did Dodoria, as he walked over to Frieza's desk and connected his data pad to Frieza's own. Soon a holographic picture popped up before them of the ship that Vegeta had left the base in.

"I've identified the marker on the ship sir. It's a logo for a technology company called Capsule Corp. It's located on a planet called E-yarth." Zarbon horribly mispronounced the name.

"Interesting. Go on." Frieza waved his hand.

"Apparently the Saiyans were doing business with this company. Buying unknown technology from them for years, right under our noses."

Frieza didn't like the sound of that. So that weaslely little monkey king was doing business with a non-PTO planet without his consent?

"And where is this planet located?"

"I haven't gotten that far in m-my research my lord, but I'm sure it won't be difficult to find it."

Frieza huffed with impatience. "I suppose it's something isn't it. Well, Dodoria, I want you to alert everyone In this part of the galaxy and send the holophoto to to every PTO planet and outpost. Have anyone with any news of it's whereabouts contact me immediately."

"Yes Sir." Dodoria saluted, bowed and left the room.

"As for you my dear Zarbon, if you EVER enter my chambers unannounced again I will kill you. Understand?"

"Y-Yes my Lord." Zarbon spoke quickly and quietly.

Frieza chuckled, enjoying the fear he invoked in his first in command. "Very well. Now go and find out where this planet is. I'd like to have a word with whoever runs this Capsule Corp."

"Yes Sir." Zarbon saluted and bowed just as Dodoria had done and left the room.

"I'll have you in my grasp soon enough monkey prince. No one hides from Frieza, NO one."

Goku rummaged through the fridge in the common area, finding nothing there that looked satisfying, he moved to the cupboards and began tossing boxes and packages out onto the floor.

That's where Bulma found him, on the floor surrounded by boxes of cereal and bags of dried fruit and jerky, pouting while he wolfed down the last package of crackers in his hand.

"What the hell Goku? What are you doing?"

He looked up to Bulma with crumbs littering his face, some cracker still in his mouth. "There's no food here!" He whined, his words mumbled by a mouthful of cracker.

"Well there isn't now is there? Did you stop to think that maybe you should leave some for the rest of us? Is there any food left at all? We still have two days of travel until we reach Namek!"

Goku looked sheepishly at her and chuckled. "Gee, sorry Bulma. I was just so hungry this morning. I couldn't help it."

Bulma sighed just as Vegeta walked into the room as well.

"What the hell Kakarott? What is this mess?!"

He looked back and forth between his two friends at their similar facial expressions and they both had their arms crossed in front of their chests and smiled slightly. They really were so much alike.

"Get that stupid grin off your face and explain yourself!" Vegeta growled.

"Sorry, I was hungry." He answered as he stood up and dusted crumbs off of his gi.

"So you decided to eat almost all of our rations with only two days of travel left? You want all of us to starve?"

"Sorry, I didn't think of that. Couldn't we just stop somewhere quick and get some more food?"

Vegeta face palmed at that. "It's not that easy Kakarott. But I suppose we'll have to now." He strode over to the com panel by the door. "Turles, Namekian, meet me on the bridge. Now."

Vegeta nodded to Bulma and they began to leave, Goku following them.

Once they were all present Vegeta explained the situation. "Thanks to Kakarott's stomach, our rations are now extremely low. We'll have to stop somewhere to get more if we want to make it through this mission."

Piccolo and Turles glared at the Saiyan who rubbed his neck in nervousness. "Sorry guys, I had an intense training session and was starving!"

"That's no excuse for not thinking of the others on this vessel Goku." Piccolo Snarled. "You've set back this mission and put us in a dangerous situation."

"It can't be that bad. We'll find some more food in no time!" Goku supplied.

"Well I suppose I'll need to search for an outpost or something." Turles chimed in and sat in front of one of the consoles, going through their maps. Everyone stood around in silence for a few minutes until he looked up and smiled.

"We're in luck!" Turles said smugly.

Vegeta's eyebrows rose in surprise and he walked over to the console to take a look for himself.

"See, it's actually not that far out of our way, we'll only add 10 hours to our trip." Turles said as he pointed out a planetoid on the map.

Vegeta followed Turles' finger and saw that indeed there was a small trading hub on a planetoid only slightly off their trajectory, and there was no indication it was affiliated with the PTO. They were indeed lucky.

"Good. Set the coordinates. Turles, once we land, you and Piccolo will acquire the rations. Bulma, go into the kitchen and inventory what we have left. We'll need to know what to get."

Bulma nodded and left to do her task, glad that she was being included.

"What about me?" Goku asked.

"You, will find something else to occupy your time until we arrive, then, you and I will guard this ship until they return. I'm not letting you out of my sight." Vegeta commanded.

Goku's face fell at that, not liking having to sit there while everyone else got to do something. "How boring." He whined.

Vegeta sighed in frustration. Was he dealing with a child here? "Deal with it." He replied as he sat down at a console himself, calculating how long it would take to get there.

Thankfully it didn't take long at all, just a few hours and they had arrived at the tiny planetoid, which was more like a glorified asteroid with an atmosphere. Bulma's inventory indicated they would need about 500 pounds of meat, 500 pounds of grain, and 400 pounds of some kind of fruit or vegetable. She over estimated since she was on a ship with three full grown Saiyans.

She handed Turles and Piccolo the list and a capsule to carry it all in.

"Here, take this with you." Vegeta handed Turles a round plastic disc. "You're credit chip?! Won't this be tied back to you?" He asked.

"This one is not connected to my name, just an unmarked bank account." Vegeta replied .

Turles nodded and stuffed the disc into a small pocket in his armor.

"Be quick. I don't want to be here any longer than we have to be."

Piccolo and Turles nodded as they debarked the ship.

The ship was parked by what appeared to be an abandoned building on the outskirts of the outpost partially hidden by a cluster of strange looking trees.

They quickly came upon what appeared to be a general store. Inside they found a gruff looking old man with grayish skin and wiry hairs sprouting from his head and arms. He raised his head from the counter top to nod curtly at his new customers. It looked as though their presence had woken the guy up from a nap.

"What can I help ya with?" The man drawled in galactic standard.

Turles walked up to the counter and began reciting the list off to the man, not noticing the man's eyes widening at the amount of food needed.

"Are you guys feeding an army or somethin'?" The old man asked.

Piccolo chuckled "Something like that. Do you have what we need?"

The store owner rubbed his scruffy chin in thought. "Well, I do, but you'll be cleanin' me out. It'll cost extra."

"How much?" Turles asked.

"100,000 credits." The man supplied quickly.

"100,000?! Are you kidding me old man? That's outrageous!" Turles yelled.

"Well if you want the food, that's what it costs." The man supplied.

Seeing the situation they were in, Piccolo decided to step in to make sure Turles didn't just kill the man and take the food. They didn't want any unwanted attention.

"How about 75,000 and we'll help you gather it all together."

The store keep took a few moments to think it over. "85,000." He countered.

"Deal. Turles give him the credit chip."

Turles sighed and prayed to the mighty Ozaru that Vegeta had enough credits on the thing. He pulled it out of his armor and placed it on the counter top.

The store keep eyed the chip as he held it in his hands. "PTO, are ya fellas? This chip is an older model but no doubt it's PTO issue."

Piccolo and Turles eyes practically bugged out of their heads, but Turles composed himself in time to respond. "Yea, we're on a long term mission. Didn't know they had new chips now."

"Long term is right, I haven't seen one of these in decades." He commented as he rang up their purchase. "Lucky for you, it was accepted." The man smiled as he held out the chip for Turles. He sighed in relief that the chip worked and took it back.

"You two can go in the back and get what I have in the store. I'll head over to my warehouse and gather the rest. And don't think about taking anything you haven't paid for...I'll know." He said darkly and ambled out the door and started walking down the street.

The two men walked into the back and got started on their work.

The store keep walked to his warehouse and went around to the back entrance. He noticed some kind of ship nestled between the trees and figured that must be his customers vessel. Out of curiosity, he walked in that direction until the ship was better in his sight. It wasn't any kind of PTO vessel he'd ever seen in his years working in outposts through out the quadrant. The symbol on the side was also unrecognizable. How strange. He shrugged his shoulders and walked back to the warehouse to get the supplies. The important thing was how many credits he'd have in his bank account.

It wasn't long before Turles and Piccolo had gathered everything at the store and capsulized it. "I sense his energy in that direction." Piccolo said, pointing toward where they had come from.

They both looked at each other, hoping that the man hadn't seen their ship. Piccolo was the first to voice the concern.

"It's probably fine. This place isn't under the PTO's thumb and I'm sure he's seen plenty of ships in his time." Turles supplied.

"I hope you're right." Piccolo replied.

They soon found him around back, with their ship partially in view. He had several pallets piled high with food.

"There, this should do it. You fellas want some help loading this onto your ship over there?"

"No thank you, that won't be necessary." Piccolo said as he pulled out the capsule and threw it at the supplies, enveloping them in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared everything was gone.

The store keep looked astounded. "Now that's some fancy tech! Never seen anythin' like that! How does it work?"

"Hell if I know." Turles answered. "Thanks old man." They waived and walked toward the tree line.

"Pleasure doin' business with ya." The shop keep said as he waived goodbye. Once they were gone, he made his way back to his shop. He would need to resupply now.

He walked back to his office and sat down in front of his data console, turning it on and looking up the days news first, since he like to stay in the know about things.

"This is an alert from the Galactic News Network. Straight from lord Frieza himself. The PTO is searching for this vessel, containing some very dangerous people. If anyone sees this craft please contact your nearest PTO base, There is a reward of 1 million credits for any information."

A picture of the very ship he saw behind his warehouse flashed across the screen. The shop keep warred with himself on what to do. On the one hand he was never fond of the PTO, but on the other he could be 1 million credits richer. With his mind made up, he switched the screen to his security satellite and watched as the ship left the atmosphere. They were headed in the direction of the only inhabited planet in the area besides his little planetoid. He dialed the number for the nearest PTO base, 1 million credits dancing in his head.

Sorry for the shorter than normal chapter. I guess I feel like I've been writing filler lately and wanted to get things moving a bit more. There's a lot of action ahead and I'm excited for it!

Thanks for reading lovelies!

~Pamgie