Chapter Forty-One: Jaden's Brilliant Plan

The next morning, the mountains of Ensley

Jaden was the first to wake up; she had always been an early riser,
and Rybanese warriors only needed five hours of sleep a night. Jaden quietly
nudged Chestra and Zarbon, who were sleeping nearby, with their arms and legs
wrapped around each other.

"Hey, wake up!" she urged the sleeping couple in a whisper. Chestra
and Zarbon grudgingly awoke, for neither one of them was the natural early riser
that Jaden was. When she was certain that the two were awake, I continued, "I
have a plan."

"What's that?" Chestra asked, sleepily, her cheek pressed against
Zarbon's green hair.

"We go find some Calmagian royal police officers," Jaden answered,
"and then we allow them to arrest us. Their paralyzing powers have no effect on
any of us five, so we needn't worry about that."

"How come?" Chestra murmured.

Zarbon explained, "Remember when Frieza insisted that all of those
going to Calmag have those special immunizations, my dear? Well, the special
formulas in those shots have made us immune to the Calmagians' paralyzing
abilities. I see what Jaden is saying: if we allow the Calmagian royal police
to arrest us, they will take us directly to the Calmagian investigators because
we are on Calmag illegally. The investigators will then take us to the king and
his advisors to have our fates decided, and then we can attack the important
Calmagians and Astorians-and capture Princess Tayla."

"You've got it," Jaden told Zarbon approvingly. "And I just
happened to hear the voices of some Calmagian soldiers in these mountains. One
of them admitted that they were Calmagian royal police officers." Rybanese
could hear almost as well as Meatians could, hearing things many hundreds of
miles away when they wanted to.

"Let's go then!" Chestra piped up, now fully awake. She stood up,
with Zarbon following her.

"Chestra, will you wake up Crystalis and Pork?" Jaden asked, rubbing
the grit from her yellow eyes. "We won't wake anyone else; just our group is
plenty."

Chestra quickly shook Crystalis and Pork awake, and both Lower-Elite
officers struggled to their feet. Pork, the Meatian, rubbed his electric-blue
eyes that matched his bright blue hair. Chestra smiled warmly at her two first
students; Crystalis, twenty years old, had been her first, and Pork, sixteen,
had been her second. The other Top Elite officers, even Zarbon and Jaden,
thought that Chestra was too "gentle" with her recruits, but for Chestra's first
two times at training recruits, she had not done too badly. Crystalis and Pork
had made it into the Elite by the skin of their teeth, but they were in, and
they could advance, particularly Pork. Having a recruit make into the Elite was
every trainer's hope because it reflected well on them, and Frieza would hold
the trainer in high regard. Having a recruit make it into Top Elite, however,
was the crowning achievement of any trainer.

Pork greatly missed his family, which Frieza had told him died. To
this day, Frieza did not know that Chestra and Jaden had helped Pork's Meatian
family escape; Jaden had reported to Frieza that the Meatians had been executed
during an escape attempt. Frieza had simply accepted her explanation, and to
her and Chestra's eternal relief, had not inquired further.

Frieza, on Balair's recommendation, had decided to spare the Meatian lad because
of the boy's stamina and speed, and Chestra and Jaden had not been able to
smuggle him out of Frieza's clutches. Pork had been assigned to Chestra, a
woman that he still had a minor crush on, even though she told him that she
already had a mate. Pork was unaware that his family was on Calmag at the
moment, and Jaden and Zarbon had told Chestra not to tell him at this moment.
Jaden and Zarbon liked the boy, but they were still uncertain of him, even
though Pork had pledged allegiance to Frieza.

Crystalis, Princess Journa's friend and roommate, had been a slave
like Chestra. Crystalis was not as physically strong as most of the Elite, but
she possessed some odd abilities that made up for her lack of brute strength.
She was from planet Espica, and slave traders from there had captured her and
her family. The slavers had sold her to the Sistrai, which later sold her to
Frieza at a very low price. Crystalis' family had been killed, and Frieza had
destroyed her planet shortly after the Espican slavers had sold her to the
Sistrai. Frieza had considered the girl worthless until he found out about her
peculiar abilities: reading minds of those she touched with one hundred percent
accuracy, and even more unique: the ability to gain the fighting abilities,
fighting knowledge and ki attacks of anyone that she touched.

For example, if she touched a Saiyan, she would automatically obtain
the ability to turn Oozaru; if she touched a Sistrai, she would gain the ability
to liquefy and vaporize herself. The only drawback to this bizarre gift was
that it only lasted for three hours at a time; after that time, the effect would
wear off, and Crystalis would lose those abilities. The latter talent had been
the main reason she had been accepted into the Elite; if it had been based on
her brute strength and ordinary ki attacks, she would have only qualified to be
a low-level. Chestra, the Top Elite officer assigned to train her, had
discovered that strange knack of Crystalis's when Crystalis had accidentally
blown up a small moon, using Chestra's power of telekinesis. Balair, who
normally would not have thought much of someone so much weaker than him, had
been shocked when Crystalis had been able to vaporize herself after pushing him
away to keep him from bullying her. Crystalis could only gain their powers by
touching them; it would not work if they touched her. She could not control
this rare power either, for she would obtain new powers and techniques during
touching even if she didn't want to. Most of the Elite, and even Frieza
himself, avoided Crystalis whenever it was possible that she would touch them.
They really had little to fear, for Crystalis was too shy and timid towards most
of the Elite fighters to try to use their powers against them. She had few
friends, with Chestra, Pork and Princess Journa among them. Even Vegeta and
Balair, who were usually mean towards her, kept a safe distance from her
whenever they could, even though they could still kill her if they wanted.

Jaden and Zarbon tolerated her, as long as she did not touch them.
Chestra had talked them into taking Crystalis with them because she thought that
the Espican girl would be useful by obtaining the Astorian and Calmagian powers
needed to defeat both races.

Pork smiled warmly at Crystalis; he liked her, for she was like an older sister
to him. He was one of the few males who could see past Crystalis's hideous
looks. "Looking forward to this?" he asked her, a bit excitedly.

"I-I think so," Crystalis stammered. "Are you?"

Pork nodded; he had been at an impressionable age when I had given
him to Chestra to train, and he had been an obedient and willing recruit. He
thought that his family had perished, so Frieza's forces had, in a way, become
his new family. He felt guilty about the lives he had taken so far, but those
in higher authority than him had managed to brainwash him for the most part.
Pork was a good fighter, but he, like Crystalis, was too afraid to confront the
higher Elite officers and Frieza directly. It was easier to go along with what
they wanted than to oppose them.

Jaden and Zarbon allowed everyone to have a quick breakfast, which
consisted of freeze-dried eggs, sausages, ham and grape juice. After they ate,
they followed Jaden, flying through the mountains until they came up the
Calmagian Royal Police, better known as the CRP.

"How will we get ourselves arrested, Commander Jaden?" Pork asked.

"Just follow my lead, boy," Jaden told him, chewing a piece of rock
to sharpen her teeth. She spat the rock out and flew down from the sky to
confront the largest, most powerful CRP officer. The others followed behind
her. The Calmagian officers were dressed in blue, stiff uniforms trimmed with
gold belts and buttons, and they wore golden leather boots on their feet.

The officer was muscular, brown-haired and gray-eyed. Jaden
wrinkled her nose in disgust, for the CRP officer had not bathed in weeks, and
she could tell.

The CRP officer spoke in a sharp tone, "Your papers? Where are your
alien's visas?"

Jaden grinned evilly. "We don't need any."

"You do, if you wish to prevent arrest. What planet are you from?
On whose authority are you here on?"

"On whose authority do you have to be asking these questions?" Jaden
asked him curtly, but keeping that same wicked smile, which showed her sharp,
pointed teeth.

"The King's authority, of course! I am Lieutenant Balboun of the
Calmagian Royal Police! Who sent you here? Is this king expecting any of you?"
He gestured to the crowd of ten other CRP officers, who surrounded the group.
All of them pulled out high-tech laser guns and pointed them at the group.

The invaders looked unfazed, except for Pork and Crystalis. Chestra
spoke up coolly, "Is this how you normally welcome visitors to your planet?
Such warm hospitality."

"Answer the questions, woman!" Lieutenant Balboun snapped sharply.

"We don't answer questions," Zarbon told the lieutenant silkily.
"We give them. And we want to know why you need to treat us in such a manner?
You Calmagians must have very poor manners."

One of the Calmagian guards dared to approach Chestra and squeeze
her buttocks. "Luscious thing, aren't you?" the guard, who was three times
Chestra's age and ten times as ugly, leered. "I'll be happy to question you,
myself." Another guard, young and skinny and buck-toothed, grabbed Chestra's
breast and licked her ear.

He wrapped a meaty arm around her and pulled her close to him.
Zarbon saw the scene and before Chestra could react, he fired a ki blast at the
lascivious guard, ripping off his arm. The guard howled in pain, as Chestra
swiftly broke the hand of the guard that had licked her ear and touched her
breast. She then used her mind to fling him into a cliff, breaking a few limbs,
but not killing him.

"Paralyze them!" Lieutenant Balboun ordered.

The guards tried, but Crystalis touched two of them and gained their
paralyzing abilities, and the other guards could not harm the other invaders.
Their paralyzing powers had no effect on the intruders. Jaden broke the necks
of two of the guards, and Zarbon broke the back of a third. Pork and Crystalis
were able to disable, but not kill the other guards; Chestra eventually killed
them off herself. In a few minutes, only one guard and the lieutenant were
alive. The laser guns had had no effect on the invaders, for the lasers could
not even injure them.

Lieutenant Balboun pulled out a radio and called for more soldiers.
Before the invaders from Frieza knew it, dozens more CRP officers came scurrying
out of the mountains. Zarbon whispered something to his comrades, and they all
mutually agreed.

"We surrender," Zarbon told him quietly, putting up both of his
hands. The others did the same.

The CRP officers pointed their laser guns at the invaders.
"Lieutenant, what should we do with these troublemakers?" an officer asked.

Balboun stated, "Arrest them; they will pay for their crimes against
the Calmagian people. The king will probably want to meet these usurpers before
they are executed."

Jaden grinned at the others, and Zarbon and Chestra grinned back.
These Calmagians were idiots; did they not know whom they were dealing with?
Jaden smirked; she couldn't wait until these Calmagians found out they were
members of Frieza's Elite forces. Of course, by the time that happened, not
much of Calmag would be left standing.

"And I thought the Egimarians of planet Egimari were missing a few
bolts," Chestra whispered gleefully. "I thank the Kais that they did not endow
this race with brains."

Zarbon chuckled wickedly, "Fools, all of them."

Pork and Crystalis were shaken, but Chestra hastily assured them in
a whisper, "Don't worry, you did fine. We want them to arrest us, because they
are going to take us right to the Astorians, and they don't even know it yet."
Chestra smiled confidently.

"I can't wait to see the looks on the other Top Elite officers'
faces when they found out they we are way ahead of them in the gain," Jaden
laughed. "By the time the others figure out what we have done, Calmag and the
Princess Tayla will be ours."

"Careful, Jaden," Zarbon cautioned her, although he was feeling as
confident as she was. He couldn't wait to rub this in the faces of Balair,
Dodoria, and Captain Ginyu, but he knew that the war had only started. "We
don't want to count our corpses before they're buried."

"True," Jaden admitted, "but you have to admit, things are going to
a great start."

The CRP officers put restraining handcuffs on the wrists of Jaden and Zarbon's
team. They knew about these restraining cuffs, but they also knew that the
cuffs were not powerful to hold them; they could break out of them anytime that
they wanted, even Pork and Crystalis. A cruiser flew to the mountains and
landed before the opposing sides. The CRP officers led Jaden and the others
onto the cruiser into holding cells on that ship. They locked the invaders in a
small, cramped cell with no light.

The police cruiser flew off into the blue-gray Calmagian sky over
the mountains.





Balair and Dodoria were furious when they woke up and found Jaden
and Zarbon's team missing.

"They went on ahead of us!" Balair hissed. "I told you, Dodoria,
that we should have gotten up earlier! No telling where they went now!"

"Relax, will you, Balair?" Dodoria snapped. "They couldn't have
made it very far." He kicked Bhodie Lett awake, and Bhodie struggled to his
feet.

"What's going on?" Bhodie asked, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.

"We've got to go," Balair told him curtly. "Wake up Diamonique."
Diamonique was already awake, but she was taking her time getting ready,
brushing her icy blue and silver hair. "What's going on?" she asked, annoyed.

"Jaden and Zarbon took their team and went ahead of us," Balair told
her angrily. "I ought to break their necks! How did they manage to get such a
head start?" He was in a grouchy mood, and he had no feminine body to help ease
it; Frieza had forbidden him to take Farla with him to Calmag.

Vegeta, not of Balair's team, floated down from the sky and landed
on the dusty ground. He smirked at Balair and Dodoria, with his tail wrapped
firmly around his waist.

Vegeta chuckled maliciously. "All of you are fools, but then that's
nothing new. I was up before anyone here, and Jaden and her team allowed the
Calmagians to arrest them. I have already sent Nappa, Raditz and Journa ahead
to follow them. In no time, they will reach Princess Tayla's location. Jaden's
plan was brilliant, I'll give her that, but there is one advantage that we
Saiyans have over her and the others. We even have this advantage over you."

Balair snapped, "And just what would that be, Prince?"

Vegeta laughed triumphantly, showing his perfect teeth. "We are the
only ones who know what Princess Tayla looks like."






Captain Ginyu and his men were on their own private ship, a
comfortable luxury ship, courtesy of Frieza. They had already entered Calmag's
atmosphere, and now they were looking for a place to land.

While Ginyu's pilot, Naborki, from the same planet as Jeice (unlike
Jeice, he had green skin and black hair, but he resembled him), was trying to
find a good place to land without attracting the attention of the residents of
Calmag, Ginyu, his men and his Ginyu Girls were practicing their poses.

Captain Ginyu had become obsessed with ballet-like poses, his
favorites including arabesque positions and plies. The Ginyu fighters danced
merrily around the ship, each with a Ginyu Girl in his arms.

Finally Ginyu ordered his men to release the girls and practice
their introductory poses.

Guido was first. He posed upside down, balancing on one finger, with his other
limbs in the air. He twirled about in the air on one thick finger and shouted
triumphantly, "Guido!"

The Ginyu Girls cheered and clapped, and Eclipse, Forlani, and
Mahogany held up signs with single numbers on them. "I give that one
a-six-point-five," Eclipse declared, holding up her scorecard.

Jeice was next, as he twirled about like a ballerina. He then
stopped and spread his arms and legs out in an X pose, with his white hair
flowing in the air. "Jeice!"

The Ginyu Girls cheered again, with Forlani declaring that one an eight (she
harbored a minor crush on Jeice). Jeice blew kisses to all of the Ginyu Girls.
Baata, Reccoom and Ginyu showed off their poses next, one after another, each
gaining a higher score than the others before him.

"Our poses are great, no matter how many times we do them!" Jeice
declared happily.

Mahogany was pleased, but quiet and thoughtful. She was the most intelligent of
all of the ten Ginyu Girls, even Eclipse, in people smarts as well as book
smarts. She liked the Ginyu Force tremendously, but she secretly thought that
they needed to spend more time on their training instead of their latest posing
styles. She wisely kept her thoughts to herself, however.

There were six other Girls besides her, Eclipse, Orlana, and Forlani: Miracle,
Azure, Gira, Lark, Clover and Swallowtail. The other Girls had, like her and
Eclipse, been selected for their beauty, intelligence, talent and grace.
Swallowtail was a Papillonian like Forlani, Miracle and Azure were singers, Gira
was an alien who could shape-shift into any form a male wanted, and Clover and
Lark were professional dancers.

Naborki called out to Ginyu, "Prepare to land on Calmag!"

The Ginyu Force and the Ginyu Girls cheered until the ship started
to shake violently, as if an unseen voice had taken the craft in its hand.

"System failure!" Naborki cried. "Our engines seem to be
malfunctioning!"

"Fix it then!" a panicked Ginyu cried. The others were scared too
because none of them knew anything about fixing a ship.

The ship shook harder than ever, and it began to flip upside down.
Lights began to flicker and smoke started coming out of the control panels.
Suddenly, one of the engines exploded!

"We're going to die!" Guido cried, clinging to Baata, who was
squeezing him so tightly than Guido could not breathe.

"Fix it, Naborki!" Ginyu screamed.

"Can't you do anything, Captain?" Jeice cried in terror.

"How can I? I'm a warrior, not a technician!"

The Ginyu Girls screamed in terror, as they began fleeing to the
escape pods, followed by the Ginyu Force members. Unfortunately the buttons
required for opening the door to the escape pods did not work. Jeice blasted
the door open, but he was too late.

The ship shook harder than ever as sparks landed on the metal
floors. Fires began to erupt, and by the time Jeice and the others were able to
open the pods, the entire ship exploded over one of Calmag's oceans.

"KABOOM!"

First there was a mushroom cloud, then flying blood, body parts and
metal swirling about in the air, and finally a deadly silence so still that a
bird could be heard crying from hundreds of miles away.







Nappa, Raditz and Journa were shocked to see an explosion over one
of Calmag's largest oceans. They had to cover their eyes to prevent the light
from the explosion from blinding them, and they were close enough to the ocean
that the smoke was able to reach them. They had been flying around that large
body of water when they had noticed Ginyu's ship trying to find a place to land.

Journa gasped, "That looked like Captain Ginyu's ship! How did
their ship explode like that?"

Raditz put his hand on his mate's shoulder. He was stunned, but he
shook his head at Captain Ginyu's stupidity. His tail swished agitatedly in the
wind.

"Don't feel too sorry for Ginyu," Raditz told his lover abruptly.
"Frieza told all of us to have our ships inspected before leaving for Calmag,
and Ginyu didn't do that. The Ginyu Force was too busy practicing their
worthless poses to have the ship inspected. This is all Ginyu's fault; he was
responsible for this."

Nappa's chiseled face, which either held a scowl or his nasty
"I'm-going-to-get-you" grin, was shocked and horrified, for his little Eclipse
had been on that ship.

"I've-I've got to make sure Eclipse is okay!" he said in an
unusually trembling voice.

Raditz shook his long mane at him. "There was no way your little Ginyu Girl
captain could have survived that explosion. I doubt if the Ginyu fighters
themselves are alive."

"We have to find out for sure-don't we?" Journa asked, her short,
slender tail moving back and forth anxiously, like a waving stick.

Nappa told her shakily, "Your brother gave us specific orders to
follow the Calmagians who had arrested Jaden and Zarbon's team. He'll be
furious, if we go against his commands." He tightened his tail around his waist
so tightly that it nearly crushed him; he did this on the rare occasions he was
nervous or anxious.

"What about Eclipse?" Journa asked him.

Raditz turned on his scouter to search the area. "Hmm, maybe Miss
Eclipse did survive. Someone did anyway. My scouter is picking up the ki
levels of several life forms, but the scouter can't tell us who or what they
are."

"What should we do?" Journa asked, toying with the end of her little
tail nervously.

Nappa, whom Vegeta had put in charge, was uncertain. He wanted to go to the
site of the explosion to ensure that Eclipse had survived (he cared nothing for
the Ginyu Force), but he knew that Vegeta would be angry, if he didn't follow
his explicit orders. His Prince was determined to capture Princess Tayla and
have his revenge.

"Raditz, Journa," he told them abruptly. "I am going there alone.
You two continue to follow Jaden and Zarbon's team before they get too far
ahead. If the Prince asks, I stayed behind to ensure that the other teams don't
follow us and cause trouble." And with that, Nappa flew away from the two other
Saiyans towards the ocean, where Ginyu's ship had exploded.
Raditz and Journa watched him go; they were amazed that Nappa would take the
time to care for someone else. Of course, Nappa was loyal and devoted to Vegeta
and Journa, but then they were his Prince and Princess; he only tolerated
Raditz. They had never seen Nappa that concerned for anyone who wasn't a
Saiyan.

"He must really-care for her," Journa stammered. "Do you think that
Nappa was thinking about taking Eclipse for his mate?"

Raditz wrapped his unusually long tail around Journa's tiny waist
several times, showing his wanting to comfort, protect and possess her. He told
her quietly, "If Nappa does take Eclipse for a mate, and she will have to leave
the Ginyu Girls. The question is: will Eclipse being willing to do that,
assuming that she has survived the explosion?"

"The mating bond does strange things to people," Journa asserted
positively. Love was really what she wanted to say, but that word was rarely
used among Saiyans, even among the most devoted couples. She and Raditz, for
all of their devotion to each other, had never once told each other "I love
you." The closest they had come to saying, "I love you", was declaring that
they would willingly die for the other.

"Well, maybe what happened just now isn't entirely bad," Raditz
said, with a tiny grin.

Journa was startled. "Why do you say that?"

Raditz's tail tightened around her, as he drew her closer to him
with it. "Because we're alone at last!" he said triumphantly, kissing her
firmly on her lips. Journa slowly, but happily returned his unexpected kiss.





The entire Ginyu Force had miraculously survived the explosion, but
Naborki and six of the Ginyu Girls had perished. Other than the Ginyu Force,
only Eclipse, Mahogany, Orlana, and Forlani had survived. The Ginyu Force had
managed to retrieve the surviving Ginyu Girls and take them to a nearby island.
The worst injuries out of the survivors were Jeice's broken leg, Forlani's
cracked ribs, and Guido's crushed left eye. The others just had bruises and
lacerations. Mahogany, who had been a fully certified nurse on Gemstar before
joining the Ginyu Girls, had been treating everyone's wounds. She had been a
nurse since she was twelve years old. She had gone to Frieza for the first time
when she was fifteen, intending to join his medical staff, but Captain Ginyu had
spotted her that day and suggested that she become a Ginyu Girl. Mahogany had
consented, with Ginyu and Eclipse's persuasions.

Mahogany was cleaning the worst of her cousin, Eclipse's injuries
when Nappa found the survivors. "Eclipse!" he cried, flying towards her and
Mahogany.

A startled Mahogany began to stitch together the folds of Eclipse's
laceration, as Nappa knelt besides the Ginyu Girl captain. "Are you okay?" he
asked Eclipse gruffly.

"Just barely," Eclipse whispered hoarsely, her voice full of tears
for the dead Ginyu Girls.

"Most of our Girls died," Mahogany choked in a whisper. "Eclipse,
Orlana, Forlani, and I are the only ones left. Captain Ginyu's pilot, Naborki
is gone too."

Nappa's tail unwound from his waist and swished about in the winds
with rare sympathy. He took Eclipse's small hand.

"I'm here," he told her gruffly. He made a mental note to break
Ginyu's neck for not doing a preflight check, as Frieza had ordered. He'd just
have to be careful, so that Ginyu would not switch bodies with him out of spite.
Nappa had flirted with other women, but it was Eclipse that he truly cared for.

He would definitely report Ginyu to Frieza once the Calmagian
mission had been completed.

Eclipse smiled weakly at the Saiyan fighter, whom she was slowly growing to
love. Eclipse dared not say so aloud though because she was certain that Prince
Vegeta would not approve. She never thought that a sixteen-year-old boy would
disturb her so, the way that Vegeta did. She pulled Nappa's hand to her lips
and gently kissed it.

Captain Ginyu approached the trio just then. "Eclipse, Mahogany, are you two
girls okay?"

"They are," Nappa snarled, baring his teeth, "with no thanks to
you!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Captain Ginyu snapped.

"You stupid idiot!" Nappa roared, using his free hand to form a
large, ham-sized fist. "Why in the universe didn't you have a preflight check
done before you took your people to Calmag?"

Mahogany stared at Ginyu with stunned, disbelieving eyes. "Captain,
is he telling the truth?"

Ginyu shamefacedly nodded.

"How could you not have that done?" Mahogany cried passionately and
angrily. "Seven people are dead now, Captain! Dead! Do you care for your
Force and your Girls that little? How could you have doomed us all like that?"
She burst into tears and began to sob into her slender hands.

"I-I wasn't thinking," Ginyu choked, mourning the loss of the other
Girls. "I remember telling the technicians to wait until later, so that my men
and I could practice our fighting poses-"

"Oh, you and those blasted poses!" Nappa hissed. "What good are
those poses, Ginyu? Tell me that! I am reporting you to Lord Frieza when this
is over!"

Captain Ginyu paled then under his lavender skin. He was one of
Lord Frieza's favorites, but he knew that Lord Frieza would have his horns once
he found out that he had skipped over the preflight check. And how was he going
to explain the deaths of the others, particularly Azure, Frieza's new favorite
Ginyu Girl next to Eclipse?

"There is no need for that, Nappa," he stammered pleadingly.

Nappa glowered at him. "No need for what, Ginyu?" he said a calm,
low tone full of contempt and hatred. "No need to inform Lord Frieza that you
failed to have a preflight check done on your ship, that six Ginyu Girls are
dead, and that one of Frieza's favorite pilots died also? You'll be lucky, if
Lord Frieza allows you to keep your Force and your Girls. You'll be lucky, if
you are even allowed to remain in Top Elite."

Captain Ginyu looked away from Nappa, knowing that he was right. He
would be lucky if Lord Frieza allowed him to live at all.





Frieza's Control Room, Frieza's Mother Ship

"Sire, one of the ships sent to Calmag exploded!"
Frieza had been gulping down some aspirin (he just had a nightmare of Shalila
Chloe chopping off his head and King Vegeta blasting away the lower half of his
body, and now he couldn't go back to sleep) when he heard this announcement.

"Which one?" Frieza asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible.

"Captain Ginyu's ship, sire." The speaker was an alien from planet
Reznak, a Drydakian Lower-Elite technician who resembled a meerkat. (All
Drydakians resemble meerkats [think Timon from "Lion King"].)

Frieza remained mostly impassive. "Contact Ginyu at once, and ask
if there are any survivors."

"Yes, sire." The Drydakian technician pressed a few buttons, as he
watched the radar picture of planet Calmag, an analog picture at first.

"While you're contacting him, Katon, run a fourth-level scan on the
planet Calmag; I want to be able to see the terrain and any survivors from the
crash, if any," Frieza ordered. This task was possible because the Ginyu Force
had advanced scouters that contained hidden video cameras.

"Yes, sire." Katon hurriedly pressed a few more buttons, and a
perfect video picture of the island where Ginyu and his group where located
popped up on the screen. Frieza could see the blue-gray skies of planet Calmag,
the broken pieces of a ship, and the bodies of three, bloodied Ginyu Girls,
Gira, Swallowtail and Azure. Frieza gasped briefly when he saw that Azure was
dead, but he quickly recovered.

"Captain Ginyu?" Katon urged, "Captain Ginyu, are you there?"
Ginyu's voice answered back through the speakers in the control room. "I'm
here."

"Are you alright, Captain? Are there any other survivors?" Katon
chewed on his thin lip nervously.

"My entire Force survived, but six of my Ginyu Girls are dead. We
are still uncertain as to why our ship exploded."

Mahogany and Eclipse's soft sobs could be heard in the background;
Nappa was trying to comfort them as best as a Saiyan could. Orlana and Forlani
were wailing loudly. Guido was crying aloud over his crushed eye that was now
blind.

"No clue at all, Captain?"

"None at all," Ginyu assured Katon hastily. The wavering tone in
Ginyu's voice made Katon suspicious, but he decided to ignore it for now.

"What are the names of the Girls that survived?"

"Eclipse, Mahogany, Orlana and Forlani."

"Any injuries?"

"Uh…our ship exploded, Katon!" Ginyu snapped sarcastically. "Yes, I
think that there would be injuries! Guido lost an eye, Forlani has broken ribs,
and Jeice has a broken leg. My horns are broken off, but they'll grow back."

"Thank you, Captain," Katon replied, turning to Frieza. "Sire, do
you wish me to question him further?"

"I will contact him myself, Katon, thank you," Frieza told him
quietly. Katon merely nodded, not used to being thanked. Katon dismissed Ginyu
for now and cut off communication with him.

At that moment a gray salamander-like creature entered the control
room. He had a patch of black hair on his head, a pointed snout, friendly black
eyes and a long tail that was like a metal knife with scales. This tail was
mostly metallic, and it could slice through many enemies. His scaly tail
swished gracefully back and forth behind him.

"Skale, good! Glad to see you here!" Frieza told him in an
unusually warm tone. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Anything, sire," Skale told him cheerfully. Skale had been a
former warrior for Frieza, and he had trained under Jaden. Jaden, on a mission
to a distant planet with him, had noticed that the young man (now no more than
twenty-one years old) had superb technical abilities, and she had suggested to
Frieza that Skale would make a better technician than a warrior. Frieza had
Skale transferred to the Technical Division of his forces, and Skale was now a
Top Elite Technical Officer. He was technically Top Elite himself, but most of
Frieza's people didn't consider anyone but warriors to be true Top Elite. Skale
was also from planet Reznak like Katon, but he was a mixed breed:
half-Drydakian, half-Reznakian.

There were two other people with Skale, a large creature resembling
a white rhinoceros with short red hair, black horns, a scaled tail similar to
Skale's and an ugly expression of disdain. The other was a humanoid woman,
middle-aged for her race, but still pleasant to look upon.

Skale was one of three people in charge of the Technical Division;
the others were Minosh, a male Reznakian who was the rhinoceros creature from
planet Reznak, and the humanoid woman, Scout, a female pureblooded Gemstarian
who was no relation to Diamonique and not of the Diamondian Tribe. At
thirty-four years old, Scout was the oldest female Gemstarian working for
Frieza, and she had been descended from the Leaden Tribe, the lowest class tribe
of Gemstar. She did not know Diamonique, Mahogany, or Eclipse very well, and it
was unlikely that she ever would, for most Diamondians looked down on Leadens.
Scout was still beautiful at her age with snowy blond hair and large green eyes
like clear emeralds, but she was considered too old to be a Gemstarian male's
wife, and she probably would spend the rest of her short life serving Frieza.

Minosh was the first cousin of planet Reznak's current ruler,
Reznor, the tyrannical dictator who had conquered Reznak from the inside ten
years ago. Reznor was an important friend and ally of Frieza's (Reznak was one
of Frieza's allies), and he had recommended Minosh to Frieza. Minosh and
Reznor, being from the Reznakian race, considered themselves superior to the
"lesser" races: Drydakians and the half-breeds known as Dreznakians (the mother
was Drydakian) or Rezdakians (the mother was Reznakian), who were considered
tainted because of their mixed Drydakian and Reznakian blood. Consequently,
Minosh never associated with the Drydakian, Katon, whom he considered inferior,
unless it was absolutely necessary. Minosh loved his job with Frieza, but he
hated working with a mixed breed like Skale (who was a Rezdakian). Minosh was
the cruelest of the three who enjoyed creating the hurtful tools and
technologies that helped Frieza's fighters conquer planets.

Minosh and Skale did not like each other, and the only project that
they had ever worked on together were the Saibamen, the green plant-like
creatures that could sprout from seeds. The Saibamen were living beings, cloned
from several species, and they had no thoughts or feelings except to destroy and
kill those who stepped in their path. The Saibamen were invented just shortly
before Vegeta and the others had gone to conquer Astoria, and many warriors had
taken the seeds with them to conquer planets or to use as target practice when
they were training. Both Skale and Minosh were looking forward to seeing how
well their new creatures would do on planet Calmag, for almost all of the Elite
fighters had taken a few Saibamen seeds with them. Skale and Minosh did not
agree on much, but they both approved fully of their newest creations. The
Saibamen were hard to defeat. Vegeta was the first to ever practice on the
Saibamen when he had been just a boy; he had wanted to take some seeds with him
to Astoria, but the Saibamen had not been fully tested and approved yet. The
Saibamen seeds were only released for full use three years ago.

Frieza spoke up just then. "Skale and Minosh, I want you two to go
to Calmag immediately. Take your scanners with you and report to Scout of your
findings on the ship's remains. I want to know exactly what caused that ship to
explode; I'm certain that something can be determined. Skale, I'm giving you an
additional task: you are to get a full report from Captain Ginyu on the ship's
explosion and consequences. If Ginyu objects, tell him you have my permission
to obtain a full report and interrogation; I will give you this letter of
consent from me"-he pressed a rolled scroll into Skale's gray hand-"and this
will ensure that Ginyu gives you a full explanation." Skale and Minosh agreed,
although Minosh was not happy about being with Skale for a long period of time.

Frieza also explained to Skale and Minosh that he wanted them to
find out as much as they could about the Calmagian technology, reputed to be
superb, and to steal any plans or blueprints, if they could.

He then turned to Scout, whose pleasant face was impassive and
unreadable, not revealing any thoughts at all. He addressed her, "Scout, I want
the report of Ginyu's preflight check. Look it up on your data assistant."

Scout pulled out a small, gray, crescent-shaped machine that
resembled a cell phone and pressed two red buttons on its keyboard. She then
typed in Ginyu's name with one finger, and then she pressed the blue button that
would bring up his preflight check report.

The small screen on the machine read, "Status: preflight check
Report Unavailable. Reason: No preflight Check was made before departure for
destined planet."

Scout looked at Frieza nervously. "B-bad news, sire. Ginyu did no
preflight check."

Frieza cursed under his breath. What had Captain Ginyu been
thinking?