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Chapter 36

Somewhere in space

Krillen stretched, yawned, and stared into the nearly endless expanse of space. Rubbing his eyes he leaned forward and forced himself to look at the controls he had been trusted with. Their mission timer kept crawling up, forty two days and counting, and their time to arrival kept falling, two hours until orbit.

Looking over to the internal displays Krillen saw exactly what he had expected. Turles, Nappa, and Goku were in the medical chamber, uninjured, but exhausted. Chiaotzu was overseeing their recovery, not lifting a finger in the process. Vegeta was in the training room, gravity set to five hundred times Earth's, and would soon be in the exact same situation as the other Saiyans.

Leaning back in his seat Krillen pressed the small dent on the inside of his arm rest, activating the build in announcement system for the ship. "This is your captain speaking. We will be arriving in Frozen Hell in roughly two hours. We would like to thank you for traveling with Capsule Cosmos..."

"BE QUIET!" Vegeta shouted from the gravity chamber. "SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING!"

"Hey, hey Vegeta." Krillen leaned towards the microphone. "Someone with authority is talking, so shut it."

As an enraged scream bounced throughout the ship, Turles' eyes bulged in his tank. He had known that Krillen was taking a majority of Vegeta's personality on the trip, but that's the last thing he had expected someone, someone who wanted to continue living, to say.

Vegeta shouted through the ships chamber's door as he began shutting down the gravity machine. "I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT TO MY FACE!" He waited by the door as the mechanism shot down from five hundred, to five, to zero. When it slid open, he was greeted by the temporary captain.

"I said." Krillen held a finger in front of Vegeta's nose. "Someone with authority is speaking, so shut, your, mouth."

Vegeta growled through his teeth and snatched at Krillen's offending digit, his hand passing through empty air. "Who the HELL do you think you are, speaking to me like that.

"I, am the captain of this ship. You, are an insubordinate crew member." Krillen returned his finger to Vegeta's nose, and took a step into the chamber.

Instinctively Vegeta took a step back, followed by another, half stumbling. "You are nothing. You are a human. You are..."

Krillen lowered his finger, forming a fist, before raising it once again as he listed the items. "I'm short? I'm human? I'm bald? Which I know you know I shave. I don't have a nose? I can't transform? I only have four fingers and a thumb?" He raised his second hand. "I'm not royalty? I'm not part of your Saiyan club? No, what I am, is tired of you, tired of the way you treat me, treat Chiaotzu, and insist on walking around like you own the place, like you matter, well, hate to break it to you, but you don't, to either. As my girlfriend would say, you have a PH of at least seven point one, 'cause, YA BASIC!"

Krillen snapped his fingers in Vegeta's face, and in response the Saiyan went to snap the human's spine, in his neck. With little effort Krillen ducked under the grab and came up behind Vegeta.

"You're not important, you're not special, you're not anything." Krillen spoke directly into Vegeta's ear.

Vegeta snapped his elbow back, hoping to shatter Krillen's skull. But, for the second time, he was too slow.

Krillen stepped further behind Vegeta and swept the Saiyan's feet out from under him. An elbow to the sternum sent Vegeta to the floor, where he did not move. "Finally, some quiet." He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and slowly exhaled. "Okay, back to work..."

Krillen let out a very unmanly yelp when he opened his eyes. A few inches in front of his, were Chiaotzu's. "What was that?"

Krillen snorted and looked down at Vegeta. "I, I think I lost control there for a moment."

Chiaotzu followed Krillen's gaze, and a blue aura enveloped Vegeta's prone form. "All work and no play makes Krillen a dull boy?" He looked back up and Vegeta began floating towards the medical bay.

Krillen scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess so … sorry about that … I don't know what came over me..."

Chiaotzu smiled and gave Krillen a slight bow. "I do, and I'm glad it came from you before me." He turned and entered the hallway. "Goku, Turles, and Nappa will be in the cockpit as soon as they get changed."

Krillen returned Chiaotzu's smile. "Thanks, buddy. Let me know when Vegeta's okay, okay? I, I think he may have a bone to pick with me ..."

"Don't worry, I'll warn you." In the hall, Chiaotzu turned left and Krillen turned right.

Five minutes later Krillen was back in the captain's chair, and had rotated it to face the rest of the cockpit. Nappa and Turles had taken up seats in opposite corners of the room, and Goku had taken the copilot seat. Krillen crossed one leg over the other and nodded to Turles. In response Turles cracked a smile and activated a side mounted display.

"So, have we settled on how we're going to do this yet?" Turles copied Krillen's relaxed posture. "I think last time we discussed this, we had it narrowed down to three plans?"

"That's right." Goku nodded. "Either we try to go in undercover, we go in with metaphorical guns blazing, or, or plan C."

Krillen shook his head. "Plan C is off the table, or, I'd assume it is … if I were Vegeta, it would be."

Nappa chuckled. "You think you beating him would stop him from challenging Frieza to single combat? He doesn't care how strong he is, or how weak he is in this case, he's confident he'll find a way to win."

Turles slid his finger across the nearest display, moving a poorly sketched Frieza and Vegeta from the top middle of the screen, to the far right. In its place a mushroom cloud popped up.

"I'm not okay with that." Krillen spoke up. "Bulma could be hurt in the chaos, either while we're getting her out of there, or possibly before we even get to her."

"I'm with Krillen." Nappa said. "It would defeat the purpose of this trip if she were to get vaporized before even making it back to the ship."

In response Turles slid the mushroom cloud to a little trash icon in the top right, and the illustration showing Vegeta expanded to take up half of the lower section of the screen. Where the mushroom cloud was, a pair of handcuffs appeared.

"Anyone willing to volunteer yet?" Turles studied each warrior carefully. Krillen raised his hand, but Turles shook his head. "We need you to be the guard, Krillen. The odds of the Frieza Force recognizing Goku, and by familial resemblance, myself, is way too high."

Nappa rolled his neck, a series of loud pops sounding off as he did so. "I'll do it. I don't know if they know I'm alive, but due to my closeness to Vegeta, I'd surely be ..."

"Brought right to Frieza." Turles finished his sentence.

"No." Nappa said. "Vegeta would be brought right to Frieza. I'd be left to rot until Frieza was bored."

Turles shook his head. "It's too risky,.."

Krillen held up a finger. "Idea." He said. "Nappa and I both take a prisoner. They wouldn't have a reason to think he's betrayed Frieza, and if we bring a high value target, we'll be able to distract Frieza, without a battle."

"I don't think I like this." Goku put a hand on his stomach. "What are you thinking?"

"I take Vegeta, as he is." Krillen said. "We come up with a story, Vegeta went rogue, Nappa stayed loyal. I'll be sent with Vegeta to Frieza, Nappa will be sent to take his prisoner to the prison. Chiaotzu would be great there, he should be able to help Bulma escape easily, or at least a lot more discreetly than anyone else could."

"We'd be sending someone to their death." Goku said.

"Vegeta." Krillen corrected. "Is he someone? Yes. Would he be willing to play along to get some face time with Frieza? Well, he'll know what he's getting himself into."

"Just like plan C, we're not sending someone to die if we can avoid it. Also, how would you get out of there? You'd be in the same room as Frieza, and we wouldn't be able to help get you out of there without getting into a fight."

Krillen uncrossed his legs and leaned his elbows onto his knees. "Good point." He looked at the floor. "Maybe a combination of plan A and plan B?"

"As in?" Nappa asked.

"As in." Goku answered for his friend. "Nappa, you take me prisoner, we'll get taken to Frieza. Krillen takes Chiaotzu to the prison for Bulma. Nappa, you'll have a scouter on, and as soon as Bulma is back on the ship, I transform, and we get the hell out of there."

Turles slammed his boot on the ground. "If we're that close to Frieza, and we both know what Frieza is like." He turned to face his nephew. "Why not just finish him there?"

Goku sighed and shook his head. "I'm not going to fight Frieza on an occupied planet. The battle with Cooler didn't get too out of hand, but, but a fight with Frieza, a drawn out fight, it, he, I, could destroy the planet. If, if we're somewhere remote, and we're alone, that's, that's probably okay, but not while Bulma is on the planet, not while you three are there. I'm not going to put you in danger like that."

"If it looks like he'll catch up with you, or beat you to the ship, are you opposed to fighting him then?" Krillen asked. "Even if just to stagger him enough that you could get on the ship?"

"First of all." Goku pointedly made eye contact with each individual. "If I'm not going to make it, because I'm fighting Frieza, because I'm stalling Frieza, or for whatever reason, leave without me."

"Absolutely not..." Turles and Krillen said in unison.

"No, not like that!" Goku exclaimed. "I, I can use my Instant Transmission to get onboard, even if you're not on, the … planet ..."

"Kakarot." Nappa said. "Why don't you just use Instant Transmission to get to Bulma, and use it again to get right back onboard? Do, do we even need to land?"

"Because ..." Goku cupped his chin. "Well ..." He tilted his head. "If ..." He shook his head and smacked his forehead. "Okay, so, plan D it is, any disagreement?"

"Question." Turles raised a finger. "How will you find her? These planets are full of weak powers, and hers will be just one of, well, one of a lot."

"Turles." Goku smiled. "I grew up with her, she's literally the first human aside from my grandfather that I ever bonded with. I will have no trouble finding her energy."

"Well, okay then, anyone against plan Just Teleport in and Grab Bulma Before Anyone Notices? Nappa? Krillen? Uh, Goku?" Turles smiled at each person, and no one made to talk. "Alright then, let's get this party started!"

Two hours later, Vegeta was sedated, and the group was gathered in the cockpit. Nappa patted Goku on the back as they watched the planet fill their displays. "Don't worry, it happens to the best of us."

Goku raised his cuffed hands. 'I don't get it, Nappa, I can sense tens of thousands of energies here, but, but none of them are Bulma." In truth, Goku had a good idea as to why he couldn't sense Bulma, two of them actually, but neither were something he was comfortable voicing.

"Well, it doesn't matter now, you ready, scum?" Nappa grabbed Goku's shoulder and jostled him slightly. Goku nodded, and Nappa looked behind him. "Krillen, how's your prisoner?"

Krillen held Chiaotzu from the back of his robe. "Well subdued." The psychic warrior hung limply in the air. His hands and ankles were cuffed, and his eyes maintained a faint blue glow.

As conversation was made, Turles pulled a trio of scouters out of a large drawer. "Okay, enough chit chat. These are normal scouters in almost every way. The only difference, pinch the top and bottom of the ear piece, while pressing the activation button, and it will switch over to our closed channel. Dr. Brief assumes it will be private, but with Bulma helping the science programs, only use it in case of emergency. Also, if things haven't changed too much, they should automatically download a map of the complex once you're in it."

Nappa and Krillen secured their scouters while Turles kept the third.

"Okay, let's do this then." Goku took a step back and the other three invaders all touched him.

"WOAH!" Turles held up a hand. "One last thing. If you can't sense Bulma, there's no guarantee you'll be able to sense me, to come back. If I don't hear anything in two hours, I'm coming down, okay?"

Goku brought his hands to his face, putting two fingers against his forehead. "Sounds good. Hopefully we'll need you. Good luck when Vegeta wakes up, we'll see you around."

On the planet below:

The two warriors and their prisoners appeared in a narrow sleeping quarters. There were two bunk beds on either side of the room, and two large drawers under each of the four bottom bunks. Opposite of the door was a wide row of lockers. Standing at the lockers were two oblivious snake like members of the Frieza Force, as indicated by their standard issue armor.

Chiaotzu's eyes flashed blue and the two soldiers were ripped off their feet, and their heads were smashed together. Half a second later they were naked, and a quarter second after that they were secured by ropes made of bedding, gagged with pillow cases, and safely stowed in their lockers.

Krillen gave his prisoner a thumbs up. "Great job." He sat Chiaotzu on one of the lower bunks and began changing.

Nappa left Goku where he was, and joined Krillen in the uniform change.

As the pair of uncuffed warriors had their hands over their heads, wrestling the armor over their bodies, the door to the barracks slid open. A blueberry shaped, and colored, soldier, with one horn, skinny arms, and a purple scouter, stood on the other side. Before he could react to the strangers in his room, he was flying towards a freshly opened locker. When Chiaotzu figured out the extra wide soldier wouldn't fit where his comrades had, he quickly switched tactics and decided to hide the man under a pile of blankets that he placed on the top bunk.

"There is no way this room will pass inspection." Nappa said once he had his armor on. "I'm glad it's not mine."

Krillen snickered and picked Chiaotzu back up once he was dressed. "Something tells me Frieza doesn't appreciate his men keeping their rooms in, well, messy at all."

Nappa helped Goku to his feet and turned him towards the door. "You can say that again, now, follow my lead."

Goku was led to the door, and it opened automatically for him. The hall they entered was long and narrow, lined with dozens of doors, on either side, in both directions. Nappa turned left and Krillen, carrying Chiaotzu, stayed close behind him. There were few soldiers in the quarters, and those that they did come upon were too busy cleaning to pay attention to a pair of prisoners being escorted by lost troops.

When they entered the main compound though, eyes were constantly on them. Nappa's ears perked up when he heard his name, and Goku fought a twitch when he heard several people utter Saiyan slurs. It didn't take long for a large green haired man to confront them.

The brute stood nearly a head taller than Nappa, and roughly half again as wide. "Well, well, well." He said slowly. "If it isn't Nappa. Where, the, hell, have you been?"

"Chiz." Nappa bowed his head and forced Goku to his knees. "I've been trying to make my way back to civilization, and encountered this." He rested his elbow on Goku's skull. "Third class Saiyan on my journey."

Chiz leaned in close to Goku, his large neon hair rubbing against Goku's black palm tree. "Something seems, off, about him." He grabbed the back of Goku's neck and shoved his face to the ground. "Ah, that's it. This so called Saiyan, doesn't have a tail?" He put his foot on Goku's back and looked down at Nappa. "I thought you all had tails?"

Nappa shook his head. "We're born with them, but he claims it was cut off."

Chiz smiled and straightened up, leaving his foot on Goku. "What a shame." He shook his head. "After the, destruction, of Planet Vegeta, one of the few remaining Saiyans doesn't have a tail?" He let out a chuckle.

"Don't rub it in." Nappa said. He glanced at his scouter, the hall that led to the prison was just a few turns away, if he didn't get caught now, the odds of him even having to see Frieza were slim to none.

The larger warrior bumped chests with Nappa. The elite Saiyan had to think for a moment about his reaction, before falling backwards, nearly crushing Krillen and Chiaotzu. "You don't tell me what to do, and, and, and who are you?" He made eye contact with Krillen.

"Me?" Krillen pointed at himself. "I'm, I'm..."

"I don't care. What are you doing here? I've never seen you before."

Krillen puffed out his chest and held Chiaotzu's limp form in the air. "I'm transferring this high value prisoner back from medical."

"Medical?" Chiz stepped off Goku, over Nappa, and leered down at Krillen. "Who authorized medical attention, for a prisoner?" He summoned his ki into his palm and held the ball up to Chiaotzu. "Why wasn't he just put down?"

Chiaotzu's eyes flashed blue brightly for a moment, and a psychic bubble popped up around Chiz's attack. Chiz pulled his hand back, but the energy stayed in place. "What the hell?"

Krillen lowered his voice. "His life is more valuable to the Cold Empire than anyone's, every one's, at this outpost. He, he has powers, that our lords plan to extract." He shook his head. "Last time someone threatened him, he took their hand, so consider yourself lucky."

The psychic bubble shrank, condensing the energy. Before hitting critical mass, Chiaotzu opened a small hole in the bottom of it, shooting Chiz's energy harmlessly into the ground.

Chiz scowled. "Figures. No one tells me anything. You, proceed. Monkey, we're going to introduce your friend to Lord Frieza."

Nappa was back on his feet and bowed his head again. With little effort he pulled Goku back to his feet, and the two Saiyans followed Chiz through the compound. Within seconds Krillen had taken a different path, and they were now on their own.

A few minutes later Krillen and Chiaotzu had entered the prison wing of the complex, and were quickly confronted by a pair of armed guards. Krillen gave the same story, and a third member of the Frieza Force sat at a desk and began typing on his computer.

"Prisoner number?" He asked.

"He doesn't have one." Krillen responded. "What part of high value didn't you understand?"

At that remark a pair of energy blasters were pressed into his temples. One of the guards snarled, the other spoke. "Just because his life is valuable, you shouldn't assume yours is as well."

Krillen took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I apologize." He said "Chiaotzu is a special case, and I doubt there is any record of him. I was instructed by my superiors to bring him here, and deliver a message."

"You did half of your mission, but failed at the other." The one behind the computer pushed away from his desk and stood. "What is the message?"

"This prisoner is to be held with the other high value prisoner, the woman, for her study. That is all." He held Chiaotzu out to the larger of the two guards.

The two energized their weapons, but at a wave from the third, they lowered their blasters. "Ah, I see." He spoke. "Follow me." He turned his back to the room and opened a thick metal, swinging, door.

Krillen lowered Chiaotzu, so he was barely off the ground. The pair followed the head guard, and the two others followed. Once they were in the corridor, the last guard in shut the door behind them. The hall was completely dark aside from thin slashes of light bleeding out from cracks between thick doors and the floor, lining both sides of the path.

The five walked down unevenly set metal floor tiles, slowly working their way down, deeper, into the complex. With several left turns, several right turns, and two reversals in direction, they came to the end of one of apparently hundreds of identical halls. A door sat, nearly invisible, closed, at the end of the final corridor.

The head guard flipped a switch and pressed his palm against a slightly smoother than normal panel. The door slid open, revealing a dark room. "Enter." He instructed Krillen, and the monk obeyed.

When he was in the room he held out a hand and summoned a ball of ki. The rooms walls were lined with smooth work benches, dozens of tools hanging over each one. A single cot was suspended from the ceiling by four chains, attached to a winch next to the door. A loud clank came from behind Krillen, and he turned to find that the door was shut and the viewing slot was opened.

The head guard pressed his face against the door, showing only his eyes, one of which was covered by a scouter. "I don't know who you are, but that woman hasn't been here in, well, it's been a while, but you, you didn't know that, did you?"

Krillen released his energy to the atmosphere and shook his head. "No, I didn't. You know how, how these things are, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing."

"You may have a good point, but you can never be too safe when it comes to real, high value prisoners. I'm sure you understand." His scouter illuminated slightly in the darkness. "I'm going to check your credentials, and once you're verified, you'll be free to..." He cupped his ear. "Lord, Lord Frieza. I apologize for the interruption, I only intended to reach your ..."

"Yes, of course, sir. Initiating video." He tapped his ear piece. "This soldier appeared, stating he was instructed to bring a test subject to your … no, he didn't provide a numb … yes, sir, my apologies. We'll dispose of them at once … thank you ..."

The guard turned his back to the room. "You know the drill, men. Clean shots, make it quick, and don't damage the environment."

"Sir?" One of the guards asked. "If we don't want the woman's cell damaged, why did we put him in there?"

The head guard glowered at his subordinate. "If he was telling the truth, do you want to be the one to tell Lord Frieza we delay..."

The man kept speaking, but his voice didn't carry through the bubble of energy that appeared around his head. Nor, for that matter, would any sound have been able to reach his men, through the similar bubbles that appeared around their heads. Small holes were at the base of each, ensuring they could breath, and keep their necks in one piece. But with the slightest bit of exertion Chiaotzu flipped the bubbles upside down, instantly separating the men's heads from their shoulders.

"She's not here." Krillen yelped.

"Let's, uh, find our way back to his computer?" Chiaotzu broke his hands and feet free from their bindings. "Turles could walk us through maybe finding out she went?"

"I, I don't know if this is an emergency." Krillen said. "But I can't think of anything else we couldn't handle ourselves."

As three bodies hit the floor in sequence, a large gloved fist knocked three times on a half iris door. Once the third tap rang out Chiz snapped his left foot slightly apart from his right, and placed his hands behind his back, right palm facing out. Nappa assumed the same posture, and Goku was forced to his knees.

Thirty seconds later the door slowly opened. Inside was an oddly shaped room, with glass forming the walls, hung between a web of black metal. The floor of the room formed half an oval, and the glass structure overhead was roughly half of the longer end of an egg. The tiles in this room were as black as the sky above, and there were only two notable features inside the room. In the middle of the room was a large circular indentation in the floor, glowing blue rings were evenly spaced down its depth, with a solid glowing blue bowl at its base. On the other side of the ring was a very familiar sight to Nappa. Frieza's hover chair was facing out the windows.

With no audible queue, aside from the slight puttering of Frieza's chair, Chiz sharply walked into the room, followed by Goku, followed by Nappa. Chiz stopped beside the ring, stepped aside, and knelt. He gestured for Nappa to do the same, and the two large warriors kept Goku between them. He remained standing for a moment, but at a very assertive hand signal from Chiz, he sank to his knees.

Chiz and Nappa bowed their heads, Goku kept his head high. The chair did not move.

Another thirty seconds later the glowing rings in the indented bowl began to spin in opposing directions, and a semi translucent form rose from it. A rounded crest was the first to appear, followed by angular eyes, big ears and a small nose.

Goku blinked in confusion and turned to Chiz. "Is he a ghost?"

Chiz swung his fist around, smashing into the back of Goku's head. Goku of course barely felt the tap, but let himself be carried to the floor for the second time that day.

When Goku got back to his knees he was face to crotch with an over sized specter of a painfully familiar being.

"Chiz." Frieza spoke as he brought a glass of brilliantly glowing liquid to his mouth.

"Lord Frieza." Chiz lowered his hands to the floor and touched his head to the ground, an action that was copied by Nappa, and disregarded by Goku. "I have brought you two surviving Saiyans."

Frieza looked down upon the somewhat familiar bald headed Saiyan, and for a moment tried to put a name to the face. He then looked at his captive, a true, black haired, Saiyan, not many of those around, and, and this one, this one he knew he met. "If I'm not mistaken." Frieza said before taking another sip of wine. "I killed you, did I not?"

"You did, and it kind of hurt, too." Goku beamed. "I got better though, and it looks like you did as well."

Frieza finished his glass and set it aside. "Nappa, where is Vegeta?"

"I apologize, Lord Frieza." Nappa lowered his forehead to the floor again. "I believe Vegeta to be somewhere in space, but have not encountered him. I did however bring this other Saiyan for you."

"Vegeta, in space. Hmmm." Frieza picked up another glass of shining liquid. "You're returning to duty, are you, Nappa?"

Nappa's stomach twisted. "Yes, Lord Frieza. I apologize it took me so long."

Frieza waved his hand dismissively. "Think nothing of it. You're already proving useful, and I dare think, you're about to be far more useful than ever before. Tell me, Nappa, do you know anything of the imposter that tried to bring a fake prisoner to my favorite pet? Thankfully, she's safe with me."

Nappa raised himself out of a bow to look at Frieza, and than between Chiz and Goku. "Uh..."

Frieza's hologram blinked, and was replaced by a projected image of Krillen and Chiaotzu in a cell. "It's quite a coincidence, isn't it?" Frieza asked. "Someone who I believe to be a human is pretending to be acting on my orders, while you bring me a Saiyan who has pretended to be captured?"

"P-pretend?" Nappa stammered. "I'm afraid I don't follow?"

"Although I am loathed to admit it." Frieza glanced at Goku. "That monkey is powerful. There is no way someone like you could have ever captured him. And, Chiz? I know you are a lot stronger than your brother ever was, but so is that monkey."

Nappa and Goku both gulped, while Chiz's muscles tensed.

"Chiz, if Nappa does not carry out this next order, bring me his head." He took a sip of his wine before spitting it out and dumping it on the floor. " Nappa, bring me the head of that Saiyan, and your absence will be forgiven." He looked off screen. "Whoever opened this bottle, execute them immediately. It has gone sour."

Chiz summoned energy into the edge of his right hand and stood to his full height. Goku didn't react. "Nappa, I can hold him down if you like?"

Nappa slowly got to his feet. Krillen and Chiaotzu were caught. Frieza wasn't here. Who knew where he, or Bulma, were. Why wasn't Goku reacting? What was he supposed to do? "Sure." He nodded to Chiz as he energized the edge of his own hand.

Chiz walked behind Goku, slowly. When he was directly behind the orange clad Saiyan he kicked him between his shoulders. Goku didn't react, and Chiz felt several toes break in his boot.

As if the handcuffs were made of paper Goku reached behind himself and grabbed Chiz's boot. "Frieza, I was hoping it would just be the two of us." He reached out with his other hand and grabbed Nappa's ankle. He jumped to his feet and began spinning the two massive fighters.

Chiz was the main focus of his attention, and he smashed the brute into the floor several times before finally depositing his body in the bowl of the holographic projector. Frieza's image vanished, and Goku released his grip on Nappa. Before the Saiyan could impact the glass walls though, Goku appeared in front of him, and brought him to the ground.

"Sorry." Goku smiled as he looked at Nappa's leg. A ring of bruises went all the way around his ankle, but its mobility didn't seem to be effected, and Nappa didn't make any clear signs of distress.

Nappa nodded, but didn't say a word. He didn't know how this new technology worked, and he didn't know if Frieza could still hear them.

Goku helped Nappa to his feet and closed his eyes. As an alarm began to ring out he snapped them back open.

"INTRODER ALERT! INTRODER ALERT!" The alarm rang out in a synthetic voice before cutting to static, and then to Frieza. "Three intruders. One of which is a tailless Saiyan. Kill the other two, but bring the Saiyan to me ALIVE. I don't care how many limbs he has, but he MUST be alive. GO!" Static filled the air again, followed by "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRODUER ALERT!"

Goku tapped his forehead, and an instant later he and Nappa were behind Krillen and Chiaotzu. "Bulma isn't here. Need to go. Chiaotzu, grab on." He grabbed Krillen's shoulder.

"Wait a minute." Krillen said. "We're trying to find out where Bulma is being held."

Nappa switched his scouter to the private channel. Turles was part way through a string of swears. "Krillen, move. Let me try." Nappa pulled Krillen's chair away from the desk and knelt in front of it. "Okay, Turles, what do we know so far."

"She doesn't exist." Turles said. "We've searched her by every metric possible, species, gender, height, weight, hair color. We've sorted by prisoner value, and ..."

Nappa cut him off. "If she's not listed, then we won't be able to find her."

"That's what I was just telling Krillen." Turles snapped. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Frieza said she's with him. Find him, find Bulma." As Nappa spoke the door to the prison burst open, and Chiaotzu immediately slammed it, creating a shield to hold it closed.

"He was supposed to be here." Turles growled. "Where is he?"

"I don't know." Nappa said. "Our information was out of date weeks ago though, so I'm not too surprised he's gone." He backed out of the system Turles had been searching. "Could we sync our ship to the Frieza Force management system?"

Turles immediately responded. "No, it would give them just as much access to us, as we would have to them."

"THEY'RE IN THE PRISON!" A voice called from outside, and the door began to shake in its frame. Chiaotzu expanded his psychic energy, putting a bubble around the entire room, blocking all exits, both obvious and creative.

Nappa slammed his fist on the desk, sinking its narrow feet into the ground, lowering it several inches. "We should have brought Dr. Brief along, he would've been able to figure something out."

Turles cleared his throat. 'I have an idea." He said. "It's not a good one, but it is one."

"What is it?" Krillen asked.

"We get another ship, one that we can connect and disconnect from the system as needed."

"And, what, just tow it everywhere we go?"

"Why not?" Krillen asked. "We could..."

"Okay, let's do that." Nappa interrupted. "Goku, get Krillen and Chiaotzu back to the ship. I'll make my way to the landing pads and meet you out in space."

"I'll be right back." He extended one arm and both Krillen and Chiaotzu grabbed on. Two pops later and he was back, alone. "Let's go."

As soon as Chiaotzu was gone, so was his shield, and the door began shaking far harder than a moment ago.

"There won't be enough room for both of us in a pod." Nappa protested. "And, you're taking your own pod, aren't you?"

Goku shook his head. "I'll help you get to a pod, and launched, then I'll pop back to our ship."

Nappa thought for a moment and nodded. Flicking through screens on his scouter he located their new destination. Spinning in place he pointed through a wall. "About two miles that way, the easiest way to get there would be..." He tapped his scouter again and the door finally gave way.

"Direct route." Goku said, grabbing Nappa under his armpits. He turned his back to the soldiers flooding in, taking dozens of energy shots to his back. They didn't hurt, but they'd likely leave at least some small marks. He squatted down and leaped up, using his head as a battering ram to penetrate through the reinforced metal roof, through the kitchen, through another roof, and into open atmosphere.

Normally, breathing on this planet would be impossible. However a large generator maintained a constant force field around the military base, holding in air. Not many troopers were outside, but those that were quickly sighted the Saiyans, and several began to open fire.

"THAT WAY!" Nappa pointed, and Goku quickly followed his instruction. A few moments later they had left their previous group of attackers behind and replaced them with a barrage of anti vehicle mounted energy cannons. Before they had spent the last few months training, Nappa would have been killed. Now, he winced, but was able to hold himself together under the constant assault.

Once Goku spotted the ships he quickly corrected his course and touched down beside a group of pods.

"We'll never make it out of here in a ship." Nappa said. "They'll blow us out of the sky the second we're out of the atmosphere."

"Don't worry about that." Goku said. "Get in, get ready, and wait. I'll get you out of here safely. Promise."

Nappa trusted Goku, despite how uncomfortable he was with the situation. He opened the pod and took a seat inside. He fired up the propulsion system, opting to keep the external communication system disabled. Once he was confident he had complete control of the ship, he gave Goku a thumbs up and sealed himself inside. Pressing a small button he activated the pods internal broadcast system. "I'm ready when you are, Goku." He said. "Let me know when to take off."

As he spoke he was watching Goku through the small window in the pod, and was surprised to see him duck out of view. He was more surprised to feel the ship rock, before being lifted a few feet into the air.

"Okay, buddy, three count, and then go." Goku said, not knowing if Nappa could hear him.

"Oooookay ..." Nappa responded.

"One." Goku pushed his energy to the surface, and Nappa felt his power explode.

"Two." They started flying towards the edge of the air bubble, and Nappa nearly lost his cookies when Goku spun him around, upside down. Goku, Super Saiyan form blazing, was rocketing himself towards the edge of space as quickly as he could.

As soon as Goku was above the minimum engagement elevation, the fixed cannons began their attack again. Their blasts were plentiful and powerful, and a normal attack pod would have no chance of escaping the planet. Goku was far too fast though, and the blasts collided with each other well below him.

"THREE!" Goku sank his fingers into the metal of the pod, whirled around, and threw it into the void of space. Despite living in a pod for an uncomfortable amount of time, he didn't really know how they worked, but he could still feel Nappa's energy, and while it felt frantic, it was unhindered.

Turning to face the planet they escaped from, Goku saw several soldiers running towards where they came from, likely to give chase. Raising one hand to the launch pad he released several dozen bursts of energy. Most went to pods, but several others found their targets in the base's defense system. A few energies faded as he destroyed the cannons, and Goku did feel bad about that, but he couldn't risk … Nappa was already safe, Turles was far out of range, he just had to stop them from being followed, and he didn't really have a reason for destroying the cannons, killing the people within them … yeah, they shot him, and Nappa, multiple times, but that was more an irritant than a threat, but, but that was okay.

Author's note: Thanks for reading.

Hikari-J: While that wasn't my direct intent, I was aware of it as a side effect of the other points that were my intent. It has been factored in.