Goku's eyes followed a pipe framing the ceiling, concentrating on the smooth piece of plumbing helped him amass his thoughts. He was regretting his decision to merge these two parties together. At the time it appeared to be the safest option, but after witnessing the volatile reaction between Bulma and the Prince, it had him questioning his judge of character. Did he just keep the company of augmentative people? He glanced at his brother slumped in a passengers seat, who had taken off his breast plate in a vain attempt to find comfort. Then at Krillin, who met his inquisitive gaze with suspicion. Goku shook his head, those two were just as different as Bulma was to Vegeta. However Radtiz's hands were still yet to come into contact with Krillin's neck. And then like a cuckoo clock chime, he realised that perhaps it was not because they were different, but because they were similar. Likeness doesn't always breed friendship he concluded, and proceeded to congratulate himself on such a great line, he would definitely have to pass that one on to Krillin.

But like the pipe, as it began to meander down the communal space, his thoughts then turned to a more serious note. Would Bulma's petty behaviour put everyone jeopardy? He hoped not. Perhaps if they had met at different time, a nice social gathering at Capsule Corp. headquarters with a big buffet, then everyone would have been the best of friends. Goku was convinced that there was no problem breaking bread could not solve. Nonetheless he chuckled under his breath, as he realised that even with a flurry of hors d'oeuvres (or as Goku called them hoity mini snacks), Bulma and Prince Vegeta probably still would have acted like this.

When his gaze finally reached the end of the pipe that disappeared through the partition wall, Goku reached his conclusion; Bulma had to know the truth, it was the only way the insure their safety. He was confident the proverbial coast was clear, the playing card in his large hand was bending slightly, Vegeta's ki had not moved from the upstairs chambers for a while.
'Snap!' He shouted placing his card on top of the pile. Krillin let out a sigh of annoyance and began to reshuffle the deck. The Saiyan saw this as his opportunity, he leaned over to Bulma in the cockpit section, his voice a whisper, nothing was going to interrupt him this time.
'Bulma you should be more careful with what you say to the General. There's something I have to tell you about -.'

Her palm separated them, 'I think I can handle him. He's a spoiled man-child. That's what happens when you have a terrible class system.' She chimed.
Goku rolled his eyes, and rested his elbow on the black leather pilot's chair. He would not claim the Saiyan system was perfect, but neither was Earth's. Chi-chi had spent years campaigning for better schools and sewage systems in the Paozu area.

'No Bulma you don't understand. I really have to tell you about who he -.' The youngest Saiyan suddenly froze as the automatic doors opened.
Unaware, she turned to him with an annoyed grunt. She did not want any disturbances whilst she was trying to re-calibrate the engines to support such a detour.

'Fine! Just spit it out G-' Her mouth snapped shut upon seeing the General standing above her, with his rigid posture and folded arms.

'G-Kakarott- about the upgrades to the ship.' She hastily finished.

'Getting friendly are we Kakarot?' Vegeta tilted his head up and squinted at the youngest Saiyan and then at the women.

'No Sir. Bulma is showing me her other feats of engineering. Inventions that could really help the Empire.'
Vegeta let out a suspicious hum. 'I truly doubt that', he muttered.
Bulma rose out of her chair, imitating his defensive stance. 'I'm the best of the best. Your Empire would be lucky to have me as an ally.'

Krillin watched as Goku awkwardly stepped between them; an image of a man ardently whipping a deceased equine was aroused in the monk's mind.
'Sir what are your orders?' Many years of marriage had rendered Goku a master of changing the subject.

Vegeta turned his back to the youngest member, crossing into the communal area, he stared down at Raditz. The Prince awoke his subordinate with a kick between his ribs. He was winded on impact and gasping for breath. Goku turned to his friends, slowly waving his hand in a calming gesture, mouthing he's fine. Vegeta, who continued to focus on Raditz, as if his pain was unlocking an enigma, composed himself and continued his conversation with Kakarot.

'Well, If you had been paying attention instead of fraternizing with the captives.'
Bulma's yelp of ire was heard in the background and Vegeta secretly paid it heed; it gave him a strange feeling similar to besting someone combat, and continued to speak.'My scouter has indicated we will be at the vessel in T-minus ten galactic minutes.'

Bulma looked out the cockpit window with curiosity. Unlike Capsule Corp. vessels that were spherical, she could only liken the shape of this vessel to a shaving razor. She presumed the curve of the hull was to slice through the vast vacuum of space. There was a divide between the large stem of the ship and the outer frame that connected it together. Small exhaust ports and various designs of engineering to which she was unaccustomed, lined the gap; this had to be the propulsion mechanism, she concluded. What she would not give too see this piece of machinery in action. But to her disappointment, the ship was floating there lifeless, like a drowned cadaver washed up with the tide. It was surrounded by an ethereal haze of light. She peered and tilted her head closer to the window, trying to find the particles on the ship, that were slowly moving due to the gravitational pull of a nearby celestial body. The vessel was covered in slight damage and scorch marks, some seemed to be quite old, mere aesthetic damage.
The Earth woman sucked in her breath, as she began to pilot C.C.2 manually, edging it closer like a claw machine at the fun fair. Raditz, now fully dressed, loomed over her, giving her strict instructions as to where to dock.
'It seems that the artificial oxygen and gravity are being are being supplied by the reserve power.' His gaze was firmly fixed upon the viewing window.
There was a firm clunk. As the pistons and valves started to create a seal between the two ships.

'Prepare to board weaklings!'. Vegeta barked as the two Saiyans hurried towards the main door of the ship.

Bulma rearranged her black hairband. The Prince turned and watched her blue hair cascade around her shoulders.
'So .. I take it you want us to the stay with the ship.' She smiled, leaning atop of Krillin's shiny head.

The woman's attempt at guile infuriated him. 'No! you're coming with us. I would not trust you if you were the goddess incarnate!'
She arched a brow, and had a sudden curiosity to see a depiction of the Saiyan Goddess.

'Fine.' She muttered and tossed her gun on to her back.
'Oh no woman- By order of the Saiyan Empire, you are forbidden to carry that weapon. Give it to me.' He waited with his palm open and empty.
The remaining passengers aboard the ship turned to see her response.
'No-'
Vegeta began to growl.

'Jeez Bulma, just do as he says. Then we can go home.' Krillin interjected, slouching his shoulders forwards.
The Prince waited for a single word to pass her pink lips, but she remained silent and thrust the gun into his hands.

'The small one is wise.' He smirked, and looked on at her blank expression. It felt like a insipid victory.
He tightened his fist around the weapon; it turned to shrapnel between his fingers.

'You bastard!' she shouted. The sound of his laughter echoed of the walls. Radtiz spied it with suspicion.
As abruptly as the laughter began, it was suddenly silenced. Vegeta scowled. His inner voice was chiding himself, laughter was not the traits of the ruthless warrior elite.
'As soon as we return to the next Saiyan base, you will immediately hand over the blueprints to this weapon. Or I will vaporise the bald one here! Do you comprehend?!'

Suddenly Goku's large hand landed on her shoulders —a secret message of reassurance.
'She will do it Sir. I will see to it.'

Kirillin scowled at Bulma. He wanted her to feel all his blame in his stare. She turned her head in defiance, and was secretly grateful that humans were not telepathic. He'll get over it, she reassured herself.

The small beeps sounded from the control panel.

'Ok guys time to board!'

'I will be the one giving the orders woman!' Vegeta spat.
A pregnant five second pause followed.

He dramatically cleared his throat and repeated the order.

The group's steps echoed off the empty corridor. Darkness surrounded them, a smell of rusty metal wafted in the air upon boarding. A small amount of illumination was created by the torches on the Saiyans' scouters, but whatever was not in their direct field of vision, was masked by obscurity. This reminded Bulma of some cheesy horror film, she had seen with Yamcha when they were teenagers. She was convinced a jump scarewas going to happen at any moment. Like a magnet, her arms quickly clung to Goku's, then she snapped over to Krillin upon remembering the roles they were playing in this farce.

The group came to a halt, the Saiyans had seen something. A large symbol clumsily painted in orange. It was a semi circle with no line of symmetry, and the right end, diverged into a diagonal line that cut straight through the centre.
'Case closed; it was the work of Ghurdi pirates.' Raditz touched the dried paint.
The tip of Vegeta's tail flicked, in his pensive state, he recalled the suspicion of his father,' I want to see more.'The Prince opened a nearby access panel, embedded in the side of the wall.
'Blasted thing is broken!' He snarled, as his fist dented the wall.
He paused and a sinister smile crept across his face. Raditz had not seen that expression since their mission on the moons of Minrhyd. A devious act always followed that face.

'Why, it so happens have the Earth's greatest engineer here to fix it.' Vegeta looked at Bulma. The Prince was fully aware that the system was beyond repair, but it was his vindictive nature that wanted her to fail. This task would be the perfect opportunity to help erode her spirit.
She swallowed, 'No problem.'

He turned to his squadron, 'You will all search the ship. If you find anything that might be suspicious, contact me immediately.'
Vegeta then cast his dark eyes at Krillin. 'Raditz, the bald earthling will accompany you.'
They affirmed their orders and separated.

His attention returned to the woman. And so did his smile at the thought of her failure. He imagined her face of panic, apologising to him, her hair falling around her pale features as she bowed her head in defeat. It was titillating. He was greedy for this mischievous excitement, and why should he not plunge the knife in deep after what she did to him earlier?
That's when Vegeta leaned in behind Bulma. His objective was to sound threatening; he would whisper sinister words quietly in her ear.

'If you are not able to fix this and and obtain the ships logs. I will obliterate your entire planet...'. There was a pause. At first it was for dramatic effect, but then it was out of curiosity. Her scent was faint, but he he wanted to smell it. '….With a single finger.' He continued, his voice becoming more breathless.

Vegeta had observed the subtle social gestures of these Saiyanoid-like creatures; without a tail, their emotions were more facial and corporal. He awaited her response. The Earthlings knew something. It would be up to him, Prince Vegeta, to squeeze it out them. Especially the woman, yes, he would have to squeeze her, as his gaze fell on her ample chest.

A strange heat was building up inside of Bulma as the General's tongue rolled on his words. She felt his presence awkwardly hover behind her, as if he were indecisive, almost confused. On Earth he would be a creep. Of course he found her irresistible, what self respecting male wouldn't? But she wanted to play with the General too, he was by no means unattractive.

She tilted her body back and pressed it against his. He could feel her warmth, her shape pressing against his armour. The nape of her neck was touching his nose, the smell of her skin was now unavoidable. It ignited primitive feeling in him, a subconscious enjoyment in which he began to lose himself.

Her burst of laughter was sharp and juvenile, slicing through his trance. In a split second, he had retreated to the other side of the corridor. Tension ran through his muscles, his shoulders were large, and his tail although loose around his waist was puffed. He growled under his breath, and began to march into the main rooms of the ship.

That impudent wench was mocking him. A storm of contempt was whirling his thoughts into a frenzy. It was a melange of his own embarrassment and shame, directed at his lack of professionalism, his lack of sheer propriety and how he had allowed a mere carnal desire strip him of his defences, lowering him to behaviour common among the lower classes. An incantation passed his lips; the woman will rue the day.

Bulma watched the small Saiyan, leave in ire. She giggled into her palm about his overly dramatic reactions. The sound of her battery pack starting up reminded her that there was a job to be done. She cracked her knuckles; It was time to make this baby purr.

The foot steps of the explorers echoed throughout the and Krillin entered through the the first door on the corridor.
'Ok, so if I remember the schematics of these vessels...' Raditz begun, when talking about ships he suddenly became far more eloquent. 'The majority of these rooms are for storage. My scouter isn't picking up any large power levels...So the crew must be-'
'Toast.' Krillin interrupted, as before him laid mutilated bodies of what appeared to be scaled bipeds.
Raditz touched his scouter, 'General Daiko we have found the Mordaxi members of the crew'. He nodded, 'Affirmative'.
'Earthling, you will rendezvous with Kakrott in the next storage room.'
'But I can't see.'
Raditz rolled his eyes. He walked over to the charred remains, patting them with his foot and then grabbing something from their remains. Krillin began to retch. The Saiyan snapped the device and began to shake it. An aura of pink light was emitted from his hand. He launched it at Krillin, who was reluctant to catch something that came from a dead alien.
'Now go on.' Raditz pointed towards the next door.
'But this...' said Krillin with a look of disbelief at the object, '...this is a glow stick.'
'No, it's a Mordaxi illumination device.'
Krillin started to leave, 'well then, these Mordaxi must go to a lot of raves, using their glow sticks! Because that's what it is.' He muttered under his breath, as he began to imitate the sound of techno music and wave his light. Yet, once Raditz was out of sight, the monk realised he was completely alone. A peculiar fear began to rise in the back of his mind, that perhaps some unknown creature was still on the ship. Krillin composed himself, and concentrated on Goku's ki. That was his target as he crossed through darkness, and into the other storage room.

Goku greeted him cheerily; however, the strange feeling did not subside.
'Goku I think we should leave this place asap.'
'Ah, you feel it too huh? Don't worry that will go when Bulma get's the lights.'
'Well ok.' He sighed, despite his best friend's confidence, Krillin was still anxious.

Goku placed his hands in a pondering motion, 'The most expensive cargo has been left.'
Krillin looked at the empty crates labelled Briath stones.
'Saiyans don't care about diamonds?'
'Not really, those are used for energy purposes, but look here-' He pointed to an abundance of crates, all stocked full of round vials containing blue liquid.
'I'm not sure about the other jewellery but the wine – that Mordaxi stuff sells for millions! Every pirate would know that. I better tell my brother.'

Raditz stood over the bodies of the Mordaxi. They looked horrific and quasi decayed. The odour of rotting flesh was beginning to permeate the air. He heard the boots of another slapping the ground. Vegeta peered his eyes at the sight, and folded his arms.

'Have we located the remains of the Saiyans stationed aboard?'
'No Sir.'
He continued to stare at the mess and began to inspect the bodies, the lack of light made the scene look more horrific. The smallest Saiyan looked apathetic.

'Was this really the work of Ghurdi pirates?' Vegeta questioned.
'Well yeah – they left their symbol everywhere... almost like they wanted us to find it.'
'So you have finally realized that they may be exaggerating, their presence. It is most suspicious, Private.'
Vegeta moved his hands over the Mordaxi, he traced his hands over the wounds.
'Someone had to decrease their power level to do this. They wanted to make a spectacle out of the bodies. We all know the Ghurdi are incredibly weak and cowardly-'
Suddenly the lights came, illuminating the whole ship. Vegeta furrowed his brow, annoyed at the woman for interrupting his train of thought. The symbol behind the remains was clear now, a duplicate of the one in the corridor.
'There were two Saiyan elites aboard.' He gestured to the room. 'Why is there no sign of a scuffle on the ship?'
'A Ghurdi boarding party would be no match for one Saiyan!' Raditz shouted.
'Exactly!' Vegeta continued. Suddenly Raditz scouter beeped.
'Sir. My brother has found something.'
'Get the woman to check when the Saiyan officers updated their last log and when the warning alarm was triggered.'
'Yes Sir.'
Vegeta looked on at the bodies, feeling like a cog in the machine.

Raditz tapped Bulma lightly on the shoulder.
'Well would you look at that! You did it!'
'Yeah it was nothing,' she giggled. Her confidence was masking that she had seen this technology before, but General didn't have to know that.
'Have you been able to access the ships records?' Raditz asked, hunching over to see the cables connected to Bulma's small energy device.

'Yeah, I think I have recovered most of it. Can I borrow your scouter?' She said absent-mindedly, whilst monitoring the energy output levels.
Raditz was hesitant at first.
'I won't be able to do this without a translation device.'
'Oh ok.' He unhooked it from his ear, a softly threw it in to Bulma's lap.
She began tapping on the access panel.
'Hmm so it says there were delivering goods from Mordax-sei to Vegeta-sei. The last entry was made by the Saiyan Private Cabba.'

Raditz's face creased with familiarity and warmth, 'Oh Cabba – I knew him. He was a recent recruit. He was quite strong, his power level was good too. Top of the class, got to be stationed under Prince Vegeta for a mission because of it.'
'Really?' Bulma looked up from her work, she was curious when it came to the Prince. Any images of the royal family were not on the database. She always wondered if he were handsome, or incredibly tall and well built like most Saiyans. Goku had always spoke warmly of him, but Goku spoke that way about everyone. So when another opinion could be given on the Prince, she wanted to hear it.
'Yeah, the kid idolised him. Not sure why.' Raditz whispered.
Her urge to inquire about the Prince's marital status decreased.

'If he's anything like the General?'

If Bulma had not began to look at the panel again, she would have seen a very awkward looking Raditz.
'No.' He responded bluntly.
'Who was the other Officer?' He asked, trying to change the subject.
'His name was Captain Kuucom-'
'You would have known that, if you had read the mission brief.' The small Saiyan interrupted.
'Sir.'
Bulma turned away from the panel, Raditz's scouter framed her feminine features.
Suddenly, Raditz felt himself being yanked down by the scruff of his neck. 'You idiot! One thing I will not tolerate is insubordination. Do you know what secrets she could be stealing?!'
'Do you want to hear the log?'. Bulma interrupted, appearing undaunted by the outburst of aggressive behaviour.
She looked up at the General with her large eyes, and continued, 'You asked me access the logs, my power supply is barely holding this ship's computer together. I needed the scouter, Raditz only did it for the good of the mission.'
'Fine.' Vegeta conceded with a sigh, not before throwing Raditz across the corridor.
'Go see your buffoon of a brother! And you, Woman, the log.'
'You know, people would want to do things for you, if you were polite to them.'
'I don't need your advice.' He turned away from her and clicked his tongue.
'Sure.' She chimed. 'Ah Here it is: "Second lunar cycle of Bolle, Private Cabba updating the ship's log. We are a lunar cycle away from home now. So far the transportation has been uneventful. After a brief refuelling at Tocon IV, we have continued on our journey. Captain Kuucum is retiring to his quarters and I will continue on the bridge." Hmm, the computer says the warning signal wasn't turned on at all.'

'Let's go Woman, we are heading to the bridge.' There was no hesitation. He grabbed her by the arm, and lead her through a system of corridors and stairs, until they arrived at the bridge.

Bulma was instantly fixated upon the control panel, and looked out the large viewing window. It was a small area for such a large ship, the space only allowed for two pilots and a captain. It looked immaculate, as if the Saiyan crew members had just dissolved into thin air.

'There's no sign of a battle, and the only sign of life form I can pick up is you.' Vegeta paused. 'Why this ship?'

He turned to Bulma, whose face was wrinkled in scrutiny. 'General Daiko, I think you should have a look at this.'
The side of the chair had been slightly charred, and on the back was a strange dry purple residue.
Vegeta touched it with his gloved hand, and rubbed it between his fingers.
'Do you know what this is?'
Bulma shook her head. A small scratching noise was heard, as she tried to get some of the fragments of the mysterious substance into a test tube.
'No. I might be able to run some tests for you, but I would need a fresh sample and my lab on Earth. Unless the Saiyan military would like to finance my research.' She raised an eyebrow teasingly and Vegeta smirked. He touched his scouter.

'Raditz record what we have seen today, and when you have signal send out an order to get this vessel returned to Planet Vegeta. Kakarot and the human will secure the cargo. When we are back on the Earthling's ship, I want you Raditz to give the woman the quadrants to Gamla Boriec. I will give you all another briefing, as I am now upgrading this mission to Elite status. If whoever is behind this, thinks they can challenge the Saiyan Empire, well, they will have to pay the price. Over.'

-

Hello everyone, thank you for reading. I'm really sorry I can't get the chapters out as quickly as I would like. I work full time and am currently trying to get my life together. But I hope you've enjoyed the most recent chapter, as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I am still looking for a Beta reader, so If you would like to do it, please drop me a message. (I'm dyslexic, so another pair of eyes would be wonderful).

Thanks again.