Episode 55
The Elite Force of the Galaxies
"Yeah!" the Ginyu Force cheered one more time.
The winds blew hard for a second before stopping. Frieza, King Cold, and the rest kept their eyes on them.
It seemed like Zarbon, Dodoria, and even King Cold were more embarrassed than Frieza was. Zarbon had his hand over his forehead while Dodoria was simply irritated with the Ginyu Force. As for King Cold, he was not amused at all. In fact, he thought he had literally wasted five minutes of his time looking at something he believed to be nonsensical and irrelevant, at least to his eyes.
"What is it about you and your brother having to hire an elite force that's too…odd?" King Cold asked.
Frieza felt irritated at his statement, not by his comment of the Ginyu Force, but when he spoke of his brother. "Don't mention about my brother, Father. He's nothing but an eyesore."
King Cold smirked. "You two could never get along, will you?"
After the Ginyu Force returned to a straight line, they knelt down on one knee to bow to King Cold this time. "King Cold!" all five of them said at once.
King Cold said, "Hmph, at least they know how to show respect. There's more to them than just their silly poses after all."
Recoome kept his head down, but was quite disappointed to hear this. "Wha-? Silly?" he asked.
Guldo whispered to him back. "He thinks our poses are silly?"
"Shut up!" the leader, Captain Ginyu, commanded them to stop talking. "He's the king. He can say whatever he wants…at least Lord Frieza approves it."
Jeice unexpectedly said, "Of course we know how to show our respect to you, my king! We're here at your service-OW!"
Instantly, Burter smacked him on the neck. "Hey, be quiet! You're not supposed to say anything, idiot!"
The Ginyu Force bickered at each other and everyone could hear them despite their efforts of keeping their voices down. Already, three minutes after they arrived, they seemed like they were all a cooperative team, but now, they were acting like children and fighting each other.
Zarbon and Dodoria thought they were just being ridiculous.
Frieza was becoming impatient with them. He immediately grabbed their attentions. "Men, enough of this. Let's get down to business. I have an errand for you to do."
The Ginyu Force members stood up straight once more with their hands behind their backs.
The leader spoke up. "Yes, Lord Frieza. You summoned us here for a mission and that's why we're here."
"Yes, and it's quite a very easy mission," Frieza told them. "As you all know, I currently have all five DragonBalls in my possession. One of the last two has not been located yet, and the other one was stolen from me."
"Stolen? By who, Lord Frieza?" asked Ginyu, curious to know who this was.
"It's that impudent Raditz," Frieza said with disgust for his name, his eyes appearing to be a much deeper, red color due to his infuriation inside of him. "He's on Namek. Not to mention, Vegeta is here as well. It seems like either Raditz or Vegeta have brought along some reinforcements and have decided to join forces together, but I don't care who came up with the idea. What should be clear to you all is that these two worthless Saiyans have always been planning to overthrow me."
Ginyu gave a look. "Raditz and Vegeta, huh?"
"Hah, these Saiyans are stupid," Recoome laughed. "They don't even know what they're up against."
"Looks like the ego of that prince has finally gotten him into trouble," Burter remarked. "And the low-class is trying too hard to be an elite."
"So you finally showed your true colors, Vegeta? Hmm…," Guldo mumbled.
Frieza wanted them to be careful though. Vegeta had definitely changed since last time, his power increasing quite tremendously over the years and just recently after his one-year journey to Earth. The tyrant was actually unsure why he was there in the first place. He can guess that he went there for a mission that was of importance to the prince only.
"And how about Raditz, Lord Frieza?" Ginyu asked.
"Hmph," Frieza smirked. "He's a low-class Saiyan after all, so I'm not worried about him. His strength should still be miniscule compared to all of us."
The members of the elite force were wearing their scouters that were of the latest models. They put these devices to use to calculate Vegeta's current power level. His overall strength was still reacting to his burst of emotions, it allowed the Ginyu Force to read his maximum strength.
"Oh," Recoome was quite impressed by this number.
"Hmph, quite a significant power level, but it still won't be enough to stop us," Ginyu scoffed at this.
They had also picked up other power levels that were scattered across the area.
"Hmm," Ginyu gave a look.
"What's wrong, Captain Ginyu?" Frieza asked.
"There are other combat strengths here and there are quite a number of them," he reported. "Some are less than a hundred while the rest are all exactly 5,000. Still insignificant though."
Frieza believed that, that was Raditz and his friend who saved Cargo, Dende, Moori, and who also took one of his DragonBalls. He also suspected that there could be surviving Namekian warriors scouting about the area and in search for their missing wishing orbs.
"And what of them?" Captain Ginyu asked what they should do with them.
"I suppose you can kill them," Frieza mused, already conducting plans in his head. "In fact, kill all those who stand in your way including Raditz, but I don't want you to kill Vegeta yet. Who knows? Maybe he has the last DragonBall and has hidden it somewhere. If you find Vegeta, bring him back to me, so I can question him. Also, keep in mind that if you find a village elder, bring him to me as well. It's for the DragonBalls and I need them all to have them make my wish."
"Yes, Lord Frieza!" they obeyed his orders.
"There are two more DragonBalls to go," Frieza reminded them, "and with your scouters, it shouldn't take you too long to find them."
"Well," Jeice began to grin evilly. "Looks like we're goin' to have fun beating them to a pulp!"
"Yeah!" agreed Recoome. "Hey, let's make a bet. Whoever finds Vegeta, Raditz, and a DragonBall first will get a whole buffet of chocolate and candy bars, what do you think?"
"I say that you're going to lose," Burter accepted his challenge.
Jeice laughed. "Heh, you may be the fastest in the universe, Burter, but you can never underestimate me, mate."
Ginyu assured their master whom they had served for so long, "Don't worry, Lord Frieza. We'll have all of them including Vegeta kneel down on their knees before they know it. We'll certainly teach them a lesson and help you make your wish happen."
The Ginyu Force was keen to start on their mission, but there was only one member in the team who was occupied with another thought and that was Guldo. In fact, he was thinking about Vegeta. The Saiyan Prince had always been his rival and enemy. He loathed his personality of always looking down on those who had far more authority than he did. There was a time that the Ginyu Force had recently hired a new member in their team, which was Guldo himself, and according to Frieza, the members were now in charge of keeping things in check and giving out orders; however, Vegeta always found ways of defying the Ginyu Force without letting the galactic overlord know.
Guldo had encountered Vegeta many times and warned him countless times more that he better start keeping to his pose and start obeying orders. On the other hand, the Saiyan elite constantly ridiculed him. He knew he was only saying this just to compete with him, to find out who was the strongest between the two. Of course, he was confident in his abilities he deemed superior, he can crush Guldo with just one finger. Vegeta always left him in the dust, humiliated and degraded.
After picturing his face in his head, Guldo gnashed his teeth together. "You'll pay for this…"
Recoome saw the look on his face and told his friend, "Woah, woah, hey, you got something in your eye there? Snap out of it."
Guldo was not paying attention to him. "Rrrgh…to seek revenge."
"Oh?" Recoome looked at him, puzzled.
Jeice approached Frieza and King Cold. He had a green case with him and he presented it to them. "These are the newest models of scouters you asked for, Lord Frieza. We have four for you, Zarbon, Dodoria, and King Cold."
"I'm glad you remembered these," Frieza took the case with him. He turned to Zarbon and Dodoria. "I want you two to get those DragonBalls inside my ship. I also have a task for you both."
"Yes, my lord," his right-hand men hurried inside their master's ship, placing the DragonBalls in a neat circle in the interior where the main controls were.
King Cold gave the fifth DragonBall to one the guards patrolling outside. He ordered him to put it inside the ship as well. "And be quick about it."
"Y-yes, King Cold!" the guard trembled, but kept a firm posture. He hurried inside the ship to keep the DragonBall safe there.
Frieza turned to the captain of the galactic troop and told them they should leave immediately and commence on their assignment.
Captain Ginyu faced his fellow companions. "Ginyu Force, go and march!"
They ended their meeting by doing another one of their choreographies. Everyone lined up in a row by height. Burter was at the very back, Recoome followed him, Captain Ginyu was in the middle, next was Jeice, and the last one was Guldo.
Zarbon and Dodoria had returned, but to their dismay, they were forced to watch one of the Ginyu Force's ridiculous poses again.
"Looks like we came at the wrong time," Dodoria said, irritated.
The Ginyu Force marched and paced around, getting themselves pumped up for their assigned mission. Burter and Recoome paired up and slammed their elbows at each other while Guldo and Jeice did the same. This little presentation was beginning to discomfit Frieza even more.
The illustrious gang of the galaxy then formed a ring and came closer to each other. As they almost closed the gap of their circle, they bent their arms and legs, shouting their team's name. "Ginyu Force!" they circled counterclockwise this time and kept jogging in place.
Frieza still felt embarrassed. He chanced a glance from his father who he found staring back at him, looking aggravated himself. Dodoria can be seen covering his ears while Zarbon lightly slapped his forehead again with distaste.
As the Ginyu Force kept performing their choreography, Jeice suddenly said to Frieza's right-hand men, "Hey, Dodoria, Zarbon, if you like, it's not too late to join the Ginyu Force!"
"No," was their simple answer.
Ginyu suddenly shouted at him, "Hey, don't ask them that, Jeice! I'm not hiring any new recruits at this time or else, they might cramp our style!"
"Sorry, Capt'in!" apologized Jeice nervously.
Dodoria and Zarbon raised an eyebrow. What did he mean by style? If he meant in terms of their poses, then yes, they will absolutely cramp them since they just found them absurd and inane.
All five members of this prestigious squad lined up one more time, powering up and increasing their fighting statuses. They raised their arms halfway through the air. "GO!"
Finally, they spread across the skies and left in a perfect row formation.
The rest stared at them in silence.
Frieza continued to smile nervously. He then cleared his throat, his cheeks still red. Afterwards, he showed a serious expression. "…Zarbon, Dodoria, come forward."
They faced him and waited for his orders.
Frieza opened the green case and showed the brand new scouters inside. "Both of your tasks are just as simple as the Ginyu Force has. If you fail me again…then you're no longer fit to serve me," he stated this without second thoughts.
He was being very serious with them, Dodoria and Zarbon felt anxious already.
"Oh…and if you find Raditz, kill him and retrieve the DragonBall he stole. Am I clear on this?" he gravely stared at them, his cold eyes almost petrifying them.
Zarbon and Dodoria felt pressured, but they knew they needed to try hard enough now or else, it would mean certain death for them. They put on their new scouters, bowed their heads to him and to King Cold. The two were then surrounded by their auras as they took off into the skies and left in another direction.
Meanwhile, the Ginyu Force stopped midway in their journey. They discussed that they should split up and search at different locations until they find either signs of Namekians, Vegeta, Raditz, or a DragonBall in sight. Ginyu said that all of them should return in this same, exact spot after a day or so to give reports and updates on anything they may find. Namek is a huge planet after all; therefore, they needed enough time to cover every inch of this planet. They must accomplish this task efficiently and on time.
As the members split up in five different, separate directions, there was one person who was watching them all along. He was concealing himself in the darkest corners between adjacent canyons, leaving a narrow midline gap between the two. His heart was beating fast with much dread as his suspicions for their significant, high power levels were confirmed to be true by his senses.
That person appeared to be Vegeta. He was speaking to himself with a slight shake in his voice. "So…it is the Ginyu Force after all. …am I…really that strong to take them all on?"
He may be the Prince of all Saiyans, renowned for his immense strength and tenacity especially in battle, but for once, he admitted that the members of this illustrious force can prove to be a challenge for him. He would have to face a dilemma. Attempting to search the DragonBall on his own may lead him into having to confront of the Ginyu Force members, but if he tried to actually get closer to Frieza and somehow steal at least one DragonBall from him, it was still a risk to take.
He had always desired for immortality, to use eternal life, triumph over Frieza, and finally end his reign. He remembered what the village elder said, who spoke of the Eldest Namekian possessing the last DragonBall. He did say it might take him days to meet him, but what other choice did he have now?
"I got nothing to lose," at last, Vegeta emerged from the shadows while keeping his power down this time to not let any of the scouters locate his whereabouts. He decided that he should seek for the Eldest Namekian while understanding he was currently in this dicey situation.
Once everything looked clear, the Saiyan Prince soared to the skies and headed to another path while carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders.
The winds blew hard again, the sun continuing to shine across the islands, mountains, and rivers. Namek itself was going through so many unfortunate events; its inhabitants did not deserve any of this at all.
"Have you found anything yet, Grandpa?" asked Gohan who was floating in the air, looking down on the ground.
Gohan and Bardock continued to look for a DragonBall in sight, but they found nothing.
Bardock was walking around an island. He then lifted himself a few feet off into the air and met up with Gohan. "No, nothing."
"Wow," Gohan held his arms close to him. "It's not that easy to find the DragonBalls. How far is this DragonBall anyway? Oh, that's right! We should've borrowed Bulma's Dragon Radar in the first place," he realized.
Bardock thought that might be a good idea, but he quickly realized it may not be after all. "I take it back. She only has one Dragon Radar, right? We don't want anything happening to it. We should just keep going in this direction until we find something."
The two of them kept heading northwest while keeping their energies as minimal as possible. After several more minutes of searching, Gohan finally found something up ahead and it appeared to be a small village.
"Look over there, Grandpa Bardock!" exclaimed Gohan.
Bardock looked up front and indeed, he saw what his grandson saw, but it was not what they expected. When they advanced towards this village, they were shocked by the horrifying sight of ruined Namekian houses and Namekians lying on the ground, lifeless. This was the same village that Vegeta had destroyed with his own two hands not too long ago.
Gohan felt distraught to the core. "What…what happened here? Who would do such a thing?!"
Bardock and Gohan noticed the village elder himself, embracing the two Namekian children. They were all traumatized while grieving for their fallen brethren. The only young adult Namekian left here was enraged with what the Saiyan elite had mercilessly done; however, he lamented more over the lost of his fellow people.
Bardock immediately settled on the ground, wanting to know what happened here. Gohan followed and he stood behind him.
The village elder quickly looked up to find new company in front of him, yet what happened to his people greatly overwhelmed him, he let his emotions take the best out of him and he began to make hasty assumptions about the two of them. "Who-who are you? Stay back! You're not welcome here!" he warned them.
Bardock tried to calm them down. "Please, we're not here to cause harm. We're here to-"
But the village elder angrily interrupted him. "Silence! You…that uniform you're wearing, you must be one of his companions. You're here to kill the rest of us without any reason?!" he questioned in a thunderous voice.
Even the two Namekian children began protesting, demanding they should leave and get out of this planet.
"Careful, Elder," said the younger adult Namekian who was trying to protect him and the children.
Gohan was very confused. "What are they talking about, Grandpa Bardock?"
Bardock, without having to ponder too much, quickly figured out what went on here. His conclusion was validated when he saw pieces of a broken scouter on the ground. His eyes had a grave stare as he realized, "…it's Vegeta. He was here."
"Wait!" Gohan exclaimed. "You mean, Vegeta was the one who did all of this?"
Their conversation was cut short, however, when three Namekian warriors had entered the ruined village. Like the rest of the Namekian soldiers whom Frieza and his men had encountered many times, their duties were to protect their people and their lands, but even they, too, were decreasing in numbers. Nevertheless, they were still called upon to protect and so, they had come here after constantly hearing news of mysterious aliens attacking their people.
"Elder! What happened here?!" the three Namekian warriors ran immediately to him and the rest of the survivors here. All of them huddled together.
There was no need for explanations as they believed the answer was staring right in front of them. The three Namekian warriors locked their eyes on Bardock, believing he was the one who caused this brutal scene.
Bardock's eyes widened. He quickly tried to explain himself that he and his grandson did not intend to harm them, yet, they did not listen to him by any means. In fact, judging by their expressions, Bardock had a strong feeling he might be forced to clash with these three Namekian warriors instead.