Prompt: Finding the Enemy
Chapter Two: Inevitable Betrayal
A series of beeps echoed in the small space until they pulled the small Bas out of cryo-sleep. He rubbed at his primary pair of eyes while the secondary pair atop his head blinked groggily at the planet coming into view. Any minute now, he anticipated for the comm. link to crackle to life, and when it did from the speakers came a deep voice, "Hey, Guldo, little buddy, you awake?"
"Just about, Recoome," he yawned, grateful that his short stature gave him room within the confines of his one-man fighter pod to stretch his arms and legs.
"Do you think that's the planet Vegeta wanted us to find?"
Guldo's face soured at the mention of the Saiyan. "Hmph. I hope so. My body's getting really stiff from just sitting around and doing nothing."
"Well, even if it isn't we can probably have some fun on this planet. The pod's scanners indicate sentient life," a reptilian voice said. "Far too many for it to have been purged."
"Nice idea there, mate! The last few planets were right duds. It's been way too long since we last let off some steam," a third voice chimed in.
"Oh goodie! Burter and Jeice are game too!" Recoome happily cheered and the Bas could almost see the burly bruiser clapping his hands in delight.
"Let's pick a heavily populated area to land. That way we have more targets to play with," Guldo grinned as he leaned back, hoping that the unsuspecting planet would have some warriors to fight against. They could certainly use a good laugh.
Of course it meant a slight delay from their mission but it was a welcomed one. Because as far as they were concerned, what they were given wasn't a mission.
They couldn't believe it at first. One minute they were on their knees, watching their leader make the first move and waiting for the signal to move into battle formation. The next a gloved hand was peeking through Captain Ginyu's back.
It had to be a trick, or a practical joke their fearless leader was playing on them. There was no way a weakling like Vegeta could move that fast or be that strong. A split-second later there was a flash of light then blood was everywhere and on everyone. Though Burter was their team's speedster, Jeice was always the fastest when it came to figuring out how you get out of situations alive.
Even though Cold had been the one to hire them to dispatch Vegeta, the Tsirunian obviously wasn't going to help them out. Not after witnessing how easy it had been for the Saiyan to kill Captain Ginyu. The malevolence in Vegeta's grin made it clear that if they didn't want to share in their former leader's fate they had to swear fealty to him. The whole thing left a really horrible taste in Guldo's mouth in particular but he managed to bite back his contempt. At least long enough to keep himself from following Ginyu into the afterlife. He had the greatest respect for the horned alien but not at the cost of his own life.
Their oaths of allegiance didn't seem to convince the Saiyan because he scoffed, "You can't expect me to believe you'd truly follow me."
"W-what can we do to prove our loyalty?" Jeice asked.
The cruel grin on the Saiyan's face did not bode well. "It's a relatively simple task, one a squad of your caliber should have no difficulty with."
"And that would be?"
"I want you to find a certain blue planet called Earth."
"Shouldn't there be details in the database?" Burter pointed out.
"You're welcome to use the coordinates in the records, though I wouldn't be surprised if it's been... compromised," Vegeta chuckled seemingly from a private joke. "You'll find that the world has been purged but don't be surprised if there's still life on it."
"Shall we complete the purging then?" So far, it didn't sound too bad of a mission. The surviving indigenous race might have proven more resilient than initially anticipated and SADs were sometimes entertaining.
"No, do not exterminate any squatters you might find there," and at this Vegeta's eyes took a hard gleam. "I want them alive."
"Ah so it's a retrieval mission then?" Still, not too bad, SARs could be enjoyable given the right target. And there were many things you could do to someone and still have them still be considered alive.
"No, leave them be. I only want the coordinates. I will deal with them myself."
And so here they were, over a year later, nearly a dozen planets visited, and absolutely no fucking clue what was so important about it or where the hell it was. Vegeta didn't bother giving them any additional details, like which fucking direction they should head for example or any identifying features of the squatters. It was a fool's errand, a tedious monotony, and a horrible blow to their group's proud name. They were feared throughout the galaxy, Master Frieza's special task force, legions of aliens quaked at the name of Ginyu Force.
How far they've fallen.
Captain Ginyu would never have stood for such an assignment. Guldo was certain that their purple leader would be turning in his grave if he knew that his squad of highly trained killers had been reduced to playing hide-and-seek. The Bas fighter seethed as he leaned back and braced himself for planet-fall, already thinking of how he would vent his frustrations on the natives.
Their fighter pods broke through the atmosphere with little trouble and crashed into a metropolis, sending tremors rocking across the planet. Rubble and smoking craters were all that were left of the buildings and houses. They waited for the dust to clear, for silence, and of course for curious groups to huddle around their spacecrafts because timing was very important. One didn't simply hope to make a dramatic entrance. It was something that required care and preparation and forethought.
Through his scouter, Guldo heard Jeice's command of "Now!" and all four simultaneously emerged to greet the surviving crowd. They soared up into the sky, somersaulting, twisting in midair, performing all sorts of acrobatic feats before landing smartly on the ground. It would have been so much more impressive if they had some background music but you could only prepare for so much.
At least the natives had the good taste to applaud. Then someone, probably the local authorities, ruined the whole thing by elbowing their way to the front to declare the Ginyu Force under arrest. Their scouters indicated pitiful power levels but then again, they were only here to blow some steam off.
And blow stuff up.
The Ginyu Force had to hand it to the local populace. These creatures might not know how to put up a good fight or manage to run fast enough to be a decent hunt, but there were a lot of them. With the Ginyu Force's rotten mood, quantity was looking to trump quality.
Up until the scouters detected a small handful of individuals heading their way.
"There's seven of them, and huh not a bad reading for such a backwater world. They're in the lower thousands though," Jeice said.
"What say we go greet them?" Recoome was already rushing ahead with deceptive grace for such a large burly man. But despite the head start, Burter quickly caught up and even zoomed past the orange-haired humanoid with a sneer of "Last one there gets the last shot in!"
Which meant Guldo had to make use of his time-stopping ability. His psychic talents were what attracted Frieza's attention and gotten him assigned to the prestigious task force and he wasn't above using whatever advantage he had to win a fight. Or more often the games his teammates proposed. Still, the Bas only managed to arrive second to the speedster, with Recoome a close third, and Jeice bringing up the rear.
The seven fighters awaiting them were an odd bunch, oddest still was "What's a Namekian doing here?"
An orange-clad native with spiky black hair declared, "We don't know who you are or why you're here but if you leave now, we won't destroy you."
But because the scouters showed power levels barely reaching past five thousand, the Ginyu Force couldn't help but laugh at the audacity.
"Oh it's always a right hoot when we land on some ignorant planet. Setting you lot straight'll be a real treat!"
"We've warmed up enough so now it's time we had some real fun!"
And without prompting, they went into a routine of stances and gestures that introduced these poor fools to their executioners. For several long seconds they remained in their fighting pose, giving the yokels time to appreciate the intricacies of their choreography and allow the complexity of their positions to sink in.
Among the dumbstruck faces, it was the scarred one who broke the silence with "These guys are idiots."
"Those sure are some fancy moves they got there," the bald one said, the sarcasm completely going over the Ginyu Force's head.
"We'll be happy to show you more. Up close and personal, even!" Recoome was suddenly in front of the scarred one and had thrown a punch for his jaw. But the big bruiser's knuckle struck open palms rather than a chin. Though momentum and the follow through of his strike lifted the short-haired warrior off the ground, Recoome's opponent somersaulted midair and brought the heel of a dark boot down. It connected with the back of the carrot top's head with a sharp crack, toppling him face-down into the dirt.
"Oy, Recoome, what was that about?" Jeice demanded as his teammate rose and shook himself clean.
"I dunno, mebbe I'm just rusty?"
"Or we're a lot stronger than we look," the three-eyed man said.
"If you four are quite done playing at clowns," the Namekian stepped forward, throwing his white cape over his shoulder and letting it billow in the wind. Guldo had to hand it to the green man. Despite the low power level the scouter indicated, the Namekian sure had a flair for dramatics- "I'll take all four of you on right now." -and apparently a great sense of humor.
"I'm game to oblige you, boyo," Jeice cracked his knuckles eagerly.
"No, I got here first so I should get the first fight," Burter protested.
"But Recoome already jumped out of turn so I don't see why we can't just have an all-out brawl," Guldo said and drew a breath to freeze time. He'd apparently done so at the right moment as all four eyes focused on the elbow a hair's breadth away from his gut. The short bald fighter had taken the initiative all of a sudden and had come close to striking him.
A part of him was tempted to let it hit then he would show off by remaining completely immobile to show how little it affected him before countering it. But he decided that that was more of Recoome's style. The Bas instead ran off to a safe distance before allowing time to pass again when his secondary pair of eyes alerted him to a sneak attack from the white, floating doll-like fighter.
Fine, Guldo smirked as laser points shot from his eyes, finding their mark and exploding on contact. He laughed at the pained, child-like squeal and continued firing, until he heard an angry growl and something or someone eclipsed him. His secondary eyes swiveled back, shooting beams in retaliation at the three-eyed man looming over him. But to Guldo's disbelief he missed every time.
Focus and vision divided between two targets, the Bas was getting dizzy. He opened his mouth to once again stop time when a sense of pressure bore down on him, flattening him to the ground and breaking several bones in the process.
Guldo wasn't down for the count, not by a long shot. He was just playing dead, that's all! Yeah, he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike and turn the tides of the battle. I-it's not like he was letting his stronger, faster, more experienced teammates handle their confusingly strong opponents.
From his pseudo-grave, Guldo feigned unconsciousness and listened to the sounds of flesh striking flesh, of limbs cutting empty air, and the grunts of blows hitting true. Explosions rocked the ground, and when he felt a surge of heat heading his way, he risked a peek and promptly stopped time. He probably should have done something to make the burning figure of Burter more comfortable but the Bas could only hold his breath for so long.
Instead, he climbed out of the rut, trying not to gasp in pain when he felt his broken bones grind from the movement, or cry out at the sight of his other teammates struggling against aliens with such low power levels.
What was going on? He wondered, crawling into one of the dozen or so craters that had formed throughout the battle. Fire lanced through his injured limbs as he covered himself in dirt as camouflage before finally breathing again.
Eventually it occurred to Guldo that he didn't know what sort of aliens they were up against, well apart from the Namekian but that one didn't count. As the sounds of battle died down, Guldo strained to listen as the presumed leader of the natives asked, "Had enough?" He didn't even sound winded!
"Th-this is impossible," Jeice spat in outrage, "We are the Ginyu Force! Elite members of a special task unit! H-how could we lose to the likes of you?"
There was the boom of displaced air, a strangled groan from Recoome, and the dull thud of the burly Ginyu member dropping to the ground. Then the Namekian snarled in his deep baritone, "You underestimate the Earth too much."
All four of Guldo's eyes shot open, Earth?
It was Jeice who spoke the sentiment aloud, "What?! You mean this is Earth? But it's not purged!"
"You don't even know where you are?" the Earthling leader sounded incredulous.
"More importantly you guys aren't here because Frieza sent you?" the short bald one asked.
"Master Frieza is dead!" the Brench snorted, "Even if he was still alive, he wouldn't care about this miserable mudball. We've been looking for it on behalf of that wretched Saiyan."
"Saiyan? You don't mean Vegeta, do you?"
The note of fear in the Earthling's voice had Jeice grinning and tapping at his scouter, "Oh ho, seems like we'll still have the last laugh, boyo!" But as he began to type in the current coordinates to send back to their base, a woman's voice coldly cut in through the shared comm. link, "Not on my watch."
Static blared out from every scouter on the battlefield, so loud and piercing even the Earthling fighters covered their ears before the devices exploded.
Bulma had breathed a sigh of relief when none of the fighter pods revealed a familiar face. So it was just another one of those typical alien invaders coming to conquer Earth deals? Okay, her friends can handle that. After all, they've been training like crazy since she wished everyone back to life, just in case Frieza or Vegeta showed up for whatever reason.
Less tense, she called everyone into her private lab to watch the fight or try to at least. The cameras could only capture explosions and project blurry images that were little more than blobs of color on the screen but what about the speakers? While the rest of the guests kept their eyes trained on the monitors, Bulma spent some time trying to hack into the alien's scouters.
Once again she thought about how having better gear would make this go a lot faster but she was a genius and eventually managed to tap into the communication line. Just in the nick of time for them to hear the red-skinned alien's shock of discovering they were on Earth.
A cold dread knotted in her gut as the conversation unfolded and she swallowed a scream at the mention that they were serving a Saiyan. On one of the monitors, a series of numbers began to display and the heiress felt her stomach plummet upon realizing what the alien was doing.
"Not on my watch," she said, fingers flying over the console to intercept the transmission and sending a little message of her own through the satellite system she'd launched. The speakers squealed from the ensuing static before going dead.
"What did you do, Bulma?" ChiChi asked.
"I just sent a signal that destroyed their scouters." She left it at that. "Now all the guys have to do is get rid of those aliens and Earth'll be safe again."
"Look! They've done it! They've won!" Ox King cheered. "That's my son-in-law!"
Bulma turned to the screens to find two fighter pods streaking across the sky and disappearing into the darkness of outer space.
"What the fuck!?" The heiress shrieked. While the others celebrated and danced in victory, Bulma bolted out to the garage where she found ChiChi revving up a decapsulated air-car. The heiress clambered into the passenger seat, yelled "Floor it, ChiChi!" and strapped herself in.
The Son matron quirked a brow at the order but put the pedal to the metal anyway.
Without any traffic to contend with and the dark-haired woman's rush to get to her son, it was a short drive to the battlezone. Once there both women hurried over to where the Z Fighters were gathered. ChiChi had the advantage of being a martial artist and reached the group first, immediately fussing over Gohan then Goku without giving anyone else a second glance.
Bulma, on the other hand, greeted Earth's protectors with a furious snarl of "How could you let them escape?"
"Way to sound like a super villain, Bulma," Krillin teased.
And for once the heiress couldn't appreciate the former monk's humor. She leveled a ferocious glare at him, sending her bald friend stumbling backwards with the intensity of her gaze. The rage pouring out of her in waves seemed eerily reminiscent of a certain alien prince. "Do any of you realize what you've done?" she asked, her wide blue eyes flint sharp and colder than anyone had ever seen them.
"We stopped Vegeta's men from causing more damage." Trust Piccolo to get to the heart of the matter while completely missing the poi- "But that's not what has you -how do you humans put it?"
"Pissed off as fuck," Yamcha supplied ("Language!" ChiChi said through grit teeth while covering Gohan's ears.)
"Yes, that. You're agitated about the Saiyan learning of our continued existence."
Alright so Piccolo had great insight but "If you already knew that then why did you let them leave alive?"
"Because I asked him to," said Goku, earning him stares of disbelief from both ChiChi and Bulma.
"Goku why?" ChiChi asked.
"Are you out of your Kami damned mind? Wasn't being killed once enough for you?!"
"We're not the same as we were then."
"And do you think Vegeta is? Do you think he hasn't gotten insanely strong since he purged Earth? I heard what the red guy said, Frieza is dead and you can bet your ass that Vegeta's the one who killed him!" Bulma shook in rage, blinking back the tears of frustration prickling her eyes. She was too worked up to see beyond her panic and anger to notice how the Z Fighters sported only minimal injuries, while the two alien invaders were in a much worse shape, aside from being very much dead that is.
"It doesn't matter if he's even stronger than ever, we have to fight him!" Goku argued.
"We or you?" ChiChi demanded softly as she held Gohan protectively close. "I love you Goku, I love your confidence and unshakable resolve, but there are times I wonder if you realize just how much your actions affects everyone."
"We share Goku's sentiments," Piccolo said.
ChiChi set hard eyes at the Namekian who'd kept her son from her for a year. The grim expression of her face was a clear indication that Piccolo would be the last person to ever sway her, "Again, we or you?"
"We." Tien's voice was soft and calm but the conviction in so short a syllable could have bent steel.
Bulma stared at the remaining Z Fighters, hoping that someone would have the sense to remember that she'd promised the Saiyan a wish on the Dragon Balls. When it became apparent that they've forgotten, "You're all going to let Vegeta have his wish?"
"It won't come to that, Ms. Bulma!" Gohan spoke up, "We'll never give the Dragon Balls to him."
Kami, it felt like talking to a brick wall! Or in this case, several brick walls. "Right because that worked so well last ti-"
"Enough of this!" Piccolo snapped, throwing his cloak over his shoulder as he turned his back to the group. "I care not if you humans wish to live cowering in fear of mere possibilities but I intend to meet the threat head on." He took to the sky and flew off without a backward glance.
"Wait! Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan squirmed out of his mother's arms to fly after his mentor.
"Don't just stand there, Goku! Go make sure Gohan is safe!" ChiChi prodded at her husband and the look in her eyes spoke she wasn't going to expect them back anytime soon.
Tien and Chiaotzu quietly excused themselves, which left Krillin and Yamcha. The heiress sighed in reluctant acceptance at the pair. "Go on. Get back to your training or whatever, I know you want to."
Yamcha reached out to sling an arm around Bulma's shoulder but thought the better of it. Yeah, they were friends but she didn't look like she would be receptive to the comforting gesture. At least not from him. He pulled his arm back awkwardly then smiled wryly, "Honestly, the thought of facing off against Vegeta terrifies me but Piccolo has a point."
"And with all seven of us having gotten stronger, who knows! We might stand a chance this time," Krillin ever the optimist was already hovering in the air.
As the last of the Z Fighters disappeared from view, ChiChi and Bulma were once again left to clean up the mess. Kami, it's like nothing has changed. The men go off to try to kill themselves getting stronger while the women stayed behind, twiddling their thumbs hoping for things to work out. Well fuck that!
The two women climbed into the air-car and drove back to Capsule Corporation, passing the trip in silence until ChiChi asked, "So what do we do now?"
"We gather the Dragon Balls."
"We're really going to let him make his wish?"
"What choice do we have? And besides, I owe him that much. If it wasn't for Vegeta, I wouldn't have been able to get to the Grand Elder and Frieza might have gotten his creepy mitts on their Dragon Balls. You might not believe me but the bastard who purged our world is the lesser evil."
ChiChi looked doubtful, "Not that I don't have faith in my husband or son, or the others, but what's to stop the Saiyan from purging the planet again after he gets his wish?"
Bulma shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "He... he swore an oath on his people's honor that if I let him have his wish, he'll leave Earth alone for good." She conveniently left out the part where said oath was made under duress, with potential death by exploding spaceship looming in the background.
"And you believed him?" ChiChi snorted.
If Bulma didn't have the burden of Vegeta's memories, she would have outright laughed at how ludicrous it all sounded. Since she did, she answered, "Yes, I believed him."
"But do you trust him?"
"Oh he may leave Earth well enough alone but after that..." she struggled to find a proper description of the recent invaders, "Dance troupe of his came and started tearing shit up? Yeah, clearly we're gonna need a backup plan."
"Anything I can do to help?" the dark-haired mother offered.
"You can help gather the Dragon Balls so I have more time to work on my special project."
Any alien stupid enough to think that the people of Earth weren't going to put up a fight was in for a nasty surprise.
Somewhere in the Northern Mountains, a monitoring system exploded. The ensuing fire damaged sensitive equipment, destroyed precious samples, and (once the flames were doused) made an already angry man even angrier.
"Back to square one! And just as I'd gotten new data from those aliens!"
But he wasn't going to be deterred so easily. It wouldn't be the first time that he would have to start all over again, and as far as setbacks went, at least he still had a roof over his head and he wasn't trying out outrun gunshots like last time. He was sure there would be some surviving data. Perhaps not complete nor in digital form but he remembered dumping hand-written notes somewhere in the basement along with the rejects and the failures of his previous projects.
This knowledge did nothing to ease his temper as he set to work, cleaning and sorting, ranting about it all the while and taking far longer than he would have liked. Blast this weak body!
He was tempted to awaken one of the rejects, what with menial labor being the only they were good for. But that required energy and until he was certain of what could be salvaged, what needed repairs, and what belonged to the scrap heap, he would have to conserve every bit of his home's emergency power.
Hours passed, the sun had set, and with the numerous breathers he needed to take, he'd only managed to get a third of the work done. And there was still the matter of restarting the main system, which was a chore in and of itself. It was a gargantuan thing, easily his greatest invention and every bit as brilliant as its creator and apparently every bit as physically weak. If he was going to restart it, he might as well rebuild and improve on it.
But that was going to take time and money. Damn it, did he have enough of both? He checked his finances and his eyes narrowed at the total.
"Going to have to put the rest of my projects on hold. Can't afford to build from scratch this time," he growled, "If I ever find the bitch that caused that overload..."
A month of cryo-sleep later, Guldo and Jeice arrived at planet Tsiru. There was no waiting for a dramatic entrance, no synchronized exit for the remaining Ginyu Force members. The instant their pods touched down, they were out of their spacecrafts marching down the hallways towards the audience chamber, demanding that Vegeta see them "Right now, you got that, boyo?"
The personnel they encountered were insisting they be looked over by the medical staff first, eyeing the numerous bruises darkening all over Jeice's scarlet body as well as the way one of Guldo's arm was twisted the wrong way round.
Until a reserved voice asked, "Were they using the life-support system on their return flight?"
"N-no they were not, Mr. Jerold," one of the personnel answered.
"Then their injuries do not require immediate medical attention," the lanky Bas waved away the fussing personnel and gestured for Jeice and Guldo to follow him. "Lord Vegeta finished his training regimen sooner than expected. You have an hour to present your findings, but if necessary I can arrange his schedule to accommodate an extension of up to thirty minutes."
"We don't need an hour to tell him we've found Earth," Jeice sneered.
"But he will want a full account of your actions. Your past exploits show that you are not in the habit of slaying your teammates and given that you are missing two of your members, a battle must have taken place," Jerold's gait was brisk as he tapped at his datapad, "He will be interested to learn what became of Recoome and Burter and particularly what sort of warrior could fell the likes of them."
"Why? So he can add them to our team? I'd rather die than let those backwater bumpkins become a member of the Ginyu Force!" Guldo said.
"That's if we remain the Ginyu Force for much longer." A contemplative look crossed Jeice's face. "The way I see it, we might become the Jeice Force."
"What?! No way! I'll play you rock-paper-scissor for the leader role!"
"Yeah right, you'll just use your time-stop trick to cheat! Jerold, was it? You sound like you know a lot, who do you think will become the next leader?"
Jerold's primary pair of eyes stared at Guldo while the secondary pair stared at Jeice. He sighed and shook his head. "You needn't concern yourselves about things beyond your scope of work. But your squad is more likely to be dissolved than be assigned new members. Squabbling over who will inherit the leadership role is a moot point."
"D-dissolved?! We are members of a highly trained, extremely deadly task force, you bloody four-eyed freak!" Jeice yelled then quickly added, "No offense, Guldo."
"None taken, Jeice."
Jerold shrugged. "You asked me for my opinion and I gave it to you. Your fate invariably lies in Lord Vegeta's hands. Perhaps he will see value in renewing your contract."
When they entered the audience chamber, Jeice and Guldo felt a shudder of dread ripple through them. It was not all too different from when they first met Frieza and felt the Tsirunian's massive power. Only this time they didn't have the benefit of being in good standing.
"Report," Vegeta ordered from King Cold's ridiculously over-sized throne.
Jeice refrained from mentioning the unsuccessful parts of their mission, going straight for the planet's coordinates and the time it would take for them to travel back before finally telling the Saiyan of the events on Earth. "At first we thought it was the wrong planet because it didn't look purged. Then we ended up facing off against the local fighters. We would've sent word sooner but this bitch made our scouters explode over the comm. link."
"You didn't see her, did you?"
"No, Lord Vegeta. Just heard her voice."
Guldo strained to catch what the Saiyan muttered beneath his breath, it sounded something like Wouldn't be stupid enough to show her face. Apart from that, Vegeta simply sat listening, no flicker of emotion crossing his features even as Jeice gave a less humiliating account of their fight, making it sound as if the Ginyu Force was evenly matched rather than overwhelmingly outclassed. But as the Brench described the fighters, the startling way their abilities exceeded the readings on the scouters, Guldo caught in the edge of his hearing the sound of solid, petrified bone being pulverized. Both pairs of his eyes spotted hairline cracks on the throne's armrest where the Saiyan's hands gripped.
"While the Earthlings were distracted with their leader prattling on about mercy and honor, Guldo and I escaped so we could complete our mission." No sense in telling Vegeta that after the Earthling leader finished prattling on about mercy and honor, he actually ordered the rest of the fighters to stand down and allow Jeice and Guldo to leave unharmed.
Vegeta said nothing. His face was unreadable as he rose to feet and growled out, "I'll deal with you after I return from Earth."
"You're not taking us with you?" Guldo demanded feeling robbed not of his vengeance on the accursed Earthlings but of being witness to their destruction.
The Saiyan gave them a hard appraising look, turned on his heels, and answered, "No."
And that was that. No explanations, no commendations, no new teammates or rewards to make up for the year they wasted on some intergalactic wild goose chase. Just guards escorting them out of the audience room and instructions from the lanky Bas aide to "Go see the cartographers to update the star charts and coordinates, then visit the medical wing when you have the time," as if their physical condition meant absolutely nothing to the Planet Trade Organization.
Jeice swore under his breath, his accent thickening to the point Guldo could only understand one word out of every five. He balled his hands into fists, willing himself to calm down enough as he muttered, "Cold owes us for all the humiliation we've been through!"
"Do I now?"
Jeice blanched, turning round to face Frieza's father and stammering, "Y-your Majesty! How long have you-"
"Long enough," King Cold gave them both calculating looks. "Have either of you gotten any closer to figuring out what is so important about this planet?"
Guldo shook his head, "None, your Majesty! And we've been to the dump itself!"
"Maybe you boys just need a second look." Cold grinned when his scouter alerted him of an incoming call, "Ah my son, excellent timing, I was just about to call you. There's been a slight change in our plans."
Author's Notes: SAD stands for Search And Destroy while SAR stands for Search and Retrieve/Rescue but given the Ginyu Force's attitude they are definitely more of a retrieval unit XD Also, I'm so sorry for the mess that is chapter two. I've rewritten it I don't know how many times and I'm still not satisfied with it. I have to make do with this or else I would be forever stuck and never start chapter three. Although the outline for that chapter giving me hell right now so, uh, it'll be some time before I get to that x.x
Thank you to nancy103, SaiyanPrince541, Boonie91, jennifer975, and to the guests who left a review. I will do my best with this fic ;w;