Chapter Forty-one - Hide and Seek

"Oh... shit..." Eve said softly, eyes going wide. "Avo and Kado..."

Nail's head turned quickly at the sound of their names and his eyes narrowed at the sight of them. He'd never met them, so he didn't recognize them by appearance, but he did know of them by reputation. They were one of Frieza's three main Super Elite teams and the only one not currently missing any members. "We should get moving." he said, turning to go the other way.

Zukina bit her lip as everyone started to turn away from the pair, the two Imperials having not yet seen them. "Well, I did just think I'd rather be dead than owned." she thought. "Time to find out if I meant it." As Storm reached down toward her ring to re-activate the leash so as to be able to drag Zukina with them the Sai-jin cupped her hands around her mouth. "Down here!" she yelled.

Avo and Kado turned at the sound of the voice, eyes going wide as they saw the group. Nail cursed under his breath, Storm froze, finger just above the ring, eyes going wide, Eve turned and stared at Zukina, Xeno and Everfrost froze in place. But Tao reacted, and reacted faster than the Imperials. He didn't even spare the Sai-jin a glance, bringing his hands up in front of his face, fingers spread. "Solar Flare!" he cried.

"Go!" he ordered, gabbing hold of Eve and Everfrost's arms and taking off. Nail grabbed Xeno's arm and followed, Rain right behind them. Storm activated the leash between the ring and collar and then took off as well, dragging Zukina along behind her. By the time the glare faded they were five blocks away and around three corners. "We're not far from Ferri's store, we'll head there." Tao said, rounding another corner.

The Human's eyes narrowed a second later as he felt multiple power levels in pursuit. Not just Avo and Kado's levels but nearly a dozen others as well. The shadows that had been assigned to them had apparently decided it was time to act. "This could be bad. If we have to fight the Imperials and the locals we could be in serious trouble." He wished, now, he hadn't been quite so busy working with Ferri getting his new ship design completed. If he'd spoken to Ludic and Ridic sooner he would have had more warning about this, more time to prepare. He could have kept the others off the street. Found some way of keeping Zukina out of trouble.

He made a sharp right turn then, shoving a door out of his way as he charged inside. He gave Eve and Everfrost a light toss into the room then turned and held the door for Nail. "Rain's coming but Storm's falling behind dragging Zukina after her." the Namek said.

"What's going on?" Ferri asked, darting out from behind her counter.

"Imperials." replied Tao as Rain charged into the room.

Ferri's eyes narrowed and she darted off through a door behind the counter. By the time she was back Storm had just rounded the corner at the end of the block and Tao could see how Zukina was slowing the Wathor down. The Sai-jin was trying to fly in the opposite direction. While not nearly strong enough to overwhelm Storm the drag was slowing her down considerably. The Human hurried out, grabbed the Sai-jin by the arm, and then rushed back into the building dragging both her and Storm after him.

Once they were all inside Ferri slammed the door shut, locked it, flipped the sign over to closed, and then slammed some sort of metal device onto the door. The device began to hum and glow a faint blue a moment later and the woman sighed and landed. "That should keep them away for a while." she said. "Holographic image inducer, makes everything along this wall look like solid wall. Also got some minor ki masking ability, good for confusing scouters better than senses but it should suffice." She turned and looked at Tao and the group he was with. She'd met them all over the last few weeks and they were just as ragtag looking now as they had been last time. "Any Enforcers out there?" she asked.

Tao nodded. "We were already being shadowed by some when Avo and Kado decided to drop by."

Ferri's eyes widened at learning who had been chasing them, but it was Storm who spoke up next. "And then this one..." the Wathor gave the leash attached to her hand a hard yank that nearly pulled Zukina off of her feet and made her stumble and fall to her knees. "Went and yelled at them to get their attention, or we could have gotten away without being seen." She glared at the Sai-jin and the Sai-jin glared right back as she climbed back to her feet. "Do you have death wish or something?"

"I'd rather be dead than owned by you. So long as I get to see them kill you first, I don't care."

"Yeah, well, thanks a lot." said Eve angrily, trying to work a cramp out of her shoulder from having been dragged by her arm at such high speeds. "I'd rather not be dead, if you don't mind."

Zukina blinked and turned to look at her. She'd never heard Eve angry before. "I didn't..."

"Think, yeah, I know." the Nezorf said. "Didn't I just say a few hours ago not to do anything stupid? Yelling at two Super Elites so that they'll come and kill you, and everyone with you, qualifies as stupid."

"I didn't ask to be here!" Zukina snapped.

"None of us did!" countered Eve, and Zukina stared at her in shock. The Nezorf was actually yelling, she'd never heard her yell. "Do you think I like being on this Kai forsaken oven of a planet? Do you think I wanted to be on the damned Talon in the first place? I didn't even want to be on Geozan 7! But that's where they sent me because I was 'biologically suited' to the planet, never mind the fact that I'm a computer person and not very damn good at manual labor! But I've been screwed, we've all been screwed, ever since we found that Kai damned pod! We're just trying to make the best of it we can."

The silence that filled the room then was almost obnoxiously loud as Zukina glanced at the others and saw them all staring at the ground. They all looked as though pretending nothing had been said would mean it wasn't true. "What do you mean?" she asked at last. "How have you been screwed since finding the pod?"

"We found Brolly in the ice fifty years after he was supposed to be dead!" cried Eve. "You heard that scouter recording, saw those records. I was concerned as soon as I found out who was in that pod, before even finding any of that stuff! It's why I was willing to go looking. Finding all of that..."

"We were all dead as soon as we got on the Talon." said Everfrost. "I wouldn't be surprised if everyone on Geozan 7 who knows about Brolly is already dead." Zukina just blinked and stared at him. "The Masters have gone to a lot of effort to cover up what happened on Tinto." he said, seeing her look. "You can't honestly think they'd just go 'Hey, thanks for finding the dead guy who's not actually dead for us. Run along home now.' We're loose ends in a cover up."

Storm sighed and turned her gaze up toward the ceiling. "It's why I went and took you." she said. "Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have. Too much red tape, not enough free time while on assignment, not enough room or resources while in space. But by the time I met you I'd already heard the scouter recording. I'd given up on livng more than a day after reaching Saiya so... I was just trying to have some fun with the time I had left."

"I... I didn't know..." Zukina said, staring at them all in shock. "I didn't..."

"Think, yeah." Rain said. "We're getting used to that." The Sai-jin scowled at her but Rain waved it off. "I'm not trying to be insulting. I'm just saying you're one of those types who reacts on instinct, not on thought. Good for a fighter but problematic everywhere else."

Zukina swallowed a lump in her throat and sat down on the floor. "Sorry..." she said softly, not sure what else she could say. Just a few minutes ago everything had seemed so clear to her but... now... It was all muddy, she wasn't sure what to think or feel, how to act. Everything she thought she knew about the people she was with had just suddenly changed and she wasn't sure what to make of it.

While they were all talking Ferri was peering out one of her windows. "Looks like the Enforcers know where you are, even if they're not sure how to get in." she said, closing the curtain. "We've got five of them standing outside, leaning against the wall across the street."

"Sorry to pull you into this." Tao said. "But your shop was the closest place I could think of."

"It's fine." she said, waving it off. "They wont cause me trouble for hiding you here even if The Cabal decides on termination. By keeping you away from the Imperials I'm stopping a fight from breaking out in the streets and that'll be good enough for them."

"Termination?" Eve asked as she sat down, pulled her legs up, wrapped her arms around them, and rested her forehead against her knees. "So now everyone's trying to kill us? Great."

"We don't know that, yet." Ferri said. "I'll head out and talk to them, see if they've gotten any new orders." She flew off into the back room again then, apparently wanting to go out an alternate exit and not the front door, just in case.

"So... what do we do from here?" Rain asked. "With those two wandering around town can we even get back to the ship?"

"Nail could." said Xeno. "He can change his appearance so that they don't recognize him. The rest of us... we've all been seen."

"My ship is on Imperial record, anyway." said Tao. "Once they find it, if they haven't already, they'll know it's mine. We're stuck here for the time being and then... I don't know. Though I do think a return to the ship to collect some of our things is in order." He glanced over at Nail and the Namek nodded before adjusting his holographic image so that he now looked like a male Wathor. He knew what items Tao wanted recovered. The artifacts were all still on the ship.

Zukina mimicked Eve then, pulling her legs up against her chest, wrapping her arms around them, and resting her forehead against her knees. "I wonder how everyone on the Talon is doing?" she said, her voice muffled. "Yamm, Siddara, Spina, Artachok, Kabage, Inikuzu, Rycel, Luttece..."

"I... can find out." Eve said, bringing her head up again. "Once I have my computer, anyway. I can check the Imperial records for any mentions of the ship and crew. It's been... long enough now, they should have been able to file their report on the attack." Zukina looked up as well and smiled faintly, happy that Eve was still talking to her. "I'm sorry for snapping at you." the Nezorf said a moment later.

Zukina shook her head. "No, it's ok." she said. "I can't believe I'm saying this but... I deserved it. I really didn't think it through. I just... wanted to get payback on Storm I didn't..." She shook her head. "I still wouldn't mind seeing her dead but... You and Xeno and Everfrost have been nice to me, I don't want you guys hurt."

"Thanks." Eve said, smiling. "I hope this means no more stupid stuff?"

Zukina laughed. "What was it you said? Go with the flow? Control the situation instead of fighting it?"

"Hey, I'm here and alive instead of on Saiya and dead, right?"

"I guess... I can apologize, too." Storm said, sitting down beside Zukina. "Never thought I would, though."

The Sai-jin blinked and looked over at the Wathor. "What...?"

Storm shrugged. "Like I said, I really only took you because of the situation I was in. Of course, it put you into the same boat as me." She sighed and turned her gaze to look at the Sai-jin. "I'm not going to apologize for being me or for acting like the Wathor I am, that'd be like you apologizing for being a Sai-jin. But... I do apologize for dragging you into our mess."

The Sai-jin blinked again, not really sure what to make of that. "I... thanks..." she said. "This... might be pushing my luck but... does this mean...?"

Storm laughed. "Hand cramps, remember?" she asked, grinning. Zukina tried to scowl, but couldn't help it and laughed too. "I'll ease up some, though." Storm said as she switched off the leash again. "I'll admit, I was on a bit of a power trip the last few weeks. Not everyone gets to drag a Sai-jin around on a leash."

"So you weren't really interested in me as a Mate, then?" Zukina asked.

"Tough call on that one." replied Storm. "I hadn't intended to take you the first time I showed up at your room. Just have a little fun a few times during the trip to Saiya." She shrugged. "But after that first time I changed my mind." She suddenly laughed again. "It's your own fault, actually."

"What do you mean?"

"If you hadn't fought so long, resisted as long as you did, I wouldn't have done it." Zukina blinked at her in confusion. "Wathor's like conquests." Storm explained. "The more challenging, the better. If you'd just listened to me right from the start I'd have likely lost interest after my second visit, if not the first. I decided to take you then mainly because I wanted the thrill and the challenge of breaking you before we reached Saiya. Now... well, I don't intend to ever go back to Saiya so..." She shrugged again.

"Not going to 'break' me, then?" Zukina asked.

Storm noted the hopeful tone to the Sai-jin's voice and laughed again. "Don't know." she said. "Maybe. But not here and now, later, when things are more... stable. No reason to rush now, no deadline to meet. Don't think this gets you totally off the hook, though. You're still the only one around here I have to... play with."

Zukina sighed and rested her head back against the wall. "That much I can deal with, in moderation." she said. "It's so not my thing but, at this point, I've gotten used to it. And it's definitely the lesser of two evils. So long as you don't go around flaunting it that I'm your 'property' I think we'll be fine."

"Sai-jin pride, eh?" Storm asked. "That why you yelled at Avo and Kado?"

Zukina nodded. "I'm a Sai-jin." she said. "I can't think of anything more... repulsive... than being owned."

Storm grinned. "Hence why I do so enjoy flaunting it." she said. "But, like I said before, I'll ease up some."

"How's it look?" Tao asked as Ferri flew back into the room from the back of the store.

"Better than I'd expected." she replied. "I made sure not to mention Avo and Kado, just to be careful, and it was a good thing I did. They all thought you were trying to ditch them, not Imperial soldiers. They completely overlooked the two of them. They asked me to tell you that 'they're here on official orders from The Cabal so not to go pulling any more stunts like that'. Which means the incident isn't even going to be reported to anyone."

Tao nodded. "That's good to know. Though it still leaves the matter of two Super Elite Imperial soldiers on the planet. We'll have to avoid them until my new ship is finished."

"You're all welcome to stay here." Ferri said. "I've got rooms down below you can use. You'll just have to help with building the ship as payment for them. I would suggest you tell the Enforcers about the change of living arrangements as well, so that they don't get upset."

Tao nodded and turned to Nail. "Let them know on your way back to the ship. Get all of our stuff and the ship deed. I may as well sell it now that we're through with it, so I can pay Ridic and Ludic. The sooner they're out of the equation, now that Avo and Kado are here, the better." The Namek nodded and left.

XXX

The two of them made their way along the street, both frowning. "This is nothing but a waste of time." one of them said as they neared another intersection. "We've been here for almost a week, now, and still nothing. I'm about ready to say he's already left."

"Do you really want to make that report?" asked the other. "Before we have proof of it? Do you know what will happen if we say 'sorry, we didn't get there before he left' and then a day or two later someone else reports he's still here?"

"Bah. If we wait for proof he's not here we could be here for months!"

"Yeah, I know, but..."

"Down here!" a voice suddenly yelled. The two of them turned to see who'd shouted and their eyes widened. They only recognized one person in the group down the street but it was the one person they'd been searching for all week.

"Solar Flare!"

"GAH!" Avo cried, putting his hands over his eyes and trying to rub out the glare.

"Damn it, where are they!" Kado cried, his vision clearing enough to make out blury shapes now. He saw three people darting around a corner further down the road and took off. "Avo, come on!" he yelled back. His brother grumbled a little and then started running after him. By the time their vision cleared and they'd rounded the corner there was no sign of Tao or the group he'd been with. A few others were rushing down the street away from them but the two ignored them as they searched, looking down side roads and into shops.

"We've lost them!" Avo cried.

"Well, we know he's still here." said Kado. "And apparently not with just the Namek, if the Namek is even still with him. I think that yell was meant to get our attention."

"Our messenger?" Avo asked, looking down another road just on chance. There was a small group of people standing a few blocks away, leaning on a wall and talking to some short nude woman with green hair and pink skin, but nothing else.

"Maybe. Or just a ploy to make us take that Solar Flare full in the face." replied Kado. "I'm not sure who any of those others were. I think I saw a Wathor or two in the group but they were too far away for a good look."

"Well, we know he's here somewhere. Do we keep looking or do we go to one of the Bosses?"

"We look ourselves some more. But not here. We'll never find him inside the city now that he knows we're here. Let's check the ports. His ship must be docked at one of them. We get it and we've got him."

XXX

Zukina had to admit that Storm was keeping to her word, so far. The Wathor had expanded the range of the restraint system to seventy-five feet. It was enough that the two could almost be on opposite ends of the shop and still be in range. She'd also offered to let Zukina bunk with someone else, instead of forcing her to sleep in the same bed as her. The Sai-jin had quickly taken her up on the offer and was now sharing a room with Eve where she slept on the couch. Not as comfortable as a bed but a far better place to be than in the same bed as the Wathor. Last night had been the best night's sleep she'd gotten since she'd met the other woman.

At the moment, however, she wasn't sleeping. She was sitting on one of the wooden chairs in her and Eve's room while the Nezorf used her computer to hack into the Imperial Network again. She was going to look up the information on the Talon for her as promised the day before. Nail had come back with all of their things about three hours after leaving, and with word that Avo and Kado hadn't yet found the ship but were apparently searching through ship ports for it. They'd all figured as much but, as long as they remained inside the shop, there wouldn't be any need to worry about them.

"Alright, we're in." Eve said, cycling through data streams on her screen. "I'm searching for any reports that mention the Talon that were made since we left the ship. We should have everything they've sent out in a few minutes."

"Thanks again, Eve." Zukina said, watching the screen. She felt like she was starting to go soft, thanking the woman so much and not fighting as much with Storm, but she had to admit things were more pleasant now than they had been in weeks. And she was grateful to be getting information on the Talon and her friends on it. Yamm, Siddara, Spina, Artachok, Kabage, Inikuzu, Rycel, and Luttece had all been friends of hers for years. They'd worked together on one ship or another for the last decade. The only positive thing she could think of was that they were all maintenance staff, like her, which meant they had no reason to be in the cargo holds when the Xerudia went off. That gave them all a good chance of still being alive.

"No problem." Eve said. The computer beeped and a new screen popped up. "Ah, we've got our first file. Let's see... Emergency distress call notice. Looks like they didn't get word out about the attack until a few days after we'd left. Rescue ship marked as six weeks out so it should be there to pick them up in about a week or so, now." She scanned through the report more but there wasn't really much of value in it. She was just about to close it when she caught the notations at the bottom. "Huh?"

"What?" asked Zukina.

Eve blinked. "Damage and loss assessment data..." the Nezorf said. "There's a list of all crew and personnel lost in the attack... our names are here."

"What?" Zukina asked again, looking more closely at the screen. Sure enough her name was there along with Xeno's, Everfrost's, Eve's, Rain's, and Storm's. "They think... we're dead?"

"Apparently." said Eve. "I guess the Captain didn't realize we escaped on Tao's ship. This is... good news. If we're dead then the Empire isn't looking for us. Er, aside from them hunting for Nail and Tao, anyway. Much easier to disappear if we no longer exist... Anyway, are any of your friends on here?" she asked.

Zukina looked it over again and then shook her head. None of them were there and she was happy about that.

Eve closed that file and checked her search results some more to see what else she'd dug up. "Well, looks like they sent out a report every day or so." she said. "Looks like pretty basic stuff... Huh?"

"What is it?" asked Zukina, concerned.

"There's a unknown status indicator on the Talon." Eve said, pointing to the ship registry file. "That doesn't make sense, they've been in constant contact with the Empire... Hang on, I'll see if I can find some clue as to what this is about..." Eve dug through the files she'd found, going over the various reports and such. She was just about to open the eleventh report when she saw an audio file listing at the bottom of the search results. She decided to skip the reports and check it next.

"This is the Talon broadcasting an emergency distress call to anyone in the area." a voice said as the file started. They sounded completely terrified. "We are under attack from an unknown assailant. The man from the..." there was a sudden loud growl, and then nothing but static.

"The hell...?" Eve wondered. "Was that from when Tao attacked?"

"What's the transmission date?" asked Zukina, trying to read the file data on the screen. "It's... it's only six days old." she said.

"No more reports were sent out following that transmission, either." Eve said. "No wonder the status is listed as unknown. Hang on a second, I'm going to see if there's any hidden audio." She quickly copied the file off the network onto her computer and then ran it through a basic filtration system to enhance the background sounds and tone down the voice. It only took a moment to process and then she played it back again. There were no other voices but they could hear the basic sounds of battle. "Well, that's no help." she said, frowning. "Still, who would attack them?"

Zukina just sat there, staring at the screen, playing the message over in her head. "The man from the what?" she asked after a moment. Apparently the man in question was from somewhere important. Somewhere specific that the location would be of importance to those receiving the... Suddenly her eyes widened. "The cryostasis chamber!" she cried.

"What?" Eve asked.

"The cryostasis chamber!" Zukina repeated. "The Talon lost power right as we were leaving, remember? The cryostasis chamber got its power from the ship. Internal back-up power is only good for about 750 hours! That's just over 31 days. Once the power runs low it goes into Auto Thaw and tries to revive who or whatever is inside!"

Eve's eyes widened as she looked at the transmission date again and ran it backwards in her mind. 31 days before was when Tao had attacked. "Then... that means that... Brolly was the one attacking them... Zukina, run upstairs and get everyone."

The Sai-jin nodded and hurried out of the room. While she was off doing that Eve dove back into the Imperial Network again and hacked directly into the ComNet. She wanted to see if she could locate any other transmissions from the Talon, anything that hadn't been filed in the incident log for the ship. Personal communications from scouters, for instance, might slip notice. She also wanted to see if she could track down any SOS beacon broadcasts from escape pods. It was nearly twenty minutes before Zukina returned, the others right behind her.

"What's this you've found?" Storm asked. "Zukina's not exactly being entirely coherent."

"Brolly's awake." answered Eve. "And apparently he's taken over the Talon."

"Say what?"

Eve played the last transmission from the Talon back for them. "And according to Zukina." she began, after the transmission ended. "Back-up power for the cryostasis chamber expires after about 31 days. 31 days passed between us leaving the ship and the date of this transmission. It also fits with what the person in the transmission said..."

"'The man from the' would be 'the man from the cryostasis chamber.'" said Everfrost, nodding.

"But... why take over the ship?" Nail asked.

"Hard to say." said Tao. "He was, what, six on Tinto? His mentality wouldn't be any more than that, even now. He likely slept during his 18 year trip. Then he was frozen on Geozan 7 for about 35 years. After 25 years in cryostasis cellular damage can begin, so he may even have brain damage from the length of his freezing."

"On top of the possible mental instability caused by the Constant Zenkai he has." said Eve, remembering Gero's report on Brolly and Kakkarotto. "He may not have taken over the ship... he might have just attacked everyone on instinct. Or maybe he's still trying to act on whatever Bardock told him to do 53 years ago." She sighed. "Sorry, Zukina." she said.

The Sai-jin shook her head. "It's ok." she said. "I just wish I knew if they were alive or dead... I guess we'll find out when the rescue ship gets there." She sighed then as well. "I can't believe... I actually have a reason to be happy about being dragged along with you guys... if I hadn't been then I could be dead right now."

"Oh, right." Eve said, turning to face the others again, Zukina's comment reminding her. "We're all officially dead. The Captain of the Talon listed us all as lost in Tao's attack."

"Good news for us." said Rain. "If we're dead then we can't be wanted."

"Yeah, but we can't get access to any of our money, either." Storm said, frowning. "Our accounts are all closed. Damn it, I had almost six thousand saved up."

"Broke is better than dead." Everfrost said.

"He's..." started Eve, but her computer started beeping and interrupted her.

"What is it?" asked Zukina.

"I've got it scanning the ComNet records for anything that matches a few variables I set." replied the Nezorf. "Trying to track down some more information related to the Talon and the attack." She brought up the notice message and stared at it for a moment, shocked. "But that's not what it's found..."

"What did it find?" Xeno asked.

"Not entirely sure yet. But apparently I'm not the only one hacking the Imperial Network. Someone's embedded a file directly into the network code."

"In the network code?" asked Storm. "That's possible? And why would someone embed a file into the network?"

"Oh, it's definitely possible." replied Eve. "It was my primary means of communication with people when I was working freelance. Embedded files are untraceable, unlogged, and typically undetectable. As far as the servers are concerned they don't exist at all so you need to be scanning the base code, like I've been doing, to find them, unless you're pointed to it by the person who put it there. Anyone who wants to send a message in secret over the open network does it by embedding the file into the network. I'm not sure why I picked this one up, though... it doesn't match any of my Talon related search tags. Let's see what triggered the detect..." she said, typing in a few things.

The image on the screen shifted and a small window came up. "It's a..." she blinked. "No way."

"What? Come on, you have to explain these things for the rest of us." Xeno said.

"Right, sorry. The detection trigger was Slug's name."

"You've found him?" Nail asked.

"No, nothing like that. But whatever this file is it's either meant for him or was planted here by him." answered Eve. "Give me a second, let's see what we're dealing with here..." She brought up a few new windows and began going over all the data she could gather on the file trying to determine type, encoding, encryption, creation date, origins, and so forth. "It's only an hour old. Well, let's see... it's a video file, an L6V file to be exact, but it uses a non-standard encryption. It seems to be based on the DWELO encryption codec. I should be able to decode and play it with a few tweaks..."

It took her a few moments but then the screen shimmered and a face appeared. Orange skin, pink eyes, white hair. The individual was obviously a male Wathor. All that could be seen was the neck up, though it looked like he might have been wearing battle armor. The video was pixilated and the audio distorted but it was all understandable. "Lord Slug, Cyclone reporting on the Leberion situation. The reports from the system team have been confirmed, Valor is no longer in power on the planet. The entire city of Defiance is no longer present. All indications are that the Battle Droids are no more. We can resume operations as soon as you give the order. Cyclone out."

"Leberion... that sounds familiar..." said Tao.

"I know of it." Rain said. "It's a major resistance world these days. Storm and I were there ten years ago when Gero sent a team to study the planet. We're one of the few races in the Empire that can breathe the air there."

"Hang on, I'll do a quick cross check." Eve said. A few seconds later she was looking at a new stream of data. "Hmm, it looks like Mistress 18 was recently sent to the planet to wipe out the local Resistance forces. That was about a month ago, now."

"She must have been the one that took this Valor person out of power." mused Storm.

"And left the world open to attack by Slug's forces in the process, it would seem." said Nail. "This Leberion seems a good place to start our search for Slug at any rate. I doubt he'll be there personally but..."

"It should be possible to question his troops as to his location." agreed Tao. "And I'm interested in these 'operations' that were mentioned. I don't remember coming across the planet during any of my search for the Ancient's artifacts so if it's not related to them then what is Slug's interest in the planet?"

XXX

"Ha! Home run!" Yamcha called as he dropped the mallet. Krillin had smacked the little bug four days ago and now he'd just done the same. He was finally done with all of the pre-training.

"Excellent, excellent!" North Kai said, emerging from his house. "Well then, now that everyone has moved beyond the pre-training I think it's time we get down to the real meat of my training." He'd had all of those training with Chaotzu also training to learn the Kaioken, though so far, none had yet succeeded. North Kai was not surprised though. Chaotzu had mastered the skill faster than any of his other students ever had but it had still taken the little guy eight months to learn it, and they'd not even been at it a month yet.

"What do you mean?" Mitsuki asked, working a cramp out of her arm. She and Chaotzu had just finished another 'spar' in which she had, once again, gotten her ass kicked. They all had. Tien was still laying on the ground catching his breath and Krillin had fallen asleep from his exhaustion. "I thought we already were doing the main training?"

"Well, in a manner of speaking." said the short Kai. "Hard training such as you've been doing with Chaotzu is key, as is learning the Kaioken. However, I have other skills I wish to impart to as many of you as possible. We will take a break from direct training for a week, give all of your bodies time to recover, and work on a few techniques of mine that I think you shall find quite valuable."

XXX

"That's Xentron?" Pan asked, watching the planet nearing on her screen. It looked like a big ball of dust.

"It's almost entirely desert." said 17. "Not a single ocean, either. Just a scattering of lakes. The largest one is only three hundred miles across. Like I said, it's pretty much a worthless rock as far as resources go. The only good thing it has going for it is the standard composition of the atmosphere."

"So, where are we going to land?" asked Bra. She was the one sitting at the ship controls and had insisted on landing the ship. Now that she wasn't a part of the Empire anymore she knew she had to learn to do all this stuff perfectly on her own.

"Xentron city is the largest gathering on the planet, right at the north pole." said 17. "Set us down about fifteen miles beyond the edge of the city. That should be far enough to keep anyone from stumbling onto the ship. We can burry it in sand to help hide it, too. We'll just have to make sure all of the vents and intakes are sealed first or we'll clog the systems."

"Scanning surface at recommended area for a good landing location." Bra reported as she set to work. "Videl, what are the power readings down there?"

"High." the woman replied, frowning. "The system just decided to ignore everything below five million in order to reduce the work load and I'm still getting thirty-seven power readings."

"Thirty-seven!" Pan asked in shock.

Videl nodded. "Six of them are in the city at the north pole." she said. "Including the highest three readings."

"What are they?" asked Pan.

"Between seventeen and eighteen million." replied Videl.

"What!" Bra asked, turning from her controls. "Over seventeen million! But... that's..."

"I'm not all that surprised." said 18 as she walked onto the bridge. "People with high power levels really only have three options. Join the Empire, hide from the Empire, or fight the Empire. Not everyone out there with a high power is going to join the Empire or fight against it. Those that don't fight wont die."

"18 and I have encountered high powers before while on missions." 17 said. "Higher than this, even. They're rare and not often gathered in groups like this, but they're out there."

"Slug's in this range somewhere, too." said 18. "Last I heard he was around fifteen million and that was a few years back. Anyway, what's the ETA on our landing?"

"Oh, right." Bra said, turning back to her console. "Let's see... Alright, this spot looks good. Landing coordinates are locked, beginning descent. We'll be on the surface in twelve minutes."

"We still clear on the sensors?" 17 asked.

Pan nodded. "All screens read clear, they've not picked us up. Vegeta's got some nice toys on this thing."

"Perks of being the King." 18 said dryly. "What's our plan for once we're on the surface, anyway? We can't just hide out forever. That sort of tactic might be viable for Slug but I can't train and get stronger. The power I've got now is all I've got. If we take too long before going back to Saiya then Vegeta will have me too far outclassed to beat."

"You're not the only one on this ship who can fight." Bra said as she fought to keep the ship steady and stable as it plunged through the atmosphere of Xentron.

"I'm the only one here who can fight Vegeta when he's at full strength."

"For now."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means. Now let me focus, unless you want me to land us on our roof."

18 grinned but stayed quiet so Bra could focus on landing. The Hybrid had stayed with her for the entire five days it had taken her nano-bots to repair the damage she'd done to her body in her fight with Vegeta. During that time they'd talked about just about everything, though Marron most of all. 18 now had a nearly full account of everything her daughter and Bra had done together on Saiya. The only part Bra had omitted any details on had been their final meeting, though the Cyborg had a few ideas as to what had happened. She now found herself thinking of Bra almost as a second daughter. Having her, Pan, Videl, and Faith along had definitely bolstered her spirits during the trip, following her defeat on Saiya.

It just made 17 complain about too much estrogen in the air.

A few moments later the ship rocked gently as they touched down on the surface. "Landing complete." Bra said, grinning.

"And not on our roof, very nicely done." said 18. The Hybrid stuck her tongue out at the Cyborg as she powered down the ship. "So, as I was saying, what do we do from here?"

"Well, first we need disguises for all of you." Videl said. "I'm the least likely to be recognized while still having the speed to make it to the city and back relatively quickly, so I'll head in to get the supplies for that. After that... I'm not sure."

"We need supplies for the ship." 17 said. "We weren't fully stocked when we left Saiya, there's barely anything in the pantry at all now. We've only got four mouths to feed so, even if two of them are Sai-jin, it shouldn't cost us too much to fill the pantry up. Beyond that I'm not sure, either. I'd rather not just rush right back to Saiya. We don't have the edge of 18's transformation being a surprise anymore. Plus nothing says Kakkarotto and Gohan will just stay back next time. Vegeta and 18 have had their fight."

"We don't have to fight him outright." Pan said, turning in her chair. "Laying in wait to get stronger may not be an option for you but you can wait out a good opportunity to hit him without having to fight him."

"Attack him in his ship, you mean?" 18 asked. "I'd thought of that but how often does he ever actually leave Saiya? I think the only time he's been off the planet in the last four decades was when he went to Earth to meet Kakkarotto for the first time. The only reason he even has any ships of his own is because he's the King and leader of the Masters. The only real use they get is when he loans them out to other people, like when Gohan and Kakkarotto took one to Kurokokun to fight Buu."

"I'm sure we could figure out some way of getting him off Saiya." Bra said. "Or maybe getting everyone else off of Saiya."

"And then blast the planet?" Videl asked. "Isn't that a bit of an overkill?"

"Overkill is what happened on Gorneo." said Pan. "Blasting Saiya when Vegeta's the only one there is just desperation."

"Not desperation, just an idea." said Bra.

"Well, you guys keep planning, I'll go get the stuff." Videl said as she got to her feet. "I shouldn't be more than a few hours." She waved to them as she left.

"When you said 'for now' earlier, what did you mean?" 18 asked Bra.

"Just that I don't plan to sit on my ass all day out here." Bra answered, getting to her feet. "I'm going to train, as hard and as much as I can. I have a promise to keep and there's no way I can do that without getting stronger." She turned her gaze to Pan. "And I don't see any reason not to start now, if you're up for it."

Pan grinned. "Sure." The two Hybrids headed outside of the ship to spar so that they wouldn't damage it, 17 reminding them to keep their powers down so as not to draw anyone to them. He, 18, and Faith sat in the shade created by the ship, leaning against one of its landing legs, and watched the two of them practice for the next five hours as they waited for Videl to return. The two teens were both nearly exhausted when Videl finally returned carrying a bag full of her purchases. As she landed near the ship the two Hybrids finally called it quits and joined them all in the shade.

"So, what have we got to work with?" Bra asked.

"A fair bit." Videl replied, pulling out case after case of Capsules. "We've got wigs, hair dye, color changing contacts, and a wide variety of clothes to choose from."

"Alright everyone, grab some stuff and get disguised." said Bra. "If we're going to figure out where to go from here, and stock up on supplies for our ship, we need to see what the city has to offer us." Everyone nodded, grabbed some of the Capsule cases, and made their way back onto the ship. Faith was the only one among them who didn't need a disguise at all so she went to the bridge and kept an eye on the monitors for any sign of someone approaching the ship. Less than thirty minutes later the others started making their way back onto the bridge as well.

Bra was the first one out. She'd replaced her white t-shirt and blue jeans with a pair of red knee high boots, a red mini-skirt, a small red tube top shirt, and a pair of red gloves. All made of some sort of shiny material that was light, soft, and cool to the touch. Bra already felt ten degrees cooler in her new outfit than she had in her old clothes. She'd also put a pair of contacts in that made her eyes purple and she'd dyed her hair blond. The next back out was 18. She'd replaced her body suit with a black tank top, a sleeveless denim vest, a pair of cut-off knee length denim shorts, and red sandals. She had in contacts that made her eyes black and she'd pulled on a black wig that flowed down to her waist as well.

Pan came out next in a pair of torn blue jeans, a short red shirt, and sandals. Her eyes were now gray and her hair dyed purple. 17 had opted for a white tank top, an open light blue jacket, cut-off blue jeans, and a pair of white sneakers. His eyes were now brown and his hair was dyed red. The last one back out was Videl and she was still fidgeting with her short blue tank top and tight black spandex shorts. Her eyes were green and she'd pulled on a green wig that reached down to about the middle of her back.

"Well, if anyone bothers to look closely they might recognize you." Faith said. "But only if they're trying to, I'd expect."

"Good enough for me." Bra said. "Let's get the ship hidden and then get into town before it gets dark out."

XXX

The twin suns were still up above the horizon line when they'd reached the city limits, but not by much. They'd only had two hours to explore the city. It wasn't much time to explore a city the size of Xentron City but they had all agreed that they should get indoors by nightfall. They didn't want to push their luck with the locals any more than needed. Granted, few of them were strong enough to be an actual threat to any of them at full power, save Faith, but any commotion they caused could find its way back to Saiya. They wanted to deal with Vegeta on their terms, not his.

"The question is, where do we stay?" Pan asked, scowling at another 'hotel' they were walking past, not even bothering to enter. So far all five that they had seen had not looked particularly inviting.

"Hey blondie, why don't you ditch those losers and come spend the night with me!" one of the men outside the hotel entrance called.

Pan's eyes narrowed as she glanced back at them and scowled, but Bra placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. "It's fine." she said. "Better than fine, actually. It means they don't recognize me."

Pan turned to look forward again but continued to scowl. She came to a stop then and turned her head back toward the hotel again, convinced she couldn't have seen what she had in the corner of her eye. But she had. They were right there, walking into the hotel. Turning back to the others she hurried up to them again and spoke quietly. "We may have a problem." she said.

"What?" asked her mother, glancing over to her.

"I just saw Avo and Kado going into that hotel."

18 froze then and Bra nearly walked into her. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. I'd recognize those two anywhere."

"But... how'd they find us so fast?" asked Bra.

"I doubt they did." said 17, glancing back at the hotel now as well, but the pair was already inside. "There's no way we were followed and no way they could have been directed here so fast. They must have already been here for some other reason. We'll need to be careful while on the streets. These disguises may work for the average person but they dealt directly with Vegeta for too long not to recognize us on sight, even like this."

"We could get rid of them." said 18. "Let slip somewhere that they're Imperial soldiers."

"Too risky." said Pan. "They might get suspicious as to why we know what they are. Better to just avoid them. Come on, it's getting cold out now that the suns are down, I want to find a room."