Planet Vegeta
Mizu dug through another drawer, her hair out of place and bags under her eyes. She swore that she saw a scouter here a while ago. She knew that they kept a couple of them after Frieza's army was expelled. Saiyans were still new to that kind of technology, so they thought they might find use for them one day, even if just for spare parts. Now that one of them did have use for them, they were nowhere to be found.
She grabbed a random capsule and pressed the top, throwing it onto the floor. She groaned - it was another pair of armor. How many of those did they need? She leaned down and pressed a button on the back twice, sealing it back up, again. There were still, like, a million other draws to dig through - at this rate, she'd never find it.
Mizu pressed her fingers to her temple, as she kicked the drawer closed. "Okay, what was it that Haricot told me? You look at the wall facing the door." She turned in that direction. "Note the drawers with the blue handles." She did. "And count from the bottom going from right to left horizontally until you reach the number… thirteen? fourteen?" Why did he have to make it a riddle? Nevertheless, she rolled her eyes and counted. When she realized she miscounted, she groaned and restarted.
She sped through the counts under her breath. "Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen!" She flew up to that shelf and opened the drawer. She groaned. It was filled with broken blasters. "Why do we even have these?!" She roughly pushed it closed, before glaring at the next drawer - number fourteen. If this didn't have a scouter in it, she was going to scream. She grabbed onto the handle, closed her eyes, and yanked it open.
When she opened her eyes, a big grin came onto her face. "Aha!" She reached in and pulled out the scouter. "There you are!" She hit the drawer with her hip, closing it. She descended back to the ground and ran out of the room. She couldn't wait to give it to Nappa. Maybe now, he'd let her in on the plan.
"What's the big rush, Mizu?"
She came to a screeching halt. When she looked over her shoulder, Okra was standing there, with her arms crossed over her chest. She went straight as a board. "H-hi! I was just looking in the archives for some stuff, and I found what I needed, so… I gotta go deal with that!" She smiled and pointed down the hallway, feeling awkward.
"I see." She walked up to her and took the scouter out of her hand. Mizu tried to get it back, but she pushed her hands away firmly. She examined it, rotating it left and right. "What use could you possibly have for this old relic?"
"One of the generals asked if they could use it. They said they needed it for training purposes."
She gave her an odd look. Mizu tried to keep her composure, but her heart was racing. Was she onto them? Would she be disappointed, if she was?
Okra offered the scouter back to her. "Very well. I suppose that will be of use to them."
Mizu blinked at her, before taking it back. She nodded. "Yes. Yes, it will. Now, if you'll excuse me." She turned around and started marching back down the hallway. When she glanced over her shoulder, she was walking in the opposite direction. Mizu breathed a sigh of relief. Now, she could get back to the mission.
She found Nappa down in the mess hall. She took a deep breath and ran up behind him, as he was filling up his tray. It was the middle of the lunch rush, so she had to squeeze by lots of people to get to him. The room was loud as hell, too. "Excuse me? Nappa?"
He glanced down at her. "Hey, Mizu. Haven't seen you in a couple of weeks. What have you been up to?" He took his tray off of the serving rack and made his way to a table. She followed him closely.
"I got the thing you wanted me to give you!"
He put the tray down on the table. "Let me see." She handed him the scouter. "Well, it looks like you did. I'm sure the men will greatly appreciate the training help this will give us." He winked at her.
She smiled. "Of course, sir!"
He tucked it into his armor. "Well, if there's anything else we need, you'll be the first person I'll go and find."
"Thank you, sir. I mean…! Thank you, Nappa."
He chuckled and patted her on the back. "No thanks needed, kiddo. You can go about your business now."
Mizu nodded and left the mess hall, weaving past the oncoming people. Sure, she was bending the rules a little bit, but it felt good. It felt even better than the independent investigation she had done with Okra. That had been out of pettiness and spite. This was different - it was out of a sense of doing the right thing and solving problems. And while she loved Okra, Nappa was just different. He was so considerate and thoughtful and never talked down to her, like everyone else had for her entire life. He was an elite Saiyan, yet he treated her like an equal. It felt good.
She hoped she'd be able to help him soon.
Vegeta marched down the palace corridors, on his way to his father's office. Right in the middle of his training, he was called to go up and speak with him. He thought his father had learned not to interrupt his training unless it was a particularly grave matter. Yes, their relationship had improved these past few years, but it was far from perfect. Like how he reprimanded him for speaking at a council member too harshly. He was still a little cross about that. Nevertheless, he ended his training and went to meet with him.
He entered without knocking. The king was sitting at his desk looking over some documents. When he saw his son enter, he set them on the desk and stood up. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show."
Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Just tell me why you wanted to speak to me."
"Well, I noticed you've been spending a lot of time in the communications room. Talking to the Arlians, the Kanassans - everyone. Have you suddenly taken great interest in maintaining intergalactic relationships? Or is there something you're planning that I don't know about?"
"I thought you said you wanted no part in it."
"So my suspicions were correct." He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Son, I thought I told you - if you were caught going against the council's orders, you could be accused of high treason. You and anyone else you've managed to rope into it."
Something about his words made Vegeta angrier than he'd been in a long time, and he snapped at him. "Then what do you expect me to do? Just blindly accept it?! If that Gero bastard is as big of a threat as we suspect, then the Earth might be in even more danger than we are! Have you forgotten that Bulma's there?! Something could happen to her and we wouldn't be any wiser! Out of everyone in this damn court, I thought you might understand that! So yes, father: I am aware of the risk, and I frankly don't give a shit."
The king wasn't moved by his outburst - twenty five years of putting up with his temper made him numb to it. "I suppose if that's truly how you feel, nothing I say would make you change your mind. Then you may want to know that there is a chance that the decision could be reversed."
"And how would we do that, exactly?"
He crossed his arms over his chest. "If you found proof that the alleged anti-Saiyan sentiment was exaggerated, or that the threat to the Earth is great enough to justify restoring the alliance, it might get some of the councilmen to rethink their votes. But that can only happen if you find evidence convincing enough to do so. And that would be difficult without any contacts from the Earth."
Vegeta narrowed his eyes. Was this a roundabout way of saying he supported what he was doing? Why else would he be telling him this?
The king walked past him towards a bookshelf. He grabbed a book and thumbed through it. "Of course, once again, if you were ever caught, the consequences would be dire. If anyone were to find out, they'd be obligated to report it. Regardless of the circumstances."
That confirmed it: his father knew about the plan, he knew they were going around the council's orders to do it, and he was choosing to look the other way. That was probably the most support Vegeta was going to get from him - the situation would get super messy if the king was implicated for treason. It wasn't an endorsement or explicit permission, but it was something.
Just then, there was another knock at the door. "You may enter," the king said, not looking up from his book.
A soldier walked into the room and bowed. "Forgive me for interrupting, your majesty, but his highness is needed in the communications room."
"What is it," Vegeta asked. He hadn't planned on taking any calls at this point.
"It's from Planet Namek - they say it's very important."
"I'll be there immediately. You're dismissed." The soldier bowed once more, before she left the room. Then, he sprinted out of the room and down to the communication room. He pressed a button to open the door, and closed it behind him, before sitting down in the chair.
When he did, he saw that Elder Moori was on the other end. "Your highness, forgive me for contacting you so suddenly. Are you in the middle of any important royal duties?"
"Not at the moment," Vegeta asked.
"Then I ask you to please come to our planet at once. It's a matter of the utmost urgency."
"What's happened?"
"I cannot tell you over the call - I promise that I will explain everything once you arrive."
He nodded. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
Moori smiled. "I look forward to seeing you here, your highness." He bowed his head, before the call turned off.
Vegeta stood up and quickly walked out of the room. He pointed at a soldier nearby. "You there - alert my father that I will be gone for the next few days. Namek is in need of assistance." The soldier bowed and marched away. With that taken care of, he raced down the hallway, heading straight for the palace loading dock. Once he made landfall on Namek, he'd find out just what they had in store for the scheme.
Whatever it was, he knew it would be an interesting development.