Freeza looked down at the screen, lazily dragging a finger across the hologram as the confused sounds warbled up at him. The men at their stations around him were absolutely silent, to allow their Lord to concentrate.

"How interesting." he said finally, with a grin. "Zarbon."

"Yes Lord Freeza."

"Tell me, have you ever heard of Namek?"

"Namek, my Lord?"

"Yes, yes, I suppose not. Backwater place, really. Nearly barren land, no particular peculiarities to make it worth taking to sell for the aesthetic sense, out in the sticks, and studded with lifeforms *just* powerful enough to be under the line that separates troublesome from challenging."

"Ah."

"It should be in the computer nonetheless. Plot a course immediately."

"Yes Lord Freeza." Zarbon turned to a nearby monitor, searching for the planet. Within a minute, the ship's gravity subtly shifted as they sped off toward their new target at speeds far exceeding light.

Freeza turned back to his own monitor, and moved from the transmission from one Saiyan, to another, "This is Lord Freeza." He said into it, hearing the delightful sounds of screams and explosions on the other end.

{Huh? Wuzzat?!}

"This is Lord Freeza!" He growled.

{What? Hey- SHUDDUP!} Freeza sighed as heard the sound of a ki blast igniting, and then silence on the other end, {Sorry about that, Lord Freeza. Aspara Squad reporting in.}

"Where is your commanding officer?"

{Aspara's off killing people.}

"Well, yes, obviously." Freeza muttered, "I mean, why is she not answering her scouter? Because the Scouter you're holding, is her's. It was a personal gift from myself."

{Ah, well, uh, that's because, um-}

"Just get her on the line."

{Yes Lord Freeza.}

The Arcosian sighed, tapping his fingers on the side of his pod. He didn't like being kept waiting.

{Lord Freeza, apologies.}

"Yes, yes. Why were you not wearing your Scouter?"

{Well, you remember of course why I needed a new one in the first place? Why, it was a personal gift from Lord Freeza,} she said, the very measure of innocence, {I couldn't allow it to get damaged, now could I? So I left it with Ranthus.}

"And why was Ranthus not in the battle?"

{Because he was holding the very important Scouter that had been given to me by you personally!}

He sighed, "And so those sounds of him furiously fighting, apparently putting that scouter in danger, must have been… what, the wind?"

{Sure.}

"Aspara, execute Ranthus for me, would you?"

{Okay.}

{Whuh- no! Don't I don't want to DIIIII-} his voice vanished amongst the sound of the ki blast.

"Thank you. I don't tolerate disobedience, you know. Not even if it's not to me personally."

{Sound policy, Lord Freeza.}

"Enough flattering. I have new orders for you. How long before you finish with planet Belpep?"

{How much do you want it in one piece?}

Freeza smiled, "Is there anything of worth?"

{The locals are kinda cute.}

"Captain." Freeza said, his voice suddenly losing its amusement.

{What? It's an asset. We sell off all those farming worlds, we need to sell off farmers too, don't we?}

"Captain, anything of worth?"

{No Lord Freeza. Nothing we couldn't find somewhere else in more plentiful amounts, but its about better than average. If you don't mind… a couple thousand stragglers, I can have most of the locals exterminated in the next hour.}

"Hmph. Fine. Leave behind two of your men to finish the job, and then rendezvous with the flagship at these coordinates."

{Of course Lord Freeza.}

"This matter involves your brother." Freeza said, "And something he's been trying to hide from me."

{Need him dead?}

"Hah! No, not yet. My little Vegeta has actually given me something that could be quite useful! Besides, I was under the impression he was stronger than you."

{Maybe two hours ago.} She said, pleased, {I came out of the healing pod an hour ago, one of the locals got lucky and nearly offed me yesterday. Feeling better than ever now though! They were a challenge before, but now they're easy pickings.}

"What does the scouter say?"

{32,000 my Lord.} Zarbon nearly tripped where he had been walking by, turning toward the screen with shock.

"How dare you lie to Lord Freeza!" he shouted over his Lord's shoulder, "My own level is only 30,000! A filthy Saiyan wench like you couldn't possibly-"

"Zarbon." Freeza said calmly, "I am on the phone."

"Y-Yes Lord Freeza. My apologies."

"Congratulations Captain Aspara." Freeza said, "How talented! And here I thought 18,000 was breaking a record for Saiyan kind. Perhaps a promotion is in order. But first, take care of Belpep's extermination, and meet me at Namek. Lord Freeza out." he sent his finger across the line, muting his own end, while still listening in on hers.

"A promotion, huh?" Aspara said to herself, grinning evilly, "Well it's about damn time!" Placing the scouter on the side of her face, she hit the button, immediately zoning in on the next highest power level. Only 6,030. Better than most living beings in the galaxy, sure, but compared to her squad, the Belpep's remaining soldiers were little more than target practice. The one that had nearly done her in was a shocking 13,000. After she fell, her men had the gall to try and recruit him, before he blasted at them for their trouble. After that, her oh-so-loyal soldiers realized the only one of their group who could beat someone that strong was her.

And so the healing pod.

The first thing she did with her new zenkai boost was track him down and rip him apart. She wasn't feeling particularly friendly toward her own subordinates either, now that she thought about it. One of the reasons she was so willing to obliterate Ranthus.

She blazed past the fleeing soldier like a shot, throwing out her hand as she did so, dragging ki-edged fingers through the soldier's chest and sending him spiralling towards the ground. Her scouter beeped. 5870 next. Without missing a beat, she changed direction, flying toward her next victim.

In the end, she had overestimated the Belpep's soldiers. Or perhaps, she underestimated herself. Before forty-five minutes were up, the planet was clear of ninety-nine percent of its original population.

She headed back for her ship, followed by her five remaining subordinates. They had touched down with a crew of ten, including her, but these things happened. "Alright boys," she began, calling their attention, "Lord Freeza has sent us new orders. We're going to rendezvous with the flagship at a planet called Namek. My brother's involved, apparently."

She pointed out to two of them at random. "Merring, Tarot, you two are staying here to finish up the job. When you're done, take the Attack Balls and try to catch up, got it?"

"Yes Ma'am!" The two shouted.

"Get going." She ordered, watching as they saluted, then turned flew off. "Everyone else, onto the ship. It'll be a long ride."

"Again!" she commanded, the groaning soldiers managing to push themselves off the ground and get back into battle-ready stances. With a savage grin, she dashed towards them once more. One of her subordinates leaped for her as well, grabbing onto her leg and attempting to throw her smaller body into the floor of the training room. Before her head hit the floor, she shot her arms out, catching herself and then using her leverage to flip him into the nearest wall.

The next two attacked her at once, raising their arm blasters and firing at full speed. Not bothering to deflect them, she simply guarded her face as she waded through the energy blasts. Wincing with each hit, she still managed to push through and reach them, grabbing them both by the head and slamming them together, before dropping their unconscious bodies.

"Pitiful." She murmured, before collecting her men and throwing them over her shoulder. It was almost comical, as each of them individually were nearly twice her size. She left the training room, and went back into the medical center, methodically going through the familiar task of setting each of them up in a healing pod, before entering one herself.

She submerged into the liquid and closed her eyes, listening to the thrumming of the machine. It had been like this the entire last month, a cycle of training until they were all at the edge of death, or her subordinates were at least, hopping into the healing pods to sleep and recover, and then gorging herself in the kitchen and repeating it all over again.

It was the only real way to handle journeys like this one.

When she awakened, she noted with satisfaction that the first leg of the travel was nearly complete, her ship's autopilot notifying her of Freeza's flagship ahead. "Time to impress the lizard." she said to herself, "All right weaklings! Enough sleep, if Freeza sees you all roughed up, he'll slaughter you." She shouted as the other pods opened. Her three soldiers drowsily rose from their own pods and followed her to the next room, cleaning off and putting on fresh armor.

"So, why do you think Freeza wanted us to come to Namek?" Okra, a great red-skinned brute with two small horns asked.

"He's obviously finally become appreciative of our skill in exterminating planets. He probably wants us to join his honor guard." Eenud, her second-in-command, a purple-skinned humanoid with a frog-like face said. "Captain Aspara's as tougher than Zarbon and Dodoria now, after all. It'd be a waste to use her just to clean out planets. And where she goes, we go."

"Thank you for the flattery." Aspara said drily, pulling on her grey form-fitting uniform. As a captain, she had the option to use something a little more personal than the default Freeza Force armor. Her own uniform lacked the usual shoulder pads and thigh guards, and covered her whole torso, a leotard rather than simply just the chestplate. She wore the standard gauntlets, as well as knee-high versions of the usual provided boots. As a sign of her former stature as princess of the Saiyans, she wore a gold circlet on her forehead.

Turmerc, a brown-furred humanoid, grunted. "Freeza's probably planning on wiping us out."

"Don't be so pessimistic." Eenud ordered, "We've been successful! Why would he kill us?"

"Because he's Freeza and he can?" Okra offered.

"It's happened before, an upstart like Aspara suddenly starts getting stronger and stronger, but isn't properly snivelly toward Freeza's upper crust goons, so they squash them. Rookie hunting." Turmerc explained.

"I'm hardly a rookie, am I?" Aspara said, slightly annoyed. "Well, either way, Freeza will definitely kill us if we skip out on him. Considering his ship is right there. Might as well go in hopeful."

"Yeah." Eenud added. The four of them left the dressing room, standing at attention in salute at the airlock. Within a few moments, the automated voice of the ship notified them that the flagship had connected with them. The lock opened, and Freeza in his hovering throne entered through it, flanked on either side by Zarbon and Dodoria.

"Lord Freeza. We have come as ordered. The two we left behind to finish the job should be able to meet up with us before we land on Namek." Aspara reported.

"Good, good." He lifted a finger, and Aspara and her troops flinched, wary of an oncoming blast, before he simply used it to activate his scouter. "Hm, impressive! You've risen up to 34,000 now, Captain."

"I've been training on the way here." Aspara said. "My entire crew has raised their own power levels by about a thousand each as well."

"Excellent dedication." Freeza floated down the hall, heading for the bridge of their smaller craft, "Now, you're likely curious as to why I requested you to be here."

"It's passed our minds, sir."

"Your brother and his gang of monkey- oh, Saiyans, my apologies, just a small slip of the tongue, have been acting without orders."

Aspara's eyes narrowed. There was a reason she wasn't with her brother's group, besides to get away from Nappa and Raditz' leers. Her brother was reckless. Even after all these years, he still held hopes of conquering Freeza, while she had long since accepted the inevitable. She had proven as such to Freeza as well.

"Now, normally I wouldn't make such a big deal of it, the prince has been a good little exterminator, he deserved a little vacation time." Freeza said with a smile,

"But then, while I just happened to overhear some of his conversation through the scouter network, I heard the most incredible story."

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Have you ever heard of the Namekian wishing orbs?"

"...Wishing orbs?" she asked, "What kind of stupid name is that?"

"It's better than 'Dragon Balls'," Freeza said snidely, "It was a legend, back when I was a child. If one went to the barren land of Namek, and passed various tests or righteousness or strength or what-have-you, the Namekians would give you a Dragon Ball. Once you have collected a number of them, it'll summon a deity, who will grant you a wish."

"Sound's like a children's story."

"Yes, it does. But a Namekian refugee on the backwater planet your brother was off playing on apparently created a set of his own. The locals of the planet used the Dragon Balls to bring someone back from the dead. Vegeta decided to try and capture them, and wish for immortality for himself and Nappa."

"Amazing… did he succeed?"

"No, he was beaten by the locals. Quite soundly too." Freeza said, amused deeply at the thought, "Losing both Nappa and Raditz to the battle." Aspara's eyes widened, she hadn't known that. It seems that she and her brother were the last of the Saiyans. "Even worse," Freeza continued, "he accidently destroyed the Dragon Balls on that world in the process."

"But by proving they exist, there must still be some on Namek."

"Indeed. I'd like to test the effectiveness of this legend myself. However, your brother had a similar thought."

Aspara grinned, "You want me to stop him from getting in your way?"

"Once we land on Namek, I want you to be on the lookout for him. We'll get there before him, but I have word that Vegeta is heading for Namek as well, pursued by Cui."

"I'll deal with him, my Lord."

"I meant what I said back when you were on Belpep. I don't need him dead yet, his humiliation should be enough punishment for his little unsanctioned outing, and making the existence of the Dragon Balls known to me. He might still have his uses." Freeza said dismissively, visually inspecting the bridge before turning and heading back the way he came, "You're going to be his last hope. Either he'll listen to reason and follow your example, or you are to kill him. Understood?"

"Understood."

It was another few days before they came to a stop over a strange system with three suns. The green planet below didn't seem noteworthy, but it apparently held the key to immortality. The two ships came down slowly in the atmosphere, landing on a wide strip of land on one of the larger continents.

Freeza exited the flagship, and the entirety of their crew gathered on the blue grass. "Hm." Freeza noted, turning on his scouter. "Not many life forms on this planet to begin with, how convenient. Not even three hundred Namekians." He rose into the air, and his crew lifted off with him, the group flying across the sky towards the nearest village like a meteor shower.

The native Namekians exited their houses as soon as they approached, watching the group descend with suspicious faces. "Greetings, Nameks." Freeza shouted in a friendly tone, "It is I, Emperor Freeza. I have come for your Dragon Balls."

The eldest of the group came forward, looking nervously between Freeza and his gang of ruffians. "I am the village Elder Kakul." the Namekian greeted in kind, "Welcome to our planet, Emperor Freeza."

"Now then, your Dragon Balls?"

He hesitated, before shaking his head, "No, I am afraid not. We only give our Dragon Balls to great heroes."

"Well, there's no one greater than moi." Freeza said with a cocky grin, "Tell me, why are you being so troublesome? Surely you recognize at the very least that you're outnumbered, and that we are armed and armored, even if you have no scope of how truly outclassed you are."

"I sense evil in you." The Elder repeated. "Depart from the place, you are not yet worthy of our Dragon Ball."

Freeza glanced at Dodoria. "Kill one of them."

"Yes sir, Boss." Dodoria vanished, to the Namekian's surprise, before reappearing behind one of them and jabbing his fingers through the back of his skull, sending the Namek to the floor.

"Now then, are you going to continue to be troublesome? We don't have to kill you, after all." Freeza said with a generous tone, "Why not just leave us what we came for and send us on our way?"

"...No. I have a sacred duty." The Elder whispered, forcing himself to look away from his fallen friend, "The Grand Elder appointed me the guardian of the Dragon Ball! He designated the seven of us for this important task, to test those who come for it for skill, wit, and above all worthiness for the task! Only when a champion has collected all seven Dragon Balls can he summon the Dragon God and make his wish."

"Well, why not let us prove ourselves worthy? Any test of skill or intelligence I should be able to pass with flying colors." Freeza said arrogantly.

"...What do you want to wish for, that you would come all this way, and kill for the sake of it?"

"Nothing much, simply perfect immortality." Freeza grinned, "Once death has been removed from the equation, I will truly become limitless, the absolute, forever, ruler of the galaxy."

"No!" The Elder shouted, putting his foot down, "I will never hand over the Dragon Ball to one such as you!"

"Hmph. Oh well." Freeza's eyes lit up with ki, two red beams flying out and incinerating the Elder. "Kill everyone, tear everything down. The Dragon Ball has to be around here somewhere."

"Yes sir!" The Freeza soldiers resounded. Aspara rose into the air, followed by her men, before they crashed down again into one of the Namek dwellings. With a flash of ki its inhabitants were dust, leaving them free to overturn everything inside, looking for something that might be a Dragon Ball.

Not finding anything useful, she blasted a hole in the wall, and then again, entering the next house, this time around, she struck luck, finding on top of a pedestal a large crystal orb, inside of which there were two stars. Grabbing it, she made her way outside, to Freeza. "I think I have what we were looking for, Lord Freeza."

"No! Don't touch the Dragon Ball!" One of the younger Namekians roared, flying towards them, Aspara lifted a finger, before letting a violet beam loose and burning him to ash.

"So you have," Freeza said with a smile, "that's all the confirmation I need." He took it in his hands, looking down at the golden crystal with a twisted smirk.

The next two Dragon Balls were easy enough to collect, Freeza enjoying himself and making a show of trying to peacefully get each ball, before turning mercilessly on the Namekians whether they gave them up or not. As they were getting the third, Aspara's scouter went off, three new power levels appearing on the planet.

"Lord Freeza- it's not Vegeta, but someone else has shown up."

"My guards can handle whoever they are." Zarbon said dismissively, gesturing for two of the aliens to detach from the group and go looking. One of the soldiers left a dwelling, carrying the third Dragon Ball, when Zarbon checked his scouter again, smiling, "Lord Freeza. Vegeta has finally made his appearance, along with Cui."

"Good." Freeza said, "Contact Cui, and tell him to not engage." the Arcosian's eyes drifted to Aspara, "Are you ready?"

"Yes Lord."

"Then off you go." She nodded, before taking off and darting across the sky, following her brother's power level of- only 14,000. Had he been slacking off?

The two attack ball craters appeared in the distance, and she noted the familiar figures of her brother and his rival, Cui. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the last two remaining Saiyans. And both royalty as well! I'm truly honored." Cui said sarcastically, energy dancing threateningly on his finger tips.

"What the- Aspara?!" Vegeta growled out, taking in the sight of his sister descending towards them. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Getting you out of trouble, obviously." Aspara said coldly. "Lord Freeza is being quite generous with you, you know. He's totally forgiven your trip, considering it killed off the only other two Saiyans in the universe. He says that you telling him about the Dragon Balls was enough to make him forget about any punishments for you."

"How gracious of him." Vegeta snarled, "That doesn't answer what you're doing here. Last I heard, you made Captain and flew off to the obscure edges of the galaxy, hopping from one assignment to the next."

"Freeza wanted me to be here, because someone needs to stop you." she said with a sigh, touching down and standing in front of him, looking down into her brother's angry eyes. He began to sneer in annoyance, ever since they were kids she would use her height to get a petty rise out of him not wanting to be looked down on.

"How does it feel being Freeza's bitch, Aspara?"

"How does it feel being the universe's bitch, Vegeta?"

He growled, charging up an energy blast. Cui took a half step away on instinct, but Aspara held her ground, "Why do you think I need to be stopped? You don't know what I've learned, Aspara. I'm going to get the Dragon Balls, and then I'm going to become immortal, and eventually, I'll whittle Freeza down to nothing. Then, the universe will be ruled by me!"

"Ugh, Vegeta, you're just as stupid as ever."

"Stupid?!"

"Can you still not accept it, even after all this time? Freeza's a force of nature. He can't be whittled down, he can't be stopped, he can only be appeased. Our father knew that, I know that, yet you still hold onto your frankly crazy hopes."

"It's not hope. It's honor!" Vegeta snarled, the energy blast in his hand getting bigger. "I haven't lost my pride like you have! I'm done scraping and begging for Freeza! And you, sister, have this one last chance to pledge your loyalty to me, or I'll erase you alongside his other lapdogs."

"Hah! You haven't lost your pride, huh? Where the hell is your tail?" Aspara joked, before she took in Vegeta's expression and knew she had gone too far. Her scouter began beeping furiously as he climbed from 14,000, to his usual 18,000, to 19, 20, 22, 24- it exploded against the side of her face, and Vegeta took advantage of that distraction.

He flung himself forward, burying his foot in her gut and sending her sprawling across the dirt. Cui began to laugh in amusement at the sight, "The monkeys are squabbling again!" he shouted down. Vegeta paid him no mind, focused on erasing his sister. The energy blast he had been building in his hand suddenly exploded in size, going from the size of a mere baseball to larger than a beach ball. The brilliant violet light fired from his palm, exploding outwards and obliterating the ground.

"Don't you dare mock me!" He screamed to the dust. "I am the Prince of all Saiyans! The Crown Prince! I've always been stronger, and you're a fool for thinking otherwise!" he shouted at what he thought were her ashes, before he suddenly found his world flipped upside down.

Aspara had jumped out of the cloud, barely singed, and punched him in the neck, flipping him around and knocking him to the grass. "You think you're the only one who's gotten stronger little brother?"

"Stronger?" Cui asked, before checking his scouter and staring at the display in horror. Vegeta was at a level of 24,000, compared to Cui's own 18,000… and Aspara was at 32,000! "Oh shit." He said quietly, backing away from the battle that was now safely out of his league.

"I'm older than you, you filthy lapdog." Vegeta croaked out, rubbing his neck. He felt her energy, using the trick he had learned back on Earth from observing Goku, and cursed upon feeling it greater than his own. "Grr… I won't forget this, sister!"

"No, I don't think you will. Are you going to come quietly?"

"Heh…" he spun on her, punching her in the face hard enough to send her crashing through a nearby rocky hill. "I thought you knew me well enough to know I'd never do any such thing."

Cui gulped, flying towards Freeza's ship as fast as he could, but Vegeta caught up to him all too easily, "Going somewhere Cui?"

"V-Vegeta, now, I know we've had some rough times, but, uh, we've been rivals for so long, haven't we?"

"I don't think I ever considered you worth more than the mud on my boot, Cui." Vegeta said coldly.

"Look! Don't kill me, please, if you let me join you, I could be a big help! You said you had a plan to become immortal, right?"

"Yes?"

"I can be the Zarbon to your Freeza! I'm not just some common grunt, I could be useful-" Vegeta thrust his palm forward, and the purple alien was vaporized in a wave of ki.

The collapsed hill began to shift and rumble as Aspara began to dig herself out, so Vegeta grinned and leaped into the distance, dropping under the water, and suppressing his ki signature as much as possible. His sister's scouter exploded trying to read him, and Cui's was destroyed in his blast. She might be stronger, for now, but there was no way she could find him unless he wanted her to.

He swam away, letting himself get carried by the currents away from the battleground, until he couldn't see it at all, before climbing back to shore and focusing on his ki sense. The Saiyan smiled savagely as he picked up on a nearby village which hadn't yet been victimized by Freeza. His plan could still work yet!

Aspara pushed her way free of the rock, growling in irritation more at what it had done to her hair than any actual damage. To her annoyance as well, Vegeta had taken the chance to flee, "Cui!" She shouted, floating into the air and looking in every direction, trying to find some sign of him. To her disappointment, the only trace was the burned remains of Cui. "Damn it. I'm going to have to go and get another scouter."

Turning around, she flew back to the village she had left Freeza at, only to sigh at seeing it utterly lifeless. They already moved on to the next village then. There was nothing to do except fly back to the ships.

Once she was there, she made her way quickly to the com system and sent a call out to Freeza. "My Lord, I'd like to apologize."

{Yes, Aspara? Both Vegeta and Qui's power levels vanished. I assume you have an excuse for why you not only decided to kill him when I implied I wanted him alive, but got Qui killed as well?}

"Vegeta isn't dead." she explained, "He can suppress his power level, to be invisible to the scouters."

{Hm. Seems to be a common ability, today. The power levels that Zarbon sent his scouts after rose from a meager few points to over 1,500, and after killing the scouts, went back to being practically nothing. The Nameks as well can hide their true strength from the scouters.}

"He also destroyed both mine and Qui's scouters. With no way to locate him or your own group, I'm currently at the ships."

{Fine. We'll head back towards the ships before we move on to the next on the lookout and join us when you see us.}

"Yes Lord Freeza."

She dutifully exited her ship and sat on the top of it, watching in every direction for them. In the distance, she eventually saw their lights, as they turned away from their target in order to fly by the ship. She shot off to join the group, flying to Freeza's side. She began to feel nervous, and risked a glance at Freeza's face. She winced as he saw him looking somewhat annoyed.

"I hope you know," Freeza began, "that your job is to hunt him down, now that your dialogue has failed. Not only that, you've given him an advantage."

"My Lord?"

"He's loose on this planet, also hunting for the Dragon Balls. And while we wasted time picking you up from the ships, he might be making off with the Dragon Balls of other villages as we speak."

"I… apologize, Lord Freeza."

"Yes. Well, for your sake I hope you find him quickly." Freeza pointed at a random soldier, who gulped and came forward. The Arcosian swiped the scouter from his face and tossed it at Aspara. "Go. If he can suppress his Power Level to low numbers, then investigate every low number."

"Y-Yes." She said quietly, taking the scouter and slipping it over one ear.

"And if that one breaks, well, I'm afraid you'll be out of luck." Freeza threatened, "If I see you again, and you have still not caught Vegeta, you'll be punished in his stead. If I see Vegeta still alive? You'll wish you had the first punishment, understood?"

"Of course, Lord Freeza." Aspara said, fear clear in her voice. She gave a bow, as much as one can while flying, before fleeing as fast as she could, heading for the area where she had seen Vegeta last.

Elder Moori smiled down at the two visitors. "Hello, small ones." He greeted, giving a bow to Krillan and Gohan. "I am Elder Moori. Welcome to our village."

"Uh, thanks for having us." Krillan said nervously, watching the horizon, "Look, how good are you guys at sensing Ki?"

"Not as proficient as you are, Earthling." The Namek said, "But we know there is something off about the energy on our planet."

"You guys are in serious danger!" Gohan said. "There's tons of these guys who look like the Saiyans who attacked our world!"

"Saiyans?" Moori asked, not knowing the name.

"Well, they're wearing the same armor as the aliens who attacked our world at least. I think it'd be safe to say they're gathering the Dragon Balls." Krillan elaborated.

"How do Earthlings even know of the Dragon Balls?"

"Heh, long story. But apparently a Namek escaped some disaster on your planet in a ship. He landed on our home planet, but lost his memory." Krillan sighed, "He's actually one of the reasons we're here on Namek. We wanted your Dragon Balls to bring him back to life."

"Amazing." Moori said, "I had thought that the only survivor of the cataclysm was the Lord Guru." He put a hand on both Krillan's and Gohan's heads, closing his eyes for a moment. "Yes, you two are both of noble heart and pure intention. I'll gladly hand over to you the Dragon Balls."

Gohan frowned as a Namek came out, bearing the five star ball, the young half-Saiyan grabbed it and looked down, surprised.

"Homegrown sure are bigger than the ones we had on Earth, huh?" Krillan said.

"...It might be best to take this one off world." Gohan said. "Or at least hide it. No matter how bad that guy we sensed was now, if he gets his wish… a guy so full of evil energy getting what he wants most won't make things easier for us."

Krillan smiled up at the elder, "Look, if Freeza and his people show up, just try to hide as well as you can and suppress your energy as much as possible, alright? Heck, tell them that you already gave the Dragon Ball to someone else! It'll send them off your trail, that's for sure."

"We'll do just that, Earthlings. I wish you well on your quest."

The two midgets grinned at each other and took off, heading back for Bulma's cave.

It was only minutes later that Freeza and his group touched down, introducing themselves. "You see, I'm here for the Dragon Ball." Freeza finished.

"Ah, how unfortunate."

Freeza grinned evilly at Moori, never getting tired of killing people for their stubborness, "Are you going to be uncooperative like the last group of Namekians we met?"

"No, no, it's simply that another has already come seeking our Dragon Ball. He met with my approval, and so I sent him off to find the others, along with our village's Ball." Moori gave a very respectful bow, "My apologies. I had no idea that one more worthy would show up."

Freeza's eyes shrunk with rage. "Vegeta." He growled, "Ugh! Fine then. Make yourself useful. Take me to the other Dragon Balls."

The Elder looked at the villagers behind him, and the two children, Dende and Cargo, clinging to his legs. Sighing deeply, he pulled the two of them away and pushed them towards the group behind him. "Of course. So long as we cooperate, no harm will come to us?"

"Of course. My word is my bond. I'm a businessman, more than anything else. I may be terrifying, but I can make deals."

"Then I'll do as you say, so long as I need not betray my fellow Namekians."

"Elder no!" One of the warriors shouted, flying from the fields.

"Stop you fools!" Moori roared at them, "This is our only chance for a peaceful resolution."

"But, he cannot possibly be-"

"Silence." Moori commanded, before turning to Freeza, and slowly flying into the air. The group of soldiers grumbled at not getting the chance to destroy this village as well, but didn't make do on any of their complaints. If Freeza was sparing them, that was that.

Moori floated over to the Dragon Balls, looking them over. "You are missing the One Star, Four Star, and our own village's Six Star Dragon Balls."

"Yes, we kind of assumed." Freeza said, irritated, "Where are the others?"

"I know not where the previous visitor took the Six Star, but Elder Tsuno's village holds the Four Star, and the Grand Elder Guru holds the One Star."

"Hm. Let's save the Elder for last. Lead us to this Elder Tsuno."

"Yes." Moori took the lead, flying forwards at full strength. While a child Namekian may only be able to fly slowly, Moori had been a capable warrior in his youth, and was a stronger fighter than some of the soldiers present.

Freeza checked his scouter, searching the direction ahead of him, and frowned in confusion as one level after another vanished. But beyond that, there was something else there, a level of 24,000 mixed in with the rest… and any other power signature that came near that one would quickly hit zero and vanish or get knocked away, "Vegeta is in Tsuno village!" Freeza growled, furious.

Moori looked nervous. He didn't know who Vegeta was, but he had more than willing to let Freeza draw his own conclusions. For all he knew, one of the Earthlings was this Vegeta fellow. But if it was some other third party in all of this, also hunting for the Dragon Balls…

He prayed for his older brother and his village.

Aspara was beginning to truly freak out. Her brother was nowhere to be seen, and checking her scouter was more infuriating than anything else. She would catch a glimpse of his power, fly towards him, but before she could get within sight of his location, he would clamp down on his energy and leave her scouter useless once more.

Worse yet, each time he vanished, he was letting the space between them grow. It seemed he was only getting better at hiding each time she nearly caught him. That, and he seemed to be able to sense her with an even larger radius every time she approached.

"Damn it Vegeta!" She screamed to the winds.

She flew in wide circles, pushing her speed to the limit and watching the scouter carefully. As soon as it beeped, she careened toward its direction. With a smile, she found that Vegeta wasn't immediately dampening his power level. He was fighting with someone, likely one of the villages Freeza hadn't gotten around to.

He was distracted! "Fool." She said, but it was lost to the wind as she smashed like a rocket towards his energy signature. She collided with a house nearby him like an attack ball, leaving a crater where one of the Namek's shell-like buildings had stood.

"Aspara!" Vegeta managed, staring at her angrily, a half-dead Namekian child hanging by his shirt in Vegeta's outstretched fist, "Damn it woman, stop chasing me! You know it's useless!"

"Because you embarrassed me, Freeza's ordered that it either be your death, or mine." She said dangerously, "So I'm afraid I don't have time to mess around, I'll kill you, grab this village's Dragon Ball, and offer both to Freeza as recompense. Then I'll join Dodoria and Zarbon as one of Freeza's Personal Staff, and I'll live in luxury and bloodshed for the rest of my life!" she punched forward, and Vegeta barely had time to react as her fist collided with his chest. He let go of his victim and was sent spiralling, skipping across the water of the nearby lake before leaving a crater in a hill opposite it.

"B-Bitch!" Vegeta swore, pushing himself from the dirt, before peppering the lake with energy blasts, creating a steam screen to hide him from his wrathful sister's eyes.

"I have a scouter this time!" She hollered, barreling straight through it and firing her own blasts, aiming for his signature on the glass screen rather than relying on her own senses. He couldn't afford to suppress his power, not while she was right there gunning for him.

Vegeta dashed under her blasts, briefly dipping into the water before rising up behind her, a pre-formed ball of violet light pulsing in his right hand. He threw it at her back, before ducking as she spun around, kicking the ball of energy back his way.

She had him overpowered, plain and simple, forcing him to keep on the defensive as they hopped from one place to another. But, she was sure, she was wearing him down. Her brother's bloody-minded determination was what had kept him alive all this time despite aggravating Freeza at every opportunity, and she had once admired that. Facing it in an opponent though…

Risking getting in close, she reached out and took hold of his arm, squeezing it as hard as she could and charging a blast with her other hand. She ignored Vegeta's furious kicking and punching until she successfully fired the beam, piercing through his chest and leaving a deep, smoking, bloody hole. Frowning, she checked her scouter with her free hand, watching his face carefully as his Power Level dropped lower and lower. Soon enough he hit zero. She let out a sigh of relief, before taking a moment to take in his face.

"Sorry big brother." She said simply. It might even have been genuine. Saiyans had been trained from birth to be the most ruthless warriors they could be. No enemy was worth keeping alive if it was inconvenient. No family members too weak to allow themselves to die were worth crying over. Her mother had beat that into her, when she dared complain when King Vegeta exiled Tarble.

She didn't even cry when King Vegeta killed her mother over a minor disagreement. Tarble's mother didn't receive tears either, when the King had enough of her. When she, Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa were celebrating their latest successful extermination, and Freeza contacted them with the awful news about the meteor wiping out nearly every other Saiyan in the universe…

Well, they were barely able to function for a few hours, but there wasn't much mourning for the people they had known. Her and Vegeta's father, and Vegeta's mother in particular earned no tears themselves from either of them. She almost envied Raditz, crying over his mother.

She was a little disappointed with herself that she didn't feel a deep welling of regret, or shame, or pride, or anything, really, looking at the corpse of her last remaining family member.

She carried his body back to the village, looking around at the destruction for any sign of the Dragon Ball. One of the Namek survivors bravely floated up to her,

"Are… did you come here to save us from him? Has he been the one causing the rumor of villages being wiped out?"

She considered the Namek, before giving a simple nod.

"Thank the Gods." The Namek muttered, before floating down to the village, "Please, please, follow me. We… we don't have much, but you've saved our lives. We are eternally grateful."

"I've come to this planet for two specific reasons." She said to the Namek, "Catching this man, and attaining the Dragon Balls."

The Namekian frowned, taking in her cold expression, before shaking it off, "You saved our lives… you have earned the right to take the Dragon Ball. I'll bring it to you."

"Thank you." She said, before dropping Vegeta's body on the ground nearby a rock, and sitting down on it herself, pressing a finger to her scouter. "Lord Freeza."

{Aspara, we've been watching through the scouters. Good work.}

"Thank you Lord Freeza." She said, breathing out a sigh of relief, "The locals have decided that defeating Vegeta while he was distracted killing them is a task worthy of a Dragon Ball."

{Even better! That's two more down then.}

The Namekian, who introduced himself as Elder Tsuno, presented her with the Dragon Ball as she heard the news, "Two?"

{Vegeta got another one from a different village… there should be two, in your area.} Freeza said, confused.

"I… I'm only seeing the one, my Lord."

{...Get looking.}

She grabbed the Ball, before rising into the air, trying to find another Dragon Ball from the sky. But without a life form to carry it, they had no idea where to begin the search. She had chased Vegeta around nearly the whole hemisphere! It could be anywhere.

The others arrived, and Aspara presented the Dragon Ball she had earned to Freeza, before being given back control of her regular squad and given the mission of trying to track down the other Dragon Ball supposedly in her brother's possession. The Elder Namekian who had come with Freeza took the chance to speak with the Elder of the village she had 'saved' from her brother.

Freeza floated toward the body of Vegeta, lifting it into the air with his telekinesis to get a better look at him. To his surprise, under his armor, he could almost make out the rise and fall of his chest- "Aspara!" Freeza growled over the scouter, "Come back here." He looked to Zarbon and Dodoria, who were wearing identical sadistic smiles, anticipating her punishment. Freeza tossed Vegeta at Zarbon, who winced as the blood got on his pristine armor, "Go. Take him to the ship and stick him in a healing pod. We need to know where that Ball is. If he recovers, he can make himself useful one last time."

"As you wish, Lord Freeza." Zarbon said, before flying off with Vegeta in tow.

He waited for Aspara to return, the woman looking nervous, her three subordinates joining her. "Yes, Lord Freeza?"

Freeza steepled his fingers together, looking at her, "Vegeta was still alive, if barely."

"I- I am sorry, my Lord, but his power level hit zero, and his wound- and I never looked away from his body for an instant until you came to check-"

"And yet you didn't bother to see if he still had a pulse?"

"He had a hole in his chest!" she justified, "I apologize… where is he now?"

"Zarbon's taking him to get healed."

"Why?!"

"Because he'd be the only one who knows where that other Dragon Ball is." Freeza explained, floating towards Moori. "I think it's time we get the last Dragon Ball. It might be a while until we come across it, and I'd like to make sure we have safely captured all the others."

"I'll take you to the Grand Elder's home." Moori said, flying off. Freeza followed, and wordlessly, his men took to the air to follow him. Aspara flying along with, unsure of when or even if Freeza would make do on his threat.

Vegeta was in incredible pain. He wasn't actually sure if he had worse before, but all the same, he could handle it. The chest wound was nothing new, not to mention the bruising and burns from everything else she threw at him. Not to mention he just aggravated everything by holding his breath whenever she came close. But for now, playing unconscious would be the best course.

The fools were even going to heal him! No matter where his sister got this temporary advantage in strength, as soon as he recovered from his own injuries, he was sure he would have her trumped. And then-

"Sorry big brother."

-He'd give her one last chance. She wasn't some peasant, like Raditz or Kakarot, and she wasn't a servant like Nappa. She had never been expendable, to him. That didn't mean he wouldn't kill her if she kept being obstinate… but he'd give her a last chance. With the way Freeza was speaking to her, she might even be desperate enough to agree to work with him.

If she was especially apologetic, he might even make her immortal as well.

Zarbon hooked him up to the healing pod, before leaving the room. Vegeta opened his eyes briefly, before his exhaustion and the pod's soothing liquids sent him into sleep.