The scent of scorched rock and ozone hung heavy in the air. Nappa lay twitching slightly beside a shallow crater, his battle armor cracked and useless. Vegeta stood trembling, surrounded by the Z-Fighters. Goku, Piccolo, and Kaito were suppressing their immense ki, but the residual, palpable power of the battle was enough to pin the defeated Prince to the ground.
"Why?" Goku asked, his face a mixture of sorrow and anger as he looked at Nappa's victims. "Why did you come here?"
Vegeta ignored him, his eyes darting toward the distant horizon. He knew the towering Namekian, the powerful Saiyan, and the white-eyed Earthling, Piccolo, Goku, and Kaito, could erase him with a thought.
Kaito moved through the group, his hand gently touching Piccolo's shoulder. He then turned to face Vegeta, his white eyes locking onto the petrified Saiyan.
"You are wasting time, Prince," Kaito stated. "I know about your destroyed planet. Now, you will tell us the name of the galactic tyrant who commands you."
Vegeta recoiled. The single, unanswerable truth about his home world's fate broke the last of his resistance. Who was this man? How could he possibly know the secrets they died to keep?
As the question hung in the air, a profound and terrifying change came over Piccolo. The Namekian suddenly clutched his head with both hands, his posture buckling. A low, guttural sound escaped his throat, an ancient memory trying to surface.
Piccolo lifted his face, his eyes wide and frantic. "Namek!" he shouted, the sound echoing. "Where are you from?! Tell us about Namek!"
Vegeta was stunned. The Namekian was asking about his own homeworld, meaning the green freak had no idea where he came from. Vegeta quickly realized this was his ticket to survival—information.
"Frieza!" Vegeta screamed, the name a desperate confession. "His name is Frieza! He is the one who rules the galaxy, and he is the one who destroyed our planet! We came here only because Raditz died and we came to investigate your strength."
He continued, pointing at Piccolo. "The Namekians, they are a mysterious alien race! They are the same green-skinned freaks as him, and Namek is where they came from! That's all I know about them!"
Piccolo sank to his knees, his head still throbbing, the realization that he was an alien from a planet called Namek washing over him.
Kaito nodded, satisfied. He had everything he needed. "Frieza is the tyrant, and Piccolo is an alien from Namek. That's the reality." Kaito then focused his full attention on Vegeta, his voice steel. "How do we get to Frieza?"
Goku immediately chimed in. "Why do you want to get to him, Kaito? We need to know."
Kaito turned to Goku, his voice earnest. "Because he is an evil tyrant who destroys planets for sport. He destroyed their home world, and if we don't end him, he will return. He needs to be killed for the sake of the universe."
Kaito then fixed his gaze back on Vegeta. "Those attack pods are reusable, but they won't carry a crew of seven. We need a ship large enough to travel through space and confront Frieza. We need to get the genius who reverse-engineered a scanner to build us a bigger one."
Vegeta, thoroughly broken, watched the entire exchange, realizing these Earthlings weren't planning to defend their planet—they were planning to invade the galaxy.
"We have our answer," Kaito announced, turning back to Goku. "We need to find a way to reach Frieza before he realizes we eliminated his strike force. That means we need a spaceship, and we need Bulma's help."