News that Vegeta had been sent flying into a wall spread throughout the headquarters base in less than a day.
Although Vegeta had deliberately chosen a spot outside the corridor cameras' coverage, the impact had caused quite a commotion.
The shock wave had shattered the lighting panels in two adjoining sections of corridor, and cracks in the alloy wall stretched a considerable distance from the point of impact.
A bugman communications soldier passing by on patrol nearby had been so startled by the muffled boom that his antennae stood on end.
By the time he reached the scene, all he saw was a distinct, human-shaped indentation in the wall and debris scattered across the floor.
Naturally, the incident was reported directly to Dodoria.
In the dining area.
Dodoria was gnawing on a piece of roast meat.
Grease ran down his thick fingers and dripped onto the table.
His communications terminal chimed.
He freed one hand and swiped open the message.
He still hadn't finished chewing the meat in his mouth.
"Pfft-"
Bits of meat sprayed across the table.
Dodoria threw his head back and laughed, his fat face turning red.
"Hahahahaha-"
In the command room.
Frieza was looking through a report on the resources of a star sector from his hover chair.
Zarbon stood to his right, making annotations on a data terminal.
The alloy doors parted to either side.
"King Frieza! King Frieza!"
Dodoria walked in.
Frieza looked up and glanced at him.
"Mr. Dodoria, you have something on your mouth."
Dodoria instinctively wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The bit of meat fell off, but the grease smeared even further.
"King Frieza! Guess what!"
He rushed to the hover chair in a few long strides, the excitement on his fat face impossible to contain.
"That brat Vegeta."
"He got beaten up!"
Frieza stopped turning the page.
"Oh? What happened?"
"According to a patrol soldier's report, Turles gave Vegeta a beating."
"By the time the patrol soldier arrived, all he saw was a human-shaped dent!"
Dodoria's gloating was written all over his face.
He had waited far too long for this day.
Zarbon stood where he was without saying a word.
He placed his index and middle fingers on the edge of his glasses and pushed them up.
For a brief moment, he met Dodoria's eyes.
In Zarbon's eyes, Dodoria saw exactly the same thing he felt.
Zarbon saw the same feeling on Dodoria's fat face.
Satisfaction!
All these years, Vegeta had used his title as Saiyan Prince and Frieza's inexplicable "tolerance" of him to act arrogant and overbearing, looking down on everyone.
He even dared to give Zarbon and Dodoria, Frieza's right-hand men, the cold shoulder.
Today, someone had finally gotten even for them, and that someone was a fellow Saiyan.
That was the most satisfying part.
The tip of Frieza's tail tapped the armrest.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and he smiled too.
"Hohoho-"
"That sounds rather interesting."
Zarbon took the opportunity to step forward and suggest that Vegeta be charged for repairing the corridor wall and compensating for the damaged facilities.
His reasoning was sound: under Article Seventeen of the legion's internal regulations, the party who first attacked a colleague outside a training area had to bear all incidental losses.
Dodoria immediately chimed in. "Exactly! Vegeta has become more and more unruly. He actually picked a fight with a colleague right here at headquarters. We can't just let him get away without a lesson."
The two played off each other and pinned the entire cost on Vegeta.
Frieza smiled and nodded as well, a hint of the same amusement in his voice. "You both make a good point~"
The Vegeta Squad's barracks were in the east wing of the headquarters base.
The training room door was locked from the inside.
For the past few days, Vegeta had been spending an average of seven or eight hours a day in there.
Saibaman corpses littered the floor. Green bodily fluids covered the walls and floor; in some places they had dried and turned black, while elsewhere they were still slowly trickling down.
A sour stench filled the air.
In a corner, the three remaining Saibamen huddled together, their small bodies pressed into a trembling mass.
The attack command light kept flashing on the control panel above them, but not one of them dared move.
Vegeta stood in the center of the training room.
Most of his Battle Suit's chest armor had shattered, exposing the skintight suit beneath, soaked through with sweat.
His breathing was rough and heavy, his whole chest heaving.
He raised his right fist.
His knuckles were still swollen.
He stared at his fist for a while.
Then he slammed it into the nearest alloy wall panel.
Blood mingled with the swelling from his old injuries.
Without pausing, he followed up with another punch.
And another.
With every punch, Turles's face flashed through his mind.
Fortunately, the training room walls were specially made, or that punch might have made them cough up more money.
Outside the training room.
Nappa and Raditz stood in front of the transparent observation window.
The muffled impacts from inside vibrated through the soles of their feet.
They came every few seconds, growing faster and faster.
Nappa stood with his arms folded, watching with his head tilted.
Vegeta casually blasted another Saibaman to pieces.
Raditz's brows knitted together.
"We're running low on Saibamen."
Nappa curled his lip. "Can't we just buy more when we run out?"
"Buy?" Raditz's face fell.
"With what?"
Nappa turned to look at him.
Rather than answer directly, Raditz pulled a small data terminal from his belt.
He held the screen out in front of Nappa.
Nappa looked at it and frowned.
"This is all the fucking money we have?"
"They've already deducted the corridor repair costs and compensation for the equipment." Raditz took the terminal back and tucked it into his belt.
"This is all that's left."
"Saibamen aren't cheap to begin with, and now they've hit us with such a big fine..."
The corner of Nappa's mouth twitched.
He looked back at Vegeta in the training room.
"Why should we have to pay for all of it?" he muttered.
"Vegeta was the one that guy knocked into the wall..."
Raditz spread his hands and sighed. "Vegeta attacked first."
"Besides, given our position in the legion, there are already plenty of people who want to make trouble for us."
"Now that they've got the chance, of course they're going to kick us hard while we're down..."
Just then, the training room door suddenly opened.
Vegeta came out with a dark expression.
Nappa and Raditz both fell silent and stood quietly to either side.
Vegeta was still worked up, and they didn't dare get on his bad side.
If they got beaten up, they'd have only themselves to blame.
Vegeta had come off badly against Turles, but dealing with them would be as easy as lifting a finger.
The two hung their heads like ostriches.
Vegeta paid them no attention as he passed between them, but just before he entered the lounge, he suddenly stopped.
"Pack up. We're leaving."