When Turles left the command room, his feelings were complicated.
He hadn't expected everything to go so unbelievably smoothly.
Even though he had prepared in advance, he still felt somewhat rushed.
Frieza's trust in him had exceeded his expectations.
It even left him somewhat at a loss.
Why had he joined the Frieza Force in the first place?
To escape?
As a temporary measure?
Perhaps the Frieza Force was where he belonged?
That brief moment of self-doubt did flash through Turles's mind.
But it didn't linger for long.
No matter how glorious and triumphant things seemed now,
deep down, Turles didn't yearn for this kind of life.
And even if Frieza favored and trusted him now, did that mean Turles could rest easy?
That was wishful thinking.
Things weren't necessarily going to be much easier for him either.
In fact, he didn't have the slightest room for error.
He had secured a great deal of freedom, but if he couldn't produce results that satisfied Frieza when the time came, there would definitely be no room for excuses.
Turles understood that.
Over the next few days, Turles didn't rush to take any action.
He simply prepared to begin his life as a base commander in the best possible condition.
Meanwhile, word had gradually spread through the headquarters base.
This newly promoted Class A officer was actually a newcomer who had joined less than two months ago?
They said his status was even vaguely above that of Zarbon and Dodoria, two veteran officers.
They heard he was about to take up the post of supreme commander of a branch base.
Comparisons really were enough to drive a person mad!
As the news from headquarters spread to the other branch bases,
the Vegeta Squad, which had just returned to base to rest and recover in a distant, unnamed star region, also heard about it.
Inside a cramped operations room, the air was somewhat stifling.
The metal casing of a nutrient fluid can creaked and warped under Vegeta's fingers.
Crack.
The can burst in his grip.
Cloudy nutrient fluid dripped between Vegeta's fingers and ran onto the control console.
That guy!
He's already gotten this far!
Nappa and Raditz sat on either side, both turning their heads away without speaking.
The atmosphere between the three of them had been like this for a long time.
Ever since leaving headquarters, Vegeta had barely said a word.
After a period of silence,
Vegeta suddenly turned his head slightly and addressed Raditz.
"Raditz."
"Y-yes, Vegeta?" Raditz tensed up instantly, like a grade schooler called on by his homeroom teacher.
"I remember you said you had a younger brother, didn't you?"
Raditz froze for a moment.
Over the years, he had almost forgotten about it.
That was right. He did seem to have a younger brother named Kakarot.
The last time he had seen his parents, his father had told him that Kakarot had been sent to a remote, backward planet, and his mother had told him to keep his younger brother's coordinates safe.
She had asked him to help look after his younger brother.
Raditz hadn't thought much of it.
He had always found his parents' personalities a little strange.
They weren't much like Saiyans.
They cared a bit too much about him and his younger brother.
The two of them were also very close, something he had never seen between other Saiyans.
As far as he was concerned, what was there to care about a brother for?
Look after him?
Not a chance!
It wasn't until Vegeta brought him up that he remembered his younger brother.
"Yes, that's right. He was sent to a low-level planet called Earth. I don't know whether he's still there."
"If he's not dead, he should still be on that planet. It's very backward, so they probably don't have interstellar travel, and that kind of one-way spaceship wouldn't let him leave the planet either."
Vegeta opened his hand, and the nutrient fluid can he had crushed into a ball fell to the floor. Cloudy liquid dripped between his fingers and splattered across the cold metal floor.
"Our efficiency at conquering planets keeps getting lower."
Nappa and Raditz exchanged a glance, but neither dared respond.
"Perhaps we should change our targets to those low-level planets."
"What?" Nappa blurted out. He thought he had misheard.
Vegeta ignored him and continued.
"Then we'll split up and work separately to improve our efficiency."
He paused, taking his eyes off the star chart and sweeping his gaze over the two subordinates before him.
"That way, if we can add another member to the team, we can improve our efficiency even more."
At that point, Raditz understood immediately.
Vegeta was looking right at him.
"Vegeta, Kakarot is just a Low-Class Warrior. Even if he joined us, he wouldn't be much help, would he?"
Raditz spoke cautiously, trying to argue with him using the most basic Saiyan logic.
Nappa chimed in with a muffled voice.
"Yeah, Vegeta, what can a trashy Low-Class Warrior do? That kind of worthless trash would only hold us back!"
Vegeta, however, shook his head calmly.
"Even the weakest Saiyan belongs to a warrior race."
"He can still help us conquer a few low-level planets without any trouble!"
Vegeta turned his gaze back to Raditz.
"What I need is a helper, not an elite."
His voice carried a note of irritation.
He couldn't stand crawling along here like a snail, slowly and inefficiently accumulating a few insignificant military achievements, while that guy Turles rose swiftly through the ranks at Frieza's headquarters.
He, Vegeta, had risked his life for the Frieza Force for so many years. Why couldn't he get promoted to Class A?
He couldn't accept it.
He needed a change.
Even if it was just adding one insignificant Low-Class Warrior, he was willing to try, as long as it improved their efficiency even a little.
He, Vegeta, was the prince of the Saiyans, the most gifted Saiyan warrior.
Among Saiyans, he had to be the best!
In every respect!
Raditz looked at Vegeta and knew he had made up his mind.
"Then... Vegeta, should I go to Earth and pick up Kakarot now?"
Raditz went on to ask about the specific plan.
"But Earth seems very far from here..."
"How long would it take?"
Vegeta frowned.
Raditz walked over to the control console and worked its controls rapidly with his fingers.
The spaceship's navigation logs and star chart data appeared.
A fine layer of sweat formed on his forehead.
"According to the system, one way would take an estimated... one and a half to two years."
"That long?!"
Vegeta's frown deepened.
A lot could be done in two years!
"Too long!"
"The system's estimates are usually fairly conservative. I should actually be able to get there a little sooner..." Raditz added.
Vegeta hesitated briefly, then shook his head.
He waved a hand irritably.
"No rush for now!"
With his back to the two of them, he paced back and forth in the cramped operations room.
"For our upcoming missions, choose only planets in this direction as targets."
His finger traced a line across the star chart, stretching from their current position all the way to the star region where Earth was located.
"We'll complete missions while heading toward Earth."
"Once we're at a suitable distance..."
Vegeta's gaze finally settled on Raditz's face.
"You'll go pick up Kakarot."
"That way, we can save as much time as possible."
"Understand?"
"Understood!"
Raditz and Nappa stood up at the same time.