The Forever Land: The Well-Trodden Path to the Lizard King

 
"The Forever Land"

Route 2: The Well-Trodden Path to the Lizard King

Ginyu was never really what you would call a patient man. Whenever he arrived on scene, he expected things to be set into motion from that moment on, and that was that. Idling was certainly not very stylish and he genuinely would rather have been off coming up with new poses for the team. The Dance of Early Morning Briefings had flopped with Frieza, and he was already treading on thin ice because of that. The Captain took care not to fidget. His lord and master was already irritated and could have gotten it in him to blast him just to hell at the slightest provocation. Nevermind that master was fidgeting in his own way.

His tail continually smacked the floor, coiling and thrashing in time. There aren’t many that would have thought it, but Ginyu was an observant fellow. Freeza only thrashed his tail when he was thoroughly annoyed. The good captain could at least take solace in knowing that neither he nor his force were the source of the master’s discontent.

Dodoria often let his temper get the best of him, but he was no stoop, or at least, not enough of one to fail to notice the tension in the air. Ogres had very keen senses of smell, and he could pick up the scent of the Ginyus’ worry and Frieza’s irritation quite nicely. If Zarbon didn’t arrive soon, he’d have hell to pay, with plenty of debt left for the rest of them.

Then, as if on cue, the Azureman rushed in, traces of millet porridge still clearly visible on his uniform. He walked to Frieza in a straight but visibly panicked manner, dropped to one knee and bowed as deeply as his body would allow.

“I… I’m so sorry, Master Frieza!” He panted. “There was an… an incident… in the mess hall… that required my attention. Please, your forgiveness, sire…” He pushed his body to bow even deeper, his face twisting in a pained expression.

Frieza, unimpressed, extended his hand. The Ginyus’ eyes widened. What he really going to do it? Was Frieza really going to kill his favorite? Zarbon felt the incoming heat, and shuddered inwardly. All his efforts to keep himself in Frieza’s good graces, all laid to waste by 15 minutes of lateness? Not so. The heat in question  was that of the master’s hand, which gently brushed away a few specks of grit resting on Zarbon’s shoulder guard.

He was glad to have kept his head so low. His cheeks sought to make public his embarrassment.

“If ever there is a problem, Zarbon,” Frieza began with half-lidded eyes. “You’d do better to inform me first, before you risk earning a few more from me. Now rise.”

“Yes, sire. Thank you, sire.” Not wanting to keep his master waiting any longer, the Azureman quickly took his place at Dodoria’s left, avoiding the ogre’s quizzical gaze but well aware of the collective sighs of relief, fixed stares, and contained laughter of the Ginyu Force, in that order.

“So then, let’s get down to business.”

All the king’s men snapped to attention at that. “As you all may have noticed,” Frieza began, “The job queue in this sector has begun to dry up. Though there are still a few scattered planets around that have yet to be occupied, based on the reports, I feel those remaining can be left to the first-class Saiyans and a handful of our elites, if necessary.” He paused to pour himself a glass of wine. Even by aristocratic standards, drinking so early in the day was a bit much, but who in his right mind would stage an intervention for the death god, himself? “That said,” he continued.  “I feel it’s time we expanded the empire and set out to introduce ourselves to new sectors, so to speak.”

The small master then walked to the control panel on the other end of the chamber. Setting the transmitter to the correct channel, Frieza called out. “Appule.”

 The eggplant lackey’s visage blinked onto the screen within seconds. “Yes, my lord?“

“Please relay the discussed findings.”

“As you wish, Master Frieza.”  He bowed his head then with a bit of quick typing, brought a galactic map on-screen. “As shown here, this is a map of Optima galaxy southeast, our current station. The empire’s emblem, of course, denotes our main HQ here on 13. The red dots indicate planets that have already been occupied by the Imperium Friezanum. The green ones are habitable planets that have yet to become integrated.” After a bit more button pushing, the map zoomed out. “Here are the remaining sectors. Four planets have been occupied here in the southeast. The southwestern quadrant has three planets deemed suitable for use. The northeaster quad, two habitable with one moon available as a possible stow bay. Northwest quad, one planet, entirely gaseous. There are, however, two systems we’ve recently discovered that show some promise.”

Through a few more melodic beeps, eggplant displayed a split-screen. “Through the information our satellite probes were able to gather, we’ve ascertained that in the Ttasiformes galaxy, shown at the left, contains a single sun and an oxygen-rich planet, somewhere between 20-25%. The satellites detected a structure large enough to be viewed from space, indicating sentient natives.”

Recoom’s eyes gleamed at that. He crossed his fingers in hopes of a new assignment. “The second,” Appule went on. “Formally the Loriformes Galaxy, but also known as the Ark’s Peril, due to the large expanses of asteroid fields all about the area. The satellite sent there was able to detect a planet with a single moon before unexpectedly going off-line, presumably struck by a wayward asteroid.”

“Thank you, Appule. That will do for now.”

“By your bidding, sire.” The connection closed with a concise little ‘blip’.

The exchange ending, the lizard king turned back to his men. “There it is, laid out before you gentlemen. In two days time, maintenance on my ship will be complete. Once competed, Ttasiformes will be our target.”

The Ginyu Force couldn’t contain themselves. Their approving chortles and wide toothy grins broadcasted their excitement. “Zarbon, Dodoria…”

“Yes, sire?” They responded in unison.

“The two of you will go out as reconnaissance. When the time comes, ascertain whether there is indeed sentient life on the Ttasiformian planet, and from there, ascertain whether that life can be of use to us.”

The handmen exchanged glances. “Sire, we are… reconnaissance?” The ogre’s tone relayed a bit of disbelief.

“Is that a problem, Mister Dodoria?”

He shrunk slightly. “Er, not at all, my lord.”

“And as for you and yours, Ginyu,” Frieza turned to him. “Choose two of your men to accompany them as backup. They’re both useful in their own ways, and I would be most displeased to lose them should the locals prove… difficult.”

“Sir!” Ginyu barked with a salute, strangely gung-ho for the time.

“Good. I expect results, gentlemen. I’m sure none of you need to be told. You Ginyus are dismissed.”

With simultaneous bows and grunts of confirmation, the Ginyu Force took their leave. Just before the auto port had the change to close completely, Guldo could be heard to say, in a voice not quite low enough: “Gonna be pickin’ grits out o’ my crotch for the next two days…”

The Azureman just managed to catch a snippet of their howls of laughter before the door shut, and his face and his palm became best of friends from that point on.