[Quest]

Ben Weeks
redwizardb@yahoo.com





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Chapter Two
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	The three thieves drove erratically but skillfully over the massive
country of China, their vehicle shining smoothly and sleekly in the cloudy
sky.



	They didn't speak a word about what had happened.  They merely kept
their small eyes open for any sign of pursuit.  

	Luckily for them, it was a very cloudy night, and the chances of 
anyone seeing them was woefully small.



	However, that did not reassure them, because they had been found out
long before was originally planned.

	The leader pondered this as the second-oldest drove.


	Certainly, they had known they would be discovered.  Vegeta would 
have woken up to find the Dragonball missing, and then the chase would have 
began.


	But that would have allowed them a five hour window in which to
complete their sweep and gather the remaining four dragonballs.  Now that
Vegeta was awake, his next logical choice would be to go to Son Gokou's 
house, where a dragonball was hidden.


	And all they'd have to do is set up an ambush on one of the mystical
orbs, and the thieves would be very hard pressed to escape with their lives, 
much less the dragonballs.



	As he reviewed all of this information, he finally came to a 
conclusion as they crossed the air above Peking.  It was an undesirable
conclusion, but it was a conclusion he had no choice but to face.

	The time for secrecy had passed.  Sol would be displeased, but he 
would understand.  Rahl, on the other hand, would want heads to roll.  But
it was for the greater good that he made a decision that would probably
cost him his life.

	They couldn't continue to seek out the dragonballs themselves.  The
Alpha Team might have to be released.  The time for force had come.




	As he thought about this, they finally entered into the plateau of
Tibet, high in the Himalayan Mountains.


	Their ship recieved a tight-beam transmission, coded and garbled, in
a language only their race and a few others could understand.  It was a 
routine computer query, and they replied with the password they needed to be 
allowed into the Himalayan air zone.  



	As they dodged the gigantic looming peaks, they finally came upon
the mountain they were seeking.



	Nanga Parbett, a mountain that loomed above it's peers into the
high sky.  

	Nanga Parbett, the pride of Germany's conquerance and bane of 
climbers everywhere.


	
	Nanga Parbett, secret home of The Sunstar.





	
	One of the many crevices littered about it's treacherous face began
to slowly move, spilling snow down it's opening and revealing a tunnel just
barely big enough for the ship to fit down.  




	As they flew inside, laser batteries trained their crosshairs upon
the ship, reading everything about it in an instant, finding weak points and
areas of optimum performance, as well as essential parts and mechanisms.



	The leader saw sweat pouring down the young-ones fur, and he knew
the small youth was thinking of the possible repercussions of his actions.
Sol was a kind and understanding leader, but even he would be angry.


	The leader smiled.  He would accept the blame.  After all, it had 
been his choice to bring along the young one.  And he was responsible for
everyone's actions.




	They entered into the docking bay inside The Sunstar, and the pilot
brought the small ship to a smooth and graceful landing.


	The second they hit the deck, the intercom buzzed out with a few 
single words, but they sent a chill up the young one's spine.


	"Sol wishes to speak to Scout Team Gold."




	With a reassuring smile to the others, the leader walked along the
docking bay, ignoring everyone watching the trail of blood his mangled tail
left behind.  The other two followed.

	Sol would be most displeased.







	



	Sol was not tall, by human standards.  He was about medium height,
rising a powerful nine Tiks above his pure metal floor.  His back was to the 
leader of the three thieves.

	A bad sign.



	Sol was of a race that looked very similiar to the Human Beings; he
had the same facial features, basic body appendages in the proper places, 
and emotions that mirrored the people on Earth.

	The only differences were small; his skin was red and his hair a 
shocking white, rolling down his back in long waves.  Jeisuu of Team Ginyuu
was of the same race, although Sol wasn't nearly as powerful.  

	Sol had grown to hold an influential position in the galaxy with a 
revolutionary idea in the criminal game:  When workers are happy, profits 
soar.  And so, unlike Freeza, his underlings respected him not out of fear, 
but out of awe of his uncanny intellect and appealing charm.


	Whenever King Cold had died on that little mudball planet of Earth,
Sol's empire grew in leaps and bounds, nearly quadrupling it's size in a 
single year, growth that was unheard of in that sector.  Sol soon allied 
with the poverty-stricken Zar system, just two years after Vegeta left them
for that momentous battle on Earth, and using their amazing spatial 
technology and aerodynamic skill, he built a massive self-serving merchant
nation.  It seemed that he would conquer the galaxy, and no-one was unhappy,
because he rewarded those who pleased him, but didn't punish those who
displeased him, allowing them to see the errors of their ways.


	But Sol was not immortal, and the galaxy is awfully big.  Even
traveling at the speed of light, it takes some two hundred thousand years to
cross from one side to the other.


	That's a long time.


	He grew bitter in his old age, because none of his underlings seemed
to have that aggresive kindness and ruthless cunning that the position 
required.  Rahl had his intellect and was nicknamed The Fox for his slippery
political manuevaring, but was unforgiving of mistakes and cruel in his
punishments.

	Diteroc, or more commonly called Doc, his head engineer and 
technical marvel, had the kind, forgiving side the post required, but didn't
have that political atmosphere about him that would have been needed.



	Sol became more and more cold to his underlings as he searched for
what Freeza had sought on Namek and upon Earth.  It was definitely important
because rarely did Lord Freeza personally do such a menial task.


	As he searched the long-abandoned base upon Freeza's homeplanet, he
stumbled onto a huge archive of Scouter Tapes.  Searching through these for
the information he needed, he finally found a single tape that piqued his
interest, for it had the word Immortality? written on the side in Freeza's
personal handwriting.



	He listened to it.


	He heard a strange voice telling his compatriot in the saiya-jin 
language that the dragonballs upon Earth would allow them to wish for every
being's dream, immortality.


	Further research led him to believe that a journey to earth was in
order.  The tape records ended upon Namek as their use became rarer and 
rarer, but he found out that the earth dragonballs were the perfect answer 
to what he sought.


	His lovely, dear wife, the only person in the entire universe he
trusted with this information, pleaded for him not to go.  But he assuaded 
her fear by telling her he would wish immortality upon both of them, making
their love eternal.  She had relented, but her final words became a splinter
in his heart, ever egging him to worry:

	"I fear we shall never meet again in this life..."


	Further research upon King Cold and Freeza's death at the hands of
some earthling showed him that he had better be prepared for a battle he
couldn't win, since his power was ridiculously lower than King Cold's.  As
he left, Doc engineered two teams of perfect cyborgs; they were nearly as
powerful as Lord Freeza and were capable of upgrades.  The most powerful
team was known as the Hellcats; the other team were called Sol's Dogs.


	Doc also sped up his life-long creation, a group of three perfect
bio-engineered soldiers called the Alpha Team.  They weren't powerful as
they should have been, because he was forced to call off their development 
in time for the trip to Earth, but they should be enough to gather all the
dragonballs in case the need for force should arise.

	Which it had. 
	
	"That's not a good thing, Krishna."
	
	The leader bowed his head.

	"I know, and I accept full.."
	"SILENCE!" thundered Sol, his angry form turning to the leader, his
eyes blazing.

	"You had nothing to do with it so quit trying to insult my 
intelligence.  It was the fool youth that you insisted upon bringing along,
against my will, I might add!!"

	"I know not what you're talking about, master.."
	"I said SILENCE!!!!"

	All around the ship his voice roared, making everyone stop in their
tracks fearfully.

	Sol finally brought his anger under control and sat back down.  He
looked down, and instead of seeing an incompetent servant who had failed
him, he saw a courageous leader taking full responsibility for something out
of his control, merely to protect an underling whose incompetence could have
gotten them killed.

	He smiled reassuringly, then frowned.

	"No doubt Vegeta is out warning the others about our presence!  I 
hope he didn't find out your destination."
	"No, master, that's impossible, I would stake my life on it."
	"I hope that won't be necessary, Krishna, but we will see what 
comes our way.  Until then, I am ordering double security and the recall of
all personnel into our ship!"

	Generic advisers started scurrying about, practically falling over
each other to carry out Sol's orders.


	Sol looked down upon the leader.

	"Your time has passed, Krishna.  You did well gathering three of
the dragonballs, but the other four are probably being hidden and protected
by the same earthlings who killed King Cold!"

	The leader kneeled and looked down at the floor, his tail squirting
out blood.
	
	"I'm changing out status from Code Green to Code Yellow.  You will
go to your bunks and get some sleep.  Tomorrow, I'll expect a full, detailed 
report on your actions.  From all three of you!" 

	The leader nodded, sweat dripping down his nose. 
	
	"Dismissed, and send in Rahl."

	The leader bowed, and then stood up, walking out of the room.



	
	As he walked outside, he saw the angry face of Rahl.

	Rahl was of the same race as Sol, but much uglier, as well as meaner
and crueler.  His face was contorted and his eyes blazed, with none of the
self-control that Sol had.

	"You idiots!  You're lucky I don't kill your for your failure!"
	
	"Sol wants to speak with you."

	"Get out of my sight; I can barely stand your presence!  You stink
of fear and cowardice!"

	The leader said nothing, walking down the corridor towards his
quarters.  

	He had survived the wrath of Sol; but what of Rahl??






	Rahl walked in, his feet treading quietly on the beautiful lush red
carpet that made up Sol's throne room on his flagship, The Sunstar.  His 
mouth turned into a smile.  He knew secrecy had been a bad idea, and now, 
the time for force had finally come, to test the techical genius of his 
rival, Diteroc.  When Sol wished for immortality, he would make Rahl 
powerful in his organization, and he would have the protection of a God!

	"They have failed us, milord."
	"I fear you are correct.  Even now our enemies are arraying 
themselves against us, although they know not what they fight."
	"The time for force has come."
	
	Sol sighed.

	"I wish it hadn't came to this, but you're correct again.  Send out 
Sol's Dogs, with the Hellcats on standby.  Inform Diteroc to have his 
team on Code Yellow."
	
	Rahl nodded, trying unsuccessfuly to hide his gleeful smirk.

	

	As he walked out, his mind raced with the glorious possibilites.

	

	The games were about to begin!!!






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End of Chapter Two
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