It was nearly six months later and the resistance was drawing close to Namek.. Currently Kakarot and the others were all gathered around in the mess hall.

Tensions had been high lately but the reason for their group meeting now was beyond all of them. Piccolo, by way of the great and powerful King Kai's telepathy, managed to communicate with them all and demanded they have a team meeting.

"From what King Kai has told me.." Piccolo's voice magically boomed all around them. "Even with everybody combined we still don't stand a chance against Frieza and his family and they're hot on your tail. They know all about the dragon balls too. You'll have about an hour, so you need to split up into groups. Goku.. I need you to go see Guru personally while the rest of you fan out and find the dragon balls. I would ask you saiyans…" He drawed slowly.

"To transform and hold back Frieza until I can get wished back and transported to Namek." Piccolo requested.

"What?!"

"Seriously!?"

"Preposterous!"

Every saiyan but Raditz and Kakarot shared their discontent with the plan. Kakarot's older brother merely crossed his arms and frowned. "To what end, green man? You're weaker Than all of us, especially transformed so what's your grand plan here genius?" He asked seriously.

Though they couldn't see it they could practically feel Piccolo's knowing smirk.

"It's not about how powerful I am." He said, pausing for dramatic effect. "When I come back to life the Earth's dragon balls will be restored, and because of the intense training Kami and I have undergone, we should be able to get at least two wishes out of them. And i'm pretty sure the Namkeians dragon grants at least two as well, maybe even more now. He's been around a lot longer."

At that all of the gathered warriors' eyes widened. More wishes on the table certainly sweetened the pot…

"It's not up for debate in any case." Kakarot said stepping forward. "We're bringing them back. Why do I need to go see this Guru fellow, Piccolo?" He asked. "And what do you propose we do with the extra two wishes?"

Piccolo answered a second later. "For one thing he has one of the dragon balls. Beyond that he is apparently the oldest, most powerful elder to ever exist. If anyone knows any secrets that might help to defeat Freiza, it would be him. As for your second question, there's no way to tell how powerful the wishes will be otherwise I would say do something practical like wish Frieza far away.." The deceased man explained.

"As it stands I think it would be wise to consider saving one of the wishes to evacuate the planet if it comes right down to it.." He answered honestly.

This earned a collective gasp from the group. Their shock was only further intensified by what Piccolo suggested next. "And in order to keep you saiyans from somehow ruining this for all of us.. I think you should all get the last wish, but only after Frieza is defeated and we return home.."

"You can't be serious!? After we defeat Frieza? What a waste!" Vegeta scoffed.

But he couldn't argue that getting a guaranteed wish was much more lucrative than he had previously hoped for in all of this.. He thought he would have to scheme his way to achieve it. The only problem was.. Surviving Frieza without some sort of trump card still felt like a daunting, if not impossible task.

"I'll go with you saiyans." The Group raised their eyebrows and looked over at the man who had spoken. It was none other than Captain Ginyu. Turles scoffed. "Oh please what exactly can you do, Ginyu?" The purple alien in question clicked his tongue. "For the promise of being brought back if I die.. I can attempt to take over one of the Arcrosisan's bodies.." He said.

"Oh like hell!" Nappa roared. "And let you become even more powerful?" He asked sarcastically. Ginyu frowned. "We both know I'll be way weaker in that body than any of them. So kill me if you need to. Just do it after we take that bastard Frieza down because he will torture us all to death." He warned seriously. The rest were silent.

"Well there you have it. We all has their directives. Good luck everyone." The disembodied voice of Piccolo came again before his presence disappeared.

Piccolo looked seriously at Kami. "Something feels wrong.. I felt a strange friction between everyone." The tall Namekian observed. Kami's mouth formed into a thin line and he nodded. "Unfortunately I believe that you are right but ultimately.. We must have faith in them to resolve their issues. We have another problem. We need to get to King Yemma's station.." He warned ominously.

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Piccolo looked at the man with a raised eyebrow. "And why exactly is that?" He asked, crossing his arms. Kami rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "Well the truth is.. we actually can't be wished back from here due to the location haha! King yemma's palace however acts as a gateway you see.."

Piccolo facepalmed before he sighed deeply. Turning, the man began to walk off.

"Uhh.. Piccolo?" Kami asked questiongly. Piccolo turned back at the man and smirked. "Well? What are you waiting for, old man? We better get going." He said with a smirk.

Kami looked at the relatively young warrior before him with a twinkle in his eye. 'The darkness in his heart.. it really is all gone. I barely even recognize you anymore.. I am so proud.' The old man nodded with a contented smile. "Right. Thanks to King Kai's training, even I should be able to make the trip to King Yemma's in a day or so. Let's go!"

Meanwhile on the resistance ship with the gathered warriors.

As the connection with King Kai was severed the thirteen gathered warriors exchanged looks. Vegeta stepped forward addressing mostly the saiyans but not necessarily excluding the others. "Nappa, Turles, Raditz and myself are going to be transforming into great apes when Frieza and his men touch down. Thankfully we were able to regrow Turles's tail with concentrated blutz waves. All of us working together is the only way we may be able to hold that bastard off long enough for.."

He hesitated frowning and struggling to find the words. Shaking his head he narrowed his eyes and simply settled for saying, "What exactly is your plan, geniuses?" He snorted.

Krillin glared at the man. "After we bring back our friends, we'll surround Frieza. All of us, and take him together. With teamwork and-.." The short bald man was cut off by an angry and aggressive Vegeta.

"Are. You. Serious!" Vegeta growled. "You're basically telling me you didn't have a plan this whole time! Two full wishes and absolutely no clue what to do with them? Preposterous. You should just make me immortal and get it over with." He suggested aggressively.

"If you all group up together, all it will do is give Frieza one easy target that he won't have to hunt down. Absolutely do not under any circumstances challenge Frieza, understand?" He huffed.

"Furthermore we saiyans aren't always responsible for our actions when we transform. We're just as liable to kill you Earthlings as Frieza." The prince grinned tauntingly. Krillin looked like he wanted to argue but then he frowned. "Never pegged you as the type to care about our lives. Are you that certain we can't beat Frieza?"

Vegeta bristled. "I care as far as not having all you idiots get in my damn way." He jerked a thumb at his chest. "I am the only one who stands a chance of defeating Frieza and ultimately the only one who deserves to. I can beat the lot of you combined, even if the green one was currently alive. And even still.. I can't take the Arcrosian bastard head on. We have to be smart." Vegeta ended his long winded explanation with a dismissive wave.

The Z-warriors paled. Krillin nodded slowly. "Alright Vegeta. We'll do this your way. We'll play it smart. But the bottom line is it'll be impossible to formulate a proper plan until we know more. Namely how many wishes we'll have and how strong Frieza's forces are." He said decisively.

"I'll tell you for a fact.." Ginyu interjected. No one was particularly eager to hear the man speak but if anyone had any Intel on Frieza's inner workings it was him so they allowed him to continue. ".. If Frieza's learned of things such as the Dragon Balls he'll pull out all the stops. in the past that would have meant my squad but now.. I'd say you can expect at least a thousand soldiers. Maybe a few of his stronger generals but I'm confident most of you can handle them. It's the numbers that will overwhelm us." He said ominously.

Tien spoke up next. "If that's the case.." He began, slowly looking at everyone present. ".. Then it seems obvious we Earthlings should make it our first priority to get all of the Namekian people somewhere safe before Frieza's men arrive." The triclops surmised.

"Yeah but against a thousand plus soldiers? I don't know you guys.." Chi Chi admitted. Though she was inarguably the most powerful Earthling as far as raw strength went due to her family's technique, she also had the least stamina out of them all.

At this point Nappa cut in. "I might be able to help you guys out a little bit. It's not much but.. I saved about a half dozen saibamen…"

"Saiba-what?" Yamcha said from somewhere in the back.

Nappa continued unabated. "..From the good old planet enslaving days ahahaha umm.. oh errm.. sorry."

The eldest saiyan's words and demeanor turned sheepish as he realized a majority of the group present were currently glaring at him due to his disregard for the lives hurt because of the brutish ways of the saiyans while under Frieza's command.

"They'll hardly be more than fodder." Turles scoffed with crossed arms. "But with their powerful self destruction they may be able to take a few groups of elites out.." He admitted with a shrug. The saiyan pirate looked much healthier and stronger than before, having all but recovered from the consequences of his actions.

Not only that but his power level was hard to get a read on even in this close proximity so it was clear the man had more or less mastered Ki control.

"What do you think of all this, Kakarot?" Asked Raditz. Currently the man in question was standing beside his wife and child who were holding hands. He turned his attention towards the two and they looked back at him, waiting to hear his answer. He thought back to the last conversation he and his wife had, had the day prior.

Brief flashback, 24 hours earlier, Goku, Bulma and Gohan's room.

"So just say it and stop being so passive aggressive about everything. For almost the past six months you've been distant, pushing Gohan and I away.. Look if this is because of the Vegeta thing I already told you, some very small part of me may feel something for him but not in a million years would I sacrifice our family for something like that. And his feelings about the matter are irrelevant, I choose who I'm with." She swore to him.

Kakarot sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Bulma. If you tell me that nothing is going on, then that will be the end of it. There's nothing more to be discussed. I love you. I trust you. And only you." He said matter of factly.

The woman threw up her arms. "Then what is it then? Because you don't understand what you're doing to our son." She said pointedly.

"I'm protecting him!" Kakarot shouted, forcing her to flinch and step back in mild shock. Sure they had fights before, couples argue from time to time but Kakarot had never genuinely shouted at her with anger. For a moment she felt true malice in his voice. The man went wide eyed and stepped back. "I'm sorry I just.. I'm still not strong enough.." He said dejectedly, hanging his head.

Bulma sighed and shook her head. "If we work together.. You don't have to be." She said, surprising the man. She stepped forward and looked into his eyes. "Son Goku.. I will always love you. And you are such a good man.. But as always you are putting way too much weight on your shoulders. You've spent so Goddamn long taking care of everyone else you never stopped to worry about what's best for you. Don't you see, Kakarot?" She pleaded.

She stepped back and softly finished by saying, "you've taken all of our fear, and hatred, and pain and you've bottled it all up inside yourself.. We've all become much better but it's all too much for you alone.. You have to remember we're all in this together."

End flashback

His son smiled at him and Kakarot smiled back before he sighed and looked at the rest of the group in a cool and calculating manner. His relationship with the Earthlings was strained at best and he wasn't sure if they'd ever be able to forgive him for pushing them all away. "All I want is to protect my family. All of you."

End of chapter 40