New Faces, New Allies (Departures Thread (Melonia/ Private)

(Thread Power Level: 4,109. Heavy Weights On, Weighted Power Level: 1,027)

Melonia groaned awake as the alarms rung through her enhanced space pod's interior. She'd been in near catatonic status for most of the journey back home, resting nestled within the armored sphere of her ship as it hurtled through space at near unimaginable speed. The return trip to Natto was taking a fraction of the time compared to the departure to earth in the first place. Her own space craft had proven vastly superior to the derelict ship Jie Shan had made her pilot on the way there, more importantly the communication systems weren't damaged, much to her relief. The Saiyan beauty gave a quick stretch, hoping up to inspect the command console and disable the alarm systems. 

She had long since entered Saiyan Alliance held territory, now approaching her home world of Natto's own gravity well. Seating herself at the helm of the agile craft Melonia flipped a series of switches and brought the craft under manual guidance. Feeling it lurch slightly as it bucked to respond to her controls, steering column in hand as Melonia throttled the craft up for approach velocity. The space pod kicked as it rocketed forward, zooming faster on the final leg of the journey. One of Natto's several moons came into few, swinging through the air like a titanic bludgeon as it orbited the planet. Melonia grinned as she skirted in close to the lunar object, catching its gravity well and using the force to slingshot her around its curvature towards Natto. 

The Saiyaness grabbed for a headset and tapped on the display console as she lowered the headgear to rest over her ears. The comm channels blinded to life and she fumbled through frequencies until she was tuned into Saiyan Alliance air traffic control. "This is Saiyan Space Pod, designation 5E1-6972, Captaining officer is Melonia, call sign 756287 returning from departure voyage to earth. Over" She waited for a minute, listening to only static as the message was relied through to control. After a minute the image of a grizzled Saiyan officer appear on one of her monitors, scouter over his right eye and dressed in an officer's regalia as he sat at a terminal. "Air Control confirms..." finally popped back through the earphones of her headset. "We have you on scanners 5E1, you are clear for landing at Soy Capital north-central star port. Proceed on following coordinates and use landing bay 619. Over." 

Melonia punched in the new coordinates as they were relied to her vessel. "Coordinates confirmed, receiving now. See you boys topside. E51 on approach vectors. Out." Her words came brief as Melonia began guiding her craft in, banking it hard as the growing shape of the Soy Capital loomed below her growing on the horizon of the world. Angling in for her approach Melonia dived the craft hard down into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. She pulled off her headset and locked it back into place, flipping the video screen from her transmission back to engine readouts. All systems were nominal, power supply fluctuating regularly, and thermal insulating shielding holding at maximum. The space pod kicked hard against Melonia's controls as it connected with the dense Nattoan atmosphere.

Immediately the vessel was engulfed in brilliant red flames as the sheer friction of retry ignited the atmosphere around it like a burning ball of magnesium. Melonia could see the Soy Capital below clearly on her monitors though, video feeds were still coming in clear as they should. The space port stretched out along most of the vast city's northern length. A huge military industrial complex from which tens of thousands of Saiyan space craft of all makes and models departed from each and every day. One cog in the enormous war machine that was the Saiyan Alliance, albeit a rather large cog at that. Even now Melonia could see the bright white exhaust trails of the engines of some few dozen other craft coming and going. She briefly wondered how many were old comrades or former acquaintances, back from interstellar patrols or service to or from one of the hundreds of bases the Alliance operated in this sector of space. The heat of reentry made it near impossible to reach other vessels via communication channels though, so such musings would have to go unanswered.

One press of a button and the craft's engines reversed thrust, tilting around to face straight for as her ship loomed directly above the bustling space port. Hundreds of small circular landing platforms stood waiting for their ships to berth below, and Melonia was happy to oblige. With her space pod's retro rockets engaged the agile craft's speed began to rapidly decelerate at it slowed down to a comfortable descent velocity. The red heat around the vessel quickly burned off and dulled as its speed slowed down to a proper landing velocity, going from thousands of miles an hour to only a few hundred in a matter of seconds, slowing further still by the moment. The guide lights of her landing platform lit up to assist Melonia in guiding her craft in, and she could already see refueling teams below on the monitors.

Flicking a series of switches the lower landing gear began to deploy, unfolding out the bottom of the craft to wait like four squat stubby legs for touch down. Melonia throttled down the engines to minimum as she drew close, the once roaring white light reduced down to a more modest blue flame before diminishing entirely as the vessel made landfall. It gave a slight rock as the landing gear absorbed the impact of touchdown, at which point Melonia gave a slight grin. Any landing you could walk away from is a good landing, as she had been taught. Of course, a textbook landing was also something in itself to be proud of. Flicking another series of switches and retracting the steering equipment Melonia powered down the craft entirely, switching the reactor to idle and dimming the interior lighting.

Melonia quickly gathered up her few possessions she'd brought back with her before making for the front entrance hatch of the vessel. With the press of a button the ovular door hissed and spilled out pressured artificial atmosphere as it slowly lifted itself open. Melonia breathed in a deep breath of Natto's atmosphere. It stunk of ozone, burning rocket fuel, grease, and engine exhaust. But it felt like heaven compared to the recycled oxygen that had populated the inside of her craft for the last few days. The deck crews saluted as she walked out of her ship, already they were moving to pump out sewage and waste water, as well as attaching refueling lines to the ship. A large hatch slowly closed to cover the top of the landing platform, semi-submerged to better protect it against bombardment as well as shielding it from the fierce Natto sun. The star port itself was partially carved into the very rock, the buildings of Saiyans just as hard as their people.

The Saiyan beauty walked diligently, knowing she was cutting her schedule preciously close. Her tail swished in mild agitation, a subconscious notification to any in proximity that she was not in the keenest of moods. Dressed in her Saiyan Battle Armor, she looked quite the sight in spite of the circumstances. The Saiyan's armor was tailored to her preferences, giving the rugged and durable military apparel a rather girlish appearance. The slimming violet hued under layer clung like a second skin to Melonia's curvaceous figure, running from her long toned legs to her thick muscled thighs, over the generous curve of her bottom and over top of wide feminine hips. It covered her slim waist and toned stomach, up her lithe torso and over the massive curvature of her bust line, down her slender arms and up over Melonia's slim shoulders to cut off at the neck. Over top she wore a standard full armor model, featuring both large shoulder pauldrons, chest plating, as well as hip guards that formed an armored skirt of sorts. The primary armor layer was standard issue pearl white polymer, durable as it was elastic, rigid against impacts yet highly flexible to prevent it from impairing movement. The guards by contrast, Melonia had styled in a vibrant shade of hot pink, her favorite color. It was rather showy, forgoing any sense of camouflage or muted color palette to display her bright and clear. To hide was for weaker races, Saiyans knew one means of combat, and that was to attack until the enemy was dead. Offense needed no such thing as subtlety, so long as you emerged victorious.

A small soldier was waiting as Melonia rounded a corner and headed down one of the long interior corridors of the star port. He saluted immediately, and Melonia nodded curtly as she came to a stop. "Greetings Captain Melonia." The young Saiyan said meekly, trying to summon up confidence in his voice. "Greetings soldier, at ease." Melonia returned quickly, continuing her walk as the younger Saiyan fell in line. He was close to her height, and she was not exceptionally tall for a woman. His hair spiky though short, face clean shaven and youthful. In addition to this the soldier was dressed in a grey suit of battle armor, though the half model that forgoes the additional shoulder and hip guards for a slimmer profile. "What is your name, and I want a full status report. Now." Melonia said swiftly, gaze turning to meet the man at her side's as the two walked the lengthy halls on their way to her destination.

"I'm Jagai, ma'am." The soldier stated immediately, tapping on a datapad in hand as he pulled up his notes to read off to his superior. "I've been assigned to you as an assistant for the immediate future, until reassignment at least. Anyways, the Cathedral of Arrogance is in dry dock still, though the construction was officially finished last week. All supplies have been loaded and the preliminary systems tests have been completed." Melonia smirked slightly, picking up her pace. "Is she ready to fly? I want her air born within the hour Jagai." The assistant's face darkened slightly and he bit his lip. "Well, not yet. We had a bit of a delay loading on the ship's crew. You know how it is with Saiyan marines. Muscles are required, intelligence not essential sir. I assure you the last of the personal are being loaded on board as we speak." Melonia chuckled slightly at Jagai's joke, which set him at ease as he visibly sighed. The had reached the wing of the star port that housed the Arrogance.



The Broli-Class Mothership could be seen clearly towering over the majority of the vicinity. Even partially submerged in its goliath landing platform it stood taller than some of the control towers that dotted the landscape. Steam rose in great billowing plumes from the engines as it sat in idle sequence awaiting its maiden voyage. Four great squat legs clamped into the ground for stability, huge metal claws gripping the landing supports tightly like the talons of a massive beast. A large circular central section formed the superstructure of the craft, dozens of stories tall and weighing more than several skyscrapers put together. The entire space ship was massive beyond much scope, its hull already filled with the thousands of crew members necessary to its operations. Melonia could only grin with childish glee in sight of it, pausing to look out a large viewing window at the enormity of her new vessel. As she turned back the Saiyaness opted to fly the remainder of the journey towards the Cathedral.

As Melonia arrived she could see only one of the two monstrous boarding ramps on the ship's underbelly was still lowered. A small contingent of Saiyans were walking lazily up the ramp onto the ship, and Melonia approached the group from the side. One Saiyan in particular towered a head above the rest, for someone so big he sure moved fast. "This is your Captain speaking." Melonia said with a curt tone, Jagai not far from her side. "We are departing immediately, I would suggest you lot move a bit faster in the future. Half rations for the journey if you're not in the central hangar bay in three minutes. I have a departure speech to give, and I will not fall behind schedule because of my crew." At that Melonia sped off, flying further into the vessel's interior.

She arrived not a minute later in the belly of the beast. The large central hangar bay held hundreds of lesser space pods and thousands of tons of cargo still being loaded into the cargo bays below. The crew that could be spared had been gathered in a large assembly, with the rest going about critical tasks on their final launch checklist. Melonia moved to a raised podium, taking her place and tapping the mic to check the audio. Her brief speech would be broadcast throughout the ship, and she intended to make it a good one. Once the last of the stragglers were on board and attending she could begin, and after that the ship would move forward with final launch procedures before they embarked back to earth.

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Melonia watched with mild amusement as the last of her crew members filed hastily into the room. It would seem threatening their oh so precious food supply had done the trick. Good, it was the same thing her commanding officers had done damn near every day at the academy. Saiyans loved fighting more than anything in the universe, but they loved eating nearly as much. High metabolisms and a ruthlessly active lifestyle meant that their bodies needed lots of nutrition. Coupled with what amounted to cast iron stomachs Melonia doubted there was much that was digestible that a Saiyan couldn't eat, except poisons. She spotted the same hulking Saiyan from earlier standing towards the rear of the crowd. He stood head and shoulders above most of the rest, which was rather impressive, as Saiyans were not a spindly breed in and of themselves.

The Saiyan Captain cleared her throat to speak, monitors erupting with video feeds of her face on the lay viewing screen above her. The same feed was broadcast throughout the ship to every terminal on their network. "My illustrious crew of the Cathedral of Arrogance, we are gathered here to christen the maiden voyage of the newest and grandest of our largest class of warships. Each mothership under the command of the Saiyan Alliance represents progress, another notch in the endless victories that adorn our belt. This vessel is not just a marvel of Saiyan military engineering, but a symbol. A symbol of all that our proud race stands for. Our unyielding might and indomitable fighting spirit. Wherever the Cathedral goes, she brings with her the will of the Saiyan Alliance. Be this in times of war or in times of peace, I expect each and every one of you to fulfill your part in that image. Show our allies strength and compassion, faithfulness and duty. And to our enemies..." Melonia paused, her eyes glinting as she raised her gloved fist high. 

"And to our enemies, show them only their dooms! Let them know the force of our will, the strength of our zeal! Break them in mind, body, and spirit! Give your all for the Alliance, be it your drive or your lives. We are the finest army in the universe, you are among its soldiers. Always remember that, on the calmest mornings as you train with your backs to the rising sun, on the darkest days when all hope seems lost, and on the most desolate battlefield when all your enemies lie broken and shattered before you! We are Saiyans, the greatest peoples in the universe, the most powerful warriors the galaxy has ever known! And Saiyans do not quit, we do not surrender, we shall give our all until their is nothing left for us to give. For Natto! For Nasu! For the Alliance!" Melonia flared her Ki at her final declaration, finger thrust to the sky as cheers erupted from the crowd. 

She leaned back over her podium, taking her mic once more. "Now, all of you to your stations. We launch immediately. I wish to return this manifestation of our iron will to Earth, so we may assist the Overseer more intimately in his designs. You are dismissed, all engine crews begin primary drive sequences." At that Melonia lowering the mic, turning to depart her small stage. "Come Jagai." She called out to her new assistant, who had stood humbly at her side during the length of her speech. "Yes Captain, of course." The two quickly departed the hangar bays, walking briskly for the upper decks where the cockpit was located. Along the way they passed other soldiers and sailors, all stopping to salute their captain as she passed them by.

"What did you think of the speech?" Melonia asked simply, following her words with. "Permission to speak freely Jagai." The younger Saiyan paused to think, tapping a finger to his slender chin. "Well. I thought it was very rousing, quite a lot of bravado and saber rattling. Perhaps a bit grandiose, but the troops eat up morale like they go through alcohol rations. So overall, I'd rate it rather highly." Melonia smiled, saying nothing more on the matter. The duo made their way to the doorway that led to the mighty vessel's helm. The two guards on duty nodded curtly, following up with a salute as the doors slid open. Melonia entered the bridge, looking out at the dozens of officers sitting around their consoles. A large viewing screen well over ten feet stretched the full length of the ship's prow, giving all within a clear view in front of them. It held hundreds of individual monitors and terminals along its length, feeding a constant stream of information to the bridge crew.

Melonia took her command chair, more of a large through in the center of the bridge. "Status report ensigns." She called out, fingers tapping away at the keypad on her arm rest. "All systems nominal captain, the Cathedral is ready for final launch sequences on your command." The Saiyan Captain grinned, bringing up the external feeds on the monitors before her. "Excellent. Let us begin then. Logistics, seal refueling ports and detach external fuel lines. Sanitation, close all fresh water tanks and detach external pumping mains. Life support, begin cycling oxygen and producing artificial gravity. Communications, relay our launch authorization to star port air traffic control. Engineering, detach mooring clamps and begin cycling power from main reactor to primary drive engines. I want this behemoth in orbit five minutes ago."

A flurry of activity rang through the bridge at the Captain's orders, officers relaying instructions to their subordinate commanders, transmissions being sent to and from the warship. All crew members working double time to get the mighty vessel air born. A great booming rumble began to shake the very earth itself beneath them as the engines spooled up to life, the fusion reactors in the heart of the shipping groaning to full power for the first time since their construction. Great jets of steam vented out the bottom of the vessel, wreathing it in a fog as the cooling systems did their task. The entire space ship pouring out exertion at the leviathan task that was moving its immense size from land into space. All the while Melonia sat calmly in her chair, legs crossed as her tail lie wrapped round her waist. Ponytail draped over a slender shoulder as she watch the organized chaos before her, and childish grin of sheer contentment spread wide across her fair featured face.

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Alarms rang out through the bridge of the Cathedral of Arrogance, the ship lurching at the sudden disruption of normal function. "Captain! Critical malfunction in the front right leg!" cried out one of the ensigns as Melonia gritted her teeth and gripped the arm rests of her command chair. It was the only thing keeping her pinned in her seat as the woman seethed with rage. "Status report! Anyone!" Melonia roared as officers quickly pulled up the monitor on the main viewing screen. Her face, flushed red with anger nearly turned white at the sight. The front right leg of the craft had several dozen retractable metal chutes extending, some punching their ways into the very walls of their dry dock as well as the catwalks around the ship's holding facilities.

Two of the twenty escape pod ports along the outer face of the leg were smoking heavily, their access hatches wide open and the escape pods within now jettisoned across the dry dock to their final resting position embedded deep in a wall. "Switch the feeds to interior cameras. I need to see what the hell is going on down there." A flurry of rapid clicking on terminal keyboards and soon the screen was flooded with footage of the inside of the front right leg of the space craft. Boxes and crew members were drifting aimlessly through the air, some flying back to their stations to try and undo the damage. Earthling music from god knows how many centuries ago that's radio waves had only recently reached Natto blared through the speakers of the leg, almost drowning out the emergency alarms that flashed red and blared like sirens.

"Emergency reboot on all essential and nonessential systems and subsystems in the affected leg!" Melonia commanded as she slammed down her fist. "I want a retrieval team out prying those two pods from the wall. Send them to fabrication for any necessary repairs." The command came sharply, Melonia still grinding her teeth in fury. Immediately officers began relaying new orders, prompts appearing on her own monitor. Melonia clicked through her command sequences and authorized the full system reboot of the mechanical appendage. The front right leg went dark, the video feeds cutting out for a moment as the systems shut down. They returned in a moment, supply crates and tools now scattered across the floor. Alarms still blaring though the infernal music had finally stopped. "Get me whoever the hell is responsible for this down there!" Melonia commanded, looking at the shell shocked crew members across the gauntlet of video screens.

The face of the hulking Saiyan from earlier appeared on the monitor, Melonia groaned so hard internally she nearly had a brain aneurysm. "You!" She said with absolute vitriol in her voice. "I want your name, I want your rank, and I want you up on the bridge IMMEDIATELY!" The Captain got one good look at the man on screen before turning the monitor off in disgust. She let out a heavy sigh, massaging her temples with her thumb and pointer finger as she closed her eyes. "Jagai." She said in a moment of calmed fury. "Hand me your datapad." The assistant did so without hesitation, handing over the small electronic device, which Melonia gripped so hard the screen cracked immediately. He opened his mouth to speak but kept silent upon consideration.

Melonia hurled the device into the air with one hand, firing a Ki blast at it with the other. A violet bolt of Ki impacted the hapless datapad and exploded it into a million tiny fragments. "That was a gift from my girlfriend..." Jagai said quietly almost at a whisper. "I'll get you another one..." Melonia replied. "Hell, I'll get you a dozen." That Saiyaness slumped down in her seat, utterly exhausted from what had just transpired. The crew of the bridge still hastily going about firing back up the right leg and bringing its critical systems online. This would no doubt be a mountain of paperwork for Melonia, among other headaches.

"Jagai." Melonia said with a sigh. "Yes Captain." He replied swiftly, unsure what to expect. "Tell me, what are the two requirements before a Saiyan can transcend into a Super Saiyan?" There was a brief pause as the young assistant remembered his academy lessons. "I believe it requires a Saiyan to have a power level in excess of a hundred thousand, as well as experiencing a moment of rage so powerful it overwhelms all other sense." Melonia let the words ring through the air. "Jagai. Is my power level 'in excess of one hundred thousand'?" She said with the barest hint of sarcasm. "No Captain, it is not." Jagai replied, averting his gaze. "Be glad that it wasn't, or this star port might have ended up a smoldering crater." There was a second pause, longer than the first. "Yes Captain."

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Total Word Count: 4,154

Melonia groaned internally for what might have been the dozenth time in ten minutes. With a grimace on her face she watched her salvage team haul the two ejected space pods from the impact sight along the dry dock walls. At least the emergency chutes had retracted without incident back into their place. Everything else had been rectified in the system's reboot. Mercifully at least that had gone correctly. The urge to punch something still clung tight in her heart, and if not for her responsibility as Captain, Melonia would likely be pummeling a practice dummy into a red brown mist.

As the Saiyan known as Bora trudged in through the access doors Melonia could only rest her chin in her palm as one arm cradled her head. The other continued to massage her throbbing temples, one vein pronounced and pulsing as she tried to calm down her anger. The man was bigger in person, and that was saying a lot. She'd caught a glimpse of him on her way aboard the space craft, down on the loading ramp when she chastised the late arrivals and threatened their rations.

Even though he had been ruthlessly shamed by his incomoetence, failed utterly in his simple task, and totally humiliated Melonia as a Captain and a senior officer right in the heart of the Soy Capital, Bora continued to hold his head with pride. That was something you couldn't take from a Saiyan, pride. No matter how many bones you shattered, how many battles you one, or how many home worlds you managed to take from them. They'd still hold their head high, grit their teeth in anger, and keep taking as many beatings as it took to finally die or pull through a win. Melonia admired that above all else. And for that her heart softened, if only a bit.

As the Saiyan warrior spoke Melonia finally learned his name and designation. Not that it mattered much, there was functionality no difference from one squad to another. She'd punish the entire chain of command up to the root of the problem. Bora might be as thick skulled as he was tall, or as clumsy as he was broad, but even a broken clock was right twice a day. “Bora, of squad two hundred and nine. Not exactly your lucky day was it?” Melonia said calmly, her voice betraying only a hint of now deeply buried rage. “Where in Natto’s name are you from?” The Captain asked simply, the room thick with tension as her dainty fingers wrapped against the armrest of her chair. Brow furrowed as it glared at the Saiyan standing before her.

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"Well. They certainly grow them big on Vegeta, don't they?" Melonia replied swiftly, the faintest of smirks crossing her fair face. "You were correct in your earlier declaration. Jagai, find out who the quartermaster that assigned Bora here to his post was. That man had better be blind, senile, or already dead. When you figure out who it was, send me his documentation, I'm going to put in a referral with high command to have him stripped of his titles and demoted so far down the chain he cleaning the latrines on some wind whipped outpost on an ice moon." Jagai nodded in acknowledgement, though he no longer had his precious datapad with which to actually complete the assignment he'd been given. "I'll get to it at once Captain."

Melonia tapped her fingers on the side of one cheek, still enraged beneath the veil of her facade. "Then, find the dumb bastard that was Squad two hundred and nine's commanding officer. How he utterly failed to see anything wrong with this arrangement, and did nothing to stop it before we had two escape pods buried in the side of a hangar wall is utterly beyond me. The man is obviously trying to push blame onto his subordinate to salvage his own career. I want him demoted down to private and then taking Bora's assignment in engine ignition. Find someone more observant to promote to the officer position that will be vacated." Jagai sighed at the second request, adding it to his growing mental checklists of tasks. The poor assistant had known Melonia was only a few hours and already she'd given him more head ache than four years in an officer training school. "I'll get to it at once Captain." He stated, following with a curt nod.

The Saiyan beauty then hopped up suddenly from her seat, rising slowly as her pearl white boots clicked against the metal flooring. She stood upright, all of five and a half foot tall. An entire foot shorter than Bora, if you ignored the height of her hair. She took a step closer to the hulking warrior, standing close enough that her eyes were level with his broad chest. Without so much as a word Melonia's fist surged out at supersonic speeds, slamming Bora hard in the gut as a rush of wind whipped through the bridge as a result. Jagai winced at the sight of the blow, but otherwise held his tongue.

"Bora of squad two hundred and nine, born of the Planet Vegeta, soldier of the Saiyan Alliance. I hereby stripped you of all ranks and titles with the Saiyan Alliance military. I am terminating your position, effective immediately." At that Melonia withdrew her fist from the man's abdomen, immediately jumping upwards to slam the larger warrior in the stomach with a vicious hit from the knee. Immediately clenching her fists Melonia then slammed Bora over the head with a devastating meteor smash, driving him back to the floor hard enough to dent the durable plating of the ship's superstructure. "However. I admire your resolve, and it seems you're as durable as you are thick skulled. So stay there on the ground. I am reinstating you, and switching your enlistment to private security detail." Melonia flashed a cruel grin, planting a boot on Bora's back as he lay on the ground. "At least until I can be certain you won't destroy anything else important."

Looking down at the Saiyan beneath her, Melonia folded her arms across her ample chest. She was considering a punishment more befitting than a few good blows to the chest. Saiyans bounced back from physical injury with ease, what she needed was something spirit draining. "For the egregious crime of gross incompetence under orders, I condemn you to endless push ups until we reach Earth. Until the time of our arrival you will be tasked to perform said exercise without pause for my amusement. I will afford you two meals a day at half rations, one bathroom break every four hours, and the honor of being my personal footstool." Melonia pressed harder down on Bora with her boot. "Now, does this sound agreeable? Or would you prefer termination?"

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"Indeed." Melonia replied calmly, leaning in to look down at the larger Saiyan face down on the floor. At least he'd managed to catch himself with his hands, so his reflexes weren't as defective as his fine motor skills. "I find I am quite strong despite appearances, they can be very deceiving. A useful gift, when you fight almost exclusively foes larger than yourself." She patted the towering Saiyan's head lovingly, the action itself dripping with unspoken sarcasm. "I also find I'm a much harder target to hit than one such as yourself." Melonia pull back to stand level, her boot still firmly planted on Bora's broad backside.

Melonia looked down at the Saiyan beneath her with mild a mild sense of pride as Bora immediately began performing his endless gauntlet of push ups, even long before he had actually agreed to her terms. That was the kind of tenacity the Saiyan Alliance needed in its soldiers, always willing to push the envelope and move things on step further. That was how winners were made, first they were born, then they strove endlessly for a goal until it reached fruition. "You are correct Bora." The Saiyeness said with great satisfaction as her soldiers opened his mouth to speech. "You're the biggest foot stool I've ever had, and luckily for you... you take a punch far better than most."

Her mouth curled into a smirk in response to Bora's own expression, a mutual easiness filling the air. Melonia turned to her deck officers, speaking more sternly. "Fire primary engine sequences once repairs are complete. I want this tub in the air as soon as possible, no further interruptions." Short nods and quick acknowledgements followed, and the roar of the engines powering up on the underside of the vessel could be felt all throughout the ship. Melonia looked down at Bora as he continued to speak, a wry smile now worn upon her fair face. "I should hope that it was agreeable, because you were in no position to bargain. And furthermore I consider myself a harsh but fair commander. Perhaps too fair, but we shall see if you disappoint me or not. The ball is in your court."

An eyebrow was raised as the Saiyan continued to talk, all the while performing his push ups. "Makeshift throne you say... I quite like the idea of that. Fine, I'll do it, but only because I find it amusing." With that Melonia lifted herself up, standing onto Bora's back and lowering herself into a reclining position the Saiyness made herself quite comfortable. Being lifted up and down with each movement of the man beneath her, it was rather unorthodox, albeit enjoyable. "Flattery will get you everywhere soldier, though even for that godlike is still quite the compliment. Your request is fair, I'm sure a man such as yourself needs ample food to maintain your musculature. Three meals, half rations, one break every twelve hours. Now... double time on those push ups. You have quite a few to do."

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Melonia lay resting on Bora's broad backside like a muscular couch as the towering Saiyan warrior began his cruel and unusual punishment. What she did not, and would not tell him is her flight instructor had forced her to do the same thing going after she had botched the landing sequence on one of her first attempts at flying a cargo transport ship from one military base to another. It had been a humiliating experience, and days of solid chin ups had left her arms feeling like fire and her chin raw from touching the bar so many times. Now Bora would suffer such punishment just as she had, and would emerge stronger for it. Beyond a certain threshold the pain seemed to melt away and the difference between one hundred and one hundred thousand push ups became insignificant. You could work yourself to the point of sheer exhaustion and barely register it, making strenuous training far easier.

She had admired the tenacity of the soldier straining himself beneath her. They had known each other barely five minutes, and he had met her to face charges of gross incompetence, yet he had the gal to compliment Melonia so brazenly on her figure. That took a respectable amount of gumption, even if it was a rather crass behavior. Were she a more stringent commander Melonia might have heaped further punishment on Bora's shoulders, but there was no sense in breaking a soldier so forcefully you cannot build them back up. He'd dutifully committed to his punishment without so much as a single peep of protest, there was point in squandering that kind of dedication. 

"Stating the facts my ass Bora." Melonia said sternly, her words dripping with sarcasm. "You're a damn flirt is what you are, and I've been scaring off the advances of men twice your size since I first hit puberty. So keep those thoughts to yourself, and take it to your bunk if you need to. I'll have no more of that talk on the bridge of my ship." The Saiyan beauty rested her gloved delicate hands on the sides of Bora's imposing lats, feeling them strain with each rise and fall of his broad body. Her statement had been deadly serious in wording, but the tone betrayed a hint of sarcasm. In truth though she had exaggerated, there were no men twice the size of Bora, he damn near may be the largest Saiyan Melonia had ever encountered, and she had met some very large Saiyans in her days.

All around them the Cathedral of Arrogance's bridge crew were going through the final launch sequences. "Engines throttling up." One of the ensigns called out, "Engines throttling." another immediately replied in confirmation. "Turbines spinning to maximum." "Turbines at maximum." "Primary fusion core is holding at 98.65% efficiency. All power systems green lighting." "Power systems green." The massive vessel began to rumble skyward, huge jets of white hot flame pouring out the four main engines located in the 'foot' of each leg. Another several dozen smaller rockets were arrayed in a circular cluster on the underbelly, blasting down with more force than a Super Saiyan's beam attack. It took monumental force simply to lift the billion ton vessel any realistic distance, and orders of magnitudes more for it to begin rocketed higher and higher in the atmosphere. Whole clouds were blasted apart into water vapor as the ship punched clean through them, making way steadily for the upper Nattoan stratosphere.

As the ship arced ever more skyward Melonia could feel Bora's tail reach out to press firmly against her slender back. It coiled half a length around her slim waist, holding her tight as the mechanical leviathan lurched its way through the air. Intense vibrations rattling all through the ship, despite even its own goliath size. Melonia felt a pang of intimacy at the gesture, and slipped her own tail to wrap several times around Bora's own at its base. The two appendages  intertwining as her thinner tail wrapped gracefully around his thicker tail in a surprisingly possessive gesture, one she hoped none of the crew had seen. Melonia slowly reclined to lean back, arms crossed behind her head across Bora's wide shoulders as she lay flat against him, her back pressed against his. Her tail remaining coiled tenderly around his, moving the two brown furry appendages to her side so they were not compressed painfully under the weight of her armored body.

"Jagai..." Melonia said slowly as the sight of empty space and the burning crimson sun that warmed Natto came proudly into fuel view on the monitors. "Go get us some refreshments." The Saiyan assistant nodded, immediately turning to depart. "And Bora, you may proceed with what you are currently doing. But I expect not a peep of complaints out of your mouth. Dinner is in o' three hundred hours, I think you could break six thousand push ups in that time if you applied yourself. Don't you?"

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Word Count: 850
Total Word Count: 6,678
Thread Exit: Reward - Power Level (Heavy Weighted Clothing + Mansion Bonus)