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The Cathedral of Arrogance floated in the midst of the asteroid belt that clung to the Solar System midway from the distance from the planet the earthlings called Mars and the gas giant known as Jupiter. It was a turbulent region of space, untold millions of asteroids of all shapes and sizes orbiting in a great cosmic band at this particular distance from the system's sun. It made for a great economic opportunity for the Saiyan mothership, which was currently in the process of gorging itself with cargo to be processed once they arrived on earth. The Cathedral had a glut of iron, by far the most common, and least precious material mined from said asteroids. But, even iron had its uses, vital for forging steel, an utterly indispensable resource for modern construction. Melonia had no doubt when they arrived she could form a contract with some industry or another, maybe ship building or construction, perhaps even the earthling military. There were always buyers, regardless of what was being sold. More importantly, what the Saiyans were peddling was not some common ore, full of impurities and needing extensive smelting to be refined.
No, the composition of the asteroids was such that the resources need be ground into fine dust, then sifted by element into correlating storage tanks. Everything they had was one hundred percent pure, ready for the forges or whatever other point of business it was destined for. The rarer, much more valuable minerals and precious metals Melonia saw no reason to let go of. Earthling currency was less desirable to her than the rarity of the metals filling her ship's hull themselves. As she mused on this economic perspective, the Cathedral continued its most important task with zeal and gusto not seen in days. Great mechanical limbs reaching out to grab tight the nearest asteroids, pulling them closer for a proper scanning. The ones with less than optimal compositions were cast off, flung like great celestial bowling balls to bang and collide with any number of other asteroids in the belt. Those with sufficient elemental make up the Cathedral reeled in close, dragging them near its open mining bay to be pierced by mooring lines and hauled in like the catch of the day.
The crew of the Cathedral had been at this work for much of the day, though the work came easy, most of the asteroids were fairly small. Only the size of city buses, with some of the larger ones as big as stray buildings. They could be blasted apart with a strong Ki blast or a solid punch, before being carted off to processing. And that was where Melonia currently was, dressed in her violet and pink battle armor, scouter worn across her face. Pummeling a large asteroid into fragmented bits with her fist. Punch after punch, interwoven with a barrage of kicks. Knocking boulder sized pieces free and then delivering savage pile driver kicks to obliterate those two. Sweat formed at her brow, she'd been at this for an hour. The entire mining bay all to herself, save for one large asteroid that required a full mining crew. The vast majority of the drilling team was currently on lunch break, down in the mess halls or eating their meal as they sat around on the rafters and cheered their captain on. Most Saiyans aboard the Cathedral just weren't cut out for this task. Melonia considered it good training though, happy to give the crew a break for once and take matters into her own hands. They'd think she was getting soft always hiding up on the command bridge all day.
Another large asteroid drifted towards the bay, flung their direction by a mechanical claw's might. Melonia charged her Galexia Gun, firing it along the length of the rock like a fine cutting blade. Splitting in half as it toppled through the shielding walls. It impacted the floor with a crash, and immediately she was upon the first half, unleashing a rapid fire blurry of punches. Like a living jackhammer, grinding the face into rubble as she punched hundreds of times into its face. By the time she had finished the once towering half of the oblong asteroid was reduced to millions of pieces of rubble no larger than fists. Perfect to be scooped up and carted away for smelling. Melonia turned to the second half, charging it and planting a deep kick to its center. The massive rock spider cracked throughout, the outer face sheering off in a crash of debris. Melonia smirked, balancing on one leg as she unleashed a flurry of powerful kicks to the side of her target. Large sections were carved off, only to meet swift death as Melonia's booted heel came crashing down upon them. Grinding her quarry into fragments and dust like so many before it. Melonia finished in short order, panting slightly as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
A message came in through her Scouter, "Captain, that's the last of them. Cargo bays are reporting optimum capacity. Over." Melonia took another few gasps of air before turning on her scouter to acknowledge the bridge. "Alright, confirmed. I'll get clean up on the job and we can pull out of here immediately. Grab a few rocks for the road though, no sense leaving for earth with an empty mining bay. The earthlings wouldn't take kindly to us strip mining their planet." She began to walk away, rolling her neck as the bones in her spine popped in relief. "Acknowledge Captain, we'll stock up on additional asteroids while you get back to the bridge. We got good readings of a few over the next bend. Over." The ship gave a lurch, turning slowly as its powerful engines roared to life. Melonia turned her head back to look out the mining bay, the view outside included millions of drifting space rocks. The Cathedral began to slowly lurch forward, pushed onward by its rear thrusters. Knocking aside smaller rocks as they bounced effortlessly off the hull. The mechanical claws reaching out to grab at their quarry, pulling it in close to the bay. Melonia gave a short sigh, it all sounded like progress to her. Turning with a click of her boots the Captain began to walk towards the exit hatch and out of the mining deck. As she did the work crews began to shuffle in, amazed at the piles of rubble the one woman wrecking ball had left for them to clean up.
Melonia made her way towards the lifts back to the upper decks of the warship, passing by returning crews of workers and a myriad of equipment and supplies being shuttled down one of the Cathedral's numerous corridors. She arrived at the elevators, pressing in her access code for the rapid access lift. Minutes later she was back on the ship's main deck, waling down through the larger public spaces. More akin to a small city than a space craft, the Cathedral of Arrogance was a marvel of modern Saiyan engineering. With everything from nightclubs and bars to gravity training facilities and a hangar bay that held hundreds of Saiyan space pods. More importantly though, it acted as a roving Saiyan Alliance base, traveling through the cosmos harvesting resources from asteroids to be processed and sold, or hauled back to Natto. The earthlings would be quite pleased with rock bottom prices on finely minted raw materials, or so Melonia hoped. Their own planet was rather nice, and as such she doubted they truly longed for much. But, surely a deal could be struck all the same. Melonia headed for the fore of the ship, where the facilities used by the ship's officers and senior staff were located.
Stopping by her own Captain's suite, Melonia found time to quickly change out of her armor. It was damp with sweat, and she had another set of battle armor ready and pressed to be worn on the bridge. A fresh change of gloves and boots rounded at the package, and the curvaceous captain was soon embarking her way towards the bridge. She flicked on her scouter, cycling through contacts. Finding the one she was looking for she opened up a comm line. "Jagai, where are you?" She asked simply, moving to round her way down another hall. "The bridge Ma'am, I've been keeping tabs on things while you've been busy punching rocks down below." Melonia rolled her eyes, not appreciating his sarcastic tone. "Fair enough, but punching rocks is a good workout, you should consider trying it. Anyways, figure out where Bora is, and if he's making a mess of things, scold him for me. I want him on the bridge, we're on the last leg of our journey. Can't have him causing any trouble when we're so close to earth." Melonia spoke in her authoritative tone, and when she finished the woman could hear an audible sigh. "Alright Captain, I'll go looking for your brute for you, again. Have you considered putting him on a leash, maybe tying him to a fence post?" Melonia rolled her eyes even though Jagai couldn't see the gesture. "Less lip, more action. Go get moving Jagai." And on that note Melonia continued her walk towards the bridge of her ship. Word Count: 1,560
Last Edit: Jun 25, 2016 17:03:07 GMT -5 by Deleted
The Cathedral of Arrogance was nearing it's destination and in a way it seemed like it took less than a week to reach the final stretch. At its current point in time, the ship remained static among a massive asteroid belt, only showing faint signs of movement from a distance. All hands on deck where keeping rather busy under what looked to be the final mining run of the trip. So far it was already crammed with various loot in resources. From the common materials such as Iron all the way down to more precious materials such as Platinum. Even with the stacks and clusters of resources which had already been accounted for, Melonia; The Captain of the massive ship was making damn sure they get as much as possible done before reaching the blue mud ball of a planet called Earth.
In sight of all that was going on Bora was taking the time to get in a few hours of training. He had a long way to go in terms of catching up to Mel and an even further goal of reaching the point of the legendary super saiyan transformation. Whatever time he had free was seen as an opportunity to put in some hours at bettering himself physically and spiritually. Wither that meant hours of various physical sets of crunches, squats, pushups, pull ups and a number of various other excises or training himself in withstanding blasts through his own force. He would not allow anything to stop him from pushing forward.
With the constant sound of thundering machinery a few decks below. Bora couldn't help but use it as a sort of metronome to his movements. He could count through his motions and at the same time tell exactly when a vast amount of rock was smashed off the asteroids face which was in the hanger. As he came up for his seven hundredth sit up, his abs tightened to the extent that it burned but that agonizing pain was not what grasped his attention. Instead it was the vibration changes in the floor. It seemed like someone was showing off. Crushing the asteroid into hundreds of little bits in what seem like a few seconds, flat. Bora smirked as her name reached his lips. "Melonia. Looks like shes getting her hands a little dirty today" he said aloud as he saw some of the saiyans leave the gym area to go and bare witness to the immense power Mel was throwing around in the mining chamber.
Bora wondered if it was perhaps a way for Mel to get a message through to him. Maybe she wanted him to meet her on the bridge? Instead of giving it extra thought he tried to wave it off as he realized he had recently acquired a mobile device which could pick up any calls from the meek assistant of hers. {They can get hold of me.. What am I worrying about?} He reassured himself as he continued on with another set of fifty. After a minute passed Bora came to a stop "Hmmm... Maybe I should head to the command deck just in case." He said softly before flicking up to his feet and heading to the showers.
It only took him a few minutes to completely clean himself and make himself respectable enough to be in Mel's presence. Shortly after putting on a clean set of clothes, Bora stepped out into the massive white corridors. It was strange to think how much he had done in the those walls in such a short period of time. He had grown quite a lot, enough so that when he and his brother would once again meet, Tarnov would surely be proud and shocked at the massive leap he had made in terms of strength. The walking wall of a saiyan chuckled to himself as he rounded a corner towards the elevators, imagining the look on his older brothers face.
A soft melodic tone chimed from his pocket causing his brow to rise in confusion, before he realized it was the small mobile communication device Mel had given him to use aboard the ship. He pulled it from his pocket and Jagai's name glowed on its screen. With a quick press of the green button; as he was instructed to do when first receiving a call, Jagai's face appeared in a show of light in the form of a hologram which was emitted from a small camera like eye on the devices upper right corner. "Bora, the Captain wants your ass on the command deck asap. You better not have caused anymore crap, please hurry and don't keep her waiting, else it's my ass on the block along with yours." The assistant said with a concerned expression. "Relax, Jagai. I'm already on my way. Tell the Cap I'm en route and smelling fresher than a bowl of fruit... Damn shampoo's been switched again. Swear the females are tampering with them or something" he responded with a blank expression when he ended the call and stepped into the large elevator.
With a click of the button labelled control deck, the elevator started on its way up towards the chest of the ship. A sudden lurch along the ground signalling that the beast of a ship had began to move once more. In a few seconds, Bora found himself stepping into the control room and made his way towards Mel "You called, Captain? Don't worry, I didn't break anything aside from my old pull-up record. Everyone down in the gym area still have their limbs intact and the machines are as clean as they possibly can be considering how much saiyan sweat they have endured." He said with a snicker as he moved up to her side. His hulking arm lightly tapped her shoulder in a playful manner as he looked down into her jet black eyes. "I could hear your dirty work all the way up on the 15th floor. You where really going at it. Guess you where putting it into full swing considering how close we are to arriving." He paused. "Seemed like it was just yesterday in which I entirely screwed up the launch sequence." he reminisced. It had been quite some time since then but he had definitely shown some sort of change, especially with the time he spent around Mel. His gaze turned back to the large window before them, placing his hands behind his back in a formal like manner.
Staring out over the vast depths of space, Melonia's gaze looked beyond that of the asteroid field before them. While it was all well and good, and would likely prove a lucrative pit stop on any voyage to or from Natto, it was not what commanded her utmost attention. Beyond the seemingly infinite band of clustered space rocks, ceaselessly bashing into each other in their solar system spanning orbital ring in the direction of the system's sun, this "Sol", as it were known, lie the home of the earthlings. The red dot looming on far in the distance was Mars, the red planet. To Melonia's knowledge no life grew there, and it was certainly of no concern of hers. And beyond, the blue dot, smaller in the tapestry of space due to its greater distance, was Earth. Earth, a strange blue planet of even stranger peoples. From the remarkably similar looking humans to all their anthropomorphic companions that seemed to span a hundred animal species. A weak planet, of weak people, desperately in need of protection. And for reasons Melonia still did not fully grasp, a place of great personal interest to the Overseer Nasu. His will was law though within the Alliance, so Melonia didn't little to question such orders but muse on their very nature.
As she stood lost in thought her bridge crew was hard at work with a hundred different tasks. The great mechanical limbs of the ship reached out to greedily grab a few final asteroids to pull into its cargo bay like a great beast consuming overripe fruit. Once that had finished the mechanical claws that tipped each "arm" of the vessel retracted back into the hull. The engines in each arm began to power on as the vessel began to guide itself out of the asteroid field. "Mining Bay Doors closing." One ensign called out, flipping several switches as a great lurch could be felt through the ship. The massively thick and utterly enormous bay doors closing slowly, knocking aside small asteroids in their way as they ground their way shut. The booming slam of metal on metal as the doors slid back into position could be heard as much as felt, and some of those unprepared staggered slightly as they should. "Confirmed, Mining Bay doors fully closed, commencing sealing process." Called out another officer, pressing his own battery of instruments making sure the bay was firmly sealed shut.
The Cathedral of Arrogance began to drift further towards the edge of the asteroid belt, the force of its engines moving the massive vessel with surprising grace giving its size. Melonia was entranced on watching her crew from her captain's chair, where she sat eagerly waiting, black eyes observing all the workings before her and the numerous read outs on her own displays. The woman was fully engrossed in her work, every vigilant at her post, so much so she didn't even notice as the doors slid open and allowed one towering Saiyan entrance into the ship. When she heard his voice Melonia snapped to alertness, craning her neck until her eyes leveled on Bora's as he walked his way towards her. "I did call you in fact, I was making sure you hadn't wandered off to get yourself in more trouble. It's good to hear you're taking your training seriously, without destroying the training facilities or their occupants. Though I imagine there's a fair few other Saiyans on this vessel that would give you a run for your money, barring myself of course." Melonia placed a hand on her chest and gave a sinful smile, before crossing one leg over the other and tossing back her lengthy mane of hair.
The Saiyaness chuckled as Bora mentioned her earlier work out, it had been something of an impressive sight to behold for those not familiar with the power of their captain. There were many among the Saiyan population who seemed to doubt themselves when a woman had enough power level to rival any man. And Melonia could sense even from her seat high in the command deck of her ship that none aboard could truly match her as an equal. So until someone could, she'd settle with punching rocks into finely ground ash. "I'm slightly surprised, I have to say. I thought the walls of the ship were a lot thicker than that. Maybe I just hit a lot harder than I used to? You should consider taking over a shift in the mining bay when the timing suits you, it's quite a rush getting to destroy something for a change. Very good way to work out some stress, or wear down the fabric of your gloves." Melonia looked at Bora's bare hands, the only garment on his arms his golden weighted arm bands. She had little doubt that her joke might fly right over his head. "I won't say I was going all out, it takes a lot to truly rile me up. But I was definitely churning out more power than I have in a good long while, that much I can say."
Melonia's gaze turned sour when Bora brought up his dismal failures during their initial departure from Natto. It was a wound that was still entirely too fresh in Melonia's mind, and only the sheer distances of space itself kept the those who witnessed the event back on Natto from commenting on the situation. What was supposed to have been a glorious maiden voyage was forever stained by the blight of Bora's massive ineptitude. "Bora." Melonia said, clenching her fist so tight the boom of the air could be felt, so much as heard, by those nearby. "I know it's hard for you, but please, do your best not to mention that incident ever again. It fills me with rage just thinking about it, I've never been so embarrassed before in my life." Melonia reclined in her chair, letting out a deep sigh. She closed her eyes, feeling a vein in her temple throb at the memory of the Cathedral's front right leg operated by an imbecile. Emergency sirens blaring throughout the ship and all eyes upon her like it was somehow the Captain's fault. Melonia may never live that event down, but of course, Bora wouldn't on a scale of ten fold.
"Anyways Bora..." Melonia said plainly, still visibly angered from his simple comment, and the nonchalantness with which the towering Saiyan addressed the earlier incident. "I wanted you within arm's reach while we make the final stages of our trip to Earth. I can't have you messing something up, and I want you by my side for the final approach. Despite my continued frustrations at your antics, I find you good company to talk to while I sit here." The curvaceous Saiyan looked around for a proper seat for Bora, grimacing at the total lack of available chairs she grimaced slightly and brushed off that desire. "You'll have to stand there I suppose, maybe hover if that's more comfortable for you. If this becomes a more permanent arrangement I might have to have another seat installed for you." Melonia's eyes wandered up and down the broad warrior's frame. "A very large chair, one properly suited for someone of your dimensions. Expect it deducted out of your pay." Word Count: 1,228 Total Word Count: 2,788
"Don't worry, I've taken heed to your words. I'm trying my best to stay out of trouble. I don't want to embarrass you again." He stated with an encouraging smile "Less fart arsing around has given me more time to focus on training... As for giving me a run for my money. I can assure you" he rolled his shoulders and clicked his neck with a loud pop as he paused "You are probably the only one on this ship who could do that. I've been putting in a ton of hours" He smirked at her before going on to comment on the sounds he heard from the lower deck.
"Don't try and play the modest game, Captain. I bet saiyans up on level 20 could hear the strikes and attacks you where doing down in the mining bay. In comparison to our last spar... I'm sure you do hit harder." he rubbed at his cheek as if was remembering the pain he had experienced from her attacks back during their spar in the gravity machine. "I've been meaning to head down there but Daiko had yet to actually call me. Perhaps next time I'll just pitch up and see what he says." He commented casually as he moved up to Mel's said. "And in my case it would more likely be wearing in my knuckles instead of gloves.." he twiddled his fingers and grinned with his retort.
Their rather calm conversation took a turn when Bora mentioned his failure during the launch of the Cathedral of Arrogance. Hearing the anger and seeing the frustration in Melonia's body language from her recollection of the memory caused Bora to look down in shame . It was not like he was proud of what he did but it was in the past and it would always be there. If there was one thing he wished he could fix. It would be that day. That and his first impression with the Captain. When she scolded him for even mentioning the event and went on to let out a sigh, Bora swallowed a lump in his throat. "I'm... sorry, Captain. I won't bring it up ever again." He spoke in a broken tone. He truly was sorry and something he had come to cherish was Mel's approval but that incident would constantly hang over his own head just as much as it did hers. Their time in the gravity machine caused him to rethink a lot about his own attitude and the many fuck ups he truly had made in his life. His carefree and rash attitude caused him to mess up in many points but he had a better understanding now more than he ever did.
" I know that my apology isn't worth much..." he stopped himself from saying anything else on the matter. The last hing he wanted to do was add more fuel to her rage. If he kept on the topic, there was a big possibility that it would spark her off. Instead he went silent and stood at attention behind the seated, curvy saiyaness. One thing which did manage to beak the tension in the air was her mentioning that she enjoyed his company and even went so far as to bring up the idea of possibly installing a large chair of his own at her side. "If I said I enjoy being in your company, it would be stating the obvious now, wouldn't it? As for a chair of my own, that sounds like it could be nice but I wouldn't want it to be an inconvenience... I've been enough of that to last you a lifetime." She went on to say that it would be deducted from his pay which caused him him to snicker. "Well then, can't argue with that..." He moved closer to Mel and placed a hand on top of the backrest of her chair while staring out of the observation window. Soon enough they would have the blue mud ball in sight. In truth Bora was quite excited to finally be on solid ground of a planet. There was much he did not know of this world but he was eager to see what it had to offer.
"I'm glad you're taking what I say to heart." Melonia replied simply to her towering companion. "I know you're doing your best, and it shows. You've been nothing but diligent since I threatened you if you did otherwise. It's barely been a week, but already you're disposition is improving. I should say you aren't much embarrassing me at the moment, hopefully that doesn't change in the immediate future." Melonia folded her arms across her expansive chest, turning to give Bora a teasing grin. "Fart arsing? That's quite the euphemism don't you think? Focusing on training is exactly what I like to hear. And for the record I can assure you that a few days of push ups and a few more of your own training isn't going to put you on the same level as some of my officers. Though I'm glad you think that you're slowly bridging the gap." Melonia could tell Bora had improved, remarkably so in such a short time. It would be more impressive once they reached Earth and could train in peace without the rigorous of traveling through space.
Melonia let out a short laugh as Bora japed her for her own training regime, one with a good deal more physical force than just doing some crunches and curls. She favored a more hands on real world approach to getting stronger, and Melonia would likely find a forest untouched to meditate within and hone her skills once they reached Earth. "I am rarely modest, only earnest." The captain said with a continued grin worn across her face. "Maybe you're right, and maybe I was still holding back. Or maybe I was giving it my all? Who is to say, I surely won't tell." A small chuckle escaped her lips as she played with her words. Bora had still never seen her at her fullest potential, not that he would either, until he could match that strength in a match. "Daiko is old and senile." Melonia chided at Bora's admission the senior mining chief had not contacted him. "Actually it's far more likely the old coot is fantastically busy with his own projects. If you think you can pitch in some help, just head down and see him. I'm giving you lenience on this, just don't get in anyone's way or mess anything up. I'll be the first one to regret these words if you do. And we already talked about what happens should you cause a major incident again." Melonia let her words hand in the air, she hadn't forgotten her threats or her promises to Bora should he prove himself more liability than asset.
As she spoke the ship lurched into position, powerful thrusters having guided it into position at the edge of the asteroid field. As Bora apologized Melonia could spare him only a quick glance. An ensign calling out that the vessel was in position and holding stable while the main reactor powered up to full charge. "Calculating course trajectory." A navigations officer called out to the crew of the bridge. "Confirmed, nav vectors set and course locked in." Replied the helmsman as he punched in the coordinates for Earth. Slowly the Cathedral tilted several degrees to port as it fixed itself into position. "Drive cores spooling up, reactor at ninety eight point eight percent and climbing. Ready to launch in t-minus thirty seconds." Call out a female officer from engineering, watching a read out of the main reactor's core temperature and power output. "Mark, reactor charged and waiting on your authorization Captain." She stated a few seconds later, eyes turning to meet Melonia's gaze. "Confirmed, launch immediately, I want us to Earth yesterday." Melonia said in her authoritative tone, signalling with her hand to the crew of her bridge. The officers and ensigns confirmed the command, and a great rumbling lurched through the mighty ship as it's engines began to roar to life. Soon it was moving forward effortlessly, building speed and momentum with each passing moment. Leaving the asteroid belt far behind as they roared through space at hundreds of thousands of miles a minute. Growing faster and faster by the second, set to reach Earth well within the next few hours. Melonia nodded contently, looking at the star chart on the main display and the read outs of the vessel's impressive speed. Once content in what she saw the woman turned back to stand near Bora's side, looking out into the void as they talked.
"I'm the one who's sorry Bora." Melonia said as she returned. "I'm sorry I snapped at you just now. I know you never had any intention of doing that, and I know you'd take it back if you could. I respect you for how quickly you owned up to your mistake, and even more for how eager you are to improve yourself in spite of them." Melonia gave a pause, closing her eyes as she temporarily lost herself in deep thought. "No one is perfect, not even me, despite how much you seem to praise me otherwise. I realize I have quite the temper, and I don't like to dwell on the past. We can't change it, so there's no point dwelling on it. So neither should you." There was a pause as Bora remarked on his apology, and Melonia let out a great sigh. "Your apology means much more to me than you think. Take that for what you will, but I truly do care." Silence clung between them as the Saiyaness finished her brief speech, letting only the sounds of the crew working tireless around them fill the void. Melonia moved to take her seat again, but not before allowing her tail to brush past Bora's broad thigh as she slipped past him.
Now once more comfortably seated, Melonia looked to her companion to continue their chat. "You would be stating if the obvious in stating that, yes. And a proper seat of your own wouldn't be an inconvenience, not at all. Ship this big has a lot of engineers, I'm sure they can fabricate up something quick. A proper throne for someone of your stature." Melonia turned and cocked an eyebrow. "Inconvenience me enough for a lifetime? Hardly. Maybe enough for a month, maybe two months. I'm used to hecticness, I expect there will only be more once we arrive back on Earth." Melonia joined Bora in staring off into the distance. The Solar system's sun a growing orb on the vast horizon of space, growing larger by the second, if only a fraction or so. The Cathedral of Arrogance could make for impressive speed for a ship of her size. The engines had employed the latest in thruster boost technology, giving the ship a much higher thrust to mass rating than anything in its size index. Power and speed, just like any good warrior should strive for. Melonia let out a long sigh, picturing the lush jungles of Earth. The sunny beaches and the clear blue waters of the planet's southern seas. "It's a beautiful planet you know, it's not like any place I've ever been. I hate to say it, but it really does put Natto to shame in terms of it's beauty. Like a blue gemstone hidden away from our race's many problems. I sometimes wondered what it'd be like if I was born an Earthling instead, how simple my life would be. They go about their days in blissful ignorance of the problems that plague our galaxy." There was a sharp pause as Melonia thought on her lost home world, under the thumb of Cerulean rule. "If only it were so easy for me..." Word Count: 1,286 Total Word Count: 4,074
Bora was glad to hear her appreciation for his attempts at improving himself, not only for himself but for her sake too. He came to the conclusion of his ignorant acts annoyance and weakness of his carefree attitude rather quickly. While it was okay to be calm and carefree at times, the way in which he acted was well over and beyond what was necessary. He smiled and nodded at her words before explaining the cause of his training and the great amount of time he had begun to put into it. The walking wall was adamant on getting stronger for simple reasons but even so they where what gave him his drive. Melonia was one of those reasons. How was he to protect her if he could barely face up to her in a battle. One thing which looked to be a bonus of their arrival on Earth would be the amount of time he would be able to put into training along with the Captain.
The hulking saiyan smiled at the cute sound of Melonia's laugh. She was quick to retort on his words by stating she was more earnest than that of modest. She lead him on to the mystery of her exact amount of power. The thought really caused the towering saiyan to raise a brow in curiosity. It was quite the question. How much stronger was she really? He had faced her in a spar and quite literally got his ass handed to him, yet it was impossible to tell if she had used all of her power in that fight. Bora smirked when she chuckled at her clever use words.
"He may be old and senile but he is good company." Bora retorted. "You're probably right though. He seems as dedicated to his craft as I am to my training." It was obviously true considering the amount of hours that old man put into his work. While the saiyans that worked down there all worked in shifts, Daiko seemed to be up an about no matter the hour. Like a hawk over looking everything going on in his sector. Daiko would not let anything slide out from under him."I appreciate the offer captain. I already gave you my word I wouldn't cause you more issues, you can count on it. I wont let it happen."
The captain quickly broke away from the conversation and went about the proper measures to get the ship moving. Issuing the one line everyone came to see as a close slogan when it came to the Captain. If she wanted something done, it should have been done yesterday. Bora chuckled inwardly at the thought but the good nature of the scene was spoiled as he recalled the "incident". Melonia snapped at him for even mentioning the despicable event. The towering saiyan showed utter shame and his heart sank when he heard her words. He made it clear that he was sorry for ever causing her trouble and that he wished he could alter the past. Thankfully the Captain managed to calm her nerves and declared that what was in the past was there to stay and nothing could change it. It was best they do not dwell on it. In the moment of his apology, Bora truly felt like a disappointment but Mel managed to pick up his hopes by saying that she really did care.
A silence hung in the air between the two of them only the busyness of the other men and woman doing their tiresome yet important jobs managed to disturb the deafness. As the Captain turned and moved back to sit down, her tail gently stroked over Bora's thigh, a sign of reassurance and care. A small smiled pulled on to his lips as he took his place besides her seat.
With the air cleared, the pair continued with their conversation. Mel brought up the idea of Bora getting a seat at her side but he was quick to protest and equally quick to accept the idea after hearing it would come out of his pay, besides. It would hardly be an inconvenience to Mel. There after they stared out of the observation window, watching closely as the solar systems main light and heat source grew closer. Mel spoke up and told of Earth beauty but Bora's eyes wondered down to Mel as she stared out at the vast abyss before them."My mind is focused on one beauty and it's not a planet..."He spoke very softly but even Mel could hear him. It was quite clear who he spoke of but without another word he stared out of the window and smiled as if he had said nothing at all. "I look forward to seeing it then... Perhaps you should look into getting a house on earth. A home away from home. A place where you can go on leave?" He suggested as his hand rested on the backrest of her chair. "It sounds like a place to calm your nerves should you need it. No problems or hassles of anyone else."
"You and I have very different definitions of good company Bora." Melonia chided in response to the larger Saiyan's opinions on their Chief of Mining Operators, the elder Saiyan Daiko. He and Bora had certainly hit things off in their first meeting, it was almost like looking into a time machine in retrospect. Daiko had the same childish tendencies that Bora held, often breaking into the rambling stories of his long lost youth or telling jokes far too crass for one of his station. It was slightly irritating in truth, though Melonia had to admit even she found it endearing in her own special way. "He's more dedicated than you could imagine, the old ape has precious little left to strive towards in his life than his work. He hasn't told you, but he lost his wife a number of years ago. He actually signed back up for the Alliance military as a result, having technically completed his tours of duty over two decades ago. Guess something ignited a fire in him and he decided to put his considerable skills towards something greater in his twilight years. We should all be so thankful someone of his considerable intellect is throwing in his lot with the likes of us for as long as he can." Melonia paused to think before adding one final remark. "Though that doesn't mean he's not very eccentric. It just means he's eccentric and skilled, I can work with that, even if I think it can quickly get grating."
As their conversation moved on to the Earth itself, Bora struck a different tone as his eyes fell longing on Melonia. She'd grown used to his wanting glances, it was only natural. Half the crew wanted to be with her at any given time, the other half feared what she'd say if they offered. To anyone else she'd give a harsh talking to a minimum, but for Bora, Melonia simply allowed him to stare. Somehow she thought that he'd earned it, in his own strange special way. Or maybe that's what she wanted herself to believe, she pushed such thoughts aside, snapping back into their conversation as she glanced down at the star map on her command chair. Bora's words seeped into her ear, no louder than a whisper. She turned in her seat to give him a very snarky look as the woman rolled her eyes and tossed back her hair. "Oh, I was more than aware. I've got a tiny little hunch who you're talking about, but I'm under sworn oath not to reveal my sources, so I won't hazard a guess." Melonia's words were dripping with sarcasm, and she let out a short sigh before taking up normal position resting in her seat. Bora could be about as subtle as a Ki blast to the face at times. If flirting was what he was going for, doing it when Melonia was in her command chair wasn't going to get him very far. She was ruthlessly professional when at the helm of her space ship, the lives of her crew was in her hands, and Melonia allowed herself no distractions.
Bora was at least looking for to seeing Earth, and frankly so was everyone else on the ship. They'd been couped up in the ship for a little over a week, and it was beginning to wear on some of the crew's nerves. They were too well disciplined to tear each other apart over it, but that wasn't to say that some of the members weren't getting a bit cagey with nothing better to do. Once they landed Melonia would need keep them on a tight leash, she couldn't have her crew members running wildly about the planet doing as they pleased. They'd end up leveling a city over something trivial, or worse. Melonia paused as Bora mentioned a house, on Earth no less. "Bora, did you get bashed on the head too hard training? Did you just suggest I buy a vacation home on Earth?" The thought was a bit unorthodox, though Melonia didn't want to admit that it made for an interesting idea. A residence away from Natto might make for a good idea. Overseer Nasu had a particular interest in earth, and it seemed Saiyan Alliance interests in the planet weren't going to leave any time soon. "I'll think on it." She added, leaving the subject at that.
As they talk the Cathedral of Arrogance continued to rocket through space at unfathomable speeds. To think that such a large vessel could cross distances as vast as one end of the galaxy to the other in only a matter of weeks was staggering. Luckily for them Earth was not quite that far from the planet Natto, the total voyage only taking about a week if the space ship in question was a fast one and those in command of it didn't experience any stop or delays. Melonia and her ship however, had indeed stopped at several points during their winding journey. Both times to harvest asteroids for processing in the ship's vast mining bays. It was almost as crucial a task as arriving at Earth itself was. Their cargo bays filled to the brim with processed resources ranging from the most common of iron ore to the rarest of pure palladium. Mined from the very asteroids the ship consumed into itself and ground into bits to be processed and sorted by a number of dedicated mining teams that worked almost around the clock. After the main hangar, the mining bay itself was the second largest portion of the ship. The cavernous structure capable of holding millions of tons of rock at a given time.
The crew of the Cathedral worked diligently as the two Saiyans went about their conversation. Navigations officers working to keep the massive vessel on a direct course for Earth. Crossing through the heavens themselves at a million miles an hour, like a meteor screaming towards its yet unseen target so far away among the stars. It was like trying to a target the size of a pin prick from the other side of a building. The sheer vastness of space making all navigation an order of magnitude more difficult than it would be in terrestrial flight. The crew navigating the ship based on star charts and data mapped mostly by the Planet Trade Organization centuries ago, disseminated through the other major factions upon the near collapse of that empire following its own brief but terrible civil war. Engineering kept the engines running smoothly and the reactors purring all throughout the journey. The two systems pumping out near unimaginable amounts of power, all of which was necessary for the massive craft to be propelled through the stars on it's journey to earth. One tiny mechanical failure could see them drifting idly through space, and a critical reactor failure could see life support failing if not for the back up reactors. Still, the Cathedral was a superbly well designed craft, despite outward appearances as being bulky and cumbersome. She handled like a dream based on the conversations Melonia had with her chiefs of engineering. The vessel receiving nothing but glowing recommendations for both staff and crew, though she couldn't help but wonder how much was simply attributed to the ship being hot off the dry dock levels of new. Melonia herself had flown a rather ill maintained space craft on the way to Earth her first time. She may be riding in style now, but she was all too weary of the fact the ship would need to be rigorously maintained. First thing that she'd do upon arrival was order a full ship wide inspection and evaluation for the crew. They'd groan and complain, but ultimately it'd be well worth it. Word Count: 1,308 Total Word Count: 5,382
Bora snickered at Mel's retort. While he and Daiko seemed to hit it off like two good old chums, the captain always looked a little hesitant to how well the two of them managed to get on. Perhaps it was due to the fact that Daiko played as an instigator of the goofy nature, what with all his joking and past stories putting ideas in the towering saiyans head. When the saiyaness went on to give more insight to the old coot's background, he was taken back at the news that the Daiko had lost his wife. In truth Bora simply thought Daiko's wife had stayed on Natto while he earned money for him and his wife. How wrong he was to think that. "That's a real shame... Losing someone you love is not easy. Perhaps the flame that was reignited in him was through realization that mourning her passing was not what his wife would have wanted for him. " He said with sincerity. It was a sad thought but it was a possibility. Either way, the hulking saiyan was glad that he had met the veteran saiyan and glad he could call him a friend. "He is eccentric, look at it from all angles though and you can tell that the way he is, he could be fun to have around." Bora responded to her final remark with a nod and a smirk.
In that specific moment of their conversation, Bora let slip a comment that he soon wished he had kept to himself. Perhaps he was just being silly or maybe his true feelings shone through if only for a moment. Unfortunately the curvaceous saiyaness was in no mood for his silly words and saw it only as another time of him flirting. As she turned away, Bora let out a sigh and shook his head as if scolding himself. One thing he had been trying to desperately do was change his ways and clearly he was getting no where by continually letting his foolishness shine through. When he heard the sarcasm in Mel's voice he couldn't help but scratch his head and look away in shame. "I shouldn't have said that... My apologize. I said I would work on being more serious... especially when in professional company." He took a step back and put his hands behind his back in a formal, soldier like stance.
Thankfully the awkwardness in the air would subside with further talk of Earth and its beauty, something Bora did actually look forward to. One thing that managed to peak the hulking saiyans curiosity was the manner in which the Saiyaness spoke of the planet. It was quite obvious that she held the planet in high regard, he could tell by the way in which she spoke of the place. Bora's natural thought was that perhaps she should look into the idea of having a holiday home on Earth. It certainly sounded like a viable option and while the captain looked to be defiant of the thought she quickly saw it in a new light and took it under consideration. "It's not a bad idea, it's obvious how much you like the place. If you feel you need to take a break from everything you might as well have a nice place to spend some vacation time... Not that we are gonna be slacking off anytime soon." He said with a smile as he knew full well that there would be tons of training ahead.
As they spoke, their inevitable arrival and final destination grew closer. Already in the solar system meant that it could only take a minute to reach the little blue mud ball, especially at the speed the Cathedral of arrogance managed to move through the vast void of space. Bora watched on a screen to the side as planets moved past the side of the ship. The computer labelled each one with a name. Bora read them off in in his mind. Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and "Earth.." Bora leaned forward over Mel's shoulder as he gazed in wonder at the planet. It really was blue and green! It looked so alive and fruitful. His eyes glimmered lightly as his mouth slightly dropped open. "It looks so... lush." He said in a soft tone of wonder.
"We have arrived Captain... T minus 60 seconds to touch down. Brace for atmosphere entry" One of the female control technicians declared over an intercom to the rest of the crew as she stared down at her screen. A sudden rumble alerted Bora to the reentry and the ship began to shake violently. Flames and sparks glared past the observation window as the base of the ship took the brunt of the force down. Seconds past until the rumble finally died down and the flames subsided. White fluffy clouds zoomed by the window as the dropped down through the Stratosphere. The ships slowed it's descent until it hovered a few hundred meters off the earths surface. Bora smiled at the beautiful sight of the planet. A vast blue ocean went on for miles in the distance and green forest lay on the ground below. "Re-entry successful Captain. Setting down at co-ordinates zero, two, four, eight, longitude and five, two, zero, one latitude." Said another saiyan from the side. Bora watched closely out the window as the ship moved over to a massive clearing in the forest below which looked just big enough for the Cathedral of Arrogance to set down. The trees waved about wildly as the engines neared the soil. Wind from the thrusters caused leaves to move about without remorse. A loud thud was heard as the landing gear was opened and set down on to the floor. "Engines powering down to zero percent thrust and pressurizing from within the ship has equalized with the planet. We wait on your order to lower the ramp, Captain." the female from before said with a determined smile.
Bora looked down at Mel with a smile of his own. "Shall we?"
Melonia could only nod along in agreement as Bora gave his rebuttal on the elder Saiyan known as Daiko. He of all people should know what the pain of lose was like, it makes people do things they'd never otherwise consider. Some people broke when they lost those dear to them, others it only strengthened their resolve. Bora, much like Daiko, appeared to be in the latter category. Melonia had never lost anyone truly near and dear too her, the notion made her think on what she would be like if that scenario happened to her. She liked to imagine she'd also find strength to push through it, but... it was hard to tell until that day came. "Well said Bora." Melonia replied simply as she thought to herself. "I believe you're right with regards to that flame. The old warhorse wanted to find a purpose with his final few years, anything to keep him from sitting alone and grieving. We all find strength in strange places." The tone lightened slightly as Bora shifted back to talking about the old warrior's more humorous quirks. "Could be fun to have around? You two are practically doppelgangers, I'm honestly surprised you didn't flat out say he's fun to be around." Melonia gave a teasing to match Bora's smirk, having shared her two cents regarding Daiko and his similarities.
While Bora's latest attempt at flirting was wholly ineffective on Melonia, she at least appreciated the gesture, though she wasn't about to let it show. His response was as flustered as she'd expected, but a little embarrassment might do him some good. What Bora truly needed was perspective, a subject he seemed to sorely lack. When they were on the bridge, when Melonia was in her command chair, she was not his friend, she was his Captain. Everything else was secondary, and this applied equally to everyone on her crew. "No, you probably shouldn't have." She replied plainly, pretending to distract herself by tabbing through read outs from her control screen. "But you did, so you have to accept that you made yourself look foolish again. When I'm in this seat I'm not your friend, and quite frankly I'll ignore some of the more foolish statements you make. If I'm at helm of my ship, I'm your captain. Nothing more, and nothing less. Understand me Bora, I won't repeat myself." Melonia turned to stare the larger Saiyan down, watching him strike a more formal stance. At least he was paying enough attention to try to focus on his efforts at self betterment.
The sight beyond the viewing window was one to behold, the red planet Mars growing larger in the viewing panel by the second. Its moons but tiny white dots twinkling next to the growing dot on the screen. They'd be passing it shortly, much to Melonia's relief. That meant that Earth wasn't far off, though their current course had them sling shotting around Mars to save on fuel and gain some momentum on their way towards the leg of their journey towards Earth. Melonia knew well all throughout the lower decks the crew were going about final preparations for their first away landing. The Cathedral of Arrogance had never made a landing under its own power on foreign soil before. Its life up until the great space craft's maiden voyage had been one moored up in dry dock awaiting final construction or undergoing a batter of tests. The crew was putting all systems until one final battery of checks and double checks to assure landing went smoothly and the massive warship wasn't left stranded on Earth with some serious repair needed due to a miscalculation. So far all systems were green, and Melonia hoped they stayed that way until the were firmly resting on solid ground. With Bora standing next to her, and not literally anywhere else on the ship, it gave her considerable confidence in that feat.
Melonia still held doubts about Bora's idea for a vacation home of sorts on Earth. The planet was in no formal military terms with the Saiyan Alliance, her orders came from Jie Shan Lian Dan, and it would be foolish to do something that ultimately might prove pointless. More over, the Saiyaness was still uncertain of the state of the political climate on Earth, there were multiple factions at play and she'd hate to disrupt the already tumultuous situation brewing there between forces. She ran a hand through her long spiked hair as she replied, still not certain of her words. "I said I'll think on it, that wasn't a yes. It could very well be a bad idea, for reasons I'm not going to elaborate into. I don't need a break anyways, if anything I need to get off this damn ship before I go insane. I'll have more time to train once we aren't hauling ass through space like a barrel full of monkeys." Melonia ended up waving off the suggestion, dismissing it for now as a result of Bora pushing the issue. If he wanted a vacation so badly he could buy his own house. She'd send him a gift basket for the house warming party.
In the distance Mars came close into view and the ship veered closer to the planet. The coordinates were already calculated a thousand times over by the navigations team. As the red dust ball came into view Melonia silently watched ever vigilant as her crew called out commands and relayed orders amongst each other. It was quite the organized chaos, and the Saiyaness enjoyed not having to micromanage their work. The Cathedral lurched slightly as it caught the gravity well of the planet, rocketing around the world as it picked up speed. It departed even fast having gathered considerable momentum from the maneuver, pushing towards distant Earth at an even steadier clip. Bora was apparently counting off planets on the star chart, whispering Earth's name loud enough for Melonia to hear it faintly, she merely chuckled in response. Soon the blue gemstone of a planet came clearly into view. Verdant green jungles and brilliant blue oceans wrapped in white banks of clouds. It was all quite the view, though Melonia was more keen to note the grey patches that were large cities, and the barren brown wastelands. The former they'd be avoiding as much as possible, the latter they'd likely use for a landing site. "It is very lush, of that I promise you Bora. We can explore it all once we land, though I will have some things I need to take care of first."
As the vessel drew close to Earth the arms of the ship began to rotate around to fire opposite the main engines. "Engage retro rockets." Melonia commanded, to which a flurry of activity went underway. "Engaging retros Captain." Came engineer's response. The vessel gave a great lurch as the main engines kicked off and the retro rockets began slowly their descent, though it didn't feel like much. The Cathedral broke atmosphere, instantly igniting in flames as it sparked the very gases that made up the planet's air/ The sheer friction of reentry doing such wondrous things. The space craft continued to slow, though it certainly didn't feel like much. In truth it was dropping thousands of miles per hour by the second, coming down to a speed that would be deemed reasonable for landing without destroying the countryside. The forest below came clear into view, and the ship was guided deftly to a large grassland in the midst of the region. Bora seemed to be enjoying himself, smiling giddily as he watched the trees come into view and the ocean far off into the horizon, bright and blue.
The mechanical claws began to unfold from the four huge limbs of the Cathedral as it drew close to the ground. They sunk deep into the ground as the ship's massive weight was supported on the four large appendages. The engines set fire to the grasslands beneath them, though the ship vented a great cloud of steam and kicked up a huge dust storm as it landed, extinguishing the blaze. A mighty rumble came through the vessel as the weight of it firmly pressed down on it's landing legs. Though in a moment it was silent, only the rumble of the reactors and the engines winding down into idle could be felt in its place. The bridge crew gave a cheer and even Melonia pumped her fist. The first landing of the Cathedral had been a stunning success, a far cry from their launch disaster. Birds flew from the tree tops in great flocks as they fled from the terrifying noise of the ship's landing. Melonia had no doubt any living being in the vicinity had heard, much less felt their arrival. The forest had no villages or settlements they'd picked up at least, so that was that.
An ensign called for permission to lower the landing ramps, to which Melonia belayed the order. "Not yet, I want a full systems diagnostic run first. And I want the engines fully powered down first. Let's not get too zealous just yet, we do have operational procedures to follow. Once the main reactor is back on standby mode and the engines are cooled down you have my permission to lower the ramps, but not one second sooner." Melonia commanded, rising from her seat to stretch her arms. "Understood Captain." The officer replied, returning to her bank of monitors. The Saiyaness turned to Bora, who was smiling the same as he always seemed to. She nodded at his statement and took his hand in hers as she stepped down from her throne of a seat, before withdrawing it to grace her hips. "Indeed we shall. Come along Bora, let's get down to the hangar bay. I plan to stretch my legs as much as I can today, it'll be good to feel solid ground again." Word Count: 1,670 Total Word Count: 7,052
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