[M][Namek] The Tempest

[Sophia]

“Formidable, huh?” Sophia clicked her tongue, her head tilted still at Loch, ignoring for the time being that she was staring off into the distance. She was odd, anyway, and that observation was coming from someone who had been through the strangest string of events imaginable during her life. She spoke with an accent, which would have garnered a strange look from the healer, anyway, but there was also her manner of dress. She was like a knight from one of the fantasy books her father had given her as a child. She also referred to herself as a princess, which could have meant anything ranging from a strange, staunch reality to extreme delusions of grandeur. Whatever background this woman might have had, she had felled an invader with one swing of her sword, and that was something to be admired. Sophia let out a small giggle. “Right.”

She lifted an elbow and nudged Kaden on the arm, but aside from the pain he felt at Sophia’s unintentionally hard strike, he offered little other reaction as his eyes followed Loch’s line of sight to the skyline. Sophia pouted as she realized that neither of them were even paying attention, but determined that it might have been prudent to discover for herself what they were gawking at. Her eyes lifted to the sky, seeing nothing immediately because she was looking the wrong way. However, she followed their gazes more closely, and lowered her jaw at what she witnessed. “Wait, what the heck is that?”

“Well…” Kaden took a deep breath and looked over at Sophia. “It’s a space ship, obviously.”

“That is no ship, I assure you,” the princess merely shook her head shifted her gaze between her two new companions. “For one, it’s not in water, it’s in the air. But…how is it floating? It has no wings…”

The woman began musing to herself. Sophia and Kaden both were listening to her, blinking every other word. Eventually, they directed their attention towards one another, realizing that it was going to take a bit for this person to piece everything together for herself. Putting a hand on her hip, Sophia breathed a sigh. “So what are we going to do, Kaden? Any ship that size probably means that we’re all screwed.”

“As tempting as that line of thinking may be, I think we should probably think of a way to stop it,” the courier responded, though his tone wavered. He was apparently as timid about the situation as she was.

“Wait!” Loch exclaimed, garnering all attention back to her. She looked at Sophia, then Kaden. “I’m very far away from home, aren’t I?”

“Yes, it sounds like it,” Sophia smiled at her, masking how unsure of the situation as she pointed at the massive battle ship in the sky. “Which may end up being uncomfortable, since we’re going to be finding a way inside of the shi…the monster.”

“Inside?” Loch glared at Sophia like she was snoring at a funeral. “How do you plan on accomplishing such an endeavor, let alone surviving it?”

“Yeah, Sophia. Do you have a plan?” Kaden seemed less concerned with the actual situation and more just making fun of her.

Sophia stuck her tongue out at him before addressing the actual question. “Well, I don’t suppose either of you could fly? Because that would make everything so much easier.”

Kaden merely shook his head, while Loch shot her one of those ‘what the heck are you talking about’ expressions. Both were amusing in their own ways, and in equal parts frustrating. With a sigh, she scratched at the back of her head and adjusting her beret as she looked around. “Well, it’s bound to have some ports or something. Some way of getting inside,” she stopped, and Kaden opened his mouth to speak. She moved on, sensing his imminent suggestion. “Without being discovered.”

“Well, look at the size of the thing. I could blow a small opening somewhere and not affect it at all. I doubt they would even notice,” the courier mulled.

“Okay, we’ll call that Plan B,” Sophia smirked. “Look, there’s got to be a clean, clear-cut way of getting inside. If not, then…well, yeah, we can blow things to holy…you know.”

“I don’t know about this,” the armor-clad woman spoke. “Marching into the belly of the beast does not seem like a good idea. Your senses must deceive you.”

Kaden and Sophia exchanged glances. The healer wasn’t sure how should say something without appearing to be rude, but luckily for everyone, the courier had it covered. “We won’t turn down help when it’s offered, but you certainly don’t have to come along if this makes you feel uncomfortable.”

“Retreat is not becoming of a princess of Hal’lal,” Loch’s eyes narrowed just slightly, her face showing her nobility…before the signs of hesitance appeared. “I…simply lack the means to function properly in such a foreign environment.”

Sophia started to feel bad for the girl—misled and possibly crazy as the girl might have been, her heart certainly was in the right place. Regardless of her mental outlook, she was lost and needed a hand, one that the healer was certainly capable of offering. It also helped that she appeared to be decent in a fight. Sophia’s eyes pleaded with Kaden, an unspoken request to take the woman along. Kaden blinked a few times, but eventually realized what was going on and shrugged. “Well…come with us, then, Loch. If it’s an adventure you want, that sort of stuff seems to follow us,” he returned his attention to the ex-priestess. “This still doesn’t address the problem of actually getting inside that thing.”

Sophia sighed, giving that “I know” kind of look, but drifted her gaze away from Kaden, focusing on the area that she could see beyond his shoulder. The caverns that they had just left were still in reach, and she wished that they had stayed around longer just in case they had missed something that they could have used. She looked down at bag that was tied around her waist—that alien device was stored inside, but they had little use for something encoded entirely in a foreign language.

As she considered the suggestion of going back inside the cavern, the ground shook, causing all three to shift their weight to avoid falling down. Below, the ground started to part like two doors swinging away from each other. Kaden and Loch managed to step away, but Sophia stepped backwards, stumbling back and down into the pit that had just appeared. The fall could have meant a lot of things, some good and some bad. However, falling into the unknown always seems morbid, and her scream fit the situation well. Energy flowed throughout her body, and she began to float, avoiding hitting the ground in any painful manner.

Lights lined the walls, but the difference in lighting between locations made sure that she knew that she had no idea what was happening. A large object was sitting next to her, and was humming, but she couldn’t quite tell what it was. Shaking her head, she formed a ball of ki in order to increase her vision—something that she had learned from the Nameks—and floated backwards in order to get a better view. A ship, roughly the size of a fighter jet that could be found on Earth, had apparently started up, but was in a cooldown phase. Perhaps her sudden appearance made whoever was trying to fly the thing think twice. The only problem was that she couldn’t see anyone around.

“Sophia! Look behind you!” Kaden’s voice boomed from above, and Sophia did just that. Two invaders, both robed and similar to the ones she had fought before, floated ominously behind her, ready to attack. Sophia raised two fists instinctively, but she didn’t even have time to think. A bolt of ki shot from overhead, piercing through one of them, and the other was being enveloped by some sort of shadow. It became apparent why when Loch crashed down, driving her sword into the alien and swinging it into the ground.

As the action died down, Sophia could only shake her head and float down to the ground, tapping her feet lightly against the concrete. “Why on earth did you jump that?”

Loch raised an eyebrow and looked up. “‘Twas not far.”

“Well, this is fortunate,” Kaden spoke up, pacing behind them as he examined the ship.

“And how did you get down?” Sophia shook her head, eyes blinking rapidly.

Kaden pointed behind him with a thumb with an innocent look on his face. “There were stairs.”

Sophia shook her head and looked around. Her eyes were starting to adjust again, and she could more fully examine her surroundings. There wasn’t much to the place, just the gray concrete of the landing pad and walls, and a window overlooking everything from the apparent control room. For what the aliens had in technology, they lacked in flash. Sophia turned and looked up at the ship. “Let’s hope we know how to fly this thing. That battle ship should see us as friendly…assuming they don’t just look out the window.”

She was also concerned about the potential success of their plan, but decided not to voice it.