Getting the Ball Rolling

If there was one thing Namek sorely lacked, it was an abundance of modern plumbing. As a consequence, Nashua had hardly gotten the chance to clean herself properly in the past few months, only being able to stop in to public washrooms to scrub up every now and then while the search for the Dragon Balls waged on. So it was practically a dream when the Saiyan found a so-called 'public bathhouse' that the locals offered a pretty cheap fare for in one of the larger sized Namekian villages. She'd finally get to stop smelling like Namekian dirt and feeling as gross as... Well, Namekian dirt. However, it felt like she was just about to dip her toes into the water when her scouter started ringing. "Wha-" she jumped back in slight surprise as the purple glass in front of her left eye began to ring. She almost forgot the thing took calls sometimes.

But, who was calling her? Somewhat reluctantly, Nashua accepted the call as she sat down on the edge of the pool, simply dipping her feet in for now as she replied, "Hello?" The voice on the other end very quickly became familiar, and Nashua grit her teeth as she had to wonder what Kayen would think if she saw Nashua in a bathhouse of all places when she was technically on a field work assignment. Well... These things didn't have video, right? She'd just have to make sure the water was extra quiet. "Oh, hi, Kayen," she added with a smile. "Yes, I'm still alive. For now. Um, great to hear from you! It's been pretty lonely over here this time, I at least had all the other Kingdom people helping me out when we were last here."

...Kayen probably didn't care about that at all. "Er, so, the search is going very well, I made some other allies to help find the Balls, and I think there's only one left, so I'll come straight back to work as soon as we finish up with that! I'm real sorry it took so long this time. Was there, uh, something you needed?" As she spoke, she very slowly tried to sink herself further down into the water, trying her best not to make any noise in the water that'd betray the fact she was relaxing in a soak and not actually out helping out with the hunt.

TAGS: Queen Kayen

"Oh, yes," Nashua replied, "I would very much like to never have to involve myself in one of these things again." She had only even gotten involved on this one by happenstance, for the most part - she'd been under no real obligation to help out those people she'd come across that day, but seeing Monster nearly destroy them all made it so a part of her simply couldn't resist trying to keep them safe from any other threats that may have come their way. Granted, it wasn't like any menaces had come crashing in and trying to destroy everything anyway, but still, better safe than sorry, right? And someone with a hotter head and rougher tongue may have had some difficulty when it came to getting Chromo to cooperate. All in all, it was probably a good thing Nashua had involved herself, though perhaps not so good for her own personal sanity.

Hearing Kayen talk of the next steps for the Kingdom stirred up some excitement in Nashua's chest, although a knot of worry did also manage to find its way in there. She'd never much approved of the Saiyan Solar Empire's planet conquering ways, and the fear in the back of her mind that that was just what Kayen was hoping to do going forward had never entirely vanished, either. Just about the only planet she could see herself agreeing to take action against was Arcose at this point - any other major planets had remained entirely neutral with the Kingdom, or even in support of it, as far as she was aware. "You do?" she asked, settling herself further into the water and relaxing, her brown hair slowly bobbing up and down in the gentle waves as she did so.

"Well, I heard from Auber that you already took some actions with Raiti about annexing it into the Kingdom," she continued, "And it sounds like no blood was even shed in the process, so good work! What was your next step, then?" Raiti was another place Nashua couldn't say she had much issue with control over - Kayen had already ruled it, regardless, and it was hardly even a proper planet with a stable population. If anything, it was a good thing to have someone take over the responsibility for it properly.

TAGS: Queen Kayen

Right, right. As Nashua had been thinking earlier, Raiti had practically already belonged to Kayen before she became Queen, so it only made sense for her new coronation to only include the land she'd previously owned. Granted, hearing she had disposed of someone that tried to stand in her way gave Nashua a bit of an uneasy feeling, but it was just another pirate she'd previously had bad blood with anyway, from the sound of it. All in all, it was best not to read too far into things with Kayen. If there were no wars, and no needless heavy losses on the Kingdom's or their allies' part, then Nashua had no right to have complaints. "Last I saw Ramen was on Vegeta," Nashua  briefly explained, though when Kayen began to mention her plans for Arcose, the Saiyan quickly fell silent and listened, her tail slowly swishing about with vague anxiety in the water.

What the Queen was saying made sense. No war on Arcose except for the war to take it over - and after that, they'd be avoiding countless future bloody battles, potentially. They could finally begin to foster peace between the two species that have long hated each other since before even recorded history went back. If Kayen's idea worked as she hoped, the Kingdom and the Fleet could cease to be at odds, and end so many conflicts across the galaxy. But Arcosians were a stubborn bunch, and Nashua hardly saw any of them submitting themselves to a bunch of 'monkeys' that they had long deemed the inferior race. Though, what Saiyans would approve of this plan? The common Saiyan hated Arcosians just as much as the vice versa, with how ruthlessly the Fleet had assaulted their planet only over a year prior.

"So, you want... Me to go and... Lead Arcose?" Nashua asked in surprise. This was not near anything she'd ever expected to have offered to her, especially from Kayen. Maybe she hadn't been giving the Queen enough credit when it came to her potential to resolve things peacefully. Everything the Queen had explained made sense to her: Nashua had a background in diplomacy and a history of wanting peace between all races, alongside a huge amount of power that would help serve to deter anyone who sought to resolve things with their fists. And she bore no personal grudge against the people of Arcose, much as the Fleet was among the most evil organizations of all in her mind. The people of Arcose were just... Arcosians. Not necessarily the ones who'd committed genocide countless times. Maybe she could get through to them, and help them get through to the Kingdom.

"I'm... Not saying no," Nashua began with hesitance. "...So, I guess I'm saying yes, then? I feel uneasy about it, I'll admit, but, I can agree this seems like the one path forward that could actually help prevent needless deaths in the future." It was hard to say how the initial invasion might go, though. They'd likely be met with a fair amount of resistance that Nashua didn't doubt would give the common Kingdom soldiers an excuse to enact revenge on the Arcosians. "A forceful takeover seems like the only way to retch control over Arcose, though. Do you... Have a plan for that, too?"

TAGS: Queen Kayen

Right... Nashua could, unfortunately, entirely see them meeting some kind of farce of a resistance put up by those who claimed to be heroes - namely Earth's Pride Troopers, a bunch of borderline terrorists who disgraced the very nature of heroism by calling themselves Earth's defenders. And they had a history of trying to go cause conflict on other planets, too, if Hale's actions and the resistance that Ramen had met on her own foray to Arcose were any indication of what they might have to expect. "I don't think anyone would be able to actually best us," Nashua replied, confident in the joint power of the two strongest Saiyans in the galaxy, "But I would much prefer us avoiding any and all needless casualties. Even if the Arcosians on the planet rise up against us something furious, and even if they happen to kill some of our own men, I want us to cause as little bloodshed as we possibly can."

"I can't see them ever truly accepting us if we carve our path to their throne through blood," Nashua stated. She had no doubt that Kayen herself was already smart enough to know that the less violent their victory, the easier the reparations taking place afterwards, but Nashua felt the need to make it clear her tolerance for casualties were low. Kayen might be in charge, but Nashua wanted to exert as much pull on that front as she could in her position. "Did that Chill Arcosian try and fail to take the throne for himself?" she asked once Kayen mentioned his name. "Well, then perhaps striking so soon after such political turmoil will be to our benefit." If they struck while Arcose and its leadership were still in total disarray and managed to calm things, that would paint them in a much better light.

And... Nashua would be Queen? She froze up a bit at the thought of that notion. She'd pictured it being something like 'formal ambassador to Arcose' or something of the like. Ambassadorship was the thing she'd been good at for most of her life, and while she imagined it eventually upgrading her to a higher status... Jumping right to Queen? That was a big promotion. "Er, um," she stammered, clearly flustered about the prospect of royal status. "Are you sure that, um, people won't get confused? You're also Queen, and I'm, uh, totally not Queen material, I mean, I do want to help and have the, uh position, but you see, that's, it's, you're, uh..." Nashua had to pause and collect her thoughts, there, lest she keep on babbling like an idiot. "Calm down, Nashua," she had to think to herself, "It's just, like, an honorary title! Don't fret over it so much!" 

Her nerves slightly more steeled, Nashua continued, "Well, I can only hope that the people of Arcose will see me not as an outsider or a Saiyan, but simply as a dutiful Queen who looks out for the best for them." There, she didn't stumble that time. "That sounded way better, nice job," she mentally patted herself on the back. The transition to being a mostly ordinary member of the Kingdom to the Queen of a planet she'd only been to once many years before was going to be... Difficult, to say the least, but she was sure she'd be capable of handling it. She'd handled everything else just fine up to this point, hadn't she? And she'd only ever been dishonorably demoted once! "My parents and stuff can come move to Arcose with me, right?" she asked. Nashua hadn't considered how they'd react to the news, but she wasn't sure they'd exactly react... Positively.

TAGS: Queen Kayen

So, Chill had finally gotten himself killed, huh? Nashua could only wonder who his executioner was. She couldn't say she was terribly surprised or upset by the news, either. He was the director of the group that had murdered her family and friends, and so many others throughout history. The person leading the charge of that kind of organization deserved an end like that, everything stripped away from them just as they were about to achieve what they most desired. Poetic justice. The overlord Frieza met his end in a similar fashion thousands of years before, hadn't he? Nashua failed to remember who had given him his just desserts, though, but she could certainly admire their grit. "I'm glad you can agree on that front!" she chipperly stated back through the scouter, snapping herself back into reality. Good thing Kayen was smart enough to see the merit in minimal casualties on the enemy's part!

"Well, what title do they usually use on Arcose?" Nashua inquired. "I'd probably want to take whatever it is they call themselves normally, so as to not seem like too much of a huge shock to them all. It would help to get across the message that we're not destroying their culture, we're just incorporating it into our own!" Maybe that still sounded kind of bad, but Nashua's faith was placed in the fact that this was certainly going to lead the the least amount of future casualties, bloody and difficult as the initial transition might be. She wasn't really ever one to follow the philosophy that 'the ends justify the means', but... This was different, right? The means they were using weren't even that bad. The people of Arcose would still have a ruler, it'd just be a Saiyan over an Arcosian. And she'd do her damn best!

"Right, right, I'll make sure it's a well kept secret," Nashua insisted with a nod of her head, despite their lack of a video call. She'd probably wait to tell her parents in that case. Her mom might be capable of keeping it a secret, but her dad, well... He liked drinking with his buddies every weekend, and when the liquor started flowing, so too did any thought on his mind. "In the meantime, I'll do my best on the hunt, and make sure to-" as Nashua raised her hand to scratch the side of her head, her hand accidentally knocked against her scouter, both simultaneously activating the video call format and knocking the thing off her head to send it spiraling down into the water, where it quickly shorted out and died. "-keep you posted." Hmm. That was unfortunate.

Nashua bit her lip as she lifted her scouter from the water, now totally soaked and totally dead. Were there even any repair shops on Namek? Or, like, anyone who knew how to fix technology? The Saiyan sighed as she stood up out of the water and made her exit from the bathhouse. Hopefully Kayen wouldn't be too concerned over that abrupt ending - and it was probably a good thing for Nashua she hadn't realized the video had been enabled for those last few seconds.

TAGS: Queen Kayen