Surviving Saiyans.
Prologue.


After hours of wandering around a sun-scorched continent with the dry dusty wind blowing in their face and sticking to the sweat that was all but pouring from their skin and burning their eyes, it was such a relief to get aboard the ship again.
As the old captain went to program in the planet's readings into the ships' server, his bodyguards retired to the galley for an ice-cold drink.
The first to reach the water tank ignored the many cups available and instead grabbed a jug as she tried to get her fill.

"Rhuba…" Gasped the other as he watched her thirstily gulp down the water. "stand aside…" He warned with a dry throat.

She wouldn't hear him. The need to drink was overshadowing any interest in her partner's demands. After waiting a few more seconds, he had enough and grabbed her by the base of her tall to pull her away from the tap.
Rhuba choked the moment she felt his hands on her, but there was still water in her jug and that took priority.

Upon the bridge, Captain Granate finished his report to the Freeza Force and prepared the ship for taking off.
"Stations, you two." Granate called over the communicator.
He took his place to pilot the ship and waited for Garagus.

When his Saiyan crew arrived from the Galley with canteens of fresh water in hand, he gave both of them a crooked smile as he moved his dark scaly hands to grab a drink.
"On my world, days last thirty-seven hours, and it's far hotter than this." Despite his claim, he was still thirsty and it would be a lie to say traversing the landscape was in any way easy for him.
As most planets they land on are often cold, to be able to stomach the natural climate of the uncharted word was a rarity that he intended to enjoy.

"What did the reader say anyway?" Garagus asked as he clipped himself into the copilot seat.

"Large mineral deposits and some water ravines about a mile underground," Rhuba's job during the flight was manning the comms-station, so she had Granate's report in front of her. "If I'd known that, I'd have dug down there by hand."

"And I would have helped you," Garagus added just before take-off.

The ship rocked slightly as it lifted vertically from the surface.
A known design flaw of the ship's model is that the seats have a centre of gravity behind them which keeps the pilots facing forward when in motion, but the comms-station is perpendicular to the pilots, meaning that when the ship takes off, Rhuba ends up spinning away from her screen.
"Thanks for the warning," She muttered "dick." under her breath. As annoying as it was to be pulled away from her work, there was a childish element of fun to be randomly spun in her seat.

"Did you hear that noise before we took off?" Granate called back. "The engine powering up? That means we're about to lift."

"And did you hear that break just now? Oh of course not, because it was your neck if you ever sass me again."

Granate turned to Garagus, who was visibly shaking with silent laughter as he listened to his mate argue with their captain.
"Keep your woman under control will you?"

"I've tried, she's a menace!"

After a long minute of acceleration into space, the gravity shift made the ship feel like it had evened out enough to walk around the bridge.
Granate unbuckled and stood from his seat. "Garagus switch with me. Rhuba, move up." The captain stood by as his trainees moved to their new positions.

When Granate first worked with the Saiyan duo, he had to teach them how the ship operated pretty much from scratch. Neither of them trusted automation when they first came aboard, and for the longest time, he saw them both as lost causes when it came to understanding the ship's mechanics.
They were slow learners. Even the basics seemed unintuitive to them.
But after a few years of space travel, Granate's Saiyan crew are all but capable of running the ship themselves. Garagus was able to land and take off from familiar planets and Rhuba was becoming quite the effective navigator and copilot.

"At factor seven, we should approach base three nine one in about three hundred and twelve hours…" Rhuba pulled a face as she tried to add those up. "two… weeks?"

"Close enough," Granate said, patting her on the shoulder. "Send us off Garagus."

"Hmm." Garagus pushed a lever forward and put his foot on the peddle.

As the engine powered up, Granate held onto the hand bar going along the roof of the bridge to stabilise himself before the ship blasted forth at light speed.
"Try to be gentler on that peddle." He warned Garagus before retiring to his quarters for some rest.