The Eleven Galaxy

Bam!

Ryker slammed his back against the wall. "Huff. Huff." He breathed heavily before glancing over to his opponent.

"Is that all you've got, bot?"

Ming was stoic as usual. Not angry, not happy, her facial expression if anything expressed her dissatisfaction. It was aimed towards Jackal for making her Ryker's sparing partner.

"No, I believe. Our match has only started." She rushed forward with her fist.

Ryker instinctively activated his astral coating and blocked the attack. The impact from her blow forced his head to hit the wall.

'Tck, this stupid tin can is trying to kill me!' Looking over at his arms, he winced in pain.

'She almost shattered my bones, and that was after I put on my astral skin.' Ryker gritted his teeth.

Ming smirked.

"Should we stop?"

"Tck, what do you take me for?"

"A human. Humans have the second weakest body amongst the races in the universe, I'll understand if you've hit your limit. The sparring session was proposed by the captain to gauge out your current power level."

"Does everything that comes out of your mind have to be poisonous? Humans consist of 60% of the cosmos!"

"I'm not being poisonous. If I were, I'd admit. I'm blunt." She stated.

"Humans are relatively weak. All humans are born with the weakest astral colour. Less than 40% of these humans manage to evolve and shed out their weak skins. The captain is one of them."

"Grr, there's no reasoning with you."

"I'm an artificial intelligence. Everything about me is calculations and logic. If you got an answer that didn't sit well with you, then it's you who's not looking into reason."

Ryker shrugged. "There's no point in expecting a bot to understand what being a human means."

Sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, Ryker gestured for Ming to sit. "Speaking of the bastard captain..." He looked out the window into the infinite space. "When will he be back?"

"The captain won't be back for a week."

"Eh!?" The white-haired man jolted up. "That bastard!" He gritted his teeth. "He said he wasn't going to belong." He glares at Ming. 'Now I'm stuck with this tin can for a week' He couldn't help but cringed.

[A few hours ago... ]

"Since I'm part of the crew now, I've been meaning to ask, and meeting Zera only raised my curiosity." He paused taking a deep breath. "Where are the other members?"

Ryker's question was followed by a strong silence between the two.

'They don't want to talk.' Ryker thought to himself.

Jackal glanced over at Ming as the android gave him a silent nod.

Finally deciding to break the silence, Jackal moved his lips. "Th-"

"Hold it." Ryker intervened. "I've decided, I don't want to know."

"You don't?" Ming asked.

"I do want to out of curiosity. But, it seems you two don't want to talk about it. Your past is your past. I'm not entitled to know in any way. So, hold it."

Ming had always viewed Ryker as an impulsive loudmouth who acts first and thinks later, but his actions today proved otherwise.

The android shared a smile with Jackal who broke out into laughter.

He repeatedly pats Ryker on the back and said, "You'll learn about the rest in due time, I promise."

"I look forward to that." Ryker finds himself intrigue more and more by the Black Stallion crew.

"Captain," Ming said. "What is our next course of action?"

"Hmm, I was thinking of heading to Eleven."

Ming gasped. "But captain..."

"I owe it to them to fix things. This should be my first step, Ming." Jackal's tone was more serious than usual. One could perceive a hint of sorrow in it.

"What are you two talking about?" Ryker asked.

"Haha, I'll be going on a solo road trip."

"Eh?" Ryker tilted his head in confusion.

"Ming," He turned to the android. "Prepare the cruiser for a space warp."

"Yes, sir," Ming answered reluctantly and they all moved to the cockpit.

Ming sat in front of the helm to steer the cruiser whilst the others sat behind her.

"Where are we going?" Ryker turned to Jackal.

"To a place that doesn't welcome humans. One of the few galaxies that stands against the confederation, the Eleven galaxy."

"Eleven galaxies?"

Ming presses several buttons on the controls.

Jackal turned to Ryker. "Once we get there, I'll be taking a mini-cruiser to a planet nearby."

"You're going alone?"

"I won't take long, Snow white." He smirked. "Don't tell me, you're going to miss me?"

Ryker scoffed. "I don't care if you take the entire year."

"Activating Warp drive. Preparing for space warp in 3...2... "

The Black Stallion's thrusters rotated while releasing a stream of blue energy.

"1... Go!"

The thrusters boosted pushing the cruiser forward until it disappeared.

In another location...

The Black Stallion appeared in a different space zone from Red Wine.

Ryker having only experience his second Space warp couldn't handle the turbulence that came with it.

"Gotta go!" Jolting up from his seat, he covered his mouth and rushed to the bathroom.

"Space warp successfully."

"Good job Ming." Jackal walked over to the android while carrying a bag around his shoulder.

"You're leaving right now?"

"I'll only be gone for a few days, a weak tops. Take care of snow-white, he still has much to learn so I'll leave his tutoring to you in the meantime. Just don't kill him, haha."

Ming rolled her eyes. "Why do I have to babysit that annoying human?"

"Haha, who knows, this might be the chance both of you'll need to grow fond of each other."

"Never gonna happen." She refutes. "That aside, aren't you going to speak with him before you depart?"

"Nah, just tell him to focus on his training till I'm back."

Ming nods silently.

"The mini-cruiser is ready for you."

"Thank you, Ming. Take care, please don't kill the lad."

The android smirked. "No promises."

[Present Time]

"He gave me instructions to further your training before he gets back. Rest up for today. We'll continue from where we stopped in the morning."

"Fine," Ryker nods and exits the room leaving Ming to her thoughts.

"Captain... Please, be careful."