Eternal Heavens
Author's forward: Welcome to the rewrite! Heh, in this I will attempt
to do everything that I wanted to do when I first started this fic. I
hope you enjoy it! Special thanks to Seion who let me borrow his
character for this fic, and to Morgan Hudson, D.B. Sommer, the guys on
for #TenchiFF, and of course, my beloved Lita who provided invaluable
gramatical, spelling, character and continuity assistence. Thank you
all so much (especially you D.B. Literary Eagle was soooo jealous
that you outdid her nitpicking with your own. ^_^)
Gathering of the Children
-Walker of the Stars
Opening Theme: Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns and Roses
BGM: Robert Miles' Album: Dreamland
Sentient beings have a rather interesting view of how the universe
works. Some have a general feel that the universe is alive; that it has
a consciousness. It watches us, studies us, and dissects us for some
unfathomable reason that only it and possibly some types of fungi could
understand. That to discover that purpose would drive one mad.
There are those who think that throughout all of this the universe
guides us...cares for us in its own way.
Some think that even the universe is the one being guided on some
journey, and that they are naught but bits and pieces of machinery in
this great venture.
However most just think the universe is either:
A. Out to get us,
and/or
B. Uses us for its own personal entertainment.
If you were Kiyone Makibi, it would be a bit more than a belief.
It would be a certainty.
Things started out okay for her. She was your basic five foot ten
inches and one hundred fourty-five pound humanoid, with teal hair, blue
eyes, better than average intelligence, and a figure most would kill to
possess...the method of possession depended on the individual, of course.
She had also found that she had a distinct talent for espionage and
covert operations, which she employed in the humble and rewarding pursuit
of justice, making her a perfect candidate for the Galaxy Police...a
profession she threw herself into with an enthusiasm bordering on
obsession.
Of course...that's when it all went to hell. Perhaps she should
have expected it, as everything had always gone her way until...then.
Hell, odds were something had to go wrong.
But why, oh why did it just have to keep going wrong? Hadn't she
suffered enough? Hadn't she paid her karmic debt, whatever it was?
Couldn't the universe just grow weary of her, and simply send her tired
soul to the next life?
The answer was almost painfully obvious. Just when she thought she
was free, just when she thought nothing in this entire universe could
possibly save her from her preordained fate...it had one last twist to
pull.
She was considering all this miserably, as she idly played with
this 'twist' in her section chief's office.
Section X. The one dealing with VERY weird stuff...and the
operatives themselves were eccentric in their own way. It was no wonder
they all started chuckling when episodes of the 'X Files' started making
their way to the many peoples of the universe from the unknown source of
the third planet orbiting Sol.
All had a little extra something that made their mission success an
actual possibility. Oh sure, the pay was much better as she had been
promoted to Major...of course that had been about meaningless,
considering you had to be at least lieutenant to be in this section. The
danger wasn't anything she was unaccustomed to...of course normally danger
wasn't the type of interdimensional monster or insanely super powered
criminal you'd be suicidal to take on without a dimensional cannon or
better.
At least...
Actually, that was bittersweet when she thought of it. There was
something to that time she was with her partner. Even after that
unfortunate incident that left her partner's mind fragmented, making her
a mere wraith of her former self.
At least she knows I'm still alive, Kiyone thought to herself which
somewhat raised her spirits.
As it was, most didn't know the fact that she was still alive. Most
of those in Section X were presumed dead or missing by the general
populous, which had aided their operations more times than they could
count. That and the powers that be had a better chance of plausibly
denying all knowledge of such matters...after all; the personnel in
question were already dead.
The only way she'd be able to see her erstwhile former partner was
if she were to be put on an assignment in which contact with that woman
was unavoidable. That didn't seem too likely all things considered, and
she had had to leave very abruptly after the Kain incident so she hadn't
gotten to spend any real 'quality time' with Mihoshi anyway.
The door to the office slid open behind her. She barely
acknowledged the diminutive presence of the Section Chief, as she walked
in and around Kiyone. Setting herself down on a seat behind the desk
across from Kiyone, she shuffled some papers in her 'In Box' and smoothed
back her hot pink hair, uncovering some tattoos that marked her as a
member of the Juraian Lords, very briefly before she focused her
attention on Kiyone.
"Mind getting rid of that?"
Kiyone absently grabbed the ball of green energy, reabsorbing it
into herself. Her arm glowed briefly for a moment in the aftermath of
its snuffing.
"So, how is life?" The chief asked amiably.
"Same as usual." Kiyone replied.
The Chief chuckled. "Eh, didn't know it was that bad. Told you,
you should have taken some leave awhile back though."
Kiyone rolled her eyes, and gave the mock glare of the 'yeah, I
know, you told me so' look. "Anyway, how goes the construction of the
new 7th Headquarters?"
"Oh, basic structure is done, they're installing the support
equipment and a more permanent dimensional power system as we speak.
Pretty soon they'll begin the installation of the new subspace
containment center." Kiyone grimaced when she mentioned that.
"Did they ever find out how Kain got out?"
"No. Equipment failure, and the possibility he might have
overpowered the station has been ruled out. Only thing they can theorize
is that some outside force must have weakened the barriers enough to
allow Kain to escape."
They both considered each other for a moment, sharing in silent
communication the full implications of that particular statement.
"Any leads?" The chief asked.
"No. If anyone was good enough or powerful enough to do that it
would be unlikely that we would catch them, even if there were any
detectable traces...which there weren't. The investigation continues of
course." Though her tone betrayed her doubt of them finding anything of
import.
The Chief nodded her agreement, already knowing full well what
Kiyone was telling her.
This meant it would likely go into the files of unsolved mysteries
that took up more than their fair share of the storage facilities of this
particular starbase, which just happened to be the size of your average
spherical ship designed to annihilate worlds. Too bad the designer of it
would never be able to claim any monetary compensation for his
plagiarized idea. He'd never see it, being on a technologically
backwater world, poor sod.
The Chief then picked up a small stack of papers she had set aside
on her desk and handed them to Kiyone. Kiyone took them, and scanned
their contents, making little humming sounds at certain points. At the
end she neatly stacked them on the desk, and handed them back to her
superior. Without skipping a beat the Chief tossed them into the small
molecular destabilizing chamber behind her on the wall, or 'The Burner'
as it was nicknamed by most. The document was vaporized instantly in a
very brief flash of light.
"So, you'll want me to check it out?" Kiyone stated as she nodded
her head in what she already knew would be an affirmative answer.
"Yes," the Chief said needlessly. "The Youma have always
been...isolationist at best. Still, they normally give some indication
that they are still alive, trade some goods with the rest of the galaxy,
and even some empires in nearby galaxies, like the Tetranians. Though
you'd think that would be the height of stupidity, considering the
penchants of Tetranians." The Chief paused, to regain her breath
momentarily after going off on that tangent. Kiyone had become well
acquainted with it over the years, and knew to just let that run its
course. She'd get to the point eventually. "Background subspace
chatter...but now, all that has ceased. The confirmation that something
was seriously wrong came from the escape vessel that contained a few
refugees. Their technology has always been somewhat like Juraian
Treeform, without the unique Jurai Powers, of course." Of course, Kiyone
nearly smirked. "Imagine our surprise when we found them in that rather
interesting life vessel, totally unlike anything they were known to have.
I'm told that the metals, if those substances could be even called
'metal,' used to make that ship were of the sort that even the Galaxy
Academy still considered...classified."
Growing a bit impatient, Kiyone decided to speed up the process a
bit. "You couldn't get anything other than 'It's the end! We will soon
be judged!' out of them?"
"No," the Chief answered. "The women and children were all huddled
around each other and praying to their patron goddess." The Chief
suddenly started opening drawers and shuffling through her desk. Finally
finding something she tossed it to Kiyone. "That was supposed to be a
carving of her, they were carrying far many more than...are you alright?"
"Hmm?" Kiyone started. "Yeah...yeah...I'm fine."
"You sure? You know something about that statuette?"
Kiyone glanced at it only momentarily. "I thought I'd seen it
before somewhere...an image like this goddess somewhere...never mind.
It's not important." she said, pocketing it quickly.
The Chief looked at her skeptically, but did not press the issue.
"Anyway, we need one of us to go and scout around, and report anything."
"Anything?" Kiyone asked.
"Anything." The Chief repeated.
Sensing this to be a dismissal, Kiyone arose and turned to walk out
of the office, but not before she took some of the Chief's gumdrops out
of her candy jar.
The Chief frowned at Kiyone's back, as she exited.
"Damnit...you guys know how hard it is to steal this stuff from
Earth?" She complained to no one in particular, popping a couple of the
gumdrops in her mouth for good measure. "I mean, really..."
Kiyone proceeded down the many twisting corridors of the office
levels, to one of the lifts that would take her down to the living
quarters of this space station. She could have taken an easier route,
but last time she did that, she accidentally wound up passing through and
shorting out one of the power transformers that led to her living
quarters. How was she to know the nebulous energy form that she used to
pass through matter would have had that effect on that piece of
equipment? Of course, had they stopped to consider what she became while
incorporeal, it probably would have been apparent that phasing through
electronic gear was not a good thing, but hindsight 20/20 and all. Well,
at least nothing had been permanently damaged, and there was a backup
transformer system that power was immediately rerouted to...still
something to keep in mind.
Coming to the lift she keyed in the floor where her room was
located. The door to the spherical transport swung open and a couple of
other operatives passed her...one in particular caught her attention.
Like he would walk by without saying anything. She figured she
better go ahead and acknowledge his presence.
"Seion," Kiyone said in simple greeting.
Which he would have none of. "Kiyone!" he shouted, his eyes
lighting up. He reached out quickly and picked her up, squeezing her
tightly. "Ah, my big sister! I'm going to hug you and squeeze you and
pat you and pat you and sit on you to make you warm, so you never feel
rejected!" His female companion rolled her eyes, and went off, knowing
as she did that it would likely be a bit before the big Amanese warrior
had finished his 'brotherly duties' concerning Kiyone.
"You sit on me, and I swear I'll beat you to a bloody pulp!"
He grinned at her mock-serious (as he had no doubt in his mind that
she WOULD...actually she HAD, in fact, beat him severely around the head
and shoulders) threat, and set her on the ground. "How could I not want
to sit on you to keep you safe?"
His tone was merry, but his eyes betrayed the seriousness of his
statement. Damn...he still hasn't gotten over my being gone for so long,
she thought to herself. She grimaced, though she couldn't really bring
herself to be annoyed with him. He was worried...even more worried now
that she had been recruited to the same branch of the GP that he had.
And he had been among the hardest hit when she had 'died.' She couldn't
really blame him for feeling like he did. She'd probably feel the same
were it him. Well, actually she did now that she thought about it. When
he was first recruited, after his "accident," and turned into a nano-tech
cyborg she WAS quite worried...considering he'd vanished for months
without a trace before she had even found out where he had disappeared
to.
The jerk. She had half a mind to beat him up again for that.
"Going on another assignment, huh?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"You know...if you need someone to watch your back, I'm sure Chief
wouldn't mind it if I..."
"I'll be fine!" She cut him off...a bit too forcefully; judging by
the slight hurt his face betrayed. "It's a simple surveillance
operation. Get in, see what there is to see, and get out. The less
people around to get caught the better." She sighed, and looked into his
eyes...such a deep blue, so much like her own. "I know you don't like me
doing things like this. I know you didn't want me to join this
division." She reached out and touched his face and softly spoke, "And I
know you don't want me risking my life...not after I was supposedly dead
for so long, but this is my life too. I will protect you, little
brother, as you protect me, as we both protect people. And not anyone -
not even you - can stop me."
Seion grimaced at the finality of her words. He felt his duty very
keenly, more because his duty was to that which he loved. He loved his
sister, so she was under his protection. She, however, had the same
sense of duty to those same people whom she loved as well. And she was
the eldest, if only by a couple of minutes, damn her. "I've...heard some
things. I've got a bad feeling about this one. If you need help...if
you even think you have a problem..."
She smiled. "I'll call," she told him reassuringly.
"By the way," he added as she entered the lift. "I've already
packed your stuff, and added a few extra gizmos in case you need 'em."
"Quit mothering me!" she complained, as the doors closed.
"Someone has to," he said quietly.
He smoothed back his teal colored hair, and considered he might
need to trim it as he mentally activated the 'com' feature of his
nanites, by configuring their pattern inside his body, into a subspace
communications array. Damn, but those techs gave him some cool toys!
"Yo, Wallabee."
Speaking. He heard inside his head.
"Get my ship ready, would you?"
What for?
"Well, looks like the Chief listened to my report, got a bit
worried, and sent one of the power houses to take a look."
A pause. Your sister?
"Yep."
It'll be ready when you need it. Wallabee's voice paused. You
know you won't be able to catch up with her, even if you start now.
"Yep."
Heh, keeping sisters out of trouble is always a chore.
"You're telling me." he replied wryly. "Seion out."
The door to Kiyone's simple living quarters opened with a slight
hiss of solenoids being energized and motors moving. As she walked
inside, the lights came on automatically...and quite needlessly. Around
her form was a bright glowing field of green energy, whose patterns
shifted and writhed around her like a living thing searching for only it
knew what.
She took no note of her surroundings, not that there was much to
see other than her collection of rarities and trinkets she kept in a few
cases along the walls...the cases themselves being made of wood worked in
the Juraian skill of woodwork. Dark, almost a black color, and the
'grain' more sturdy than even some forms of battle armor, they were older
than many civilizations, and gifts from her former partner's mother, who
was a dealer in antiquities. Surprising such a thing found its way to a
simple dealer...but then Mihoshi's mother was hardly 'simple' anything,
though few knew the truth of that situation.
Her bed - unlike the rest of her room - was a bit of a gaudy
affair. It was all decked out in teal sheets with frills and lace and
the cover being a fluffy comforter of a slightly darker shade than her
sheets. The pillow was large and fluffy, it hung over the sides of the
bed, was so thick it looked to almost be a second mattress, and had a
coverlet of emerald upon it. The entirety of the spread was encircled by
a translucent bug guard, a total affectation considering the only insects
on the station were the sentient type; like the rest of bed, it too was a
shade of green.
This would have been the case, had not all those sheets, blankets
and pillows been moved from their nice and orderly arrangement. Instead
they had been wadded up and tossed around, and the black traveling case
that Seion promised, placed at the foot of her bed; making it look very
much like a hurricane had hit it.
Or a Seion.
Her brother seemed to have this annoying idea that she was too
uptight and needed to loosen up a bit. So what if her room had not a
speck of dust in it, and the bed made with military creases?
I just liked my stuff neat, that's all! She complained to herself
as she absentmindedly made minor adjustments to her uniform that had come
out of place as she moved.
She sighed in defeat, knowing that she didn't have time to
straighten it up, and that her brother would probably consider it a minor
victory. She sat down and picked up the traveling pack and opened it.
Scanning it, she noted it was her basic gear: a high resolution scanner,
capable of taking EM samples from both spectrums of matter down to the
quantum level and up to 12 dimensions; a backup recorder (though it was
unlikely the memory in the scanner would fill up, but it never hurt to be
careful), a communicator, a candy bar (though she no longer required
food, it still tasted good), and an emergency beacon capable of returning
to base from any place in the given galaxy. That was only in the first
layer; pulling that out, she discovered what her brother had left her at
the second.
A look of disbelief crossed her features, as she pulled out what
appeared to be a firearm of some sort. Shiny silver colored coating
glistened in her radiance, as her grip tensed and relaxed on the grip,
which felt like rubber, but she knew was probably tough enough to
withstand a full nuclear explosion. It was at least a full 12 inches in
length...though it was remarkably light.
"You sure know how to take care of a girl, that's for sure," she
remarked lightly, placing the gun back into the case, and pulling out one
more item with her other hand.
A simple knife...probably one of the never dull types that were
tempered in temperatures near that of a star's core, aligning the quarks
on a quantum level to be harder than the legendary adamantine rock.
On a hunch, she ran its edge lightly across her hand, and noted
both the pain, and the cut that appeared. Green energy leaked like
liquid from the wound, before closing...but it took a bit of time. As
she suspected...its properties would allow it to disrupt energy as well
as cut through matter effortlessly.
Both the gun and the knife would be perfect backup weapons for her,
in the unlikely event she would need them.
She'd have to be damn weak before she'd have to resort to their
use.
That stopped her for a moment. Damn, I've been using my powers so
often I've been thinking like a manga character who uses brute force and
rarely thinks things through. You'd think my experience with Kain would
have knocked that into my skull, and they did warn me about this frame of
mind. She sighed and slammed the case closed with considerable more force
than necessary.
A balance would have to be found, she was once told. She had yet to
find hers.
Ah well, still if she found herself in such a situation that she
needed them, she would most certainly be thanking the overprotective
impulses of her brother. Smiling fondly she made her way out of her
living quarters and to the nearest turbo lift to the hangar level; making
sure before she left to stash the instructions for the gun in her breast
pocket.
It was going to be a couple of days before her unique method of
travel got her to the other end of the galaxy. Though she'd be conscious
for only part of it...still it would do good to keep her from being
bored, and to familiarize herself with the weapon.
The last thing she would need in the universe would be to listen to
her brother saying "I told you so!" while she burned in hell.
It would make him more insufferable than he already is, she
figured.
Kiyone mused on her upcoming assignment in the turbo lift, studying
the statuette, the one that the Chief had said was from the Youma
refugees, that had absentmindedly found its way back into her hand. It
was coincidence...it had to be, but looking at it gave her chills and a
vague feeling that there was a lot more that was going on in this
situation than even the usual on goings.
"You...but how?" she murmured to herself. She'd only seen it
briefly, before it had faded: the robes, the runes of power, the silver
hair that seemed to shine a radiance to drown even the brightest of
stars, and those crimson eyes that saw too much. All of this was
captured in immaculate detail, of the megami standing straight and tall,
hands clasped before her as if in a prayer of her own.
It couldn't be her! How would it be possible?
Kiyone's mind conjured up possibilities, but all were beyond
fantastic. Strangely she got the feeling that the truth would be far
more unbelievable than even the theories her imagination had created.
"Yep, me too Seion." she told her brother, who while not with her,
would hear her on some level. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Ending theme - Dreams - Van Halen
Author's forward: Welcome to the rewrite! Heh, in this I will attempt
to do everything that I wanted to do when I first started this fic. I
hope you enjoy it! Special thanks to Seion who let me borrow his
character for this fic, and to Morgan Hudson, D.B. Sommer, the guys on
for #TenchiFF, and of course, my beloved Lita who provided invaluable
gramatical, spelling, character and continuity assistence. Thank you
all so much (especially you D.B. Literary Eagle was soooo jealous
that you outdid her nitpicking with your own. ^_^)
Gathering of the Children
-Walker of the Stars
Opening Theme: Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns and Roses
BGM: Robert Miles' Album: Dreamland
Sentient beings have a rather interesting view of how the universe
works. Some have a general feel that the universe is alive; that it has
a consciousness. It watches us, studies us, and dissects us for some
unfathomable reason that only it and possibly some types of fungi could
understand. That to discover that purpose would drive one mad.
There are those who think that throughout all of this the universe
guides us...cares for us in its own way.
Some think that even the universe is the one being guided on some
journey, and that they are naught but bits and pieces of machinery in
this great venture.
However most just think the universe is either:
A. Out to get us,
and/or
B. Uses us for its own personal entertainment.
If you were Kiyone Makibi, it would be a bit more than a belief.
It would be a certainty.
Things started out okay for her. She was your basic five foot ten
inches and one hundred fourty-five pound humanoid, with teal hair, blue
eyes, better than average intelligence, and a figure most would kill to
possess...the method of possession depended on the individual, of course.
She had also found that she had a distinct talent for espionage and
covert operations, which she employed in the humble and rewarding pursuit
of justice, making her a perfect candidate for the Galaxy Police...a
profession she threw herself into with an enthusiasm bordering on
obsession.
Of course...that's when it all went to hell. Perhaps she should
have expected it, as everything had always gone her way until...then.
Hell, odds were something had to go wrong.
But why, oh why did it just have to keep going wrong? Hadn't she
suffered enough? Hadn't she paid her karmic debt, whatever it was?
Couldn't the universe just grow weary of her, and simply send her tired
soul to the next life?
The answer was almost painfully obvious. Just when she thought she
was free, just when she thought nothing in this entire universe could
possibly save her from her preordained fate...it had one last twist to
pull.
She was considering all this miserably, as she idly played with
this 'twist' in her section chief's office.
Section X. The one dealing with VERY weird stuff...and the
operatives themselves were eccentric in their own way. It was no wonder
they all started chuckling when episodes of the 'X Files' started making
their way to the many peoples of the universe from the unknown source of
the third planet orbiting Sol.
All had a little extra something that made their mission success an
actual possibility. Oh sure, the pay was much better as she had been
promoted to Major...of course that had been about meaningless,
considering you had to be at least lieutenant to be in this section. The
danger wasn't anything she was unaccustomed to...of course normally danger
wasn't the type of interdimensional monster or insanely super powered
criminal you'd be suicidal to take on without a dimensional cannon or
better.
At least...
Actually, that was bittersweet when she thought of it. There was
something to that time she was with her partner. Even after that
unfortunate incident that left her partner's mind fragmented, making her
a mere wraith of her former self.
At least she knows I'm still alive, Kiyone thought to herself which
somewhat raised her spirits.
As it was, most didn't know the fact that she was still alive. Most
of those in Section X were presumed dead or missing by the general
populous, which had aided their operations more times than they could
count. That and the powers that be had a better chance of plausibly
denying all knowledge of such matters...after all; the personnel in
question were already dead.
The only way she'd be able to see her erstwhile former partner was
if she were to be put on an assignment in which contact with that woman
was unavoidable. That didn't seem too likely all things considered, and
she had had to leave very abruptly after the Kain incident so she hadn't
gotten to spend any real 'quality time' with Mihoshi anyway.
The door to the office slid open behind her. She barely
acknowledged the diminutive presence of the Section Chief, as she walked
in and around Kiyone. Setting herself down on a seat behind the desk
across from Kiyone, she shuffled some papers in her 'In Box' and smoothed
back her hot pink hair, uncovering some tattoos that marked her as a
member of the Juraian Lords, very briefly before she focused her
attention on Kiyone.
"Mind getting rid of that?"
Kiyone absently grabbed the ball of green energy, reabsorbing it
into herself. Her arm glowed briefly for a moment in the aftermath of
its snuffing.
"So, how is life?" The chief asked amiably.
"Same as usual." Kiyone replied.
The Chief chuckled. "Eh, didn't know it was that bad. Told you,
you should have taken some leave awhile back though."
Kiyone rolled her eyes, and gave the mock glare of the 'yeah, I
know, you told me so' look. "Anyway, how goes the construction of the
new 7th Headquarters?"
"Oh, basic structure is done, they're installing the support
equipment and a more permanent dimensional power system as we speak.
Pretty soon they'll begin the installation of the new subspace
containment center." Kiyone grimaced when she mentioned that.
"Did they ever find out how Kain got out?"
"No. Equipment failure, and the possibility he might have
overpowered the station has been ruled out. Only thing they can theorize
is that some outside force must have weakened the barriers enough to
allow Kain to escape."
They both considered each other for a moment, sharing in silent
communication the full implications of that particular statement.
"Any leads?" The chief asked.
"No. If anyone was good enough or powerful enough to do that it
would be unlikely that we would catch them, even if there were any
detectable traces...which there weren't. The investigation continues of
course." Though her tone betrayed her doubt of them finding anything of
import.
The Chief nodded her agreement, already knowing full well what
Kiyone was telling her.
This meant it would likely go into the files of unsolved mysteries
that took up more than their fair share of the storage facilities of this
particular starbase, which just happened to be the size of your average
spherical ship designed to annihilate worlds. Too bad the designer of it
would never be able to claim any monetary compensation for his
plagiarized idea. He'd never see it, being on a technologically
backwater world, poor sod.
The Chief then picked up a small stack of papers she had set aside
on her desk and handed them to Kiyone. Kiyone took them, and scanned
their contents, making little humming sounds at certain points. At the
end she neatly stacked them on the desk, and handed them back to her
superior. Without skipping a beat the Chief tossed them into the small
molecular destabilizing chamber behind her on the wall, or 'The Burner'
as it was nicknamed by most. The document was vaporized instantly in a
very brief flash of light.
"So, you'll want me to check it out?" Kiyone stated as she nodded
her head in what she already knew would be an affirmative answer.
"Yes," the Chief said needlessly. "The Youma have always
been...isolationist at best. Still, they normally give some indication
that they are still alive, trade some goods with the rest of the galaxy,
and even some empires in nearby galaxies, like the Tetranians. Though
you'd think that would be the height of stupidity, considering the
penchants of Tetranians." The Chief paused, to regain her breath
momentarily after going off on that tangent. Kiyone had become well
acquainted with it over the years, and knew to just let that run its
course. She'd get to the point eventually. "Background subspace
chatter...but now, all that has ceased. The confirmation that something
was seriously wrong came from the escape vessel that contained a few
refugees. Their technology has always been somewhat like Juraian
Treeform, without the unique Jurai Powers, of course." Of course, Kiyone
nearly smirked. "Imagine our surprise when we found them in that rather
interesting life vessel, totally unlike anything they were known to have.
I'm told that the metals, if those substances could be even called
'metal,' used to make that ship were of the sort that even the Galaxy
Academy still considered...classified."
Growing a bit impatient, Kiyone decided to speed up the process a
bit. "You couldn't get anything other than 'It's the end! We will soon
be judged!' out of them?"
"No," the Chief answered. "The women and children were all huddled
around each other and praying to their patron goddess." The Chief
suddenly started opening drawers and shuffling through her desk. Finally
finding something she tossed it to Kiyone. "That was supposed to be a
carving of her, they were carrying far many more than...are you alright?"
"Hmm?" Kiyone started. "Yeah...yeah...I'm fine."
"You sure? You know something about that statuette?"
Kiyone glanced at it only momentarily. "I thought I'd seen it
before somewhere...an image like this goddess somewhere...never mind.
It's not important." she said, pocketing it quickly.
The Chief looked at her skeptically, but did not press the issue.
"Anyway, we need one of us to go and scout around, and report anything."
"Anything?" Kiyone asked.
"Anything." The Chief repeated.
Sensing this to be a dismissal, Kiyone arose and turned to walk out
of the office, but not before she took some of the Chief's gumdrops out
of her candy jar.
The Chief frowned at Kiyone's back, as she exited.
"Damnit...you guys know how hard it is to steal this stuff from
Earth?" She complained to no one in particular, popping a couple of the
gumdrops in her mouth for good measure. "I mean, really..."
Kiyone proceeded down the many twisting corridors of the office
levels, to one of the lifts that would take her down to the living
quarters of this space station. She could have taken an easier route,
but last time she did that, she accidentally wound up passing through and
shorting out one of the power transformers that led to her living
quarters. How was she to know the nebulous energy form that she used to
pass through matter would have had that effect on that piece of
equipment? Of course, had they stopped to consider what she became while
incorporeal, it probably would have been apparent that phasing through
electronic gear was not a good thing, but hindsight 20/20 and all. Well,
at least nothing had been permanently damaged, and there was a backup
transformer system that power was immediately rerouted to...still
something to keep in mind.
Coming to the lift she keyed in the floor where her room was
located. The door to the spherical transport swung open and a couple of
other operatives passed her...one in particular caught her attention.
Like he would walk by without saying anything. She figured she
better go ahead and acknowledge his presence.
"Seion," Kiyone said in simple greeting.
Which he would have none of. "Kiyone!" he shouted, his eyes
lighting up. He reached out quickly and picked her up, squeezing her
tightly. "Ah, my big sister! I'm going to hug you and squeeze you and
pat you and pat you and sit on you to make you warm, so you never feel
rejected!" His female companion rolled her eyes, and went off, knowing
as she did that it would likely be a bit before the big Amanese warrior
had finished his 'brotherly duties' concerning Kiyone.
"You sit on me, and I swear I'll beat you to a bloody pulp!"
He grinned at her mock-serious (as he had no doubt in his mind that
she WOULD...actually she HAD, in fact, beat him severely around the head
and shoulders) threat, and set her on the ground. "How could I not want
to sit on you to keep you safe?"
His tone was merry, but his eyes betrayed the seriousness of his
statement. Damn...he still hasn't gotten over my being gone for so long,
she thought to herself. She grimaced, though she couldn't really bring
herself to be annoyed with him. He was worried...even more worried now
that she had been recruited to the same branch of the GP that he had.
And he had been among the hardest hit when she had 'died.' She couldn't
really blame him for feeling like he did. She'd probably feel the same
were it him. Well, actually she did now that she thought about it. When
he was first recruited, after his "accident," and turned into a nano-tech
cyborg she WAS quite worried...considering he'd vanished for months
without a trace before she had even found out where he had disappeared
to.
The jerk. She had half a mind to beat him up again for that.
"Going on another assignment, huh?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"You know...if you need someone to watch your back, I'm sure Chief
wouldn't mind it if I..."
"I'll be fine!" She cut him off...a bit too forcefully; judging by
the slight hurt his face betrayed. "It's a simple surveillance
operation. Get in, see what there is to see, and get out. The less
people around to get caught the better." She sighed, and looked into his
eyes...such a deep blue, so much like her own. "I know you don't like me
doing things like this. I know you didn't want me to join this
division." She reached out and touched his face and softly spoke, "And I
know you don't want me risking my life...not after I was supposedly dead
for so long, but this is my life too. I will protect you, little
brother, as you protect me, as we both protect people. And not anyone -
not even you - can stop me."
Seion grimaced at the finality of her words. He felt his duty very
keenly, more because his duty was to that which he loved. He loved his
sister, so she was under his protection. She, however, had the same
sense of duty to those same people whom she loved as well. And she was
the eldest, if only by a couple of minutes, damn her. "I've...heard some
things. I've got a bad feeling about this one. If you need help...if
you even think you have a problem..."
She smiled. "I'll call," she told him reassuringly.
"By the way," he added as she entered the lift. "I've already
packed your stuff, and added a few extra gizmos in case you need 'em."
"Quit mothering me!" she complained, as the doors closed.
"Someone has to," he said quietly.
He smoothed back his teal colored hair, and considered he might
need to trim it as he mentally activated the 'com' feature of his
nanites, by configuring their pattern inside his body, into a subspace
communications array. Damn, but those techs gave him some cool toys!
"Yo, Wallabee."
Speaking. He heard inside his head.
"Get my ship ready, would you?"
What for?
"Well, looks like the Chief listened to my report, got a bit
worried, and sent one of the power houses to take a look."
A pause. Your sister?
"Yep."
It'll be ready when you need it. Wallabee's voice paused. You
know you won't be able to catch up with her, even if you start now.
"Yep."
Heh, keeping sisters out of trouble is always a chore.
"You're telling me." he replied wryly. "Seion out."
The door to Kiyone's simple living quarters opened with a slight
hiss of solenoids being energized and motors moving. As she walked
inside, the lights came on automatically...and quite needlessly. Around
her form was a bright glowing field of green energy, whose patterns
shifted and writhed around her like a living thing searching for only it
knew what.
She took no note of her surroundings, not that there was much to
see other than her collection of rarities and trinkets she kept in a few
cases along the walls...the cases themselves being made of wood worked in
the Juraian skill of woodwork. Dark, almost a black color, and the
'grain' more sturdy than even some forms of battle armor, they were older
than many civilizations, and gifts from her former partner's mother, who
was a dealer in antiquities. Surprising such a thing found its way to a
simple dealer...but then Mihoshi's mother was hardly 'simple' anything,
though few knew the truth of that situation.
Her bed - unlike the rest of her room - was a bit of a gaudy
affair. It was all decked out in teal sheets with frills and lace and
the cover being a fluffy comforter of a slightly darker shade than her
sheets. The pillow was large and fluffy, it hung over the sides of the
bed, was so thick it looked to almost be a second mattress, and had a
coverlet of emerald upon it. The entirety of the spread was encircled by
a translucent bug guard, a total affectation considering the only insects
on the station were the sentient type; like the rest of bed, it too was a
shade of green.
This would have been the case, had not all those sheets, blankets
and pillows been moved from their nice and orderly arrangement. Instead
they had been wadded up and tossed around, and the black traveling case
that Seion promised, placed at the foot of her bed; making it look very
much like a hurricane had hit it.
Or a Seion.
Her brother seemed to have this annoying idea that she was too
uptight and needed to loosen up a bit. So what if her room had not a
speck of dust in it, and the bed made with military creases?
I just liked my stuff neat, that's all! She complained to herself
as she absentmindedly made minor adjustments to her uniform that had come
out of place as she moved.
She sighed in defeat, knowing that she didn't have time to
straighten it up, and that her brother would probably consider it a minor
victory. She sat down and picked up the traveling pack and opened it.
Scanning it, she noted it was her basic gear: a high resolution scanner,
capable of taking EM samples from both spectrums of matter down to the
quantum level and up to 12 dimensions; a backup recorder (though it was
unlikely the memory in the scanner would fill up, but it never hurt to be
careful), a communicator, a candy bar (though she no longer required
food, it still tasted good), and an emergency beacon capable of returning
to base from any place in the given galaxy. That was only in the first
layer; pulling that out, she discovered what her brother had left her at
the second.
A look of disbelief crossed her features, as she pulled out what
appeared to be a firearm of some sort. Shiny silver colored coating
glistened in her radiance, as her grip tensed and relaxed on the grip,
which felt like rubber, but she knew was probably tough enough to
withstand a full nuclear explosion. It was at least a full 12 inches in
length...though it was remarkably light.
"You sure know how to take care of a girl, that's for sure," she
remarked lightly, placing the gun back into the case, and pulling out one
more item with her other hand.
A simple knife...probably one of the never dull types that were
tempered in temperatures near that of a star's core, aligning the quarks
on a quantum level to be harder than the legendary adamantine rock.
On a hunch, she ran its edge lightly across her hand, and noted
both the pain, and the cut that appeared. Green energy leaked like
liquid from the wound, before closing...but it took a bit of time. As
she suspected...its properties would allow it to disrupt energy as well
as cut through matter effortlessly.
Both the gun and the knife would be perfect backup weapons for her,
in the unlikely event she would need them.
She'd have to be damn weak before she'd have to resort to their
use.
That stopped her for a moment. Damn, I've been using my powers so
often I've been thinking like a manga character who uses brute force and
rarely thinks things through. You'd think my experience with Kain would
have knocked that into my skull, and they did warn me about this frame of
mind. She sighed and slammed the case closed with considerable more force
than necessary.
A balance would have to be found, she was once told. She had yet to
find hers.
Ah well, still if she found herself in such a situation that she
needed them, she would most certainly be thanking the overprotective
impulses of her brother. Smiling fondly she made her way out of her
living quarters and to the nearest turbo lift to the hangar level; making
sure before she left to stash the instructions for the gun in her breast
pocket.
It was going to be a couple of days before her unique method of
travel got her to the other end of the galaxy. Though she'd be conscious
for only part of it...still it would do good to keep her from being
bored, and to familiarize herself with the weapon.
The last thing she would need in the universe would be to listen to
her brother saying "I told you so!" while she burned in hell.
It would make him more insufferable than he already is, she
figured.
Kiyone mused on her upcoming assignment in the turbo lift, studying
the statuette, the one that the Chief had said was from the Youma
refugees, that had absentmindedly found its way back into her hand. It
was coincidence...it had to be, but looking at it gave her chills and a
vague feeling that there was a lot more that was going on in this
situation than even the usual on goings.
"You...but how?" she murmured to herself. She'd only seen it
briefly, before it had faded: the robes, the runes of power, the silver
hair that seemed to shine a radiance to drown even the brightest of
stars, and those crimson eyes that saw too much. All of this was
captured in immaculate detail, of the megami standing straight and tall,
hands clasped before her as if in a prayer of her own.
It couldn't be her! How would it be possible?
Kiyone's mind conjured up possibilities, but all were beyond
fantastic. Strangely she got the feeling that the truth would be far
more unbelievable than even the theories her imagination had created.
"Yep, me too Seion." she told her brother, who while not with her,
would hear her on some level. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Ending theme - Dreams - Van Halen