Disclaimer: "Tenchi Muyo!" and its characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer. However, the writing and original characters in this fan fic belong to me.
Author's Notes: The story is based shortly after the events of OVA2 - i.e. I'm pretending that the 3rd OVA and GXP never happened. This is largely because it introduces characters I don't really care about, and barely even remember. Also, I just want to mention that I dealt with the things brought up in cyberimp6's comment. I also edited it to include something to help separate scenes (originally, I actually tried a couple of things, like adding an extra line space, or a line with *** , but everytime I saved, they disappeared, and I just gave up).
...
Tenchi Muyo! – Day of Reckoning
Far away within uncharted space, there was a planet called Orion. It had remained mostly unnoticed, but not for much longer. An underground faction was gaining power, and it culminated in a full-blown uprising.
The room was dark, and the wall facing the outside had been torn away, revealing a night cityscape dotted with fires, destruction and commotion. A tall dark figure looked out upon his handy work, with his military attire and cloak that signified a position of authority.
Another individual entered through a doorway behind him, bearing news. "Sir, most of the districts are now under our control, and most of the resistance has been neutralised."
"And the space port?" the imposing individual asked, not taking his gaze away from the chaos outside.
"Well sir," the officer started, "they are in the process of securing it as we speak."
"Excellent," replied the superior, as he turned to face the door, "come, I shall join the effort personally; and the next phase of our plan will begin." He made his way to the exit and the officer saluted.
"As you wish... General Sypher." This was not an official rank, but as the leader of the uprising he wanted a suitable title.
...
At the space port, a number of security personnel continued to hold out and defend the area from those who were taking over. Behind a small make-shift barricade a few men crouched behind, peering out, and getting up long enough to take a couple of shots before ducking again.
One of them heard movement and turned to face the noise. An intimidating figure towered over him. Before he could fire, the man swung his hand, shattering the weapon, as if it were a flimsy toy. As the other two turned towards the noise, he downed one with a powerful kick, and disabled the other by snatching the weapon out of his hand and whacked him over the head with it.
Just meters away, there was another small barricade, and the guards there readied their weapons and fired. Sypher held out his hand, and the weapon blasts deflected around him. When the guards stopped, not sure what to do next, the General leaped towards them.
...
Eventually, Sypher made it inside, and headed towards the main control room. His cloak flowed behind him as he swiftly traversed the darkened corridors, lit with only red emergency lighting. Up ahead a guard saw him, and just as he was readying his weapon, Sypher leaped to the side, sprung off the wall, and floored him. Without missing a beat, he rolled forward and continued running.
A few minutes later, the General entered the control room. He dived behind a console as a guard opened fire. Sypher ducked and weaved through the lanes of computer terminals, and emerged with a leap and chopping the guard's neck, knocking him out. Usually there were more guards in the control room, but they must have been sent to join the fighting outside. He went to a panel and accessed the launch controls. There were three small ships out on the landing pads – one was not space-worthy, but the other two were fine. He then pressed the communication device on his wrist.
"Captain, the ships are ready. Commence boarding the troops," he announced.
He joined them on the outside, and they divided and boarded the two good ships. The spacecraft took off, leaving the war-torn city behind. As soon as they were clear of the atmosphere, they launched into hyperspace.
Chapter One – Separation
In the Masaki residence, everyone was up and about, and they were in the middle of clearing up after finishing lunch. Most of them left after doing their minimalist part, leaving Sasami to do the washing up. It wasn't so much laziness, this was just how things were, and it became part of the routine; though Tenchi offered to help as he sometimes did. In a way the little blue-haired girl enjoyed doing these things, and helping to keep things running smoothly.
Tenchi stood beside her, and he rinsed and dried the dishes as they were handed to him. Just then he stopped. "What's that?" he thought aloud, with an unfixed gaze.
"What is it, Tenchi?" Sasami asked.
"Oh it's nothing. Just continue without me, I'll be back in a minute." He headed outside, and she glanced in his direction, puzzled.
Tenchi reached the entrance overlooking the lake, and he found Ayeka already standing there beside Washu.
"What's going on, Ayeka?"
"I'm not sure," replied the Princess, "Washu told me that Juraian ships were coming, and I'm awaiting their arrival."
Tenchi looked to the sky, and after a moment he spotted something. It was just a small dot, but as it got closer he could make out a familiar wooden silhouette. Just then a spot of light appeared under the ship, which descended towards them. It landed and stopped a few metres in front of them.
The glowing ball dispersed to reveal two Juraian guards, both standing firm. One of them spoke up, "We apologise for the intrusion."
"What is this about," asked the Princess, "and why was I not notified of this?"
"The Emperor has requested that you return to Jurai," he replied, and the other guard took a half-step forward.
"We were ordered to maintain radio silence, because he did not want to risk any transmissions being intercepted."
"Ooh, sounds important," the little scientist chimed in. "It's not like him to be so secretive." The second guard shared a glance, as if agreeing, and looked back to Ayeka.
"Fair enough," she conceded, averting her gaze, "I will accompany you back to Jurai, but first I need to pack some of my belongings."
"As you wish, Princess Ayeka; we shall leave within the hour." Moments later, the guards were again engulfed in a glowing light, and rose back up to the ship.
The three of them returned to the house; Ayeka went upstairs to pack, Washu returned to her lab, and Tenchi resumed helping Sasami.
While putting the dishes away, Sasami turned to Tenchi. "So, what was that about?"
"Well, I heard something outside, and I went to check it out," he said.
"What was it?" She pressed, and Tenchi started to feel a little awkward.
"It seems that a Jurai ship has shown up." He hesitated for a moment. "They say that Ayeka needs to go to Jurai, for something important." Suddenly the plate Sasami was holding slipped out of her hand, and clattered loudly on the floor.
"What? Why didn't she tell me about this?" the little girl asked, looking slightly agitated.
"Don't be mad at her," he tried, with an apologetic tone, "she only found out just now. They didn't say anything until they arrived." This seemed to calm her slightly. Just then, she gasped, looking down at the plate on the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, picking up the plate. She looked at it, and was relieved that it didn't break, and put it away in the cupboard. After closing the door, she headed off upstairs.
...
In the subspace lab, Washu sat on her floating cushion working away at her holographic computer. A few metres in front of her, there was a wall of glass, and behind it was a large open space. Inside was a Juraian ship, but with a few small differences on the outside.
"I think Ayeka will be pleased when she sees this," Washu said with a smile.
Up in her room, Ayeka was putting some things into a box; just little things around her room. She didn't feel the need to pack clothes, knowing it would be provided back home. There was a knock, and the door slid open, and Sasami entered.
"Tenchi said you're going back to Jurai," she said, and Ayeka paused. She was so wrapped up with the sudden arrangements that she failed to consider what her little sister would think.
"Yes, I was told to head back home... but they did not tell me why. I decided to go, so I can at least find out what this is all about," Ayeka tried to explain.
"Do you know how long you'll be away?" asked her sister.
"I really don't know," she replied, "but I'm sure that whatever it is, it will not take long." After a moment, Sasami's expression changed.
"If you're going to Jurai, then I will come too," the little sister declared.
"Are you sure?"
"Uh-huh!" she nodded, "If you leave, then my place is by your side. Besides, I would really like to see Jurai again." Hearing those words made Ayeka smile.
"Now that you mention it, I do miss the home world sometimes. So I guess it isn't too bad."
...
Soon after, the two Princesses made their way outside, behind them Tenchi was carrying Ayeka's box of belongings, now made heavier after Sasami added a few of her things. Washu then joined them, looking like she had something to say.
"What is it, Washu?" Tenchi asked. The little scientist smiled and pulled a small controller from her loose sleeve.
"Oh just a little something Ayeka might appreciate," she said, and pressed a few controls. A breeze started to pick up, and Tenchi and the two girls to glanced around in confusion. Electricity started to arc across the sky, and a large black void opened up. As everyone watched, something started to emerge. It was a Juraian ship; but Ayeka quickly realised it was not just any ship.
"Ryu-oh?" she said, in slight disbelief.
"That's right Ayeka; it's your ship, and it's good as new... but with a few improvements. Juraian technology is so dated."
"But how," Ayeka asked, "Is the sapling mature enough to support the ship?"
"Don't worry about it. I developed a supplement to accelerate its growth. I think I added a couple of years of growth, and it looks just as healthy as any Juraian ship tree I've seen, if not more so."
Sasami turned to Tenchi, whose face was mostly obscured by the large cardboard box. "Hey Tenchi, why don't you come with us!" she said.
"I don't know, it sounds like a Juraian affair. It would probably be better if just you two go." Seeing a look of disappointment on her face, he added, "I suppose, if you ever plan another trip to Jurai, I could go with you then." Hearing this brought a smile back to her face.
"So you two ready to go?" Washu asked, readying her hand over her controller again.
"Yes we are," Ayeka replied, and turned to Tenchi. "I guess this is goodbye. I, I'll be thinking of you."
It suddenly struck Sasami as well, and a sad expression lined her little face. "Bye Tenchi, I'll miss you." Tenchi smiled at both of them, and placed the box down by his side. He leaned down and hugged the little girl, who squeezed him tightly. After letting go, he reached and pulled Ayeka into his arms with a gentle embrace. She smiled and felt herself blush a little.
"Okay, now that you've said your goodbyes," Washu interrupted, "I think it's time to send you to your ship." Tenchi took a few steps back, and Washu starting working at her controller. The two Juraian girls were engulfed in a flash of light, and when the light faded they were gone; beamed up to the ship. A moment later, the box that sat on the ground glowed and disappeared as well.
Washu headed back inside, but Tenchi lingered for a moment as he watched the two Juraian ships head off.
...
A few hours later, Tenchi went out to work the field. There were still some carrots to be picked, but winter wasn't too far away, meaning a little respite from the work. As usual Ryo-ohki was there to help out; the little cabbit didn't do much other than randomly eating some of the carrots he picked, but he thought it was nice having her there nonetheless.
Meanwhile, Ryoko and Mihoshi were playing video games. It was one of those days where nothing could distract them. It recently got more noticeable when they started playing addictive online games. More specifically, a game called Land of Washucraft; any need to guess who the creator was?
They sat at a couple of computers side-by-side, and they were working as a team.
"Okay," Ryoko started, "these are high-level monsters, if we aren't careful, we'll pull too many, and we will have our asses handed to us. I want you to use your immobilise spell on that dark priest, and make sure not to attract those enemies over to the side. If we are *very* careful, we might make it through, and we can get out of Dark Valley Passage."
She looked over to Mihoshi, who seemed to be in a daydream. Feeling Ryoko's glare she responded with a start, "Gotcha use something on the priest, and attack enemies to the side, so we can get lots of points!" Before she could be stopped, she had started her attack. Ryoko frantically tried to fight off all those enemies, but there were just too many, and she knew it was a losing battle. I swear it's actually easier when I'm playing by myself, she thought.
The cyan-haired girl lowered her head, and sighed in exasperation, wondering what possessed her to play with this stereotypical blond person. In the background Mihoshi's communicator starting letting out a noise, beckoning for attention. Ryoko sat in silence as Mihoshi answered the call.
"Hello, this is first class Detective Mihoshi, what can I do for you?" Wow, where was that lucidity a few moments ago? There was a voice speaking through the device, but Ryoko couldn't make out what he was saying. "You want me to go to Galaxy Police Headquarters for a personal debriefing?" Oh good, she'll be gone and I can play my game in peace. "Can't I just submit a report, or talk on my ships intercom?" No, stop looking for excuses not to go!
The distorted voice continued, and it seemed to be saying something important. Mihoshi's shoulders dropped in resignation, "Alright, I will head back to headquarters, but it better be quick." A few more words could be heard from the other end, and the transmission ended.
She stood in silence for a moment then said, "Emm Ryoko, it looks like I have to go out, and I might not be back for a while." The former space pirate turned to her, with a look of feigned surprise.
"Aww, that's too bad I guess."
"Oh, they told me something Washu might want to hear," Mihoshi said as she made for the lab door, making sure to knock, otherwise it just opened into the closet.
...
Washu was lying on a padded bench along the side of the room; probably just having a nap before starting work on something else. As soon as Mihoshi closed the door, an alarm sounded which brought the little scientist to attention. The alarm which vaguely sounded like the words "ditzy klutz" repeated over and over again. Perhaps set up so that a certain blonde-haired GP officer would not enter without her noticing.
"Oh good you're awake," she said.
"Well I am now. What do you want?" the little scientist groaned with irritation. Maybe because she was just woken up, or because of who woke her – maybe both.
"I was told to return to Headquarters; apparently there are a lot of changes going on. He said something about new technology, and they want to bore us with how it works or something. I thought you might like to come, since you like that sort of thing."
Washu seemed to be contemplating something, and her expression became that of concern. "I'm not sure I like this. Ayeka was called back to Jurai, and on the very same day you are told to go to GP HQ... this cannot be a coincidence. I'm going with you." She realised that it would be a good idea to investigate, just in case these things were linked.
The blond girl's face brightened. "I'm glad; I was worried about taking the long trip all by myself." Reality sunk in for Washu, that getting there would mean a long journey on a ship, with no one but... her as company. However, this was too important to worry about such things.
The two of them headed out of the lab.
"Hey Ryoko," Washu called out, "Mihoshi and I are heading out to take care of some business. Hope you behave yourself while I'm gone."
...
Tenchi was on his way back to the house when he noticed Mihoshi's ship take off. He took the basket of carrots to the shed outside, and Ryo-ohki was in her miniature humanoid form carrying a small basket on her back. After entering the house, he looked around until he saw Ryoko at her computer.
"Hey, I just saw Mihoshi's ship leave."
"Oh yeah," Ryoko replied without turning her head, "following orders or something like that." Just as Tenchi was about to leave, she turned her head slightly in his direction. "Oh and Washu went with her, though I can't imagine why she'd subject herself to that." Then her attention was back on the computer.
Now four people had left. With Ryoko busy on the computer, his father still at work, and Yosho in his shrine up in the hills, the house suddenly felt kind of empty. It occurred to him that if people were doing things, maybe he should go and do something himself.
Tenchi went into Washu's lab, and he headed to a computer console. Upon activating it, a large holographic screen appeared. He entered a few controls bringing up a world map. He altered between various modes, each one displaying something different (like various details about the weather, and predicted weather patterns).
"So where should I travel to?" he mused. The screen changed, and there was suddenly a small yellow blip. He brought up the readings, and it seemed to identify as a GP signature. It was located at the east coast of the US, and when he set it to zoom in, it pointed to LA. Mihoshi had left the planet, and he didn't know of any other Galaxy Police officers here. There was nothing else to do, so it was worth checking out.
For a little while, Tenchi had felt an interest in visiting a place like the US, or Europe. There was never anything solid, but he had saved up some money and learned a little about western culture. He even learned to speak English – largely thanks to Washu, with her subliminal learning device, allowing him to learn much of it while he slept.
The thought of taking Ryo-ohki crossed his mind, and there were clear benefits like getting there quicker, and saving money. However, the more he thought about it, the more he became aware of the negatives. For example, it wasn't wise using her to travel to a large city, and countless people spotting a strange craft in the sky. Or after arriving, trying to conceal or explain this animal that no one there had seen before.
It was night time, and the others had just gone to bed. He went to his room and got changed into something more appropriate – a dark blue t-shirt, and a pair of jeans. He opened a small drawer in his desk, and he pulled out a passport, and some of the money he had stashed away. After a quick gander into the attic, he found a small suitcase, and he put a change of clothes and a few other things into it.
After a while, the dark green suitcase and his light jacket were sitting near the entrance, ready for him to pick up when he was ready to leave. In the kitchen, there were a few leftovers nicely wrapped up in the fridge. That will do nicely for the trip, he thought. On his way out, he left a brief note letting them know what he was doing. He decided to leave without Ryoko noticing, as she would likely make a scene, or pressure him into letting her accompany him – and it wouldn't be the normal trip he wanted it to be.
...
Meanwhile, something significant was happening at a Galaxy Police shipyard. Inside the skeletal enclosure was a new prototype battleship called the Equinox. It had been under construction for almost a year, and employed some top of the line technology – some of which was based on Washu's work from the Souja. After all this time, and the resources and manpower, it was finally complete. The crew were busy making last-minute adjustments and running diagnostics, making sure it was ready for the launch.
The command deck was alive with the main bridge crew settling into their positions, and various other crew members moving around and checking systems. The rear doors opened and the Captain entered. It was Captain Braxton, he was in his early forties, and his short dark hair had a few streaks of grey.
A nearby officer saw him and stood straight, announcing, "Captain on deck!" Just like that, the movement and buzzing of voices had stopped, and everyone stood firm in the presence of their commanding officer. It filled him with a sense of pride, and it made him smile. This was his first command, and to be given a ship like this was certainly a big thing for him.
"At ease," he said, on his way to the command chair. Sitting down, he gazed at the large viewscreen which displayed the scaffolding arms, and the open starfield that lay beyond.
As he was about to issue his command to disembark, he was going to clear the deck of non-essential personnel. However, this was the ship's big launch, and decided to let them stay, so they could witness it as well.
"Disengage docking arms, disconnect power lines and bring the main reactor online," he ordered, feeling good about it. The crew were right on it, each doing their part. The lights flickered slightly as the systems switched to internal power, and the grappling arms were parting.
"Helm, take us clear of the shipyard, nice and slow." The crewman responded, and she ship engaged its thrusters, slowly crawling clear of the spider-like structure's grasp.
"Sir, I'm picking up something on our scanners," said his tactical officer. "Two small ships; the design is not familiar."
"Hail them. Let's see what they want," Braxton ordered.
The communications officer turned to the captain and shook his head. "No response, Sir." The ships were small and would not be any match for this state of the art ship, even if the worst did happen. However, it didn't stop the captain from feeling uneasy.
Then, as if to prove him right, the tactical officer responded to an alert on his console. "I'm picking up an energy spike!"
Surrounding one of the approaching ships was a sphere of energy, and it slowly brightened and crackled.
Braxton shot up out of his chair and said, "What the hell is that?" He gazed at the glowing on the screen, with a terribly ominous feeling.
"I... don't know sir."
"The glowing energy field suddenly exploded outward, passing through the battleship and the surrounding shipyard. At that moment, everyone on the command deck suddenly collapsed. Moments after the debilitating discharge, the hostile ships closed in and entered through the main launching bay.
It was a swift precision strike, and the invading force had commandeered the battleship. The original crew were then locked in the detention area to avoid hassle when they awoke.
On the command deck, General Sypher marched in with his cloak flowing behind him. He continued his march to the middle of the large room and glanced around as his smug smile widened. Then again, he had all the reason in the world to be smug, considering he just commandeered one of the most powerful ships known to exist.
The crew responded to his presence. "General, all systems are functional, and the crew are awaiting your commands," one of the soldiers announced.
Another one spoke up, "may I ask, why did we put the old crew in the detention area? I mean shouldn't we have just offloaded them to the shipyard?"
Sypher turned to him and said, "Doing that would have taken too long. It is more efficient to just lock them away, and then we can decide what to do with them."
"Why not just kill them?" This caused the General to glower at him.
"I am not above getting blood on my hands, but I thought I made it clear; we will not be committing cold-blooded mass murder, not if it can be helped." He took a deep breath to calm himself, and sat down on the command chair. Now that the ship was theirs, and the crew was ready, it was time to go.
"Helm," Sypher called out "set a course for Thera."
"Aye sir," he replied.
"When we get there, the next stage of our plan shall begin." The large ship accelerated away, and leapt to hyperspace.
...
Author's Notes: That's the first chapter done. Things were a bit slow as I spent a lot of time getting everything started, but it will pick up as they reach their respective destinations and things start to be uncovered.