Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Mai Hime. They belong to Sunrise~
Author's Note: I haven't really seen this idea done here before. I have seen all other kinds of AU, but not really a futuristic one. Thought I'd give this a try, and hope that you all enjoy it =3
It is the year 3125 AD.
Humanity had long since made it to the stars and the far-flung reaches of the galaxy. They had met many new and strange races. Many of them were friendly. Others...were not.
Galactic War Two had taken place near the Andari system, and many brave and valiant humans had lost their lives. The Andari people, a race of strong beast-like creatures, had decided that they wanted to take Earth's resources for themselves. General Saeko Kruger had led the major military battle against the Andari. She and her massive battalion of star ships and war cruisers, managed to pull through and defeat the Andari.
But the ultimate sacrifice was paid when General Kruger used her own battle cruiser, The Duran-dal, to ram straight into the massive energy weapon the Andari had been using against the humans. The resulting explosion took out the rest of the Andari fleet. It also killed General Kruger and her brave crew, who are to this day still immortalized and remembered by all who walked upon Earth's fertile lands. And also to those who flew through the Space Warp-Ways, which were highly traveled warp-space highways.
Natsuki Kruger, the daughter of the famed General Kruger, had just turned 17 and was now considered an adult in the eyes of Earth's society. Growing up as the daughter of such a famous heroine wasn't easy. Especially since Natsuki had lost her mother when she was only seven. The young child had been beyond devastated, and in the ensuing years would grow up to be brash and reckless. No one could tell Natsuki what she could and could not do. She did what she wanted, when she wanted, and no one could challenge or stop her. No one really except her two best friends and fellow troublemakers.
One was Nao Yuuki, Natsuki's 'right-hand girl', and the mastermind in most of the trouble and pranks Natsuki was involved in. Her other best friend was Mai Tokiha. Mai was not really a 'troublemaker' like Nao and Natsuki were. Unfortunately for her, she had a very kind heart and unshakable loyalty to those she loved. So whenever Natsuki and Nao were headed off to get into some trouble, Mai somehow found herself tagging along to do her best to keep her two best friends out of serious trouble. It was thanks to Mai's quick thinking and intervention at times, that they kept out of really bad messes.
But now Natsuki, Nao, and Mai stood staring up at their greatest trouble-making scheme yet. Natsuki had a huge grin on her face, while Nao stood smirking beside her. Mai just wrung her hands fretfully before she quickly turned to her friends, and sternly began speaking to them.
"We can not take this space ship! Natsuki, you've had your space-driver's license for all of 2 days. You aren't even supposed to get this ship until you're 18, and have had your license for at least a year!" Mai was now gesticulating wildly with her hands.
Natsuki took a quick look around the hanger that her ship was resting in, the anti-gravity stasis pods keeping the ship floating above the ground. Her ship was a beauty. It was metallic-silver with streaks of deep blue along the edgings. It was shaped like those paper airplanes her mother had shown her how to make when she was still a young child, but this 'plane' of hers had two sleek looking wings that struck out majestically. The warp-engines at the tail-end of her ship were shaped to blend into the craft, but they packed the power of a much larger ship. This was her mother's design. Not only had Saeko Kruger been a brilliant Commander, but she had been a genius ship designer as well.
Natsuki had inherited her mother's keen eye for details and her stellar flying skills. Despite what Mai was still exclaiming anxiously about, Natsuki was an Ace pilot. She had been secretly flying since she was 13, and Takeda Masashi the boy who had for years 'secretly' liked her, would let her take his father's ship out for joyrides late at night. They were never caught, as Takeda always made sure to set the ship in the hanger on his father's estate exactly as it had been, after he and Natsuki had taken it out for a sub-orbital flight.
Natsuki had gone into space itself, under supervision when she was getting her official license. Many expected her to follow in her mother's footsteps, so she had been enrolled at the Fuuka Space Academy by her father. He was a man who was hardly ever around as one of the Ambassadors to Earth, he was always off flying to many different planets, in a never-ending effort to keep the peace with Earth's allies. Natsuki had long ago stopped resenting her father and his work, which forever kept them separated. She knew he loved her, he was just a very busy man. Natsuki just felt indifference towards the man and his work now. She had bigger and better things to do with her life. Like get away from Earth for a couple of days of freedom, and away from everyone's high expectations of her.
It was actually during her first year at Fuuka Space Academy that she had met Nao and Mai. They were all assigned to share a dorm, and that was where they forged their unshakable friendship. And it was now here in this darkened hanger in the middle of the night, 3 years later and the day after graduation, that the three friends now found themselves together. While Natsuki and Nao were both eager to get off of the planet and go space-exploring, Mai was worried about something...or rather someone...she didn't want to leave behind while they went off on this...'adventure'.
Beside the friendships she had made with Natsuki and Nao, Mai had also forged a kind of...'relationship' with one of their classmates, when they had all been first-years. Her name was Mikoto Kanzaki, and while the slightly-wild girl may have come across as childish to most others, when she was around Mai and even Natsuki and Nao, she displayed a blazing intelligence and a maturity expected of a girl her age. She had actually accompanied Mai, Natsuki, and Nao on many of their adventures, and had even helped in getting them out of trouble by asking her brother Reito to help out.
Reito was a young up-and-coming politician, and very popular in certain circles. So he had a bit of pull and sway, and did his best to keep his little sister and her friends out of trouble. He actually found their many antics quite funny, and so never truly minded when he had to bail them out.
Natsuki knew that she actually had quite a number of 'guardian angels' looking out for her in her life, and she knew that she was taking a rather huge risk in doing this latest act of defiance. But she needed to get away from all the pressures and high expectations of her, at least for a couple of days. But while Mai knew and understood all of this, she was still torn with going away for any amount of time without informing someone, and without her 'special someone'.
"I didn't want to tell Mikoto about this new plan of yours, because I knew she'd jump at the chance to come along. But this plan is dangerous, Natsuki. We can't just take a ship into high orbit, and take a mini 'vacation' for a couple of days without express permission," Mai was now saying, as she looked beseechingly at Natsuki to see the logic in her words.
"Oh, put a sock in it already, Mai. I love ya, but you're giving me a headache," Nao finally exclaimed, tired of Mai being the wet blanket on their 'going away' party. "If you're that worried about this plan then simply stay behind. We aren't forcing you to come along, ya know," Nao continued as she cocked her hip out, rested her hand upon her waist, and gave Mai a look of mild irritation.
Mai's lips finally snapped shut and she frowned unhappily at Nao, knowing she had just lost the argument. She knew as well as Nao and Natsuki did, that she would never abandon her two best friends...no matter how hare-brained their plans usually were.
Natsuki just shook her head slightly at her two friends, a small smile of exasperated affection tugging up the corners of her lips. She then held up the wrist of her left hand which held what appeared to be a small silver bracelet, and then raised her right hand and waved it once over her raised wrist. Instantly a small circular display lit up the darkness of the space hanger.
"Alright, according to the information here that Nao was able to hack from the Academy's computer mainframe, we should have a full 48 hours free to go out and take a little joyride in this thing, and come back before anyone is any wiser. We're technically on 'vacation' since we graduated, and won't really be expected to report back in for active duty until the first term of Fuuka's Military Space Academy, basically the university program, begins. But according to this data Nao pulled, our Commanders are planning a holographic 'send-off' for us. And they'll expect us to be present to view the holographic call. If we don't pick up, they'll be sure to try to track us down. I'm pretty sure they will not be happy if they found out we'd hijacked a spacecraft, even if it is technically mine," Natsuki commented as she waved her hand over the lit-up display, causing it to vanish back into the silver bracelet.
"Enough chatter, let's get this show on the road!" Nao exclaimed, as she began moving towards the ship.
Natsuki nodded in agreement and spoke a soft command. The bottom of the ship seemed to unseal itself from the rest of the ship, and a small ramp lowered itself down before them. Natsuki began slowly walking after Nao but she paused to look back over her shoulder at Mai, and raised an eyebrow at her in silent question.
Mai rung her hands fretfully once more, before she began moving forward towards Natsuki and the ship. But before she'd walked more than a few steps forward, both she and Natsuki were startled by a loud banging sound coming from the side door leading into the hanger.
Both Natsuki and Mai reached instantly for their personal weapons, which all space academy cadets carried on them at all times. Natsuki's energy sword blazed to life before her, while Mai held her blaster pistol steady before her.
"Who's there!" Natsuki called out as she slowly began moving back down the ramp.
"Just me!" a small voice called out, and both Mai and Natsuki breathed huge sighs of relief as they both lowered their weapons, and placed them back on their weapon holsters.
"Mikoto, you almost gave us a heart attack," Mai exclaimed softly as she reached forward to gently brush her fingers through soft unruly dark hair, as a girl with shining-golden eyes came to stand before her.
"I wanna go with Mai! Don't leave me behind..." Mikoto spoke softly, as she looked up at Mai with bright, teary eyes.
Mai felt her throat constrict and she gathered her partner tightly into her arms, as she whispered fiercely into a slightly-pointed ear.
"I'm so sorry, 'Koto. I didn't want to leave you behind, but I also didn't want to place you into any possible danger. I'm so sorry for almost going without you," Mai murmured softly, as she gently nuzzled her face against Mikoto's soft hair.
Mikoto looked up at Mai and gave her a soft, beautiful smile. "It's okay, Mai. I forgive you," Mikoto spoke softly before she leaned up slightly, and pressed her lips gently against Mai's.
"Alright alright, can we save all the lovey-dovey crap until we're off of this rock heap. There's a million stars and planets out there I could be heading off to right now, and you guys are holding up the party. So let's go!" Nao called down from the top of the ramp, where she had been watching Mai and Mikoto's mini reunion.
Mai blushed slightly and Mikoto grinned widely, before taking Mai's hand and quickly tugging the slightly-taller girl along behind her. They both passed Natsuki on the ramp and the raven-haired girl smiled softly, as her two friend entered her ship.
Her ship. The ship her mother had left to her.
Natsuki gently ran her hand along the side of the ship, feeling the strength built into the very material of the spacecraft. She smiled softly then made her way inside, commanding the ramp to slowly rise up behind her and gently seal back shut.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Elsewhere on a far-flung planet, deep in the outer reaches of space just off of the Inter-Galactic Spaceway, there was a small planet rich with vegetation and life.
A certain tribe lived on this planet. The cat-like people of Prestalia. On this verdant and lively planet, there are several villages that the Prestalians inhabited. And normally on a clear cool night like the one that hung over the small planet now, sounds of laughter and good times would rise high into the night sky, as the cat-like would dance and sing around the huge bonfires built in the middle of the villages.
However on this night the only sounds that could be heard were the terrified screaming and wailing of a tribe being hunted down. The only fires raging were the ones that burned the villager's huts and homes to the ground, as the loud raucous laughter of space raiders filled the air.
The Prestalians were a normally peaceful race, and as such did not have the weapons necessary to fend off the powerful bolts of energy shot from high-powered laser weapons. They had maintained their neutrality from the Inter-Galactic Alliance (IGA). While their planet would provide rest for any weary space traveler who may need it, the Prestalians preferred to preserve their way of life, and so did not partake of the technological advances offered to them by the IGA.
Now however, quite a few Prestalians wished they had the necessary weapons to defend themselves, as the space raiders continued to destroy their homes and harm their people.
A young Prestalian girl with long flowing chestnut locks, small pointed cat-like ears, and a slightly swaying tail that twitched in fright every few seconds, lay hidden beneath a bush not far from her now burning village. This young Prestalian girl, who by Human standards would be around 18, had her hand covering the head off an even younger Prestalian girl. This other cat-girl would be around 8 earth years, and her small golden tail shivered in fright as her lavender-hued eyes peeked out from under the bush, at the death and destruction being rained down on their small village.
"Shizuru, o-our home...they're killing everyone a-and burning down the village," the small cat-girl whimpered, as she clung tightly to the front of the older girl's tunic.
"Don't speak now, Haruka. We mustn't let them find us. I promise you little sister that I will find a way for us to escape safely, and go somewhere they won't be able to find or hurt us," Shizuru softly soothed her sister as she gently stroked her hand over Haruka's soft, blond curls and lightly twitching cat-ears.
Haruka nodded once and pressed her face into the front of Shizuru's top, crying softly for her best friend Yukino who she had lost sight of when the raiders had attacked.
Shizuru gently began to rock her sister until Haruka began to drift off, a small hiccup of misery escaping her lips as she cried in her sleep for all they had lost this night.
Shizuru looked up at the clear night sky, and watched a star twinkle brightly in the vast universe above her, as she vowed revenge upon all those who had hurt her and those she loved.
On this night two lost souls will meet, and begin the journey that will forever entwine them Together as One.
AN: So did you guys like it? Is there any further interest to see where this story goes? Please review and let me know ^^