Long Dark Night
Chapter One
Something Wicked...
Commodore Earhl was more than a little nervous. He had met the Marshall and the top brass of the Galaxy Police before, and delivered reports to them. Never before had he delivered one with so much apprehension. This report contained some very troubling facts. A month before, two detectives sent to investigate why a monitor station in Bassox wasn't transmitting anymore discovered that the station, the planet it was monitoring and both stars in the binary system had been destroyed. Now he was delivering reports on three other inhabited systems that had shared the fate of Bassox Prime. Random stellar catastrophe was out of the question. The evidence he had in his folders clearly showed these systems were attacked.
He was directed inside the conference room and when the door closed behind him, he straightened his lean, reptillian frame and looked over the half dozen most powerful beings in the Galaxy Police. He then began handing out folders, keeping a thick one for himself. Once everyone had their folders, he began his statement.
"Bassox, Torias, Nihlfelm, and Argan..." he began "These systems have been deliberately destroyed, and those folders have all the data needed to prove these were attacks. We just do not know who attacked yet."
"What are the possibilities?" An admiral to Earhl's right asked.
"Not many..." the reptilian replied. "Even our best minds, and those in the Science Academy would needs weeks, or months, of preparation time to destroy a star. I doubt even the exiled scientist Washu Hakubi could do something like this, not in this quick of succession anyway."
"What of the methods of attack?" Another admiral queried.
"Well, so far, the only indication of the weapons they use comes from the hull of the monitor station that was destroyed at Bassox." the commodore pulled out a plastic sheet and looked it over "Particle beam and laser marks were found on the hull segments. No evidence of ion, plasma or explosives used." After setting a piece of sheet down, he produced a small, clear cube and slipped it into a slot on the table.
"We did finally manage to clean up some stills from the station's camera recorders." On various screens around the room, a slow slideshow of shots, showing near-successive frames, of some silvery object bearing some resemblence to a stinging insect without legs flew into view. There was only five still shots. In the background was a massive grey metal object and a cloud of something near it. Both were obscuring the planet.
"We believe this thing here to be a fighter craft of some sort." Earhl commented. "The object behind it, we don't know. It appears far away and is huge, at least the size of a large moon. We have sent all our data to the Science Academy for analasys to find out specifics."
"I see..." the Marshal held his hands together "If that is a ship, it will trip gravometric sensors all over the sector. Have its movements been tracked?"
"Yes Sir..." he gulped visibly. This was one part he wished like hell that he didn't have to break to them. "Their movements have been tracked. There's-"
"Their movements?" one of the younger andmirals remarked "There's more than one of these things?"
"Yes, five to be exact." he pushed some buttons and the reader in the table accessed another block of data on the cube, then projected a three dimensional star map over the table.
"We believe they originated here." Earhl said as a red mark popped up in the stars. "There was a Class-F gravitic disturbance here almost two months ago. So low scale it was just logged and no one was notified. Going back through logs, we've been able to track them." Red lines began spreading away from the dot. When they passed through a star system, it turned either blue or yellow. Blue indicated the system had been left alone and yellow meant an attack. The lines stopped and little red orbs flashed at the end of each line
"These are their current positions as of this morning." Earhl informed the admirals "We can trace their routes and have determined that the next target is likely Iniru...a good ways into Jurai territory."
"Gods..." The Marshal knew what this meant, a massive empire was about to mobilize for war "Alright, Earhl, gather more information, let me know of anything new tha-"
Instantly all the screens went red and flashed the words 'Galactic Level Threat: Class-S' on them. All eyes got very wide in the room and there was a frantic tapping of keys as everyone in the room scrambled to get information. Earhl knew this was not good. As far as he knew, a Class-S threat had never been called, ever. Even Kain only registered a Class A. Suddenly there was a pounding of feet outside the door to the conference room as a trio of young officers thrust the doors open. The highest ranking of them, a junior grade lieutenant, spoke, almost shouting.
"Marshall! Word just came back from the Science Academy." he stated "They were panicked...Said it was something called 'Mechanoids' and sent a pile of data."
The Marshall just hung his head. If this was correct, something not seen in many thousands of years had just reared its ugly head once more. The galaxy was in for another long, dark night.
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Tenchi Masaki was a nervous wreck. He had been all day. When he awoke to his love in his arms, and looked at her face, he made the decision. Today was going to be the day. He would propose to Ryoko and start the next stage of their life together.
Currently he was in the kitchen, leaning over the sink, looking at the ring he had gotten. His father had helped him out in purchasing it, and he turned it over in his fingers slowly. He wanted to do it, to ask her right now, but was it right with everyone there? Would Ryoko be pressured into saying yes just because everyone was present? He smiled at his silliness. Of course she was going to accept, but he wanted to make it special, perfect, a reward for her patience and devotion.
"Go on, do it..." Sasami whispered beside him, giggling as she set some of the dishes from dinner down. Her giggles increased as Tenchi fumbled the ring, almost dropping it into the sink.
"I'm so nervous..." he whispered back "What if it isn't just right? What if she says no?"
"Don't be silly!" She gave him a gentle slap on the thigh "She loves you. She's going to say yes." He just sighed.
"I guess you're right." he smiled and stood up "I guess we should get-"
"What's taking so long with the ice cream?" Ryoko, having gotten impatient with the delayed arrival of desert, had decided to come investigate. This had the immediate effect of surprising Tenchi, causing him to drop the ring and scramble for it helplessly as he watched it roll down into the drain. He hung his head and sighed.
"What was that...?" She walked up to him. Sasami smartly made herself scarce by taking bowls of ice cream out to Nobyuki, Washu and Katsuhito, along with a message. "Is that what I thought it was?" Tenchi just nodded defeatedly and Ryoko smirked.
"Such a romantic..." She teased as she turned and leaned back on the edge of the counter, then held out her hand. He just looked dumbly at her as she spoke. "Well, I'm waiting..." Tenchi complied by removing the drain cover and starting to fish around with a fork in the sink. Luckily, the ring had lodged itself not too deeply in and he was able to get it out without much problem. Shaking like a leaf, he washed the ring off and then knelt in front of his love.
"Ryoko, will you marry me?" He was shocked by the unusually high pitch in his voice. Ryoko couldn't stiffle the laugh.
"You know the answer to that." She smiled "Of course I will."
He was almost too happy to remember to put the ring on her, but he did and once she could see it on her finger, she sank to her knees in front of him and kissed him deeply as she put her arms around his neck. They were interrupted by three people clapping and one giggling. Looking to the entrance of the kitchen, they saw Washu, Nobyuki, Katsuhito all clapping. Sasami had blushing cheeks and was giggling. Ryo-Ohki hopped off her head and made for the kissing pair to nuzzle them and show her happiness.
"I believe congratulations are in order." Katsuhito said as he turned to leave "I have some sake that I have been saving. I will fetch it." Nobyuki was immediately behind his son, clapping him on the back.
"I knew you could do it my boy!" he laughed heartily "Ryoko and I were getting ready to drag you off to a chapel. Good thing you finally proposed! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks Dad..." He coughed out between rough slaps on the back. The young man stood and helped his new fiancee to her feet.
"I think we have some ice cream and sake to get to." Ryoko smirked "That sounds so good right now."
The three of them laughed as they followed Sasami and Washu into the dining room.
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After the ice cream and a couple of rounds of sake, Tenchi and Ryoko walked arm in arm up to his room. While not drunk, they were a little light-headed, and just a tad uncoordinated, resulting in them tripping and falling onto the bed, with Ryoko on top of her man. She didn't waste the opportunity.
Once she broke the passionate kiss, she smiled and leaned up then rolled over beside him, starting to lift off her tank top. Tenchi watched her and sat up on his elbows.
"Um, Ryoko...didn't we agree to wait?" he asked. She tossed the garment aside, revealing that she was wearing a very revealing bra.
"Yes, but I figured we could do something tonight." She leaned over to kiss him as her hands began unbuttoning his shirt. "Besides, with as action packed as our lives are, you never know when we are going to get another chance."
A sudden urge hit Tenchi. It wasn't a sexual one per se, but it did involve him holding her very tightly and not letting go. He wasn't quite sure where the urgency came from, but it did make it easier for her voice and hands to convince him to divest his own clothes and crawl under the blankets with her for a night of lovemaking.
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Washu poured over the data on her monitor, but her expression wasn't thoughtfullness. After everything the Masaki house had been through, only a handful of things could frighten most of the inhabitants, and most of those were certain expressions on the diminutive scientist's face. She was wearing an expression of that sort at the moment. Specifically, a mix between worry and fright.
"This is not good..." she muttered to herself "A Class-S threat, and it has to be those..." she shook her head as she looked over at another panel of viewscreens, most showing various members of the house sleeping, each room marked with the name or names of the usual occupants. The one labeled 'Tenchi/Ryoko' was blank. She did have a little more decency than that.
"I'll give them their night together..." she sighed "They'll want to get involved of course, and this time I am not sure if everyone will survive unscathed. At least it's not the Flood..." she had to chuckle at that. The all devouring micro-organism was just a theory anyway. Nothing like it had been found and no one was crazy enough to engineer it. Well, perhaps one, but Washu didn't consider herself that far gone yet. She typed on her holographic keyboard and brought up a smaller viewscreen.
"Kiyone, are you there?" she asked. Soon the picture cleared and something that looked like potato chips was pressed against the other side. A hand swept them clear, though crumbs remained and the teal-haired woman's face appeared.
"We're here. What's going on Washu?"
"Well, I have collated the data you sent and-"
"Mechanoids. We know." Kiyone finished "We were notified three hours ago by Headquarters. As soon as the Science Academy sussed through the data, they sent it to HQ, who immediately issued a Class-S alert. I'm surprised you didn't get it."
"Well, things have been pretty exciting around here." Washu smirked "Tenchi finnaly popped the question!"
"What?" Mihoshi's face suddenly appeared on the screen "They're going to get married? that's so wonderful! I wonder if we can go to the wedding. Can we Kiyone, please?"
"Yes, I'm sure we can Mihoshi." Kiyone answered before turning back to Washu, ignoring her partner's rambling about what to wear. "They apparently started about two light-years away from Bassox, then are moving all over the place. There's five ships." Washu nearly choked on her coffee.
"Five?" she spat. "I take it the protocols have been followed. What's Jurai doing about it?"
"Well, I know they are sending forces to Iniru, the next system in Jurai territory that's going to be attacked." the officer answered "But the two of us are on our way to Earth under orders to pick up Sasami and take her home, and to ask Tenchi if he will see the Emperor. We should arrive early tommorrow."
"Alright. I should come as well..." Washu commented. "I believe the Academy's data will be a bit lacking and I may be able to provide more complete information, of course!" She cackled lightly.
"Yes, of course." Kiyone smiled, then looked over her shoulder and sighed. "I will see you tommorrow. I have to go make sure Mihoshi doesn't try tailoring a dress out of spare uniforms."
"Alright, see you in a day or so!" Washu replied cheerfully, with an exaggerated wave before abruptly cutting the link. She then sulked a bit.
"This is not good at all..." She began typing, starting to compile the needed information into a portable data unit.
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As sunlight filtered in through the curtains, it revealed a pair of figures huddled on the bed, clinging together in the bliss of a night spent giving themselves to each other. One of them stirred slowly and the other objected, groaning sleepily and holding tighter. For a while they both lay in a state of half-sleep, enjoying each other's naked warmth.
Until a knock startled them into an drowsy, but awakened, state.
"Tenchi, Ryoko, we need to talk." It was Washu. Ryoko rolled over in annoyance.
"There's goes any chance for morning play..." she muttered grumpily. Her lover sat up in the bed.
"I'll be there in a minute." He called out, then turned his face down to Ryoko and smiled at her.
"Just...hurry." The scientist said through the door "It's very important."
"Come on Ryoko, we'd better get up." Tenchi threw the covers off and began pulling himself off the bed. "I think she's serious." Ryoko gave a half-hearted growl as she began to sit up in bed.
After a short shower and dressing, the pair were downstairs on the couch, looking at a disturbingly nervous Washu. The diminutive scientist looked over at the kitchen to make sure Sasami was busy then turned to the young couple. Tenchi had his arm around Ryoko's waist and she was leaning against him. She hated breaking news to them that could alter or even shatter their plans for life. Finally, she sighed and began.
"A month ago, I got a call from Kiyone." She brought up her dimensional computer and began typing "Her and Mihoshi had discovered a star and planet that were destroyed. Over the course of the month, three other systems fell prey to whatever happened to Bassox; inhabited planets and their stars destroyed." She continued typing for a moment then kept explaining. She noted the sullen expressions on the young couple's face. "Last night I finally sorted through the data and only one thing fits. The Science Academy agrees. It's the Mechanoids, a Class-S galactic level threat."
"Class-S?" Ryoko stated "That's bad."
"Mechanoids? Class-S?" Tenchi was confused "What's going on here Washu?"
"A Class-S galactic threat is something that has the potential, if unchecked, to destroy intelligent life in the galaxy in very short order." Washu explained "Even Kain was only a Class-A. Class-S is a step above that, top of the threat scale. As for the Mechanoids, well, I don't have much information on them other than before the Science Academy was founded, a race of cybernetic beings destroyed entire stars and worlds, going on a rampage in planet-sized motherships, managing to wipe out almost a thousand civilizations in the span of a century." Ryoko whistled.
"That's bad..." She stated.
"Wait, you said they had ships." Tenchi was using his brain for once "How many did they have back then and how many do they have now?"
"Good question." Washu projected a map, similar to the one shown in GP headquarters. "Back then they had dozens of huge motherships and many, many thousands of capital vessels. Now they have five motherships and an unknown number of capital ships."
"So what do we do?" Ryoko asked, finally sitting up.
"Well, Kiyone and Mihoshi are on their way here." Washu answered. "With a Class-S level threat, all developed worlds are notified. As such, Jurai knows and Sasami's family wants her home." She then looked at Tenchi "The Emperor wishes to speak with you in person."
"What, me? Why?" He asked. "What could I possibly do about this?"
"That I don't know." Washu quietly said "All I know is that Kiyone and Mihoshi have orders to take Sasami home and to ask you to go see the Emperor. They should be here tommorrow." Both lovers sighed and Ryoko leaned into Tenchi again.
"Breakfast is ready!" Sasami cried out. Tenchi slowly let go of his lover and stood to go help.
"Let's break the news to her after breakfast."
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The Galaxy Police maintained relatively few warships outside of their patrol corvettes. One of those ships, the frigate Indescribable, was in orbit around a world composed mostly of pale green oceans. The land masses were comprised mostly of forest-covered island chains. This was Iniru, a colony world of the Jurai Empire, and in the direct line of fire from the approaching storm.
On board the Indescribable, a middle-aged man sat in the captain's chair, watching the world below turn lazily, as if completely unaware of the hell that would be unleashed in little more than a week's time. Captain Girron however, was fully aware. He had read the ancient reports and the thought of what had happened to four systems already, as well as what would befall this one, made him shudder.
As he watched the viewscreen, he shook his head. Three frigates, one GP and two juraian, were all that currently stood in the way of certain death for almost ten thousand people on the surface of this world. There were fleets of thousands of ships out in the galaxy and a few more couldn't be spared to help defend the refugee convoy that was inbound. Sure Girron knew that ships were needed elsewhere, to maintain order and to help fortify key positions, but three frigates was barely enough to help defend against attacks from fighters.
Sacrifices, that's what they were. The three ships were merely there to provide some distraction to the enemy and to give civilians false hope that they were being protected. From what he had seen, these ships stood no chance against an attack. He hoped like hell either backup or those transports arrived soon.
"Sir, incomming jump signature at the L5 point." announced the tactical officer.
"On screen, must be those damn transports." Girron commented "About time too." As he watched the screen, almost a dozen ships flashed out of hyperspace, then turned toward the planet.
"They're friendlies Sir." the tactical officer informed "Like you surmised, it's the transports, first wave of them."
"Good, maybe this will go alright after all."
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First princess Aeka Jurai waited at the docking platform, watching the Yagami cool down before crews rushed forward to perform basic maintenance. To say she was anxious would be an understatement. Of course she wished to see her sister, but Tenchi was on board as well. So was Ryoko. How would they react to seeing her? How would she react to seeing them? She missed them and thought she wanted to see them, but there was some apprehension there, deep in the pit of her stomach that churned up some bad thoughts. She sucked in a quick breath as the docking ramp of the ship opened with an audible hiss of air.
Two figures emerged and right away one began barking orders to the ground crews not to scratch her ship. The other ran strait for Aeka. While Kiyone continued walking calmly, Mihoshi cried out and hugged her friend closely.
"Aeka! I missed you so much!" The hug was strong, but brief. The blonde relaxed and released her hold "You look different. Did you do something to your hair?" Aeka had to smile and shake her head.
"No Mihoshi, I haven't." she said quietly "It is good to see that you are well."
At that moment Kiyone approached and smiled. The GP detective immediately noticed something wrong, but figured the cause and surmised it was best left for private.
"It's been awhile Princess." she said, smiling.
"Yes, it has." Aeka gave a nod. "Seven months I believe."
"Yeah, quite a while."
"I never noticed how beautiful Jurai is without everybody trying to blow us up!" Mihoshi observed, looking around her while spinning a slow circle. Aeka had to chuckle at the look of wonder on her face. Then she saw four figures on the ramp. Her eyes went wide and her body shook. She wanted so bad to rush over and just grab Tenchi and hold onto him, but she held her ground. She was first princess after all and had to keep up her composure.
Fortuneately she didn't have to worry about that with her sister. Sasami ran right up to her and gave her a hug. While she wasn't running, Ryoko was behind her, a slight smile on her face. When Sasami let go of Aeka, old habits kicked in.
"Ryoko, if you've come to boa-" Her words were somewhat half-hearted, but she was cut off by a hug from the ex-pirate. Slowly her own arms lifted up and returned the gesture, only partly because it was considered rude for royalty to not repay a greeting in kind. When Ryoko released, she smiled.
"Good to see you again Princess." She gave a wink "We've missed you."
"Ah...yes, well..." Aeka was forced to smile. For some reason she couldn't figure out, while it hurt a bit to see them again, it also felt good.
"It's good to see you too Ryoko." She then turned to Tenchi. "Lord Tenchi, I trust your trip was good?"
"It was Sis..." He smiled and Aeka finally did the same. However, when he came up to briefly embrace her, she took a step back. The princess really didn't know how she'd react to that. A part of her thought she might break down right there and she didn't want everyone seeing that. Tenchi, for his part, appreciated the importance of the gesture and let it lie.
"And you forgot about me!" Washu smiled brightly, but with a tone of mock sternness to her voice.
"How can I forget, Little Washu." She gave a nod of her head "It is good to see you as well."
"Likewise." the scientist returned. "Oh, I do have some information to share with the Emperor, when he has time of course."
"Later, the Emperor wishes to see Lord Tenchi first, and alone." Aeka replied. She then looked around at them. "Do you have luggage that needs attending to?" Most of them shook their heads.
"We didn't figure we'd be here long, so we only brought fresh changes of clothes." Tenchi said. "Did we need to bring more?"
"I don't know." The princess answered. "I do know the Emperor wishes to see you immediately though. Just you Lord Tenchi." He looked over at his fiancee and nodded, then began following Aeka, letting her lead the way to a private audience chamber. Tenchi was kind of glad they weren't headed for the main throne room. The memory of the place made him a little nervous.
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The pair headed down wide hallways, leading back to semi-private chambers and meeting rooms. There seemed to be a ton of them in this place. It looked a lot bigger to Tenchi now than it had on his previous visit. Then again, he had Kagato to focus on at the time. He didn't exactly have a lot of time to look around. Just as his thoughts turned to why Aeka hadn't been speaking, she turned a corner down a narrow hallway, well, relative to the gaping expanse of a passageway they were just in at any rate.
When he followed her, he saw her speaking to a pair of knights. They nodded and left the short hallway. One of them gave Tenchi a knowing look before they split off at the end of the slender passage. Once they were gone, Aeka walked a little further then stopped. Tenchi followed her a few steps and then suddenly she threw herself at him, holding onto his shirt and giving out a sob. Out of instinct, his arms wrapped around her and that ellicited more cries from her.
Tenchi felt sorry for her. He knew how she felt about him and how hard it must have been to see him again, especially in the arms of Ryoko. She must have marshalled every last ounce of composure she had to make it this long. Aeka stopped herself just short of breaking down completely and wiped her eyes a little then sniffed before looking up at him.
"I'm sorry...I'm not behaving very much like a princess." she muttered. Tenchi shook his head.
"No Aeka, you're not." He said with sympathy in his voice. "You're acting like a woman who's been hurt." He looked into her eyes "You haven't let any of this out have you?"
"I-I thought I had." she looked down and away as she spoke softly "But just seeing you again, in person, it...it brought everything back." New tears welled up "I just had to hold you again. I hope you understand."
"Aeka, you're a sister to me." He said with a small smile as he wiped a tear away "Anytime you need to come to me, go ahead, alright? I'll be there for you like I always have been." She let out a sob and clung to him.
"It's a comfort to know that if I can't have your love, I can still have your friendship and compassion." she whispered "But somehow, it will never seem quite enough."
"I'm sorry Aeka." He sighed "I never did want to hurt anyone."
"I know Tenchi...I know."
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The private conference chamber was big, enough to house the entire royal council it seemed. It held a large, round table that seemed to have been grown from the floor of the room itself and to Tenchi, resembled polished maple. The chairs, all twenty-four of them, were cushioned with red leather on the seats, backs and arms. The perimiter of the circular room held a variety of vines and plants, including a pair of small trees behind the emperor's seat.
When Tenchi and Aeka entered, they saw the man himself, Emperor Nobu Kashiro. He was recently crowned as successor to the throne of Jurai and like Aeka and Sasami, was a member of a branch family of the royal line. Personally, Aeka approved of the choice. The middle-aged man had long since proven his loyalty to the empire and had served his former role as Minister of Education, with a firm, compassionate hand. The princess felt he would make a good Emperor.
As they walked in, Aeka bowed and Tenchi, taking a clue, did likewise. From his high-backed seat, Nobu motioned for them to sit near him, which they did. Tenchi looked over the wealthily-dressed man and noted a strong build to match his handsome features. There was also a sense of power about him, both real and charismatic. He really hoped he didn't offend the man.
"So, this is the famous Tenchi Masaki." He smiled as he spoke in a deep voice. "It's good to meet you, and an honor after all."
"Thank you Your Majesty." Tenchi replied, not knowing what else to call him. "It is an honor to meet the Emperor of Jurai." Aeka sat uncomfortably for a moment before starting to stand.
"From what I understand, this is a private meeting." She said softly "If I may, I will take my leave."
"Please sit Princess Aeka." Nobu said "This concerns you as well." Aeka sat, looking a little puzzled. The Emperor looked them both over for a moment before speaking.
"As you may well know, there is a very serious situation occuring currently in the galaxy." He began "An ancient threat known as the Mechanoids has returned and is in the process of gathering resources for another crusade, much like the one they took thousands of years ago. I take it you know exactly how dangerous they are?"
"Washu told me they can wipe out all intelligent life." Tenchi answered. Nobu nodded.
"Indeed they can. That is why I need you, Jurai's greatest hero of recent times." Nobu said. Tenchi looked confused for a moment.
"Your Majesty, I know I defeated Kagato and everything..." He sat back in his chair, a bit nervous. "...but I don't think I can handle these things all by myself." Nobu chuckled.
"No, silly boy, I don't need you to defend us from them." He said "You and your friends accomplished some amazing things while trying to defeat Kagato. I feel your bonds may once again serve the Jurai Empire." He leaned forward and put his hands together "Right now, a planet called Iniru is about to come under attack. It is a small colony world and the civilians need to be evacuated. That is what I am asking of you, help save innocent lives. Leave the battles to the professional soldiers. Be a face to the people, give them someone to look up to...more than they already do that is." He then sat back and watched for his reaction.
He thought about it for a few moments. Tenchi now had everything he wanted in life; a loving woman, friends, family, his chores, training at the shrine, he was supposed to be off to college soon too. He didn't want to throw that all away. However, he couldn't sit by and go on with his life while a war waged that he knew he could do something about, especially now that he had been asked to help. It seemed that his answer was a foregone conclusion.
"I'll have to speak to my friends, but I myself will help." He finally answered.
"I will help as well." Aeka smiled as she looked over at Tenchi. Nobu seemed pleased.
"Good, I will arrange for your ship to be prepared." He said "The Ayami is a fast corvette class vessel. She can get you where you need to go quickly."
"Sire, we already have two ships at our disposal." Tenchi replied "I appreciate the gesture but-"
"No 'buts' young man..." Nobu cut him off. "...The Ayami is fast, and capable, plus it will serve as a symbol, a juraian ship to save juraian citizens. You can appreciate that, can you?"
"Yes, I suppose I can." Tenchi just nodded thoughtfully.
"Very well then," Nobu stood as gave a nod. Tenchi and Aeka stood with him. "The Ayami awaits you. I suggest you hurry, the crew and your bodyguards are ready to depart I believe."
"Bodyguards?" Tenchi had expected a crew, since he had no clue how to fly or maintain a ship, but bodyguards? He really didn't think he needed any.
"A pair of rather famous knights I believe." Nobu just grinned "I must be off, a scientist wished to speak with me about our unwanted guests. Good luck Tenchi Masaki."
"Thank you Your Majesty." He bowed and Aeka did the same. Then the pair left the room in silence, where a knight was waiting to take them to the Ayami.
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Tenchi had seperated from Aeka so he could see the ship he was to fly in for himself. The princess went to deliver his message of asking for help. He knew of course Ryoko would say yes, and with her came Ryo-Ohki. It seemed that Washu wanted to lend her hand as well. Kiyone and Mihoshi were pretty much obligated to lend aid due to their positions in the Galaxy Police. Tenchi turned the corner and almost stopped. Outside the door to the docking pad where the Ayami was held, stood a pair of knights.
"Azaka? Kamadake?" Tenchi smiled when he saw the two familiar knights outside the docking bay for the ship he'd been given. They smiled when they saw him. In a way, both men admired the spirit of the young man.
"Lord Tenchi. I see you are well." Azaka commented. His partner nodded.
"I hear you have also been engaged Lord Tenchi." Kamadake smiled "Congratulations! This is a big step in your life." Tenchi just smiled.
"Well, I love Ryoko." He said a little sheepishly, but honestly. "Anyway, how are the two of you?"
"We are well Lord Tenchi." Azaka answered. "We were waiting for you to show you the Ayami." Tenchi nodded.
"Show me the way." At Tenchi's command, Azaka opened the door and stepped inside. Tenchi followed with Kamadake following.
Inside was a metallic forest-green vessel hovering above the landing pad. It looked a little smaller than the Yagami and the shape of the ship held rounded, flowing contours of a rough teardrop shape. The front end seemed to be the narrow end of the teardrop. Off the sides and top were a series of three long spines, equilatteraly spaced in three rows, giving something of the effect of oars and masts. One thing that amazed Tenchi is that there seemed to be no seams anywhere on the ship. The whole impression he got was that the ship was grown rather than built.
"Over here Lord Tenchi." Kamadake said as he walked up to a circle in the floor. Tenchi and Azaka followed. One of the knights, Tenchi couldn't tell which one, gave two taps with his lance and the circle was bathed in blue light and suddenly all three were inside a small room that had juraian rounded asthetics, but Tenchi could instantly tell it was threadbare, a warship.
"This way Lord Tenchi." Azaka began walking "Time to meet the commander of the Ayami, and your instructor for the operation of the vessel."
"Instructor?" Tenchi asked.
"Yes." Kamadake answered. "You will be expected to fly this ship on your own. However, from what I understand, basic operation is quite simple."
"Oh, that's a relief." Tenchi remarked casually, with a hint of sarcasm.
After what seemed like only a few steps, a door opened into a control room about the size of that on the Yagami, but with three seats instead of just two. Again the contours were rounded and many of the controls appeared to be purely holographic in nature, working off of interruption of light patterns. The center seat turned and a woman of about thirty apparent years of age stood and gave a bow. She wore a standard juraian military uniform, which did much to hide the shape of her fit body, but not her sharp, angular face.
"Lord Tenchi Masaki I presume." her voice was a little deep, but still attractive "I am Lieutenant Commander Naomi Kitsurugi. I will instruct you on this vessel's operation." She gave a pause and looked at the knights before back to Tenchi. "I have taken the liberty of having your belongings brought to your quarters. Shall I show you?"
"Um, yeah, sure." Tenchi barely got that out before the Commander walked past him and the young man followed.
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"Captain! Jump points opening at L4 and L5!" the tactical officer of the Indescribable announced. "Energy patterns match Mechanoid ships!" Instantly the air on the bridge became stiffling and oppressive. This was it. They'd have to fight.
"Numbers and composition?" Girron asked, remaining calm. Most on the bridge wondered how he did it. Whenever asked, he would always answer 'I hope you never get this calm'. Inside he was worried. The mechanoids were early by two days.
"Checking...One cruiser class, three corvettes from L5." tactical answered. "Two frigates from L4...Shit! Massive jump signature near the edge of the system!"
"One of their motherships is here." Girron commented dryly. He thought of the situation and came up with only bad ideas. Three frigates and two corvettes against a cruiser, two frigates and three corvettes weren't good odds. They'd have to coordinate if there was going to be any sort of effective defense mounted.
"Comms, get me the juraian cap-"
"Incomming transmissions sir, it's the juraians."
"On monitors."
Two images appeared. Both men looked about Girron's age. One wore an eyepatch. Both looked stern and calm.
"Captain Girron," the man with the eyepatch spoke "Commander Takagi and I feel the commander with the most battle experience should lead this fight."
"And who would that be?" Girron asked.
"You, Sir." The man without the eyepatch answered. "Your GP record is impressive. Captain Hyasato and I will follow you into battle."
"Very well." Girron commented. "Launch all fighters and put us into geosynchronous orbit over the colony. Takagi, that's a point defense platform you command. You'll help keep the fighters off us. Hyasato, what kind of main gun does your ship have?"
"Twin medium particle beam cannons, with numerous smaller anti-warship guns."
"Alright, keep hammering that cruiser with those PB cannons. I have a missle ship, so I will hit their corvettes and frigates first. Good luck gentlemen." Both commanders nodded and the holographic screens went blank.
"All hands, we have incoming hostiles." Girron announced to the crew over the intercom. "We're in for one hell of a fight. I intend to show these cybernetic assholes that we aren't going to lie down, no matter how outmatched we are."
"Sir, they're not moving." the tactical officer said.
"What?" He looked at his own readouts.
"They are sitting at the Lagrangian Points." tactical reitterated "I don't understand. What are they waiting for?"
"Orders...they're waiting for their go-codes." The Captain replied. He thought about that for a moment then his eyes opened wide as he nearly shouted at comms.
"Tell those transports to disembark all passengers!" He ordered "They're going to wait for the transports."
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"Alright, you're doing well Masaki." Kitsurugi commented "You are catching on quickly."
"Thanks." he remarked as he studied the controls. Kamadake had been right. It was pretty easy to pick up on the basics of flying this ship, at least in the on-board simulator anyway. He touched some controls to bring up a new simulation.
In the days after arriving on Jurai, Tenchi had pretty much guessed right in how everyone would respond to being asked to help. Ryoko didn't even need to be asked. She was already bringing her things to the Ayami when she bumped into Aeka. Kiyone and Mihoshi had been assigned to aid juraian forces. Washu wanted to help, but decided the best place for her was on jurai, near one of the central command centers, In case she found out anything new, she could get the information out quickly. Sasami wanted to go too, but everyone expressly forbid it. There was simply no place for children in war.
Just as Tenchi was about to start the simulation, Ryoko came in and leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek before standing back to watch. Ryo-Ohki was on her shoulder. He smiled up at her and began running through a pre-flight check, then a beeping accompanied by a blinking blue light caught everyone's attention. The commander pressed a green holographic button.
"Kitsurugi here." she answered.
"Commander, make ready for lift-off." a male voice said "The enemy has appeared at Iniru. The Ayami and Yagami are the ship that can make it there fastest."
"Understood." she looked at Tenchi and he solemnly nodded "We're on our way." She then sat back and looked up at the young couple.
"This is the real thing." she said "I hope you two know what you're doing."
"I'm a space pirate, remember?" Ryoko winked as she sat down in the one remaining chair. The blue light blinked again.
"Kitsurugi."
"Commander," It was Aeka "Kamadake and I are on our way, we should be at the ship in moments."
"Princess, we're going into battle!" Naomi exclaimed "It is no place for you."
"We were likely going to see it anyway rescuing refugees." Aeka answered. "Now is as good a time as any for me to board." The communication was cut off.
"Looks like the princess grew some balls..." She smirked at her fiancee "I hear she's still available if you like that sort of thing." Tenchi just hung his head.
Barely fifteen minutes later, two ships streaked out of docking bays and into orbit, readying their hyperdrives for the flight to Iniru. In space, they streaked away in a blur of color.
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Chapter 2: Nature of the Beast
Coming soon!