THREE PRINCESSES...
Author: Daferge
Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! is copyright AIC/Pioneer Ltd.
All respective characters are property of their original owners. All original characters and ideas are property of the author.
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Chapter 10... A Quiet Day...
( The Masaki House... )
Entering the house, Kiyone Tanaka had been amazed at her fellow officer's tale about how she'd come to be living in the house of a Juraian Crown Prince...
A fire-fight during a GP raid on a space station, explosions, a black-hole, four years in stasis and then to have her escape pod land on Earth to reunite her with her former partner, now a Royal Princess, Mihoshi?...
About a month before, she would have thought Kiyone Makibi was crazy, but then, a month before, she had been just another member of the Galaxy Police, who happen to be from Jurai...
Since then, the new Crown Prince of Jurai had found her long lost little brother...
She had also discovered that her parents were some how related to the Juraian Royal Family...
And as such, her little brother inherited their father's title, which made him a Lord of the Juraian upper classes and her a Lady, with a capital L...
If that wasn't enough, there was the little matter of some property, that came with that title...
Which just happen to be an E N T I R E star system...
The star, the planets, the moons, the asteroids, E V E R Y T H I N G!...
Or as Lady Seto had put it, she and her brother owned it all, 'Lock, stock and barrel'...
She shook her head and headed upstairs to change before dinner...
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In the Living room, officer Kiyone Makibi was using the TV remote to check the news, when her GP wrist comm-unit beeped...
Tapping it, she spoke...
" Makibi here!... "
A mechanical voice replied...
" Yukinojo, here... I have just received a message from Lady Washu's lab... "
Yukinojo was Mihoshi's cruiser, but due to some recent cutbacks at GP Headquarters, it was now assigned to Kiyone, also...
" An anomaly has been detected and I was instructed to contact you about possible security matters... "
" AND?... "
" Turn the house Video Comm unit to channel 999 for the data... "
Sighing, Kiyone clicked 999 on the remote...
As the TV came on, two small red-headed puppets appeared on the TV screen, praising the Great Washu, before opening a set of curtains behind them..
Kiyone concentrated on reading the data as it began to scroll upwards on the screen, one of her eyebrows went up...
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Kiyone let it run through twice, to be sure she understood it correctly, before hitting the pause button...
" NAGI?... "
The bounty-hunter, turned bodyguard, stuck her head out of the kitchen door...
Nagi's eyebrow went up as she saw Kiyone wave her over to the large TV set...
Disappearing back in the kitchen to say something to Sasami, she so reappeared and entered the living room...
Coming over to stand next to Kiyone, she began to read the text as Kiyone restarted the data...
Having read through once, she held up her hand...
In response, Kiyone hit the CLEAR button on the remote...
The two small puppets reappeared, bowed to Kiyone and Nagi before the screen went black...
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Kiyone looked at Nagi...
" What do you think?... "
Nagi sighed, she saw the determined look in Kiyone's eyes...
" I agree with you... We need to pass this on to Washu and the others... "
As she said that, Nagi saw Kiyone look in the direction of the kitchen door and an uneasy look appearing...
" Don't worry... You've got plenty of time to pop aboard Yukinojo and send off a special message to Washu... That will give me time to go up to the shrine and inform Lord Katsuhito... "
Kiyone sighed, but still looked unhappy...
Nagi laughed, causing Sasami to stick her head out the kitchen door...
Seeing the concern on Kiyone's face, Sasami smiled and shook her head...
" Don't worry, Kiyone... Remember, Mihoshi's not here... "
Seeing Kiyone's eye's light up, Sasami started to giggle...
Smiling, Kiyone touched her control crystal and disappeared...
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( Grand Marshall's office... )
Making sure his comm-unit was off, the Grand Marshall was just about to call it a day...
Getting up, he stretched to get the kinks out before leaving...
Suddenly a small light on his desk began to blink...
Leaning over, the Grand Marshall pressed the button next to the light...
The results were the activation of a special force field within his office that prevented ANY one from observing what went on in the office...
His comm-unit blinked back on and a short text began to scroll out...
Reading just the first few lines told him his day wasn't over, yet...
When it finished scrolling, he hit the button again and the text was printed out...
The comm-unit clicked off and the force field deactivated...
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Reaching over, he hit his intercom button...
" Yes, Sir?... "
The Grand Marshall smiled...
" It seems we have some last minute business, get me some tea... BLACK... "
Turning back to the printout, he read Kiyone's report...
He noted that this was a copy of a report that she'd sent to Washu...
That meant that it was Royal Family business and he didn't need to do any thing...
But, as it concerned his grand-daughter, Mihoshi, he was being kept informed...
He smiled, after he checked a few things, he might still get off early, yet..
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( The Great Hall...)
" ALL members of the Royal family can produce a Light Hawk Wing!... "
Tenchi found himself the center of attention...
ALL the girls, including Washu, were now looking at him...
Tenchi was about to say some thing when there was an odd sound...
"DING! "
Sighing, Washu waved her hand and her keyboard, with a screen, appeared before her...
Quickly she began to type in data...
Tenchi watched as the smile on her face became a frown...
Every one could tell that some thing wasn't right as the strange data scrolled onto her screen...
When the data scrolled up, off the screen, the screen and keyboard disappeared...
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Every one watched as Washu stood there thinking...
As Tenchi started to say some thing, Washu raised a hand, stopping him...
Sighing, Washu looked around the room...
Not only at the others, but at all the unrecorded history on the walls...
She looked back at others...
" It seems we have to be going... "
Tenchi sighed and headed back the way they had come, Ayeka and the others following...
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( Near the Badlands Border...)
Travelling through sub-space, a very unusual star ship was running in, what it's creator had referred to as, stealth mode...
This meant that they were only able to travel at about two thirds their regular cruising speed, about a third of their max speed...
This was the highest speed where the modified shields were able to safely mask out any electric or other types of emission that the ship's engines might create that could be detected by any nearby ships using standard sensors...
In simple terms, trading speed for the element of surprise...
The captain of the Kamidake II, Seina Yamada didn't understand how it worked, just that the chances of them being detected had been greatly reduced...
And with a history of bad luck, he tended to find himself exiting sub-space in the wrong place, usually with space pirates or raider ships nearby...
So, as had become his habit, he was in his command chair, standing watch, just before they prepared to exit sub-space into a new area...
Some one, at GP headquarters, had once speculated that having a male captain in charge of an all female crew might tended to cause a great deal of stress and tension...
However, he'd found that if he set a reduced crew on watch during sub-space transit, it greatly eased any pressures and allowed the crew to be fully alert when returning to normal space...
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In fact, since assuming command of this unusual ship, he and his crew had developed the VERY best of working relationships...
The fact that all 8 female crew members were married to him had it's good, as well as, it's bad points...
Both as the ship's Captain and as their husband...
At the moment there was a small brown furry animal sitting in his lap and he was scratching it behind it's ear...
Fuku, was many things to Seina...
She was not only his close friend and dearest companion, she was also the Kamidake's biological computer-unit and the ship's principle power source...
The ship's secondary power units were enough to power the Kamidake's during transit and Fuku was only needed during battle or in an emergency...
The command chair had become an island of solitude, the only place on the ship where showing loving affection of the captain or Fuku wasn't allowed...
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His first officer, Kiriko Masaki Yamada, looked up from her station and smiled...
To her and the others, their lives now revolved around him...
As their husband, he was their Universe...
Seeing her look his way, he raised an eyebrow and she nodded her head...
They were approaching their target area and she would alert the others...
Shortly there would be a full crew at their stations, Fuku would be ready and the Kamidake II would be fully prepared for any thing ahead...
Their order indicated that just before they were to drop out of sub-space they would get a last minute update from Lady Seto...
Until then...
While Kiriko informed the others, Seina continued to scratch a happy Fuku behind the ear...
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( Juraian Capital City...)
A young man stood in front of the store window, studying the display inside...
The display was made up of a number of mirrors, from small hand held, up to the larger sizes that mounted on walls...
Of course, being a Juraian store, the craftsmanship were the finest in the galaxy as well as being among the most expensive...
Only the most precious gem stones and metals, used by highly talented craftsmen were for sale here...
However, it wasn't really the items IN the display it's self that he was concentrating upon, as much as the insight they were able to provide him...
First year Academy cadet Keiichi Tanaka was doing some thing that he hadn't done for quite some time, being cautious...
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After over a month getting settled into life at the Academy, Kei and a couple of his friends had managed to get their first weekend pass...
And, as the Academy was on one of the moons orbiting Jurai, permission was granted for them to travel down to the planet, with proper supervision...
And who better to supervise his stay, than the Royal Family, in the Royal Palace...
Being of the upper class was nice, but to Kei, it was also a bit of a headache...
There were time that if it weren't for the kids, his sister, his new friends and the Academy, he'd just as soon go back to living the quiet life on the streets...
He smiled and sighed at the thought...
He also knew that Queen Funaho Masaki Jurai, the Minister of Intelligence and Queen Misaki Masaki Jurai, Supreme commander of the Juraian Imperial Guard, would track him to the ends of the Universe if he tried...
If that wasn't bad enough, there was Lady Seto Kamki Jurai, Queen Misaki's mother...
She wasn't called The Devil Princess of Jurai for nothing...
Get her upset with him and nether Time nor Space would be safe enough...
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( Earlier... )
Kei and his fellow cadets, Haruko Natan and Mayu Rygen had managed to get away from the Royal Palace early to go shopping and site-seeing...
But only because his good friend, Lord Byran, a member of the Royal Guard came along...
It was the only way to keep the Queens happy...
So, dressed in the basic garb of the Juraian middle-class, they'd made their way 'down-town'...
And every thing was going well...
However, as the girls were about to check out a clothing store, Kei had a word with his friend, Lord Byran...
" I need to run across the way and check on some things... Keep an eye on the girls for me?... "
Concerned, Lord Byran was about to say some thing, but noted Kei's slight shake of his head...
As Kei lifted his right hand to run it through his hair, the sleeve slipped enough to expose a small device on Kei's wrist...
Lord Byran smiled, nodded his head and proceeded into the store, after the girls...
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( Back to the present... )
That was why Kei found himself in front of the window with the mirrors...
After examining several of the reflections, he smiled slightly and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket...
He looked at it for a moment, then looked around before choosing a direction...
He then set off, walked several blocks, stopping every so often to look at the paper...
To any one watching, he might appear to be a member of the middle-class who was looking for someplace and not sure where it was...
In reality, Kei knew exactly where he was, he'd spent a number of years wandering these very streets, learning every foot by heart, staying just ahead of the local law enforcement officers...
Coming to a narrow area between two buildings, he stopped and looked at the paper again...
Hiding a smile, he put the paper back in his pocket and entered the 4 foot wide passage...
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He'd only taken a few steps before he stopped, turned to his right and used his fingers to find what he was looking for...
It was still there, a panel made from thin light metal, resting against the wall...
Finding the edge, he slide the large panel to one side...
He smiled as the panel slid easily and quietly in the greased slot that lay on the ground at the base of the wall...
Looking back to make sure no one was watching, he stepped into the small hole in the wall that the panel had covered...
Once inside, he slide the panel quietly back over the hole and opened the small peephole that would allow him to see out...
He smiled as he recalled how many times this little escape hole had saved him from those chasing him, for one reason of another...
Shortly he heard some one enter the passage, curse and then hurry past him...
From the voices, he estimated that there were three of them, probably the three he'd seen in the store mirrors, watching him...
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At the other end of the passage, he heard them stop, curse again and begin to argue...
In the past, he would have waited until they were gone and then just slipped away...
But that time was gone...
Taking a deep breath, he quietly slide the panel open and stepped out into the darkness...
Turning to face the voices, he could make out the three figures near the other end, huddled together...
Smiling, he spoke...
" Did you gentlemen lose some thing?... "
He couldn't see their faces, but he could see that they were now looking in his direction...
He wasn't sure what they had been planning, but their options had been greatly reduced...
The passage allowed for only one of them to face him at a time, evening the odds a bit...
The darkness tended to hide the fact that he wasn't armed, but he had reason to assume that they already knew that...
However, they couldn't be sure they hadn't missed some thing and they had...
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Seeing that it was three large males against one young boy they began to advance towards him...
They didn't see their prey smile and press a button on a small device on his right wrist...
When they were a few yards away, the one in the lead made a movement, a small light flashed and a beam of energy reflected off of a force field that protected Kei...
As it bounced back, hitting the shooter, Kei could tell it was a lethal blast and not from a stun gun...
It seen that this wasn't a kidnapping, as he thought, these guys meant business...
In that case...
Kei pressed another button on the devise and a light sword appeared in his hand...
He wasn't smiling as he advanced on the other two shadows...
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( A Dark Bar... )
For the end of the week, it was a quiet night...
Ex-Space pirate Captain Fragga smiled, having the infamous demon Space Pirate Ryoko as a, not so silent, partner helped to keep the rougher trouble makers in line...
If getting her mad at you wasn't enough, her husband was the new Crown Prince of the Juraian Empire...
Then there was his other wives...
There was the first Princess of Jurai, Ayeka Jurai Masaki, who was said to be one of the very few people who could stand eye-to-eye with Ryoko and not blink...
Word had it, when the two went head-to-head, the safest place was to be several light years away...
But it was the prince's third wife that got the biggest reaction...
Galaxy Police Detective First class Mihoshi Kuramitsu Masaki was the most feared name among the criminal element...
He should know, he had watched as several dozens of the most fearless space pirates in the Galaxy had turned and run for their lives when this quiet, yellow haired female had walked into the room...
Even now that memory brought a smile to his face...
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He was brought back to the present by the bartender...
Like his captain, Black John had taken the hint and gone into retirement early...
When one of the most infamous Space Pirates, Ryoko Hakubi becomes a Juraian Princess, you know it's time to quit...
For the most part, he had found that working behind the bar was rather relaxing...
A couple of the other crewmen hung around and took care of the few hard cases that showed up every so often...
As for his life, he'd even scored points with his wife and kids a few weeks back when the Crown Prince and his wives had dropped by...
His son had been stunned when he was introduced to his hero, the beautiful space pirate Ryoko Hakubi...
His daughter had been speechless when the Crown Prince took her hand and told her how nice it was to meet her...
But best of all was presenting his wife to both the Crown Prince and First Princess of Jurai, it was the first time in twenty years she was at a loss for words...
Oh yes, for the most part, his home life was a lot calmer...
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Today he had a note for the Captain from one of the old crew...
It seem that there was some information that the Captain might be interested in...
Seeing the Captain, he handed him a cup of tea, with the small note...
Drinking the tea, Fragga read the note...
An eyebrow went up as he digested it's meaning...
It seem that he was going to have to return to his office and contact Ryoko...
A quick look around said it would be a quiet night...
Handing the cup back to Black John, he made his way back towards his office...
As he was about to enter it, he paused and sighed...
So much for that quiet night...
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( Near the Badlands Border...)
In sub-space a number of star ships had drifted into the area known as the Badlands...
These weren't just any ships, they were ships of the Royal Juraian Navy...
And all but one was of metal construction...
That one was the task force flagship, Mikagami, a Royal tree-ship that was bonded with the devil princess herself, Seto Kamiki Jurai of the Royal Family...
And at the moment, she was sitting in her command chair, sipping tea and looking out into the darkness...
Some where, within that darkness, was her target, Raider star ships...
Soon they would be returning to normal space...
If every thing went well, they would find them selves within a gathering of powerful raider assault ships...
Lady Seto smiled at the thought of wiping out a large number of Raiders...
To her, they were even worse than space pirates...
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A crewmen hurried over and handed her a clipboard...
She smiled as she read it and nodded...
As the crewman returned to his duty station, Lady Seto finished her tea...
They would soon be at the calculated point for them to break out of sub-space...
Upon reaching there, they would inform the Kamidake II so that they would all return to normal space together, catching the Raiders by surprise...
The very idea of catching the Raiders put a gleam in her eyes and a smile on her lips...
A look that could even sent chills down the Emperor's spine...
SOON!...
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( Outside The Great Hall...)
As every one gathered under the light, the Elder, Merlin looked around for some sort of transportation, there was nothing...
He didn't pay much attention to Washu as she held and stroked Ryo-Ohki...
Until he saw her toss the small creature into the air...
Merlin's jaw dropped as he watched Ryo-Ohki transform into her larger ship mode...
He continued to stare, until he felt a finger touch his lower jaw and close his mouth...
Looking around he found a smiling Washu standing next to him...
" There are a lot of new and exciting things on the outside... Some good, some bad... "
She looked over at Tenchi and the girls...
As they watched, Ryoko smiled, kissed Tenchi on the cheek and boarded Ryo-Ohki...
Soon, Ayeka and Mihoshi disappeared, leaving only Tenchi, Washu and Tsunami with their host...
Seeing Tenchi looking her way Washu nodded her head...
Smiling he closed his eyes and soon he was gone too...
Washu had to smile, it was good to see that Tenchi was able to use a link with Ryoko, she wondered if he'd develop one with Ayeka and Mithoshi...
Perhaps another visit to her Lab in the near future...
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With a sigh, Washu had a last look around...
She looked to see if there was a reaction from Tsunami, but saw only her usual smile...
However, she did see a look of concern on Elder Merlin's face...
But before she could say any thing, that look changed as Tsunami placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke softly...
" They will be returning soon... Things will work out... "
Washu wasn't sure which had shocked the Elder more, that Tsunami had spoken directly to him or that she had touched him...
As it was, he seem to stand there in a dream like state, with a happy smile...
Using her link, Washu contacted Ryoko and disappeared also...
It was a smiling Elder who watched as Tsunami faded before his eyes...
He would have to tell the others that the Royal Family had returned and with Tsunami's blessing...
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( Near the Masaki Shrine... )
The small open area was quiet today, as the young boy, dresses in white, sat under a tree, eyes closed, meditating...
In the past, when he concentrated like this, he had been able to feel the emotions of those around him...
Living underground with hundreds of others, on a barren planet, it was comforting to know you weren't alone...
However, on this strange new world, those feelings weren't there any more...
His Sensei, the local priest, had told him that was alright and that he would adjust in time...
For the first time since he had gotten here, there had been no training exercises...
He had - a day off?
Having spent most of his life training, he found himself confused...
His Sensei had smiled and said that he would understand...
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His eyes closed, he concentrated once again...
Again he found silence, but he continued...
Soon he began to feel a faint emotion, a sad emotion...
As he continued to concentrate, he could begin to tell which direction the emotion came from...
Up near the shrine, but not quite?...
Wasn't the fabled demon's cave near there?...
Suddenly the emotion was replaced by something else, an image...
Standing before him, in his mind, was a female that he had never seen before...
An elegantly dressed female with dark hair and piercing eyes...
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Rogon was confused, though he could feel emotions, he had never seen images before...
Had he fallen asleep and begun to dream?...
He was started by the sound of soft voice...
Do you dream of me often?...
Rogon's eyes widened, even closed, what was happening?
Lord Tenchi has chosen well...
Her face seem to be only inches away...
As he watched, she reached up and brushed his cheek, before running her hand through his hair...
As the image slowly began to fade, a small smile formed on her lips...
Sleep little one... All will become clearer...
To be continued...
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