Yosho's Tales...
Author: Daferge
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Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! is a copyright of AIC/Pioneer Ltd.
All respective characters are property of their original owners. All original characters and ideas are the property of the author...
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Yosho's Tales...
Chapter 21... A knight's tale - part.03...
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( A tavern room... )
The contact of cold water to the skin was a universal method of awaking some one and it worked this time too...
Galaxy Police Detective Tang raised his hand to his face to remove the water remaining there...
As he shook his head, he realized he was no longer tied up, there seem to be no restraints at all...
Which confused him...
The last thing he recalled, was being securely restrained in the chair...
As he became more awake, he noted that he was still in a chair and as his vision cleared, he found he was still in the room he had been in earlier...
The first figure to come into focus, was the light haired female standing in front of him, holding a wooden mug, water dripping from it...
Looking up, his eyes met hers and she smiled, showing off a pair of K9 teeth, almost fang like...
He was unaware that she had taken the mug, with water in it, high above the town in the night sky, where the air was thin and the temperature was low enough to chill the water quickly, so they could wake him up...
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The yellow haired female was looking at some thing in her hand as she spoke...
" You are officer Tang and this is your first assignment since graduating from the Academy?... "
He could only stare at her, but some thing in her voice caused him to nod his head...
" It seems they issued you a Mark VIII-B37 control crystal, which means that you were, in all likely hood, assigned an old Mark VIII class patrol cruiser... "
She turned to the others in the room before continuing...
" The Mark VIII is the oldest patrol cruiser in active service, even though it is several centuries out of date... They were able to upgrade it just enough to handle the very lowest grade duties, such as patrol of very low grade, backwater planets of little interest to any one... This allowed Mark IXs and above to be used for more important duties... "
Tang's mouth dropped open...
How did she know that?...
" Starting with the Mark IXs, more advanced AI (Artificial Intelligence) computers were installed on each cruiser which were programed to learn as they went along... Quite a few of these evolved into self-aware AIs and their 'clones' are used in many of our patrol cruisers today... Major capital ships still use less independent AIs as a matter of policy... Especially after Kagato used a virus on a GP Task Force sent to confront him and had the AIs kill all the crews... Had there not been a self-destruct safety code, Kagato would have had his own task force to play with... "
Tang had heard about the heroic battle of Task Force 316 and it's destruction battling Kagato, but like every one else had assumed it had been due to his massive battleship, the Soja...
He heard a sarcastic voice...
" She's been spending far too much time with mom!... "
The yellow haired female smiled and giggled...
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After a short pause, she continued...
" At present, only Mark XII and above are officially listed as Patrol Cruisers, all earlier models are listed as auxiliary cruisers and are being upgraded as soon as time and funds allow... Eventually all cruisers before the Mark XII will be upgraded to newer Mark models or scrapped... "
A female voice spoke up...
" But isn't Yukinojo a Mark X?... "
He saw the yellow haired female smile...
" Yes... But he was used in the early test upgrades for AIs and was one of the very first of the new AI to become self-aware... It's AI was later 'cloned' to be installed as a basic AI in later cruisers... By the time we met he was officially listed as a Mark XV... Since then, with all the rebuilding and up-grading your mother has done to it, it was re-classed as a Mark XXV... And, unless your mother changes her mind, it is quite likely to be the only one of it's class... "
Tang's eye's widened, the latest class of patrol cruisers was the Mark XX and that had come out just before his graduation...
But there had been rumors of an experimental class of cruiser that just MIGHT be on par with the GP's heaviest cruisers and even some rumors that said it might even be better...
Not only that, but a few even spoke of it being run by it's on-board AI...
But that was just rumor - wasn't it?...
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As he tried to come to grips with what he was hearing, his control bracelet contacted him, via the tiny unit implanted beneath his ear...
This allowed him to keep in contact with his cruiser in orbit, with out drawing attention to himself...
However, due to the radiation caused by Kagato's attack, the radiation belt around this planet prevented any form of communications between the surface and off world, even if just to an orbiting craft...
So it had to drop into the planet's atmosphere, every so often, to maintain contact with him...
Since his last contact, his on-board AI system had been searching through it's data base for any info on the four strangers he'd shown an interest in and it had results...
While going through the oldest section of the huge wants and wanted files, it came upon it's first possible match...
Then it was in the oldest section of the 'Missing Persons' files that another possible match came to light...
After processing all of it's files on GP cases, etc, it happen upon another possible match in the basic GP personal files, which were used to confirm the IDs of fellow officers in the field...
But, it had been in the galaxy news data, used to keep officers informed about current events, that the AI was able to connect the separate matches and identify the strangers...
Thus, it had entered the atmosphere before it's next planned drop, in order to contact the officer...
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Officer Tang?...
Tang sighed, wondering who his ship's AI thought was going to answer on this backwater world...
After all, he WAS the only one with advanced GP equipment on this world...
Yes, it's me!...
He could almost swear he heard a sigh of relief in his AI's reply...
That good, sir...
Tang subconscious counted to ten as he waited for the AI to continue...
One of the first things he'd learned when he took 'command' of the Mark VIII, don't argue with it, it was just a waste of time...
Sir, I've finished a search of all data on-board and I believe I have identified all four subjects you were interested in...
Tang looked at the four people in the room, who all seem to be looking right at him, smiling...
As 90% of data aboard the cruiser dealt with criminals and GP cases, sweat began to form on his brow...
The light haired female smiled at him and the yellow haired one giggled...
The dark haired female sighed and shook her head as the young boy sat on the bed, scratching his small pet behind the ear...
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Sir, I have identified the dark haired female as Ayeka Masaki Jurai, the daughter of the Juraian Emperor and First Princess of Jurai, who was listed as missing for a very long time, until recently...
As Tangs looked at the princess, she smiled and nodded her head slightly...
The yellow haired female is Detective first class Mihoshi Kuramitsu, the Grand Marshal's grand-daughter...
At that, Mihoshi giggled and smiled at him...
And the light haired female is Ryoko Hakubi, who until recently was one of the most wanted galactic criminal, next to Kagato, in the past several thousand years, not seen for several hundred year, until she reappeared recently and was later pardoned...
Tang's eyes widened at the mention of the infamous space pirate Ryoko, a name used by his mother to get him to behave, her winking at him didn't help...
As for the boy, he is a new member of the Juraian Royal family, who was unknown until recently and has since accepted the title of Crown Prince, his name is Tenchi Masaki...
Tang stared at Tenchi and was having difficulty breathing, the closest he'd ever been to a Juraian Lord, much less a High Lord, had been when one had inspected his graduation class...
To be in the presence of a member of the Royal family, much less two, was - was -...
" Unbelievable?... "
It was Mihoshi who had spoken out loud...
As he stared at her, she tapped her ear and smiled...
At this range not only can I over hear your comm link, but I can over ride it...
His jaw dropped as her eyes glowed and she smiled...
And it's actually four members of the Royal family...
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As Tang stared at Mihoshi, his AI continued it's report...
She is quite correct sir, all three of these female were recently married to Prince Tenchi and as such, they are now - Princess Ayeka, Princess Mihoshi and Princess Ryoko...
As Tang began to faint, another wave of wet water hit his face...
Smiling, Ryoko waved a finger at him...
" Didn't they teach you to pay attention when a superior officer was talking?... "
All he could do was stare at her and nod his head...
The AI continued...
Sir... Should I notify HQ that there are members of the Juraian Royal family on this planet?
Mihoshi quickly responded when she saw Tenchi shake his head...
Command over-ride Alpha-Alpha-Alpha... Presence of the royals is to be mentioned in direct data downloads only, no mention is to be make in any way within transmitted reports, coded or otherwise... Acknowledge!...
The reply was instant...
Acknowledged!...
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Although his eyes were on his superiority officer, Mihoshi, he watched the one who concerned him the most, Ryoko, out of the corner of his eye...
Like others children growing up in this vast universe, he'd been told that if he wasn't good, the Demon Space Pirate Ryoko would appear and drag him off to where all wicked people ended up...
While at the Academy, he'd not only learned that there HAD BEEN a Space Pirate by that name, but the rumors didn't even compare with the known recorded facts...
He'd felt some relief when he discovered that she had disappeared over 700 years ago, just after her very infamous attack of the home-world of the Juraian Empire...
To suddenly find that she was not only still alive, but that she'd returned and was only a few feet away had his mind spinning...
Then there was the whole 'Princess' thing...
Every one knew that the Juraians not only had long live, but they had long memories and weren't known for being a very forgiving people...
How?...
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A dark movement caught his attention and he suddenly discovered a smiling face with yellow hair looking at him from only a few inches away, causing him to jerk back his head...
Standing back up Mihoshi looked in Ryoko's direction, still smiling...
" Ryoko... I think you have an admirer... He can't stop watching your every move... "
Ryoko chuckled softly and shook her head, she had also noted the officer's attention, but believed it was due to other reasons...
" I don't believe it had as much to do with admiration, as survival... It wasn't the 'Princess' he was watching as much as the 'Space Pirate'... "
She smiled as the officer's eyebrow went up...
With a wicked smile in her face, she strolled over to Tenchi, who was sitting on the bed, with Ryo-Ohki next to him...
Then, batting her eyes at the officer, she sat in Tenchi's lap and put her arms around his neck, pressing her cheek to his...
Ayeka was watching, but she didn't react, openly...
You'd better not be taking this where I think you are!...
It wasn't as much a question as it was a statement...
Aaahh... Can't a girl have a little fun?...
Ayeka sighed as she saw Ryoko wink at her...
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Detective Tang stared at the most infamous female Space Pirate of all times, as she cuddled up in the arms of a young boy who was suppose to be the Crown Prince of the mighty Juraian Empire...
On top of that, she was looking his way and giving him a sad, innocent face...
" Sweetie... You'll protect me from the big, bad Galaxy Police Officer!... Won't you, Please!... Pretty, please?... "
There were various mixed reactions around the room to this...
Detective Tang's jaw had dropped and his month was now wide open...
Ayeka had closed her eyes and started counting to ten, for the second or third time...
Mihoshi looked away and tried her best not to giggle and was not being too successful...
And Ryo-Ohki was laying on the bed, smiled up at her older sister and shaking her head...
Tenchi however had managed to take a deep breath and then softly sigh...
Since becoming a family, Tenchi and the others had discovered that doing the unexpected was far more effective at getting people's attention than resorting to force...
Force tended to be counter-productive...
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Running his hand through her hair, he just sighed again...
Please don't lay it on TOO thick...
Which only caused Ryoko to giggle like a young school girl...
To which Detective Tang came to an obvious conclusion...
Ether these people are over the edge or I've been out here too long and have 'Field-fever'...
To this, he heard a voice in the back of his mind reply...
You're perfectly healthy and these people ARE over the edge...
Turning his head, he looked up into the most beautiful face that he had ever seen so close...
A smiling face, surrounded with light bluish hair...
A face that he'd seen his whole life, as he was growing up at his family's home...
The face of a Goddess - Tsunami!...
For the Detective, every thing became very calm and then slowly faded to black again...
The Goddess had an innocent smile as she looked up at the others in the room...
" Could it have been some thing I said?... "...
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To be continued...
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Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...
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