Ch.12 No Need Explanations
"Oh my god..." Kiyone muttered, wide eyed. She didnt know what to do. Their journey would be cut short, lives over, everything gone. There was no way to escape the Juraian fleet, especially if they were looming over you. "W..W..Washu!" was the only thing she could think to say. Maybe her genius would save them all yet once again. She repeated the call for help over the intercom. But instead of Washu coming through the door behind them, a holoscreen came up on front of them.
"Weve got to keep moving! Their closing in on us." Zack said, barreling right into the Juraian fleet.
"Are you MAD! Were going to get killed going in there!" Kiyone protested.
"Just trust me. If we go now, they may not notice us. Its our only chance." Zack said in reply and closed the communications. Kiyone hesitated. She had the feeling he was right, but it went against all logic and reason. She said a prayer under her breath, and powered the thrusters to max output and took off after the Zenith. The fleet didnt change directions. They were going in a direction Perpendicular to the Zenith and Yagami, and did not seem to notice the two fast approaching ships, along with the fighters following in hot persuit. Kiyone felt for a moment that maybe they would fly right under them, undetected. The ship began to rattle a bit from the rumble of the engines. Washu, Ryoko, and Tenchi came in to see why Kiyone had called for help. Mihoshi turned back to see, and they could see the panic written across her face.
"Huh..What the! Are you INSANE!" Ryoko said, taking note that they were now flying at full speed into certain doom. "We'll be destroyed!"
Washu walked over to Kiyone and put her hand on her forehead, calmly. It seemed kind of out of place. "Are you feeling alright, Kiyone?" she asked calmly.
"No Im not feeling alright!" Kiyone said, still edgy and panicked at what she was doing.
"Ah, ok. Just wondering since you seem to have LOST YOUR MIND." Washu screamed. "That there is our DEATH KNELL. Why are we FLYING INTO THAT!"
"Cant you think of something better to do! Were kinda trapped between the fighters and the fleet!" Kiyone sputtered quickly. "We cant take the fighters, and we cant take the fleet and Zack said to follow him into that mess!"
"Open a communication with the suicidal one!" Washu said. A holoscreen popped up. The faint background noise of the Zeniths main frame could be heard.
"Battle Zone is being set up. Multiple Jump signatures detected. Receiving new fleet Orders. Comply or Ignore?"
"Zack, just what are you thinking!" Washu demanded over the communication.
"Just Trust me. Kiyone, I suggest you get level headed, this place is about get violent." Zack said, and force cut the transmission. The Zenith began to emit a soft red glow for a moment, but soon faded. The Juraian fleet took notice of the approaching group, and a small group began to break away from the main battalion to intercept.
"Here they come!" Tenchi said, pointing out the break in the fleet.
"Gah! Yeah its about to get violent!" Ryoko screamed. "Were going to get destroyed."
But something was amiss. Bright flashes began to appear with in the center of the battalion. Soon fighting erupted. The fleet ships were attacking an enemy Kiyone and the rest could not see. The small group of Juraian ships still progressed towards them, but soon enough, flashes off their bows caused them to stop, and they too began to shoot at invisible enemies. A new communication hologram popped up.
"Stay close, don't attack anything. Just run straight through it. You stay in any place to long and you will get destroyed. And stay AWAY from the light flashes!" Zack warned, almost at the fleet already. The communication cut out again.
"So were going to follow him into that mess?" Ryoko said anxious, "And just what the hell is going on with them anyways?"
"Waaaah Were all going to die!" Mihoshi cried.
"Get a hold of yourself!" Kiyone said sternly. She looked at the fleet and turned pail. "Ah who am I kidding! We ARE going to die!"
"Only one thing left at a time like this" Washu said calmly.
"You have a plan, Washu!" Tenchi said in a relieved/excited voice.
"Yep!" Washu said with conviction. They were all optimistic. "AT times like these, best thing to do is...pray." She started praying. They all looked grim. Bright flashes directly in front of the ship followed by a low rumble grabbed their attention again. They were at the edge of the fleet. The Juraian battleships were firing in every which direction. Flashes of laser light here and there pounded and rattled some of the Juraian battleships, as small nearby explosions rocked the Yagami violently.
"Here we go!" Kiyone said taking firm hold of her chair. The small attack fighters approached the fleet as well, but stopped a certain distance away from it, and hovered.
The Yagami was flying through a War zone. A Juraian ship seemed to gently fall down from above, burning and ruined. Laser fire cut right across the Yagami's bow, barely missing. Kiyone piloted the Yagami close to the fallen battle ship, using it as cover and finding open navigation points. A bright flash and a violent explosion followed by a shower of debris crossed the Yagami's path. It rose over, turned onto its side and took a steep dive under a near by Juraian ship that was occupied. Guns armed, the Juraian ship took notice of them and begin rounding off a few shots.
A shot tore through an small rudder on the back of the Yagami, but nothing serious. Kiyone continued the flight, avoiding as much of the enemy fire she was receiving from the Juraian battle group. Glimpses of the Zenith could be seen. A giant flash of light erupted in front of her, and a strange ship appeared from it. It was the rough size of the Zenith, maybe slightly larger, and seemed to share the same structural set up as that of the Zenith, though not exactly. Dracadian signatures and lettering were on the sides and wings of the ship. The Juraian battle ship that was over head changed targets to the new enemy, and a battle between the two ensued.
"It's a confrontation between the Juraians and Dracadians!" Ryoko said astonished.
"Very clever." Washu said to herself. Ryoko over heard it and looked at her perplexed. A violent explosion near by almost threw her from her feet, and lost interest in what Washu was talking about.
The Yagami continued the charge through the war zone. Warning lights began to sound off, though. Warning screens displaying huge energy signatures deep in space warned of some unseen threat. But it became apparent in a moments time, when a Juraian battle ship that was in front of them was speared by a massive beam of energy. It stopped firing and floated for a moment, before erupting into a massive ball of fire and debris. Parts of the ship flew everywhere. To avoid most of it, Kiyone steered the ship down, headlong into another large Juraian battle ship. But soon that was speared by the heavy energy wave, and met the same fate that the first ship had seen.
"What the hell is going on?" Kiyone said astonished and panicked by the force and destructive power of this mystery beam of energy. A holographic screen appeared, almost as if by cue.
"We've got to hurry! The artillery ships are laying down heavy fire on the fleet. If we don't get out of here soon, we'll be killed!" Zack said, fast and panicked. It was apparent he wasnt expecting this attack so soon.
"What do you mean Artillery?" Kiyone said angrily. "IF we get out of this mess alive, your telling us EVERYTHING."
"Fine fine, just get your asses in gear and get out of there!" Zack sent back fast. "GAH!"
The communication cut out. A huge beam of cold blue light could be seen through the fighting, right where the Zenith was.
"Oh no..." Washu said in shock.
The light faded quickly. The Yagami dived down and around another ship in the battle. They tried to see if they could get any sign of the Zenith. And for a fraction of a moment, they did. And what they say surprised them. A reddish bubble that was searing a near by ruined ship was around the Zenith. It had sustained no damage what so ever.
"Impossible!" Ryoko said in shock.
"Dracadaian sheilding. Interesting..." Washu said. The view was gone though in another second as a ship roared past. They didnt have time to notice if it was Juraian or Dracadian.
"Is it me or are we moving with the fleet as well?" Ryoko said, taking note of their change in position.
"We have. Its like trying to go across a raging river by walking. It pushes you down it, even if you are trying to go directly across." Washu said, now serious. Kiyone made a hard right, and a fast ascent to avoid collision. The warning signs reappeared again, and they could see why. The fleet had moved quite a bit since the beginning of the battle. They were near the Dracadian fleet already. It was smaller in number, but their some of their ships were massive. And one such ship was bearing down on top of them, almost ready to run them over. To dive would mean destruction for there was no room, left and right were the same as they were boxed in by Juraian ships. Only way was a fast 'vertical' ascent and hope to come over the top of it before collision. She pulled up hard and punched it, making sure the ship used what ever power it had to boosters.
"This..is..going to be TIGHT." Kiyone said, beginning to sweat.
The Yagami could see the edge of the large Dracadian dreadnaught. The Yagami was vibrating heavily, stress from the ships output, as well as light friction and trying to beat out the massive ship bearing down on it. They cleared it just in time, or so they thought. A piece of the back end snagged and caused the ship to nearly nose dive right into the top of the Dracadian ship. The Yagami hit the to top side and bounced forcefully off of it.
"Damn!" Kiyone cursed in dismay. One of the small side engines had stopped working, and their over all output dropped.
"Atleast they arent shooting us down like the Juraians." Ryoko said, looking for a bit of postive in all that danger they were in. Unfortunately, she was wrong. Cannons on the top of the dracadian ship began to open fire. The lasers were colored in many fashions, white, blue, red, a black only visible by the light that went around it, a green and yellow. They were punching holes in a lot of the small wings and other extensions of the Yagami.
"Get us out of here, Kiyone, or were dead!" yelled Tenchi.
"Im trying!" Kiyone said, trying to pull away from the Dracadian ship. She was finding it extremely difficult however. "I cant seem to pull away. Its like keeping me in close!"
"The ships sheer size is creating a small gravity well. Pull to the edges and break from there." Washu commanded.
Kiyone pulled the ship to the edge as fast as possible, still receiving heavy damage. She accelerated over the edge, successfully breaking away from the ship. The Dracadian ship kept plowing through the Juraian Fleet. More could be seen.
"There!" Mihoshi pointed out. "I think thats the edge of the fleet."
Kiyone took notice of it and steered the Yagami towards it. Ships, both Juraian and Dracadian, clashed in the gap between the Yagami and the edge of the war zone. She nimbly piloted the Yagami around it all. Nearing the edge, she made a heavy acceleration to reach the edge as soon as possible.
And in a moments time, there was nothing but deep space before them. The lights and explosions of the conflict now behind them. They continued to speed into space, making sure no one was following. After a few minutes, when the realization that they were safe for the moment, Kiyone slowly eased off the throttle, causing the Yagami to slow down and come to a stroll.
"Whew" Kiyone sighed, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow. A holo screen popped up. A young dracadian face was smiling at them.
"Now see, that wasnt so bad." Zack said confidently. Kiyone's face contorted with rage.
"What do you MEAN that wasnt so bad?" she yelled. "Look at the Yagami! We just fixed her and now she's all beat up AGAIN."
"Well I kinda was putting my trust in the fact taht you were an expert pilot and would come out alive." Came a response. "And nicely done too."
"Nicely...done?" Kiyone parroted the words to herself, trying to grasp the concept in her fit of rage. All the work that she had done for the last few days gone to waste in only a few minutes.
"Oh yes. Flying through a battlefield like that would usually kill most people." Zack replied. "So cheer up. The damage was a small sacrifice."
"Yeerrgggg.." Kiyone gritted her teath.
"Calm down, Kiyone." Washu said, stern and serious. Like a light being turned off, Kiyone wasnt angry anymore. If anything, she was perplexed by Washu's seriousness. " We have more important matters to talk about. Pull up within 800 meters; were coming aboard."
In a few minutes the Yagami and Zenith were cruising close to each other at a nice speed. In a hallway of the Zenith, one of the doors glowed and faded away. It opened up, Washu, Tenchi, Kiyone, and Ryoko standing together in the door way. They stepped out and the door shut behind them. The intercom cracked.
"You guys are in the lower left aft section of the ship. You've got to come up two decks to the crew lodge." came the clear voice of Zack over the intercom. Small floor lights began to light up along the edges of the floor. "Follow the green light path, that should take you the place."
They proceeded to follow the floor lights. The ship was still somewhat dark on the inside as it was before. They passed by many heavy looking doors that had crystal orbs mounted in the center of them and other hallways that branched off into even more hallways. They Came to a cylindrical elevator platform. It lit up and the glass doors slid sideways, allowing Tenchi and the rest access. The elevator then made a slow rise, making a mechanical low pitched whirr as it did. Eventually it stopped and the doors slid open again. They stepped out into a large well lit lobby. It was square in shape and plants and benches were placed everywhere. Small cylindrical structures that rose out of the floor created elevated platforms and small side rooms with chairs, computer consoles, and beds and bunks lined the walls to their left and right. A small stream with florescent blue water seemed to run below them in a canal that went around to each of the large blocks that held plants, but was covered with a transparent plate of glass or material. Yellow and white lights glowed softly from the sides of the ceiling creating a warm calming feeling. The ceiling and walls were transparent, so that the stars could be seen. The Yagami could be seen in the corner of the ceiling 'window'. Everything was a soft light - yellow with highlights of dark maroon silver-blue.
"Woah..." Ryoko said with a bit of astonishment. Kiyone and Tenchi also shared that feeling as they gasped at the sight. Washu, however wasnt taken in by the scenery.
"This is the observatory deck of the ship." Said Zack strolling in view with some kind of fruit that looked like an apple in hand. He took a bite. "Its supposed to be a place for the crew to unwind and relax, but there really isn't a crew on board."
Zack actually appeared a fatigued, even though he was trying his best to cover it. He wasnt having a whole lot of success, though.
"I want to know everything." Washu said, cutting to the chase. "You seemed to realize something when Ayeka was fighting Talaquine. Or how is it that Vasquez knew who you were but we didnt. Further more, why were you even in Jurai space to begin with at the time of the Emperor's assassination attempt? And how were you even able to survive such an immense barrage from your own fleet? Answers, right here, right now."
Zack just looked at her. He sat down on one of the large blocks that had a tree growing from it. A small console revealed itself within a moments time and he punched in something. A large screen presented itself from the floor. On it was a displayed picture of a solar system. It was very similar to the solar system which earth resided in. The key difference was that two of planets encircled the sun in the same orbit, directly across from each other on the cycle.
"For starters, Ill start with myself. I am an apprentice emmisary of the Order Of The Blaze. It is one of six orders in charge of the Dracadian Empire behind the scenes. Our purpose is military intelligence as well as heavy fleet fire support and military tactics. I was sent to Jurai at the request of the Council. The Council on our planet is much like that of Jurai's. It pretty much is the government really in a nutshell. 12 Dracadians, each one of a breed, and one male and one female for each breed, reside on this council and make the decisions of the planet. Usually, it would be the business of another branch of our government that would have even went to Jurai, but I was called upon since I was the best qualified to handle the Zenith and as it was the only readily available ship. Long ago, there was another coup on Jurai. The problem was that the Emperor already knew it was coming but was powerless to stop it. So he contacted Dracadians for help. The agreement was an underground alliance with Dracadians to keep our governments in charge and going. It was masked as a open trade agreement that would allow trade between the two empires to resume. We agreed because for one, the Juraian empire at the time was actually changing its views, military wise, towards us so they were not as hostile as they had been. Those conducting the coup, however, were militantly apposed to Dracadian existence and sought to destroy us anyways. So I, under the orders and agreement of such contract, came to protect and analyze the situation. I found out of the coup but my presence was found out. So I escaped from Jurai and well it all leads up to now. On the next two questions, please look at the monitor. Those two planets are Dracadia and Igzerthyl. Dracadia is our home planet, with a total population at the moment approaching 900 million, if that. Igzerthyl has a population of 70 million. Over all, including all those spread about the system and our empires, there are a total of 1.7 Billion Dracadians alive. Anyways, both planets are the same mass and density and travel at the exact same orbit speeds in the same orbit. They both rotate at the same speeds. So essentially speaking, both planets are identical pretty much. Both carry life, and very similar life. Its one of the strangest natural phenomenon in existence. Our Solar System is unique because of it."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Ryoko asked bluntly.
"Just hold your camlons for a moment and let me tell you. As I was saying, Dracadia is the home planet. We discovered the existence of Igzerthyl when our space age began, as it was one of easiest planets to actually travel to. Igzerthyl's atmosphere is just about identical, yet again, to Dracadia's. In fact life on the planet seemed to have evolved the same way. The only difference was that no intelligent that had independent thought free of instinct existed on the planet. There was a bit of a reason for this we discovered eventually. Talaquine had a weapon on him that had Azora. Azora is a metal that can transfer biological metaphysical kinetic energy, as well as surrounding energy if the right kind is present in the enviroment, into electrical and mechanical systems for their use and also cause a display of metaphysical kinetic energy that is amplified and easier manipulated by the life force that is donating the energy in the first place."
"Uhh..." Everyone had a blank expression on their face, except Washu of coarse.
"Errr..." Zack realized what he was saying wasnt getting through to the rest.
"Ugh.." Washu rubbed her eyes also realizing none of others actually got what Zack was saying. "Ill dumb it down for all of you. Remember how I said Zack's race is an elemental race and that their powers stem from themselves. That power is called in its long name biological metaphysical kinetic energy. To the rest of us, we just refer to it as Ether for short. Anyways, they have a metal that takes that energy and can amplify it as well as make it possible so that machines can use it. Which would explain how Zack was able to survive that attack. This ship then has Azora on it?"
"Yeah, it does. That capsule on the bridge is the transfer unit. These special bracelets that you saw earlier are the syphoning links. When I wear them, the ship can syphon energy at my command and I can manipulate it for my own use. Such as weaponry or shielding. The shields can be almost infinitely strong, as long as there is Ether to donate from those that are being syphoned. Unfortunately, there isnt an infinite supply from one individual, and only so much can be tapped before it gives out. Syphoning takes a lot out of those being syphoned, as you are probably noticing, and rest is what is needed for it to regenerate. This ship usually houses so much more, but since I was dispatched with haste, I was given no crew."
"Then what is the big deal if Talaquine had Azora?" Kiyone asked. "And Talaquine isnt a Dracadian. So how is he able to use Azora?"
"You don't have to be a elemental being to have ether," Washu spoke again. "In theory, every lifeform has ether to some extent. Like anything, a person or being could theoretically build up his or her or its ether through some kind of training, but most life forms do not. Dracadians however, did. But as Kiyone said, He wasnt dracadian, so for him to muster so much energy..."
She pondered for a moment, and then something seemed to click. Zack just smiled in response.
"I see! That was a clever trick." She said with excitement. Once again, everyone else, excluding Washu and Zack, looked clueless. "Azora can absorb energy from outside sources, so if the energy was the right kind, then he could absorb it directly from the ring to boost his powers. To further this, he could also absorb energy from his opponents if he was close enough."
"Yeah," Zack said in agreement. " I didnt really realize it when I was fighting him, because I wasnt looking for it or expecting it. But I noticed it when I was watching Tenchi fight."
"Yeah, but as Kiyone said, who cares if Talaquine had Azora. Is that all that is special about it? Hell, why'd we even need to know about Igze-whatever-it-was anyways?" Ryoko said, trying to grasp all this.
"Its very bad. It's a sacred metal to us Dracadians. Azora is a metal that only works one way for starters. Meaning. Once its started syphoning, it wont stop syphoning until either theres no energy left or it is countered by another a metal found on Dracadia. Lazure shuts down the syphoning process. Thats why there are two 'bracelets' on me. One is Lazure and the other is Azora. To also make matters a lot worse, is energy fed to Azora can be transfered easy, so when Ayeka was fighting, she could not have one using her Juraian powers against him as long as he had those guards that would absorb her energy. But the worst of all this is that he had Azora and Lazure to begin with. These two metals are only found on Dracadia and Igzerthyl. And because of Azora, no life that had its own will power free of instinct ever came to evolve. It is a metal, just like Lazure, that can not be replicated or synthesized by any means. The material seems to 'grow' in under ground veins quite quickly in comparison to other metal formations. The material is guarded with great tenacity. Movement of even the smallest quantity is escorted by a battalion of our war ships. So how it even got into his hands is very very bad. Meaning theres a problem within our government. So this coup could have had our assassins involved some how. I just don't know how yet. Or why."
"If thats true then..." Kiyone thought for a moment as she looked down at the floor. "Then there are people on both sides that would come out on top if there was a war between the two empires. But who is the real problem."
"Why." Washu said.
"Hmm?" Kiyone replied looking up.
"The real question is why. Its obvious that someone or some people is pulling the strings behind this whole thing and that they are probably the master mind behind this whole coup. But there has to be a reason to start a war. And I believe it has something to do with that Azora and Lazure. Does Jurai know about these metals?" Washu asked Zack.
"They shouldnt." Zack responded. "If they had these metals, they could easily by pass quite a bit of our technology. Not to mention, if it was paired up with..."
Zack turned grim as he just realized something.
"What is it?" Washu asked, noticing his sudden change of heart.
"My god..." he muttered. "The way Azora works can be done in two ways. You can either volunteer your own energy to it, which is the way we go about doing it. The other method is illegal, but still possible. A forced start syphon using special devices that are considered to be black technology because of the dangers behind it. IF Talaquine had Azora and Lazure, then it was likely that some of our black technology was also let out. This means, IF Azora was to be coupled with a Juraian Sentient Tree, using the black technology would force out the power of Jurai from the trees. It would grant anyone the ability to use the power of Jurai."
This realization dawned upon everyone in the room. It was a horrifying concept. If anyone was able to use the power of Jurai, then the Jurai dynasty would for one collapse, and the power that guards Jurai as a whole would be destroyed. The dangers behind such an action were limitless.
"So thats what the war is about!" Washu exclaimed. "The war isnt about revenge, it's a cover up so that the Juraian fleets can reach Dracadia and Igzerthyl and harvest the metal. As you said, the stuff is not easy to come by, so to actually have this metal you would have to go to its source."
"But wait, couldn't the metal be extracted from destroyed Dracadian ships?" Tenchi asked.
"It could be, but when Azora is exposed to Lazure through physical contact for to long, both metals fuse, ceasing the special properties of each metal. The ships are set wtih a fail safe so that happens." Zack said getting down. He had to steady himself, because he still seemed weakened. "That means we have to go back to Dracadia to stop all this."
"No," Washu said turning down the idea. "Theres nothing we could do in Dracadia. We woudln't be able to stop it from being smuggled out in the first place. We have to go to Jurai for sure now and stop the coup and find the ring leader."
The bracelet on Kiyone's hand lit up just then. She looked at it and turned it. A small holographic screen appeared, wiht Mihoshi's face on it. "Hm? What is it, Mihoshi?" the GP officer asked her partner.
"Uhh, theres a space station or something up ahead. Its orbiting a desert planet of some sort, and its very large." Mihoshi said.
"Yeah waht about it?" Kiyone asked, not understanding the problem.
"Its displaying some kind of distress signal, I think. What should we do?" Mihoshi asked her partner.
"Ill be back in a moment." Kiyone said, and with that she turned to leave. "Ill pick up the rest of the details later, this first."
"Ill prepare for a boarding party then." Washu said leaving. "We will discuss this later."
Tenchi and Ryoko left with her as well. Zack looked out one of the windows from which he was sitting. Sure enough, in the distance over a dusty yellow-orange planet was a large run down looking space station. Zack got chills for a moment.
"I don't like the looks of this..." he said to himself.