A/N: Oh ho ho. Finally, I get to have some fun with developing our dear admiral.

Planet Tianxia, Tianshang Port, Yamato, Yamato Medical Bay

The door slid open to reveal Taejong. He was holding a bouquet of flowers in his right hand. Steeling himself, he stepped into the intensive care room. Yayoi's condition was critical and she had undergone intensive care for several hours before finally being stabilized. She was given a one hour window for visitors before undergoing regrowth hibernation, surgery, and therapy.

There floated Yayoi in a horizontal bacta tube, or what was left of her. The entire upper right half of her body was exposed, torn away by the explosion. Her ribs, lungs, stomach, liver, and beating heart… There was but a few strips of muscles left on her mostly bone right arm. Her face was in no good condition either, or rather lack of. It was simply a mass of flesh and bone, melted together by the intense heat of the explosion. Countless tubes and wired connected with her body, either filtering her blood or providing nutrients and oxygen. It seems she still retained some sense of hearing for her head twitched toward the door when it opened. The speakers around her bed suddenly started broadcasting, transferring her thoughts into words.

Yayoi: "Captain?"

Taejong: "Ah, no. Yes, ma'am. So she thinks I'm the admiral huh?"

There was a brief pause as the microphones received his voice and converted them into recognizable signals before transmitting them to her brain. Then came a giggle in Yayoi's pitch and voice.

Yayoi: "Hahaha. Thank you for coming, no need to be so formal captain. I'm really sorry for this sight, I must be ugly to you aren't I?"

Taejong: "No no, you're as beautiful as always. I uhh, I brought you flowers."

Yayoi: "How sweet of you. Thank you very much, please set it on the table. I will ask the nurse to put it in water later. I am sure they are very beautiful when I can see again."

Taejong: "Oh, oh. Sorry, I didn't mean…"

Yayoi: "That is quite alright. I am sure you meant nothing by it."

Taejong took a seat beside the bacta tube and stared at Yayoi's disfigured body. Simply seeing that she was still alive caused his words stuck to be stuck in his throat.

Taejong: "How… Are you?"

Yayoi: "I'm sorry, I did not hear you. Could you speak up?"

Taejong: "A-ah, sorry. How are you?"

Yayoi: "I am fine. I am in no pain, they are giving me painkillers. I feel rather light, probably a side effect."

Taejong: "I see… Medical technology has come rather far hasn't it?"

Yayoi: "Hahaha, imagine my reaction when I first saw you."

Taejong: "Visited me?"

Yayoi: "Oh, you were still in a coma then. Remember when you were caught in that explosion at Cera? Your hands were gone! Not even bone left. Shattered stumps. I remember one of the doctors complaining how they should just chop everything off and regrow a new one. My hand is mostly bone now, but regrowing muscle and skin is easier than making a new arm."

As if to emphasize her point she contracted the few strands of muscles she had on her right arm, jerking the whole thing up a little.

Taejong: "Ah, I see…"

Yayoi: "Hey, captain. Think they'll make my boobs bigger if I ask them too?"

Taejong: "I- I don't know about that."

Yayoi: "It's not like I have anything left. I'm told that all my internal organs are exposed. How creepy!"

Taejong: "You'll be back to normal soon. I like you the way you are, so you don't have to try to change yourself."

There was a brief moment of silence, the only sounds coming from the heart rate monitor which began to beat faster.

Yayoi: "… Aww… You're making me blush captain."

Taejong: "… Heh…"

There was another moment of silence between the two until Yayoi spoke up again.

Yayoi: "How are my fans doing? A lot of them showed up earlier, some of them were even crying! There was so many of them."

Taejong: "They're… Doing fine now."

Yayoi: "That's good. As their big sister I have to take care of them. But I'm not in much of a state to do so right now."

Taejong: "Don't worry, the admiral will look after all of us."

Yayoi: "The admiral?"

Taejong: "Ah-"

Realizing his façade was over, he stood up and bowed.

Taejong: "I'm sorry!"

Taejong turned around and quickly left, the door hissing shut behind him. Yayoi floated there in silence thinking to herself.

Yayoi: "Admiral? Then who was that…"

A few moments later she heard footsteps from inside the room, the door hissed open and closed as if someone had just left. But who else was in the room?

Yayoi: "Hello?"

There was no answer.

Planet Tianxia, Tianshang Port, Yamato, Captain's Quarters

Hongxi sat in his room, his eyes skimming over the various reports on the repairs of the Yamato. A small ding and a message notification to the bottom right of the holoscreen drew his attention. An incoming transmission from Jiguang, this must be about the acquisition of the Vault. Tapping it, the small notification expanded to a full window showing Qi Jiguang's face.

Jiguang: "Ah, Hongxi. Good to see you again."

Hongxi: "Get straight to the point, do you have the Qishi?"

Jiguang's face grew dark upon seeing Hongxi's expression and hearing his tone.

Jiguang: "So this is that… I was afraid-"

Hongxi: "Jiguang, the bombs."

Jiguang: "Yes, it's been prepared as you have asked. We will have it installed sometime this week."

Hongxi: "And the repairs?"

Jiguang: "Almost complete sir."

Hongxi: "It's been a month already, every day that passes is another day the enemy has to recover from the damage we've dealt. Any longer and all this would have been for naught."

Jiguang: "I apologize sir, but the things you have asked for…"

Hongxi: "Ahh never mind. You're useless... How goes the recommissioning of the Defense Fleet?"

Jiguang: "We have managed to recover 55 cruisers from the Graveyard. 6 battleships, 22 cruisers, and 20 frigates have been built during your campaign. In addition to the ships you have captured, we have a total of 123 ships."

Hongxi: "There are tens of thousands of ships in the Graveyard and we only managed to recover 55? Bah! How about Project Z?"

Jiguang: "We have refurbished 9,322 artillery pieces. We will reach our target in time."

Hongxi: "Good, good... The stage is almost set. The sleeping dragon shall awaken and the universe shall tremble in our wake."

Jiguang: "Yes sir..."

Hongxi: "Anything else?"

Jiguang: "No sir."

Hongxi: "That will be all."

Jiguang: "Hong-"

Jiguang stopped after catching Hongxi's stare. The stare of a ruthless dictator. Gone were the aloof but reassuring eyes of his old friend. He unconsciously shivered and adverted his eyes.

Hongxi: "That will be all, Governor-General Jiguang."

Jiguang: "Yes your majesty. Jiguang out."

The transmission ended and the window minimized itself to the side. Hongxi let out a sigh and rubbed his temple. His migraines were getting worse by the day. He wasn't himself. He knew this and yet, it felt natural to him.

Pushing back his chair, Hongxi stood up and turned to face the window displaying the planet below. His eyes stared at the window, and his reflection that stared back at him. In his mind's eye, the eyes staring back at him were not his.

Hongxi: "What is our plan...

Plan? Why it's to make them pay.

Yes, pay for what they've done to us.

Pay for what was almost taken away from us.

Pay for the humiliation. The disgrace. The Century of Humiliation. Ahh, I still remember it as if it were just yesterday. Yes, when the disgusting Zebben vermin showed up above my fort. Those ships, so high in the sky that I could do nothing to... Nothing. NOTHING!"

Hongxi caught himself, panting heavily. His clenched fist was plastered to the window and shaking. Streaks of blood dripped down from his fractured knuckles, splattering on the floor below him. He slowly drew back his fist and relaxed it, staring at his bloody palm. His nails had punctured his skin.

Hongxi: "The Alliance, it's the Alliance' fault. They interfered with our neighbors. They STOLE our tributary away from us!

No, it was the New Empire's. They opened the door into the galactic core and paved the way for these foreign barbarians to enter.

You nearsighted fool! It was the Holy Ryuvian Empire. They're the ones who sealed us in here in the first place. I remember it now! Our entire planet, suddenly transported into the galactic core! Everything, lost! All of our technology, our people, our civilization! Our glory, our honor. It was all robbed. The Eons of Strife, the War of the Three Kingdoms, the bloody civil wars, the World War. It was all them! THEM!"

Hongxi came to again, his left hand was gripping the railings by his bed with such strength that his knuckles had turned white. He collapsed against the wall and rested his head against the cool surface. His knees suddenly gave out, causing him to reach out. His palm slapped against the wall as he fell to the floor, leaving behind a red smear. He lied there, staring dizzily at the ceiling. He was tired. So tired... Hongxi closed his eyes and his mind slowly drifted off into slumber.

Hongxi: "What is our mission...

The Elixir of Immortality project...

To preserve the vast knowledge and sagacity of various historical Tianxia leaders.

To prepare humanity against the coming darkness.

To restore Tianxia to its former glory.

To ensure Tianxia's continual survival and to prevent its self-destruction.

To safeguard the stability and prosperity of all under heaven.

No, we're wrong. We are all wrong! We have to make them pay for what they've done to us. To...

To.

To Yayoi.

Yes, we will make them pay for what they've done to Yayoi. It hurts doesn't it? The pain of almost loosing someone you care about. Indeed, that feeling. No! Don't run away, EMBRACE IT!

Yes, it's a terrible feeling isn't it? I too lost someone dear to me. My favorite concubine, a sweet and dear girl. But my first wife grew jealous, and had her assassinated. Haha, the feeling of her soft and tender flesh... Her blood pooling in the palm of my hand. That sweet, sweet feeling...

No, we're too pure for that aren't we. No, that other feeling. That terrible, terrible feeling. Do you remember it? When the walls came crashing in, the explosion, the fire, the screaming... We were fine, we were invincible. Gods among men!

But Yayoi... Our precious. Her screams as the very fires of hell burned away her flesh and beauty. Her frantic eyes panicking as oxygen was ripped from her lungs. Yes, I killed my brother. I was too late in giving the order to warp out of there. I didn't fully grasp the situation. If I had given the order to emergency warp, we probably could have made it... Nothing like when we lost our brothers...

The poison had worked so well. None of the palace guards ever knew. My ascendency was ensured.

Yayoi was different. I liked her, even back at the Academy. I had set my eyes on her.

No... No. No! Preposterous, a Zebben?!

Silence you blasted old racist fool!

Yes, even if she was a Zebben... She walked with the grace Huaxia women did not have.

Something we Huaxia have lost.

And something we will regain! Remember that feeling, yes remember it. Keep it fresh and alive in your heart and I will be here with you... Remember. I was the unifier, I was the one that founded the first empire. I set out with ten thousand men and conquered a million! I did what was impossible and put an end to the warring states! With my knowledge and experience, WE shall do it again!

I-"

Sun-Sin: "Captain?"

Hongxi's eyes snapped open. The sharp knock ripped him from his dream. His throat dry, he rasped in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

Hongxi: "Come in."

The door hissed open and in stepped Sun-Sin. His eyes locked on Hongxi's collapsed body and the smears of blood on the wall.

Sun-Sin: "Captain!"

He dropped the files in his arms and rushed over to Hongxi, gingerly checking for any other wounds.

Sun-Sin: "Captain! What happened?! Medic, security! Captain's quarters, now!"

Hongxi: "I am... Quite fine, Sun-Sin. I am fine."

Sun-Sin: "With all due respect sir, no! You are not fine! These wounds are self-inflicted aren't they? Captain, you need help. You're..."

Sun-Sin choked on his last words and swallowed them but Hongxi knew what he was going to say.

Hongxi: "You're the closest person I have to a father... No Sun-Sin. There will be others. There will always... Be others to replace me."

Sun-Sin: "No! No one else... You are you! Come, the medics are here. Let's get you patched up."

The medics rushed into the room, sparing not a single moment to process the situation. Hongxi was slid onto a stretcher and ushered from the room with Sun-Sin hot on their trail.