The People's Prince
By
Damien
Part X:
Lord Tenchi Jurai Masaki, of the House Masaki
Warning: There is some violence in this chapter.
Cast: Tenchi Masaki, Noboyuki Masaki, Lord Remus, Lord Leeber Kyogou,
Aeka Jurai Masaki, Susan Graham, High Priest Bodan, Lady Mariko Kyogou,
Ryoko Hakubi, Sana Kurata, Lord Nephrus, Marshall Kiramitsu,
Mihoshi Kiramitsu, Megami Masaki, Prof. Yakage, Chief Swyte,
Sasami Jurai Masaki, Lady Sakuya Bushi, Minagi,
Washu Hakubi, Lord Seiryo Bushi, Makuya Masaki,
Treeships: Aeka – Ryu-oh
Seiryo - Reijin
Sasami – Tsunami
Nephrus - Susano-oh
Yosho – Funaho
Mariko – Chuukou
Story Summary: Seiryo, Bodan and Leeber are secretly meeting to discuss ways to remove the Masaki's from the throne. The Queens, Funaho and Misaki, aware of this secret meeting, have traveled to Earth to retrieve their wayward children so that uncertainty of succession can be clarified. Their hope is to convince Tenchi to come to Jurai, so that Aeka and Sasami would follow. How they achieve this is still unclear to Funaho, but to Misaki it is simple… Aeka seduces Tenchi. As for Tenchi? He has escorted Mihoshi to a GP function, with the other girls quickly following. Waiting for Tenchi at the ball is Susan Graham, a reporter looking to expose all the dark secrets of Jurai's nobility. Also there is Sana, a pirate whose ship was destroyed by the wraith like ship Megami who is also looking to meet Tenchi. But this is not the only intrigue, Emperor Azusa has a plan that Prof Yakaage is carrying out through his creation Minagi. And both Lady Sakuya and Lord Nephrus have their own designs for the throne. In all this chaos, Mihoshi's direct superior, Chief Swyte, has been murdered, but by whom and why?
"What in Nireese's Moons is going on! What do you mean Chief Swyte is dead?" The marshall demanded of the officer. It was a question many present wished they could answer, not only for the marshall's benefit but for their own peace of mind as well. But there would be no peace here. The room, the nerve center of the station was bristling with activity as the duty crew tried to ascertain the identity and whereabouts of the ones who had destroyed the guard force. Now it appeared that death and destruction had moved inside the station. Chief Swyte was dead.
The duty officer, a man with speckled yellow brown hair, had spent what felt like his entire life in this room, but never did his job pain him as it did today. Swyte was a good man and it was becoming very difficult for him to keep a level of professional detachment. "When Swyte did not show up at the ball as expected, one of his subordinates went to his office to check on him. He was found slumped over his desk. Chief Swyte appears to have been shot multiple times with an energy weapon. Preliminary reports are showing the energy signature of the weapon to be consistent with…"
"Let me guess… pirates," the marshal spat.
"I do not think you should jump to such conclusions just yet, Marshall Kiramitsu," Remus advised. "Wait until you have all the facts. Also, I think it time we begin thinking about getting the dignitaries off of the station. I don't like the fact that the First Princess is practically unguarded."
"This is GALAXY POLICE HEADQUARTERS! How more secure can you get?" yelled the marshal in indignation.
Everyone in the room paused what they were doing to look in his direction. Noticing that all eyes were on him and realizing that the younger officers present were most likely looking towards him for support, Marshall Kiramitsu knew now was not the time to let his emotions get the better of him. He took a moment to calm himself, before reaching over to a comm. panel.
"Have the 5th special operations team report to the reception hall. No one is allowed with in one hundred meters of the hall without my explicit consent!" Marshall Kiramitsu ordered, receiving a quick acknowledgement. "Also have LtCol. Inis of Sirius Battalion contacted, we made need support from the Galaxy Army, and hers is the closest garrison."
Given their tasks those present in the room, gladly buried their anxieties in their work, leaving Lord Remus, the marshal and the senior duty officer free to continue their conversation.
"Lord Remus is right, Sir, about the pirates. The analysis shows the energy signature to be consistent with a type four Tium energy ring."
"Not exactly a pirate's choice of weapon," nodded the marshall.
"Oh?" Lord Remus seemed to question. "Why is that? They are easily concealed as they can pass for normal jewelry. With all the glitter and finery worn by your guests in the reception hall, I would think it a logical choice for a pirate assassin."
A derisive chuckle escaped the marshal's lips before he could smother it. "Ha, perhaps Juraian intelligence isn't what it used to be. While what you say is true, we have recent intel that traces this particular type of weapon to Airi extremists.
"Airi? What is the connection to between Chief Swyte and the Airians?" Lord Remus asked.
The duty officer spoke up. "Well, the obvious answered to that is that Chief Swyte is from Airi. But that doesn't even come close to answering why the extremist would want him dead."
Hearing is a hard thing to turn off, especially when it concerns the reason behind a respected man's death. While they continued to work at the commands given them, several members of the junior police officers present in the control center couldn't help but quietly discuss what their superiors were saying.
"Airi extremists?" a lieutenant asked his colleague.
His friend, also a lieutenant waited for an opportunity to answer. "The people of Airi believe in a trinity of goddesses," he replied during a break in the comm. traffic. "They call them the Choushin or the three sisters. I'm not too sure who the other two Choushin are, but one of them is called Tsunami."
"Tsunami, like the Jurai mother tree, Tsunami?"
"The one and the same, but the Juraians do not worship Tsunami as a diety."
That piece of information surprised his friend. "Really? I always thought the opposite."
"Well, there are some and a couple are pretty influential, like that Priest Bodan on the Jurai Council, but the vast majority of Juraians are secular. I guess to them, Tsunami is just a tree, a really powerful tree, but a tree. That's what the Airi extremists don't like. There has always been friction between Jurai and Airi over Tsunami. Airians think no one should possess Tsunami, the extremist go further accuse the Juraians of somehow subjugating Tsunami to do their bidding. They would do anything to free her."
"If the Tsunami tree is a goddess like the Airians think, how could Juraians hold her captive? Do they think they trapped her in that tree or something?" the lieutenant scoffed.
"Like I know…" he paused to enter in the data coming in from Sirius Battalion. "They don't call them extremists because their reasonable. If you ask me, all the Airians are wacko. Who would worship a tree?"
"Do you have a television?" Funaho asked, her expression extremely serious. Looking into her eyes, Noboyuki almost felt his life depended on his answer.
"Uh, well, I know we had one before I moved into town," Noboyuki thought out loud, his eyes searching for the set in the room.
"Before you moved?" Misaki queried "You mean you no longer live here?"
Pausing from his visual search of the room, Noboyuki turned to answer the queen. "No, I gave my old office to Mihoshi and of course, Aeka and Sasami have my old bed room. So, I to be closed to work, I decided to rent a small apartment in the city. I usually spend weekends here at the house."
"So," Misaki began, still holding on to baby Mayuka possessively. "It's just Tenchi and a house full of young ladies."
While the conversation between Misaki and Noboyuki continued, Funaho searched the room for the television or some kind of monitor. She held no doubt in her mind that one was here and with Washu in the house, she was equally sure it had access to more than just terrestrial signals. Finally, she spotted what looked like a remote. Upon quick inspection of the device, she pressed the button marked television being careful to give the button titled self destruct a wide berth.
"Something going on?" Misaki asked.
It wasn't necessary for Funaho to reply as the answer to her sister's question became more than evident the second the screen came to life. Behind two newscaster, a stoic looking Princess Aeka stood with her sister, Sasami smiling happily next to her, waving. Also in the picture was Mihoshi, who seemed to be searching the crowd for someone. The female newscaster, who appeared quite excited, seemed to be speaking. Funaho turned up the volume.
"We interrupt our normal programming with a special report… Not long ago, an unprecedented news conference was held by First Queen Funaho Jurai Masaki addressing some concerns voiced over the extended absences of Crowned Prince Yosho, First Princess Aeka and Princess Sasami. Even after Queen Funaho's assurance that the princesses would return within the year and the showing of several photos of the missing princesses, there remained some doubt over their whereabouts and safety. But as you can now, with your own eyes, all our worries were unfounded."
"Not only have the princesses returned but they make their debut at a relatively low key and unimportant Galaxy Police function. What do you make out of this most surprising event?" asked turning to her male colleague.
"What I can offer is only speculation. We know that the House of Masaki has declined the overtures from House Bushi concerning the marriage of the First Princess to Lord Seiryo Bushi. This was seen as quite surprising by most experts, who follow Juraian politics, as with the disappearance of the First Prince, the marriage seemed the best chance for House Masaki to retain the thrown and avoid challenges from the other noble houses. Perhaps here, we are beginning to see the thinking behind House Masaki's moves. Could they be trying to formulate more populace support? The Juraian Emperor's marriage to the Lady Funaho was seen as divisive to many and some have speculated that his second marriage to Lady Misaki of House Kamiki was purely to pacify the conservative wings on the Council. Maybe the disappearance of Prince Yosho whose popularity paled before that of Princess Aeka was no accident but a scripted maneuver by House Masaki."
The woman newscaster nodded her head. "Interesting, but originally were not Prince Yosho and Princess Aeka to marry? Why abandon that plan?"
The man smiled, secure in the logic of his premise. "Because that would have merely recreated the problems started by the Emperor's marriage to Queen Funaho."
"So you say," the woman responded. "But is Princess Aeka's position alone enough to hold the throne? Ascendance to the Jurai throne is not through suffrage. While popularity is important, it is the magnitude of power that decides who will become the next king or dare I say queen. There are at least two houses with heirs who may have more measurable power than the First Princess."
"The First Princess, yes, but what about the second?" the man speculated feeling smug.
"Hmm?"
The man gestured at the screen behind him. "Lost in all this excitement of the princesses return after so many centuries is the debut of Princess Sasami, who has never been seen in public before and rarely without one of her parents." The view zooms in on Princess Sasami. "And gone are her ponytails, a traditional sign of the end of adolescences. Could it be that Princess Sasami has finally been joined to a tree-ship? Or possibly has become engaged to the heir of another powerful house? A marriage of Sasami to Lord Nephrus of House Rimiku would be quite strong and immensely popular…"
"That's little Aeka… and Sasami… and Mihoshi!" Misaki said with obvious surprise. "Where… what is this… Wait… the Galaxy Police Ball!" Misaki deduced. "Why are they there?"
Funaho's eyes did not move from the screen where a regally dressed Aeka stood next to a new look Sasami, her signature ponytails lost in a singular waterfall of blue. With them was Mihoshi, looking professional and refined in her dress uniform. Though they were not visible on screen, Funaho was quite certain Ryoko was nearby. Funaho was also immensely curious as to what the usually scandalously dressed former demon pirate chose to wear.
That only left two others and although Funaho very much wanted Aeka, Sasami and Yosho to return with her to Jurai so her family could be whole, she wanted these other two more. As much as she loved her family, Funaho loved Jurai just as much. It was Washu and Tenchi she most wanted to take to Jurai. It was Washu and Tenchi that Jurai had to have.
"Washu is there."
Noboyuki wasn't sure whether or not Funaho's words were a statement or a question, but he answered in either case. "Yes, she and Sasami left a few hours after the others. Washu is quite cute in her child guise, but she is a goddess as an adult."
"What? What do you mean?" Misaki asked. Funaho too interrupted her scrutiny of the newscast to look questioningly at Noboyuki.
"Uh," Noboyuki hesitated. "You don't know about Washu?" Perhaps he wasn't the only one kept in the dark about the goings on in the house. "I would have thought…" he began but didn't finish. Maybe it was something private for Washu… maybe she hadn't told anyone else. 'Besides Tenchi,' he recalled.
"Washu is a mystery to many people. If you have insight into her, consider yourself privileged," Funaho commented. Internally, she frowned. 'Yet more I don't know.' Her only real source for information was the occasional missive from Aeka or intercepted report from Mihoshi through her contact in the Galaxy Police. While Mihoshi's reports were quite detailed, it was extremely rare that she mentioned any of the extended Masaki "family". Unless, of course, one or more of those family members were involved in an incident, such as what happened with Kagato.
It was even rarer for Aeka or Mihoshi to provide any actionable intelligence. "This insight you have... It wouldn't happen to be worth sharing? Misaki and I would like to know as much as we can about those who live with our daughters."
This gave Noboyuki pause, as it was the argument he had used in an attempt to illicit more information out of Washu the night he had found out about her adult form. "I think I'll just say that Washu is more mature than I gave her credit."
"I see," commented Funaho. She then decided that Washu would likely follow the others and the others would follow Tenchi. "Seeing as how everyone is dressed so beautifully," Funaho said looking again at the screen. "I can only imagine how handsomely Tenchi is dressed." The real question was where was he? Why wasn't Aeka at his side? 'Perhaps he is avoiding the press?' Funaho could only hope. 'With luck he will remain inconspicuous.'
"Ha! No need to imagine!" Noboyuki claimed excitedly. He jumped from his seat and quickly disappeared from the room. Mere seconds later, he returned with numerous photos in hand. "They looked as though they stepped out of a story book, don't they?" he asked, handing the photos to Funaho.
"This is what Tenchi wore?" Funaho asked her eyes wide with shock.
Noboyuki came around to see what picture she was looking at. It happened to be one of Tenchi and Mihoshi. "Sure did, Mihoshi asked Tenchi to be her escort. And you know there was no way the others were going to stay behind.
"They all left in Ryo Ohki? Or did Mihoshi take them in her ship?"
"Hmm… If I recall correctly…" Noboyuki started, thinking back. "Something was wrong with Mihoshi's ship, so they took a different one. The Aeka followed in her ship and Ryoko left in Ryo Ohki."
"Aeka's Ryu-Oh? It's been repaired?" Misaki asked, finally returning Mayuka to her grandfather. Afterward, she began to look at the pictures with Funaho.
"I guess."
Funaho absorbed that piece of information. "I see. If Mihoshi's ship is damaged and Aeka and Ryoko each took their own ship, what ship did Mihoshi and Tenchi take?"
"I believe they called it Funaho, maybe it was named after you?"
Funaho's eyes narrowed, she had heard enough. "You'll have to forgive our rudeness, but my Sister and I really need to be going. I am certain we will meet again soon," she said before bowing. She then purposefully made her way to the door.
"Yes, we still need to make arrangements for Tenchi and Little Aeka," Misaki agreed and after bowing to Noboyuki, herself, made her way to the door.
Ryoko and her "hostage", who was but a step ahead of her, were nearing the corridor leading to the banquet hall, when "Captain" Megami came to a sudden stop. Having quite easily hacked into the Galaxy Police mainframe, she had been monitoring the various transmissions both inside and outside the station.
Ryoko, who had been following directly on the small woman's heels, was forced to stop also. "What is it? Why did you stop?" Ryoko asked with impatience.
From her monitoring of the stations communication, Megami learned that the hall where Tenchi was located had been sealed to all entry and was being guarded by a contingent of elite special operations officers. In addition, several cruisers from a nearby galaxy army garrison were being mobilized. Megami was not all that concerned about the approaching cruisers, the guards were another matter. Although she wasn't nearly as intimidating in this form as opposed to the other, she wasn't without offense capabilities. Still, she was far more vulnerable now then she would have liked. The real problem was Ryoko.
Eliminating the guards, while possible, would surely give her away. Ryoko could even rightly deduce that it was Megami that destroyed the guard fleet. If that occurred, Ryoko would not allow her to approach Tenchi, which would lead to a confrontation between herself and Ryoko. That outcome had to be avoided at all cost. 'What I could do,' Megami thought to herself. '…is keep playing the hostage. Then when we reach the guards, cry out for help. When they try to subdue Ryoko, I can use the distraction to reach Master Tenchi,' she concluded, satisfied with her strategy. The entire deliberation took a matter of seconds.
"Nothing is wrong," Megami quickly answered. "I was a little confused as to which way to go next."
"It's straight ahead," Ryoko quipped. Now that she was this close, she really didn't this GP officer any more. 'Still, I may need her to get into the room,' Ryoko reasoned to herself. "C'mon, let's go!"
"Right!" Megami enthused and the two began to head down the final hallway.
"Wait!" a voice called from behind them. Ryoko immediately disappeared; leaving Megami alone in the middle of the hall, save for the small cabbit at her feet. For her part, Megami was surprised it took Sana this long to make her presence known.
Sana skidded to halt as she saw Ryoko disappear. While she couldn't read minds, Sana could tell from Megami's emotional state that she was planning to betray Ryoko. Wanting to warn the famous pirate had caused Sana to come out of hiding. She knew Ryoko was still nearby, sensing her emotions as well. They were coming from…
Before Sana could complete the thought a hand materialized around her neck and lifted her off the ground.
"Don't move a muscle if you want to keep your head on your shoulders."
"Wait, you don't understand!" Sana said as best she could, trying to catch her breath.
"Oh? And what is it I don't understand, Miss GP?" Ryoko asked with edged curiosity.
Sana's eyes drifted to where Megami stood. Megami's own eyes blinked innocently, as if daring Sana to reveal her secret. Biting her lower lip, Sana decided to trust in all the stories and legends concerning Ryoko's strength and fighting prowess. 'She can do it,' Sana tried to convince herself. 'Ryoko can beat Megami.' Sana turned her head to address Ryoko. "The truth is…"
Before she could finish, the troopers the marshal had sent to augment security rounded the corner and jumped to the obvious conclusion.
"This is Bravo team leader, we have a hostage situation in corridor sixty-four section seven. Request back up."
"Acknowledged, Bravo team leader, we're sending two more teams to your location. Their ETA is four minutes," a voice from the operations center came from his ear piece. "Be advised, that yours is the only ops team in the area. There is some security between you and "Oxford", but their effectiveness is questionable. At all cost, you are to detain the subjects and allow no further penetration toward 'Oxford'. The hostage is of secondary concern."
"Understood, securing the area," Bravo team leader replied. He raised his hand high enough for his team to see and gave them several hand gestures.
His team made no acknowledgement, but quickly took up positions. They understood that weapons status was free and the rules of engagement had changed.
"Engage the containment field for sector 7-2 in corridor sixty-four," the team leader said into his comms piece.
While her own eyes stayed firmly on the soldiers in front of her, Ryoko could see through her link with Ryo Ohki that a containment field had sprung up just behind her. The field separated her from Ryo Ohki and the disguised Megami, both of whom were on the opposite side.
It didn't take Megami long to realize that she had just been "rescued". With the special operations team preoccupied with Ryoko, she could easily reach her master. She quickly turned on her heels and headed down the hall. The guards paid her no mind, figuring she was just fleeing Ryoko.
Sana, who was still being held tightly by Ryoko, began to struggle desperately when she saw Megami run off. "Don't… let her… get away!" she choked out.
Her expression not changing from the determination that more than evident in her eyes, Ryoko was, nonetheless confused by what Sana had just said. 'Who was she talking to? And why didn't she want that woman to get away?'
Ryoko tightened her grip, not wanting her last bargaining chip to escape. "What are you talking about?" she asked her captive.
Sana's response was interrupted by one of the officers. "Ryoko! Release your hostage. There are containment fields cutting off this entire area. Not even you can teleport through!"
"This is a misunderstanding. I have friends at the ball!"
With his troops in place, the team leader was confident enough to scoff at Ryoko's excuse. "You expect us to believe that an excriminal such as yourself is an acquaintance of one of the dignitaries?"
"Look, I'm not here to start trouble and even if I was you and your little group of merry men couldn't handle me. But you don't have to take my word for it." Slowly, as not to incite any members of the ops team to do something stupid, Ryoko removed her arm from around Sana's neck and held both hands in the air. "Either Detective First Class Mihoshi or Princess Aeka can vouch for me," Ryoko explained, not quite believing she was depending on her relationship with the Juraian princess to avoid trouble. Even the fact that she was trying to talk her way out of this situation, instead of killing everyone was vastly different from herself of seven hundred years ago.
Still not quite buying her story, the senior officer present called in what he heard. "This is Bravo team leader, need to confirm that the excriminal Ryoko is guest of Detective First Class Mihoshi and First Princess Aeka."
"Stand by," the reply came back.
At that moment, two additional teams officers appeared in the wide corridor, a small badge they wore on their uniforms allowing them to pass through the containment fields that now blocked each section of hall. One team took up position on the opposite side of the containment field between Ryoko and the banquet hall, which was still quite a ways down the hall. The second team split into two equal sections and placed themselves on Ryoko's sides, effectively surrounding her. The officers were mindful of their lines of fire as not to hit their colleagues in case it was necessary to use force. Each of them held their guns at the ready.
"While we wait for confirmation, permit your hostage to move away," the team leader said while motioning Sana to move towards him.
Sana's eyes darted from Ryoko to the officer and back again. Truth be told the pirate, Sana, was far more comfortable at Ryoko's side than she would ever be standing with some GP commando. Even more important, none of them had time for this! Megami could reach her "master" at any moment and as far as Sana was concerned, this could not be allowed. Whatever she did she would need to do it soon. The unease she was sensing from some of the officers present told her it would not take much to goad them into firing their weapons.
Ryoko could probably walk away from a fire fight, but she would be as good as dead. And this Ryoko…she was vastly different than the impulsively violent and terrifying Ryoko of legend and rumor. This Ryoko, while impatient and worried, was also collected and her fury that was more than evident was tempered. Even the tales of Ryoko's beauty were wrong as far as Sana was concerned. None of the rumors came close to describing her. 'Well, it could be the dress…' Sana thought blushingly.
Ryoko looked at Sana and came to a decision. She would trust Mihoshi and Aeka to get her out of this. "Go ahead… get!" Ryoko said, shooing Sana away with a wave of her hand.
Instead of moving away, Sana stepped closer to Ryoko. "Eveyone, listen! That woman, who was here earlier dressed as a captain, is not what she appears to be. She is the one who destroyed your fleet," Sana pleaded to those who would listen. "You've got to stop her before she reaches someone named Tenchi!"
The officers present looked at each other wondering whether or not to put any stock into what the woman had said. Those words however had confirmed Ryoko's fears. She spun Sana around and gripped her tightly by the shoulders, lifting the frightened woman into the air so that they were eye to eye. "Who is she! Why is she after Tenchi!" Ryoko demanded urgently.
Ryoko's sudden movement put the trooper on edge again. Their fingers quickly went to the triggers of their weapons. "Release her Ryoko or we will be forced to take action!"
"Shut up!" Ryoko called over her shoulder to the troops before returning her attention to Sana. "Well?" she prefaced, shaking Sana. "What does she want with Tenchi!"
Sana was curious to know how Ryoko knew this Tenchi person, but her empathic power told her now was not the time to ask. "Her… her name is Megami or at least that's what she calls herself. I'm not sure what she plans to do once she meets Tenchi, but it is all she talks about. She'll kill or destroy anything or anyone who gets in her way."
Ryoko's eyes narrowed dangerously as she gritted her teeth, baring her fangs. "Let's see her get past me!"
Ryoko took a quick step in the direction Megami had disappeared to when an energy round just missed her head. She turned to look furiously at the man who had fired at her.
"Don't move, Ryoko. We will confirm your story with Detective Mihoshi and if what she says…"
"Didn't you here what she just said?" Ryoko shouted while pointing at Sana.
The officer's calm reply was a stark contrast to Ryoko's question. "If what she says is true, then the impostor will be dealt with. All the guests are in a secure location and under heavy guard. That little girl will get no where near them."
"That 'little girl' destroyed three pirate battleships with almost no effort. She won't care the least about killing anyone you put in her way. She killed all my friends without a shred of remorse. Humans are just bugs to her!"
"Well, if she kill pirates she can't be all bad," one member of the team joked.
Sana looked at him angrily. "Are you forgetting about your guard fleet? How many Galaxy Police officers died?"
"As if that girl could destroy the guard fleet.'
Sana couldn't believe how obstinate these officers were being. She could tell that most didn't believe her and the rest felt that Ryoko was the bigger threat.
"Quiet," the group's leader ordered. "Just come with us, Ryoko. We will handle the situation."
"Like Hell!" and with those words, Ryoko faded from sight.
Several officers opened fire, forcing Sana to drop to the ground her hands covering her head in terror. The more experienced officers kept their fingers on the trigger and scanned the area waiting for Ryoko to reappear.
Mere seconds after disappearing, two hands phased into existence around Sana, picking her up from the ground. The she too disappeared, leaving the officers as the only ones visible in the hall.
"Shit! She got away," someone cursed.
"No! She's still here!" the group leader quickly told them. "The containment fields are still in place. There is no way she could have gotten out."
Sana found herself pressed protectively against Ryoko's side as fire from the surrounding officers passed safely through her. It took her a moment to realize what Ryoko had done… not that Sana had a clue on how Ryoko's powers worked. Somehow she and Ryoko were out of phase with the matter around them. Sana recalled that Megami had done something similar, but unlike that time, Sana was far from scared. In fact, crushed comfortably to Ryoko's side, Sana could feel herself getting warm and she was quite certain a blush could be found on her face.
"Watch me get out!" Sana heard Ryoko say as the demon pirate reached up to the lone earring she was wearing. Removing it, she then threw it at the field in front of her.
The officers watched in shock as a small red bead appeared from thin air and shot toward the end of the hall way. A few had the good sense to dive to the ground, but in the end it made little difference.
The faux gem was held in the air by the containment field before it exploded violently. The two fields held back the explosive force for a few seconds then collapsed. The officers between the fields were torn to pieces despite their armored uniforms and body strengthening. The officers lucky enough to be on the other side of the field, survived but were nevertheless throne forcefully against the walls and down the hall when the field failed.
Sana could not help but cringe and close her eyes at the flash of the explosion, but just as the sounds from the rifles had passed through her, so did the force of the explosion. She and Ryoko then phased back into the area. As soon as Ryoko place Sana down, the shocked Sana sank to her knees. The pirate raids she had been on never left carnage like this. She looked up to see Ryoko's feral expression, but unlike most people, it fascinated Sana. The beautiful dress she had worn was replaced by a form fitting red and black full body suit that appeared painted on. Now this was the Ryoko the legends spoke of.
Ryoko's eyes quickly scanned the area for any additional signs of trouble. The few remaining members of the operations team who were still alive were in no condition to hinder her further. Sana could feel a flash of regret course through Ryoko as she looked at the officers, but it was quickly overwhelmed by feelings of worry and resolve. "Can't say I didn't give you a chance to do the right thing," Ryoko said, leaning over one of the fallen officers. "But I'd see you all burn before I'd stand by and let my Tenchi be hurt," Ryoko said resolutely. She then snatched the small communicator badge from the officer's armor.
"Ah!" Sana said in realization and looked for a badge of her own. "With these we should be able to pass through any other containment fields just like they did." Finally, Sana found one that still appeared to be in working order. She smiled and turned towards Ryoko, but the beautiful pirate was gone. "Damn it," Sana said aloud and raced down the hall.
She caught a glimpse of Ryoko appear and then disappear again further away. There was no way Sana was going to be able to keep up. 'She's more than in a hurry.' Then Sana recalled how Ryoko had referred to Tenchi as being hers. There were plenty of rumors going around that Ryoko had found a man and had settled down. Sana had never believed until now.
Sana frowned as she continued to rush down the hall. "Could she really have a boy friend? Who is this Tenchi?!"
"Who is Tenchi?"
The Princess double blinked. "I am sorry, could you repeat that?"
'As many times as necessary,' Susan thought. "Yes, Princess, my question was…"
At that moment the large doors to the hall burst open and a great number of armed officers dressed in body armor came into the room. Their weapons were pointed at the ground but their fingers were on near the triggers.
Some of their number quickly surrounded the two Princesses and the remainder of the troops further dispersed themselves to cover the room's exits. Confusion began to spread as the guests had no idea what was going on.
"What is the meaning of this?" Princess Aeka demanded of the men around her as she and her sister were politely but firmly herded away from the door.
"There has been an incident, Princess. We are moving you to a more secure location."
"Aeka, I'm going to go see what's happening," Mihoshi said, already moving towards the door.
"What?" Aeka replied. "Something has happened?" 'Is that why Lord Tenchi and Ryoko are not here?' Aeka thought worriedly. "What incident?" Aeka questioned, grabbing the closest soldier by the neck opening of his body armor.
"I don't have that information. Please, Princess, we must get you to safety."
"Then stand aside. I must know that he is well." Aeka spoke, beginning to force her way through the soldiers.
Susan grasped her hover camera out of the air and placed the control system on manual. She wanted to be sure nothing was left to chance and that everything was on record. She had tried to get closer to Aeka and Sasami, but there was no getting past the GP guards. Susan was forced to shout out her questions over the rising voice in the room. "Princess! Princess! Who are you so concerned about! Is it Tenchi? Is it Prince Yosho!" She held the camera above her head with both hands, trying to get Aeka in the shot. Susan contemplated putting the camera on pursue and have it track Princess Aeka's movements, but she feared the officers would shoot or confiscate the camera. Everything around her was of secondary concern; she didn't even care why the soldiers were here. Her whole focus was Princess Aeka, and her sister. This was so true that the man behind her had to poke her a second time with the small knife he had concealed.
Susan cringed with pain as she felt a sharp prick on her left side. She looked down to see a man's fist pressed against her. The man removed the fist and Susan could see a long pin protruding from a ring the man wore. She looked up at the man in fear. 'I've gotten too close! Now they are trying to kill me!' Susan thought in a combination of fear and anger.
The man stepped up against her and whispered into her ear. "Did you really think you could cheat the Yellow Skulls and get away with it?" He then used the confusion in the room to slip unnoticed into the crowd.
Susan could sense a feeling of cold spread from the area of her wound and her vision began to blur. The Yellow Skull pirates were the group she had used to acquire the contraband transceiver without which she wouldn't have been able to intercept the GP transmissions that led her onto this story. She had nowhere near enough to pay the desired price for the equipment, so she mere tricked them. Susan had thought she had been forgotten, or rather she had hoped. Her friend Miho had warned her.
'Mother,' Susan thought, her legs beginning to tire just from standing. 'I need to get to Mother.' Her hand reached to her neck and the necklace that hung there. Susan grasped the handcrafted wooden brooch on the end of the necklace and small amethyst gem on it began to glow. But nothing else happened. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for what could be preventing her from transporting from the room. Susan's gaze then fell on the soldiers. 'Some kind of shield?' she guessed just as her legs buckled.
Strong arms caught her before she struck the ground.
The elaborate folds of Aeka's kimono began to ripple as her body began to resonate with the power of her second generation tree, Ryu Oh. While the shields put in place by the GP blocked transport, they could not block the flow of power between a tree-ship and its partner the way Kagato had been able to do. Several soldiers backed away from the princess, frightened by the sheer force of her will.
These men would not stop her. Nothing in this room or on this station was going to stop her. Aeka would smear these men against the wall with her force fields before she would let them prevent her from finding Tenchi and ensure his welfare.
"I shall say it a final time… stand aside."
"That can't be allowed!"
The officer who had spoke had been in the service for ten years and had seen all manner of situations, but never had fear attempt to grip him as it was now. The young princess turned her deep maroon eyes upon him with such determination that he could only wonder at the strength and will of the man who could refuse her.
"If you do not remove yourself from my path…" Aeka began in a voice that demanded nothing but obedience.
"Aeka, what's going on?" Sasami asked, tugging Aeka's sleeve.
Aeka turned her gaze to the only person who could have prevented her from storming out of the room to search for Tenchi.
'I can not leave Sasami alone in the care of these strangers and… and… Tenchi can take care of himself,' Aeka thought looking into Sasami's worried pink eyes. "I am sure whatever the concern is, these gentlemen have matters well under control." Aeka turned to the man she had been threatening only moments before. "Is that not correct, Officer?" She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
The man gulped and saluted. "Yes, of course, if you would please come this way?" He pointed in the direction of a heavy guard of men.
"I will, on the condition that you send some men to locate Lord Tenchi Jurai Masaki and have him escorted to me immediately."
The officer looked back at two of his men, who saluted and went off to do as the Jurai princess had ordered.
Aeka grasped her sister's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Smiling to her she led Sasami to the guards. "Let us go, Sasami."
Sasami nodded. "I hope Tenchi and Ryoko are okay."
"I am sure they are," Aeka assured, though internally she too was worried. 'They better be.'
'Damn the Galaxy Police,' Sakuya cursed, seeing Tenchi turn from her and Nephrus to discern what was going on. He was watching the Galaxy Police heard the crowd towards two exits. 'Things had been going so well too!' She sighed and placed her hand on to Nephrus's hand that still gripped her arm. Her touch caused Nephrus to look towards Sakuya.
Spotting something that concerned him, Tenchi shot off into the crowd.
Now that they were alone, Nephrus turned fully to face Sakuya. "What was that about?" he asked of her.
"What do you mean?" she asked casually, looking in the direction Tenchi had disappeared.
Nephrus looked at him incredulously. "I am talking about the scene you caused."
Sakuya gently but demonstratively removed his hand from her arm. "You do not own me. I will do as I please when it pleases me."
Nephrus gaze lingered on her for a protracted moment, before he smiled with a bow. Sakuya's personality was just one of the things that he found enchanting about her and he would be the man to have her. Just as he would be the man to sit the throne next. "Oh, but I do own you, my Sweet, you'll see."
Now that angered Sakuya and her green eyes glowered at him. She had half a mind to sleep with Tenchi just to spite him. She would have left him standing there if the Galaxy Police hadn't finally reached them.
"Lord Nephrus, Lady Sakuya, we need you to come with us."
Either she had been in that lab of hers for too long or the contingent of guards blocking her path were a bunch of eunuchs. Running a hand through her silken red hair, Washu placed the other onto her hip and decided to give it one more go. "You're really not going to let harmless me through?" Washu asked with a pout. "It's just cute little me."
The guards were ignoring her now, having tired of her previous attempts. They remained at the ready, their eyes watching the corridor. All of them were expecting the pirate Ryoko at any moment, having received a report that the team who had cornered her earlier had been decimated. They had no time to mess with little girls. They had already warned her that if she did not leave the area immediately she would be placed under arrest.
Seeing as how they were no longer even talking to her, Washu sighed and began to walk back the other way. Apparently, cute doesn't get you very far these days. Reaching the midpoint in the hallway, Washu stopped and leaned against the wall. Like Megami, Washu decided to hack into the station's communication system. As she was likely still in view of the augmented senses of the guards, Washu canted her shoulder away from their sight and summoned her holo-computer.
Despite the numerous firewalls and security measures employed by the GP to protect its computer network, it did not take the diminutive scientist long to gain full access. 'I really should talk to someone in charge and convince them to upgrade their O/S. I could give them a great deal on a nigh impenetrable system…' she thought with a note of greed. 'The way it is now almost any genius could get in.' Probing a bit further, Washu discovered just how true her words were. Besides herself, there were three other break ins. The first two occurred about two hours ago and seemed to be concentrated to the records database. But it was the third infiltration that really caught Washu's interest. It was still active.
'Oh, you're good,' Washu said in compliment to the hacker. 'Not only have you managed to mask your signal, you've gained access control to ninety percent of the system…' Suddenly, Washu's head perked up as she realized the source of the signal was quickly approaching her.
Washu now knew why she wasn't allowed to enter the banquet hall and that the fleet of ships that had been on defensive patrol had been destroyed. It didn't take much of a leap in logic to wager that the person or persons taking control of the Galaxy Police's internal net were also connected to the events outside the station. Which meant a very dangerous person could be making their way towards her. How interesting… Ryoko was the brawler in the family; not that Washu was without offense of her own.
Washu cast a disapproving glance back towards the officers guarding the door. 'I'm sure you gentlemen have had lots of training and possess the latest and greatest gadgets, but I can't leave my family's protection up to you.' Dismissing her laptop, Washu pushed herself off the wall and stood in the middle of the hall. Five hundred meters behind her was the banquet hall where she suspected Mihoshi, Tenchi, Aeka and Sasami were. To her front was two thousand meters of empty hallway that ended in a T-section. With her far from average vision, Washu could see another team of officers were guarding that intersection and if her calculations were correct, they were going to have company real soon.
All at once, the lights and artificial gravity went out in the hallway. The emergency lights, each with individual power sources, switched on as their sensors detected the decrease in ambient light. Unfortunately, the backup system for the artificial gravity system, while on a different control scheme than the primary system, it was still computer activated. It did not activate as Megami had gained control over all networked systems.
As Washu readied herself, floating serenely in the hall, she could see that the tactic had partially worked.
The guards at the T-section were prepared for the low light, both equipment wise and through physical enhancements. So the lights going out served as little more than a momentary surprise. The loss of gravity was a little harder to deal with. All of them were trained for zero – g combat and each of them were wearing gravity boots. They merely had to decide which to use…
The time it took them to decide was all their assailant needed.
There were a total of six guards that Washu could see. Two guards used their boots to invert themselves towards the ceiling. A second pair remained on the ground and the last pair was free floating about ten meters ahead of their teammates. From her vantage point, Washu could not see their attacker.
Ryoko's broken through containment… heading to your sector. Detain her at all costs… Deadly force is authorized
This was Staf's first real mission with his team. Everything up to this point had been training, constantly training. He was at the point he could replace the power cell and depolarize the inductor coils on his rifle in his sleep. As Staf stood upside down from the ceiling and listened to the comms traffic in his earpiece, he was filled with an excitement that could come only from the impending combat. And it was to be with the infamous Ryoko! It was only through great discipline that he didn't shoot the head off of the young Galaxy Police captain that came running towards them screaming for help.
"She's right behind me! Don't let her get me!" the young woman shouted. Megami had heard the explosion Ryoko had caused to escape the containment fields and no doubt that Ryoko was gaining behind her.
All of the officers were aware of the other teams encounter with Ryoko and the hostages she had held. Megami's appearance and story fit right in with the situation as they knew it.
"Get behind us!" Staf shouted, perhaps stepping on the authority of his team leader, but it was excused as he was the newbie.
All eyes remained focus down the hallway, where they expected Ryoko to appear at any moment. Megami was completely ignored as she was about to run past them.
Almost completely ignored.
Perhaps it was because he himself was hanging upside, but Staf began to wonder why that captain was able to run on the ground like that in those ordinary dress shoes with the gravity system down. "Wait a sec…" he called out to Megami who was only steps away.
Megami was through waiting. With a wave of her right hand, Megami sent out an invisible force field at incredible speed that neatly bisected the two officers who had been free floating in front of her.
Staf froze as he saw the torso of one of his buddies float into his field of view. He could feel an acidic taste at the back of his mouth as his stomach continued to convulse. Vaguely he heard the fire from the man next to him and a still coherent part of his consciousness heard the orders to fall back, but Staf couldn't get his body to move. It was as if he had been hypnotized by the small globes of blood that floated in the air.
Staf dropped one hand from his rifle and used it to smack his forehead. Shaking his head clear, he regained his composure and looked around to also regain his bearings. The only ones left were himself and his team leader.
"Staf! Fall back to point one! I'll cover you!" His team leader shouted to him, firing his rifle as he did so.
Megami's shield held against the rounds from the rifle, but the living ship frowned at the amounts of energy she was wasting. She couldn't afford to use much more as she would need vast amounts of power for her meeting with her master. 'I have to end this quickly!'
Out of their view, Washu watched the confrontation with a level of detachment that bothered her. As a scientist she was an observer by nature. Sure she added a catalyst now and then, heated this or that but in the end… for the final result she would merely watch. A question popped into her head. Had she merely watched as her husband and child were taken away? Couldn't she have done something? Anything? 'Are you going to let this continue when you could stop it now before it threatens your new family?' Washu shook her head free of those thoughts. Now was not the time for debate.
Staf began to run when he heard someone shout "Over here". He turned in the direction of the voice to a see a child with long spiky red hair. He immediately ran in her direction. "What are you doing here! He shouted. "You've got to get away from here!" Staf commanded, directing her with his arms to run away. Behind him he heard a loud gurgling sound and he knew without looking that he was the last of his team.
"Go!" Staf shouted a final time to the girl before twisting around firing his weapon. He got off a few shots before a sphere formed around his rifle, severing both his hands. Scared and in pain, Staf dropped to his knees.
Washu reached the end of the corridor to find the young GP operative floating in the air in a fetal position. She quickly determined that he was trapped in a force field, which was quickly shrinking in size.
"Hold on," she called to the imperiled man. She again summoned her holographic laptop and tried to dispel the field, but it was soon too late as the shield had decreased to such a small size that there was no way that Staf could still be alive. "I'm sorry," Washu whispered as the field continued to shrink until it was no longer visible.
Folding her arms across her chest, Washu turned to face Staf's murderer. Many would have been shocked to see that their opponent was a young girl looking to be barely in her teens, but Washu had no room to talk. "That was an interesting use of a containment field. What other tricks do you do?"
The situation in the ballroom had been frenzied but orderly. Although impatiently and at times rudely, the high born guests at the party knew the rules of the game. They each waited their turn to be escorted out of the room to a more secure location, where ever that was. The only real trouble that occurred was when one guest demanded to know why someone else was given precedence in the evacuation order over them. Things continued that way for about twenty minutes with half the guests left in the room when the lights dimmed for a moment and the artificial gravity failed all together. Now it was bedlam.
'It would be comical,' Tenchi thought as he floated in the air and watched the guests yell and scream. '…Watching these people who were so sure of themselves just moments before.' He looked down at the woman in his arms, who was shivering. 'But this isn't funny. I need to get some help for you.' His eyes scanned the room, trying to locate someone who can help.
Susan felt so cold she was glad when her legs went numb and she was disoriented enough without floating around the room. Despite the fear that she was slowly dying pervading through her entire being, Susan refused to succumb just yet. With what strength she had left she reached for the wooden brooch that hung from her neck, but her arms too were now numb. Tears fell freely down her neck. 'Miyo was right,' Sana thought recalling her friend's warning back in that café. 'I should have been more careful with my dealings with the pirates. Now I'll never expose Tenchi,' she thought forlorn. 'If I could only get to Chuukou,' was her recurring thought she began to lapse in and out of consciousness.
Tenchi looked down at the woman in his arms; her skin was cold to the touch. She had been trying to reach for something around her neck, when her strength failed. Now she was coming in and out of consciousness, mumbling the word Chuukou over and over again. Thinking that she may have been reaching for some form of medication, Tenchi searched the area she had been trying to reach. With a blush evident on his face, Tenchi grabbed the chain around her neck and pulled out a brooch from her shirt.
It was made of wood and had a very familiar design to it. As he was examining it, the brooch popped. Inside was a photo of a young woman with luxurious white hair and blue eyes being held by a young man with dark brown hair and brown eyes. 'Must be her parents,' Tenchi decided, seeing as how much the woman he held resembled both people in the photograph. Not wanting to pry further, he closed the wooden locket and was about to return it when he noticed a amethyst-like gem in the middle of it. All at once it occurred to him that this was a key to a Juraian tree-ship.
'The name of her ship… could it be Chuukou?' Tenchi theorized. 'She must be Juraian, how else could she be holding such a key?'
Tenchi began to look for someone with authority to ask for help. Surely Galaxy Police Headquarters had a first class medical facility. As luck would have it, a galaxy police officer dressed in combat gear was about to rush past him. Maneuvering Susan so that he held her with his left hand, Tenchi reached out with his free hand and grabbed the officer as he passed by. Because of the loss of gravity, he and Susan were pulled along for the ride. "Excuse me, Officer, I have a woman here who needs medical attention."
The officer, who had just received a report that one of the teams stationed just outside the banquet doors had been had been wiped out, quickly glanced down at the obviously ill woman. Spying the press credentials clipped to her shirt, the officer made the decision that was not a priority for him. The officer shook off Tenchi's grip and continued his way to the door and the enemy on the outside of it.
"Hey!" Tenchi shouted angrily at the officer's back. It took a lot to anger Tenchi, but ignoring a woman's plight did it instantly. This evening was doing little to raise his opinion of the cultures in space to say the least. He was going to have to deal with the situation himself. Since he didn't know where the medical facility was located he didn't want to waste time blindly looking for it.
He decided to take the woman, Susan, by the name on her press ID, to her ship. He knew where the docks were and with his master key, he should be able to get on board. Hopefully, there would be someone on board who could help her.
When he had grabbed the passing officer, Tenchi had gained a little momentum towards the door, but it was slow progress. He was still a good twenty-five meters away from the door and it wasn't likely the ten armed guards in front of the door were going to let him pass without argument. But maybe one of them would help? If Mihoshi was a member of the Galaxy Police, there had to be some helpful people in it.
"Could one of you give me a hand? I have a sick woman here!"
The officer in charge of the contingent at the door, waved one of his men over. Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief as the man approached.
"What's wrong?" the officer asked. He removed some kind of device from a pouch he carried at his side and placed it on Susan's forehead. He then placed a second device over her chest.
"I don't know," Tenchi answered. "I saw someone standing very close to her. He said something, moved away and then she just collapsed."
The officer was the combat life saver for his squad looked at the readings on the two devices and cursed. "She's been poisoned. There is nothing I can do for her."
"What? Poisoned?"
"Yeah, computer says its Majd poisoning. No known treatment. Attacks the nervous system, causing paralysis in a matter of minutes." With a somber look in his eyes, the medic tapped Tenchi on the shoulder and motioned him closer. "She has less than an hour left before her heart ceases functioning. With power out, we can't even put her in stasis. That is… if we could get past the attackers and get to the sick bay. I'm sorry." The medic moved to turn away.
Tenchi gazed sadly at the woman in his arms. "Hey," Tenchi called, not looking away from Susan. "You said someone was attacking? Could it be related to her poisoning?"
The medic paused. "Yeah, but I don't know if it's related. Looks to be Ryoko's returned to her old ways. Body count is fifteen last I heard and that just inside the station."
"What! That's not possible!"
The obvious anger in the young man's voice shocked the medic, causing him to turn around and stare at the nobly dressed man. He hadn't really been paying attention to Tenchi before, his concern was only on the sick woman. "What are you so upset about? I'm just telling you what I heard. I'm not making things up just cause I don't want to help."
"And I'm telling you that you're wrong!" Tenchi looked down at Susan the back at the officer. Are you telling me that Ryoko, the Space Pirate Ryoko, is the person you're fighting?"
"That's what I'm saying. She and Ryo Ohki destroyed the guard force…"
Before the medic could relate the details, Tenchi rushed passed him toward the door, Susan still gripped tightly in his arms. In his haste, he didn't realize he was flying effortlessly through the zero-g environment.
"Move!" Tenchi ordered to the troops at the door.
"Sorry, Sir," the senior officer of the team at the door said sternly. "No one is allowed to leave this room. It is for your own safety."
Tenchi didn't think they would let him pass just because he wanted to make sure that Ryoko was okay, so he took another approach. "I have get this woman to a medical bay so she can get treatment. Otherwise she is going to die." He wasn't actually using Susan and he had every intention of seeing her to that medical bay, but he needed to see Ryoko.
The senior officer turned his gaze to Susan, who certainly looked near death, but before the lead officer could come to a decision, his medic yelled to him. "Stop that guy!"
Guns turned towards Tenchi, the men at the door not sure just what danger Tenchi posed. In any case, Tenchi made the determination for them. With a quickness that none of them had experienced before, Tenchi seemed to blur in front of them and disappear.
"Where is he!" the team leader asked with growing agitation.
"Relax," the medic advised. "He's just upset over his friend. I only yelled out for you guys to stop him from, because I didn't want him to do something stupid in his grief."
"Don't explain how he disappeared just now," one of the troopers reminded. He continued to scan the room for Tenchi. The room itself was nearly empty now, with most of the guests having been taken to a more secure location. This, of course, made Tenchi's disappearing trick all the more impressive. He then turned his gaze upward just in time to see a pair of black shoes coming towards him.
Tenchi came down on the officer with incredible force. With Susan still in his arms, both his feet struck the officer's shoulders and drove him into the ground.
"Skizzell, he was on the ceiling!" Just as he got the words out, Tenchi darted towards him and shoved him hard into the wall. Two down, seven to go, but Tenchi's true goal was just getting out of the room. To do that he needed only to get them away from the door long enough to get through.
Two more officers were coming towards him now, while the other five took up firing positions a safe distance away, only two of which were directly in front of the door. Tenchi's mind continued to work a mile a minute.
As the team leader watched two of his men approach the man, he couldn't help but wonder who this man was. He was obviously Juraian, as it was the only explanation for the man's speed. Body augmentation, coupled with a treeships power would give him speed to rival even the most genetically and cyber enhanced officer the GP had. Juraians didn't rule the known galaxy because they were pushovers. But power alone didn't justify what was happening. To fight and move this well in a zero g environment… Surely, the laws of physics still applied to the Juraians… Didn't it?
The two officers floated towards Tenchi, but Tenchi had no intention of letting them have the first move. Temporarily releasing Susan, Tenchi grabbed the officer he had shoved into the wall and threw him towards the approaching two, forcing them to dive out of the way. Sensing a new danger, Tenchi grabbed the floating Susan and jumped to his right, avoiding the energy rounds shot in his direction. Obviously, they felt no concern for the ill woman he carried, and in return, Tenchi felt no concern for them. His expression grew visibly more stern. He walked purposefully, towards the door. He didn't even bother trying to dodge the fire coming towards him.
That an energy shield formed to block the shots directed at Tenchi, did not surprise any of the officers present. The fact that the shield redirected the shot back towards the officers was another matter. The team leader had never seen such precision before. This could not have been your run of the mill noble. Besides himself, only one man at the door was still standing. The chief raised his rifle; it had twice the power of even the enhanced mark two's.
He then recalled one of the orders given out to him and called out a name.
Tenchi had reached the officer at the door and shifted Susan so the he carried her with one hand. Gulping audibly, the officer pointed his gun at Tenchi, despite knowing how futile a gesture it was. Luckily for him, he was freed from the painful lesson his brethren had learned. Before he could pull the trigger a blue energy blade cut his rifle in half. He looked at his dismembered rifle and then up into the dark eyes of the man in front of him. The officer smartly stepped out of Tenchi's way.
Not even bothering to check if the door was locked, Tenchi slashed out with the ignited Master key, cutting a opening in the door. Just as he stepped through, he heard his name shouted towards him.
"Lord Tenchi!"
Tenchi turned his head to look momentarily at the man, before disappearing into the hall.
The team chief numbly watched him go. He could only worry at his and his team's fate for attacking a Juraian lord and friend to the First Princess. He had no idea that his mistake was even larger than he could imagine.
Having past by the five team members just outside the room's door, Mihoshi entered the hall to see charred body parts and the scattered remains of the elite guard that had been sent to guard the intersection just before the banquet hall. A memory, dark and brutal flashed through her mind before it was squashed by a miracle of technology that had cost the Kiramitsu family a fortune to obtain. Her face cracked into a smile for a moment, before she realized that the expression was inappropriate for the situation. Armed with a grim expression and her sidearm once again, Mihoshi cautiously continued down the hall. Reaching the intersection, Mihoshi pressed herself against the perpendicular wall, her weapon at the ready. Inching slowly forward, Mihoshi poked her around the corner just enough to see down the adjourning hall. Surprised at what she saw, Mihoshi stopped hiding and came fully into the hall. "Washu?"
Before her stood Washu, her arms folded across her chest and her eyes locked on the Galaxy Police captain standing in front of her. "What's going on?" Mihoshi asked, coming to stand next to Washu and about to place her sidearm back into its holster.
Washu was not sure she what to feel at Mihoshi's arrival at the scene, but a part of her felt ashamed at that uncertainty. "I would put that blaster away just yet, Mihoshi. Our friend here isn't what she appears to be."
Despite the uniform, Mihoshi didn't for a second doubt Washu's word. Her blaster was quickly pointed at the officer's head.
Megami sighed at seeing Mihoshi's arrival on scene. Why were things going so poorly? What was she doing wrong? Her directives were quite clear in these matters; Megami could only directly harm a member of the Masaki household unless certain prerequisites were met. Not only that, but her energy supplies were quite depleted. She had only enough left to properly meet her master. But their appearance was also a sign that she was close, very close. Despite the situation, Megami smiled in anticipation. Until an explosion behind her, blew her off her feet and past Washu and Mihoshi. Megami raised herself up with her arms and saw Ryoko and Sana coming to stand next to Washu and Mihoshi. Ryoko looked less than pleased.
"Now, Bitch!" Ryoko cursed, raising a glowing hand in her Megami's direction. "What do you want with Tenchi!"
Megami frowned and lowered her head in defeat. If she used her remaining energy to block the blast that Ryoko was undoubtedly about to fire, she wouldn't have what she needed for Tenchi. She resigned herself to her fate, better to die here. She hadn't even gotten to see…
"Lord Tenchi!"
Megami turned in the direction she had heard a male voice shout the name of her master and saw Tenchi rush his way past the men guarding the door. He was quickly making his way towards her!
Megami totally forgot about the others and jumped to her feet. "Master!" she yelled in glee and ran towards him, narrowly avoiding Ryoko's blast.
The explosion and debris caused by Ryoko's attack, temporarily obscured their view of the hall, but they had all clearly heard Tenchi's name.
"No! Tenchi! RUN! That girl is after you!" Ryoko yelled with an obvious note of fear. She instantly teleported past the smoke.
The others followed, turned the corner and quickly ran into the back of a frozen Ryoko. Looking past Ryoko, they too quickly froze in shock.
Lord Leeber rubbed his temples as his meeting with Lord Seiryo and Priest Bodan was coming to its conclusion. There had been a lot of posturing, but finally they had come up with a plan they could all agree with and had some hope of succeeding. His family had no hope of being the royal family with Mariko missing, but he would see to it that the House of Masaki was removed.
"Then we are all in agreement?" Lord Leeber asked, pointedly looking at the other two men at the table.
Priest Bodan smiled darkly. "Indeed, we, the pure of Jurai, will see that Tsunami's glory is preserved." He turned to Lord Seiryo and nodded. "Emperor Seiryo will insure that."
Seiryo his hands steepled before him and tears in his eyes nodded as well. Finally, his dream would come true. How could Aeka turn down Jurai's future emperor?
Author's notes:
I'd like to thank everyone who has wished me luck for my time overseas. I am back stateside now and hopefully will not have to go back to Iraq for a year or two.
I would also like to thank everyone who continues to read and review my story. I know it takes a lot of patience. Thank you.
As to the person who pointed out that Tenchi doesn't seem to have a problem with alcohol in the manga. This story is solely based on the Tenchi OAV, although I have kidnapped characters from other continuities.
Again, I hope you enjoy the story and continue to find time to leave a review.
Feel free to point out any errors as I am sure there are many.