By
Damien
Chapter XI
Crime and Punishment part 1
The view of Galaxy Police Headquarters on the Timeron's forward view screen was both disquieting and exciting for the seventy-five year veteran of the Galaxy Army.
"Rats fleeing a sinking ship…"
"What?"
LtCol Inis turned toward the woman standing next to her, whose uniform was similar to her own in everything but color. Apparently, Captain Seer had heard her little quip. As commander of the Galaxy Army garrison on Sirius, Inis was in overall charge of the fifty ship battle group dispatched to deal with the incursion at the headquarters. Captain Seers commanded the group's flagship, the Timeron. In charge of the ground infiltration squad was a relative noob, Major Gemlin.
"Rat's fleeing a sinking ship… It's an old earth saying, I believe," Inis explained.
"Earth?" Seers parroted. "Oh! The Jurai preserve protectorate. I was quite surprised when that woman mentioned it during that news briefing on Jurai."
Inis nodded; very few people knew just how important earth, or at least a number of the people calling earth home, truly was. "Yes, and an apt description," Inis said, gesturing toward the view screen.
The normally orderly space surrounding the headquarters now teemed with debris and ships evacuating the dignitaries. It seemed every thirty seconds another subspace portal opened and another ship appeared.
Seers folded her arms across her chest and scowled at the screen. "It does appear rather chaotic." Seers walked over to the officer working the main tactical display and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Expand the main display to show the surrounding sectors of space."
"Aye, Ma'am."
"Also," Captain Seers directed to the communications officer. "Have the evacuating ships rendezvous in sector two-four-seven, where we can guard them and get a proper headcount."
"Aye, Ma'am, and Major Gemlin reports his teams are ready to board the station on command. In addition, we have collected a number of escape pods from the patrol fleet."
Captain Seers turned toward the colonel, who nodded her agreement. "Inform the Major that he may begin the operation. Also signal the fleet to form a perimeter around the station. With their shields down they're defenseless and this could be a prelude to a larger attack."
"Ma'am," an ensign interrupted. "One of the ships is not responding to our hails and is currently heading away from the rendezvous area."
"Can you ID the ship?"
"Its signature is that of an Igest envoy ship, but it's broadcasting an older protocol code."
"Is that code one of the compromised protocols?" the captain asked.
"It is on the list," the officer confirmed.
"Order the cruisers, Dios and Shiryu, to intercept it and if necessary forcefully escort it to the rendezvous point. If they refuse…"
"CAPTAIN!" a voice shouted out in near panic.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Seers asked quickly.
The Galaxy Army technician worked furiously at his station to confirm the figures he was receiving. "We're detecting an energy pocket within the station. It seems to be located in the corridor outside the banquet hall. The energy it's emanating is increasing exponentially. Somehow, the stations energy core is being effected: it's becoming unstable."
Both Inis and Seers had looks of shock on their faces. "That isn't supposed to be possible! Put the readings up on the main display!"
The bridge of the Timeron became deathly quiet, as all eyes watched the cryptic display. Few on the bridge understood all the numbers and symbols, but even the most inexperienced crew member knew that red flashing bar meant no good.
"Damn it all! How is it power hasn't been restored yet?" Marshal Kiramitsu demanded. The Control Center was awash in subdued emergency lighting with only the communications panel, which had its own energy cell, up and running with any measure of normalcy. At the very least, artificial gravity had been restored.
"The techs aren't even sure how the secondary control system was taken over. They can't give an ETA of when power will be restored," a voice answered in the bustling room. "Whatever it was that took over the antigravity's backup system has simply ceased. We had no involvement in getting the system back online." The loss of power had crippled the highly automated station causing station personnel to perform functions that would normally be done by the station's autonomous systems. Both patience and strength were beginning to wear thin for everyone present.
"I can not believe we have been reduced to this," the Marshal spat.
Remus too, was growing puzzled, not used to being in the dark either figuratively or literally. "It seems that whoever killed your Captain Swyte had other objectives, but…"
"But what?" Kiramitsu asked.
"Sir…" the officer working the communications panel called out. "I have just received a message from the Sirius Battle Group. They are detecting a dangerous energy pocket forming on the station near the reception hall that appears to be destabilizing the station's energy core."
Marshal Kiramitsu's expression was a mix of confusion and alarm. "That's not supposed to be possible… How could such an energy pocket be forming outside the banquet hall? What are our security teams in the area reporting? And where is my granddaughter! Where is Mihoshi?"
The officer spent only a moment reviewing her communications logs. "Teams one through four are still seeing to the guests' evacuation. Princesses Aeka and Sasami are safely aboard the First Princess's Tree-ship, Ryu Oh. Mihoshi's location is unconfirmed, but she is believed to be outside the banquet hall. Teams five through ten haven't reported in and are feared lost. They were engaged in combat with Ryoko who was making her way to the banquet hall, but there is a conflicting report of Ryoko being near engineering."
"Engineering?" Remus repeated in a confused tone. "If she was last reported attacking the teams outside the banquet hall, how and why would she be in engineering? Isn't engineering on the other side of the station?"
Remus's doubts barely registered with the marshal. This report merely confirmed his belief that the demon pirate was responsible for the attack on the station. "What is such a distance for that teleporting wench? We're just going to have to rely on Major Gemlin's infiltration teams." Even as he spoke those words, he was far more concerned with the welfare of his granddaughter.
Major Gemlin was a firm believer of the adage "leaders lead from the front", as such, he was right behind his point man as the air lock to the engineering bay was readied. He had a total of three groups, which were comprised of three teams with four men each. One group was to secure the banquet hall and ensure that everyone had been evacuated. The second was to bolster security at the operations center. The third and arguably most important duty was to secure engineering and get power back online. With power back on, the stations sensors, shields and automated defense systems would be restored which would go a long way in relieving the anxiety a great number of people were feeling.
Taking out a scanning device, the point man, a lieutenant by the name of Eber looked for booby traps around the perimeter of the door. Maintaining silence, Eber turned to the Major, and signaled that the door was clear.
Gemlin nodded and gave the man standing directly behind him a nudge. The man, in turn, nudged the man behind him until it reached the last man on the team then the process repeated in reverse. Major Gemlin felt the nudge from behind and knew that his team was ready to breech the room. Seeing Gemlin give the nod, Eber opened the hatch and Gemlin's team rushed into the room, weapons raised.
The engineering bay was dark and the air inside the large room was growing cold. The warning glow of emergency indicators gave the room a haunting atmosphere. The soldiers could see their breath by the encroaching lights in the hall. But before they could worry about the cold atmosphere and restoring power they had to ensure the room was free of targets.
"One clear!" the lead man called out.
"Two clear!" Gemlin called as his area was also clear of targets.
"On the ground!" the third soldier ordered in a shout, seeing something move in the darkness.
"Don't shoot! Please!" a technician cried out crawling forward.
The third member of the entry team inched toward the man, his weapon still trained on him.
"Four clear!" the fourth soldier finally called out.
"Collapse!" Gemlin ordered his team. "Gamma team, one to secure! The rest is clear."
The second team moved into the room and rushed toward the technician. When they reached him, he practically hugged the leg of the first soldier within arm's reach.
"Ryoko, Ryoko was here! I saw her," he kept saying as they took him from the room. "She seemed to be looking for something. She had these black markings on the sides of her face."
"Take him to the command center for debriefing."
"But the core!" The technician warned. "We have to stabilize the core. If we don't stop the cascade failure, the whole station could be torn apart. I was trying to place the core in an emergency subspace pocket in hopes of blocking whatever is affecting it."
"Eber get with the other techs and see about stabilizing the core and restoring power," Gemlin instructed over his comlink. "Merr, your team will secure this room. Everyone else, we're making our way to the banquet hall. Let's go, the pirate Ryoko is to be shot on sight."
Ryoko looked at the scene in front of her in shocked silence. A sentiment shared by the two other women at her side, Mihoshi and Washu. On more than one occasion, each of these three had imagined themselves in a moment similar to the one they seemed to be witnessing, but still it was unbelievable… not to mention extremely irritating. But they only caught a glimpse of what appeared to be the strange police captain, Megami wrapping her arms around and kissing a surprised Tenchi, but a blast of blinding light robbed even Washu temporarily of her sight.
Ryoko shielded her eyes with both of her arms as the light in front of her was so intense that it even threatened harm to her advanced optic nerves. "Tenchi," she yelled, blindly into the light, but the only response she heard were the near euphoric moans of Megami.
She had done it! It was taking the last vestiges of Megami's power, but soon it would not matter. "Primary link established, proceeding to secondary and tertiary links…" Megami's voice echoed through Tenchi's mind and the halls of the station. Despite the unexpectedness of the situation and the fact that it was a stranger that was doing this to him, Tenchi felt quite relaxed, which paradoxically was unnerving him.
Not sure what Megami was talking about, but certain that it couldn't be good, Ryoko rushed forward despite not being able to see what was before her. She got within a few meters of where she had seen Tenchi before running into something solid. It was like some invisible wall that she couldn't phase her way through. "Tenchi!" she shouted again, but there was no answer. Leaping a few feet back, Ryoko cursed aloud and raised her right hand, a ball of orange energy forming in the palm of her hand. "Let Tenchi go, damn you!" she screamed and let loose the blast at the base of the invisible wall.
Arcs of brightly colored electricity spread out at the point of impact showing the shape of the wall to be spherical. Tenchi and Megami were no doubt inside. She shot at it again and again, but she made little progress that is until she saw another blast join hers on assaulting Megami's shield.
She quickly glanced to her side and saw Washu's outstretched palm. "Aim where I do," Washu instructed with a grave expression on her face. "The shield is weakest there, but the whole thing is slowly increasing in strength. We need to break through NOW!"
Ryoko nodded. "Then stop talking about it, and do it!"
Slightly behind them, Mihoshi and Sana watched as Ryoko and Washu pummeled Megami's shield. Hearing Washu call out that they were almost there, Mihoshi reached for her own blaster and then decided it wouldn't have the punch she would need. Instead she searched the inside breast pocket of her dress uniform for her control cube so that she could summon a more powerful energy rifle. She had just managed to pull the device from the small enclosure when she and Sana were thrown down the hallway by a strong blast wave.
Ryoko and Washu bore the brunt of the first force wave, but managed to remain standing. Washu wasn't confident about their chances of surviving the next. "We need to go!" she ordered, reaching out to grab her daughter's hand. "Those waves are increasing considerably in strength. This station isn't going to be able to handle the mounting stress."
Ryoko shirked her hand away from Washu's. "You're just going to leave Tenchi in there?"
"He'll be alright. He's the source of the waves." She reached for her daughter's hand once more. "Believe me, I know how you feel. But now is not the time to argue with me. Please."
For a moment, Ryoko closed her eyes, before slowly opening them and looking seriously at her mother. "No, I'm not leaving without Tenchi," She turned to give the shield another blast, but before she could do so, she felt something prick her neck. Immediately, she slumped to the floor, not even able to get out the curse that she aimed at Washu.
Not wasting a moment, an adult Washu picked up Ryoko's unconscious form and turned to Mihoshi and the just rising Sana. "We NEED to go!"
Unlike Ryoko, Mihoshi needed no further prodding. She spared a quick glance at the sphere of light that contained Tenchi, before bodily picking up the slow moving Sana in a fireman's carry. Freeing her left arm for a moment, she reached for a com panel to warn everyone of the impending danger, but then she recalled the power outage. "Washu, I'm going to Ops. Someone has to warn them about this!"
Washu paused, and then nodded. "Be careful."
Giving Washu a quick salute, Mihoshi then took off down the corridor towards the station's main operations center. Debris and bodily remains from Ryoko's running battle through the halls were strewn everywhere and the air was beginning to grow cold and stale. If whatever was going on with Tenchi didn't kill everyone the station, the failing life support would. Mihoshi tried to block thoughts of Tenchi from her mind. Washu said he would be alright after all… and she was seldom wrong. Mihoshi had to believe that for now.
About to round a corner, the tall blonde slipped on the blood slicked floor, but before she and the still shaken Sana hit the floor, a hand reached out and caught her. "Ah, thanks…"
"Who are you?" asked the woman in combat armor, her weapon at the quick ready.
Mihoshi pointed at herself. "Me? I'm…"
"She is Detective First Class Mihoshi Kiramitsu," a man's voice answered for her. "I am Major Gemlin," the man said tersely. "And I got no time for gab or protocol. Is the section of the station you came through clear of hostiles?"
Mihoshi double blinked. She was fairly certain that woman with Tenchi wasn't one of the good guys, but she was equally certain that if Washu could not deal with the woman at the moment than the people in front of her wouldn't be able to do anything about her either. They would just get in Tenchi's way. Mihoshi made her decision, and her normal bubbly expression was replaced by a look that hadn't graced her face in three years. "There is nothing you and your men can do here, Major," Mihoshi began, her eyes like blue steel. "There is a critically unstable energy pocket about 200 meters back there, we need to have the station evacuated."
"Yeah, we got that report from Station Operations. We brought along some energy dampers and…" Major Gemlin began to explain, but Mihoshi cut him off.
"Your equipment isn't going to make a damn bit of difference!" Mihoshi said in a harsh voice. It had everyone in the vicinity snapping their attention to her. "Take your damn squad and get back to operations!" Spying a comlink on a nearby soldier, Mihoshi snatched it away. The soldier began to protest, but Mihoshi silenced him with a glare. "Ops, this is Detective First Class Kiratmitsu. Initiate evacuation protocol alpha. Initiate evacuation protocol alpha. Initiate evacuation protocol alpha." Mihoshi repeated three times as was procedure so there would be no mistake.
"Evacuation protocol alpha, understood," a voice answered back. "This procedure requires level one command authority. I will relay the request through…"
Mihoshi held a hand to her head, gritting her teeth. She had a headache that was threatening to cause her to scream out in pain. She took a breath and spoke again into the comlink. "Don't wait for approval. Don't wait for damn confirmation. This station is moments away for ripping itself apart! Stop worrying about procedure and covering your own ass! Your not some damn machine, make up your own damn mind!" It hurt. Her head hurt. 'What is happening to me?' Mihoshi wondered to herself.
The comlink was silent and everyone was around Mihoshi was staring at her in muted awe. A second later the emergency lighting began flashing an emergency code and voices using portable amplifiers began to ring out everywhere.
"Evacuate! Evacuate! This is a level alpha alert! Evacuate! Evacuate! This is a level alpha alert!"
Mihoshi threw the comlink back to the soldier she had taken it from. The soldier would have caught the small piece of equipment if the station hadn't begun to shake violently. Mihoshi steadied herself and readjusted Sana on her shoulder. "Are you people Galaxy Army soldiers or statues?" With that said, Mihoshi took out her control cube. Now that she no longer needed to go to the operations center, she could use her control cube to teleport herself and Sana to the docking bay. Hopefully, she could convince Tenchi's tree-ship, Funaho, to leave the station.
Major Gemlin stared at the spot Detective Mihoshi stood just moments before. Most of his soldiers were relatively new and had no idea who the blonde woman was, so they had no clue just how out of character her behavior just now had been. The chaos Mihoshi caused and her bubbly easy going personality were quite infamous even among those in Galaxy Army. 'This is nothing like the woman I've heard about,' Gemlin thought with a great deal of respect. When everything calmed down, he was going to have to ask her out. He liked authoritative woman.
The officer at the communications panel put a hand over her chest, trying to calm her heart. Around her, people were pressing the emergency transporters links on their uniforms, leaving only essential personnel in the operations room. She had just violated a major command protocol that all of her years of training screamed at her to follow. Still… she would do it again. Mihoshi was right, she was a woman who could think and judge what was right for herself. She didn't need a manual to make her decisions for her. She had just about come to terms with herself when the Marshal's voice yelled into her ear.
"WHO IN TSUNAMI'S REALM GAVE YOU THE AUTHORITY TO ORDER A LEVEL ALPHA EVACUATION!" The Marshal, who was already livid about the current state of affairs was not about to tolerate a lower officer usurping authority.
"Sir, I…" the woman tried to explain, despite her efforts she couldn't prevent herself from shaking slightly in the face of the marshal's angered expression.
"I don't want to here your damned excuse! There is no cause for a level alpha evacuation. Rescind the alert and then report to the watch commander. You are relieved."
The woman took another breath and her shaking stopped. Holding her head high, she met the eyes of the highest ranking officer in the Galaxy Police. "With all due respect, Sir, I refuse to obey that order."
"WHAT!" the marshal demanded, his hands balling into fists.
The communications officer opened her mouth to answer when the station answered for her. Everyone in the room, grabbed for the nearest stable perch as the entire station shook violently. The marshal had nothing to grab on to and for not for the strong arm of the communications officer he would have been thrown to the floor.
"How did you know?" The marshal asked wondering how the woman knew the station was in such a precarious state. He had known about the energy pocket, but had received no reports that it had progressed to such a dangerous state.
Using her years of discipline, the communications officer kept the smugness she was feeling from entering her voice. "Detective First Class Mihoshi is the officer who demanded the evacuation. The credit goes to her."
"Mihoshi? You've spoken to her?" The marshal asked, the concern he felt for his granddaughter eclipsing everything else for the moment. "How is she? Where is she? How did she sound, was she hurt?"
"She didn't sound injured. She sounded pissed," the officer answered bluntly. "If I hadn't complied with her request, I had the feeling she would come down here and beat on me until I did. I don't know where she is now, but judging how adamant she was about the evacuation I would guess she has left the station."
The marshal's eyes widened. "Are you sure she sounded angry?"
"She was definitely angry."
The marshal turned from the junior officer as he thought about this new information. 'Angry? Mihoshi? That isn't supposed to be possible… Could her behavioral modifier be failing?' Today seemed to be the day for the impossible to become more than just possible but probable. "Find Detective Mihoshi! Bring her to my ship. Continue with the evacuation."
If it could be said that Jurai was the heart of the galaxy than it could equally be said that planet Airi was its soul. Thanks to an ancient civilization that had been decimated by an unknown cataclysm millennia ago, the culture and technology of Airi were given an advantage over other planetary systems. The remnants and artifacts left by this long dead civilization were so advanced that even today some would refer to the technology as magic or god like. And as the years continued to pass, a new religion was birthed from this god-like knowledge. A religion based on a trinity of goddesses, known as the Chousin. The belief in this divinity spread across all of Airi, giving rise to the ruling theocracy. It then moved by means of trade and commerce to the neighboring star systems with no sign of slowing down, until it was the dominant religion of the entire galaxy.
With its technological prowess and its distinction as the home of the galaxy's largest religion, planet Airi would be the great power of the galaxy, if not for Jurai. But this wasn't the only source of strife between the great powers. The vast majority of the populace of Airi felt that Jurai was holding one of their goddesses captive. Militarily outmatched by Jurai, despite Airi's greater numbers left the ruling theocracy with few direct venues to intercede and for the most part, Airians were a peace loving people. Besides, there were other means to achieve their goal.
Here is a small update to prove I am not dead or that this fic has not been dropped.
Comments and or complaints appreciated.
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