MASAKI TALES Vol. V - QUEST...
Author: Daferge
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Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! is a copyright AIC/Pioneer Ltd.
All respective characters are property of their original owners. All original characters and ideas are property of the author.
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Author's Note: Sorry it took so long, but I wanted to make sure it had as few errors as possible... Enjoy...
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Chapter 03... The next step...
( The Jurai Space Port... )
The official Space Port for the home world of the Juraian Empire was situated directly on the other side of the world from the capital city...
This was not only an attempt to keep the capital and the surrounding area beautiful, but was also for security reasons...
There was an old Juraian saying that went " Those who ignore history are forever doomed to repeat it... "
And as Juraians ( and others ) had long lives, as well as long memories, they had learned much from the several hundred thousand years that the Empire had existed...
And as such, Trydos III was a well remembered bit of history...
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According to the History books, Trydos III had been an independent wealth world, which also had a ruling 'Royal family'...
That is, until a group of disgruntled 'Anti-Royalist' attempted a coup d'etat...
It seem that some one ( who it was, was never discovered ) had come up with the bright idea of dropping a small star-ship on the palace, taking out ALL the members of the Royal family, as well as MOST of their supporters...
Since the palace was on the other side of the capital from the space port it seem to have a good chance of success...
BUT, there was just two little problems they hadn't considered...
The first was the Kinetic Energy that the ship would create as it fell towards the palace...
And the other was the propulsion unit that was used to slip the ship into sub space so it could travel among the stars...
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While the mass of the ship alone would have been enough to take out the palace, the addition of the Kinetic Energy and the ship's Engines self destructing, resulted in an explosion a hundred times more powerful...
An explosion which not only took out the palace, but also destroyed the entire capital city, as well as the space port and every thing else for several hundred kilometers in all directions...
That even including the 'Anti-Royalist' forces, who were waiting just outside the capital to move in and take over...
The coup d'etat was over almost as soon as it began and almost 60% of the planet's population with it...
The after-effect of the explosion would then turn the once thriving world into a barren wasteland for several hundred years...
By the time the last survivor was evacuated, almost 85% of the world's population was dead or dying...
It was still used as an example of how stupid even so-called 'civilized people' could get at times...
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( A remote area of space... )
A small space ship was dodging from asteroid to asteroid, in the belt that orbited a class G1 star...
If the system had a name or number, the captain and crew of the ship could care less...
They were more interested in trying to stay alive...
Until recently they had been what was called "Space Pirates", sort of outlaws traveling the vast area of space, looking for riches and adventure...
Not long ago it became quite clear that "riches" were harder to get and "adventuring" was more likely to get you killed...
And then a newer opportunity presented it's self...
Any "Space Pirate", who hadn't committed violent crimes, like murder and whole sale carnage, might be eligible for a pardon from the Juraian or Galaxy Police...
Not only that, but they just might be eligible to join the new Deep Space Patrol of ether the Galaxy Police or the Juraian Empire...
The DSP, as some called it, was the lowest patrol duty for both services, long hours ( usually weeks if not months ) patrolling the far corners of known space and reporting what they discovered or didn't...
Regular members of both services were reluctant to get involved with such dull and boring duty, thus leaving such areas thinly patrolled, open to wandering Pirates or Raiders...
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But with the influx of fresh, experienced ex-space pirates to patrol those areas, there was less reports of raids upon the small worlds within those areas...
With fewer pirates in the area, Raiders had begun to move in, which had helped the captain make up his mind...
Captain Touda and his crew were among those who chose the new path and after a security check and some orientation about Juraian rules and regulations, they'd been sent back to the area they'd been hunting for years...
Not only would their knowledge and experience in the area help, but the crew had friends who'd helped them through the years...
Besides, they wouldn't be alone this time...
Within a short distance would be any of a number of small task forces made up on far heavier ship, waiting to respond...
Touda was the eyes and they were the fist of Jurai...
And right now he could use that fist, for right now 2 very angry Raider ships were destroying the asteroids...
They were out for blood, his...
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( Far away... )
In a darkened hallway, a light appeared as a small female followed a taller male around a corner...
A light was hovering above the female as she walked, lighting her way...
She was followed by a young boy and a half dozen males dressed in robes...
While the boy was carrying a small box, the other males were each pulling a much larger box, which floated behind them...
Normally each box would weigh several tons, but with anti-gravity fields around them, a child could lift them...
The male leading the way was taking the small female and boy to a place very few had ever set foot in...
The other six males were helpers, carrying things that the small female said she would be needing...
Even with a light, it would be difficult, if not impossible to find one's way around in these old underground passages...
It wasn't that the one leading knew the way, it was just that he was able to read the strange markings on the walls, an old language that hadn't been spoken in several hundred thousand years and which very few could read any more...
The small female stopped and touched some of the markings on the wall, the male you was leading the way stopped and returned to her side...
She spoke before he could...
" This says this is the way to third sub power room... Is that where you're taking us?... "
The male lifted the small goggles that let him see in the dark from his eyes and he studied the markings...
He had to smile, only a very few could read them, but some how he wasn't surprised that the small female could too...
He had never met any one like Professor Washu Hakubi before...
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Studying the marking closer, he smiled...
" Yes... That's the section that supplies power to the area you need to go to... Like other unused areas, it's power was diverted to more important areas... "
Washu nodded her head...
" I understand... However... We need to head to the master control room and make sure of how the power was rerouted... We don't want to send an increase in power down routes that are not up to the task... The last thing we need is to have to replace a lot of burnt out wiring.. "
Merlin's eyes widened, he hadn't considered that...
He sighed and had to smile, she was quite right...
As she smiled and started to say some thing Tenchi cleared his throat, catching her eye and shook his head...
She smiled at him...
You're quite right, Tenchi...
She turned back to Merlin
" Will you take us to the master control room?... As much a I'd like to just restore the area we need at the moment, if we don't do this right, we could do more harm than good... We need to do a quick study of the whole system... "
Merlin's jaw dropped...
" But that will take days, if not weeks!... "
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As he stared at her in the simi-darkness, she tilted her head slightly and smiled at him...
A voice broke the silence...
" You might as well do as she suggest... In the end you'll find that you'll need to do it any way... "
Merlin turn to a smiling Tenchi...
" And the sooner we get started, the sooner we finish... "
He'd found it hard to believe, when he first met him, that this young boy would one day become the leader of the most powerful empire the galaxy had ever seen, but the longer he spent with this young boy and his unusual family, the more he was to accepting it...
Sighing, he adjusted his goggles...
" Very well... This way, please... "
As he moved off, Washu watched Tenchi followed he, smiling...
And a child shall lead them!...
No one had heard her, except for Tenchi who chuckled as he turned the corner just ahead...
Talking about yourself again, Washu...
Chuckling, Washu wiped away some thing in her eye and followed her beloved son-in-law...
The other helpers followed her...
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( A tavern near the Juraian Space Port... )
The bartender eyed the room full of customers sitting at the tables in the smoke filled room...
It never ceased to amaze him, the changes in the universe within just the past decade...
And all because of a young boy from a backwater planet that very few had ever heard of before...
He smiled at the mix of people who had happen to wander in at the moment...
There were the usual members of the Juraian military present, just getting off-duty or about to report in...
Those reporting in usually checked with those getting off to see if there was something to watch out for or know about...
Space had always been a dangerous enough place to travel and fore warned was fore armed, as the older, more experienced members had learned...
And you never knew when you might over hear a rumor or a suggestion that might be of use...
Such as a certain sector being unsafe to patrol or travel through, due to natural or other reasons...
And with this crowd, there was always something going on...
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He also noted a number of known space pirates who were talking and drinking with members of the Galaxy Police force...
Out in space, these same people would be doing their best to ether kill or capture each other...
However, because this tavern was situated on 'Space Port' grounds, it was an official neutral zone, a place 'outside the law'...
This was due to an unusual law, which had been passed by Emperor Asusa some time back, at the request of one of the newest members of the Juraian Royal family...
Princess Ryoko Hakubi Masaki, who had been an infamous space pirate at one time and who was now one of the beloved wives of Jurai's new Crown Prince - Tenchi Masaki...
However there had been a condition attached...
It was specified that any trouble makers would be handled by Princess Ryoko or one of her fellow Princesses...
In other words, ether 1st Princess Ayeka Masaki Jurai Masaki or Princess Mihoshi Kuramitsu Masaki...
The thought of having any one of those three female upset with them was more than enough of a threat to keep even the most rambunctious males in line...
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He was glad that he had taken his captain's advice when she decided she didn't want to be a space pirate any more...
The famous Ryoko Balta had been following in her idol's footsteps after she changed her name to Ryoko, in memory of the most infamous female space pirate of all times, Ryoko Hakubi...
She never dreamed that she would ever meet her, after having been missing for almost 700 years...
Nor did she ever dream, that like her idol, she too would become a princess...
And that into her life would came a young man, who she would lose her heart and her hand too...
It was strange the fates that the universe had handed out...
When he had decided to open this tavern, his ex-captain had not only supported him, but had helped finance it...
Even though he'd already paid her back, he still considered her part owner...
When word of this got out, not only did more people show up, but the out breaks of fights, etc, in the tavern had dropped...
Having a number of other member of the crew working there or just hanging tended to out help too...
And having a steady, non violent occupation had done wonders for his home-life too...
Although there were time when he missed not seeing his wife but once a month or so, instead of each and every night...
Especially when she got up set about some thing or other...
Then he found himself helping out the night shift and spending a night on the couch in the office...
But he wouldn't trade it for the world...
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He was brought out of his thought as the main door opened and allowed some new customer to come in...
Normally he wouldn't have paid attention, but there was some thing about the young boy that caught his eye...
And then there was the very young girl on his arm who caught his attention...
As she looked around at the room full of tough males, she seem more curious than afraid...
Then there was the female on his other arm, a Whitish-furred member of the dog-like humanoid race called the Wau...
She too was unafraid...
He couldn't help smiling as he watched them cross the room to an empty table in the far corner...
They were probably some members of the upper class, out for an evening with the lower class, a new 'fad' going around...
There were more of them these days, out to prove that, like their new crown prince, they too could move among the lower classes...
Sighing, he caught the eye of one of his former crew mates, one of several who hung out at the tavern in case of trouble...
With a few coded motions, the quiet security was aware that there could be trouble...
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However, it was the short haired blonde who he noticed was trailing just behind the other three that caused things to begin to fall into place...
Even in civilian clothes and a cap covering most of her hair, he'd know the Galaxy's most famous super model, Amane Kaunaq, any where...
Which could only meant that the young boy was that infamous pirate catcher, Seina Yamada, the husband of her and Ryoko Balta...
His eyes widened as it accrued to him that the female Wau just might be his ex-Captain, in her shape-changing form, something that he'd heard of, but had never actually seen before...
It was then that he heard a soft voice speak to him, a voice in the back of his mind...
It would be best if you did not react to us!...
He looked up, to see the young girl looking him straight in the eye...
The Wau ( Ryoko Balta ) also looked his way, she smiled and then nodded her head slightly...
Smiling, he nodded his head...
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( Washu's Lab... )
Just back for seeing her parents on the home planet, Princess Ayeka Masaki Jurai Masaki, the 1st princess of the mighty Juraian Empire, was feeling very lonely...
Upon returning to the Masaki home, her sister, Sasami Masaki Jurai, the 2nd princess of Jurai, had dropped off in the kitchen to fix her some thing to eat...
Her escorts, Galaxy Police officer Kiyone Makibi and Bodyguard Nagi Katsumoro, had half walked with, half carried her to the Lab...
Her stamina had run out as soon as they had stepped back into the house and the two had caught her before she collapsed...
Will power can take you a long way, but still only so far...
Little Sasami had been worried, but had accepted her sister's assurance that she was alright...
It seem that even one of Washu's booster shots could only last so long...
But she would be alright just as soon as she got some rest...
Noting the worried looks on the face of the two females holding her sister up, Sasami had asked them to help Ayeka get to the Lab and the large platform bed that Washu had set up before leaving...
And for safety reasons, the western style bed was preferred to a futon laying on the Lab floor...
Like the others, Ayeka wanted to watch over Ryoko and Mayuka while Tenchi and Washu were gone...
Also, she would be sharing it with her sister/wife, Galaxy Police officer Mihoshi Kuramitsu Masaki...
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As they got her to the bed, Ayeka stood there looking down at Mihoshi, who was spread out on the huge bed like a bed sheet...
Ayeka couldn't help smiling as she noted that there was a sad smile on Mihoshi's face...
Now, how am I going to make room?...
It was then that she spotted some thing at the foot of the bed, a large stuffed panda bear...
Smiling, she gestured for Nagi to get it for her...
Then, with the stuffed bear in one hand, she bent down and whispered in Mihoshi's ear...
" There's some one here who misses you... "
As a puzzled look appeared on Mihoshi's face, Ayeka put the bear in her arms...
The reaction was almost instant, as Mihoshi wrapped her arms around the bear and a happy smile appeared on her face...
Both Nagi and Keyone's eyes widened as they heard Mihoshi soft whisper...
" Oh, Mr. Tenchi, I've missed you!... "
She then rolled over on her side, leaving half the bed free...
Thank you, Ayeka...
Ayeka couldn't help sighing as began to prepare for bed...
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( A remote area of space... )
Captain Touda and his crew were of divided minds, depressed at the possibility of getting killed, but happy they'd lured these Raiders away from the world they were targeting...
A world where they had friends, for Raiders, unlike most pirates, didn't leave behind any witnesses or survivors...
They'd happen upon the four Raiders concentrating upon their target world, their shields down...
Sending off a short code, requesting help, they did a quick hit-and-run and gotten lucky hits on a pair of Raiders, causing them to collide and explode...
The other two had then forgotten the targeted world and come after them...
Knowing the Raiders were faster, Touda had jumped to a nearby star with a large asteroid belt and begun a game of hide and seek...
Even as they slipped behind a new asteroid, his navigator was already hunting another...
They had shields and weapons, but against a Raider, with it's shields up, firing would be like throwing water balloons at them...
And the Raider's weapons would go through their shields like a hot knife through butter...
Looking around, he saw the crew going about their duties...
This was the moment that they had been expecting, ever since they went into space...
But they were going to make it as hard as they could...
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The ship shook as the protective asteroid exploded and they came face to face with one of the Raiders...
As they started to try to move away, the other Raider was blocking their way...
Taking a deep breath, they awaited the final blow...
And the explosion that came was short and large...
But it was the Raider that exploded, followed by the other one...
Touda and the others stared at the now empty screen...
Which soon changed to an image of a smiling Juraian officer, sitting in his command chair...
Touda hid a smile as he spoke up...
" It's about time you showed up... I was beginning to think I was going to have to take out these two myself... "
The Juraian captain smiled and shook his head...
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An attractive female officer, with short blue hair stepped up to the chair and gave the captain a report...
Reading the report, the Juraian shook his head...
" If it had only been the one, I believe you might have... A scout to the other system reports the remains of two Raiders... "
Then his eyes narrowed and his smile got bigger...
" You do realize that drinks for the rescuing crew are on you when we get back!... "
Touda's jaw dropped as he tried to recall just how large a crew a Juraian Heavy Cruiser had and just how much he had in the bank...
The female officer saw his face and giggled...
" Don't worry, Tou... He only meant the bridge crew... "
Her smile brightened as she saw the relief on his face...
The Juraian captain sighed...
" Ah, number one, you spoiled all the fun... "
Shaking her head, she walked away...
Chuckling, the Juraian shook his head...
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After a moment he looked at Touda...
" When this report go in, a number of eyes will see it... Including the Emperor and Lady Seto!... "
At the mention of the two names, Touda's eyes widened...
" It will report your two Raiders as well as these two... I expect a lot of raised eyebrows... Not many thought that Princess Mihoshi and Princess Ryoko's suggestion would work... But you've just proved them correct... Who knows, they may even decide to drop by and thank you in person... "
After a moment the Juraian bridge was startled as their captain started laughing loudly...
However, Captain Touda couldn't hear him...
He was passed out on his bridge's floor...
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( A darkened room... )
Merlin was amazed as he watched Washu at work...
They had no sooner arrived in the main power room then she had produced a small floating keyboard and screen...
His eyes couldn't keep up with her fingers as they seem to just fly across the keys...
As he began to settle down for a long wait, Washu suddenly stopped and then waved her hand, causing both the screen and keyboard to vanish...
Something must be wrong!...
" What?... Is some thing the matter?... "
Tenchi sighed, but Washu couldn't help smiling...
" The matter?... Nothing's the matter... I'm through here!... "
Out of the corner of his eye Merlin saw Tenchi smile and shake his head...
Washu then walked past him, toward the doors that they had come through just a short time before...
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Outside they were joined by the others and they headed down the dark hallway...
After a while, it was Washu who spoke up, breaking the silence...
" I scanned all the control boards... Ran detailed checks on the system... Adjusted the power connections for max efficiency and then programed in some new sub-routines that allow me to access them, by my keyboard, from any where... So we won't have to keep coming back here in the future... "
She didn't have to look back, to see how far his jaw had dropped...
She did allow herself a soft chuckle...
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( In Sub-space... )
A dark figure watched the figures disappear down the darkened hall way...
They had been watching Washu the whole time, as well as Ayeka, Seina and the others...
She been watching Washu from the moment her group had set foot on Avalon...
The Goddess Tokimi sighed as her sister, Washu, lead the group away...
Was this what her other sister, Tsunami, had referred to as 'Humor'?...
She didn't seem to remember Washu doing such things as this, before she had taken human form and lock up her powers in those three gems, so many thousands of years before...
Was this what Washu referred to as a 'human' thing'?...
Perhaps she should visit the others more often...
Waving a hand, the screens began to close, until only darkness remained...
But some thing caused her to chuckle...
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To be continued...
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Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...
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