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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Chapter 13... Let the fun Begin...
( Jurai Royal palace... )
Emperor Azusa sat at the head of the table as the The Jurai Royal Supreme INNER Council met...
As usual there was lots of minor things that different lords wanted to discuss and little getting done...
He wished he'd been able to find more paper work to do, but it had been a very slow week...
Only a few papers to go over each day...
Perhaps he should have the intelligence reports relayed directly to him...
But even those were nothing but a few lines, "All is well!"...
He knew there was a down side to getting along with your neighbors...
He almost could wish for some kind of minor conflict somewhere...
But something Washu had once said came to mind...
" Be careful what you wish for - You just might just get it!... "
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The scribe off to one side of the table opened the folder holding the items to be discussed...
Examining the top sheet, he took a breath before he spoke...
" First item up... A request from the High Grand Council... "
All the eyes at the table turned his way...
The Inner Council handled the major items dealing with the Empire, while the Grand Council handled the daily matters affecting the Empire, all over-seen by a member of the Royal family...
" They are requesting that Prince Tenchi's Mother-in-law, the famous scientific genus, Lady Washu Hakubi, attend a session and impart some of her wisdom to them... "
After a silent moment as all eyes turn to the Emperor...
The Emperor was looking at the scribe, who continued after a moment...
" That's what it says... I read it several times to be sure of no mistake!... "
Turning his eyes to the others, he saw a wide range of emotions on their faces, from sheer joy to a wild look of mad panic...
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They all remembered her last appearance before them...
She had just "popped in", out of no where, into what had been considered one of the most secure room in the Empire...
She had then rolled a severed human head on the table they were sitting around as a warning to any one who even thought about harming the Crown Prince's family...
Then, just as quickly as she had appeared, she vanished again...
It was Lord Nagato who spoke up first, a dark frown on his face...
" Sire... This woman is a bad influence... She is disruptive and ill tempered... She has a history of doing what ever SHE wishes... Her past has shown she not only does not think much of the Empire, but has very little regard for any life but her own... How can we trust her?... "
The Emperor was well aware of Washu's past, more so than any of the rest of the council...
He was also quite aware of Lord Nagato's negative feeling toward Tenchi and his family...
There was a soft chuckle from down the table...
" Lady Hakubi has every right to distrust the Empire... Wasn't it a Juraian lord who imprisoned her and used her discoveries to terrorize the Galaxy for centuries?... "
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For years, Lord Negon had been considering stepping down and letting his brother take up the dull, boring position of 'Lord' Negon...
Just like their father, he too had come to disliked the duties ( and some people ) the title tended to involve you with...
The next in line was his son, who was at the moment in the Academy and still far too young in any case, so, he was stuck with this thankless, boring position...
However, with the recent appearance of the young Prince and his family, much of that had changed, he had actually found things of interest during meetings and other duties...
Such as being among the few to be kept up-to-date with their latest 'adventures', such as Lady Tennyo's recent foiled assassination...
Then there was having access to classified data such as the "RAW" footage of the famed Morning Star incident...
Where large numbers of strong Space pirates had fled in panic when princess Mihoshi simply walked in on their robbing the passengers of the liner...
Although the whole thing had been played down a great deal, for various reasons, rumors got around and some of them were even wilder than the truth...
Recently both his family members had enquired if he still was interested in stepping down?...
He'd just laughed...
As it happen, his son was among many other upper class students aboard the Juraian light cruiser Dark Sun that was saved from destruction at Raider hand by the prince and his family...
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Lord Negon was well aware of many reason that the others at the table wouldn't want Lady Hakubi speaking to the council...
" Why should we be the only one to have her impart her wisdom to them... Why not share the PAIN?... "
He noticed several of the others take note of his use of the word 'pain' and smiled...
He could almost swear he saw the Emperor smile...
" By all means, let us share with the other lords and then sit back to watch the fun, er, the events as they accrue... "
It hadn't been an accidental slip of his tongue...
And he watched as the seeds he had just tossed out began to take root and grow...
It wasn't long before most of the council agreed to invite Lady Hakubi...
The Emperor managed not to chuckle and spoil the mood...
Every once and a while...
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( Jurian colony world 0315... )
A small estate outside of tokyo...
It was quiet and Katsuro Hoshiki was doing something that was both a hobby and a family tradition, making adjustments to his Bonsai tree, a miniature tree in a container...
Both his parents, as well as their parents had small trees...
And like the males before him, he'd had trouble just keeping his small tree alive most of his life due to duties as a ninja and then clan leader, but it helped to take his mind off other things...
A recent acquaintance had learned of his hobby and his problems...
Lady Washu Hakubi had heard of his hobby and his problems...
The small tree sitting on his desk was in reality a 3D image...
But one so real that he could actually touch it...
He even had a pair of scissors for him to trim it when he had a chance, because, like a real tree it was slowly growing...
It had been what she referred to as a Startica present, from her and the Masaki clan...
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He understood that there were a lot of people around the world these days who had aquariums on their computers, a new fad...
All the enjoyment of having an aquarium, but none of the mess or expense...
Not only had he found it relaxing and enjoyable, but he didn't have to worry about it when he was busy, it was always safe...
A servant opened his door and motioned, requesting permission to enter, not wanting to disturb him...
As they knew it was his special time and didn't wish to be disturbed, it must must be important...
He wave the young girl over as he carefully clipped off a bit of twig that didn't fit in...
As the girl whispered in his ear, he was glad he had set the clippers down, his surprise might have caused his fingers to twitch and he'd hate to have to ask lady Washu to 'reset' the tree...
It seem that there was some one requesting an audience, the last person he expected...
NAJA AKARA...
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( Later, within Avalon... )
Washu was studying some files when she heard a buzzing, her sub-space phone...
As only family members had access to it, she got it out and hit the self destruct button that turned it on, a security measure, she'd said...
Holding it before her, she was surprised when the 3d head that appeared was Emperor Azusa himself...
This caused an eyebrow to go up and a wicked smile to appear...
Since handing out the various units to family members, this had been Azusa's 1st call...
This has to be good...
" And how may I help you?... "
To most people Azusa's face would be unreadable, with thousands of years of practice at not showing any emotion...
But Washu had spent tens of thousands of years studying people...
She noted just the slightest of raising of an eyebrow and twitching of his lip...
This had her attention...
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Glancing over to the side Azusa took a deep breath before he spoke...
" A request has come through the Inner Council that an invitation be extended to you... "
Washu narrowed her eyes, didn't Azusa know the family was unable to accept invitations at the moment?...
Azusa had spent most of his life reading faces, it helped keep him alive and he knew why Washu was confused...
" The invitation is from the The Jurai Royal Supreme High Grand Council and it is to you... "
Seeing her reaction to those last two words Azusa actually smiled, something he had only been doing again lately...
As for Washu, she was actually caught off guard...
She had expected it to be to Tenchi, perhaps Ayeka or one of the others, but HER?...
Seeing Azusa actually smiling set off alarm bells...
She knew originally Azusa had considered Washu's living on colony world 0315 as being far too close to Jurai...
Since becoming in-laws she had dined at the Juraian Palace and Azusa with the Queens, had dined at the Masaki home on 0315...
Sighing, she smiled back at Azusa...
" Perhaps you could enlighten me as to the details of this request?... "
Something told her this might be interesting...
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( Back at the Hoshiki estate... )
This might be his home and office, but the head of the Hoshiki clan was standing when a white haired female was shown in...
Thou quite mature, she had managed to stay young looking and he knew for a fact that she was only a year younger than himself...
It was whispered in the ninja world that where Naja Akara appeared, death and destruction very often appeared too...
He wondered what had gotten her to come by in person...
The voice that spoke was one he had heard quite often in council meetings...
It was quite literally the power of life or dead, as quite a few had found out in the past...
However whet she said startled him...
" I see you've taken up your family's tradition... But you seem to have better luck than your father... "
Katsuro knew she had data files on all the clan leaders, it seem it included the clans themselves too...
" Have I caught you at a bad time?... "
Did he sense just a touch of humor in those words?...
" No... I was almost finished... "
The twinkle in her eyes and her tiny smile reminded him of lady Washu, as she gestured to the tree...
" By all means, do finish... I can wait... "
NOW, he was nervous...
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After seeing that she was seated, he returned to his chair and sat down...
Picking up the clippers he soon found a couple of small twigs that needed clipping...
That done he sat back and smiled...
" I'm surprised you decided to take it up and so recently... "
Katsuro had an idea why she was here, he'd heard about the recent 'emergency' meeting of the high ninja council...
" It was a present from a recent acquaintance... I understand you too have met her, wild red hair?... "
Her sudden raised eyebrows told him he was correct...
He had thought to pick up the tree and move it to the table that it usual rested on, but then decided to move it as he usually did, by tapping the clippers on the desk 3 times...
He managed not to laugh as he eyes widened and her mouth fell open as the tree vanished from the desk and reappeared on a nearby table next to the wall...
The look on her face as she looked back and forth between the desk and table...
Soon she was standing next to the table and her hand had a mind of it's own as she reached out and touched it...
She jerked it back as she made contact with the plant...
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" Lady Hakubi said it was just something she had laying around her lab... She offered to fix me up with a nice aquarium, but I declined, so little room in here... "
Lady Akara was now studying him to see if he was joking - as they say, pulling her leg...
She had come here looking for answers and now she had even more questions...
It took a while to return to her seat, but he waited patiently...
It was then that he pulled out the small cell phone that lady Washu had given him and pushed the W button, holding it to his ear...
It hardly rang before she answered...
" I see you have company... "
Some how he wasn't surprised she knew about his visitor, surveillance cameras around he estate were connected to a secure basement room with at least one of his people watching...
She had reassured him it was visual only, though audio could be used in emergency...
A special unit she called an AI was also hooked in and it would let her know if some thing unusual might be occurring...
A visit from the head of the ninja council would be "unusual"...
Lady Akara was watching as he smiled and nodded his head...
" Set the phone on the desk and punch the conference button... "
Placing the device on the desk, he pushed the "conf. " button...
Unlike lady Akara, he wasn't surprised at something appearing out of no where...
In this case a 9 inch tall, 3D image of the top half of a female, Washu...
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Lady Akara stared at the image, then the tree, than back to the image and Washu smiled...
" Yes, it's the same technology... The tree is more enhanced as contact is required with it... "
Katsuro took the pause that followed to speak...
" Lady Akara... My I present Lady Washu Hakubi, of the clan Masaki... Lord Tenchi Masaki is her son-in-law... "
Lady Akara managed to recover from her surprise at such advanced technology...
She was well aware of advances in electronics and such, she had connections in many labs around the world...
But NO ONE was this advanced, not on this world, the words were out before knew it...
" Are you an alien?... "
Washu couldn't help smiling...
" Are you asking if I'm from outside of this country or outside of this world?... "
Lady Akara's eyes looked upward and Washu chuckled...
" Yes... I am from another world... "
Washu could see that Lady Akara was trying to carefully word her next question, so she continued...
" And the Masaki clan IS of this world... "
She just didn't add that it was also on several thousands other worlds too...
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Washu felt that she should pass on one bit of data before they continued...
She found it helped when making 'first contact' with "Earthlings"...
" A MAJOR galactic law states that any contact with backward or non-stellar worlds is strictly forbidden... Effecting the evolution of a world's culture is considered one of the worst crimes any one can commit and the death penalty is almost mandatory... "
There was a surprised look on Lady Akara's faces and Washu went serious...
" There have been countless documented cases of worlds where contact was made too early and some thing happen... Worlds where the fear of aliens caused panic and then world wide deaths... Others worlds obtained some form of advanced technology and then went on to destroyed their worlds... "
Lady Akara stared at the image before her...
Katsuro had heard this part before, when he became aware that clan Masaki had off-world connections...
It was not so much bragging about how great the Masaki clan was as a reason why he must do his best to protect that secret and any others that he might acquire in the future...
Not only for the protection of his clan, but for world, the Earth, as well...
And he took great pride in it, for he was now in very select company...
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It had not been too long ago that he had learned the secret of Masaki's off-world connection in a rather startling way...
He, along with his granddaughter had been teleported onto a ship high in orbit above Japan...
It seem that he had not been the only one invited as he was introduced to a mature female by the name of Elizabeth Alexandra Windsor, better known as Elizabeth the 2nd, the queen of England and an elderly male whom he recognized at once, "His Majesty the Emperor" and his wife...
In turn, the five of them had been introduced to an elderly shinto priest, Katsuhito Masaki, Tenchi's grandfather and a dark haired female with a single small crystal on her forehead, who was Tenchi's great-grandmother Funaho Masaki Jurai, as well as the 1st Queen of Jurai and the vast Juraian Empire...
A second elderly male was introduced as Minami Kuramitsu, the Grand Marshall of something called the Galaxy Police, who it turns out were the galaxy's policemen...
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He had found it interesting to watch as the two queens and the empress had sipped tea and chatted as if this were a get together any where else...
He was surprised to learn that both the English queen and 'his majesty' had been aware of other world beings since their youth...
However THIS was their first 'off world' trip...
They ALL enjoyed an experience that very few people from the world below them had been privileged to, gazing down upon their beautiful world...
Not that he could tell any one about it, but his granddaughter knew and that was all that mattered...
It had also been during this visit that a health scan that Washu did turned up a minor problem...
It seem that he had a small cancer cell developing in his stomach, some thing his last checkup missed...
Upon his return to the planet, instead of his estate, they went the Washu's lab, where, in a very short time the tiny problem was removed without breaking the skin...
Since then he had been taking the vitamin supplements Washu had created just for him...
He was amazed at how much better he felt and was able to do...
Life was much brighter and looking to get even better...
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It was at this point that there was a knock on the door and it opened...
To Katsuro's delight a couple entered the room, arm in arm...
It was his granddaughter, Tuskiko and not only was she smiling, but she was giggling...
Some thing he had not seen her do since she was a small child...
It was things like this that made all the pain he had gone though worth while...
However it was her male counterpart that caused him to smile slightly, it wasn't often that you got to see a class AA ninja blushing...
Rogon Masaki was a warrior of the modern world, who had been trained all his life in the art of Ninjutsu, the world of the ninja...
However Rogon was not from this world, he and his clan had lived on a world far away from this world...
But fate had stepped in and he had found himself on a world that was truly amazing and with someone he could never imagine existing...
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Entering the couple had been unaware of the visitor who was now observing them...
Lady Akara had heard that the young Hoshiki had met some one, but it seem there was more to it, as this was not the same quiet, suspicious kunoichi ( a term used by many to mean female ninja ) she had last seen escort her grandfather to a council meeting...
The girl stopped giggling upon seeing that her grandfather had company, very rare these days...
When she saw who it was, her eyes widened and she dropped to one knee, bowing her head in respect...
The male was surprised, but continued to stand, but he did bow slightly, a sign of respect...
Lady Akara noted that the young male was unafraid, some thing she found interesting...
There were many members of the high council that were scared of her, with good reason...
Thou he didn't show the same respect the girl had, he seem to know that she was a very important person and showed her due respect...
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" Ah... Rogon... Did you two young people have a nice day?... "
Washu's cheerful voice tended to cut through the tension in the room...
As Lady Akara watched the young man blushed, put his right fist over his heart and bowed in the direction of Washu's voice...
" Yes, my lady... "
Lady Akara detected a great deal of respect in the the young males voice...
Washu smiled, it small cell phone did more than just transfer images, she was scanning the whole room and every one there...
All but one of those in the room were reading calm...
" Tuskiko... Please get up... I'm sure Lady Akara would rather see you pretty face than the back of your head... "
Only Washu and Lady Akara heard her grandfather softly chuckle...
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Slowly getting to her feet, Tuskiko was soon holding Rogon's hand again...
Washu noted that Lady Akara was observing Rogon...
" Lady Akara... I would like to present Rogon Masaki... "
Again the young male bowed...
" Rogon... Change, please... "
Touching a button on his shirt pocket, his outfit completely changed...
He was now dressed from head to toe in black, goggles covering his eyes and a pair of swords on his back...
Lady Akara tried not to react, but it wasn't easy, you only saw this kind of stuff in the movies...
" Lady Akara... This is what an off-world ninja looks like and why they are feared across the galaxy... "
Washu wasn't finished...
" I've added a little some thing to it... Rogon... Stealth mode, please... "
And with that, he disappeared...
THIS got a reaction from Lady Akara - wide eyes...
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Washu smiled as she watched Lady Akara's eye search the room...
" Rogon... Please let Lady Akara know you're still here... "
Nothing seem to happen until a surprised Tuskiko suddenly found herself bent over backwards and almost floating in mid air...
With eyes and mouth wide open, she was about to say something when something seem to press against her lips, crushing them...
Her reaction was swift...
She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around something over her...
Washu smiled, Rogon was spending far too much time with Nobuyuki, Tenchi's dad...
( He had once caught her in her lab and did the same thing to her... After she caught her breath, SHE dragged him off to one of her special rooms for the rest of the day... )
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Shortly there after, Tuskiko was back up-right and Rogon ( back in civilian clothes ) was standing by her side, a big smile on her face...
Behind his desk, her grandfather was enjoying every moment...
Lady Akara turn to face the floating image...
" Is this some kind of a threat?... "
Washu had her innocent smile on...
" Not at all... Just a friendly display of some of the options available to us... "
Lady Akara leaned forward, her elbows on the desk, her fingers interlocked, her chin resting on them...
" Display of options?... "
Washu continued to smile...
" As I said earlier, colony 0315, referred to by many as Earth, is protected by Galactic law and any displays of "ADVANCE" technology would not only attract unwanted interest, but also cause unwanted problems... Not ALL your science fiction movies are fantacies, some might be future nightmares without that protection... "
Lady Akara considered this...
" Won't this meeting be considered interfering?... "
Washu chuckled...
" As I said any attempts to affect this world's culture and development is considered a No-No... However, "contact" has been made quite a few times in the past several thousand years... Not ALL tales of Aliens were fake... Those whose duty it is to watch this world, also have the duty to clean up any problems that might have off-world sources... Such as that recent contract involving the the Hoshiki and Masaki clans, which originated off-world... "
THIS had Lady Akara's attention, she didn't like being used...
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Washu continued...
" The situation has since been handled... "
Washu saw one of Lady Akara's eyebrows rise...
" Handled?... "
Washu chuckled, handled had a number of meanings...
" The agent in question still alive and being watched 24/7, incase new orders are received or others try to make contact with him... 'Removing' him was unnecessary... "
Lady Akara's eyes narrowed...
" And if it had?... "
Washu's face was bow serious...
" Then... Accidents happen every day... However we have another option... Marooning... "
Lady Akara looked confused...
" Like marooning of a deserted island?... "
Washu smiled...
" Like, marooned on a deserted PLANET, on the other side of the galaxy... "
Lady Akara was now smiling...
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After a while Lady Akara spoke again...
" So... Why are you telling me all this... Isn't contact forbidden?... "
Washu smiled, to the point...
" First, we didn't contact you, you came to us... Second, you were already aware of us... So, the 'contact' ruling doesn't apply... "
Lady Akara nodded her head as Washu continued...
" Our conversation is merely an exchange of basic verbal facts... No physical exchange of any kind has taken place... "
Lady Akara looked at Washu...
" But why?... "
Washu saw this coming...
" Because... "
Washu saw confusion in Lady Akara's eyes...
" Because you are now aware of us and you know very little about us... And what you do know tends to suggest a possible threat... We are not, unless you threaten us... A very unwise decision... "
Lady Akara saw lord Hoshiki smile and nod his head...
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Lady Akara looked at the image for a while in silence before replying...
" So... Where do we go from here?... "
Washu's smile got bigger...
" One step at a time, I will walk around the world!... "
Both females smiled as Washu continued...
" We continue to take steps... "
At that a figure in black appeared over to one side of the room and then walked over to the desk and placed a small box down on it...
After bowing to his lordship, he disappeared again...
The only one surprised seem to be Lady Akara...
Picking up the box, Katsuro opened it and looked inside, then at Washu's smiling image...
Reaching inside he pulls out a device which looks like the small cell phone he was using...
Leaning forward he hands it to Lady Akara...
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Lady Akara looks at the object in her hand and then at the smiling Washu...
" This is so that we will be able to contact each other easier... For security reasons, any attempt to open it and reverse engineer it would only destroy it... At the moment only the button to contact me and the conference button work... It will now only work while you are holding it... "
At that Washu smiles at every one and the image shuts off...
Lady Akara sits there staring at the object in her hand until she hears Katsuro chuckle...
" It is about here that some one says 'Welcome to the family'... So... Welcome to the Masaki family... It's an out of this world experience... "
Lady Akara looked up to see the others smiling back at her..
And for some reason, she felt happy...
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( A distant part of the Empire... )
A number of females stood before a large screen, watching small red dots of lights deploy before a wall of larger white dots...
The larger white dots were the edge of and asteroid field and the smaller red were enemy star ships...
Hidden within the field were allied star ship...
The young female in the middle of the females would soon have to give her first royal command to troops of the Juraian Empire...
A command that would cost some of them their lives...
It was one of the down sides to being a member of the royal family of Jurai...
She didn't wish to give such a command, but every one had agreed that not only did it need to be issued, but the best person to give it was her...
And with it another piece of her innocence would be gone...
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Every one watched as the 12 red dots, powerful Raider ships, began to split up with 3 deploying above the field and 3 deploying below...
The other 6 were very hungry wolves, entering the field in search of the far less powerful Juraian star ships, sheep for the slaughter...
But the sheep had some surprises for the wolves, in the form of a couple of sheep dogs...
When she gave the word, the sheep would attack, each knowing what they had to do and determined to do it for her...
For the past several minutes she had been holding the hands of the females on both sides of her for support...
They were not only her advisors, but her friends as well...
After the 6th Raider star ship entered the field the ships AI spoke...
" Princess... It's time... "
Taking a deep breath, 2nd princess Sasami Masaki Jurai drew herself up and spoke loudly in a clear, firm voice...
" TO ALL UNITS!... EXECUTE!... EXECUTE!... EXECUTE!... "
And with that the outcome was out of her control and into the hands of fate...
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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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