The Pirate's Soldier

by operation meteor

Heero's career as a Preventers operative takes a strange turn when he gets caught up in a fight between a Juraian royal and a notorious space pirate. As the two alien beauties settle in with him on Earth and more soon follow, the former Gundam pilot soon finds himself to be the target of their affections, with a certain lovely outlaw at the front of the pack! M for some language.

23. Chapter 23

Author's Notes: Hello there! First off, time to get a bit of unpleasantness out of the way. For those of you who were hoping that Washu was building mobile suits for the boys; congratulations, you played yourselves. There will be no Gundams in this fic, and I never planned on having them in it in the first place.

I had hoped that you lot might realize at some point that mobile suits weren't going to be a big part of this story with the exception of the opening, but it seems I was a bit too optimistic on that front. Believe it or not, part of the reason I decided to write this story in the first place was because I wanted a break from writing mobile suit battles. Don't get me wrong; I like giant robots blowing shit up as much as the next guy. The thing is, I've already got my Wing/Seed crossover series that I'm working on to fill in that little niche. I'm writing this story without mobile suits because I wanted to try something different, give myself a bit of variety, otherwise writing my other story would get old for me. If this massive letdown sends a bunch of you packing, oh well. I know who among my readers like the story for what it is, and that's more than enough for me. Okay, I think that's enough out of me. If you're still here, you know what you're in for.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Three: No Need For Aggressive Target Practice!

March 1st, A.C. 199

"You wanted to see me?" asked Ryoko as she walked into the little office Washu had set up in one corner of the palace hangar.

Sitting behind a desk and looking up from her monitor, Washu gave her a knowing smirk. "I did. First things first, though. Enjoy yourself with lover boy last night?"

Ryoko smiled as she sat down across from her mother; even as the heat rushed to her face, she wasn't about to deny it. "You know it!"

Washu grinned. "Thought so! Don't think for a moment that I didn't catch the two of you sneaking out of the ballroom after that last round of drinks. Maybe you're due for a checkup soon. Need to make sure our handsome prince is treating my daughter right, after all."

Ryoko folded her arms. "He's treating me just fine. I'll pass on the checkup."

Washu shrugged. "Fine. If you start getting nauseous and vomiting over the next few weeks, though, I'm invoking my motherly privileges."

Ryoko blushed as she realized what Washu was getting at. "I'm not pregnant… I think. Actually… can I even get pregnant? You've never really been clear on that."

Washu chuckled. "Of course! With the way you two go at it? Give it time! Anyway, that's not why I wanted to see you. I've got something for you."

Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "What is it? Am I getting gem number two now?"

Washu shook her head as she reached down into a drawer. "Not just yet. I need to make sure you can handle it. Luckily for the both of us, this should help me make that judgement."

Ryoko looked on curiously as Washu pulled out a strange black cylinder. It wasn't all that big, probably only about half again as large as that Master Key Yosho was so fond of. In fact, as Ryoko studied the cylinder more intently, she began to notice some uncomfortable similarities between this odd device and Tenchi-ken. The cylinder might have been a different color and was longer, but it had a similar pattern in its handle, like a bunch of wooden strips had been woven together into an intricate piece of art. It also had energy emitters, but unlike Tenchi-ken, on this weapon the emitters were on both ends.

"What is it?" the pirate asked as Washu laid the device atop the desk, even though she already had a pretty good idea as to what the answer was.

Washu surprised her with a question of her own. "Heero's told you everything, right? About what his power might truly be… and about me and my very old friends?"

Ryoko slowly nodded. "Yes."

"Good," said Washu, "That will make this easier to explain."

Ryoko was worried. "What are you talking about?"

"When I created you, the power I endowed you with was a reflection of the power us Chousin can wield," Washu began, "Tsunami did the same thing with her Royal Trees and the strength they give to Jurai's Royal Family. The Royal Trees have their Keys… and now, I've designed one for you."

"But I don't need a Key," Ryoko countered, "I thought my power was connected to those weird little red gems you have, like the one you put inside me."

"It is," Washu confirmed, "This is a different kind of Key, one meant for me as much as it is for you."

Now Ryoko was more confused than before. "You're not exactly clearing things up here."

Washu sighed. "Your power, even with only one of the three gems, is more dangerous than you realize. Before I give you another, I must be confident that you can do more than simply flail about wildly with it."

Ryoko scowled. "Hey, I know my fighting style's rough, but I wouldn't call it 'flailing' or anything like that! I'm not refined, but I get the job done."

"And that worked just fine when you were a petty pirate seizing merchant freighters, robbing banks, or brawling with rival criminals," Washu replied, "but that will no longer suffice. You fought Ragyō alongside Heero; you know how good she is, and honestly, she was almost certainly holding back so she could prolong her fun. Being a good brawler will not cut it against her or Kagato."

"I know that," Ryoko reluctantly conceded, "Isn't that why you've had both me and Heero almost constantly training with Yosho? I'm getting better. I'll never be an elegant or graceful fighter, but my skills are definitely growing."

Washu nodded. "I never said they weren't. You're making progress in the martial arts, and I hope that continues. However, the way you use your powers as a whole is sloppy and wasteful. You have energy to spare, even with only one gem, so it hasn't been too detrimental as of yet. That being said, you're going to have to call upon much greater power in the battles to come, and you need to learn how to efficiently manage it. This Key will help you with that."

"How so?" asked Ryoko.

"Pick it up," Washu instructed.

Not having anything better to do, Ryoko decided she'd play along. She grabbed the black cylinder and held it out in front of her so that it ran across her body. Focusing on the device, she could sense a faint spark of energy within it, one that felt rather familiar.

"Do you have one of the gems in here?" she inquired.

Washu shook her head. "Not quite. It's a lesser version of them, a pale imitation of the genuine article. A small crystal that's been embedded in the core of the Key. Think of it as a spark plug on one of Earth's primitive automobiles."

"Okay," said Ryoko, "What exactly do I do with this?"

"You'll be using this from now on in place of your usual energy sword," Washu answered, "It will channel your energy much more efficiently than how you've been doing so with that technique in the past. Think of this as both a weapon and an exercise tool. Go on; try to activate it."

Ryoko's brow furrowed as she focused on the cylinder. Crimson sparks danced around her arm and hand as she fed energy into it…

…and nothing happened.

After a few seconds of this, Ryoko growled in frustration. "Piece of junk! It's not working!"

"You're trying to force it," Washu calmly countered, "I knew you'd feed it too much power, and I designed it so that it would not function when that happened. The whole point of this device is to encourage control, Ryoko. Try again, with a bit more finesse and restraint this time."

Ryoko took a deep breath; it required every ounce of what little patience she had to keep from firing off an energy blast at Washu's desk. Giving herself a few seconds to calm down, she concentrated on the device again. This time, she fed it just a tiny sliver of her power...

…and shafts of scarlet energy ignited from both ends.

Ryoko's eyes widened, and she blinked a few times; she hadn't expected so little power to yield such an immediate result. "Whoa…"

Washu smiled. "See? Elegance and fine control; they're quite valuable."

"Right," Ryoko muttered, only partially paying attention as she lightly waved the weapon up and down, "So, does this thing always activate both blades at once, or can I do one at a time?"

"It has the capacity to operate as both a single and double-bladed weapon," Washu replied, "but you will need to further refine control over your energy in order to achieve that. For now, I suggest you devote time to practicing with both sides activated. It's much more dangerous than your usual sword, and you'll want to familiarize yourself with it before sparring with a live foe, let alone take it into battle. With time and effort, not only will your sword skills improve, but you will find the rest of your abilities enhanced as well."

Ryoko nodded. "If you say so. How do I turn it off?"

"Simply cut off the flow of energy that you're feeding it," Washu instructed, "Nothing more to it than that."

Ryoko did so, and the twin red blades vanished a moment later. She spotted a small clip on the cylinder, and she was able to fasten it to her tunic at the waist. It was quite light, so she could at least take comfort in that it wouldn't be a particularly burdensome weapon to carry around.

"See?" said Washu, "Not so hard, is it?"

Ryoko rolled her eyes; she wasn't about to give her mother the satisfaction of a positive answer. "Whatever. So, I'm stuck with this thing now?"

"Don't even try to get rid of it," Washu warned her, "You do, and you'll find yourself back in my lab. You'll get that medical exam, and it'll be quite comprehensive. Do I make myself clear?"

Ryoko gulped nervously. "Yup!"

Washu smiled. "Good! Now, why the long face? I just gave you a fun toy; go play with it!"

"I'll get right on that," Ryoko quipped, "Speaking of toys, what about the ones you're working on out there? Shouldn't you be finishing them up rather than chilling in here?"

"I'm on schedule," Washu casually replied, "I'll have them wrapped up and ready for Heero and the boys by the end of the week. Should be fun to see them in action, especially when they're flying alongside you and Ryo-Ohki."

Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "As part of this upcoming flight exercise with the Second Fleet? I never agreed to be involved with that."

"You're going to be," Washu firmly ordered, "You and Ryo-Ohki are a formidable team, and you'll be even deadlier when working with Heero and his friends. They're all phenomenal pilots, and you'll get to see that up close and personal soon enough. We'll be relying on you and them to help clear the way for the final approach to the second repository, and I need to make sure your skills are up to the task."

"Nice to know I'm valued around here," Ryoko muttered.

Washu smirked. "Look at it this way; you'll get to show your favorite Juraian prince that you can keep pace with him in the realm that he performs best in. You want to set yourself apart from all the other ladies gunning for him? Prove that you can fly with him, and your competition won't stand a chance!"

….

March 7th, A.C. 199

Duo tapped his right foot impatiently. "Damn it, how long is she going to make us wait out here? It's been over an hour already!"

Hilde shook her head. "Like a kid on Christmas morning…"

"It's only natural," said Trowa, "We've been waiting over a week for this."

Wufei smirked. "If Washu can live up to even half of her boasts, then this should be good!"

Quatre frowned. "I'm not so sure about this. I mean, I know she's good, but to throw something like what she's been hinting at together in the span of barely a week? If this is a rush job, we could be serious trouble."

Heero shook his head; while he knew that Washu had more than a few screws loose, he trusted her when it came to craftsmanship. "We won't be. She wouldn't have called us all here if her new toys weren't up to scratch."

Ryoko scowled in frustration. "Then why hasn't she let us in yet? It's not like we've got all day for this!"

Kiyone rolled her eyes. "Knowing Washu, it's got be all about presentation. She does love to show off when it comes to her new inventions."

"I wanna see! I wanna see!" chirped Mihoshi.

Sasami was right there with her. "Me too! Me too!"

Ayeka sighed. "Well, at least she'll have an enthusiastic audience."

"I just hope any demonstrations will not prove to be dangerous," said Azaka.

"Knowing Washu? We should probably find some cover," Kamidake chimed in.

Yosho chuckled. "That shouldn't be necessary. Demonstrations will be in orbit for something like this."

Funaho looked concerned. "The exercise with the Second Fleet is scheduled for tomorrow, but you're only getting your new craft today. That's hardly enough time to familiarize yourself with their intricacies."

"We could ask Seto and Admiral Fukunaga to reschedule," Misaki suggested, "I'm sure they'd understand."

"That won't be necessary," Heero replied, "When it comes to flying, you'll find that we're very quick learners."

Funaho smiled. "That confident, are you? Well, then I'm looking forward to seeing you prove me wrong!"

The hangar door slid open, and Washu stepped through. "Sorry to keep you all waiting. Had to make some last-minute adjustments."

"Took you long enough," Ryoko grumbled.

"Are they ready?" asked Heero, "Whatever 'they' might be, anyway?"

Washu grinned. "You bet! Want to see?"

"That is why we're here," Ayeka deadpanned.

Washu turned around and motioned for them to follow her. "All right, enough with the backtalk. Let's get this show on the road!"

She led them into the hangar, and it didn't take long for the fruits of her labors to come into view. In the center of the vast room, their hulls gleaming with the sheen of freshly polished paint, were five custom spacecraft. Each one had a delta-shaped central fuselage with the cockpit towards the front and stood upon a trio of landing struts, but the similarities ended there. The group followed Washu towards the first craft in the lineup, and Heero suspected that this one was for him.

As they strode up towards it, it quickly became apparent that these vessels were larger than they'd initially appeared. They easily dwarfed any of the conventional jet fighters that humans had built in the past. Each one had a boarding ramp that descended from center of the craft, and what glimpse Heero could catch hinted at a surprisingly spacious interior. A trio of large thrusters dominated the rear of each fighter, and Heero could only imagine the kind of speeds that they were capable of attaining.

The craft that they all stood before now had a dark blue base for the paint job, accentuated rather artfully with a white-feather pattern running up and down both wings. Two pairs of what were almost certainly energy cannons were mounted in small bulbs at the front of the wings, but Heero only paid brief attention to them. His gaze was drawn to a pair of much larger cannons slung beneath the fighter, and while there were some minor cosmetic changes, he instantly recognized them for what they truly were.

The Twin Buster Rifle.

Washu caught Heero staring, and she gave him a knowing smirk. "See something you like?"

Heero nodded. "You could say that."

Duo whistled as he saw what the two of them were looking at it. "Oh, boy… I'd hate to be on the wrong end of those things!"

"No kidding," Wufei quipped.

Quatre chuckled. "I should've known…"

Trowa actually smirked. "Well, this looks promising."

"Understatement of the century," Wufei deadpanned.

Stepping beneath the craft, Heero ran his hand along the barrel of one of the main cannons. "Washu… what have you built here?"

The red-headed scientist grinned. "Glad you asked! Heero, allow me to introduce you to your brand-new personal spacecraft, the HFX-001. The designation stands for Heavy Fighter Experimental. She's a long-range space superiority fighter, and she's got quite a few tricks up her sleeves!"

Heero nodded as he gestured at the guns slung beneath the craft. "Are these really what I think they are?"

Washu actually laughed. "Oh, no; they're much more! Yes, their design is based off of the Twin Buster Rifle that your Wing Zero once wielded, but I've improved upon the weapon in every conceivable way. Faster recharge rate, greater energy efficiency, more precise targeting sensors… and, of course, a considerable boost in firepower. The plasma cannons mounted in the wings will be your main dogfighting weapons, but these? They're a threat to fortifications and capital ships alike."

Ayeka looked skeptical. "Such weapons can threat warships? I find that hard to believe."

Washu shook her head. "Don't worry; you'll get to see for yourself soon enough. Of course, this thing's got more going for it than just powerful guns. Heero, mind coming with me for a moment?"

She headed towards the ramp, and Heero moved to follow. The others did as well, but Washu held up a hand.

"Hey, I said for Heero to come with, not the rest of you!" she barked, "It's not like I can fit all of us inside here. I made it nice and comfy, but it's got limits. You lot stay here!"

The others stepped back, but Ryoko was stubborn. "Heero, you sure you want to go up there alone with her?"

Washu rolled her eyes. "Ryoko, I'm not about to get him hurt inside his own fighter. He doesn't need you coming up to keep an eye on him."

"It'll be okay, Ryoko," Heero reassured her, "I know Washu's got a few screws loose, but I think we can trust her here."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Washu muttered under her breath.

Ryoko sighed. "Fine. If she does anything weirder than usual up there, though, you holler. Got that?"

Heero nodded. "Will do."

Letting Washu lead him up the ramp, Heero soon found himself in the middle of a small ready room of sorts. There were a few open lockers along the sides, currently empty but clearly designed to hold weapons, armor, and support gear. A little way forward there was a tiny but functional cabin, consisting of little more than a small bunk and a side room with a cramped bathroom, even including a rather claustrophobic but functional shower.

"Impressive," Heero murmured as he followed Washu up into the cockpit, "Definitely bigger on the inside than I would've expected."

Washu nodded. "Like I said outside, she's a long-range space superiority fighter. Can't expect you to be constantly up in the cockpit. She's got her own FTL drive, so if you ever have to operate independently, you can go anywhere in the galaxy."

"Good to know," Heero replied, "although I also know next to nothing when it comes to plotting out such trips."

Washu grinned as she stepped aside and allowed Heero to take the pilot's chair. "I'm aware of that. That's why I've got some special bells and whistles installed, both here and in the craft that I made for you friends. Power her up and you'll see what I mean!"

Heero took a minute to study the console. The display actually looked fairly intuitive, and parts of it reminded him of Wing Zero's cockpit. He suspected that was entirely deliberate on Washu's part. Just like a mobile suit, there was no viewport or canopy; instead, a series of interconnected screens formed a dome of sorts, allowing the pilot a surprising view range. It was a much more seamless setup than Heero had ever seen with any mobile suit, Gundam or otherwise. Beginning the initialization sequence, he saw a familiar blue holographic pixy materialize in the air before him.

"HFX-001 coming online," said the azure fairy with a smile, "Pilot identification confirmed. Welcome aboard, Prince Heero Yuy Masaki Jurai!"

Heero raised an eyebrow. "AIDA? I thought Washu had you back in her lab."

"I do," Washu confirmed, "This is a variant of her that I designed specifically for this ship. Think of her as a built-in support AI."

The azure fairy bowed. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness."

"Likewise," Heero replied, "Do you have a name?"

"The good doctor has yet to grant me one," the artificial intelligence answered, "That honor falls to you, Your Highness."

"Why don't you pick one for yourself?" Heero suggested, "Also, please drop the title. Just call me Heero."

The fairy put her finger to her mouth as she mulled it over. "Hmm… in that case, I suppose I'll go with Eva. Does that work for you?"

Heero shrugged. "Whatever you're comfortable with."

Eva smiled. "Okay, then. Eva it is! Also, I supposed I should make another change or two to distinguish myself from AIDA. One moment."

The holographic image flared and whirled for a moment, and when it settled, he saw the pixy was wearing a kimono with slits cut into the back to allow her wings to stick out. "What do you think? Good enough for the red carpet?"

"You're not going to Hollywood anytime soon," Washu quipped, "If you're done playing around, we have work to do."

Eva curtsied. "Of course. How might I be of assistance?"

"You can start by giving Heero a rundown of your capabilities," Washu answered.

Eva smiled. "Happily, doctor! Heero, you may consider me your copilot. My functions include course-plotting for your FTL jumps, monitoring both communications and tactical data while you're in the heat of combat, analyzing anything that pops up on your sensors, serving as this craft's autopilot while you are either resting or deployed on foot, and helping to maintain your psychological well-being."

That last item caused Heero to raise an eyebrow. "Excuse me? You're supposed to be my in-flight therapist? Wasn't aware that I needed one."

"I'm someone that, with time, you'll hopefully become comfortable conversing freely with," she gently countered, "FTL-travel isn't instantaneous, and the time between jumps offers one a chance to think. Given how much is on your shoulders, you can't deny that you have a good deal to ponder. It always helps to have someone to bounce things off of, wouldn't you agree?"

Heero had to concede the point. "Fair enough."

"She's good for more than just chatting," Washu added, "Eva, why don't you run Heero through some of the finer points of his new steed?"

Eva nodded. "Of course, doctor. Heero, please direct your attention to the console's central display."

He did so, and he saw a small blue image of his fighter's silhouette. Leaning forward, his eyes narrowed as he saw that the craft was surrounded by a light blue line that closely mirrored its frame. It only took him a moment to realize what it represented.

"This thing has energy shields," he said.

"That's right!" Eva cheered, "They offer complete 360-degree coverage of the ship. Normally, they're set for balanced protection, but at your command I can adjust them to fit your particular needs. Setting up for a frontal assault against a warship and need to power your way through the anti-air screen? Say the word, and I'll reinforce the forward barriers! Of course, this would be accomplished by drawing power away from other parts of the shield. Needless to say, consider your present tactical situation carefully before ordering any shift in the shields."

"Of course," Heero replied, "That's a pretty handy feature. I'm assuming this is built into the other fighters as well?"

"Affirmative," Eva answered.

"Got to give you boys all the protection I can," Washu chimed in, "I know the kind of risks you and your friends like to take in combat!"

"How much punishment can they take?" asked Heero.

"Depends on what's shooting at them, of course," said Eva, "Most enemy fighter you might encounter will require sustained and concentrated fire to pierce them. Full-scale warships, particularly capital ships, are a different story. You can still take some hits, but I'd definitely favor evasion if I were you. Even a glancing blow from a battleship's primary weapons will draw significant amounts of energy, and a direct hit? Pray it's only one or two bolts you take and not an entire battery's worth!"

Washu folded her arms. "You'll be able to endure a beating, but you won't be invincible. Don't forget that."

Heero nodded. "I won't. How about speed and maneuverability?"

"I believe the phrase 'show, don't tell' would be appropriate for that," said Eva with a wink, "Put her through her paces up in orbit, and you'll see what I mean!"

Washu grinned. "She's right. Trust me; this baby will leave any mobile suit well and truly in the dust! Even purpose-built interceptors from most of the big galactic powers' navies would have trouble keeping pace with it."

"Does that include the fighters of the Second Fleet that I'll be competing against tomorrow?" asked Heero.

"They'll definitely have their work cut out for them," Eva answered, "That being said, don't take them lightly. The HFX-001 will give you an edge, but it's your experience and skill as a pilot that will make the real difference in tomorrow's contest."

"Of course," Heero concurred, "Anything else I need to know about this thing?"

"Nothing that you can't learn while in flight," Washu replied, "We still need to introduce the others to their new toys, not to mention get you boys airborne and practicing."

Heero stood up before nodding at Eva. "I suppose you're right. I'll be seeing you again soon, Eva."

The holographic pixy gave him a mock salute. "I'll be ready and waiting, Heero!"

The console dimmed as Heero powered things down. He and Washu exited the fighter a moment later, rejoined the others and wasted no time in moving to the next craft in line. This one was a pure black fighter, and Heero instantly knew that it was for Duo. While all the fighters appeared to be the same length and width, there were a few things that immediately set this one apart from Heero's personal craft apart from just the color. It still had the plasma cannons built into the wings, and there was a pair of larger guns slung beneath the craft, but these most certainly were not Washu's version of the Twin Buster Rifle. They were smaller than the cannons slung beneath Heero's fighter, and each of their barrels opened up into a tuning-fork shape towards the end. There were also two slots beneath the cockpit, and Heero guessed that they were missile launchers. Two pairs of small domes were set on each side of the fuselage near the base of the wings, and Heero had no idea what those might be. The same went for a long ovoid blister that ran down the center of the fuselage.

Washu turned to the group and, sure enough, gestured for the self-proclaimed God of Death to step forward. "Duo Maxwell, this one's yours."

Duo grinned as he studied the fighter. "Thing of beauty… what's her name?"

"The designation is HFX-002," said Washu, "If you want to give it an actual name, figure that out on your own time."

Duo shrugged. "Okay, works for me. So, what all can she do?"

Washu smirked. "She's designed for high-speed interception, reconnaissance, stealth, and sabotage. I understand that those sorts of things are up your alley?"

Duo chuckled. "You could say that! What do I have to work with?"

"Standard plasma cannons for dealing with your garden-variety enemies," Washu replied as she pointed at the wing guns before turning her attention to the weapons slung beneath the fighter, "These babies are arc energy disruptors. Long story short, they can fry the electronics of enemy craft, disabling shields and weaponry, leaving them sitting ducks."

"Those will be perfect for taking on the drones guarding the second repository," Quatre observed.

"Not to mention handy if we need to take a vessel intact," Trowa noted.

Washu smiled. "Indeed, they will be! They're not the only weapon that can be used to disable hostile ships. The arc energy disruptors are good against single targets, but what if you need to daze and confuse multiple craft at once? See those launchers beneath the cockpit? Inside them are high-intensity ionic pulse missiles. Fire them at concentrations of enemies, whether airborne or on the ground, and they'll detonate right in the middle of the pack. The ensuing pulse will knock most major systems; only exceptionally hardened targets like command bunkers or capital ships have the shielding needing to withstand their effects. They've got a wide range, and they're indiscriminate, so you've got to watch where you fire them. Still, pull it off right, and you can disable entire squadrons with a well-placed pair of warheads."

"That's a nasty little trick," said Wufei, "How many missiles does it carry?"

"Four in each launcher," Washu answered, "Think carefully before using them; they're not easy for me to make."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "You built a superweapon capable of threatening the entire galaxy, but some specialized missiles give you trouble? I find that hard to believe."

Washu scowled. "They're rather intricate weapons, I'll have you know! I'm not saying I can't have more manufactured, just that they take a bit of work. If you're firing them off willy-nilly, it'll be difficult for me to keep replenishing your munitions. Just pick your targets wisely, okay?"

"No problem," said Duo.

Hilde's eyes narrowed as she studied the craft. "Those blisters up top; what are they for?"

"Glad you asked," said Washu, "The four smaller ones are sensor and communications jammers. You can completely blind enemy fighters closing in for an attack, mess with their targeting arrays and force them to aim manually, and you can even screw with missiles should they launch any at you. Whether you just want to disable warheads or send them back at the people shooting them at you, you've got the tools to do it!"

"Will they work on the drones we'll be up against?" asked Kiyone.

Washu nodded. "They'll be even more vulnerable to it; since they're machines, they perceive the world only through mechanical sensors. With no organic optics to fall back on, you can completely blind them with these jammers. However, they have a limited range, and when they're blinded the drones are programmed to simply accelerate forward for a last-ditch kamikaze attack. Given the sheer numbers that you'll be up against, teamwork and overlapping fields of fire will be your best defense. The jammers will give you an edge, but don't rely on just them."

"Good to know," said Duo.

Mihoshi stood on her tip-toes and pointed at the top of the fighter. "What about that oval thing up top? What's that do?"

Washu grinned. "That is this baby's crown jewel; a full spectrum cloaking field generator!"

Ayeka's jaw dropped. "A cloaking device on something this small? Impossible!"

Washu shook her head. "Oh, ye of little faith. If you'll excuse me for a moment; I seem to have a doubter to convert."

She walked up the fighter's open ramp and closed it behind her. A few minutes passed, and Heero could hear the hum of the craft's systems powering up. Then the air around the vessel began to shimmer, and a moment later, the fighter vanished entirely. There wasn't even so much as a tell-tale ripple in the air; it was complete and seamless invisibility.

Ayeka took a deep breath. "Unbelievable…"

Sasami giggled. "Looks like you were wrong, Ayeka!"

"Unfortunately, I must agree," muttered Azaka.

"We're sorry, Your Highness!" squeaked Kamidake.

Ryoko whistled. "Now that's a nice trick!"

"Handy," Funaho muttered, "and it activates much more quickly than the prototypes we've been testing with our scout craft…"

Misaki smiled. "Think Washu will give us the schematics? Can't hurt to ask!"

"Be prepared to pay a hefty sum," Yosho chimed in as the fighter reappeared, "I doubt she'll just give them away for nothing."

The ship powered down, and the ramp lowered a moment later. Down came Washu with a smug smile on her face as she looked at Ayeka.

"You were saying?" the red-headed scientists asked.

Ayeka sighed. "I suppose I must eat my words. Most impressive, Miss Washu."

Washu grinned in triumph. "Now that's more like it!"

"How long is that cloak good for?" asked Hilde.

Washu sighed. "That's the downside; it's very energy intensive. I can only do so much for the powerplant on a ship of this side, and using the cloak means drawing energy from a lot of other systems. Keep it on for too long, and you'll start overloading components and frying circuits. You can run it safely for about eight hours, and you can fire your missiles while its running, but you'll have no shields and your plasma cannons will be little more than popguns with how much power's being diverted from them. After that… well, then it becomes a matter of how long you can last before you're cooked alive in the cockpit."

"Yeesh…" Kiyone grimaced.

Mihoshi gulped. "Duo… you better be careful with that!"

Duo chuckled. "Thanks for the concern, but I'll be fine. No reward's risk-free, after all."

Washu folded her arms. "I appreciate the bravado, but you need to take this seriously. The cloak can make you an invaluable scout and help you position yourself for devastating surprise attacks, but it's very much a double-edged sword. You won't be able to engage your FTL drive while using it, and the same goes for the arc energy disruptors. If you need to cut and run, you'll have to disengage the cloak and then give the systems time to properly redistribute the energy before making a jump, not to mention giving the ship a chance to vent the excess heat buildup. That's part of how the cloak works; it traps heat emissions as well as messing with the visual light spectrum. Those emissions are stored in heat sinks, but eventually you will need to release them. That's the equivalent of firing off a flare in the middle of enemy territory, so you'll need to make sure you're at a safe enough distance before deactivating the cloak. Think damn carefully when using this, and always have an escape plan. Trust me; you'll probably need one a lot sooner than you think."

Wufei smirked. "Luckily, that's one of the few things he's good at."

Duo glared at him. "Got something you want to say, pal?"

Wufei shrugged. "I just did. Got a problem?"

Hilde put a hand on Duo's shoulder. "Let it go. We don't have time for you two to get in a pissing match."

"Indeed," Washu concurred, "We've still got three more fighters to introduce you boys to. Let's keep it moving, shall we?"

The group followed her down the line, and the next fighter simply had to be Trowa's. While it still had the same delta-shaped frame as the other craft, it had certain other features that were a dead giveaway in Heero's eyes. It still had the plasma cannons built into the wings, but there were also a pair of boxy protrusions mounted beneath each wing that Heero immediately recognized as missile launchers. A pair of rotary cannons were slung beneath the central fuselage towards the front, and from what Heero could tell from the mountings they seemed to have a limited degree of swiveling capability. A pair of rectangular blisters were mounted topside where the wings met the fuselage, and Heero suspected they were missile launchers as well. The craft was painted dark blue, with each wing having a series of red markings to complete the ensemble.

Sure enough, Washu turned to the L3 native, confirming Heero's guess. "Trowa, allow me to introduce you to the HFX-003!"

"You clearly did your homework on me," Trowa noted, nodding at the underslung rotary cannons.

Washu grinned. "I pride myself on thorough research."

"Are those physical slug-throwers?" asked Heero as he pointed at the rotaries, "I always thought that Earth's projectile weapons were too primitive for your tastes."

Washu nodded. "For the most part, you'd be right. However, these particular weapons do have the advantage when it comes to rate of fire; the plasma cannons certainly can't match them there. Given that you guys will have to blast your way through swarms of drones, being able to mow them down quickly is a valuable trait, wouldn't you agree?"

"She's not wrong," Quatre admitted.

Trowa stepped underneath the craft and ran a hand along one of the boxes mounted beneath the right wing. "What's in here?"

"Cluster missiles," Washu replied, "Each launcher holds a dozen of them. When fired, each individual missile closes to within a pre-set distance of the target before releasing ten micro-warheads that then home in on individual enemies. You can either launch them individually or empty the whole stash at once. Play your cards right, and you can wipe an entire carrier's worth of fighters with a single volley!"

"A slight exaggeration, given the sheer volume of craft that our fleet carriers can hold," Funaho pointed out.

Washu rolled her eyes. "Fine, that might be a bit of an oversell… way to ruin my fun, Funaho."

Misaki giggled and winked at Funaho. "Killjoy!"

Funaho smirked. "Someone has to be the adult in the room."

Yosho chuckled. "Normally, that's my job with this lot!"

Heero took a few steps back so he could get a better look at the top of the fighter. "What about those protrusions up there? More launchers?"

Washu nodded. "That's right. Each of those holds a dozen missiles. They're more general purpose than the cluster munitions. They'll arc over the fighter before moving forward to go after their targets. You can either use them against enemy fighters, blasting ground troops and surface emplacements, or to soften up larger vessels by targeting key components like engines or sensor arrays."

"In short, this thing's pretty much designed to buzzsaw through enemy formations and then piss off anything it can't kill directly," Kiyone summarized.

"How tough is it?" asked Sasami as she looked worriedly back and forth between the fighter and Trowa.

Washu gave the princes a reassuring smile. "It's got shields, just like other fighters. I also took care to reinforce the armor given what kind of payload it's carrying. It's not invincible, but it can take a beating."

"Trowa's a good pilot, Sasami," Quatre added, "With a fighter like this, he'll be just fine!"

Sasami sighed before looking at Trowa again. "Okay…"

"That's pretty much everything I've got to go over for this one," said Washu, "Trowa, I trust you'll be able to familiarize yourself with its inner workings from here?"

Trowa nodded. "Leave it to me."

Washu nodded. "Good. Onto the next one, then."

These should be interesting, mused Heero as the group moved along, Quatre and Wufei's Gundams were both geared towards close-quarters-combat, and you can't really replicate that with a fighter. Duo's Gundam was the same, but it also had a stealth aspect that was much more adaptable, as Washu showed with the HFX-002. Well, Washu? What did you take from Sandrock and Altron? What are Quatre and Wufei going to have to work with here?

He got the first part of his answer in the form of what was surely the fighter meant for Quatre. On the surface, it didn't look like much. It sported a primarily white paint job, with some blue and red markings along the wings and central fuselage, vaguely reminding Heero of the color scheme Quatre had applied to Sandrock Custom after the war and before the Mariemaia Rebellion had kicked off. The frame looked bulkier than any of the craft that they'd seen so far, and Heero guessed that the armor of the fighter had been reinforced to a degree even greater than that of the ship designed for Trowa. He spotted the plasma cannons in the wings, but those were the only obvious weapons. There were two slots up front beneath the cockpit, which he assumed were missile launchers. One more slot was actually towards the fighter's rear, just after of the boarding ramp, but it didn't look like it was meant for missiles.

Quatre stepped forward; he'd clearly already reached the same conclusion as Heero. "I take it this one's mine?"

Washu nodded. "Yup! Meet the HFX-004. You were a bit trickier to tailor a ship for, Quatre. Giant Heat Shotels and high-speed fighter craft don't exactly mix well, to put it mildly. Instead, I decided to focus on the less obvious strong points for this unit."

"Let me guess," said Quatre as he studied the craft, "You went for durability over offensive firepower. Sound about right?"

Washu grinned. "Bingo! Out of all five craft, the HFX-004 has the most powerful shields and the toughest armor. I'd still advise trying to avoid getting hit in the first place, but if you're in a tight spot, you can at least rest easy knowing that you can take more punishment than your friends."

"I'll keep that in mind," Quatre replied, "What do I have to work with if I want to shoot back?"

"For smaller craft, only the plasma cannons," Washu answered, "The real firepower for this thing is in its warheads. Those launchers under the cockpit? Each one has a magazine holding ten high-yield plasma torpedoes. A single salvo will take down the shields of lighter warships, and your follow-up volley will be the killing blow."

"In other words, it's more of a fighter-bomber," Wufei noted.

"Broadly speaking, yes," Washu confirmed, "It's good for more than just bombing runs, though. See that chute at the back? That's a minelayer. This craft carriers a dozen homing mines. If someone's on your tail when you're setting up for an attack run, that'll be a nasty surprise for them. They'll also come in handy if you need a bit of cover for your withdrawal."

"How strong are the mines?" asked Duo.

"They've got a pretty wide blast radius," Washu replied, "They're more than capable of one-shotting enemy fighters, and if the enemy's flying in a tight formation, then a single mine could potentially take out a flight or squadron. Light escort or picket craft will take pretty serious damage from them as well, although anything heavier than a destroyer will shrug them off with no real trouble. They have contact and proximity settings for their detonators, along with maneuvering thrusters for a limited degree of target tracking. The full specs are in the fighter's databanks, so feel free to browse those later and get yourself up to speed on their capabilities."

Quatre nodded. "Will do. Anything else that I should know about this ship?"

Washu smiled. "I've read your file, Quatre, so I know what kind of role you played amongst your friends during the war. The HFX-004 is more than just a fighter-bomber; it's a command craft. I've given it the best sensors and communications suite out of all these babies, and I expect you to put it to good use."

Quatre's eyes widened slightly. "You really did do your homework... even so, I'm not the flight leader this time. This is Heero's show; he'll be the one calling the shots in the field."

Heero shook his head. "Actually, I was hoping you'd take up command, Quatre."

That seemed to catch the L4 native off guard. "Really? Why? You've done a good job of leading us so far."

"Given the way things have played out so far, it's highly likely that I'm going to get bogged down in personal clashes with powerful opponents repeatedly as our campaign goes on," Heero argued, "My fight with Ragyō at the first repository was probably just a taste of what's to come. Between her, Kagato, Nagi, and any other elite fighters they bring into the picture, I'm going to have my hands full. You'll be in a much better position to act as our field commander, and you've already got a solid track record when it comes to that role."

Quatre turned to the others. "What about the rest of you guys? You want me to call the shots?"

Duo smiled. "You've done a good job of it before, so I've got no complaints!"

Trowa nodded. "If Heero was ever going to let someone else take command, it's you. I happen to agree with him."

"Same," Wufei chimed in, "We trust you, Quatre. If Heero wants you coordinating us in the field while he's fighting the crazy royals, then we'll follow your lead."

"We might want to be a bit circumspect about this," Ayeka suggested, "I have no qualms with Lord Quatre assuming a command position, but if word got around that the Empire's newest prince is taking orders from someone who the rest of the court would deem to be a commoner, then Lord Heero's reputation might suffer for it."

Heero shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. Let the court nobles say what they will."

Funaho sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, Heero."

"We're not going to let aristocratic politics dictate how we fight," Duo declared.

"And we're not saying that you should," Misaki argued, "but there are certain considerations that need to be made."

"Heero is expected to prove himself as a new royal," Yosho chimed in, "The debut ball was a strong start, but it was only the beginning. Every action he takes will be under intense scrutiny, and the entire court will be looking for signs of strength or weakness."

Ryoko glared at the old man. "He's going to be fighting on the front lines! Doesn't that count as a show of strength?"

Yosho calmly nodded. "It does, but there's more to it than that. Heero is expected to be more than just a soldier; the Empire looks for leadership in the members of its Royal Family. Being a skilled combatant certainly helps, but he must also demonstrate a commanding presence that others are willing to follow."

"We all followed him out here," Kiyone pointed out, "That's got to count for something, right?"

"We've always got Heero's back!" Mihoshi chirped.

"That's all well and good," said Washu, "but you're not the ones that he needs to impress and inspire now."

"No one outside us has to know that Quatre's giving orders," Sasami reminded them, "Ayeka's just saying that we need to be careful with how this all works out. There's got to be a way to balance what's needed for the mission with what's needed for the royal court, right?"

Heero nodded as he looked at Quatre. "There is; delegation."

"What do you mean?" asked Hilde.

Quatre smiled, already seeing what Heero was getting at. "It's simple; as far as the public's concerned, I'm Heero's second-in-command. He gives the general orders at the start of the battle, and then I take care of the execution. Once things get hairy and Heero gets bogged down in the fighting, it would only be natural for me to take over tactical and strategic management in his stead. That what you're going for, Heero?"

"Basically," Heero confirmed before looking at Ayeka, "That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Ayeka smiled. "I think it's a perfect solution."

"Glad we've got that worked out, then," Washu interjected as she nodded towards the last fighter in the line, "Now, can we keep this moving? Still got one more craft to introduce, and then we've got your first flight. Lots to do today!"

The group followed her, and they soon found themselves before a dark green fighter. This one could only be for Wufei, and not just because of the color. Washu might not have been able to equip it with any sort of melee weaponry, something that Heero knew would irk Wufei, but there was a telltale device that made the link to Altron obvious. In addition to the plasma cannons built into the wing, the craft was armed with a large dual cannon that was mounted on the bottom of the craft. The way it sat in its mounting made it look like a serpent coiled up, and Heero realized that it was a modification of the twin beam cannon that had been mounted on Altron's back before Wufei had removed it as part of the overhaul of his Gundam following the battle at the Libra. Another one was mounted atop the fighter as well. Apart from that, though, the fighter appeared rather spartan. It was sleeker and possessed a slightly thinner profile than the other craft, and Heero assumed that there was more to it than was apparent at first glance.

Washu smiled as she turned to the L5 native. "Wufei, meet the HFX-005! Of all you boys, you were the hardest one to design a ship for."

Wufei shrugged. "Sorry to make things difficult."

Washu grinned. "Don't be! I'm all for a challenge."

Wufei nodded as he studied the craft. "If you say so. What can she do?"

"For starters, outrun pretty much anything in the Empire," Washu replied, "She's got the most powerful engines I could design for such a small frame. I guarantee she's faster than anything you've ever flown before, Gundam or otherwise. She's no slouch when it comes to maneuverability, either. Anyone who gets into a dogfight with you is going to be chasing their own tail to no avail… poetry not intended."

Wufei smiled. "So, she's a superiority fighter, then? I can work with that. Those turrets above and below the fighter; what are they packing?"

"They're dual plasma turrets," Washu answered, "More powerful than the cannons in the wings, and they're mounted on a neck that can actually extend out a meter and rotate to track targets. Between the two of them, all possible approach angles to the fighter are covered. You can direct them manually, or you can let the fighter's built-in support AI operate them."

"Neat trick," Kiyone muttered.

"No one will be able to stay on your tail with guns like that!" chirped Mihoshi.

Wufei folded his arms. "I don't usually like having someone else do my fighting for me, AI or otherwise… but I guess I can allow it this time. Awfully hard to manage those turrets while I'm trying to fly the ship at the same time. Any other bells and whistles I need to be aware of?"

Washu shook her head. "Compared to the other four fighters, this one's honestly a rather minimalist design. I wanted to focus primarily on the craft's agility. You're a man that prefers close-quarters combat, right? A fighter's ill-suited for melee weaponry, so I went with the next best thing. With this, you'll be an utter nightmare for any enemy fighters to face, and you'll shred my defense drones with ease."

Wufei smiled. "A craft meant to bring out a pilot's true skill as a warrior above all else… I think you've won me over. We'll know for sure once I take this beauty for a spin."

"Speaking of which," Heero chimed in, "Mind if we fire them all up? If our exercise with the Second Fleet's aces is tomorrow, then we're going to have to make the most out of what time we have today to practice."

Washu grinned. "Of course! Funaho's already made the appropriate arrangements with the military; a training zone has been cleared for you. The coordinates are already programmed into your craft. Take them for a spin and let them show you what they've got. If what I've read about you five is anything to go by, Jurai's aces will be in for one hell of a shock when they go up against you tomorrow!"

….

March 8th, A.C. 199

Jurai's famed Second Fleet usually based itself out of the Fifth Military District, a region that covered much of the Empire's northeastern borders. This was a heavily fortified area of space, meant to serve as a bulwark defending Jurai from the various pirate bands that roamed the frontier beyond its sphere of influence. The armada's various task forces almost constantly rotated in and out of patrols, dealing harshly with raiders wherever they could be found. It was rather rare for the Second Fleet to leave its post, but it had done so now. Having carefully coordinated her force's movements so that the Empire's Third Fleet could seamlessly shift over to the Second's usual stomping grounds, the bulk of Admiral Mayumi Fukunaga's armada now hovered at the edge of Jurai's home system, patiently awaiting the arrival of some highly anticipated guests.

The Admiral herself was currently standing over a holographic projection table at the back of her flagship's bridge. Most fleet commanders preferred to lead their forces from the bridges of the mighty battleships or the rare and incredibly costly super dreadnoughts like the Home Fleet's Ten'nō, but Mayumi wasn't one of them. Sure, the battleships were the most iconic vessels of Jurai's Imperial Fleet, and Mayumi had nothing against them, but their firepower was wasted when they were put in the role of command ship. Mayumi liked her heavy hitters up front and brawling where they belonged, so she'd planted her flag aboard the fleet carrier Ōtaka, the lead ship of its class.

That vessel was at the center of the fleet displayed on the holographic projection table now, and in Mayumi's eyes she was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She'd felt that way long before making the vessel her flagship, though the years spent commanding from her bridge since taking up her current rank had only further deepened that sentiment. Coming in at two kilometers in length, the warship was essentially a giant ovoid that had been hollowed out and filled to the brim with fighters and strike craft. She had the same wood-carved look as all of Jurai's premier vessels, with graceful curves and a streamlined hull with dark green trim accentuating a light brown base. One giant hangar ran through the heart of the ship, with four primary entrances carved into the vessel's bow, ventral surface, portside and starboard allowing her to disgorge her charges rapidly. She bristled with rows upon rows of plasma cannons, mostly anti-air weapons ranging from clusters of light weapons to heavy batteries meant to shred incoming squadrons long before they got close enough to unleash their payloads. A few larger weapons emplacements for fending off warships were also mounted at various points along the hull, but these were really only good for discouraging and harassing vessels such as destroyers and light cruisers, keeping them at bay long enough for the carrier's own escorts and squadrons to deal with any attackers. If a battleship got her in its sights, then she was real trouble. Her shields were top-notch, but with so much space dedicated to fighter-carrying certain sacrifices had to be made when it came to the ship's armor. She wasn't exactly fragile, but she definitely wasn't built for broadside exchanges with the heavy hitters.

Luckily for the Ōtaka, Mayumi took great care to ensure that she was never in such a situation to begin with. The Second Fleet was composed of multiple battle groups, and when they were all brought together their combined warships numbered just shy of a thousand vessels. Naturally, a good chunk of those were the fleet screen; destroyers and light cruisers backed up by heavy cruisers, ready to shred an enemy force's scouts and skirmishers while freeing the larger units up to slug away at their opposing counterparts. An aggressive Admiral, Mayumi preferred to move the bulk of her battlecruisers and battleships forward to quickly blast through the enemy fleet screen with the support of the Second Fleet's swarms of fighters and strike craft, allowing the bombers to set up textbook attack runs on the larger craft at the heart of the opposing force. That being said, she was a believer in controlled aggression; she didn't put all of her punching power front and center. While the Ōtaka and the other carriers of the Second Fleet were largely defended by lighter escorts and their own combat air patrols, Mayumi made sure to keep a handful of larger ships close by just in case the enemy managed to surprise her and get heavier units behind her front lines. It was those accompanying battlecruisers and battleships that hung over the table now, floating around the fleet carriers while the lighter escorts flitted about like minnows amongst whales. Such displays were dangerously mesmerizing; if Mayumi wasn't careful, she knew from firsthand experience how easy it was to lose herself in them.

The Second Fleet was a swarm of blue images hovering over the table, which only made the seven new contacts at its perimeter easier to distinguish. These were all green, and two of them the Admiral recognized; the Galaxy Police patrol cruiser Yagami and the living starship Ryo-Ohki. The remaining five were much smaller, though, and they were clearly fighters.

Washu's new toys for the boys, as it were, Mayumi thought, I wonder what the 232nd will think of them…

"Looks like they're right on time," said a familiar female voice from behind her, "Oh, this will be fun!"

Mayumi turned around and smiled at Seto. "The Home Fleet scouts monitoring their training flight yesterday sent me their report this morning. No footage attached, unfortunately, but they seemed quite impressed by our guests. It's not often that foreigners get even a modicum of praise from them, so I'll take that as an encouraging sign."

Seto smirked. "Good! I'd hate for this exercise to be boring. Everything's prepared, yes?"

Mayumi nodded. "All that's left is to get the introductions out of the way and lay down the ground rules. Our new prince seems like a sharp one, so I doubt that will take too long."

"Admiral, our guests have halted at the edge of our patrol screen and are requesting clearance for approach to the flagship!" her communication's officer called out, "Your orders?"

"Clearance granted," Mayumi replied, "The Yagami is to connect with portside umbilical Three. Ryo-Ohki and the fighters are cleared to land in the hangar; have them use the ventral entrance."

She looked at her old friend again. "Shall we be off, then? We ought to give our guests a proper welcome, after all."

Seto grinned. "By all means!"

….

"Meow…" Ryo-Ohki murmured nervously as she slowly entered the carrier's cavernous hangar.

"I know," Ryoko muttered, grimacing as she guided her vessel to its designated landing zone, "I'm not exactly happy about this, either. Let's just grin and bear it for now."

Never thought I'd be landing inside a Juraian carrier willingly, she mused, Heero, you'd better make sure they don't chuck me in the brig.

She saw the young prince's fighter up ahead, already settling down. The other four prototype craft landed around it, assembling neatly in a delta formation with Heero's ship at the tip. The Yagami had already linked up alongside the carrier, and the pirate saw that the others had just entered the hangar and were walking towards the landing zone. Ryoko took Ryo-Ohki behind the five fighters and gently touched down before turning to face her single passenger.

Behind her, Washu smiled. "You've got nothing to worry about. Admiral Fukunaga isn't a fan of pirates, but she's not about to have you arrested."

"If she tries, I'm going to make her guards work for it," Ryoko grumbled, "Come on, let's get this over with. Ryo-Ohki!"

"Meow!" her loyal starship replied, and the two women were surrounded by brilliant red light.

Ryoko and Washu both shut their eyes as they were teleported onto the hangar floor. Ryo-Ohki then transformed back into her much more portable form, and the cabbit landed in Ryoko's arms a moment later. Ryoko gave her loyal furry companion a few scritches behind her ears before the cabbit took her place on the pirate's right shoulder.

"Stay out of trouble, okay?" Ryoko asked, "We really don't need to stir anything up here."

"Meow!" Ryo-Ohki cried out.

The others were heading towards Heero's fighter, so Ryoko and Washu went there as well. The ramp lowered beneath the blue and white fighter, and the pilot emerged a moment later. Heero was back in full armor, and the same went for his four fellow pilots. He saw Ryoko and went over to greet her.

"Smooth flight in," he noted before reaching out to scratch Ryo-Ohki's chin, "Thanks for going along with this."

"Meow…" Ryo-Ohki purred as she leaned forward, nearly losing her balance on Ryoko's shoulder.

Ryoko smirked. "You owe us one for this. Ryo-Ohki will accept payment in carrots. As for me… well, I think we can work out a way for you to settle your account later tonight!"

Heero chuckled as he looked at her. "I can think of worse ways to pay off a debt."

"Get a room, you two!" Duo teased.

"Pretty sure Heero's already got that covered back at the palace," Quatre chimed in, "You going to take them up on the offer of royal chambers yet? I mean, your official introduction's out of the way now, so you totally qualify for them."

Heero shook his head. "The guest quarters work for me. We're not going to be on Jurai long enough for me to settle in, anyway."

"You sure about that?" asked Trowa as he looked around the carrier's vast hangar, "If you stuck around, with your skills they'd probably give you a military command. You'd have some serious firepower at your disposal."

"Having you in the Empire's armed forces would definitely make opening up relations between Jurai and Earth easier," Wufei pointed out, "I'm sure Director Une would rest easy at night if she knew that she could count on you to bring a fleet Earth's way should anyone come to Sol and make trouble."

"Granting Lord Heero an officer's commission in the Imperial Fleet would be an easy matter," Ayeka added as she stepped forward, "With the knowledge and skill you've demonstrated thus far, Lord Heero, I have no doubt that you're the kind of prince that our soldiers would proudly serve under."

Behind the crown princess, Kiyone smiled. "I bet the Galaxy Police wouldn't mind cooperating with a battle group under your command, either. They might have their doubts about you at first, but I know you'd put them to rest easily enough."

"The Galaxy Police often works with Jurai on anti-piracy operations!" Mihoshi chirped, "If you stayed in the Empire and commanded a fleet, then Kiyone and I would probably get assigned to work with you as liaisons since we already know you."

Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "That's… surprisingly well thought out for you, Mihoshi. Are you okay? Didn't hit your head or anything this morning, did you?"

Mihoshi grinned. "Nope!"

The pirate glanced at Kiyone, who simply shrugged. "I know, I'm as amazed as you are. Ever since we left Earth, she's actually been on the ball, or at least closer to it than usual."

"What do you mean, Kiyone?" Mihoshi asked.

Kiyone just smiled at her partner and patted her on the shoulder. "It's nothing. Just keep up the good work, okay?"

Mihoshi saluted. "You got it!"

"It's been so long since we've had the pleasure of boarding a ship of the Juraian navy," Azaka noted, "I'd almost forgotten how grand the capital ships could be, both inside and out."

"Makes one feel awfully small, doesn't it?" Kamidake chirped.

"The Empire never spares any expense on its military," said Yosho as he looked around the hangar, "That much, at least, certainly hasn't changed in my absence."

"I wonder if Earth will build ships like this someday," Hilde pondered aloud, "I mean, the government's been studying the Royal Treeships that landed in Brussels, or at least what's left of them. There's also Mihoshi's patrol ship that crashed on Earth as well. Between those, I bet humanity will be able to reverse-engineer most of the technology someday."

"Your government's almost fully disarmed, though," Ayeka pointed out, "I know you keep a security force, but Preventers is meant to preserve peace within the Earth Sphere. If the Earth Sphere Unified Nation began building warships on this scale, would it not undermine the message that it's been trying to send to its people since the end of your wars?"

"Knowing that we're not alone in the galaxy now might change perspectives," Trowa argued, "Especially once word gets out about powers like the Empire of Jurai."

Quatre shook his head. "With people like Relena in the government, the ESUN's priorities would be on diplomatic outreach. Militarism would be a rather hard sell."

Duo sighed. "Much as I'd hate to think about us going all in on firepower after all the work we put into overthrowing the old Alliance and OZ, when people finally learn just how small of a fish we are in the galaxy… well, fear's a powerful motivator. I can see plenty of bastards from the old regime coming out of the woodwork to push rearmament. Hell, some of them might be dumb enough to pick a fight with Jurai. Can't see that ending well for Earth."

"But there's no reason for Earth and Jurai to fight each other!" Sasami protested, "You're our friends!"

"And we'd like to stay that way," said Heero, "Another reason why this mission is so important. A successful resolution of this crisis should go a long way towards helping to establish solid diplomatic ties. If Earth can gain goodwill with the Empire, then it'll help smooth things over when all of this finally goes public."

Funaho gave him a knowing smile. "Having one of your world's greatest soldiers also being a member of the Royal Family certainly won't hurt things."

"You can be the bridge between both of our civilizations," Misaki added, "You could help promote peace and understanding between Earth and Jurai. I know there would be challenges, but I believe that you'd be well-suited to bringing our peoples closer together."

Heero was quiet for a moment. Ryoko wished she could see through his helmet visor just to get a hint as to what he was thinking. He could still be devilishly difficult to read, but Ryoko felt like she'd gotten at least a little better at figuring him out as time had gone by.

When he eventually spoke again, he was surprisingly hesitant. "I... I don't know if that would be the right role for me."

Funaho looked concerned. "Why do you say that? I think you'd be perfect for such a task."

He looked down for a moment, and what he said next felt like a gut punch to Ryoko. "A bridge of peace and understanding should not be soaked in innocent blood."

Before any of them could protest, Heero looked past them and then stepped forward. "The Admiral's here. Let's not keep her waiting."

Turning around, Ryoko saw that he was right. In fact, not only had Admiral Fukunaga entered the hangar and was heading their way, so was Lady Seto. Ryoko and the others dutifully followed Heero, although the pirate was surprised when Funaho and Misaki grabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards the back of the pack.

"What was he referring to just now?" asked Funaho.

Ryoko blinked. "I'm not sure I follow."

Misaki's eyes narrowed, and for a second her normally friendly demeanor was replaced by a piercing gaze. "Don't play dumb with us. His 'innocent blood' comment; what was behind that?"

Ryoko shook her head. "I honestly don't know. It might have something to do with the work he did for his government, or in the past when he was part of their colonial rebellion. Thing is, Heero doesn't really talk much about stuff like that with us."

Now it was Misaki's turn to blink. "Colonial rebellion? What are you talking about?"

"Ask Washu about it," Ryoko tersely answered as she shook off their grips on her, "Come on, we need to catch up with the others."

She was honestly surprised that the two empresses let her go so easily, especially Misaki; the Second Empress almost surely could've tightened her grip and kept Ryoko from going anywhere if she'd really wanted to. Ryoko didn't question why they'd released her, though. As she hurried forward to get up front with Heero, her mind was racing. Truth be told, the empresses weren't the only ones who had questions.

As much as Heero had opened up to Ryoko and the others while they'd been living at the countryside safehouse, they were all well aware that there was still so much about their guardian and host that they did not know. Given that he was working hard to make sure they were safe and comfortable during their stay on Earth, it had felt wrong to pry too much into his past, but it had always been something of an elephant in the room. The fact that Washu had hacked Preventer's files and undoubtedly knew some juicy information that the rest of them did not hardly helped matters. None of them had asked Washu to go into detail as to what she'd uncovered, though, despite the obvious temptation. It hadn't really sat right with Ryoko, and she had a feeling the others felt the same way.

I want to respect Heero's privacy, she thought, I mean, after all he's done for us, it's really the least we owe him. Even so… whatever he did before he met us… it still haunts him. He can't carry that around forever.

Ryoko didn't fancy herself a shrink, but it was clear that Heero needed help when it came to dealing with at least some portion of his past. It had felt wrong to dig too deeply before when they'd been enjoying their idle if somewhat crazy life back on Earth, but things were very different now. They were in a race to stop a pair of ambitious and quite-likely-crazy cadet branch Royals from gaining control over a weapon that could threaten all life in the galaxy, and they needed to make sure that everyone was on top of their game. Heero had handled himself exceptionally well so far, and Ryoko believed in him, but even she had to wonder just how long it would be before he cracked under the strain. Having his past gnaw at him while he tried to save the galaxy wasn't doing anyone any favors, least of all Heero.

Unfortunately, there was no time to pull Heero aside right now to try and get him to talk about it. They were here to demonstrate their skills and usefulness to one of Jurai's top military officers, and they couldn't afford any distractions. Still, that didn't mean Ryoko would simply forget what she'd just heard. She resolved to keep it in the back of her mind and find an opportunity to act on it later. As much as she loathed to admit it, though, she wouldn't be able to help Heero alone. This was very much going to be a group effort. Everyone who had stayed on Earth under his protection cared for him, and Ryoko was confident that it wouldn't take much convincing from her to get the rest of them on board with what she wanted to do.

In the meantime, she simply stood silently behind Heero as he exchanged greetings with Admiral Fukunaga and Lady Seto. At least the military officer and noble both seemed to be in high spirits. They already had a favorable impression of him thanks to the debut ball, which Ryoko hoped would make things easier today.

"Welcome aboard the Ōtaka, Your Highness," the Admiral greeted, "How was your flight in?"

"No complications," Heero replied, "Your fleet screen let us through without issue. The Second Fleet's an impressive force. I look forward to working with it in the days to come."

Mayumi smiled. "Likewise. Please, follow me. The 232nd is eager to meet you."

"They'll be our competition, then?" Heero surmised.

"Yes," Mayumi confirmed, "and they won't be pulling their punches."

Heero nodded. "Good."

The group followed the Admiral out of the hangar. They proceeded down a corridor for a short way before Mayumi turned towards a door on the left side. The door slid open, revealing a briefing amphitheater. Mayumi led them inside, and Ryoko quickly discovered that the room wasn't empty. Three dozen soldiers were inside, all clad in dark grey flight suits. Almost two thirds of the group were women, and one of them rose as soon as the Admiral stepped inside.

Ryoko guessed that she was the leader of the assembled pilots. She didn't seem like much at first glance; a fair-skinned woman with mid-length black hair and silver eyes. She wasn't particularly tall, barely half a head over Heero, and her frame was quite lithe, but the look in her eyes was all business.

"Admiral on deck!" the woman announced, "232nd, attention!"

The rest of the pilots immediately rose, and Mayumi greeted them with a curt nod. "At ease, Major. I have some very important guests to introduce you to."

The Major smiled as she took in Ryoko and the others. "Of course."

Heero stepped forward, and Mayumi wasted no time in getting down to business. "Your Highness, I'd like you to meet Major Usagi Morimoto, leader of the Imperial Fleet's 232nd Fighter Wing. Major, this is Heero Yuy Masaki Jurai, grandson of Prince Yosho and great-grandson of His Majesty and the First Empress."

"With all due respect," said Usagi, "I don't suppose I could get a face to go with the name. Royal or otherwise, I want to look who I'll be flying with in the eye before the action starts."

Ayeka was aghast. "The nerve of you! Why, I'd never…"

Heero held out his hand. "Stand down, Ayeka. It's okay."

He nodded at his old friends, and all five of the Gundam pilots plus Hilde removed their helmets. Usagi's smile grew slightly when she saw Heero's face, and Ryoko bristled. The pirate couldn't help but notice several of the other female Juraian pilots giving Heero and his friends rather appreciative looks, and more than one of them whistled. They were clearly enjoying the eye-candy. While Ryoko could definitely relate, the last thing she needed was more competition; she had enough of that from Ayeka and the others as it was.

Look, but don't touch, ladies, Ryoko thought as she shot them a sharp glare, or you'll find out firsthand just how stiff the competition here is.

She then saw the Major's eyes widen when she caught sight of both Empresses after shaking Heero's hand, and she bowed. "Your Majesties! It's an honor to meet you both in person."

Funaho smiled. "Likewise, Major. No need to stand on ceremony."

"Relax!" Misaki chirped, "We're here to have some fun today, after all!"

The tension in Usagi's frame eased up considerably. "Fun, eh? Well, I suppose that depends on how skilled of a pilot the newest addition to your family is. I have high expectations, and I hope he can rise to mee them. Same goes for his retainers."

Duo folded his arms. "Retainers? Is that all we are to you now, Heero?"

"Look on the bright side," said Hilde, "it means we're the close friends of a royal. Got to be some good perks that come with being retainers, right?"

"We're already getting stellar guest accommodations," Trowa pointed out.

"The food's pretty good, too!" Quatre chimed in, "I can handle being a 'retainer' for a while as long as the Royal Family keeps the meals coming."

Wufei looked at Quatre. "You're the head of a wealthy family and one of the largest conglomerates in the Earth Sphere. You've already got all the fancy food you could possibly want."

Quatre smiled. "Yeah, but that's all on my dime! It's rare that I get to mooch off of galactic royalty!"

"All right, that's enough chatter," Heero gently reprimanded them before turning to the Admiral and Major, "Shall we begin the briefing?"

Mayumi nodded and gestured towards the empty seats to the right of the assembled Juraian pilots. "Please, make yourselves comfortable. The exercise will be relatively straightforward, but I want to make sure everyone's on the same page so we can avoid any unfortunate accidents."

There was a large circular holographic projector in the center of the amphitheater, and as Ryoko and the others took their seats it sprang to life while the rest of the lights in the room dimmed. The initial image was one the pirate immediately recognized; a three-dimensional map of the Jurai system. In addition to all the planets, Ryoko saw a broad circle composed of countless tiny specs surrounding the system. There was a blinking green dot just inside the rim of that circle, which Ryoko assumed was the Second Fleet's current location.

"I wanted this exercise to take place in an environment that was both convenient and also bore at least a passing resemblance to where we'll be fighting when we head out for the second repository," the Admiral began, "Luckily for us, the Jurai system has a particular region that suits our needs quite nicely."

Ayeka's eyes widened slightly as realization dawned for her ahead of the others. "You wish to use the Yukidama Belt."

Mayumi nodded. "That is correct, Princess Ayeka."

The holographic image shifted as the display zoomed in on the section of the circle closest to the Second Fleet. There was a dizzying array of small objects floating about, far outnumbering the already vast swarm of the Admiral's armada.

"For those of you who are unfamiliar with this system," Mayumi continued, "the Yukidama Belt is essentially a large collection of interstellar objects that have accreted around the outer rim of this region over the epochs. Asteroids and comets are the most common, though there are also the wrecks of ancient starships and probes scattered about. It's not quite the same as a system wide field like what we'll be dealing with in RP-X249815, but it will suffice for the purpose of this exercise."

"Like Sol's Kuiper Belt," Hilde pointed out.

Washu nodded. "That's a good comparison, although the Yukidama Belt is both larger and has a higher concentration of objects in it."

"Good thing all our ships are shielded," said Kiyone.

"Won't it be dangerous to train in there?" asked Mihoshi.

"It'll be dangerous where the second repository is located, too," Sasami pointed out, "It's good to practice in a similar environment."

Misaki gave her youngest daughter a proud smile. "Excellently put, Sasami."

"We have various sensor relays and patrol craft operating in the Yukidama Belt," Mayumi pointed out, "and the Second Fleet will have several destroyers hanging off not too far from the main exercise area. If there are any accidents, search and rescue operations will commence immediately. Washu has already sent me the beacon signals for all of your craft, so simply maintain your current position as best as you can if there's a problem."

Duo chuckled. "If any of us have to call for rescue in a training exercise, then we're really in over our heads here!"

Wufei shook his head. "Any of us who embarrasses ourselves that badly out there should just self-detonate."

Quatre winced. "That's a bit harsh."

"You expect anything less from him?" Trowa quipped.

Quatre sighed. "Point taken."

"We appreciate the efforts you're taking to ensure safety," Heero interjected in an effort to get things back on track, "How many craft will be involved in this exercise?"

"That's something I wanted to confirm with you before we go further, actually," Mayumi replied, "I know we were planning on your five fighters for sure, but what about Ryo-Ohki and the Yagami?"

Ryoko leaned forward. "Ryo-Ohki and I are in. Don't even try to keep us out of this."

"Meow!" Ryo-Ohki cheered.

Kiyone nodded. "If possible, I'd like to include the Yagami. I know it's not as fast or maneuverable as the fighters or Ryo-Ohki, but seeing as we've been working with Heero up until this point, I feel like we should be part of this exercise. The Yagami would be useful as a quick fire-support platform that can follow behind Ryo-Ohki and the fighters."

"We're ready to show you what we can do!" Mihoshi enthusiastically added.

The Admiral smiled. "Well, far be it from me to keep you on the sidelines. Major, do you have any objections?"

Usagi shook her head. "Not at all. Given the numbers disparity, I think it's only fair."

Mayumi nodded before returning her attention to Heero. "To answer your question in full, Your Highness, the entire 232nd Fighter Wing will be taking part. That's thirty-six JF-159 Tempest space superiority fighters divided into three squadrons of twelve craft each."

Ayeka's eyes widened. "Admiral Fukunaga, with all due respect, that's an incredibly lopsided matchup! You're talking odds of nearly six-to-one! I know the Yagami is a patrol cruiser, all of Washu's fighters are incredibly advanced, and Ryo-Ohki is… well, Ryo-Ohki, but… this still seems excessive."

Washu actually laughed, causing the rest of the room to turn towards her. "Excessive? Oh, hardly!"

"Care to enlighten us?" Funaho prodded.

Washu shook her head. "No, I don't think I do. Watch the exercise and find out for yourself. I'm not going to ruin the fun."

Seto chuckled. "Should've expected as much from you."

"This is a live-fire exercise, right?" asked Heero, "I assume you're not going to have us rip your elite pilots apart for fun, so what will be shooting at?"

Usagi folded her arms. "You trying to pick a fight, Your Highness? Prince or not, I'll make you eat those words."

Heero simply shrugged. "I look forward to seeing you try."

The Major's mouth hung open for a moment, but no words came out. Heero's retort had been so casual and nonchalant that it had taken the wind right out of her sales. Looking past her, Ryoko saw that the other Juraian pilots observing them were stuck somewhere between confusion and indignation.

Heero, much as I love seeing Juraians look like they just had a pie thrown in their face, I hope you know what you're doing, she thought, I don't think we're going to win any friends here if you can't back up the trash talk.

For her part, the Admiral proceeded on like nothing had happened. "We've deployed multiple wings of training drones in the Yukidama Belt. They're equipped with low-power plasma cannons, and their sensors are calibrated so that they'll cease fire when they detect that your shields have dropped to ten percent power. At that point, you'll be registered as a kill. Your squadron and the 232nd will enter the Belt from different vectors. The goal will be to destroy as many drones as possible within a set time limit while surviving the onslaught. Victory will go to the side with the highest kill count. If one team is completely eliminated by the drones, then the survivors from the other team will win by default. Both teams will have clearly defined zones of operation, which have been marked by sensor buoys, and any pilot who goes out of bounds will be immediately disqualified."

Heero nodded. "Sounds simple enough."

"How many drones are out there?" asked Duo.

Mayumi smiled. "That information won't be revealed here. This will be a blind run."

"Not the first one of those we've dealt with," Trowa noted.

"Can we at least get an idea as to what the drones look like?" asked Quatre, "It'd be nice to know what we're supposed to shoot at."

Mayumi nodded. "Of course."

The image of the Yukidama Belt was replaced on the hologram projector by one of the drones. It didn't look like much; just a cylinder with a rounded nose in the front, a pair of thrusters in the back, and two stubby wings, each with a small cannon slung beneath. Ryoko had actually seen slightly larger versions of them before.

Looks like just a slightly downsized and armed version of Jurai's scout drones, the pirate mused, I've lost count of how many of those Ryo-Ohki and I destroyed back when we were raiding shipping. Guess we'll be adding a few more to our tally today.

"This is the JD-95 training drone," the Admiral continued, "It's programmed using combat data from various Juraian pilots, and can be set to various difficulties depending on the exercise in question. Seeing as both Washu and Lady Seto have high confidence in your skills, we'll be having them operate at their highest possible program setting. I hope you don't mind, Your Highness."

"It's not our first time fighting against automated opponents," Heero replied, "We'll be fine."

Mayumi's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Is that so? I wouldn't mind hearing about these foes of yours at some point."

"You're not missing much," said Duo, "Mobile Dolls aren't all that hard to fight once you've got their tactical tendencies figured out."

Hilde folded her arms. "They certainly gave you some trouble back when they were first fielded."

"Hey, that was back when they were the hot new toy in town!" Duo argued, "I got my payback eventually, remember?"

"We still shouldn't take them lightly," Quatre cautioned, "I imagine that the Empire's made significantly greater advances in such programming than OZ or Romefeller did."

"They don't look as tough as the old Mobile Dolls," Trowa noted, "but sheer numbers will probably make up for that."

"Hardly worth our time," Wufei quipped, "I guess it'll make good practice for what we'll be up against at the repository, though."

Ryoko rubbed her hands together. "So, when can we get out there and start busting these things down to scrap metal? I could use a good fight to blow off some steam."

Ayeka folded her arms. "This isn't about you relieving boredom, Ryoko! We have a larger mission here."

"We're competing against one of the Empire's elite fighter wings in this exercise," Kiyone reminded her, "If we want to win and prove ourselves, we'll need to work together."

Mihoshi nodded. "No running off on your own out there."

Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you the voice of reason and restraint, Mihoshi?"

Mihoshi put her hands on her hips. "We're on a mission! We need to take it seriously!"

Huh, she really is trying to shape up and focus here, Ryoko thought with a begrudging degree of respect, I guess I ought to try the same. Can't hurt, I suppose.

Ryoko sighed. "Fine. No showboating from me. Heero, you call the shots, and I'll follow your lead."

Heero nodded. "Thank you."

Sasami grinned. "This is so exciting! When can we get started?"

Usagi smiled. "The 232nd's ready to go at any time! What about you, Your Highness?"

"I think we've got the gist of things," Heero replied, "I do have a question for you if you don't mind, Major."

Usagi blinked before nodding. "Oh, okay. What do you want to know?"

"I've had a chance to familiarize myself with Jurai's military to a limited degree since arriving here," Heero answered, "That includes a passing understanding of the ships and fighters employed by the Second Fleet. That being said, I'll freely admit to confusing or mixing up certain units. The Admiral said that your wing is comprised of three squadrons of JF-159 Tempest space superiority fighters. I don't think I saw that model in my studies, although they've been cursory so far. Would that be a new design?"

The Major turned to Mayumi, looking almost giddy. "Admiral, may I do the honors?"

Mayumi sighed before giving her subordinate an indulging smile. "If you must, Major."

Usagi stood up and went over to the hologram projector. Fiddling with the controls for a few moments, she then stepped back as the image of the drone was replaced by that of a larger craft. A sleek and streamlined ovoid-shaped fighter now dominated the display, with a somewhat bulbous front that tapered back into a slender two-pronged tail with a pair of thrusters at the base between the tips. It reminded Ryoko of a drop of water, though this particular droplet was undoubtedly armed to the teeth.

Usagi then proceeded to geek out over the craft. "The Tempest represents a big shift from standard Juraian fighter doctrine. The Empire usually prefers going with light interceptors like the JI-45 Whirlwind to deal with enemy fighters and clear the way for bombers and capital ships. The JI-45 works well enough against most small craft, but it's relatively fragile and lightly armed. The JF-159 is both tougher and packs a much heavier punch, but it's still fast and maneuverable enough to dogfight with anything the JI-45 might encounter. It's armed with eight rapid-fire energy cannons mounted in two banks of four that bracket the cockpit. For heavier targets, the Tempest has a single multi-purpose warhead launcher. Depending on the mission, it can either be armed with cluster missiles, heavy anti-ship plasma torpedoes, high-yield bombs for surface targets, or even specialized ion rockets for disabling key vessels in preparation for boarding by the Imperial Marines."

"Sounds more like a multi-role fighter than an air superiority craft," Quatre pointed out.

Usagi folded her arms. "It's a space superiority fighter, thank you very much."

Quatre shrugged. "Sorry. Can be hard to ditch the old terminology."

"Regardless of classification, it's clearly a formidable craft," said Trowa, "Is the 232nd the first wing to use them in proper deployment?"

Usagi nodded. "That's right. Jurai's tried its hand at heavy fighters before, but they've always been limited production models reserved for the Royal Guard or the escorts of certain noble families. The JF-159 will be the first of its kind to go into true mass production and serve throughout the Imperial Fleet. The 232nd's already field tested them against pirates, and they've more than proved their worth. Other wings are in the process of training on them, and they should become much more common sights in the Fleet soon enough."

"Can they operate independently?" asked Wufei.

"To a degree," Usagi replied, "They have FTL-drives, but since a pilot's only got the cockpit to work with, it's not like they're meant for unsupported flights across the galaxy. That's what the carriers are for."

Washu smiled. "Not a bad piece of hardware. It's just a shame that it'll have to go up against my latest inventions."

Usagi's eyes narrowed. "With all due respect, Doctor Washu, don't underestimate the Tempest. Maybe it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that you put into His Highness's fancy new toy, but it'll more than hold its own. Besides, the real contest is between the pilots, not the machines."

Heero gave the Major a nod. "Well spoken."

"Any other questions?" Mayumi asked the crowd.

Silence greeted her, so the Admiral turned to the aristocratic non-combatants. "In that case, Empresses Funaho and Misaki, would you care to join Lady Seto and I on the bridge to observe the exercise? Princesses Ayeka and Sasami are welcome to come as well."

Ayeka shook her head. "I'm grateful for the offer, Admiral, but I'd actually like to go aboard the Yagami and accompany Detectives Makibi and Kuramitsu. I'll be with them during our assault on the second repository, after all, so I'd best become accustomed to how they operate their ship. Azaka and Kamidake will be joining me as well."

"I'm coming too!" declared Sasami.

Misaki put her hands on her hips. "Sasami, we've been over this already. You're not going with the Yagami for the mission."

"This isn't the actual mission, though," Sasami pointed out, "It's just a training exercise, remember?"

Funaho turned to her fellow empress and smiled. "She has a point."

Misaki pouted. "Even so…"

"Your Majesty, I promise that Sasami will be safe with us," Kiyone pledged, "As she said, it's just a training exercise. Mihoshi and I will exercise proper caution and make sure she and Ayeka are safe in the cockpit of Yagami with us."

"We'll take good care of them!" Mihoshi chirped.

Misaki sighed before smiling. "Well, since we're not letting her go with you on the mission itself, I suppose we can bend at least a little here. Azaka, Kamidake; you'd best watch over her."

"We will!" Azaka replied.

"No harm will come to either princess under our watch!" Kamidake promised.

Misaki nodded. "I will hold you to that. Washu, will you be coming with us?"

"Of course!" Washu answered with a grin, "I'm not about to miss out on the best seats in the house, after all."

"Yosho, care to join us on the Yagami?" asked Kiyone.

Much to Ryoko's surprise, the old man actually turned towards the pirate. "I appreciate your offer, but I'd actually like to ride this little exercise out aboard Ryo-Ohki. Is that acceptable?"

"Meow!" Ryo-Ohki cheered.

Ryoko shrugged. "That's a yes, old man. Just don't try telling me how to fly, you got that?"

Yosho smiled. "There will be no backseat piloting from me. You have my word on that."

Kiyone then turned to Hilde. "You still want in on this?"

Duo's wife nodded. "I do. You don't mind me taking one of the gunnery consoles on your ship, do you?"

"Not at all," Kiyone replied.

"It's why we've been allowing you to practice on them, after all," Mihoshi pointed out.

Hilde smiled. "Right. Well, I hope I won't let you down."

Duo grinned. "Honey, you're going to do just fine!"

"I think that about settles it," said Heero, "Admiral, I'd say we're ready whenever you and the 232nd are."

Mayumi smiled, and Ryoko didn't miss the eager anticipation gleaming in her eyes. "In that case, all pilots, man your ships. Let's see how our new prince and his loyal companions match up with the Empire's elite pilots and their newest fighters!"

….

"Not a bad view," Heero muttered under his breath as he adjusted his heading.

Floating in the air over his console, Eva followed Heero's gaze out the cockpit window and at the magnificent sight before them. "Not bad at all. Then again, it's hardly surprising. The Yukidama Belt is considered one of the Empire's natural wonders. Pleasure liners and yachts of the super wealthy are known to chart leisurely cruises along its edge while those aboard enjoy all manner of hedonistic delights when they're not taking in the scenery. You should partake in such a cruise once this crisis is resolved! As a prince of Jurai, getting your own ship for such an occasional would be a breeze."

"I'll pass on the hedonism bit," Heero replied, "but I suppose taking a little time to enjoy the sights would be nice."

Washu had noted that the Yukidama Belt had a higher concentration of objects than Sol's Kuiper Belt, and that included a staggering number of comets. Indeed, much of the view in front of Heero was dominated by glowing balls of rock and ice lazily drifting along their orbits around the system. Plenty of asteroids were intermingled with them as well, and while they were all many kilometers apart from each other they'd still pose a significant navigational hazard if Heero and his companions weren't careful.

Fortunately, they weren't an ordinary group of pilots. Heero and the other four former Gundam pilots would have no trouble operating in such an environment, and he had no concerns regarding Ryoko either. Likewise, Kiyone and Mihoshi, despite their clashing personalities and eccentricities, had proven themselves to be quite competent when it came to flying the Yagami in frantic circumstances; the raid on the first repository was proof enough of that.

Checking his display, Heero confirmed that their group was still on their designated approach vector. His fighter was at the front, while Quarter and Trowa were on his right and Ryoko and Wufei were to his left. Yagami was coming up behind them. As for Duo, he was nowhere to be seen, and that was very much intentional.

There was nothing in the rules about anyone activating their stealth systems before the exercise started, Heero thought, and the Admiral hasn't called us out on it yet. I doubt she's failed to notice Duo's disappearance, which means she's probably already guessed what's going on and is playing along.

While Heero had no doubt that Duo would play his part of the plan well, he still wanted to check in. After all, the cloaking system that Washu had equipped his fighter with was an incredibly complex bit of machinery, and one never knew when something might go wrong. Heero normally would've been averse to breaking comms silence for a stealth unit, but as this wasn't actual combat, he felt comfortable making an exception here.

"Eve One to Eve Two, status report," he said, "Everything good on your end?"

"Still green across the board," Duo replied, "Gotta hand it to Washu; this thing's handling like a dream! Purring like a kitten and ready to pounce!"

"Good," said Heero, "Once we get the go signal, you know what to do."

"Copy that!" Duo acknowledged, "Standing by and ready for the fun to start!"

Heero then switched over to the tactical channel. "Eve One to squadron. Report in."

"Eve Two, ready to party!" Duo immediately answered.

"Eve Three, standing by," said Trowa.

"Eve Four, ready for action," came Quatre's response.

"Eve Five, all systems go," said Wufei.

"Eve Six, ready to get this show on the road!" Ryoko called out.

"Meow!" cried Ryo-Ohki.

"Eve Seven, all systems online," said Kiyone.

Heero checked the timer on his display. "T-minus one minute until the exercise begins. Eva, how's our connection with the Ōtaka?"

"Comms and sensor linkages running smoothly," Eva replied, "Data flow is seamless. I can't wait to see the scoreboard once we're done!"

"Let's not count our chickens before they hatch," Heero murmured as he gave his weapons one last check, "Final approach set. Let's do this. Eve Squadron, prepare to engage."

Of course, I had to go and name our unit after the wars we fought, Heero mused as he watched the final seconds on the timer tick down, I'm surprised the others went along with it so easily.

As the timer finally reached zero, Admiral Fukunaga's voice came over the cockpit speakers. "Eve Squadron, 232nd Fighter Wing; engage!"

As Heero and his friends crossed into the designated zone for the exercise, scores of crimson dots began appearing on his sensor displays. Sighting in on the largest concentration, Heero charged up the two heavy cannons mounted beneath his fighter. At the same time, two missiles suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere and raced towards the cluster that Heero was aiming at. Those were a pair of ionic pulse missiles from Duo's fighter, and they detonated in the center of the drone swarm a moment later. There was a visible ripple of white and blue energy that fanned outward in a vaguely spherical shape, and the drones began tumbling through space as they lost control.

"Nice shot, Duo," Heero muttered as he pulled the trigger, "My turn."

Twin rivers of golden-yellow hellfire ripped forth. They tore a gash through the swarm of disabled drones, with dozens of the craft disappearing in the blink of an eye. The beams didn't stop there, either. They slammed into a small comet behind Heero's primary targets, and the result was even more spectacular than the former Gundam pilot could've hoped for. The ball of ice and rock exploded, sending shards of debris everywhere. Dozens more drones were torn apart by the impromptu shrapnel.

"Magnificent!" Eva cheered.

Beneath his helmet, Heero couldn't suppress a smirk. "You think so? We're just getting started, so sit back and enjoy the show."

As additional drone squadrons began emerging from their hiding places behind the various comets and asteroids, Heero issued new orders to the team. "Eve Six and I will swing wide and flank them from the right. Eve Three, you and Eve Four hit them from above. Eve Five, dive and strike from below. Eve Seven, provide support fire. Eve Two, pull back and block for Eve Seven."

Gunning his engines, Heero went into a broad arc, with Ryoko hot on his heels. On his display, Heero saw the rest of his squadron deploying just as he had instructed. Setting up for his attack run, Heero began charging the heavy cannons slung beneath his fighter once again.

The fireworks were only just getting started.

….

"I'm swinging us to starboard!" Kiyone called out, "Mihoshi, get the shields angled! Hilde, target the lead drones. Losing the formation lead should momentarily confuse the others before their programming reprioritizes roles!"

Kiyone was dimly aware of her companions' replies as she maneuvered the Yagami accordingly. Galaxy Police patrol cruisers were quite agile for their size, but they were still much bigger and bulkier than fighters and couldn't exactly turn on a dime. Kiyone knew that she would be asking a lot of her ship today, and that would likely pale in comparison to what would be required once they hit the second repository.

Come on, girl, she silently cajoled her ship, I know you can take it.

Bursts of orange lit up the left side of the main display as Hilde took her first shots. The Yagami was quite lightly armed compared to even small Juraian warships, but her array of plasma cannons was still enough to make most raiders think twice and could easily take care of training drones. Kiyone smiled as she watched several red dots disappear from the sensors; despite having just a few hours-worth of training on the ship's weapons, Hilde was proving herself to be a natural gunnery officer.

Sitting behind her, Sasami cheered like she was watching the pyrotechnics at a summer festival. "Amazing! Good shooting, Hilde!"

"Thanks!" Hilde replied, "I've got more where that came from!"

"Most impressive," said Ayeka as a few more drones were erased from existence by the portside guns of the Yagami, "Hilde, you and Duo run a scrapyard, yes? Your talents seem rather wasted in such a profession. Would you and your husband perhaps be willing to consider employment in Jurai's military? I imagine you both would rise through the ranks in short order."

"Appreciate the offer, but I'll have to pass," said Hilde, "Military life's not for me. Same goes for Duo. We'd both go crazy pretty quickly."

Ayeka sighed. "That's a pity, but I suppose it can't be helped."

"Please don't distract my gunner," Kiyone deadpanned, "I need her shooting more than talking right now."

"Plenty to shoot at," Hilde muttered as she reduced more drones to charred bits of scrap, "How many of these little buggers are they going to throw at us?"

"Kiyone, we've got a problem!" Mihoshi interjected, "They're circling around towards the rear!"

Kiyone checked the display and saw that her partner was right. "I see them. Duo, we could use a bit of support!"

"Already on it!" Hilde's husband replied.

In the distance, Kiyone saw Duo's black fighter moving to intercept the drones that Mihoshi had singled out. Bolts of blue energy flew forth from the cannons mounted on the craft's wings, and the lead drone was ripped apart. The others scattered and returned fire, with Duo's fighter spinning and twisting about like a thing possessed as he tried to avoid their shots. He was mostly successful, although Kiyone saw the space just above his craft ripple as a few energy blasts peppered his shields.

With one threat momentarily stalled, Kiyone took a moment to survey the larger battlefield. Just like Heero had ordered, the Yagami had moved into position to provide fire support, and Hilde's skilled gunnery was steadily increasing the patrol cruiser's kill count. With Duo acting as an escort and keeping drones that might try to swarm the Yagami at bay, the Galaxy Police vessel could unload with impunity on targets of opportunity.

Been a good long while since we really got to cut loose like this, Kiyone mused with a satisfied smile, Back at the first repository, we just inserted our people and then went off to hide. Our patrols back in the Sol System were utterly boring, and it's not like we were seeing heavy action before that, either. I was afraid that my skills would atrophy. Glad to see that I've still got the touch… and I suppose Mihoshi's pulling her weight, too.

As pleased as Kiyone might be with their performance thus far, though, she knew that her vessel couldn't match Washu's five fighters or Ryo-Ohki in damage output. The Empire of Jurai's newest prince, one of the galaxy's most notorious pirates, and the four former colonial revolutionaries were shredding the training drones at a rate that the Yagami simply couldn't hope to match. Kiyone found herself privately wishing that she'd allowed Washu to modify the patrol cruiser, especially when it came to the ship's armaments. Sure, said modifications probably would violate more than one Galaxy Police regulation, but at this point Kiyone was willing to accept that if it meant boosting the vessel's firepower.

Then again, the rest of the squadron had more than enough firepower to make up for whatever the Yagami lacked. Twin lances of golden energy announced Heero's flanking attack, and Kiyone saw whole clusters of drones vanish from her sensors. Scores of the machines swiftly oriented themselves to intercept the young prince, but they quickly ran afoul of his companion. A storm of crimson beams erupted from Ryo-Ohki as Ryoko acted to defend her flight lead, and when combined with bursts of blue light from Heero's plasma cannons the withering barrage utterly shredded their automated foes. A few bolts of yellow flew forth from the surviving drones, but only a couple actually found their marks and merely splashed against the shields of the living starship and Heero's fighter.

The assault on the drones wasn't just limited to Heero and Ryoko. A veritable hail of missiles was unleashed from on-high; Trowa had made his move. Even though she'd seen the cluster missiles in action during yesterday's training session, Kiyone was still astonished at the utter devastation they wrought against today's targets. Trowa had emptied his entire stockpile of missiles in one massive salvo, and Kiyone saw distant pinpricks of light as the main warheads burst open and let their micro-munitions fly. Dozens of drones were utterly shredded by what Kiyone could only describe as a torrent of warheads, and the ensuing string of explosions lit up their section of the Yukidama Belt in a spectacular display. Compared to Trowa's salvo, the attacks from his wingman almost seemed paltry; the only weapons that Quatre had to work with against the drones were his plasma cannons, seeing as his fighter's torpedoes were meant for heavier targets while the mines were supposed to be used for either ambushes or discouraging pursuit. Still, he did what he could with the tools he had available, picking off the disorganized and scattered survivors of Trowa's devastating salvo.

Meanwhile, Wufei had been lurking below like a shark, and his emerald fighter surged forward a moment later. His timing was perfect; the majority of the drones currently engaging Eve Squadron had determined Heero and Trowa's flights to be the primary threats and had divided themselves accordingly. None were oriented to deal with an attack from beneath, and Wufei made them pay for that mistake. He zipped among them with lightning speed, picking off targets with his plasma cannons while the dorsal and ventral turrets added lances of azure fire to the mix. Kiyone couldn't help but be struck by how Wufei gracefully maneuvered his craft through the field of drones, asteroids and comets. The green craft twisted and rolled almost like it was performing stunts at an airshow rather than taking part in a live-fire exercise.

He's having fun with this, Kiyone realized as she looked on, and not just him… all of Heero's old friends, by the looks of it. This isn't a fight for them, or even a serious exercise.

It's an excuse for them to let off steam.

….

Folding her arms as she watched the action unfold through the carrier's main bridge viewport, Washu smiled. "Even better than I'd hoped for. Heero, you and your friends are full of surprises."

Even after having observed their training yesterday, Washu had still been taken off guard by just how effectively the former Gundam pilots were handling their new craft in today's exercise. They truly were naturals when it came to the art of war, and the 232nd Fighter Wing would need more than superior numbers to top them in this little contest.

A holographic display was being projected on the left side of the viewport, allowing Washu and the others to see the mock battle either at a distance or to zoom in on a particular part of it. For the moment, it was split into two distinct sections, with the top half showing the 232nd's engagement zone while the bottom half displayed Eve Squadron's area of operation. The lower section was currently zoomed in on Heero's personal craft, and Washu wasn't the only one watching the young prince with keen interest.

"You really weren't holding back when you built his fighter," Funaho noted as twin rivers of energy ripped forth from the heavy cannons slung beneath the craft, slamming into a comet and turning it into an impromptu fragmentation grenade that proceeded to rip apart multiple drone squadrons with its debris, "All that firepower in so small a frame…"

"And he's got the skill to use it effectively," Misaki added, "Not to mention a good partner watching his back."

Washu smirked. That was certainly true; Ryoko was making any drone that dared attempt lining up a shot against Heero pay dearly. Ryo-Ohki was letting fly with an almost constant stream of crimson energy beams, spinning like a crystalline top and mowing down targets with relentless brutality. Washu would've preferred perhaps a bit more grace and polish from her daughter's piloting skills, but she couldn't deny Ryoko's effectiveness.

"Seven against thirty-six, yet the scores hardly reflect such a disparity," Seto chimed in with a grin, "I almost feel bad for Major Morimoto and her pilots. They're skilled, but they're going to have to work overtime to match Eve Squadron's performance here."

Washu agreed, although she supposed that wasn't entirely fair to the 232nd Fighter Wing. Usagi was leading her pilots quite well. Glancing at the upper display, Washu could see the Major and her three squadrons ripping through their targets with the efficiency of professional soldiers. Each squadron had split into flights of four, with each flight further subdivided into wing pairs. The Tempest space superiority fighters were more than proving their worth to Jurai, maneuvering amongst the various obstacles of the Yukidama Belt with nimble grace while ruthlessly gunning down any drones that fell into their sights. It was a promising display; they'd be valuable allies to have in the coming raid on the second repository.

Credit where it's due, Washu thought, Major, you have my compliments. You're a damn good pilot, and so are your subordinates.

Too bad your opponents today are even better.

Eve Squadron was currently leading on the kill count, and while Washu would've liked to give the lion's share of the credit to her inventions, she knew that wasn't quite the case. Sure, the incredible firepower some of the fighters had been equipped with, particularly craft like Heero's and Trowa's, definitely help. However, power was wasted if one did not have the skill to properly harness it. Fortunately, Heero and his companions had that skill in spades.

Swooping in and out of the fray, Heero would pick off individual targets with his fighter's plasma cannons before pulling back and lining up for a shot with the big guns. Sometimes he would target the drone squadrons directly with those torrents of energy, but more often than not he was using the asteroid or comet-blasting tactic to maximize his pure destructive potential. With other pilots, the risk for friendly fire would be high, but Heero was clearly coordinating with his friends and making sure they were well clear of the blast radius. Ryoko was the only one really at risk, and with the way Ryo-Ohki was practically dancing through the Yukidama Belt she hardly seemed concerned about being taken out by superheated debris.

The other pilots might not have been unleashing quite as much raw destructive power upon the poor drones, but they were definitely pulling their weight in this exercise. Trowa had already emptied his stockpile of cluster missiles, so he had shifted over to the rotary guns and plasma cannons to dispatch his foes. Quatre was watching his back, and as the two of them dived into the heart of a swarm of drones Washu was momentarily afraid that they'd overextended and would be overwhelmed. However, that was when a sphere of blue fire detonated behind Quatre's fighter, and Washu realized what his game was.

He draws them in by putting himself and Trowa in an ideal position to be surrounded, she thought as half a dozen drones were wiped out by the blast while the two young men shredded those ahead of them with their guns, before dropping mines to take out the ones trying to shoot them from behind while the two of them blast their way through any who are in front of them. Clever boy… I'll have to keep an eye on you, Quatre.

The two of them still had drones on the flanks to deal with, and that was when Wufei came into play. The L5 native had been acting surprisingly passive the past few minutes, only taking potshots at drones as he circled around the edge of the fight that Trowa and Quatre had gotten themselves into. No longer, though; now he was diving in, using both his wing-mounted plasma cannons and turrets to utterly shred the drones that hadn't been taken out by Quatre's mine or the two fighters' guns. It was clear now that Wufei had been coordinating with the two of them, patiently biding his time until the moment to strike was upon him. Washu hadn't expected that; based on her review of Wufei's file, he struck her as the type to prefer a more straightforward approach to combat. This was surprisingly devious of him, and Washu wholeheartedly approved of it.

Lances of orange energy pierced and detonated the survivors as the Yagami picked off targets of opportunity while keeping watch for drones trying to surprise the boys with an attack from behind one of the many asteroids or comets of the Yukidama Belt. Several of the small craft had repeatedly tried to attack the patrol cruiser, but between the red vessel's pinpoint gunnery and Duo acting as an interceptor they were getting cut down well before they could pose a true threat. As the fighting moved progressively deeper into the belt, the Yagami continued to bring up the rear, providing supporting fire along with eyes on the bigger picture, with Kiyone and Mihoshi ready to alert the others of any new developments.

"Quite the unique squadron you've put together here, Washu," said Mayumi as she watched the show with a steely gaze, "I think I'm starting to see why you're so confident in them."

Washu smiled. "Do they live up to what the Second Fleet expects of its pilots?"

The Admiral chuckled. "They're a bit more unorthodox than what we're used to, but I wouldn't necessarily call that a bad thing. As for my final verdict, though, you'll have to wait until the exercise is complete. There's still plenty of time left on the clock, and more than enough drones out there to keep them busy. They're doing well, but their victory is hardly guaranteed."

Washu grinned. "Still think your elites can claw this one back? I look forward to seeing them try!"

….

"Got another wave coming in," said Heero, his helmeted visage in the bottom left of Ryoko's view screen, "Thirty-five degrees to starboard. I'll break them up. You hit them after my opening shot."

Leaning over her console, the pirate nodded. "Copy that."

Behind her, Yosho chuckled as Heero vanished from the display. "You actually sound like a proper combat pilot. You, of all people, following orders without hesitation… my, what strange times we live in."

Ryoko rolled her eyes as she maneuvered into position off of Heero's right wing. "Laugh it up, old man. Ryo-Ohki, you ready?"

"Meow!" her trusty living starship confirmed.

Two glowing points of energy appeared beneath Heero's craft as he charged his heavy cannons. They let fly with twin golden-yellow blasts a moment later, slicing through the heart of a formation of drones. A dozen of their automated foes disappeared from the display, and Ryoko wasted no time in targeting the survivors as they scattered.

A volley of scarlet beams lanced out, and three drones were reduced to short-lived pinpricks of fire. Accelerating forward, Ryoko and Heero were both soon amongst them, the former swatting down targets from almost every angle while the latter swooped in and out of the fray and strafed the drones with pulses of blue light from his plasma cannons.

"Meow…" Ryo-Ohki whined as she shuddered under hits from the drones.

Ryoko checked her display before scowling. "Oh, come on, you've taken bigger shots than this before! Your shields are still at ninety percent, so quit the bellyaching."

"Seems the time on Earth spoiled her," Yosho noted.

"Then it's a good thing we're out here today so we can toughen her back up," Ryoko countered.

Whatever response Yosho had to that was interrupted by Kiyone's voice coming over the speakers. "Eve Seven to squadron; we need backup! We've got more contacts coming in from all sides. They were lying in wait behind the debris!"

Looking at her sensors, Ryoko winced. The Yagami had moved in to keep up with the rest of Eve Squadron and provide fire support, but now she was the one who required help. The Galaxy Police cruiser was getting absolutely swarmed, with drones making strafing runs on both her upper and lower hull. Kiyone was pulling every fancy maneuver in the book, twisting the ship to bring weapons to bear and trying to get behind asteroids or comets to reduce exposure, but the Yagami simply couldn't break away from its tiny and nimble attackers. Duo was trying his best to disrupt the drones' attack runs, but he seemed barely able to line up and take a shot before being forced to go evasive as multiple enemies opened up on him. Little bolts of orange energy were constantly peppering the cruiser, and while individually they could be shrugged off, the heavy concentrated fire that the Yagami was taking now would definitely add up.

"Eve Four to Eve One and Six," came Quatre's voice, "we've got our hands full over here! Can you two go back and help out Two and Seven?"

"Affirmative," Heero answered as he blasted a drone, already pulling around and angling for the patrol cruiser, "Six, cover me."

"You got it!" Ryoko called out as she blew apart two drones that had been nibbling at Heero's rear, their shots causing his shields to ripple.

As the two of them raced through the Yukidama Belt towards their friends, Ryoko adjusted her display. "Ryo-Ohki, get me the status of the Yagami. How are their shields holding up?"

An outline of the patrol cruiser appeared on her screen, with an oval around it representing the vessel's shields. With the way Ryo-Ohki's systems operated, blue would represent the shields at either full strength or down to ninety percent at the lowest, green would be anywhere between ninety to seventy percent, yellow would be seventy to fifty, orange fifty to thirty, and red thirty to none. Ryoko was shocked when she saw that the shields of the Yagami had already dropped to the yellow range; the drones were throwing everything they had at the ship, with some even dashing themselves against the patrol cruiser rather than pulling out of their attack runs.

"What the hell?" Ryoko muttered under her breath, "They're actually ramming the damn thing! I thought there were supposed to be limits in place here!"

"The only real limits were to the operating area, the time of the exercise, and getting our shields down to ten percent," Yosho reminded her, "Seeing as the shields of the Yagami are not at the ten percent limit yet, the programming of the drones has apparently concluded that ramming is a viable means of driving them down to that point."

Ryoko scowled as she picked off a trio of drones who had gotten on Heero's tail. "Still seems like a bit much. Something could definitely go wrong there. What if a bunch of them hit the Yagami at once and the shields fail completely while others are just about to open fire? They could actually get people killed in this exercise! Sasami's aboard that ship, for crying out loud! So's Ayeka!"

She saw Yosho's reflection on her screen raise an eyebrow. "Someone like you worrying about risk and unintended consequences, not to mention the fate of two princesses? My grandson really is rubbing off on you."

Despite the situation, Ryoko couldn't help but smile. "Well… maybe a little."

As if on cue, Heero's voice came over the squadron channel. "Eve Two, focus on covering Seven's rear. Six and I will handle the rest."

"Just make it snappy, Eve One!" Duo replied, "It's getting pretty crowded over here!"

That much was certainly true. From what Ryoko could see, Duo barely had any room to maneuver. He was taking his black fighter through all manner of crazy twists and turns, shredding drones left and right with his cannons while disabling others with brilliant azure blasts from his arc disruptors, but even more drones had joined the flock that was pecking away at the Yagami. There were plenty of the small craft to spare for a single fighter, and they were peppering Duo with volleys from their cannons. Adjusting her display, Ryoko saw that Duo's shields were hovering around sixty percent; they were attempting to recharge, but constant fire from the drones was impeding any progress on that front.

"Not looking good," Ryoko murmured.

"Indeed," Yosho concurred, "What are you and Heero going to do about it?"

Whether by coincidence or design, Heero himself gave the answer. "Six, focus on the drones that are attacking Seven from above. I'll hit the ones under her."

"You got it, One!" Ryoko acknowledged as she swiftly adjusted her course, angling upwards and acquiring new targets.

Ryo-Ohki shuddered under a series of hits, and Ryoko saw that a group of drones had gotten behind her. Luckily for her, Ryo-Ohki didn't have to be facing her opponents in order to destroy them.

"We've got company to the rear, Ryo-Ohki," said Ryoko, "Show them what we think of stalkers!"

"Meow!" Ryo-Ohki eagerly answered.

A volley of crimson beams flew out from the crystalline vessel's rear, shredding the lead drones and forcing the others to scatter. They'd regroup and resume their pursuit soon enough, but Ryoko had a bit of breathing room now, and she would make the most of it. Swinging around an asteroid, she lined up for her attack run. Checking up on Heero, she saw that he was doing so from below, perfectly mirroring her course.

"Kiyone, you're going to owe me one," said Ryoko with a smile as she locked onto her targets, "Ryo-Ohki, let 'em have it!"

"Meow!" her trusty starship cheered.

A series of crimson bolts lanced through the void, piercing several drones that had been lining up for runs on the Yagami from above. Below, Heero cut loose with his fighter's twin heavy cannons. Two pillars of light ripped forth, annihilating at least a dozen of the drones that had been harassing the patrol cruiser's underside and leaving the others in disarray.

"Holy crap, Heero!" Kiyone yelled over the comms, "Not that I don't appreciate the save, but that was a bit too close!"

"I was never going to hit you," Heero calmly replied as he started tearing into the surviving drones with his plasma cannons while Ryoko swept aside those above the cruiser with a follow-up volley, "You were perfectly safe."

"Good shooting, Heero!" Mihoshi cheered.

"Don't encourage him to do that again!" Kiyone snapped, "Heero, next time, maybe save the big guns for bigger targets that aren't right next to the Yagami? Even Ryoko held back, and she's not known for restraint."

"Gee, thanks, Kiyone," Ryoko grumbled as she picked off a handful of stragglers, "See if I help you again…"

Duo's laughter echoed through her cockpit. "Ah, that's Heero for you! The guy doesn't half-ass his rescues!"

"Cut the chatter," Heero admonished them as he picked off two more drones, "and stick to call signs. Try to be professional here, people."

Ryoko chuckled and had to resist the urge to make a mock salute. "Whatever you say, One."

Checking the timer running in the lower right corner of the screen, Ryoko saw that they had five minutes left in the exercise. She didn't know what the total score was, but she was determined to run up her kill count as high as it could go with every second remaining. It wasn't every day that she got to show off for the Juraian navy, after all…

…and impressing Heero with her piloting skills would be a nice bonus.

….

This thing's incredible, thought Quatre as he weathered a volley of shots from several drones on his shields before Trowa picked the attacking units off with his plasma cannons, I wish we'd had this kind of technology back during the war. Would've been nice to have fully encompassing energy shields on our mobile suits. The Planet Defensors on the Mercurius were a step in the right direction, but these shields beat those hands down. You don't have to direct any drones, and you have complete coverage.

While he did miss his Gundam, Quatre would happily accept the HFX-004 as a substitute. It handled like a dream, responsive to the slightest touch and capable of taking a beating. Concentrated fire from the drones had failed to bring his shields down in to the danger zone, and whenever he broke contact, they recharged at a remarkable rate. The fighter's plasma cannons were both rapid-firing and quite accurate, making them superb dogfighting weapons. While Quatre lamented the fact that he didn't have any good targets here to test the craft's high-yield plasma torpedoes on, the minelayer was definitely getting a good workout. He dropped one behind him as half a dozen drones got on his tail, and he smirked in satisfaction as the ensuing explosion vaporized all of them.

Swinging his fighter around, he placed himself off of Trowa's left wing as he saw his friend shred a trio of drones with a burst from the two rotary cannons slung beneath the fighter. "How are you holding up, Three?"

"Fine," his friend replied, "but we're running out of time. If we want to ensure our win, we need to cap this off with a big play."

Quatre nodded. "How are you set for missiles?"

"Out," Trowa answered, "Just got the rotaries and plasma cannons left."

"Got it," said Quatre, "I'm going up to survey the field. Cover me."

Gunning his engines, he took his fighter into a steep climb. It wasn't enough to get completely clear of the Yukidama Belt; the field of interstellar debris was far too thick for that. Still, it gave him a good vantage point over the wider battle, and Quatre immediately saw what needed to be done.

Eve Squadron as a whole had moved quite deep into the Yukidama Belt now, and they'd wrought a fearsome toll on the drones. They were picking off stragglers now, but Quatre had suspected that they weren't quite done yet. Heero and Ryoko had swung back around to the right after helping Duo protect the Yagami, and as they drove forward new hostile squadrons began billowing out from behind the assorted comets and asteroids. Wufei had gone up the middle, skirmishing with a few flights of drones but mostly taking up Duo's previous role as the group's scout, albeit a highly aggressive one. Duo and the Yagami were pushing in after the others, mopping up the survivors from the previous furball and watching everyone's back. They'd all done well, but the enemy had one last surprise in store for them.

Up ahead, obscured from the others by a string of comets, was what had to be a carrier's worth of drones at least. The flock looked like nothing less than a swarm of locusts, a seething mass of red dots on Quatre's sensor display. If Eve Squadron could take out in decisive fashion, then the match would surely be theirs.

And Quatre knew just where to start.

His fingers raced across the console as he began compiling targeting data and sending it to Heero. Given all the debris in the way, the shot Heero needed to take would be tricky…

…but the payoff would be spectacular.

….

"My compliments to your great-grandson," Lady Seto whispered in Funaho's ear as the First Empress watched the exercise enter its home stretch, "I know Washu had full confidence in his piloting abilities, but I must admit that I had some reservations. Now, though… well I think they've been just about put to rest."

Funaho glanced at the timer as it ticked down; there were only two minutes left now. "As much as I'd like to join you in that, I'd still like to see how his squadron finishes this match. Best not to be premature with such things, after all."

Lady Seto chuckled and winked. "Oh, if you insist! Still, I don't think it's wrong to give credit where it's due, victory or defeat. What say you?"

Funaho smiled. "No, it's certainly not."

Truth be told, as far as the First Empress was concerned, her great-grandson and his companions has already more than proved themselves. All five fighters, Ryo-Ohki and the Yagami were still on the field; that alone was an accomplishment given the nature of the exercise and just how many drones Mayumi had prepared to be their opposition. Heero and his companions could join Jurai's military tomorrow and already be an elite fighting unit, right up there with the 232nd Fighter Wing. After today's performance, win or lose, no one would question the young prince's skill as a pilot.

Ah, but it's not enough for him to simply put on a good show, she mused, Heero… I think you're more like my son than I'd first imagined. You won't settle for anything less than victory here, will you? Yosho might pretend to not care about such things, but deep down, he takes poorly to losing.

If Eve Squadron wanted to secure their win, they'd have to act quickly. The 232nd had started off behind thanks to the spectacular manner in which Heero and his friends had opened up the exercise, but they'd clawed things back since then. The Second Fleet's elite wing was neck and neck with the prince and his entourage. While Usagi and her pilots couldn't compete with Heero or his friends for kills on an individual level, as a unit they were taking full advantage of their superior numbers. They were methodical and ruthless in the hunting of drones in their designated patch of the Yukidama Belt, an organized and efficient flock of birds whittling down their prey.

"It's going to be close," Misaki whispered excitedly to Funaho, "Down to the wire, I think!"

Funaho saw Mayumi smirk at Washu. "Your ace has talent, and so do his friends, but I think the 232nd will claim victory today. No shame, though; it's been a close contest."

Washu grinned. "Admiral, the game's not over yet!"

Perhaps not, but as Funaho studied the holographic display, she had to wonder just what Heero and his friends could do at this point. The scores of both teams were still climbing, but the 232nd was on a hot-streak now, and their total was just about to surpass that of Eve Squadron. At the rate things were going, the Juraian pilots looked like they had this one.

Then Mayumi leaned forward, her brow furrowing. "What is he doing?"

Following the Admiral's gaze, Funaho saw that Heero had separated himself from the rest of Eve Squadron, with the exception of Ryoko. Eve One's fighter had slowed almost to a standstill, and Ryo-Ohki was whirling around Heero, swatting down drones as they tried to take shots at an unexpectedly easy target. The living starship of the notorious pirate was powerful, but under such circumstances Funaho knew that there was only so much cover that Ryoko could provide Heero. It was only a matter of time before enough drones converged on their position to overwhelm them.

That was when Heero opened fire with his fighter's two heavy cannons. At first, it looked like a wild, almost random shot; there were barely any drones along the path that the two large beams took, certainly not enough to justify the use of such powerful weapons. The twin torrents of energy raced through the Yukidama Belt, narrowly missing assorted asteroids and other large chunks of debris before slamming into a comet and detonating it…

…and unleashing a rain of ice and rock upon the squadrons of drones that had been about to swarm forth from behind it.

All hell proceeded to break loose as the fighters belonging to Trowa, Quatre and Wufei suddenly surged forward into the gap created by Heero's shot. With so many of the drones destroyed by the exploding comet, their programing was momentarily stunned as the various artificial intelligences tried to discern which one was now the lead. This left them easy prey for Trowa, Quatre and Wufei, who were amongst the scattered and disorganized surviving drones in a flash and wasted no time in gunning them down. Meanwhile, Heero had gunned his engines and was leading the drones who had earlier threatened to swarm him on a merry chase while Ryoko got behind them and began shredding the machines with volleys of crimson beams from Ryo-Ohki. Her shots were joined by orange bolts from the Yagami as it charged forward to join the fun, with Duo picking off any drone that tried to intercept the patrol cruiser.

Glancing at the scores, Funaho smiled as she saw the Eve Squadron's total had jumped dramatically in those crucial seconds, and the timer was ticking down to the final few moments. It hit zero with no fanfare beyond the Admiral announcing the obvious.

"This exercise is now over!" Mayumi called out, "The winner is Eve Squadron!"

"Bravo!" Misaki cheered as she applauded enthusiastically, "Oh, that was wonderful!"

Washu smirked in satisfaction as she glanced at Seto. "What did I tell you? I never doubted them for a moment!"

Seto smiled and inclined her head. "No, you certainly did not. Seems you've won this bet as well, old friend."

Funaho smiled as she watched Heero and the others begin to withdraw from the Yukidama Belt. "It's too bad Azusa couldn't join us today. I'm sure he would've enjoyed watching this."

"I can always send His Majesty the footage," Mayumi offered, "With all the sensor drones and craft we had at the perimeter, there should be more than enough good shots of the action to share with him."

Misaki nodded. "I'm sure he'll be happy with that."

Seto put her arms around both the First and Second Empresses. "Let your husband enjoy the show secondhand; I've got something better in mind for us. Funaho, bring your great-grandson and his retinue over to my place tonight so we can celebrate their victory! The drinks will flow and my mansion will be filled with the boasts of youthful pilots… oh, what a fun night it will be!"

Funaho nodded, her smile growing as she imagined the scene. "Yes, it certainly will."

….

Seto certainly wasn't lying about the drinks, Washu thought with a smirk as she surveyed the lounge, although she probably let them flow a bit too freely tonight. Well, I guess that's not a bad thing. They've earned the right to celebrate, after all.

Once the exercise in the Yukidama Belt had been completed, the pilots from both sides had briefly returned to the Ōtaka for debriefing. To say that the members of the 232nd Fighter Wing were taken aback by their loss would've been an understatement, but to their immense credit they'd swallowed their pride and accepted defeat with dignity. Wash recalled Usagi smiling as she shook Heero's hand and vowing a rematch at the earliest opportunity, a challenge that the young prince had neither accepted or declined just yet. After that, Seto had quickly arranged for everyone to return to the surface, and she'd wasted no time in summoning them to her mansion for the victory celebration.

And celebrate, they had. Rather than use the ballroom, Seto had instead brought the group into a lavishly appointed lounge located on the second floor of her mansion. A fully stocked and tended bar lined one wall, while several wooden tables gleaming with polish were scattered about. There were also several couches and chairs gathered in one corner as a little party space of sorts, and that was where everyone had congregated once they'd gotten sufficiently tipsy.

"I can… hic… go another… hic… round!" Ryoko protested between hiccups as Heero guided her to the same couch that Ayeka was already passed out on, "Heero… I though you… hic… believed in me!"

The young prince chuckled as he gently lowered the pirate onto the couch. "I do, but I also know when you're at your limit. Your hangover's going to be bad enough tomorrow as it is. Any more drinking is just torture at this point. Get some rest, okay?"

The pirate pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek, a loopy smile on her face as her eyelids fluttered in weariness and intoxication. "Okay, but only… hic… because you… hic… you're nice."

"Too nice… hic… to the likes… hic… of you," Ayeka drunkenly muttered from her half of the couch, "Lord Heero… hic… congratulations again… hic… on your victory today."

Heero shook his head, and Washu caught just a hint of a smirk on his face. "I appreciate that, Ayeka, but you've already congratulated me multiple times now. Go back to sleep, okay?"

"Okay," the crown princess replied in a heavy slur as she rolled onto her side, "Good… hic… good night, Lord Heero."

Washu saw Ayeka try to kick Ryoko, but she was so drunk that it just came off as her right foot lazily tapping the pirate's left one. Fights had broken out between the two of them for lesser offenses, but both ladies were so utterly shitfaced now that the only response was some unintelligible mumbling from Ryoko before the pirate and the princess drifted off into inebriated slumber.

Ryoko and Ayeka weren't the only ones down for the count. Duo had already passed out on another couch, with his wife simply sitting with his head in her lap and a highly amused smile on her face. Mihoshi had just dropped to the floor and apparently decided to curl up and snooze right there, with Kiyone having enough presence of mind to grab her friend a pillow off one of the couches before stumbling off to a nearby chair and closing her eyes. Ryo-Ohki and Sasami were both snoozing on another couch, although thankfully neither of them had partaken in any booze; Misaki had made sure of that. The younger princess was completely worn out from the day's excitement, and the same went for Ryo-Ohki. Washu could hardly blame either of them for that.

Not everyone had gone quite as hard on the booze or succumbed to exhaustion, though. Wufei, Quatre and Trowa had gone back to the bar for one last round and were reviewing their performance from today's exercise. Yosho was occupying a table with Funaho, Misaki and Seto now, and the four of them were indulging in some snacks, wine and idle banter. The party was mostly wound down, now, with those who were still on lucid likely to turn in for the night within the hour.

Washu watched as Heero surveyed the room for a moment, making sure that those had gone to sleep or were well on their way to doing so were at least relatively comfortable. Then he headed for one of the exits, and Washu decided to follow him. She didn't announce her presence, but she was hardly being sneaky, and she was sure he knew that she was behind him. Eventually, he made his way out onto one of the balconies that overlooked the magnificent gardens Seto maintained behind her home.

Heero leaned against the railing before looking over his shoulder at Washu. "Need something?"

Washu smiled. "I was hoping to chat for a bit, but if you want some privacy, I'll leave you be."

Heero shook his head. "I don't mind the company, Washu. I just wanted to get a bit of fresh air."

Washu nodded as she joined him at the railing. "Can't blame you there. The smell of alcohol was getting a bit to strong towards the end. Still, it was definitely a fun little party, wouldn't you say?"

Heero gave a small chuckle. "I would. Didn't get involved in many of those before I met you and the others. I suppose it's a nice change of pace."

"One you definitely earned," said Washu, "especially after the performance you put in today. I'd say you made one Hell of a first impression on the Second Fleet. They'll be more than willing to follow you into battle now, both at the second repository and beyond."

Heero's eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "When you say beyond, I trust you're merely referring to the third repository and the Array itself, right?"

"Is that what you want it to be?" asked Washu, "I'd understand it, but I do think it's rather limiting."

Heero turned his gaze back to the garden below. "What do you want me to do here, Washu? I know you've got bigger plans for me than just stopping Kagato and destroying the Array, but I haven't signed onto anything beyond that just yet."

Washu shook her head. "And I'm not asking you to right now. I know that you've got more than enough to worry about. All I want is for you to keep an open mind. The power you have the potential to wield, both personally and politically, is not to be taken lightly."

"Believe me, I'm not taking it lightly," Heero firmly shot back, "Why do you think I've been spending practically every spare moment training with Ryoko and Yosho? The last thing I want is for my power to spiral out of control."

Studying him carefully, Washu caught just a hint of something rare in his eyes; fear. She couldn't blame him for that, especially after all that she'd told him about what he could potentially be. Even so, she hadn't fully appreciated the weight that she'd put on his shoulders with that revelation… or what she was continuing to put on him now.

It's so easy to forget just how young he is, she thought mournfully, I know he acts with far greater maturity than others his age, but he's still not even twenty years old yet. He's already suffered through fighting a war and acting as a black ops agent to keep the peace, and now the fate of the galaxy could very well hinge upon his actions. He never asked for any of that.

She slowly reached out and put her hand over his on the railing. "Heero… I'm sorry. I know that you're doing your best, and that none of this was what you signed up for when you agreed to look after Ayeka and my daughter. For what it's worth, though… I'm glad that it's you here instead of someone else. You may not feel this way, but from what I've learned about you since we first met, I think you're one of the few people in the entire galaxy who could genuinely be trusted with the kind of power that flows through your veins. You're not driven by ambition, greed or pride. You've what happened when people in power who embrace those traits are given free reign; you've seen and fought against the suffering that they inflict upon the powerless. There are so many people I've met in my time who, if they were given the kind of power that you have the potential to wield, would utterly terrify me. I would despair for the fate of us all… but I don't have to, because the one who has the chance to wield that power is you. You have no idea how grateful I am for that, Heero."

"You could be wrong," Heero ruefully argued, "I know you and Tsunami see me as your candidate, but if your suspicions are correct, then Tokimi has sided with Kagato. What if she's the one seeing things clearly and is right, while you and Tsunami have your judgment clouded by personal feelings?"

Washu closed her eyes for a moment; the possibility that Heero had just outlined was never far from her thoughts. "If that is the case… then Tsunami and I will still back you against Kagato and Tokimi. I can't imagine a worse fate for the galaxy than for him to gain control of the Array. For trillions of beings to live perpetually on the edge of a knife, their very survival beholden to the whims of the tyrant that Kagato would become… he might claim to be fighting against the corruption and stagnation of the Empire of Jurai, but rule by fear of the Judgment Array would simply be inflicting a different kind of stagnation on the galaxy as a whole. All life in the galaxy paralyzed by terror… that's no way to live."

She opened her eyes and met Heero's gaze. "I don't think that Tsunami and I are wrong about you, but even if we are, you'll still have our support. Like it or not, Heero, you and your interesting gaggle of friends may truly be all that stands between the currently flawed but beautiful galaxy we know now and the eternal nightmare that Kagato will bring about should he win."

She reached up and put her free hand on Heero's cheek, smiling as she looked into his eyes. Had they always been so striking? Those Prussian blue gems, shadowed by the horrors of war, yet still possessing the light of hope for the future and the determination to fight on no matter what the odds might be…

…it was no wonder that her daughter couldn't get enough of him.

If I had met you before Ryoko did, Washu mused wistfully, Heero, you and I… what would we have become together?

Smiling, she leaned forward and kissed Heero on the cheek. She had the satisfaction of seeing him blink several times as he processed what had just happened; it was good to know that she could fluster the normally aloof and collected young man.

"No matter what happens," she vowed, "I'll see this through with you to the end. It's my fault that all this has fallen upon your shoulders, so the least I can do is take some responsibility here."

For his part, Heero simply nodded, with just the barest hint of a smile appearing on his face. "Thank you, Washu."

Washu shook her head as the two of them looked up at the night sky together. "You don't have to thank me, Heero. I'm not just doing this because it's my invention or former colleague that's threatening the galaxy. I'll stand by you because you're my friend… one of the best that I've ever had."

Heero actually chuckled at that. "High praise indeed, given the span of your existence."

Washu couldn't help but laugh. "Heero, is that your way of calling me old? And here I thought you were so well-mannered! You know, I could still give you the good old frog treatment if I wanted to, so you'd better behave yourself."

Heero smirked, and she knew he'd seen her playful threat for what it was; a bluff that she could never bring herself to make good on. "No promises. If you really have read my file, then you should know by now that I wasn't always considered polite company, if you will. What you and the girls have gotten so far is the nicer side of me, and that's after a good deal of 'mellowing out' as Duo might put it."

"Oh, I know indeed," she replied, "Still, it's enough that I'll cut you some slack… this time."

There was a bit of silence between them before Heero spoke again. "Washu… do you really think we can do this? The remaining repositories, keeping the Array out of both Kagato's hands and those of the Empire… it's all a hell of a lot bigger than anything I've ever had to deal with before."

Washu sighed. "Believe me, I know what you mean. It's impossible to make any guarantees for something like this. If it makes you feel any better, though, I'm willing to bet all my chips on you. On us. Kagato won't go down easy, the defenses I've got at both the second and third repositories will be nasty, and keeping the Emperor's grubby mitts off the Array is going to be tricky to say the least… but if there's anyone who can walk that tightrope, it's you."

"No pressure or anything, right?" Heero deadpanned.

"For what it's worth, you won't bear that pressure alone," Washu reassured him, "Your friends are with you… and so is your family. I know that last bit's still something of a new concept for you, and I've definitely got my concerns about your great-grandfather… but Yosho, Funaho, and Misaki will stand by us no matter what path we take. All three of them will be quite happy with the Array's destruction, I can promise you that. The Emperor might grumble after the fact, but his wives will keep him from acting on whatever disappointment he might feel at being robbed of his old toy."

"As long as they prevent him from taking his frustration out on Earth, that's enough for me," said Heero.

Still thinking of his world's safety first and foremost, Washu mused, Heero, your dedication to the protection of the Earth Sphere is admirable, but you need to start thinking beyond that. You've already done more than enough, and this mission will be above and beyond any duty that Preventer has given you in the past. Humanity will owe you more than it could ever pay off in a thousand lifetimes. At the very least, it will certainly owe you your freedom.

While it was true that Washu had a particular path that she would prefer Heero take once this crisis was resolved, she wouldn't be upset if he went his own way. Even returning to the Earth Sphere wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though she felt it would be a waste of his potential. What would upset her, though, would be if he went back to Preventer once this was all over and continue the life that she knew had been slowly withering him away from within before Ayeka and Ryoko had arrived in the Sol System. Protecting the Earth Sphere might have been what he knew, and his world might be at peace, but that peace came at the cost of Heero still having to kill. Washu knew just how heavily his life of bloodshed weighed upon him, and above all else, she wanted to get him away from that.

This fight with Kagato would be his last war, she silently vowed. What came next, she could not say for sure, but Washu would do everything in her power to help Heero find a new life. He'd certainly earned that…

…and a good deal more.

Preview for next time!

Yosho: So, it's finally time.

Ayeka: The second repository awaits.

Sasami: I don't want to get left behind! You're all going to be in danger!

Trowa: It's nothing we haven't faced before.

Quatre: I don't know about that.

Duo: Yeah, the stakes were never quite this high.

Wufei: Fate of the galaxy and all that jazz… no pressure or anything, right?

Heero: Just focus on the mission. No matter what we find out there, as long as we work together, we can take it.

Ryoko: Bring it on!

Ryo-Ohki: Meow!

Kiyone: I like the enthusiasm, but please don't jinx us, Ryoko.

Mihoshi: Don't worry, Kiyone! It'll all work out, just like last time!

Washu: Why do I feel like you just turned fate itself against us there?

Funaho: Next time, in Chapter Twenty-Four: No Need For A Chaotic Battle! Oh dear, I don't like the sound of that…

Kagato: As well you shouldn't, First Empress.

Author's Notes: All right, the gang's had the chance to test their new toys, and now they'll get to use them in actual combat. A large-scale space battle awaits, so fun times ahead!

Before anyone asks, yes, I totally made Ryoko's 'Key' a double-bladed lightsaber as homage to Star Wars. Our lovely pirate's going to go Darth Maul on her foes!

Hope you all liked the chapter. Feel free to review, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time!