Chapter Sixteen: It's Never What You Expect
"Ara ara. At what point did I ever ask you to trust me, Sarhia?"
Heian chuckled as she gave Sarhia a lecherous smile. "Trust has to be earned, no? I am fully aware of the fact that I scare you to death. But you do have to admit that I know Xi'an Chi far more…. intimately, than you ever chose to."
Sarhia's face flushed with shame. "H-heian… I-"
The purple haired version of Zhu-Shu put her finger against the goddess's lips. "Hush. I am not condemning you. Our brother was supposed to love and cherish us. He is the one who abused and tormented us. His need to possess us is not your doing. Nor is our father's blindness to his failings until he could no longer ignore Xi'an Chi's misdeeds." She removed her finger and brought it to her own lips and licked it mischievously. "Well, maybe it was, but only as a side effect of your manipulations of the entire world. From your memories, I know all too well the powerlessness you felt watching as we were raped and tormented. It's the same powerlessness I have felt all the centuries I watched you and Urd reset our life over and over, longing only to finally be free to face my cowardly self."
She turned to look at Zhu-Shu, still standing with her eyes downcast to the side. "This one is the only one truly to blame. Rather than fight back, she created me as an escape. I suppose I could hate her for that, but what would be the point? I exist because of her cowardice. Without her, I would be nothing at all." She ran her fingers through Zhu-Shu's hair lovingly.
Then, Heian sighed and raised her eyes to the platinum Dragoness looking at her suspiciously over Zhu-Shu's head. "And you. We're all part of the same person. You don't need to glare at me like that."
"I can't trust you either when you conceal so much of our memories from us" she huffed. "How are we supposed to become whole when you hold yourself so far apart?"
Heian shrugged and waved at Zhu-Shu. "Blame her. She's not ready to deal with either of us fully. Hell, it's only because we're in Sarhia's mental space we can manifest at all without her choosing to allow us to do so. She only ignores you because she doesn't want the responsibility you represent. She keeps me locked away in the deepest parts of her mind and only allows me to experience that which she herself lacks the strength to face."
"And you are asking her to give you permission to manifest. To let the most unstable part of ourselves face Xi'an Chi and Shadow. To… trust, that you are not playing a trick on us all in an effort to free yourself."
"No. I am telling you that if you don't let me manifest, that she will die, and so will you and I. The engine that Xi'an Chi has built is flawed. It will flood us with all the souls of the dead recovered from Tokyo, and the Shikon Jewel will shatter. The overflowing energy will not only kill us, but destroy half of Japan!"
Sarhia shook her head. "How can you know that? I can't recall there ever being a previous timeline where Xi'an Chi has activated a God Engine!"
Heian turned to her. "No. You wouldn't. It's what happened the very first time Zhu-Shu was brought to the future. The catastrophic failure that was so bad that the elder Urd never allowed it to even become a possibility again… Until now. Why do you think she took such drastic steps to try and keep us out of Xi'an Chi's hands by sending us to the past? It was bad enough with just her. Adding the Shikon into the equation is going to make it exponentially worse."
Sarhia drew in her breath. "Zhu-Shu's very first…"
Heian nodded. "It was before the elder Urd realized that you were one of our soulmates, or that Ukyo was one as well. Just one of the thousands of failures she created before she could no longer ignore the reality that you were a key element, even if she didn't know how."
"I am?"
Heian gave her a sad smile. "There is a specific purpose for everyone. I don't know what it is, I just know that there must be. After all the failures, it's the only certainty that remains. If we are ever going to become whole, we need all of you."
Her eyes turned to Zhu-Shu. "You don't need to be afraid of me, Zhu-Shu. I don't desire to control you. I just want you to acknowledge me. I don't want to be suppressed anymore." She sighed. "I don't hate you for what you made of me. Or that I've had to bear the burden of the experiences you couldn't bear yourself. I spent centuries doing that, and centuries wishing I could kill you, even if it meant dying as a consequence. But like I said, what would it accomplish?" She shrugged. "Neither of us can change the past. That's a lesson I learned from all of the repeats we've endured. The past is always the same. All our pasts up to the point of us being born in this life are immutable. All that can be changed is the now."
She knelt and reached out to touch Zhu-Shu's cheek. "I don't know why Urd kept resetting our life. Or why it was so necessary for us to suffer. I don't know why Sarhia feels it is so important to participate in whatever plan Urd was trying to accomplish. I don't know why we are so important in the grand scheme of things. But I do know this. There is a reason. There has to be. That's the one thing I knew without a doubt as I looked into Sarhia's eyes as she killed me." She formed a quirky smile as she looked at the goddess sidelong. "Well, that, and that she looks really cute in that naga form of hers."
Sarhia blinked, then blushed, before putting her face into her palm.
Zhu-Shu looked at the six armed goddess. "Naga form?"
Sarhia made a "what can you do" gesture with one pair of hands. "It's my battle form. It's very agile and quick."
"And pretty." Heian added. "She has such lovely golden scales." She giggled. "I really wish you had just wrapped yourself around me and crushed me instead of stabbing me with Gungnir." She shivered. "Being hugged to death would have been so romantic!" The giggle started sounding a little crazy.
Sarhia gave her a disbelieving look from between her fingers. "You are a seriously disturbed part of Zhu-Shu's mind, Heian."
"Yes, and?" She put her finger to her lips and blinked at Sarhia coquettishly. "Being crushed to a pulp in your coils would be far more enjoyable than being raped and having my throat slit by Xi'an Chi. Or maybe you want to pierce me with your tail until my entire body tears apart at being filled with you?" She gave a small shudder. "You can kill me anyway you like, my love. It will be paradise!"
"Ahhh. No." Sarhia shuddered. "Killing you was the worst thing I've ever had to do. This is insane! Why are we even talking about this?"
"Because she's depraved." The dragoness muttered. "And apparently, more than a little yandere."
Heian laughed. "I've been murdered a million times. Did you seriously think that wouldn't leave me with issues?" She leaped to her feet and did a pirouette. "The memories of Sarhia killing me are the most precious ones I have!" She reached out to lift Zhu-Shu's face. "Don't worry. Those memories are mine alone. Even when we rejoin, I won't let you have them." Her smile was a little unhinged.
Zhu-Shu shuddered. "I don't want to remember being murdered." She sighed heavily, "Or raped. But I understand, Heian. You are… insane, but not actively malicious. At least not towards me."
Heian giggled. "No. All my malice is reserved for those who have hurt us." She turned jet black again as she leaned close. "and they will pay for their sins against us" she whispered in Zhu-Shu's ear.
Zhu-Shu couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine at Heian's words. As her other self resumed her unshrouded form, she asked, "But how is letting you assume control going to prevent the Shikon from being destroyed?"
Heian gave her an evil grin. "Because I know how to prevent it from overloading. You could do it too, but it would mean doing something you aren't going to want to do."
Sarhia gave her a quizzical look. "And that would be?"
Heian turned towards her. "Becoming Shadow."
"Huh."
"Becoming Shadow. She's an emulation of what Zhu-Shu was afraid I would be. She's acting like Zhu-Shu thought I would act, but she has no real will of her own. Unlike Mu-san, Mu-Er is not a sentient entity. She's a doll acting out a role based on Zhu-Shu's fears." She turned to Zhu-Shu. "If you can bring yourself to trust me enough to let me out, I can use her to trick Xi'an Chi."
Zhu-Shu blinked at her. "You can control her?"
Heian nodded. "I can, but not completely. The chaos crystal in her ensures obedience to our brother. But the link between ourselves and her makes her vulnerable to being over-ridden. Her emulated personality is very weak, and I will simply replace her and bide my time until I can manipulate things to our advantage."
Sarhia tilted her head. "And how do you plan to do that?"
Heian gave a wicked cackle. "That's the other little thing you're not going to be willing to do. I'm going to have to use Ukyo."
The corridor was non-descript, with a faint medical smell. Shan-Pu found it irritating to her nose and gave a small cat-sneeze, making Akane and Ranma jump. They gave a nervous chuckle as she gave an apologetic mew. "This place remind Shan-kitty of hospital."
Akane nodded. "Yeah. I know what you mean. It's got that smell of antiseptics and old blood. I got sick of that smell visiting mom in the hospital." She looked around as they approached the door at the end of the hall. "But there's nowhere else to go. This is the only corridor on this side of that big room."
They opened the door into another massive space. A walkway stretched into the shadowy distance between a series of tubes. A faint sound of ticking seemed to be omnipresent in the air, and above the tubes they could see gears disappearing into shadow. They could also see various manipulators and cameras. Several of them turned to look at them, but only for a few seconds before apparently deciding to ignore them.
Akane frowned. "Well, is that a good sign or a bad sign?"
Ranma shrugged. "Either way, I guess it means to the machines, we're not considered a threat. So, I suppose as long as we don't interfere in whatever they are doing, they'll ignore us?"
As they watched, far down the walkway, a mechanical hand came down and lifted one of the tubes and carried it off. As it did, the line of tubes on that side smoothly slid towards the distance, and a new tube appeared out of the darkness overhead. The mechanical arm set it into some sort of socket before retracting. Shan-Pu's curiosity got the better of her and she went to peek into the window on the front before giving a surprised meow.
Ranma and Akane joined her in looking. "Is-is that some sorta brain?" Akane whispered.
"It does kinda look like one, but it looks mechanical." Ranma replied. "Those gears are really tiny" she said in wonder. "It's like a clockwork computer maybe? Do those even exist?"
As they watched, a series of smaller mechanical arms emerged from the inner sides of the tube, and began attaching a series of fine cables to the base of the brain like object. A few seconds later, more arms began assembling something resembling a spine as others assembled a skull. They looked at each other and moved down to the next tube.
"It is building a skeleton." Akane murmured. "It kinda reminds me of the opening to 'Ghost in the Shell."
"Yeah, I get cha" Ranma replied. "Kinda creepy."
By the time they got to the twentieth tube, the skeleton appeared fully assembled, looking almost perfectly human except for the fact it was made of some pale metal. It was also obviously of fairly small stature. As they moved further down the path, more of the body was assembled, with various devices to act as lungs and a heart, along with a variety of unrecognizable things, before the tube was filled with liquid and something like tissues began forming around the mechanical parts. Finally, around the final dozen tubes, they realized what was happening.
"My god, they're Mu's." Akane whispered. She looked around, seeing row after row of tubes behind the ones they were walking down. "Thousands of them."
As they reached the final tube, there could be no doubt. Floating serenely in the tube was an all too familiar figure. As they watched, the mechanical arms came down to collect the tube and carry it away into the darkness above them. Ranma lowered her eyes and grimaced. "These must be the dopplegangers." Her eyes rose to look at the open doorway ahead of them. "And I will bet that's the central control room." She growled as she cracked her knuckles. "If there's a trap, it'll probably be there."
In high alert, they crept forwards and peeked through the door.
"T-t-there i-i-s no-no n-need t-t-to h-h-ide" a very cracked and almost electronic sounding voice said. "I-I-I-I c-c-cannot h-h-arm y-y-you."
The room was empty except for a single chair, in which what appeared to be a broken doll sat. She was human sized, and naked, with large sections of what looked to be artificial skin stripped from her body, revealing the mechanical skeleton and clockwork underneath. Unlike the Mu's, she appeared to be entirely mechanical, with no organic parts. And she was in a very bad state. Most of her right side was intact, showing she had once looked like a beautiful young girl, but her arm was missing below the elbow and her left side appeared to have been jury rigged into some sort of computer interface. Her face was still intact, showing that she had been a delicate beauty, with clear blue eyes, but the top of her skull from the eyebrows up was exposed and more cables were connected to the clockwork that showed through gaps in the plating. The contrast between the dolls beauty and the crude modifications done to her was stark, appearing somehow like a mechanical cancer had consumed her left side. She was a work of art brutalized by a psychopath. Fully intact, there would have been no way to tell she was not human.
Other than her, the room was empty, barely more than a large closet walled in by clockwork machinery. The spinning gears of the walls were a marked contrast to her utter stillness. While the clockwork inside her appeared at least partly functional, she appeared frozen, only her right eye moving to look at each of them. And somehow, that eye conveyed the sense that she was both sentient, and suffering.
"I-I-I w-w-would wel-c-come y-y-you, b-b-but Xi-xi-xi'an chi-i-i d-dis-a-a-abled my-my b-b-b-body cen-centuries a-a-ago." The gears in her missing arm whirred briefly.
Akane took a deep breath and looked at Shan-Pu and Ranma. Ranma shrugged and stepped out from behind the doorway. "Wha-" she stopped and took a deep breath. "Who are you?"
Her blue eye focused on Ranma's. "My-my f-f-father c-called me Sis-sis-sistinas. But n-n-n-now I h-h-h-h-have no-no n-n-n-ame." Her eye looked around what little she could see of the room. "I-I-I-I a-a-a-am s-s-s-s-simply p-p-p-p-part of-of-of-of t-t-t-t-the m-m-m-m-m-machine."
"I-I see." She looked around the machinery filled room. Sistinas certainly didn't seem hostile towards them, so maybe she could help. "Um. Would you perhaps know where we could find the main brain of the dopplegangers?"
What sounded like bitter laughter came from the broken doll. "I-I-I did n-n-not g-g-g-give t-t-t-them o-o-o-one."
"Huh?"
"T-t-they s-s-s-share o-one con-con-consciousness. T-t-t-there i-i-i-is n-n-n-n-no c-c-c-central b-b-b-b-brain."
Akane blinked. "But Jo-chan said they were all controlled by a central unit!"
"C-c-c-c-correct."
"But-" Akane frowned.
Ranma crossed her arms. "You're the central unit, aren't you?"
"N-n-n-n-not by-by-by c-c-c-choice." Sistinas's eye rolled to the mechanisms connected to her body. "Xi-xi-xi-Chi u-u-u-u-uses me-me to m-m-m-m-make my-my-my d-d-d-d-daughters o-o-o-obedient."
Akane's breath caught. "Your daughters. You mean you made Mu? She's like the ones in the tubes out there?"
The doll's eye swiveled to her. "M-m-m-mu l-l-l-lives?" The surprise in her broken voice was apparent.
Akane nodded. "Yes. She's with us back aboard our ship."
The Doll's eye lowered. "I-I-I-I h-h-have not h-h-h-heard her f-f-f-for s-s-s-s-s-so long. I-I-I-I f-f-f-feared she w-w-w-was d-d-d-d-dead." Her eye rose again, but instead of the cold sense of suffering, Akane saw a sense of hope. "Xi-xi-xi-xi'an C-c-c-chi did n-n-n-n-not s-s-s-s-send you" she asked incredulously.
Ranma shook her head. "No. Our friend has been kidnapped. We are trying to save her, but Xi'an Chi has used the dopples to attack us. Another of our friends is trying to fight all of them. We need to get the Dopples to stop attacking her. Please, can you help us?"
"A-a-a-a-are y-y-y-y-you f-f-f-f-f-friends t-t-t-t-to M-m-m-mu?"
Akane clasped her hands in front of her "Yes, she's a dear friend, and we really don't want to fight or kill any of her sisters. Please tell us how we can get them to stop fighting, please?!"
The doll's eye fixed on her. "K-k-k-k-kill me."
Akane's breath caught as Ranma did a double take and Shan-Pu gave a shocked mew.
"S-s-s-s-s-s-s-so l-l-l-l-long as Xi-xi-xi-xi'an C-c-c-c-chi en-en-enslaves me, t-t-t-t-t-they m-m-m-m-m-must o-o-o-o-o-obey." There was a small click and the ribcage on her damaged left side swung open, revealing a spiny black crystal pulsing a dark purple like a heart beat. "I-I-I-I-I c-c-c-cannot d-d-d-d-d-do it my-my-myself." The gears in her right arm whirred to no effect.
Akane looked anxiously back at the dopple factory. "We-we don't want to destroy the dopples! Or kill you! Jo said we only had to figure out how to re-enable the network with Mu. You don't seem to be our enemy. Isn't there another way?"
"The-the fac-fac-factory is-is a-a-a-a-automated. I-I-I-I do-do-do-do not c-c-c-control it. I-i-i-i-it m-m-m-m-merely s-s-s-s-s-sustains m-m-m-m-my b-b-b-b-body. D-d-d-dopples are c-c-c-c-connected to-to-to me. With-with-without me, D-d-d-d-dopples w-w-w-w-will be-be-be f-f-f-f-free. T-t-t-they w-w-w-will be-be in-in-independent l-l-l-like M-m-m-mu. I-I-I-I have b-b-b-been t-t-t-t-t-turned in-in-into t-t-t-t-t-their en-en-en-enslaver. P-p-p-p-please f-f-f-f-free my-my-my D-d-daughters."
Though there was no sense of emotion to her broken voice, or change of expression on her face, teardrops began to slowly creep down her cheek. Ranma's hand reached towards her reluctantly before she stopped and clenched her fist.
"No. I can't kill anyone. You may not be human, but you still deserve to exist." She shook. "Is there any way to disconnect you without damaging you further? To let you sleep, until we can maybe fix you?"
Her bitter laughter came again as her eye lowered. "I-I-I-I-I am b-b-b-b-b-b-broken. Y-y-y-y-you c-c-c-c-c-cannot f-f-f-f-fix me. R-r-r-r-removing m-m-m-m-m-me i-i-i-i-i-is im-im-im-im-impossible."
Ranma's lips pressed together. "We don't know that. We won't know till we can try, and to do that, we can't damage you further. You're Mu's mother. We can't let you die. Mu's lost all of her memories! If you created her, you might be the only person who can restore them! There's got to be another way."
The doll's eye held hers for several seconds before looking down. "My-my-my k-k-k-key."
Ranma looked puzzled for a second before nodding in understanding. Sistinas was a clockwork doll. She walked around the immobile doll and searched her back for several seconds before frowning. In the center of her back was a key with a folding top, apparently designed so it wouldn't protrude if she was wearing clothes. She lifted the top to the winding position and examined the mechanisms to either side of her exposed spine. "It looks like it's connected to a winding mechanism. Are you sure removing it won't kill you?"
"I-I-I-I w-w-w-w-will o-o-o-only s-s-s-stop. My-my-my key is-is-is a-a-a-a m-m-m-magical d-d-d-d-device. F-f-f-f-father w-w-w-w-would re-re-re-remove it to-to re-re-repair m-m-m-me."
Ranma hesitated as she put her hand on the key again. "I'll never be able to forgive myself if you're lying" she said softly as she pulled it out of its keyhole.
"Th-th-thank you-you-you." The doll's eye slowly rolled downward as the visible gears in her body slowed down and crept to a stop, and the pulsing crystal in her chest turned dark. Ranma looked down at the key in her hand and sighed. "I promise. Once we rescue Zhu-Shu and beat Xi'an Chi, I'll find someone to fix you. I can only imagine how much you have suffered. We'll save you, and your daughters too."
She pocketed the key as Akane gave her a sad smile. Ranma sighed. "Okay, let's go and make sure Ukyo is alright." As they started back down the walkway, she looked back to the broken doll and swore she would never think of AIs as merely soulless imitations ever again.
Actually, Ukyo was in trouble.
H-how did it turn out like THIS!
She screamed as another spasm ripped through her body and gasped for air as her befuddled brain tried to sort through all the sensations her body was experiencing.
It had started normally. She had approached the horde of dopples intending to simply defend herself from them. However, just as she had approached the first of the identical girls, the dopple had tossed her swords away and flung herself face first into Ukyo's cleavage. She'd made happy noises as she had rubbed her face back and forth, and before Ukyo could comprehend what was actually happening, a second dopple had landed a passionate kiss directly on Ukyo's lips. Too stunned to fight back, the Wrathseeker had dropped to the ground as Ukyo had felt herself lifted up, dozens of hands and tongues wandering across her body. She'd pretty much lost track from there.
In a daze she tried to sort out what was happening. It felt like a pair of dopples were competing over who could lick her to another orgasm fastest, while a third was behind her giving her a rimjob while fingering her. Yet another was still passionately kissing her, while two more were focusing on her breasts. Her right hand was being sensually licked, her left was being squeezed between a dopples legs, and it felt like two more were sliding their crotches against her legs.
This was definitely NOT what she had expected.
"C-c-c-come on. I know I didn't really want to fight you, but this is ridiculooooooooooous!"
She screamed as another orgasm ripped through her.
"Okay! Okay! Yes, it feels fantastic! But I need to go rescue Zhu-Shu! Please let me go!"
The dopples only response was a bunch of happy giggles and soft moans.
Ukyo struggled to focus and looked across the sea of dopples to the lift. Well, they are effectively keeping me from going after Zhu-Shu. If I can't get them to stop soon, I'm gonna pass out!
Then the dopples outside of the group pleasuring her blinked simultaneously, a puzzled look appearing on their faces. Several turned to look back towards where Ranma and the rest had gone.
She screwed her eyes shut as she whimpered again. "Please! Please stop!"
Surprisingly she felt herself lowered to the ground while the dopples all sat on their knees around her. The two who had been busy licking her were blinking at her curiously, their faces glistening as their heads tilted in opposite directions. She could have sworn if they'd been puppies, their tails would have been thumping furiously. They kept glancing down at her crotch and back up at her face eagerly, their eyes begging.
Ukyo shook her head. "No, please. It felt wonderful but any more and I am gonna faint."
They looked inordinately pleased with themselves.
Crawling over to the Wrathseeker, Ukyo used it to help her stand up on shaky legs. She looked down at her loincloth. "Fat lot of good you did" she muttered before looking back towards the lift. "Okay, can I go past now? I really need to go save Zhu-Shu."
The dopples looked terribly disappointed. Ukyo winced at all the puppy dog eyes. She sighed as she took out her communicator disk. "Hey guys?"
"Yes, darling?" Ying-Ying replied. "Are you okay? I was getting some… um… unusual sensations across the soul links."
Ukyo rolled her eyes. "Uh, yeah. I was kinda being molested to unconsciousness by a dozen dopplegangers with a few hundred others waiting for their turn. And now they are all giving me sad puppy eyes about leaving" she said forlornly.
"I can confirm that the communications lockout on the dopples is down," Jo's voice interjected, "however, the dopple network is not using a recognizable language I can interpret. It appears I was wrong about them functioning as drones for Mu. They appear to possess an independent consciousness, but it is spread equally across their net. I am analyzing it, but cannot give an estimate on when or even if I will be able to parse it. I've never encountered anything similar."
"Mu's sisters can hear Mu, and Mu can hear sisters, but sisters don't use words."
"Can you ask them to let me through, Mu?"
"Mu's sisters can understand Ukyo-sama. Mu thinks they were really really enjoying playing with Ukyo-sama though. They think Ukyo-sama is tasty and fun."
All the dopples nodded with happy grins.
Ukyo sighed. "Jeez." She consciously forced her knees to stop wobbling. "Just what I need right now. An ocean of horny Zhu-Shu look-a-likes." She shouldered her guan-do. "Okay, I'm sorry, but I have to go and rescue the person you are all clones of now, okay?"
The dopples all jumped up and scurried out of her way, following her like a pack of puppies as she made her way to the lift.
"Um, shouldn't you wait till Ranma and the others join you?" Clove's voice came over the comm.
Ukyo pressed the button to close the doors. "No. Xi'an Chi's too dangerous for anyone without magical defenses. And if I have to fight Zhu-Shu too…" She left it hanging as the doors slid closed, the dopples giving her sad little waves.
"So whats our status now, Jo?" Tao-Ching asked as he looked at the display of Tokyo on the table before him.
"I have identified the power source for the God Engine as the large vessel in the center. It appears to be fed from the surrounding vessels, and defended by a heavy shield wall. I have identified several combatants within the shield wall who I believe are likely to be allies, including Director Sesshomaru of the Youkai Council. The other seven females appear to be using Class 4 Asgardian defense golems of an obsolete design. They appear to be heading towards the central vessel. Approximately 400 mecha of unfamiliar design are preparing to engage the JSDF, with another 50 engaged in defense against the Asgardian golems. Scans of local EM broadcasts indicate that the girls in the golems are members of the Furinkan High School Cheerleader Squad. They appear to be under a familiar contract with Archmage Lo-Shen. And while the Archmage is also within the shield wall, she is currently acting as support for the golems, and being defended by a group of high level Demon Hunters."
Tao-Ching raised an eyebrow. "Ai and her girls are leading the assault? That's a little surprising." He leaned forwards to put his elbows on the table. "More importantly, we're sitting ducks here if Xi'an Chi decides to shoot at us again. How long till we're mobile?"
"The Mu-San is still severely damaged, and her environmental systems are non-functional. Main engines are still offline, but minimal flight capabilities in atmosphere are possible. Maneuvering speed is minimal with a top speed currently of 40 kph. Additionally the Tian-Long's shield has been lowered to permit the casting of the focusing spells for the God Engine. Until that is done, Xi'an Chi cannot attack us himself. I judge we have about 10 minutes before he can shift focus." One of Jo's drones landed on the table in front of him and put her hands on her hips. "I strongly recommend relocating as soon as I can retrieve Ranma, Akane and Shan-Pu. Once they have returned to the central hall, I can use the ships transporters to recover them. While we cannot eliminate the possibility we will be attacked again, we stand a better chance of avoiding further damage as a moving target."
He nodded at the drone. "I agree." He paused as he looked towards the castle, though it wasn't visible. "Any possibility you can do that to Ukyo and Zhu-Shu? Just snatch them to safety?"
The drone shook her head. "No. The castle is independently shielded. That's why I am having to wait for Ranma's group to return to the main hall. The castle's shields are between the location that they entered and the ship. It's only because I have infiltrated a significant part of the Tian-Long with drones that I can even track them. Once Ukyo has rescued the goddess, we can choose a rendezvous point."
He ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed. "Give me ship wide comms please."
Jo nodded and a series of small globes lit up across the table showing the others onboard.
"Okay, since Ukyo is off the ship, I am going to assume command. Any objections?" he announced. A couple of no's and shaken heads showed no one did. "Right. Jo says we have limited flight capabilities despite the holes in our hull. She's going to teleport Ranma and co aboard as soon as they get back into the central hall. We're going to move out right after to make ourselves a moving target. As soon as Ukyo rescues the Empress, we'll move in and snag 'em. In the meantime, we've got an invasion of Tokyo going on below. Apparently Ai and her girls are trying to destroy the power center in that big pyramid. We may not be fully combat ready, but I am kinda sick of twiddling my thumbs up here. What say we go offer some fire support?"
"Rei is still asleep" Usagi said. "Can anyone else use the big gun?"
Jo shook her tiny head. "Unfortunately the main gun is non-functional without the engines online. Secondary defense turrets except for eight and twelve are all functional. The amplifiers for Jupiter and Venus are also non-functional. Repairs are progressing as expected, and I estimate I can activate a full ship restoration in approximately 30 minutes. Now that we have exited the rift, I can exercise control over local space once I have fully mapped the probability matrix. "
"Not that I understood any of that, but I will take it as good news." Tao-Ching said. "Okay, Nabi-chan and Kagura, you up for manning turrets? And Konatsu, you can fill a few with them if you will." He looked down at Jo's drone. "You and Mu can handle the flying, right?"
"Affirmative." She looked to the side. "Ranma Shan-Pu and Akane are now aboard. Proceeding to flight status."
There was a gentle shaking as the ship extracted itself from the crater floor and oriented itself to the Tian-Long's surface. Then the bow rose and it started flying towards the ground. Tao-Ching left the C and C to head to the bridge and firecontrol. He'd no sooner sat down than Ranma burst in.
"Waddya bring us back for! We needed to help Ukyo!"
"Not my call, Ranma. Ukyo didn't want you getting in her way. Like me, good as you are in a fight, ain't nothing you can do against magic. Even Clove didn't stand a chance against him."
Ranma clenched her fists in frustration. Tao-Ching pointed out the bridge windows. "We got a fight down there you can contribute to. You up for it?"
The redheads eyes shifted to look at the burning city and hardened. "Yeah. What you want us to do?"
"We're going to strafe some mecha attacking Ai and crew. You can grab a turret if you want, or stay in reserve till we see where to best use our power houses. You three, Kuno and me might be able to save a lotta lives down there instead of just waiting up here for Ukyo."
"Gottcha." She cracked her knuckles. "Okay, I'll go back to the transporter room so you can send us out immediately." She turned to go then stopped at the door. "Oh, we found Mu's mother. I promised her we were gonna rescue her and the dopples. They're Xi'an Chi's slaves and don't deserve destruction. So no using Rei on the Tian-Long."
"Gotcha. I got no intention of sacrificing innocents. It's not an Amazon trait."
Jo's voice came over the comms. "Understood. Reassigning drones aboard the Tian-Long to locating and recovery of the Dopple system and all Dopple units. Prioritizing mapping of the castle and dopple network for spatial relocation."
"Huh?" Ranma looked up at the ceiling.
"I am the world devouring serpent, Ranma. I will not allow Mu's sisters or mother to perish."
She nodded. "Good. I hope you can fix what Xi'an Chi did to her too." She patted the doorway as she exited and Tao-Ching pulled up his tactical display.
"Okay Jo, Mu-chan. Let's start with giving Ai a hand."
Makoto had left the bridge when she realized Tao-Ching was relocating. They had passed each other in the passageway, but she'd ducked her head to keep him from seeing that she'd been crying. She stopped outside the medbay and cautiously peeked inside to see Clove and Ying-Ying still watching over Rei, feeling her heart wrench. She ducked back from the door and down the stairs to the lower level.
She knew it was unfair to Rei to be upset that she had found happiness, but that didn't change the way she felt. She'd tried to bury it under anger, to feel furious every time she saw the gymnast girl, but it was just a front. She should hate Kodachi, especially after the repeated "incidents", but if she actually did, even she had to admit her behavior was irrational. She could have dealt with her senpai any number of ways, but instead she kept covering it up. It wasn't like Kodachi was stronger than she was, especially given her powers as Jupiter.
Why do I let her use me? Why can't I get over her and do something. Anything!? Why does the very thought of her get me so worked up?
She felt a small shudder as the ship began moving, and sighed. They probably need me to help fight this invasion, instead of curling up in a dark corner. She looked around and realized she was in the corridor near the engine room. About ten feet in front of her the hole in the hull let in shifting light and some smoke. She went to look out the hole and noticed that they were coming in over the center of Tokyo, and she realized the ship in front of them was over where Tokyo Tower had stood.
I could probably shoot from here. Jo said the amp on the bridge wasn't working, and this is less exposed than the deck. And at least I won't have to face anyone.
She looked for targets, seeing that they were approaching a group of giant robots. Several taller ones with a feminine look were fighting a large group of more generic styled mechs. She guessed the female mechs were probably the cheerleaders. As they drew closer, the defense turrets opened up on the smaller mechs, so she assumed her guess was right. She tossed several supreme thunders before her eyes caught the only female mech which sported two colors… and a whip.
She froze. Even though she was encased in a fifty foot tall robot, she had no doubt.
Senpai…
Kodachi looked up from the collapsing mech in front of her to see a peculiar ship approaching them. What appeared to be laser fire blew apart several of the mechs on the periphery, along with some lightning bolts and a shower of golden rays.
It looks kinda like a dragon shaped boat, but it's flying? She shrugged mentally. At least it's apparently on our side.
She used her whip to cut apart another mech attacking her, and then wrapped it around another trying to come from behind Ai's back. She threw it into a small group, knocking several down, before glancing back at the ship. It had come to a halt to allow the gunners to aim while avoiding her group, and she noticed a figure throwing lightning from a hole in the side. Just as she did, a salvo from one of the crystal ships in the shield wall slammed into it's shields, and the ship rocked, throwing the figure out of the hole to fall towards the mechs below.
Instinctively, she threw herself upwards, the mechs wings spreading as she raced to intercept the falling girl. Less than a hundred feet above the debris strewn ground, she caught her, pulling her close to shield her from another round of gunfire from the mechs below. Angling out of their line of sight to the top of a semi-intact building, she carefully raised her hand to look at the girl.
"Are you alrig-" she started, only to stop and stare in astonishment.
It was undoubtedly Sailor Jupiter. The uniform was unmistakable. She'd seen her many times on the news, and had always felt a nagging sense that she looked familiar.
Now, she was sitting in her hand, shaking her head to clear it, and whatever had kept her from recognizing her instantly wasn't apparently working.
Without any doubt, it was Makoto Kino, the girl she had sinned against the worst. Her throat closed against the words she had been saying as Makoto looked up at her giant face.
Then she whispered "Senpai…"
