NOTE: All characters original to the Tenchi-Muyo! TV1 series 
portrayed in this story, as well as all those from the Tenchi-Muyo!
Ryo-Ohki OVA series, are the sole property of AIC and Pioneer 
Animation. Any appearance of them in actual life is purely 
coincidental. Tenchi-Muyo! material and paraphernalia listed within
is copyright Pioneer Animation 1997. Kyoto Minamoto, Muriyaki 
Kushiragi, Chisako, Chi-Ohki, and all other related characters
are the sole property of R&C Books and appear through permission
from R&C Books. If you would like to use any of these characters
in your work, please contact the licensing department at 
RCBooks@hotmail.com or visit our website at 
www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/1375.

 

 

Send all C&C to muriyaki@hotmail.com (for storyline and fight scenes)
and/or keiichi_dono@hotmail.com (for intercharacter relationships
and continuity). Thanks for reading! 

 

 

Missing author’s notes: 


From #12: "Ring of Love" is not a song written by anyone employed
by Pioneer. I myself wrote the lyrics, and the melody is a vague idea
floating around in my head. Some of you will probably think this 
explains a great many things--and you’d be right (^_^). Well, I will
tell you one thing: the title was inspired by the title of "Alchemy
of Love" and the on-line Tenchi Ring (someone please let me into it;
my address is http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Palace/9909.
Thank you!) 
 

 

2) Also from #12: All the songs sung by the El-Hazard characters
can be found on the El-Hazard Best CD, available from Pioneer 
(naturally). For ironic purposes, each character was singing the 
"image" song performed by their respective voice-talents (also 
natch).

 

3) From #13: If any of you are Evangelion fans, thank you for not 
lynching us for our little in-jokes (but Gendo really is a devil).
As for the Kaji reference, I think he’s a not-half-bad template
for an older Tenchi, at least until he grows those earlocks and 
starts looking like young Yosho.


Well, on with the story, and thanks for sticking with us thus far.

--Lord Yosho/Keiichi-dono

 

"Oh how the years go by,

And oh how the love brings tears to my eyes,

All through the changes, the soul never dies,

We fight, we laugh, we cry, as the years go by...."

 

--Amy Grant, "Oh How the Years Go By"

 

 

 

 

 

Episode 14

No Need For A Coup!

 

 

Fifteen years have passed for our heroes and heroines, and many 
things have changed. Still, there are some things that seem 
perpetual....

 

JULY, 2012

ROYAL PALACE

YACHIKA, JURAI

 

"How does this one look, Tenchi-yon?" Kiyone holds up a light blue
formal kimono in front of her.

"Hmm...." Tenchi has an appraising look on his face. He walks around
behind his wife, noting that she’s not dressed behind the kimono;
she’s only in her skivvies. He pulls her into his arms and buries
his face in her lush cascade of teal hair. "Do you really need to 
wear anything at all, Kiyone-yoni?" he asks teasingly.

The empress of Jurai giggles like a schoolgirl and snuggles back into
her husband’s embrace. "That does sound like more fun, but this is a 
public function."

"Pity," comments Tenchi. "Anyway, you look great in anything,
but I think the forest-green one would be good tonight." Kiyone nods
and starts dressing. Tenchi looks down at his own formal court garb
and tugs downward on the jade-green tunic-jacket. Soon both of them
are dressed and they step out of their spacious bedroom. Tonight,
you see, is the biggest holiday of the Juraian calendar: Startika
(I’m sorry, but it was just sitting there, ripe for the taking....
^_^), and the Summer Star Festival, a celebration observed throughout
the Republic, requires the presence of the Emperor and Empress.

Awaiting them in the main hallway to the outside were the 
children--that is, Tenchi and Kiyone’s daughters Sasami and Tsunami,
and Kyoto and Ryoko’s children Kyo (a boy) and Momoko (a girl). 

Sasami has grown up into a stunningly beautiful young lady (think
a grown-up Hikari from Evangelion with just one long ponytail and red
eyes ^_~), while Tsunami looks like a fifteen-year-old
version of the goddess who is her namesake and mentor. 

Ironically enough, Momoko looks more like Kiyone than either of her
and Tenchi’s daughters, while Kyo looks like his father at fifteen. 

A group of attractive young people, they are. 

The small group heads for the gate where a hover limo is waiting. 

Grown-up and matured as she is, though, there is no changing a 
Sasami. She looks mischievously at her parents. "What have you two 
been up to?" While she doesn’t say the words aloud, Tenchi can hear
in his mind her voice say, "You two are naughty!" 

"Now, Sami-cha’ya," chides Kiyone, "we were just getting ready for 
the festival tonight." 

Momoko closes one eye, sticks out her tongue, and places her index
finger to the closed eye. "Uncle Tenchi, Aunt Kiyone, please! Not in
public! You’re embarrassing me!" 

Tsunami giggles and inconspicuously snuggles a little closer to Kyo.
Kyo smiles and covertly pecks a kiss on her left cheek. The two blush
and slacken their pace behind the others. Seeing this, Sasami 
slackens her own pace and takes up position on Kyo’s other side and
kisses his cheek. Kyo smiles wider and tips his head back in a 
triumphant pose. Tsunami giggles little girlishly and clamps herself
on Kyo’s left arm. Sasami does likewise on his right. 

Momoko sighs and hangs her head. Kami-sama, please give them 
self-control! Please don’t make them like Uncle Tenchi and Aunt 
Kiyone, or like Mom and Dad.... 

 

* * * 

 

JULY, 2012

MINAMOTO RESIDENCE

OKAYAMA, JAPAN

 


"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, LET GO OF US!!!" Kyoto Minamoto,
ex-space pirate and current restaurateur, is struggling for his life.
Mere moments ago, he and his wife had been making love, as was their
nightly ritual. Now, they find themselves surrounded by....

Galaxy Police officers? 

They look the part, but their uniforms are black and devoid of the 
typical patches and insignia. The leader, carrying a heavy laser 
rifle that does not look like standard issue for even GP SWAT teams,
steps forward. Kyoto could overpower him easily, but the fact that
they have his wife unconscious and in a stasis bubble restrains
him. 

"Kyoto Minamoto," he sneers, "you are under arrest for destruction
of the sacred place of Jurai." 

Kyoto gasps. "What the Hell?! I never-- UH!!!" He’s knocked to the 
ground by a blow from the butt of one of the other soldier's rifles. 

"Shut up, trash!" growls the "GP." 

"You at least owe me a trial and the reading of my rights! Do you 
have a warrant for my arrest?!" 

The apparent leader responds by backhanding Kyoto across the jaw. "We
owe you nothing, because you are nothing! Besides--" He reaches
into a pocket and draws out a flat leather case. "--we are not the 
Galaxy Police." He flips the case open to reveal an inverted 
triangle, with blood dripping from the downward-pointed
apex. 

Kyoto’s eyes go wide with surprise. "Oh, kami-sama, the rumors are 
true. The Dark Matter Division does exist." 

The leader sniffs. "Take them away." 

 

* * *

 

JULY, 2012

BANQUET HALL, YOSHI HOTEL

YACHIKA, JURAI

 


"Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars..." The sound
of a love song fills the air in the city’s largest banquet hall. 
Tenchi looks around at all the people dancing and eating and having
fun and thinks, with all this fun going on, why am I so uneasy?
He tries to shake the feeling and turns his attention back to his 
wife. 

"Having fun, Kiyone-yoni?" 

Kiyone smiles and then pats her hand in front of her mouth as she 
yawns. "Not as much fun as I would like." She then adds mentally,
Daddy. 

Tenchi returns her inward smile and leans back in his chair. It’s 
hard for him to believe that fifteen years have passed. And in that
fifteen years, so much has changed.....

One of the first things that he did when he became emperor was to 
have the old summer palace planet renovated. He had then presented
it as a present to Sasami as a place to put all the Ohkis on. Sasami
was giggly happy and gave him a bear hug and told him that he was the
best daddy amongst the stars. 

Sasami had attended the University of Hokkaido, because Tenchi wanted
her to have a semblance of a normal life during her college years.
Sasami spent a wonderfully peaceful four years there, majoring
in music and minoring in mythology. 

Tsunami had graduated from the University of Megami, the same place
where her mother had studied at one time, by the time she was 
fifteen. She is a brilliant child and an eager learner, much like her
mother. However, even with all her studies, all Tsunami has ever 
wanted to do was become a bride, just like her grandmother. 

Over the years, Kiyone had allowed her satiny teal hair to grow 
longer, so it now reached down past her posterior. The teal has been
tempered with enough blue to make it almost cerulean, possibly
caused by her drinking of the Fountain of Life. Her and Tenchi’s
carnal hunger for each other has only heightened over the passing
of time. In fact, it has become a rather occurrence for one person
or another to walk in on the emperor on his lunch hour and the 
emperor and empress in a rather.... compromising position. The 
princesses' verdict on this? Naughty!! 

Ayeka and Seiryo, when not performing diplomatic missions, take long,
leisurely trips together, something Ayeka can afford to do now that
she is no longer in direct succession to the throne. In fact, the two
of them have just become engaged. 

Sasami has been congratulating her sister on every chance she gets
about her wedding and hopes that some day she might become a bride
too. 

Mihoshi and Mitsuki split their time between the Sol system, Prime
Center, and Megami, much as Tenchi and Kiyone split their time 
between Earth and Jurai. While both GP detectives are doing well,
both having obtained promotions to Detective Captain, Mitsuki finds
herself drinking a lot and whimpering "My career is in the toilet,
my career is in the toilet." You see, it took fifteen years to get 
this promotion, where the normal detective would only need seven.
(Actually, they did get there in seven, but Mihoshi has caused a lot
of demotions and re-promotions and re-demotions and such. Kiyone
has lost track of the number of times she and Mihoshi’s grandfather
have had to save her from herself.) 

Case in point, from about three years ago: 

 

Tenchi looks up to see Kiyone, having just returned from a quick trip
to Prime Center, walk into the living room. Her hair is frazzled,
her clothes are disheveled, and her eyes are crying out for release. 

Concerned, Tenchi drops his newspaper and walks over to his wife.
"Are you all right, Kiyone-yoni?"

All at once the anger she has been trying to contain spills out. 
Before she can stop herself she is yelling and screaming at her 
husband. It takes her the better part of a half-hour to unload all of
her frustration.

When she's finally finished, Tenchi stares calmly at her for a long
moment (those years training against Katsuhito are paying off ^_^),
and then steps forward, hugging her. Kiyone slumps in his arms and 
sighs, burying her face in his shoulder as she sobs quietly. After
a long moment, she looks up at him and whispers, "Thank you, 
Tenchi-yon. Sorry about that." 

"It's okay, sweetie," he says, soothingly. "What was it this time?" 

Kiyone shakes her head. "Do you know that new class of 
super-dreadnought that the Galaxy Police was supposed to receive
next month?"

Tenchi nods slowly, already starting to get worried. "Yeah, I 
especially remember the reports of them clearing off several space
lanes for this ship's trial runs." He hesitates. "Kiyone-yoni....
what did she...."

Kiyone buries her face in his shoulder again, but this time she seems
to be laughing with bitter humor. "I don't know how, but she got put
in charge of the patrol wing escorting it. She had some wine with her
lunch." 

"Oh, my lord...." 

"When she came to, she thought that the new ship was a pirate ship.
She ordered her wing to attack it. When the other pilots refused
to, she slaved all the other ships to hers. When Mitsuki tried to 
stop her, she through her in the brig for mutiny." Kiyone sighs.
"The only bright point of the entire affair was that the ship was 
unmanned. It was being run remotely from Mihoshi's ship. It was 
programmed to follow a homing beacon placed in the aft compartments.
Wherever Mihoshi went the dreadnought followed. Whatever Mihoshi
did, the dreadnought did." Another sigh. "At least the ship wasn't
carrying any ammunition, or that entire wing would be dead." 

Tenchi exhales shakily. "How badly shot up was it?" 

"Well,...." Kiyone smiles humorlessly. "It's.... salvageable....
barely! Somehow, Mihoshi managed to find a glitch in the design.
It appears that traditional laser fire causes the primary fuel 
conduit to rupture. The repair estimates are being totaled up now,
but...."

Tenchi leads Kiyone over to a couch and slumps down on it himself.
"Give me a ballpark?"

Kiyone gulps several times. Finally: "Repair estimates range between
52 trillion and 120 trillion Jurai. All of the components were brand
new; they were the first of their kind so all of them had to be 
specially crafted." 

"Oh, kami-sama.... And how much do we have to contribute to the 
reconstruction?"

"It seems the whole bill is being shoved in our direction. Megami
refuses to pay a dime, saying that it was Jurai's fault for not 
assigning one of its own naval fleets to escort the ship."

"That ship was a GP ship! It was the GP's duty to take care of it!"
protests Tenchi.

"Well, Emperor Azusa plans to go on this evening's newscast 
announcing that he is heartfully sorry that Jurai could not aid the
GP in their time of need and that he would double his efforts to make
sure that this kind of incident would not happen again. Tenchi-yon,
you know what he's trying to do. He's trying to force Jurai out of 
any control it might have over the GP whatsoever."

Tenchi closes his eyes and nods. His shoulders are slumped, as if a 
very heavy burden has been placed on them. "Fine. Contact your mother
and Funaho; tell them that we can only afford to contribute 500 
billion Jurai at this time, but we will give more as soon as we can.
They knows how tight our budget is right now, seeing as the 
reconstruction and all is going on." He smirks. "On a personal
note, add that I doubt that Emperor Azusa would be able to donate
more. Also, have my secretary prepare several statements for me to 
make. One to Azusa, to appeal for his aid, and one for the press 
conference, which I'm sure, is coming. Something to the effect that
Jurai will do everything that it can to aid in the reconstruction." 

Kiyone snuggles closer to Tenchi and yawns. "Come on, Tenchi-yon,
let’s go to bed, we have an early morning tomorrow." 

 

Needless to say, Mihoshi and Mitsuki are kept in the Sol system as 
much as possible. 

 

Washu is once again teaching at the Science Academy on Kotami. Only
on a part- time basis, though, for she and Nobuyuki are trying to 
have a baby. Washu has repeatedly pled to the Goddesses to make her
pregnant, seeing as every attempt so far has failed. Tenchi and 
Kiyone have begged them not to go into the details. Thankfully,
Washu has remained silent. Nobuyuki has been known to tell all on a 
number of drunken occasions. 

Katsuhito has been splitting his priestly duties between Earth and 
Jurai, where he has become something of a respected spiritual
leader--the teachings of Shintoism have started to gain popularity
in the Republic.

Kyoto’s beef bowl business has finally begun booming. He had already
been making enough to buy a modest-sized house in a nice neighborhood
in Okayama, but his new found wealth has been enough for him to 
transplant his house to within spitting distance of the Masaki 
residence and expand it to several times its original size. He once
told Tenchi --in a not entirely joking tone-- that he was making
enough to stay one step ahead of Ryoko’s spending. Kyo and Momoko
are happily enrolled at Shinonome High, where Masamichi Fujisawa
is now the principal. 

Digital Washu disappeared mysteriously eighteen months ago, while
trying to locate the door to her lab. No one has seen her since. 

The Goddesses work in Okayama. Tsunami and Tokimi have taken up the
very undivine profession of shower dancing --it nets them enough
cash to pay for a nice apartment in the better part of town-- while
Murasaki has continued to live with her son and daughter while 
working as a nanny for local families. 

 

* * *

 

Tenchi is broken out of his reverie by a sudden flurry of activity
around his table. He looks up in confusion. "What the hell?!--"

Sagami has pulled his sword out of his belt and has ignited the 
amethyst blade. "Lord Tenchi, we just received a report that someone
might be attempting a coup tonight. It’s highly unlikely, but I would
recommend that you and your family return to the--" The light in the
ballroom goes a blinding white. A loud bang, and smoke, accompany
this. Tenchi can barely make out the forms of soldiers filling into
the room, carrying assault rifles.

Kenichi rises from his place at the table, a horrified expression
on his face. "Kami-sama, they’re using firearms in the capitol!" 

As if to prove the veracity of his words, the soldiers open fire with
their weapons, cutting down dignitaries and their families by the 
dozens. Loyal soldiers leap valiantly forward, but the ceremonial
weapons they are armed with make little difference against the 
amassed fire of the intruders. 

Tenchi rises to his feet, tearing Tenchiken from its belt loop. He 
blinks his eyes twice, and his royal family combat attire replaces
his formal costume. "Everyone, get going. I’ll hold them off." 

"We think not, Lord Tenchi." Most of the Supreme Council has been cut
down, but the remainder draw and ignite their swords. They then slap
their free hands down on the other wrist, triggering their own 
transformations to combat mode. 

Sagami smiles wryly at Tenchi. "We won’t be able to hold them for 
long, Lord Tenchi, so you better get moving."

It takes Tenchi a few minutes to get his mouth moving again, and when
he does he finds that words are completely inadequate. He pats Sagami
on the shoulder, and rushes out a secret passage, running after his
family. Sagami smiles slightly, and spins around, just in time for 
his blade to intercept someone else’s. He suddenly realizes whose
blade it is and his expression drops into a sneer. "Lord Sato. I 
might have guessed."

Tenchi’s nemesis on the Supreme Council sneers back at the younger
man. "The throne is mine now, young upstart. Why not come over to my
side? I could use a man with your talents."

"Burn in Hell!" snarls Sagami as he thrusts his sword at Sato. "My 
loyalty is to the emperor and his family!" 

"Tenchi Masaki is a dead man," Sato smiles. "and the same with his 
Megamian slut and their little girls. What would you say if I told
you that they bodyguards of the young princesses.... worked for me?" 

Sagami’s face drops into an expression of shock, just long enough
for Sato to bury his crimson blade in the younger man’s jugular.
He rips it out with a grunt, and lets the blade fizzle out. "Someone
clean this up." 

 

* * * 

 

"P-p-please let go of me!" Sasami has never been so scared in her 
life. It is hard for her to believe that it was only an hour ago that
she was having fun at the Startika Festival. But then her and 
Tsunami’s bodyguards had informed them and their friends of a 
possible coup attempt, and had told them that they would take them
back to the palace. Instead, they had knocked out Kyo and left him on
the street several blocks back, and had dragged the girls to this 
alley. Tsunami and Momoko, their dresses torn, are being held against
the alley walls by two guards each, which are fondling them. The 
other three have Sasami up against the wall, her face pressing
into the cold brick. One of the guards is roughly pushing up the hem
of her dress, starting to reach for her undergarments. She squeezes
her eyes shut, hoping that she can block out the pain--

--And she hears a peculiar, high-pitched whistle slice through the 
air. She hears the man behind her grunt, and then slump to the ground
with a dull thump. She realizes that they other guards are not 
holding onto her anymore and she turns around, to see Kyo, bloody
and bruised, but still quite functional, standing in the entry way to
the alley, holding what looks like an energy boomerang in his hand. 

The other four guards are stunned to see their comrades downed so 
easily-- Long enough for Sasami to snap herself into combat mode.
She sends out four shots of blue Jurai energy, and four heads drop
to the ground. Four bodies soon follow. 

Momoko grins, and a wash of orange energy cascades over her. Her own
combat mode, which is almost identical to that of her mother’s,
replaces the formal kimono she'd been wearing. Tsunami, snaps into
her own combat mode, which is identical to that of her sister and 
mother (which is identical to Achika’s). Her beautiful face is 
contorted with rage, and she begins spouting a stream of words that
no proper princess should know. 

"Hey, Taro! How were they--" A dozen more guards skid to a stop in 
front of the alleyway, the anticipatory lust on their faces replaced
with horror as they see their comrades. The apparent leader sees the
three girls and the young man in the alleyway and his expression
shifts to anger. "Hey! You killed our friends!" 

"Then go and join them in hell!" Tsunami screams, holding her hands
out in front of her. A trio of Light Hawk Wings, arranged like a 
three-bladed propeller, manifest themselves. They roll back over her,
and a Light Hawk Wing sword appears in her hands. Still cursing,
she rushes forward into the mass of guards. 

It takes her forty-five seconds to dispatch all twelve of them. 

Her parent’s hover-limo pulls up just as she finishes off the last
of them with a blade through the jugular. When Tenchi and Kiyone
climb out of the car, the girls take one look at them and their 
professional combat demeanor disappears. Sobbing, they run to the 
adults and throw their arms around them, clinging for comfort.
It takes Tenchi and Kiyone a few minutes to get them calmed down and
into the car. 

The hover limo glides down the street, headed back towards the 
spaceport, where Tenchi’s ship is supposed to be waiting for them.
Kamidake had produced a radio connected to the various communications
nets. The results have been sobering, though not as bad as they could
be. The forces loyal to the royal family are losing ground, but it is
expected that they can hold out long enough for the emperor to be 
ferried off-planet --this rebellion has not spread to all the worlds
in the Republic, and there is still a large number of the military
structure that supports the royal family. It galls Tenchi to run 
while people are dying in his name, but he supposes that his death
would do little to lighten their load.

The path to freedom, however, has a roadblock.

A literal one.

One surrounded by armed guards, and backstopped by a pair of mobile
particle- cannon batteries.

The limo slows--even the emperor’s car is not built to barrel through
an armed barricade--and finally stops. The driver lowers the divider
and looks back worriedly at Tenchi. "Lord Tenchi?"

Tenchi opens his mouth to speak reassuringly, to tell the driver
that he’ll handle it, when a hail of high-velocity rounds shatters
the clearsteel windshield. The driver is directly in their path, and
thus takes the entire volley. The girls in the back scream and huddle
together.

"Tenchi Masaki!" A loud voice booms out of a loudhailer. "Surrender
now. We’ve got you surrounded."

"Like hell," Kyo mutters. 

Tenchi fixes him with a stern look. "’Fraid so. But not all of us."
At the look of confusion on his de facto nephew’s face, he replies,
"I’ll pretend to surrender. When I have their attention, you take 
everyone and--"

"I don’t think so," Kiyone snaps.

Tenchi sighs. "Kiyone-yoni, I’m not gonna debate this with you--"

"Fine. I stay with you."

Tenchi glares at his wife. "Dammit, Kiyone, the only thing that’ll
get me through this is knowing that you and the girls are safe."

Kiyone crosses her arms and glares back. After a moment of tense 
silence, she sighs and nods, thinking of Tenchi’s own need to see her
to safety. "Fine. Just don’t stick around here any longer than you 
have to. I have a feeling that even Light Hawk Wings won’t help much
against two PCs." 

Tenchi suddenly pulls her into his arms and hugs her tightly. "Arei
tai yone ro komi, Kiyone-yoni. Be safe." He holds her while she 
whispers the same in return, and then releases her. "Get ready, on 
three. One, two, thr--"

The roadblock ahead of them suddenly disappears in a flash of blue
laser and particle fire. A beam of light matching the sudden spout
of hellfire surrounds the limo, and its occupants find themselves
being lifted into the air.

"What th’ hell?!" screams Kyo as he sees the light around the car 
growing more and more opaque.

The wall of light flashes completely opaque, and is replaced by....

One of Chisako's landing bays.

Standing in it are Nobuyuki and Katsuhito. The younger man is 
grinning, while the older one merely has one corner of his mouth 
turned upward--ever so slightly.

"Dad? Grandpa? What's going on here? Are you the ones that--"

"No, Tenchi. We were brought here much the same way you were," 
replies Katsuhito.

"Yeah! The freaky thing is, no one's piloting the ship!!!" adds 
Nobuyuki, trying not to sound a little afraid. He smiles a wide grin
as he sees his grandchildren climbing out of the wrecked limo. 
"Tsunami, Sasami! I'm glad to see that you're safe!" 

Tsunami and Sasami exchange glances before running up and giving
their Grandpa a bear hug. On a mental link, the two girls smile.
Grandpa worries too much, after all, we're Tenchi's daughters,
we're the safest girls in the universe!

"Don't forget about us, great uncle Nobuyuki!" Momoko runs up and 
throws her arms around Nobuyuki. Kyo smiles and waves. 

As Tenchi and Kiyone climb out of the car, they look around. Tenchi
has a worried look on his face. "Hmm.... Where's everyone else?"

"Over here, Tenchi." Tenchi turns to see the three Goddesses standing
in the doorway. Tsunami and Tokimi are wrapped in fluffy bathrobes
and still look somewhat damp. Murasaki also is looking somewhat
disheveled, wearing her usual pajamas: plaid boxers and an oversized
Jurai Knights jersey-- the one from the Cosmic Series championship
game in 2009. All of them look somewhat tired. 

Tenchi can only find one question. "What happened?" 

The first two goddesses start to complain about how they were pulled
from their job in the middle of "rush-hour," but the third shuts them
up with a nasty glance. She then starts explaining their story to 
Tenchi. 

 

* * *

 

As the agents of the Dark Matter Division had carted Kyoto and Ryoko
off, they had not noticed the short, spike-haired shadow lurking
inside one doorway. After they had left, the shadow's owner had 
stepped into the bedroom and lifted the sword Edgatho from the 
mantle-like mounting where it had sat for nearly fifteen years. 

Soon after this, the Minamoto house had disappeared from its serene
mountainous setting. At the same time, so had the Masaki house, along
with its occupants: Nobuyuki, who was getting ready to turn in for 
the night; Katsuhito, who was talking him into one last game of 
shogi; and Muriyaki, who was getting a late-night snack. (Washu was
away, assisting in an excavation on Arrakis IV--they had found the 
palace of the legendary Muad'dib.)

Also at the same time, the three occupants of a posh apartment
in westside Okayama, three young ladies, had vanished without a 
trace. Two of them had been in the middle of their shifts at work.

All of them had found themselves aboard Chisako, a familiar place
but one they had not set foot on for almost fifteen years, since 
Kyoto had parked it on the moon for safekeeping. It was set on a 
course for Jurai.

 

* * *

 

"So, does anyone know where we’re going now?" asks Tenchi. He and 
Kiyone had put the girls to bed, in spite of their protests. 

Murasaki shrugs. "That’s anyone’s guess. It’s as if the ship is 
executing a preprogrammed action." She is about to say more but she
stops, her eyes affixed on someone behind Tenchi. Tenchi turns around
to see his eldest daughter standing in the doorway. 

"Sami-cha’ya, what are you doing up?" 

The young princess shivers slightly. "I couldn’t sleep." As her 
parents beckon to her, she walks over and settles herself between
them. "I’m scared."

"You don’t have to be scared," soothes Tenchi. "Your mother and I, 
and your family and friends, we’re all right here with you." 

"I know, daddy, but.... we don’t have a home anymore." 

Kiyone hugs her daughter tightly. "Sami-cha’ya, as long as we have
each other, we have a home."

"But we’re wandering in space, we don’t know where we’re going, we 
don’t know how we’re going to stay alive, and some of our family
is still missing!" 

Tenchi begins to respond, not really sure himself what he’s going
to say, when Chisako buckles slightly. A holographic screen pops up,
showing.... 

Prime Center. 

More specifically, a fleet of Galaxy Police starships, firing wildly,
chasing down a single, red patrol ship. 

Kiyone gasps. "Yagami!"

In the same instant, a rainstorm of fire slices through the last of 
the intrepid little ship’s shields. It vanishes in a plume of 
red-white. 

Kiyone screams and clutches Tenchi tightly. "Nooo!" She starts 
sobbing into her husband’s chest. "My friends... my ship... oh, 
Tenchi-yon, they’re dead!" 

"Um, does anyone else see what I see?" interjects Tsunami, one hand
holding her bathrobe shut and the other pointing at the small blip
in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. 

"Huh?" Tenchi and Kiyone look up, and they see what the goddess
is indicating. 

A tiny shuttlecraft, obscured by the massive EM pulse of the 
explosion. 

Kiyone’s lips curve upward in a big grin. She grabs the nearest
person --Tenchi (natch)-- and gives him a big kiss. Snuggling
up against him in a rather intimate fashion, she starts cheering,
"They’re alive, they’re alive!" 

Tenchi is trying to keep the smile plastered on his face. While he is
very glad that Mihoshi and Mitsuki are alive, he would rather take
Kiyone back upstairs to their bedroom. 

Wanna go be... naughty, daddy? he hears her mind say in his. 

After we bring them aboard, I think... he responds. 

"You two quit thinking naughty over there!" scolds Sasami. 

 

* * *

 

It only takes a few minutes for Mihoshi and Mitsuki to be brought
aboard, and their shuttle is stowed in one of the hanger saucers.
Once that is taken care of, Chisako is on the move again. And Mitsuki
and Mihoshi have a chance to start explaining what in the hell has 
been going on. 

At first, Mihoshi starts babbling and waving her arms, but then 
Mitsuki slaps a hand over Mihoshi’s mouth and sucks in a deep breath.
Kiyone struggles to hide the amusement she feels when she sees 
someone else put in the position that she was in for so long. 
Generally, she does. However, this is not one of those times. 

"Simply put, everything’s gone to hell! Eighteen hours ago, a fleet
of unregistered spacecraft warped out within Prime Center’s orbit.
They demanded that President Funaho surrender to them. Naturally,
we didn’t take them seriously. It was then that they opened up with
their dimensional cannons. It was then that we surrendered. 

"When Funaho and the rest of the GHC greeted the leader of the fleet,
guess who it was."

"Azusa?" asks Tenchi off the top of his head. 

Mitsuki nods. "I’m afraid so. He had every man and non-human on the
Council immediately executed. The women...." she shivers. "He had 
them taken back to his ship. I don’t even want to think of what he’s
doing with them. 

The elation that Kiyone had felt at finding her two friends alive
is replaced by fear. "Does that include...." 

Mihoshi and Mitsuki exchange sorrowful glances. That is all the 
confirmation that Kiyone needs. She promptly buries her face in 
Tenchi's chest and weeps mournful tears. "Mommy.... oh, mommy....."

Tenchi hugs his wife tightly against him. "It'll be alright, 
Kiyone-yoni, we'll find some way of getting her back. Maybe...
maybe when we fix all this we can go back in time and rescue them.
Okay?" 

Kiyone sniffles, then nods. "Okay..." Neither of them point out how
small the chances of pulling such a plan off are. They can worry 
about that later. 

Once again, a holo screen pops up. This time, a small counter in red
numbers is on the lower right-hand corner of the screen, apparently
performing some kind of countdown. When the countdown reaches zero,
the image on the screen changes from the rainbow-swirled
haze of interdimensional space to the more typical ebony canvas 
speckled with pinpricks of light. 

Floating ahead of them is the wreckage of a Juraian tree-ship. 

"Oh, kami-sama, that's Seiryo's ship!" cries out Sasami, clinging
tightly to her father. 

Kiyone's heart is once again filled with the wrenching sorrow for 
lost loved-ones. "Oh, no. Not them too!" 

As if discussing the weather, Chisako's computer says in a 
dispassionate voice, "One life reading detected. Four inanimate
humanoid units also detected. Teleporting all units to med-bay 
alpha." 

"Just one?" Tenchi's voice is quiet, as if this latest bout of bad 
news has stolen its strength. 


* * *

 

Tenchi, Kiyone, Sasami, and Tsunami make their way down to the 
medical bay. They're both relieved and saddened that Ayeka is the 
sole survivor: relieved, because a beloved (yes, beloved!) member
of their family is alive; and saddened, because the ship's other 
occupants --Seiryo, two knights assigned to protect the princess,
and a steward-- are not. 

Understandably, Ayeka is not in especially good shape. She keeps 
repeating, "He's dead, Seiryo's dead." Tenchi has the medical 
computer give her a mild sedative, and then carries her up to her 
room in the Masaki house. Sasami volunteers to watch over her older
sister. 

And Chisako warps again. 

 

This warp takes them into the orbit of a dried-up-looking
world, dotted here and there with patches of green and blue. Arrakis
IV, also called "the world of dunes," the site of a major 
archeological and excavation project, as well as the next planet
on the GF's list of terraforming operations.

At least, it was till recently....

"One good thing about this location," notes Tenchi as he and his 
father look down on the planet from one of the arboretum decks. "It's
so out of the way that neither Azusa nor Sato will notice it."

"Yeah," agrees Nobuyuki. "And, since there's only one person at the
excavation site right now...."

"Not anymore," Kiyone interjects as she loops her husband's right
arm around her waist. She jerks her chin in the direction of the 
column of blue-white manifesting a few meters in front of them.

Washu, dressed like she's on a safari (complete with pith helmet),
appears. She was apparently examining something, for she is leaning
over and staring at the ground. Presently, reality catches up with
her, and the surprise of not being in the Temple of the Fremen 
anymore is enough for her to fall over.

"Huh? Where the hell am I?! I'll have you know that I'm related
to the Emp--" Washu finds her threat dying on her lips as she sees
whom she's dealing with. Playing your status as the Jurai Emperor's
stepmother doesn't carry as much impact when you're talking to said
emperor.... "Tenchi! Kiyone!" Her eyes light up as she sees the third
person. "Nobuyuki!" Tenchi's father suddenly finds himself with an 
armful of scientist. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"I'm glad to see you, too," replies Nobuyuki as he hugs Washu, 
acutely aware that her body has shifted into adult mode. "I just wish
you'd spend more time at home! You promised you'd come home last 
week!"

Washu looks surprised. "The week's over already? I've been so busy!"

"Like that time you were busy on our anniversary?"

Washu's face falls. "B-b-but I had a good reason!"

"I'm listening...." Nobuyuki crosses his arms over his chest.

"I....I....I was getting something for our anniversary, and I got 
stuck on Anopon after the public transports shut down that evening--"

"I thought Anopon had flights coming and going day and night."

"Not the economy-class, and I didn't have the money for a liner,
and I couldn't get it because I couldn't get a hold of Tenchi."
(Tenchi and Kiyone blush.) "Anyway, I'd spent all my money on your
gift. Remember that holo I had made of that old portrait of Achika?"

Recognition dawns on Nobuyuki's face. "Oh, okay." He hugs Washu 
again.


The passing of two hours finds Kiyone and Mitsuki in the cockpit
of the late, lamented Yagami's auxiliary shuttlecraft, attempting
to hack the GP's central database.

Or, more accurately, they are using the shuttle's computers to 
provide a conduit for Chisako's computer to hack the GP central
database.

Tenchi steps into the cockpit, leans down, and kisses Kiyone on the
cheek. "How's it going, Kiyone-honey?"

Kiyone grins up at her husband. "No luck yet, Tenchi-chan.
Chisako's computer is really going slow. Any luck with locating
Kyoto and Ryoko?"

Tenchi shakes his head. "Not so far. From what I understand,
ion trails should be easy to trace. So Kyoto and Ryoko disappeared
about the same time Chisako picked everyone else up?"

Kiyone nods.

"However...." Tenchi looks thoughtful. "Chisako's sensors did pick
up a rather large fusion signature at the very edge of their range."

Kiyone chews on her lower lip. "Galaxy Police ships and space 
stations use fusion reactors as their primary power plants. Did you
get a specific fix?"

Tenchi rechecks the small electric notebook in his hands. "Yeah,
about 34.5 parsecs from our current position...." The rest of his 
words are cut off as the console starts beeping. 

Mitsuki, who had been half-asleep at her console, sits up so fast 
that she almost falls out of her chair. When she has herself righted
again, she checks her monitor. "We've got a nibble!"

Tenchi looks confused. "Nibble?"

"That's when we keep feeding in password after password," explains
Kiyone. "Sooner or later you're bound to stumble on the right one.
What is it?"

"'Mihoshi.'"

Kiyone smiles sadly. "That must be DirGen Kuramitsu's password.
He always did adore his granddaughter...." Wiping a tear from her 
eye, she enters the password, and smirks as a file menu appears.
"Hmm....okay; black projects." She makes her choice, and she is 
presented with another list of choices. "Hmm....dimensional
weapons contingencies 

....new ship designs....what's the 'Dark Matter Division?' Let's find
out...." Kiyone chooses that file, and gasps as she sees the 
contents. "Oh my god. Tenchi, Mitsuki, look at this!"

Tenchi drops into the sole empty seat and turns on his screen. "I see
it. Good lord."

 

The Dark Matter Division was created about forty-five years before.
Its intention was to assist the FIIA in covert operations, and in 
combating criminal elements that were guilty but not provably so. Not
being an official part of the Galaxy Police, they had unprecedented
freedom of movement and a hefty secret budget. The officers in charge
of it, however, quickly found that they could use it as a tool for 
their own greed and petty ambitions. For five years, the DMD was a 
powerful criminal gang with the most powerful defense of all: the 
badge of a law-enforcement officer. Detective Captain Hideki 
Kuramitsu, however, realized what the DMD had become. He and several
of his colleagues made a life-risking raid into the offices of the 
DMD commander-in-chief and procured enough evidence to shut down the
DMD. For this, all the officers involved in the raid were commended
and Hideki Kuramitsu received a promotion to Detective Chief.


It takes Kiyone a few moments to process this. She reaches for the 
keypad and accidentally brushes the ENTER key, which brings up 
another screen. There are only two items on this screen, but they 
pack a big punch:

1: A list of all the individuals ever sanctioned, or authorized
as a target, by the DMD.

2: The location and coordinates of their headquarters.

Kiyone quickly takes the first choice....and a gasp escapes her lips
yet again. "Oh, my god. Tenchi, we're all on this list."

"What?!" Tenchi gets up from his chair and comes over to Kiyone,
standing behind her. "You're right. You, me, Kyoto, Ryoko, all of 
us."

Kiyone nods. "Yes. And according to this, they've already been 
captured."

Tenchi nods. "Okay, so where are they now?"

"According to this....their headquarters, codenamed 'Installation
X.'"

"And what the hell is that?" asks Mitsuki.

"I think a better question would be, where the hell is that?" quips
Tenchi.

"I'm getting to that, sweetie." Kiyone chooses the second link, and
a star chart pops up.

The location is, to say the least, surprising.

"Sargasso," Kiyone murmurs.

Tenchi blinks, then looks down at his notebook. "Oh, yeah, that's
what I wanted to tell you. Sargasso is where I picked up the fusion
signature."

"Well, then, let's--" Kiyone is cut off by a holoscreen popping
up, showing Chisako's course shifting. The new heading is aimed 
straight at Sargasso.

"I brought you all some tea, everybody." Sasami appears in the 
doorway. As she steps in, her eyes fall on the holo, and she see the
name of the destination. "Sargasso!" She quickly sets the tray down
and looks excitedly at her father. "Daddy, does this mean what I 
think it means."

Tenchi smiles. "I think it might, Sami-cha'ya."

 

* * *

 

The crack of a laser whip echoes through the spacious chamber,
almost in time with the screams of its victim. Ryoko cries out in 
pain again. For the last several hours, the torturers have been 
flogging her naked breasts with a whip, leaving stinging welts 
tracing across the sensitive skin. She struggles as best she can, but
the energy-drainage collar snapped around her neck restrains her from
doing anything. With it on, she can't teleport, she can't fire her 
beams, and she can't do anything. 

The head torturer steps up, a lustful smile on his face as he surveys
his handiwork. "So.... you ready to.... talk....yet?" He grabs her 
between the legs and she straightens.

"I wouldn't give you the pleasure, scum!" she hisses, spitting
her defiance into his face. She's naked to the waist, but below that
she's still wearing the coveralls. The head torturer looks her up and
down and she thinks she can see a... resolve... hardening.

"Still won't talk, will you?" he snarls. "Well, very well." He 
presses a button on his collar-mounted com-link. "Oh, Brutus....."
Just then, a very fat man, dressed in a leather executioner's
outfit, walks in with a toolbox. As Brutus steps up to the prisoner,
the head torturer waves a bored hand at her. "You know what to do 
with.... difficult guests."

"Indeed, I do..." he says in a voice filled with foreboding.
With a single flourish, he rips off what's left of the coveralls.

"Well, I see that hair color of yours is indeed natural. Ah, well,
to work..... "

Ryoko squeezes her eyes shut as Brutus opens his toolbox. The last
thing she sees before going totally black is his greasy face beaming
obscenely, as he holds up a nail and a hammer. 

 

* * *

 

Chisako is in Sargasso in less than an hour. From where they emerged,
Installation X is little more than a far-off pinprick of light, on 
the other side of the vast graveyard of dreams. And Sasami has her 
face pressed up against the nearest viewport. "Where is it?" she keep
repeating worriedly.

"Where's what, Sasami?" asks Momoko.

"Mirei's ship," answers Sasami. "Where is it?"

"Mirei?'"

"Let me explain," says Kiyone. "Mirei was the ghost of a girl on one
of these dead ships. About sixteen years ago, when we were passing
through her, Sasami befriended her and promised to return someday." 

Sasami looks up at her father. "I see it! I see it! Can we stop for
it, Daddy?"

Tenchi shrugs helplessly. "I'd like to, Sami-cha'ya, but I'm not sure
if we can. This ship seems to be running itself."

"We'll see about that!" Before Tenchi can stop her, Sasami runs up to
the helm. "Stop, please stop! That's Mirei's ship! Please stop!"

The space station continues plowing through the asteroid field, 
showing no signs of slowing.

Weeping, Sasami buries her face in her father's chest. There has been
many a time, these past fifteen years, when she has tried to return
and fulfill her promise, but every time she was held back. And now it
appears that this new opportunity will be lost.

And then, without warning, the ship stops. A moment later, Mirei's
ship, the remains of an old space liner, is drawn into docking range
by Chisako's tractor beams. 

And then Sasami vanishes. 

"Sami-cha'ya" cries out Tenchi. "C'mon, Kiyone-yoni, we've gotta get
down to the airlock!"

Sasami reappears in one of the corridors of the old ship. Not knowing
what else to do, she starts walking....

....and she stumbles over something.

She rises to her feet, looks down at her tripper, and screams as she
realizes that it's a dead body.

A dead body wearing the remains of a pink skirt and matching jacket,
with a white blouse and black tie....

And she screams again as she realizes whose it is.

"Mirei!" she wails, as she drops to her knees, cradling the 
skeleton's head in her lap.

"Sasami? Sasami, is that you?"

Sasami looks up to see...."Mirei! There you are!" A sigh of relief
escapes her lips.

A moment later, in the corridor next to them, Tenchi, Kiyone, Washu,
and Tsunami appear. 

"What just happened?" asks Tenchi, feeling a little dazed. 

Meanwhile, Kiyone has seen her daughter....and, for the first time,
her friend. "Oh! Hello! I'm--" The dark corridor fills with white
light, flashes, and is replaced by one of the labs aboard Chisako.

Mirei's decomposing body lies on what appears to be an operating
table, while her spirit is inside of a large, clearsteel capsule.
The ghost girl smiles up at her friend. "Sasami, you've grown so 
much! You look so beautiful."

"Ohhh...." Sasami grins sillily.

Mirei then looks out at the rest of the group in the lab. "Sasami,
is this your family?"

The princess nods. "Uh-huh! This is my daddy Tenchi, the emperor
of Jurai, and my mommy Kiyone, his empress, and my little sister
Tsunami, and this is Professor Washu, my grandmother!"

Mirei smiles and curtseys. "Pleased to meet you."

Tenchi smiles. "Hi there."

Kiyone smiles also and bows slightly. "Likewise."

Washu just grins.

Tsunami echoes her mother. "Hello."

Chisako's computer speaks, startling everyone. "Professor Washu,
please reconfigure your temporal regenerator to 5.25 jigawatts,
and--"

"Hey!" protests Washu hotly. "I'm not the one who takes orders,
I give them!"

"Washu....do it." There is no room for arguments in Tenchi's voice.

Still pouting, Washu acquiesces. "Alright, alright, now what, you 
stupid computer?"

"Please place the corpse in capsule chamber #2."

"I'll do it." And so Tenchi does, gently.

"Okay, computer, now what?' 

"Please flood both chambers with--" and the computer spouts off a 
list of chemical compounds.

"Okay...." She floods the chambers. "Set regenerator to 3.4 
megacycles, no more, no less."

"What's going on?" asks Mirei worriedly.

"Don't worry, honey, you'll be fine." I hope.... "Now what?"

"All occupants of the lab must don safety goggles." And said goggles
suddenly appear over the eyes of the lab’s occupants. 

"Do I need them too?" asks Mirei.

"You’ll be fine. Next?"

"Press the red button the left side."

And she does.

The lab is filled with a bright blue light as the light obscures
the contents of the two capsules. After a few moments, the light in 
the lab dies down, while the light in the two capsules grows brighter
and brighter and brighter and--

There is a loud fwoosh! and the liquid becomes bubbles and another
bright flash and--

The light disappears. The capsule that had held Mirei's spirit is now
empty, while the one holding her body now has a wet, naked, young
girl shivering in it.

"Mirei!" Sasami runs forward and hugs her friend.

"I’ll get her some clothes!" Tenchi rushes out the door, presumably
headed for the Masaki house.

Washu sighs and smiles wryly at Kiyone. "Some things never change,
huh?"

Kiyone smirks. "I think it’s sweet. But shouldn’t we do something
about her....condition?"

"Good idea! Mirei, there’s a shower through that door over there.
Sasami’s dad will be back with some clothes for you soon."

"Okay. Thank you, Miss Washu."

"You’re welcome, honey. Now go on...."

Tenchi steps back into the chamber, a pile of Sasami’s old clothes
in his arms, just as the newly alive girl has stepped into the other
room. "Is she...?"

Kiyone smiles reassuringly. "Yes, dear, she’s taking a shower now."

"Oh, good." Tenchi’s face goes from nervous to relieved in the space
of a heartbeat.

"Hey, Daddy, why are you so nervous?" teases Tsunami. "I mean, you’ve
seen Mommy naked lotsa times, and you’ve seen me and Sasami naked,
and--" 

Tenchi covers his ears. "Nami-cha’ya, I’m not listening to you...."

"Quit teasing your father about that, Nami-cha’ya," scolds Kiyone
lightly. 

A few minutes pass, during which Sasami and Tsunami tease their 
father a little more. Finally, the sounds of the shower running
cease, and Mirei sticks her head out the door. "Um, does anyone have
some...."

"Here!" Tenchi presses the large pile of clothing into Mirei’s hands.
With a "thank-you!", she closes the door. The moment she does that,
a rectangle of light appears in Sasami’s hands. Confused, she looks
down at it. "What the...." She gasps as it solidifies into....a
picture....a picture with her, Mirei, and Ryo-ohki. "I remember
this picture! It was on the mantle in her room aboard her ship! But
how did we...."

Just then the door to the bathroom slides open, and Mirei steps out,
dressed in one of the jumper-and-knickers outfits that Sasami had 
once favored. "How do I look?"

"Wonderful!" Sasami answers with a big grin. She hugs her friend
for a long moment, an embrace that Mirei returns in full.

"Well, Kiyone-yoni," whispers Tenchi, "how do you feel about having
another daughter?"

"I like the idea," Kiyone replies, leaning up to kiss her husband's
cheek. "That's for being a good daddy."

By now, Sasami is starting to fill Mirei in on what's been happening
to her the past fifteen years. When she gets to the part about Tenchi
and Kiyone adopting her, Mirei starts to look a little sad. Noticing
this, Sasami asks, "What's wrong, Mirei?"

"It's wonderful that they adopted you, Sasami. I just wish--" Mirei
pauses to wipe a tear from her left eye "--I wish someone would adopt
me...."

An idea starts to form in Sasami's mind, but her parents have already
beaten her to the punch. Tenchi and Kiyone come up, smiling. "Well,
Mirei, there's plenty of room in our family...."

Mirei's eyes light up with happiness and hope. Her memory is still
rather fuzzy, but there is something about Sasami’s parents that 
reminds her of her own...."You mean it?"

Tenchi smiles broadly. "Of course. It would make Sasami and Tsunami
so happy to have another sister, and Kiyone and I would be glad to 
call you 'daughter.'"

"Yay!" Mirei rushes forward and hugs Tenchi tightly. "Thank 
you....Daddy." She then grabs Kiyone's hand and pulls her in. "And
thank you. Mommy." Sasami and Tsunami soon join the mass hug. 

Well, Kiyone-yoni, I guess that solves that question, huh? thinks
Tenchi.

I couldn't have asked for a better answer, his wife replies.

Washu smiles at the tender sight and stretches. "Well, I suppose
I'd better tell your father that he has another grandchild...."

 

* * *

 

"Ohhh..... uh.... no more... uh, please, no more..... " Ryoko moans. 

"Shhh.... It's okay, honey, it's okay. It's me, it's me, it's Kyoto."

"Kyoto?" Ryoko sits up and looks around her quickly before the dizzy
spell forces her to lay her head down again. "It's.... our cell."

"They were finished with you about an hour ago," Kyoto explains,
gently. "They then brought you in here." Ryoko then looks down at 
herself. The new suit of clothes they had given her is folded neatly
at her feet and her naked body is lying on the floor, her head 
cradled in Kyoto's lap. A small bowl of water and a wash cloth are 
sitting next to his knees. 

"You've been cleaning my wounds...."

"That's right, dear, just shhh....... go back to sleep, go back to 
sleep." Ryoko obeys. 

Several hours later, Ryoko wakes up her head still in Kyoto's lap. 

"Hey, lover-boy!" It's the head torturer. "It's your turn!" He then
sneers at Ryoko. "Just one thing, baby, could you keep your legs 
spread like that? I'll be back soon..." He grins at her and leaves
the room. Ryoko and Kyoto embrace. 

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Kyoto whispers before leaving. 

 

They start to repeat the process that they had used on Ryoko. 
However, it soon becomes apparent that their efforts are for naught. 

"I don't understand this, we put the anti-psyonic power collar on his
neck," protests the head torturer. "Why isn't he bleeding?!" 

Kyoto sneers. "In my body, regeneration is automatic. It's like hair
growing: it happens regardless of what you do to it. Speaking of 
hair, have you ever heard of Rogaine®?" 

"Lucky for you, now we're going to see how much you can take," the 
chief torturer sneers back. He snaps his fingers and a half-dozen
black-suited soldiers, carrying laser rifles, step into the room.
"Alright, men, we have here a living target. See how much pain you 
can inflict on him before his 'unconscious' revitalization
becomes a conscious effort. Ready.... Aim.... "

The laser blasts echo down and through the hallways. Ryoko squeezes
her eyes shut, tears still leaking through them. 

 

* * *


The pinprick that was Installation X is now far larger. Chisako
is now a mere million klicks out, and the ship’s occupants can see 
that the space station--which looks like a large disk with a cluster
of towers on top, and is about the size of Luna--is ringed by six 
defense platforms. Each one of these floating arsenals packs the 
firepower of a dozen GP Chiyoda-class superdreadnoughts,
and all of them interlock into a spherical sensory field that can 
pierce even a cloaking shield.

There is a weakness in this defense. Knock out any one of the 
stations, and that entire area is out of the loop--that is, the 
sensory and defensive capability of one-sixth of the installation
is down. In the time that it takes for the other stations to respond,
an adversary can slip in, do his damage, and slip out. 

Outgunning several dozen Juraian dreadnoughts, Chisako knocks out all
six stations before any one of them can act. Since the majority
of the installation’s response craft were based on those platforms,
the massive ship manages to slip alongside the installation
proper without detection, sitting in a sensory blind spot less than
a hundred meters from the main small-craft bay.

The perfect place to start a prison break from.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile.... 

The attempted torture of Kyoto Minamoto is not going at all well.
Three of the six laser blasters have run out of ammo and those with
ammo left are starting to become disheartened, for the target is 
still hanging there, still hanging, but undamaged. In fact, he's 
laughing at them right now. 

"You know guys, that kinda tickles. Listen, you could come around
to my back, I've got this little area in the small of my back that
I just can't get...."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh...... Don't we have anything bigger?!" demands the 
head torturer. 

"Nothing we can fit down the corridor, sir." 

"I don't care, get what ever you can in here! Even if you can't get
it in here!!"

"Getting a bit frustrated, are we?" asks Kyoto conversationally.
"You know, buddy, you really ought to take a vacation...."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh...... You're just askin' for it, punk!" he hisses.

"Why don't you come over here, buddy, I've got something to tell 
you," grins Kyoto. Figuring nothing, the guy walks over to Kyoto. 

"Yes, what is it, this better be-- Agh!!" 

Kyoto headbutts him, then says conversationally, "If you're through,
would you please let me out? It's starting to itch in.... well, you
know."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh...... I oughta just let you hang here all night!"

"Go right ahead," says Kyoto blithely. "By that time I oughta have
this collar off and I'll have your ass plastered across the nearest
bulkhead."

"Take him back to his cell, this is pointless! We'll finish him 
later."

When she hears the footsteps marching down the corridor, Ryoko is 
afraid that they're returning what's left of her poor, poor Kyoto.
She is very surprised when she sees a fully alive and undamaged
Kyoto walk through the door. 

The head torturer glares down at Ryoko. "I thought I told you to keep
your legs spread!!" Kyoto slams his fist into the guy's gut. 

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh...... You'll pay for that..." groans the head torturer
as he staggers out the door. 

"If you reach into my back pocket you'll find a ¥100 bill in my back
pocket, that oughta cover it," comments Kyoto. 

"Kyoto.... " whispers Ryoko deliriously. "You're... all.... right....
you're... all.... right...." she loses consciousness after that and
Kyoto returns to tending her wounds. 

Outside the cell, the head torturer is speaking to his guards. "Give
them nothing to eat," he instructs. "We shall break them yet...."

Neither they nor their prisoners are aware of the small but 
determined band of insurgents, waiting outside to rescue their 
compatriots. 

 

 

The End

 

 

 

 

 

 Footnotes:

Electro-Magnetic pulse. Static energy.