Ryouko gazed in shock and horror as the shattered form of her
ship Ryo-Ohki fell away from the Soja's hull, crumbling as it fell
into the Earth's atmosphere. Brighter and brighter it glowed, blazing
as it began to burn up in re-entry.
"Tenchi," Ryouko murmured, realizing who had likely been on
board her ship. Her eyes blazed red even as tears began to flow down
her cheeks, "Tenchi!"
The sand in the chamber Ryouko was trapped in churned
violently, her eyes glowing brighter and brighter as energy danced all
around her. In her anger and grief Ryouko called upon levels of power
previously undreamed of and in a final gesture exploded the chamber,
sending shards and sand flying everywhere!
Teleporting away Ryouko found herself standing at the hull
break, gazing out into the void of space. "Tenchi," Ryouko murmured
softly.
"Glad to see you free," the gentle voice said from the shadows.
Ryouko whirled around, her eyes wide. Tenchi stood there in
Juraian battle armor, garbed in protective brown and black. "You're
all right," Ryouko threw herself into Tenchi's arms.
The other girl seemed startled by Ryouko's tears, but Tenchi
recovered enough to pat her back awkwardly. "I'm sorry," Tenchi
murmured softly, "about Ryo-Ohki."
Ryouko nodded grimly, "She liked you, Tenchi." A soft sigh,
"It's all right." Her eyes narrowed, "So what's the plan?"
Outside the Soja, Mihoshi jinked her cruiser aside from another
energy attack as she maneuvered the craft through the storm of the
larger ship's attacks. "Ayeka," she barked, "do you see any sign of a
docking port?"
Without thinking about it Ayeka sat in front of one of the
consoles, then froze. "You are speaking to a Princess of Jurai."
Mihoshi just smiled, "Well Princess, can you find me a docking
port?"
Ayeka actually smiled back as she murmured, "Right." She called
up the cruiser's scans of the Soja's hull, and highlighted one part on
the view on Mihoshi's screen. "That might just be it," she looked at
the section of hull with a visible seam.
"I think you're right," Mihoshi brought the ship around in such
a tight turn that the ship's inertial dampers failed momentarily,
sending Ayeka tumbling into Mihoshi's lap!
"Eek," Ayeka gasped as Mihoshi wrapped an arm around her to
keep her from bouncing around the cockpit any more.
The Galaxy Police officer's face was intent as she bobbed and
weaved the ship through another burst of automatic fire right at the
sealed hatch. "Hold on tight," Mihoshi smiled at Ayeka suddenly, "I
think this is going to be getting a little rough."
Her thumb pressed down firmly on the firing switch on her
controls, and with that simple move she unleashed the full firepower
of the powerful ship against that small section of hull. The metal
went bright red, then glowing pure white as the doors twisted under
her fire. Then the ships collided, the softened alloy peeling back
from the bow of the cruiser like so much paper as they skidded to a
stop on the floor of the docking bay.
"We're still alive," a pale Ayeka said softly, only then
realizing she had wrapped her entire body in a death grip around the
smiling Mihoshi. "You're insane!"
"Nope," Mihoshi beamed. She unstrapped herself from the command
chair, then pulled a pink storage cube from her uniform. She twisted
it once, and after a few random items fell out a large cannon dropped
down to the floor. She easily hefted it in one hand and with a grin
said, "Let's go buy Lord Tenchi some time."
Ayeka touched an ornate wooden ring she wore, summoning her own
suit of Juraian battle armor. Tiger stripes marked her face, going
with the tiger-like design of her brown and black armor. "All right,"
she gaze Mihoshi a regal nod, "let's go do some damage."
Striding into his command center Kagato had a odd look on his
face as he gazed up at the shattered container that Ryouko had been
sealed away in. She should not have been able to break out of there,
not with what he knew about her power levels. The idea that she might
be capable of more than she was designed for... was disturbing to him,
to say the least.
"The intruders?" he asked, and a monitor came on.
Galaxy Police officer Mihoshi ran along one side of the
corridor, confidently firing an impressively sized cannon even as she
wept out, "Whaa! Stay away from me!"
'She looks like she's in a complete panic,' Kagato noted, 'but
she's still destroying the droids with almost pin-point precision. I
wonder if it's all just an act, her reputation for clumsiness?'
A softly spoken command and the image zoomed in on another
figure in the passage, a fierce looking young woman dressed in a suit
of Juraian battle armor, destroying security drones with raw power
channeled through her fists.
"Princess Ayeka, first princess of Jurai,'" Kagato murmured to
himself thoughtfully. He smiled coldly, "Could she be the key to that
infinite power I've sought?"
He frowned as Kagato considered another matter. "Where is
Ryouko?" he asked the ship crisply. Images rapidly flipped through
different parts of the ship, but there was no sign of his escaped
servant or anyone else.
In another part of the massive ship Tenchi and Ryouko raced
down a hall, their twin energy swords glowing. In a flash of light
they leapt up at the latest wave of security drones, blades gleaming
as they cut down their adversaries.
"Ayeka and Mihoshi should be attacking from another part of the
ship," Tenchi said as she raised her blade to parry one of the
incoming energy bolts, "hopefully keeping Kagato's attention while we
try to reach him."
Ryouko smiled at her grimly as she dealt with the last of that
wave of drones. "I'm trying to screen us from the ship's active
sensors," she reported, "but I can't promise just how long I can
manage it." She gave Tenchi a thoughtful look as she flew beside her,
"I kinda thought that Ayeka would have hauled you to Jurai by now."
Tenchi focused on the hall ahead, keeping an eye out for more
drones, but she smiled just slightly as she said, "Well, I couldn't
just leave you here."
"Thank you, Tenchi," Ryouko smiled back at her.
Tenchi ran through a open door only to skid to a stop, a
massive gap between the doorway and a door on the far side. "Wow," she
murmured softly, "very Star Wars."
"What?" Ryouko raised her eyebrow at her.
Tenchi shook her head with a sheepish grin, "Never mind."
"Care for a lift?" Ryouko offered her hands.
"Please," Tenchi answered, swiftly banishing thoughts of
swinging across.
Ryouko gently took Tenchi's hands, surprising her as she pulled
her into a tight hug, "Better to be safe than sorry."
"Right," Tenchi's face was bright red, feeling her body pressed
up to Ryouko's as they rose up, flying across the gap to settle down
on the other side.
Ryouko didn't let Tenchi go immediately, instead pressing her
lips gently to Tenchi's own. The dark haired girl didn't move away,
leaning into the kiss eagerly. Finally Ryouko drew back, softly
murmuring to her, "Later."
"Later," Tenchi agreed breathlessly.
In a very different sort of reality than the one that she
observed a figure watched the two interact curiously. "Interesting,"
the little redheaded woman sat back with a satisfied smile, "it seems
my little Ryouko is all grown up!"
The image she studied in a floating screen shifted, and she
studied the dark haired woman beside Ryouko. "And you were most
unexpected," she murmured. The image of the young woman shifted, a
spectral image of her appearing, and within her shining pools of
power. She shifted back to an image of Tenchi's face, and saw a
flickering emblem appear on her forehead, a simplified fan.
"Kagato is not going to be very happy about any of this," she
laughs, folding her legs underneath her and sitting in midair
cross-legged. A wave of her hand brings up another screen, where a
Galaxy Police officer and a Princess charge down the hallway together.
Mihoshi came around the corner at a dead run, her cannon ready.
With a windmilling of her arms she brought herself to a stop, nearly
running into what looked like a giant brick wall. Sadly, Ayeka had
been running right behind her.
"Oof!" Mihoshi was sent sprawling to the ground, Ayeka laying
on top of her.
"I'm so sorry," Ayeka swiftly got to her feet before offering
Mihoshi a hand up, "you just stopped so suddenly!"
"It's all right," Mihoshi winced a bit, rubbing her side. She
looked up at the wall thoughtfully and said, "Guess it's a dead end."
There was a sudden grinding noise, and the wall separated,
revealing a great expanse of mirrored floor stretching off into the
distance. "Looks like we're expected," Ayeka smiled coolly.
"Looks like it," Mihoshi agreed, getting her storage cube out
again. A twist returned the cannon to storage even as Ayeka moved
forward. "Hold on a minute while I switch weapons," Mihoshi frowned in
concentration as she twisted the device.
"Make it quick," Ayeka stepped forward past the wall into the
other chamber.
"Oops," the cube slid from Mihoshi's fingers, hitting the
ground.
Blip!
There was an sudden, odd sensation of vertigo, and Mihoshi
found herself standing there all alone. "Miss Ayeka?" she asked
worriedly, looking around in confusion, unaware that she stood on one
side of the mirrored floor, Ayeka on the other.
Ayeka looked back in surprise, her eyes widening to find
Mihoshi gone. "Mihoshi?" she called out, looking around for her. But
there was no sign at all of the blonde officer.
'Kagato?' Ayeka frowned, wondering why he would choose to take
the blonde captive. 'I'll just have to ask him when I find him,' she
resolved, moving forward once more.
Ayeka skimmed along a few feet of the floor, drawing on a bit
of her power to fly. 'See, Miss Ryouko?' she thought, 'You're not the
only one who can do that!' She left the mirrored floor and soared into
another chamber, only to stop in surprise.
"Big brother?" Ayeka gazed at the man in shock.
Garbed as he once was before he left Jurai, in the full vigor
of youth, stood Prince Yosho. "Ayeka," he smiled at her gently, "it's
been a long time."
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