Before we start let's get one thing straight: Tenchi Muyo and 
everything that officially comprises it is owned by AIC and Pioneer. 
This is unofficial and the story and original characters I create 
belong to me, so I'd be grateful if you ask before using them in 
something else. Please, PLEASE don't sue me. I'm only doing this to 
think up these little disclaimer thingies!

***

                      Faith, Hope & Carrot Soup

              - A Tenchi Muyo Fan-Fiction By Nutzoide -

                  Chapter 8: When the Strings Get Cut

               Sasami stood alone in the lounge room of the Galaxy 
Police shuttle Yukinojo. Just like always the others had left it to 
themselves to plan out the coming assault, and even Tsunami had 
deigned to keep her out of the decision making process this time, 
promising that she would make her arguments for her. Many of the 
others were still worried about the young girl coming along and it 
had taken a great deal of persuasion, arguments and a small tantrum 
for them to allow her to come at all and not stay on Earth with 
Mayuka.

               While she could resent the fact that she was treated 
like that it did allow her to prepare herself for what was ahead. She 
stood in front of the massive mirror and inspected herself. While she 
was not an overly vain girl she did admit to herself that she looked 
good in the armour she wore. The ring that summoned the garb sat on 
her left middle finger, and long thick gloves reached up her arms 
almost the elbow, just as the boots reached half way up her shins. 
The baggy cloth underneath radiated a soft green-blue colour that was 
so pale as to seem almost hypnotic, and the brown and black armoured 
tunic fit well across her, held by a belt of rich blue. The padded 
undershirt fitted snugly and complemented the ensemble with its 
purple line, and a black headband sat half concealed under her hair, 
four short purple and brown tassel plates hanging from it beside her 
temples. Two floating rings of deep green and blue hung around her 
left arm just above her elbow, spinning around as they hovered there 
and channelling the force shield powers around her in readiness for 
use. Her hair was tied in its two long ponytails, this time further 
down her head and behind her, making her look several years older. 
Across each cheek were the twin dark stripes of the warrior.

               She reached over to the table and picked up her 
control key, the trigger like form fitting perfectly in her hand. She 
concentrated for a moment and a small shaft of blue energy arced out 
of it and back across her fist. It was no Tenchi-ken, and she had 
never used it as a weapon in her life, but the simple knuckle blade 
was her weapon of choice. She, like her sister, would use her force 
fields to maximum effect, but unlike Ayeka she had no desire to rely 
solely on her key's defensive measures to fight. She did not have her 
sister's aptitude for unarmed combat.

               She extinguished the blade and gave herself another 
look in the mirror, a small smile creeping onto her face. She 
wondered what the others would think. After a while she turned and 
headed for the hallway, standing outside the door the others were 
talking behind. She looked out of the window to see a small speck in 
the blackness of space, their target. Behind her she heard a swish as 
the door slid open and the combat group all appeared, Ayeka and 
Tenchi in their own Juraian armour, Ryoko in her skin tight black and 
red combat suit and Nagi in her full bounty hunter armour and cape. 
Kiyone and Mihoshi both wore their Galaxy Police issue tactical 
armour, orange/red metallic looking plates covering their forearms, 
shoulders, bust, hips and legs over a black bodysuit and jacket. 
Behind them Washu and Tsunami wore their own chosen outfits, Washu 
her green academy uniform and Tsunami the beautiful and extravagantly 
ornate kimono she had worn when Tenchi had first met her all those 
months ago. Every one of them stopped dead as they saw Sasami, and 
all but Tsunami let their jaws drop in surprise.

               Sasami lifted her arms and gave a twirl. "What do you 
think?"

               The jaws remained where they were, and Tsunami gave a 
proud smile.

               Sasami's smile slipped a little though. "It looks 
okay, right? I am coming with you after all. I'm not going to sit 
here on Yukinojo while you all go off without me."

               Ayeka shifted nervously. She was still very much 
opposed to Sasami coming along with them, and Washu had felt the 
same, although she didn't show it. Tenchi figured it wasn't his place 
to say anything about what she should do, but he did at least nod. 
"You look great Sasami-chan."

               "Yeah, you're really, really pretty Sasami-chan!" 
Mihoshi agreed. Kiyone nodded. She was still uncomfortable with the 
idea, but she knew Sasami was capable. So long as someone was with 
her she wouldn't oppose her coming along. According to Nagi an extra 
pair of hand would be welcome, not to mention an extra force field.

               Nagi herself looked at the young girl critically. 
"This is no place for kids," she said bluntly, before giving a small 
smile for the sake of the girl's pride. "Good thing you're mature 
enough to keep them in line!"

               Sasami positively glowed. Washu grinned, thinking the 
same thing herself, and Tsunami nodded. Sasami looked at Ryoko.

               The ex-pirate looked a little put out for a second 
before grinning. She agreed with Kiyone on this one. "Let's give `em 
hell!"

***                

               Syren looked out of one of the ship view ports. The 
small grey dot was steadily getting bigger as it raced towards them. 
She pondered how she should approach them as she waited for Taishi to 
call for her to prepare for the assault.

               She was proven correct as the video station beside her 
flickered into life a moment later and Taishi appeared on the screen. 
"Syren, I should pay more attention to your intuition. I'm sure 
you're already aware that the targets are inbound as we speak. You 
know the plans already. Choose whichever position you wish, but under 
no circumstances deviate from the plan, or allow anyone to get past 
you. I will be on the bridge. Good luck."

               The screen turned black and Syren started off down the 
hallway. "And to you Taishi-sama." She ignited her energy blade. 
<This will be an educational experience.>

***

               All nine of the passengers of the Yukinojo disembarked 
in a landing bay that was, for lack of a better phrase, a gothic 
mechanical nightmare. It was aesthetically beautiful, but in that way 
that makes your stomach crawl, like an artistic horror film.

               Kiyone looked around and shivered. "At least they let 
us in. Blowing your way though a bay door is awkward."

               Sasami was holding Tsunami's hand. "I really don't 
like it here."

               "Neither do I," Tsunami said, "it feels very cold."

               Thankfully for their nerves the corridor was somewhat 
less uneasy on the eye. Washu looked around. "Well, it looks like 
we'll have to split up," she said bringing up her laptop. "I can't 
scan anything in here." <Plus I really want to have a good explore,> 
she didn't say, as much as she thought it.

               "Split up the princesses," said Nagi, once again 
surprising them all by volunteering information. At Ayeka's cold 
glare she continued. "Those force fields will be useful. From what 
I've seen the security system will be pretty much defenceless with 
those on. Taishi relies heavily on his mechanics and nothing metallic 
will get through, so it's only the odd photon turret you'll need to 
worry about. He's got a few nasty surprises though, so watch your 
backs."

               Washu looked up to Tsunami. "How are you in a fight?"

               Tsunami looked down almost cryptically. "I will be 
able to deal with whatever I am given, but I will not leave Sasami."

               Washu nodded. "Okay, us three and Ryoko will head this 
way then," she said pointing down to the right, "And you lot go that 
way."

               Ayeka raised her hand a little. "Washu-chan, the most 
active resistance should be this way," she said indicating to the 
left where she and the others would go. "I believe it is likely to 
lead to the main ship systems if this ship design is the one I think 
it is. Mother Funaho has a similar one for leisure purposes."

               The others looked to Nagi for confirmation. "I was 
only ever on the bridge. That's to the right. Otherwise I don't 
know."

               Washu nodded. "Good enough. The communicators I was 
going to give you wouldn't work here thanks to the interference, so 
be very careful because there's no backup coming for you." She 
shifted the large particle rifle in her right hand and summoned a 
short energy sword in her left. "Let's go guys! Good hunting."

               Everybody nodded then Tenchi, Ayeka, Mihoshi, Kiyone 
and Nagi sprinted off down the corridor and away from the remaining 
four. Ryoko pouted sadly as she watched them go. "Hey, how come I 
don't get to go with Tenchi?"

               Washu grinned as Sasami and Tsunami started off down 
their route. "You got to play with Yuzuha Ryoko, and I wanted to 
spend some quality time with my daughter."

               Ryoko gave her a funny look and Washu leaned in to 
whisper. "Besides, I want to keep an eye on Sasami for as long as 
possible. I don't like her being here, even if Tsunami can protect 
her."

               Ryoko looked up. "Yeah, well we'd better go then, 
because there she goes!" She pointed to Sasami and Tsunami 
disappearing down the corridor.

               Washu followed her look and slumped her shoulders. "Oh 
hell! Sasami-chan, wait for us!"

               Ryoko laughed as Washu sprinted after the other two 
before flying down to meet them. She got there in time to hear Washu 
make a short speech about silly Juraians who shouldn't be running off 
on their own. Tsunami was actually laughing, much to Washu's 
annoyance. "Tsunami, please, let's just stick together until we have 
to split up again, okay."

               "As you wish Washu-chan," Tsunami said with a smile on 
her face. 

               The four of them set off again, looking around at 
their bizarre surroundings as they walked. "Hey Washu-chan, what are 
we looking for again?" asked Ryoko as she tossed a ball of energy 
from one hand to the other.

               Washu shook her head. "Maybe if you stayed awake 
during the meeting you'd know."

               "You got dull again, sue me."

               "Umm... could you say it again anyway Washu-chan," 
asked Sasami, "I wasn't there, remember?"

               Washu sighed. "Right. One, we find this Taishi 
character and get a little bit of revenge. Two, we find Ryo-ohki and 
Ken-ohki and get them back. Three, we disable the alpha wave device 
and I get to study it." She looked around. "Actually I think I'll 
just take the ship. There's bound to be plenty of stuff to research 
here."

               The corridor turned left and showed a row of doors, 
each being far enough apart to be a fairly large room. "Alright 
girls, split up and go hunting."

               The storage rooms turned out to be very difficult to 
search through since they were so cluttered, and five minutes later 
they all met back in the hall empty handed. "Well," said Sasami, 
"there *could* have been some interesting stuff in them."

               Washu made a face. "Never mind. Lets just... get ready 
for whatever those are."

               The other three whirled round to see three small metal 
things hovering at the other end of the corridor. Sasami and Tsunami 
snapped on their force fields as the three objects suddenly flew 
towards them. Washu fired her particle rifle, leaving a trail of 
faded yellow and hitting one of the machines, which span out and 
missed Ryoko by inches, sticking itself to the floor behind them. The 
other two were ricocheted over Tsunami and Sasami by their fields and 
zipped up to the other end of the corridor for another pass. Washu 
glanced down to the downed one. It was a rough disk about half a foot 
across that used propeller blades at its top, bottom and middle like 
six-inch razors. "That could have been messy!"

               "Oi! Heads up!" Ryoko yelled as the remaining pair 
came up again. Ryoko took one out of the air with a well aimed energy 
ball, slicing up the remains with her energy blade as it came down. 
The other came straight for Tsunami again but halted in mid air as 
the goddess brought up her hand. It stuttered there for a bit before 
being blasted back in a ball of flame as its motor system overheated. 
It fell to the floor, flames seeping out around its shell.

               Sasami straightened up and looked at the three downed 
kamikaze machines. "That was scary."

               Tsunami took her hand again. "You did very well 
Sasami." She looked at Washu and Ryoko. "Shall we go?" 

               The other two nodded. They must have spent at least 
the next ten minutes trekking down more corridors lined with useless 
rooms and dealing with another dozen of the little suicidal zippers 
as Sasami decided to call them. Luckily Ryoko and Washu were able to 
deal with most of them as effectively as the first lot, although 
Tsunami and Sasami had to take a few that managed to get past Washu's 
particle rifle.

               The room they came to next was the difference. Ryoko 
had already commented after the third lot of zippers that it was 
hardly the defence Nagi had told them to expect, and they soon found 
out why. "Oh... My... Goddess!"

               The room was massive, dominated by a huge forge at one 
end, the source of Taishi's specialist metals. From the middle of the 
ceiling hung a fully active photon cannon that would have looked more 
at home on the *outside* of a ship, and around the walls buzzed no 
less than thirty zippers. Looking at it the strategy suddenly made 
sense to Washu. The little things were an annoyance to kill the 
untrained and wear the intruders down before a massive assault. After 
all, they would be very easy to mass produce, especially if the 
production rooms were as highly automated as the rest of the ship. 
They would have to be used where they wouldn't accidentally destroy 
any vulnerable systems, and there was nothing delicate here.

               The photon cannon whirred round on its pivot to target 
them, its two barrels slowly pulling back into the housing as it 
prepared to fire. <And that would be the overkill, just to make 
sure!>

               As one, the zippers charged down to them in a single 
wave, bouncing off the shield Tsunami and Sasami threw up. When the 
wave had pulled back there was a massive click and Ryoko flew across 
the room straight towards the zippers, carrying Sasami as Tsunami and 
Washu phased out. A split second later the cannon fired, the two 
massive blasts of disruption energy tearing through the wall and 
floor one after the other. Even as a hand held weapon, albeit a huge, 
shoulder mounted one, the photon gun could deliver enough power on 
the right frequency to get a potentially lethal amount of damage 
through a personal force shield. A cannon of this size would have 
been better used against the shields of a freighter or slow fighter 
spacecraft. 

               Washu and Tsunami reappeared next to Ryoko just as the 
wave of zippers closed in again. The Juraians tried their best to get 
another shield up, but not before half a dozen of the machines had 
passed, tearing into Ryoko like a storm of flying shrapnel. She 
screamed and fell to the floor, clutching at her lacerated shoulders.

               Sasami held the field for only as long as it took to 
hold off the last zippers before running to the centre of the room. 
The photon cannon tracked her, the barrels now pulling back again.

               Tsunami grabbed Ryoko who gave another cry. "Ryoko! 
You have to fly up and get the gun to follow you or Sasami will 
*die*! Do you hear me?"

               Ryoko roared and launched herself upwards, forcing the 
pain out of her protesting body. "DON'T YOU FUCKING *DARE*!" She 
swung her sword, cutting clean through one of the pivot supports of 
the massive gun, which swivelled round and fired directly at her.

               Down on the floor Washu tensed as Ryoko phased out 
just in time and the photon blasts ripped into the wall, taking 
several zippers with them. She looked back down to see Sasami 
standing in the middle of the room, her hands held in front of her in 
warding preparation and Tsunami at her side. Sasami's brow furrowed 
and her force field snapped into life around her and her protector. 
Washu suddenly twigged to what they were up to and began firing into 
the cloud of zippers that descended onto them. "Ryoko, are you okay? 
Keep big and ugly busy for a bit."

               Ryoko glance down to see Sasami's field pulse 
outwards. Then again, and again, ten feet, twelve, fifteen. She 
phased away from another huge photon blast.

               Inside the shield Sasami pumped all the energy she 
could into it, drawing off the power that Tsunami fed her. Outside it 
the zippers were forced into the corners of the room so they had 
enough space to keep moving. Washu lowered her gun and threw the 
energy from her sword at the last loose one, which exploded in mid 
air, and she looked up to the cannon. "Alright Ryoko, into the force 
field."

               Ryoko stopped and looked down to her in puzzlement to 
see the diminutive scientist run straight through a hole that opened 
up in the shield. She flew down and through it, touching down beside 
the other three and looking up. The field was high enough to bock the 
cannon's pivot base, and it was now just blowing holes in the walls, 
no longer able to shoot downwards. Sasami looked up courageously to 
see her field press up against the pivot of the gun and crush its 
supports. The cannon buckled as it was pressed upwards, and a small 
explosion tore it from its housing, rendering it useless. Sasami 
didn't stop there though and the floor beneath them began to buckle 
and warp as the force field continued to expand, forcing the walls of 
the room outwards and ploughing slowly through the bulkheads. The 
zippers fell harmlessly onto it now they had no room to fly and were 
slowly crushed against the corners of the room in four large writhing 
masses. The field itself had just reached the corners when Sasami 
stopped and let the mass of debris fall from the sides. "That... will 
teach them," she puffed. Tsunami looked at her with pride before 
enveloping her in a hug and Washu nodded in true appreciation of her 
talents, even if Tsunami had helped fuel the amazing display. 

               Ryoko just grinned and flopped to the floor. "Sasami-
chan, that was very, very cool!" 

               Sasami looked over. "Ryoko nee-chan!" She ran over to 
her and knelt down. "Are you alright?"

               Ryoko nodded, still ginning. "This is nothing." She 
closed her eyes and Sasami watched in amazement as the mass of deep 
cuts slowly healed over. "There," Ryoko said, a little out of breath 
herself, "no problem."

               Sasami gave her an almighty hug. "Ryoko nee-chan."

               After a few moments of recovery the four of them made 
their way onwards, taking out another two zippers in the next 
corridor. For some reason they didn't seem quite so bad now!

               Ryoko looked down the two hallways that lead off. 
"Okay, so which way now Washu?"

               Washu resisted the temptation to give her a smack on 
the behind. <Control, it's worth it.> "Both. Sasami and Tsunami go 
left, we go right. I am so glad we don't need to go up or down on 
these ships."

               "Okay, lets go then." Ryoko floated off the floor and 
called up another energy ball to replace the last one she had used.

               Washu nodded and turned to Sasami. "See you later."

               The princess waved as the pair headed off. "Who do you 
think will find something useful first Tsunami? We haven't done very 
well so far."

               Tsunami smiled and started walking. "Well, the bridge 
should be this way, so I think we will find one of our goals soon." 
In all honesty it disturbed Tsunami that she couldn't tell anything 
about the ship. In fact, she could only tell it was there because she 
was currently inside it. Somehow it was completely invisible to her 
detection any other way.

               The pair met no resistance as they made their way down 
the corridors, the rooms either empty or full of supplies and mundane 
technical panels.

               "Tsunami?" Sasami asked nervously, "Isn't this a 
little easy? I mean, that big gun room and now nothing?"

               Tsunami had to agree. "Perhaps they expected us to be 
killed there. In any case we must be vigilant for whatever they have 
in wait for us next."

               What they did find next was the bridge of the ship. 
The lights were off and the room was only illuminated by the display 
panels of the unmanned control stations. Standing in the middle of 
the room was a large mechanoid, which turned to `look' at them as 
they entered. Eight legs stuck out low in two wide rows around its 
sides and its body rose up from where the head of a spider should 
have been. Two massive pincer claws dominated its arms, with a 
smaller pair of humanoid arms tucked close to its body. The head was 
oval in appearance, split around the middle by the sharp edge it 
tapered out to.

               In a flash it scampered towards them but the blue 
haired partners were ready. Tsunami snapped a force field around it, 
holding it firmly in place as it writhed around and Sasami began 
shaping her own field into flat plates that she sent flying towards 
the creation. The arachnid would have proven a challenging opponent 
for the best team of warriors but the pair worked in perfect 
synchronisation as they tore away its armour and Tsunami proceeded to 
heat her force field as Sasami continued to strip it of its component 
parts.

               Ten seconds later the now exposed mechanics seized up 
and the artificial creature fell awkwardly to the floor, its motor 
and fluidic systems bursting into flames.

               Before they could even catch a breath Tsunami felt a 
sharp pain in her arm and swung round to meet the attacker. In the 
shadows by the other door stood Taishi with a flat looking pistol in 
his hand. Sasami was surprised to see a man that old. His wiry white 
hair was almost too sparse to be seen and what would have been a 
handsome, if rather thin face was now very wrinkled and sunken. 
Assuming he had never bonded to a tree he must have been at least 
eight thousand two hundred years old, the physical equivalent of 
about one hundred and ten for an Earth born human.

               He holstered the gun and began clapping. "Bravo. I 
always thought that if anyone would manage to make it here it would 
be you Tsunami." He turned to Sasami. "And welcome to you my 
princess. You must forgive me but I must be taking the both of you to 
confined quarters."

               Tsunami glared and focused her power, only to find 
that she couldn't. She looked down at her hands to see the energy 
projection that passed for her body slowly dissipating. She looked up 
sharply at the old man. "What did you do?"

               Taishi smiled broadly. "The great Tsunami surprised? I 
spent a great deal of time creating a way to block your energy 
signature. Imagine how betrayed I felt when I discovered that our own 
goddess is no higher than we are, merely another creature of the 
dimensional multiverse."

               Tsunami frowned. "I never claimed to be a deity, you 
chose to call me that. I never asked for followers or services or 
loyalty. I merely wanted to save your people from self annihilation."

               Taishi took out the gun and fired again, the recoil-
less beam of blue taking Tsunami square in the chest. Sasami watched 
in horror as Tsunami was slowly dispersed into the air, the hole 
expanding outwards from her chest as it picked apart her physical 
body. It seemed to take forever, but Tsunami could only give her 
charge a sorrowful glance before she was gone.

               "NO!" Sasami turned to Taishi in pure fury and blasted 
her force field towards him, throwing the old man across the room and 
into the wall. He collapsed limply to the floor and Sasami walked 
fiercely over to him, the blue energy of her knuckle blade flaring 
into life. 

               The former Juraian noble looked up weakly and raised a 
hand to stop her. "Kill me now, and none of them survive."

               "YOU'RE LYING! YOU TRIED TO KILL US ANYWAY!"

               Taishi chuckled, which ended up as a harsh cough. 
"True, the fewer of you the better, but if they are taken alive they 
are delivered to me. You took the most direct route, so needed to be 
taken care of more efficiently. Heh, hehe, it obviously didn't work 
anyway. Tsunami was the only one I expected to see in person. 
However, without me to receive them, any survivors will be killed on 
the spot."

               Sasami stopped, a war dividing her mind in two. After 
a moment she began to cry, curling in upon herself as she dropped 
heavily to the floor, the blade in her hand sputtering out. "I hate 
you."

               Taishi gave a sad smile. "And I hate Jurai. I bear 
none of you people any malice though, only the institution you come 
from. Had you not come here I would have left you all alone. Come 
princess, this way."

               He reached into his robe and removed a small control 
panel, using it to create a containment field around the young girl. 
He turned to exit the bridge and the containment field followed, 
Sasami walking distraught inside it. "What *sob*... What will you do 
with us if Tenchi nii-chan, *sob*, doesn't beat you?"

               Taishi's eyebrows rose. "I will finish my business, 
then you are free to do as you please."

               "Tenchi *will* beat you," Sasami said with all the 
confidence she could muster.

               "After I finish this that won't matter. I doubt I will 
live much past the end of my plans whatever you decide to do."

***

               Washu looked up with eyebrows raised. "Welcome to big 
room number two!"

               Ryoko nodded. They had obviously been heading further 
into the centre of the ship, since there was no way an arena of this 
size could fit in the outer edges of it. The arena's middle was very 
slightly concave, as was the standard, and the ceiling was festooned 
with the folded components of at least seven combat styles she 
recognised. <Whoever this belongs to must be either rich, an expert 
or both,> thought Ryoko.

               The pair ventured cautiously inside, wary for any 
surprise like that last ambush had held. They didn't have Sasami and 
Tsunami to help them any more. As they approached the centre they 
were surprised to see another figure walking in to meet them.

               "Careful Washu, she looks good."

               "For a machine anyway," Washu replied, noticing the 
gleam of light reflecting off a metal body.

               The figure finally stepped into the light. Its lithe 
body was flawless in its composition and it moved with amazing grace. 
Its face was lacking in any feature whatsoever, and the left arm was 
nothing more than a blade from the forearm down, cleft down the 
centre and projecting an energy blade from there. <Somewhat 
ethereally beautiful in a surreal sort of way,> Washu thought.

               The female figure bowed as it reached the centre of 
the arena, dissipating the energy blade. "I am Syren. You will not 
pass any further."

               Ryoko snorted. "Like you're going to stop us?"

               "No. I will stop *you*," Syren replied, indicating 
Ryoko. "I am not required to engage either of you. You will not reach 
your destination. Washu-sama may continue if she is so inclined, 
although she will not profit by it. You, Ryoko, I wish to engage for 
my own purposes."

               Washu looked to her daughter. "Think you can handle 
her? No point in us both staying if we don't need to." Despite what 
her analytical mind said though she hoped Ryoko would ask for her 
help. She didn't want to leave her to whatever this mechanical woman 
hand in store.

               To her slight disappointment Ryoko grinned cockily. 
"Sure I can. I haven't have a decent duel in a long time."

               Washu nodded. "Good luck then Ryoko." Slightly 
reluctantly she turned for the exit opposite. After all, it wasn't 
like she thought Ryoko couldn't win. Even so she glanced back as she 
reached the door, just in time to see Ryoko and this `Syren' exchange 
a little banter before dropping into ready poses.

               Five useless rooms and six disabled zippers later 
Washu was wishing she had stayed behind, at least to watch the fight. 
She had been feeling more prone to guilt since her self-incarceration 
in her lab. She hopped through another door and into what she assumed 
must have been the workshops for the ship. After all, the machines 
must have been made somewhere, and this certainly looked like the 
place.

               She ducked behind one of the work benches and watched 
as an automated set of arms finished building the latest zipper on 
its construction line. The zipper hovered up for a second, presumably 
receiving its orders before it tilted downwards and headed for her.

               Washu raised her particle rifle again and took it out 
of the air in two shots, the debris falling across the bench she had 
taken refuge behind. Unfortunately the weapons fire must have alerted 
the internal systems because she suddenly found herself under fire 
from a spider like creature in the doorway to another lab room. She 
managed to parry the first two blasts with her short energy sword, 
only to miss the third and have to phase across the room to prevent 
getting hit. Of course she reappeared right next to the man-spider 
thing and took its head off with a heavy swipe of the blade, only to 
have its claw swing round and smash her across the room.

               "Ouch," Washu deadpanned as she got up and fired two 
particle shots into the thing's front. The machine shuddered for a 
while before its `body' fell forward, firing another two shots as it 
went down. While it was indeed incapacitated its programming left it 
with a last known location of its target, and it had just enough 
power left for those two last shots. 

               The first only managed to singe her hair, but she 
hadn't expected either and the second caught her in the arm, forcing 
her to drop the rifle. "Ah! Damn it! Sneaky bugger!" She crept slowly 
forward to make sure it was indeed `dead' and, after a little prying, 
was satisfied to see she had hit it right in the rather small target 
that was the central processor. She was glad the particle rifle had 
such good penetration, because the armour looked very tough.

               With her attacker down she tenderly prodded her arm to 
make sure it would still work when she healed it and proceeded to 
take a look around the rooms. There was no point trying to get a 
medical pack out of sub-space, the interference the ship emitted 
would just make the hole too unstable to risk reaching through.

               She slowly worked her way around the workstations, 
severing the construction arms to prevent them taking a swipe at her 
when she got near. She had to admit she was impressed with the work. 
Although primitive at first sight the technology had been refined to 
a level she had never encountered before. It would be easier to use 
different methods for much of it, but she could appreciate the skill 
it had been done with. <Whoever this guy is must be a fanatic.>

               Her examination was cut short however when another 
spider machine appeared at the doorway. It fired and she phased 
behind it again, this time cutting it through the chest, and where 
she now knew the CPU to be. The armour was just as tough as it looked 
though, and before she had finished she was struck heavily from 
behind. She whirled around to see the claw of a second machine headed 
for her face, and she phased out just in time to miss it. What she 
didn't miss was the clawed backhand that came at her head when she 
phased in again at the machine's flank. The hit threw her across the 
room to land in a small red haired heap, a small trickle of blood 
seeping from her temple as the machine closed in. She just had time 
to wonder how Ryoko had faired against the mechanical girl before she 
blacked out.

***

               "So, do you accept the challenge?"

               Ryoko looked over to see Washu leaving the room and 
dropped into a combat stance. "Ready when you are tin girl."

               Syren dropped into a Jei Kun stance and waited. She 
wasn't disappointed to see Ryoko make the first attack and leaped 
past the kick to land a light elbow in Ryoko's side. Ryoko winced as 
she stepped back and looked squarely at the mechanical woman. She was 
very good, and she had power to spare. That elbow was just a warning 
shot. <Probably relies on aerial moves and precision strikes. I doubt 
she can take a fall too well though!>

               This time it was Syren to take the offensive, leaping 
in with a foot ready to take Ryoko in the head. Ryoko's block however 
wasn't prepared for the fist that followed up and she was sent 
reeling backwards as Syren jumped in again. This time Ryoko leaped 
straight up and over the attack to deliver a powerful double kick as 
Syren passed under her, and she phased right through the floor as she 
came back down, neatly avoiding the metal blade arm that swung round 
to catch her on the landing.

               Syren looked to where her opponent should have been to 
see Ryoko standing twenty feet away looking very smug. "Very well, 
all special abilities are accepted." She would have grinned if she 
could. She jumped into her next attack, snagging Ryoko by the leg as 
she tried to make her counter and flinging her upwards. Ryoko was so 
surprised she forgot to stop herself falling and Syren caught her in 
the back with a harsh uppercut as she came back down. Ryoko landed 
heavily cringing in pain and Syren took the opportunity to land a 
sweeping kick to her face that sent her sliding across the floor. 

               Ryoko got groggily to her feet and Syren looked on 
from where she stood. "I expected more expertise. Though talented you 
are not what I had assumed you would be."

               "Shut up and fight!" Ryoko growled back, launching 
herself forward and catching Syren in the stomach with a well placed 
fist. The machine doubled over as if its metal skin had been flesh 
and retaliated by grabbing the fist and twisting herself behind 
Ryoko, dislocating the joint that Ryoko's Masu based body created for 
itself. Ryoko screamed and flew backwards, ramming Syren several 
inches into the wall and causing her to release the limb she held.

               As soon as she was free Ryoko phased right across the 
arena and concentrated to repair the damaged joint. Syren was 
charging again by the time she was done, but the pain was still 
there, as was the burning from the dozens of slashes she had taken in 
the forge room. She jumped over Syren as the mechanoid made her own 
jump and rammed her fist into the wall. Ryoko lashed out a foot to 
her neck as she came over and leaped back.

               Syren stumbled a little and squared up into another 
stance. Now Ryoko was getting to know her moves another style was in 
order.

               Ryoko didn't recognise this one and decided that she 
needed to finish the battle quickly. Her opponent's main strength was 
obviously in her knowledge. She jumped into another kick, expecting 
to be met half way, but instead found herself flying past her target 
and heading for the floor. She jumped to her feet and made another 
rush, only to be grabbed by her outstretched fist and pulled into an 
elbow to the chin then swung around to take a kick to the back. She 
fell to the floor again and Syren looked down at her.

               "Taibouso Kurenei Sen is not a style you should meet 
with direct offence. Ryoko, have you not studied such things? I would 
assume your reputation was well earned, but any master of this style 
could have defeated you. Was my respect misplaced?"

               Ryoko got to her feet again and summoned her energy 
sword. "Screw respect!"

               Syren was surprised by that. "You do not respect your 
family? Do you not respect me as your opponent?"

               Ryoko stood up straight. "Yeah, you're good, but I'm 
gonna beat you. We came here to pay you back for what you did and 
we're gonna do it! No stupid machine'll take me down."

               Syren bowed her head. "It would appear your life has 
lead you to some harsh places."

               "What the hell would *you* know about it?"

               Syren `looked' back up at Ryoko. "You are my chosen 
opponent. I have studied extensively on your past and present. You 
are unique, and you intrigue me. I have spent many hours watching 
you."

               Ryoko gave a loud roar and swung in with her sword, 
meeting Syren's own energy blade as it was ignited.

               "Very well then," said Syren, "let us continue."

               They broke apart and Ryoko swung in again, missing 
Syren by a hair's breadth and taking a shallow gash to the shoulder 
as Syren extended her mantis-like left arm to full length to make her 
own attack. Ryoko hissed in pain and sent a flurry of slashes down, 
each one blocked or parried by Syren's own blade.

               Then Syren went on the offensive with a combination of 
long sweeping slashes and quick swipes that had amazing reach, 
forcing Ryoko to defend to the best of her ability against the 
bizarre attack style. Syren however did not let up for a second, 
running from one attack to the next with amazing fluidity, and Ryoko 
began to wonder if she should have asked Washu to stay.

               When she took her second hit, a thrusting blow that 
almost skewered her left leg, she made a desperation move and swung 
out with a sweeping kick. The blow took Syren off guard and she went 
down, landing with a hard thump on the wooden floor. As she went down 
she swung out her blade again, her faster mental speed seeing an 
opening, and slashed out at Ryoko, ripping open the ex-pirate's 
stomach.

               Ryoko screamed as she took the wound and clutched her 
arm across it in reflex, dropping to her knees. Syren however, just 
like Ryoko had expected, was slow to recover from the fall and the 
ex-pirate took the chance to make a desperate slash, still clutching 
her stomach. Syren managed to block the first swing, but it smashed 
her blade-arm away and Ryoko followed up with a hard slash to her 
chest, ripping open her left breast and destroying the mass of 
sensors that lay there. This time it was Syren who screamed in pain 
and Ryoko made another two slashes, severing the machine's bladed 
left arm and cutting deep into her side.

               Ryoko was about to make the fourth attack when her 
body gave way and she flopped painfully to the floor, moaning as she 
clutched her stomach. She tried to begin healing her wounds but she 
knew that she couldn't defend herself any longer.

               She waited for the final blow, but instead heard 
Syren's pained voice. "Congratulation Ryoko-sama. You have bested 
me."

               Ryoko looked slowly up to see Syren lying limply on 
her back, clutching at her mangled breast with her hand. "I knew that 
you would be a true challenge. I apologise for not taking you 
resourcefulness under pressure into ac.... account."

               Ryoko grinned wryly and concentrated on sealing her 
injuries. "See? I told you. I wouldn't let Tenchi down."

               "Yes... I envy him. At least I was taken down by my 
only kinswoman."

               Ryoko looked at her in confusion. "Wh-what?"

               "As I... said Ryoko-sama, kinswoman. We are the same."

               Ryoko looked at her harshly. "We're not the same! 
You're nothing like me! You're just a machine!"

               "As are you Ryoko-sama. We are both the pinnacle... of 
our respective technologies."

               "No! No way am I a puppet like you!"

               Syren would have smiled sadly if she had had the mouth 
to do so. "I am not a puppet. I owed... my creator just as you should 
owe yours." She looked away. "But I could never be like you. I wish 
to be like you."

               Ryoko got to her feet painfully, still holding the 
slowly shrinking gash across her abdomen. "A right little Pinocchio 
you are. Or maybe that should be Frankenstein."

               Syren gave a shudder, and Ryoko could have sworn the 
mechanical girl was crying. "It was the monster that was created, and 
Frankenstein the creator. I enjoyed that piece... of literature that 
I acquired." She turned back to look at Ryoko. "I can feel skin, but 
do not have it. I see with eyes that are... not there."

               Ryoko could actually feel a little pity as she raised 
her sword to point at the fallen `woman'. "No-one's perfect."

               Syren tried as best she could to look into Ryoko's 
eyes and see something more that the membrane that covered them. She 
had read that you were supposed to see things in a person's eyes. 
"Ryoko-sama, I am afraid."

               Ryoko didn't say anything as she thrust her sword into 
Syren's neck and neatly severed her head. She felt very confused as 
she watched the broken metallic body go limp and the head clatter to 
the floor. She was so deep in trying to sort out what she should feel 
that she never noticed the four legged machine approach her from 
behind and aim its gun. A second later she lay next to her fallen 
opponent, a gaping hole in her chest where the explosive round had 
punched through. The machine scanned her, the picked up her inert 
form and lay it on the scavenger frame it carried over its armoured 
shell.

***

               Tenchi turned to look after the blue and red haired 
party as they scampered away.

               "Don't worry Tenchi," said Kiyone, noticing his 
concern. "The others will look after her."

               Tenchi nodded. "But Sasami's not the only one I'm 
worried about." He smiled a little. "Too bad I can't spilt in two and 
go with them as well."

               "Washu is right Tenchi-sama, this is the best way to 
search, and each of us is able to protect ourselves, even Sasami. I 
doubt Tsunami will let her out of her sight." Ayeka gave him a 
comforting smile as they stepped through the door that led into the 
back of the ship.

               The group wandered down the wide corridor they came 
to, evidently designed to be a well travelled place, and Kiyone and 
Mihoshi took point positions, checking each room they came to was 
clear of threat before they searched it.

               The rooms were obviously designed to be recreational 
for whatever crew should have been there, now filled with metal pods 
stacked along every wall which looked suspiciously like stasis pods 
to Tenchi's rather primitive and still media influenced eyes. "What 
do you think is in them?" He tried to peer through what he thought 
was a piece of glass, but all he could see was black.

               Nagi walked into the last room, only to be met by more 
of the same. "Probably offensive supplies. Taishi seemed very sure of 
himself."

               "Hey, then maybe we can use some of them!" Mihoshi 
lifted her favourite T-98 launcher from off her shoulder. "We can get 
some more weapons, and Nagi, you said we'd have to fight really hard, 
right?"

               Nagi remained stonily non-committal, "I don't think 
these are those type of supplies."

               *beep*

               The whole group looked round to Mihoshi who was 
standing by a control panel on the hallway wall. A few seconds later 
they heard a thump from the first room.

               "Mihoshi," Kiyone said apprehensively, "you didn't 
just do what I think you did, did you?"

               Mihoshi raised her eyebrows. "I don't know. What do 
you think I did? Come on, let's see if there's anything we can use."

               She ran off back down the hall enthusiastically, 
followed by the others, Nagi igniting her energy whip.

               A few seconds later Mihoshi screamed and was flung out 
of the room, her armour smoking.

               "MIHOSHI!"

               Kiyone, Ayeka and Tenchi rushed over to her while Nagi 
took up a position just behind the door, waiting for whatever it was 
to come out. As soon as the saucer like head emerged Nagi flicked the 
whip forwards and caught it round the neck. However, all that did was 
transfer the machine's attention to the new threat and it raised a 
claw to fire. Nagi managed to duck out of the way just in time, the 
energy beam just grazing her shoulder and cutting into the back wall.

               Opposite the machine Tenchi whirled into action and 
ignited the Tenchi-ken, the blue beam of energy taking shape as he 
leaped at the arachnid machine and slashed down, nearly severing its 
other major arm. "*What*?" he exclaimed in surprise, seeing the arm 
still hanging from the automaton's body. "What's this thing made 
of!?"

               It turned again, Nagi's whip still slowly burning its 
way into the machine's neck, and took a swing at Tenchi, firing as it 
did so.

               "Tenchi-sama!"

               Tenchi blocked the attack, cutting through one of the 
pincer edges as he did so, but winced for a split second as he saw 
the energy blast heading for his chest, then get reflected off a 
force field. Tenchi leaped back to get some breathing room. "Thanks 
Ayeka."

               Ayeka nodded smiling. "My pleasure." She turned to 
face the machine as it started towards them and she projected a plane 
of her field towards it, knocking if off balance even on its low 
spread legs.

               Mihoshi took the opportunity to attack and Kiyone was 
not far behind. The blonde fired off two of her high penetration 
explosive rounds, blowing all four of the mechanical creature's left 
legs to shreds and Kiyone shot off five precision shots of TAC 
density electro-plasma, finishing Tenchi's work of severing the left 
arm and breaking through the tough head armour. 

               The machine was now virtually unable to fight under 
the combined onslaught of the powerful force shield hits from Ayeka 
and the heavy weapons fire from the pair of Galaxy Police. Nagi 
pulled the whip tight as the machine jerked on it trying to pull her 
closer for an attack it was still capable of, having lost its guns 
along with its claws. Another major hit from Mihoshi took out yet 
more of the arachnid base, toppling the machine sideways, and it used 
this momentum to pull Nagi off her feet. The bounty hunter tried to 
right herself in mid-air and managed to land feet first on the 
machine's shoulder and give a mighty tug to the whip, finally 
decapitating it as Ayeka sent the machine fully onto its side with 
her barrage of force field hits. 

               The five pulled back to see the machine still moving, 
various motor fluids pouring from the massive holes Mihoshi had 
blasted. Tenchi raised his sword and swung down, cutting into and 
eventually through the machine's body. When even that didn't stop it 
moving Nagi dispelled the energy whip. She stuck the diamond shaped 
tip of her sword into the open body and fired the blaster, satisfied 
when the frantically twitching shoulders fell limp.

               Kiyone was about to round on her partner when Mihoshi 
broke into tears. "Waah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to release a 
rampaging robot demon!"

               The other four sweatdropped and Kiyone stepped 
forward, laying a hand on Mihoshi's shoulder and giving a sigh. "Come 
on Mihoshi, it's okay. Just try to think about it a bit more next 
time."

               Mihoshi looked up with teary eyes and sniffled. "I'm 
really sorry Kiyone. I though maybe we could use his weapons if this 
guy is really good like Washu said."

               Kiyone helped her to her feet. "Never mind, it 
happens.  A little too often perhaps, but that's beside the point. 
We've still got a mission to do, remember?"

               Mihoshi set her face firm and nodded. "Right."

               The pair set off out of the hallway and Nagi turned to 
Ayeka. "That was too close for comfort. Does this happen often?"

               Ayeka nodded. "It takes some getting used to, but she 
hasn't killed us yet. Knowing Mihoshi this will make life easier 
later on somehow. At the very least we know what we are up against 
now."

               Tenchi nodded and they started to follow the other 
two, Nagi not knowing quite what to think of working with the group 
instead of against them. 

               When the corridor split at a main junction again they 
separated, Ayeka sending the Galaxy Police detectives and Nagi to 
where she thought the central control computer would be and she and 
Tenchi heading for the weapon control bay.

               Tenchi halted as he rounded the last corner. 
"Sentries."

               The pair backed up. "More arachnid men?" Ayeka asked. 
"We doubt we can take one of them on by ourselves."

               "No. They look like insects carrying trays above them. 
Their bodies are small but armed with some sort of gun. Long legs 
too. If we take those off I think we can do it."

               Ayeka nodded. "All right. I will take the one on the 
left. Good luck Tenchi-sama."

               At Tenchi's signal they both ran round the corner, 
immediately catching the attention of the two machines which fired 
their under-slung guns towards them.

               Tenchi blocked the blast with his sword and Ayeka 
threw up her force field, but both were thrown to the floor as the 
projectiles exploded against their defences.

               Tenchi was up in a flash, pulling Ayeka with him and 
avoiding the next shots the pair made. He lunged forward, intent on 
taking the distance advantage away, and neatly severed the front two 
legs of the right machine, sending it toppling forward as he jumped 
and landed on the tray.

               Ayeka meanwhile snapped a force globe around the small 
body of the other machine and waited. The second it fired the blast 
found nowhere to go and exploded, tearing into the armour of the body 
and destroying the gun outright. Ayeka smirked and concentrated, 
shrinking the sphere.

               From his position atop the tray Tenchi swiped at the 
machine's other two legs and took them off, the body, tray and 
himself falling to the ground. An explosion shook him as the machine 
tried to fire and he made sure to stay behind the tray as he thrust 
the Tenchi-ken into the machine's body. Its body was toughly armoured 
like the spider things, but it didn't take long to pierce the 
unmoving target and put it out of action. He looked over to see Ayeka 
crushing the other one within her force shield, the leg joints 
buckling off as it was destroyed.

               The pair smiled at each other and stepped into the 
room. They headed for the computer banks in the centre, Tenchi warily 
eyeing the munitions and massive energy cells that lined the walls. 
"Do you think you can deactivate the alpha wave machine," he asked. 
"We need to find out where it actually is too."

               Ayeka looked at the rather complicated computer 
display. "I will certainly try Tenchi-sama." 

               It took Ayeka several minutes of cautious typing to 
come up with anything useful besides supply inventories. "Oh, Tenchi-
sama, I think I have it. The Alpha wave generator is in weapons bay 
five. The other bays are two concussion cannons, a high density laser 
and the standard Juraian cruiser blasters." She gave him a smile. 
"The weapons bays are situated in the upper and lower levels, as are 
the transmission relays. Now I have to find the off button!"

               Tenchi watched confused as the ream of strange 
characters that he assumed to be Juraian came and went across the 
screen. 

               "Oh drat! I need a password." Ayeka turned to him. 
"Tenchi-sama, could you please check the notes over there for any 
kind of password?" she asked, drawing some symbols on a scrap of 
paper at the computer console. "It will look something like this, but 
with different letters."

               "Okay." Tenchi nodded and headed over to the other 
tables and small computer terminals that were linked up to the 
munitions. He scanned the screens for the letter formation Ayeka had 
given him, but decided not to risk blowing them up and started going 
through the sheaves of papers when the information on the screens 
proved useless. He had no idea how to work them.

               A few minutes later he had three possible passwords, 
and Ayeka had found two at the computer station. "Well," she said, "I 
suppose that we have to try all of them."

               She inputted the first into the console, only to come 
up with a blank error screen. "Hmmm, right. This is the kind of time 
that I would welcome Washu's help." The second came up with the same 
error, and the third prompted for a code with a higher clearance 
level. As soon as she had finished typing the fourth and submitted it 
the lights shut off and the blast door behind them slammed closed, 
making both of them jump.

               Ayeka looked back to the screen and read out the 
message for Tenchi. "Multiple unauthorised access attempts detected. 
Intruder countermeasure initiated." She summoned her combat logs.

               "Oh hell," Tenchi said under his breath as he ignited 
the Tenchi-ken, its glow illuminating them in a pale blue light. He 
never had a chance to use it though as a fine grey mist descended on 
them and they soon found themselves unable to think.

               "I'm sorry... Tenchi-sama." Ayeka managed as she 
keeled over, the gas overpowering her.

               Tenchi fell to his knees. "Damn..."

               He lasted another few seconds before blacking out 
beside her.

***

               Mihoshi jumped through the next doorway, her launcher 
at the ready, and Kiyone spun in behind her, levelling her electro-
plasma rifle. 

               "Oh, more hallways." Mihoshi lowered her gun and 
walked in.

               "The living quarters," Nagi observed, keeping her 
sword ready. "The main computers should be through here."

               The two Galaxy police took point, making sure each of 
the rooms was clear before moving on, and Nagi staying behind with 
her weapon ready. Having come up against one of the heavily armoured 
monstrosities already she knew she had the disadvantage when it came 
to weaponry. Her combination sword-whip-blaster was designed to 
incapacitate living beings, not cut through metal.

               From ahead of her Kiyone called them over. "Err, guys? 
Look at this."

               Both Nagi's and Mihoshi's eyebrows rose when they saw 
the room, but for completely different reasons.

               "Wow, those are so good!" Mihoshi said appreciatively.

               <I don't like this,> was Nagi's response, <not one 
bit.>

               The room, unlike the others, appeared to actually 
belong to someone. However, the only belongings it held covered the 
walls. Engraving after exquisite engraving, ranging from small to 
absolutely huge, covered every square inch of space. Some Nagi 
recognised as the old Juraian Taishi, but one face stood out as it 
dominated the room.

               "Ryoko."

               Over half of the pictures were of her, covering almost 
every facet of her personality. One of the raging pirate, sword at 
the ready, another of her crying alone on a deserted path. Some, like 
that last, were devastatingly personal, ones that Ryoko would never 
have admitted to being a part of. The largest engraving of all was a 
massive life sized picture of Ryoko sitting on the branch of a tree 
swinging her legs, looking directly at the viewer, a rare glimpse of 
her calm, contended side shining through.

               "We need to warn her," Kiyone said with concern. 
"Whoever this room belongs to will be after her specifically."

               Nagi nodded. "I'll go. You two keep heading for the 
central computers."

               She hurried out of the room and down the corridor, 
only to be met with what looked like a sea of moving metal. 
"INCOMING!"

               She turned and ran back, firing her blaster into the 
mass of small machines as she did, but a small white beam lanced out 
and caught her in the arm. Instead of the burning she expected the 
limb went numb, forcing her to drop the sword. Up ahead she saw 
Mihoshi roll out of the doorway and across the hall, letting off a 
shot that detonated behind her and into the swarm. Kiyone stood in 
the doorway, a determined look on her face as she fired, her rifle in 
one hand and her Galaxy Police blaster pistol in the other. "Come on 
Nagi!"

               Nagi kept running but another beam caught her in the 
back, and she crumpled to the floor. She forced her arms to move as 
she saw more beams pass above her and force the detectives to take 
cover. She crawled as fast as she could towards the door Kiyone had 
backed into, but she soon heard the clattering of metallic legs close 
around her. She looked over to see a small, six legged machine 
scamper up by her head. Its body was flattish with a small emitter 
perched on top of it, four focus rods surrounding the central one. 
The space between the rods glowed white as they were levelled at her 
face.

               "Fuck you!" Nagi spat before the machine fired and the 
world went black.

               "Nagi!" Mihoshi cried as she stepped back out of the 
room. She fired another shot into the back of the hoard and dozens of 
the little things were blown apart. There were far too many of them 
for it to make much difference though as the machines closest to the 
downed bounty hunter stopped and began to lift her up like ants 
taking their latest catch. The wave of machines parted as she was 
carried off and the pair could only watch as the sea of machines 
closed in.

               Kiyone stopped firing and spun to face her partner. 
"Mihoshi, run!"

               The two of them raced to the other end of the hallway 
and through the connecting partition into the next room. Above them 
another massive photon cannon hung, whirring round to target them. 
"Oh shit! *Go*!" 

               They dashed across the room as the twin blasts ripped 
the door apart. They both headed round a different way but they still 
got more than a little singed by the blasts. They did however make it 
to the other side before the blast door shut them in, Mihoshi losing 
her T-98 launcher as it was crushed by the closing door.

               "Oh, I really liked that gun!" Mihoshi said as she 
looked at the protruding barrel. 

               Kiyone gulped. "Mihoshi, I think that's the least of 
our worries."

               Mihoshi turned around to see two pods either side of 
the door opposite. "Sentry guns?"

               Kiyone nodded and scanned the hall. Only two doors sat 
about half way down, one on each side. "We can't go back through 
there," she said motioning to the room behind them, "even if I had 
managed to see anything useful there."

               "It was just lots of boxes and things," Mihoshi said, 
having managed to scan the room as she dashed through it.

               "Oh, that's okay then." Kiyone hadn't had anything on 
her mind other than avoiding a very, *very* big gun. "Well, these 
things should start to target us some time before we get to the doors 
there, so if you walk really slowly down the left wall, when the left 
gun pops up to fire I'll shoot it."

               "Decoy time?" Mihoshi asked professionally.

               "Decoy time." When they had first had to do things 
like this they had agreed that Mihoshi do the walking and Kiyone do 
the shooting. Kiyone was the better markswoman of the two and Mihoshi 
agreed that she was better in real firefights than the waiting game. 
Plus she had a knack for getting missed!

               Kiyone knelt down with her rifle rested across her 
knee as Mihoshi slowly and carefully tiptoed forwards. "Don't mind 
little old me," Mihoshi lilted nervously to herself. "Just the Galaxy 
police coming to do justice." She didn't get much further before the 
top of the left pod shot up and the small multi-barrel gun targeted 
her. "EEEP!"

               Kiyone pulled the trigger and the gun was vaporised 
before it could get a shot off as the main body was consumed by the 
plasma bolt.

               However, neither of the two had taken into account 
that the guns had been custom made, and as such were far more complex 
than they were used to dealing with. As the first gun was destroyed 
the sensors in the base caught the direction of the bolt and its 
estimated point of origin, then transferred them to the right gun. 
Kiyone and Mihoshi were smiling at each other, ready to start on the 
second one when it shot up and started firing directly at Kiyone. The 
detective screamed as the high velocity bullets cracked her armour's 
shells as they glanced off them and tore through the protective cloth 
bodysuit that they didn't cover. 

               In a flash Mihoshi's pistol was out and she was 
shooting at the gun. Her first and third hit took out the barrels 
while the second hit the support pole and the third got the actuator 
ring. After that the gun was no threat, but she gave it another three 
shots just to make sure before she dashed over to her partner.

               "Oh my God! Kiyone! Kiyone, are you okay?" Mihoshi 
said distraught, tears in her eyes as she knelt by her bleeding 
partner.

               Kiyone tried to sit up from where she lay hunched 
against the blast door, succeeding in getting herself partially 
upright at least. She smiled and wiped at the blood she could feel 
leaking from the corner of her mouth. "I guess I screwed up!" She 
chuckled, coughing as she felt the laugh bring more blood into her 
throat. "I'll live, for now at least." She could tell she'd taken at 
least five hits, and the armoured shell over her left arm would be 
useless now. The grazing shots across her head and shoulder did 
nothing but get blood down her, but she knew she had taken a bad one 
to the stomach and her left elbow had been broken as she had held it 
to protect her head. The other had dug its way into the right side of 
her chest just above the armour plate, and she guessed it had nicked 
the top of her lung before punching through the shoulder blade and 
into the door behind her.

               The tears fell down Mihoshi's cheeks as she heard her 
make light of the obviously serious injuries. "Kiyone, you're really 
hurt! I... I need to get some medical things or something. Don't move 
okay?"

               Kiyone coughed again and raised her good arm to grab 
her partner. "Mihoshi, just keep going and find the main computer. 
Then you can shut down the security system. After that everybody will 
be okay."

               Mihoshi looked at her for a second before nodding 
tearfully. "Alright. I'll be back soon."

               Kiyone smiled as she watched her go and allowed 
herself to slump painfully back against the blast door.

               At the other end of the hall Mihoshi stepped carefully 
into a circular room, the centre filled with a ring of computer 
banks. "Yes, we're already here!" She jogged up to the nearest one 
before hearing the clack of metal against metal. She looked over to 
see two of the clawed spider-man machines turning from their 
stations, their second pair of smaller humanoid arms tucking away 
against their chests now they were not typing. Mihoshi stepped back 
in fear. "Oh no."

               She bolted for the door as the pair raised their 
pincers and fired at her, catching the doorway as she dived out. She 
just managed to see a third heading for her as she scrambled 
backwards and closed the door, then blasted the lock. 

               "Kiyone!" 

               She ran over to her fallen partner, who smiled a 
little again as she saw her. "Hey Mihoshi, you done already?" It was 
beginning to get hard to concentrate enough to talk properly. Then 
she noticed Mihoshi was crying.

               "There's three of those spider demon robots in there. 
I can't fight them on my own. I don't know what to do."

               Kiyone let her head flop back. "Guess we'd've been 
better off ending up like Nagi." 

               Mihoshi sat crying for a bit as they heard the 
machines trying to open the door. Then she frowned. "Kiyone, you're 
really hurt, but they didn't hurt Nagi, I think they just knocked her 
out. What... What if they don't need to kill us and they took her 
somewhere else? Maybe if I freeze us then they'll take us there too!"

               Kiyone though for a bit, then smiled. "Mihoshi, you 
may be right. In any case it's better than bleeding to death here. 
Not like we can be any... worse off whatever happens."

               Mihoshi nodded and stood, aiming her glove at her 
partner. "Kiyone, you're my best friend you know. When they get us 
out I'll get you healed up."

               Kiyone smiled groggily at her partner's 
sentimentality. "Thanks Mihoshi. Guess I feel the same way." 

               Mihoshi smiled a bit even as she heard the door 
starting to be forced open. "Most of the time huh?"

               Kiyone managed a chuckle as Mihoshi fired the pseudo-
stasis weapon at her, the gas forced from around the glove instantly 
shaping into small blue globs that ruptured on contact, forming into 
the large temporary stasis crystal around her.

               <At least you can't die like this,> she thought. She 
looked over Kiyone's now frozen form. "Oh, your hair got melted too," 
she said as she saw the fused ends that had been caught by the photon 
cannon. She just had time to hear the door finally get forced open as 
she turned the weapon on herself and activated it.

***

               Tenchi opened his eyes painfully. The first thing to 
greet him was Washu's shouting, which reverberated around his skull 
like a gunshot in a theatre hall.

               "At least let me get some medical supplies! If you 
don't want to harm us then you can't just let them die like this!"

               Tenchi sat up slowly with his head in his hands and 
looked straight into Ayeka's purple eyes. <Yeah, we got captured.>

               "Tenchi-sama," Ayeka said with concern, "are you 
alright? You'll feel better in a minute."

               Tenchi nodded. The sound of another voice made him 
turn. "Very well. Get what you need. If any weapons appear one of you 
dies." Taishi flipped a switch on his control panel.

               Tenchi saw Washu grimace and bow her head. "Thank 
you." She reached into subspace and pulled out what he recognised 
several regen pads, some scanning rings and some hypodermics filled 
with various chemicals. Taishi flipped the switch back.

               He looked behind her to see two prone bodies. "RYOKO! 
KIYONE!" They were both unconscious and stripped naked, their massive 
injuries exposed, ready for Washu to begin work. Kiyone was covered 
in what looked like bullet wounds and was very evidently bleeding to 
death judging from the huge pool of red that surrounded her. Mihoshi 
knelt at her side with tears slowly tricking down her face, holding 
her hand carefully. Next to her lay Ryoko with several nasty cuts and 
a seven inch hole in her chest.

               Ayeka lay a hand on Tenchi's shoulder as he started to 
run over to them. "Washu says they will both survive Tenchi-sama. 
Just leave her to it."

               Washu nodded as she gave Ryoko several large 
injections. "I can patch them up, but stay out of my way unless I say 
otherwise."

               Tenchi nodded, watching Ryoko's wounds slowly close 
up. He turned away to see Nagi holding Sasami who looked as though 
she were crying in her sleep. Ayeka walked over to take her again and 
Nagi got up to sit away from the others against far wall of the force 
shield they were held in. Ayeka manoeuvred over to the ship wall 
beside her, Sasami in her arms. "I'm not sure what happened Tenchi-
sama, but Sasami said that Tsunami was killed."

               Tenchi looked at her in disbelief.

               "Impossible," Washu said as she attached the regen 
pads to Kiyone. "She can't be killed here, or in any other single 
dimension. What happened I don't know, but she isn't dead."

               Across the room Taishi nodded. "Very astute Washu-san. 
She is dead for the time being though as far as this reality is 
concerned. With any luck that will be a permanent situation. We have 
no need of false goddesses in any case."

               Tenchi frowned. "Who are you to judge?"

               Taishi raised his eyebrows. "And this from the boy she 
has manipulated into her own little soldier. A bodyguard for her once 
she has taken the young princess' body. She *can* be killed once the 
assimilation is complete after all."

               Ayeka gasped. "How did you know about that. The 
assimilation is one of the most closely guarded secrets in Jurai!"

               "Simple," Taishi said. "Any high level psycho-layer 
scan will reveal that Sasami is somewhat different from other 
Juraians. I would not be surprised if she had some level of pre-
cognitive ability thanks to Tsunami's influence, and her abilities 
will only grow as long as the assimilation continues."

               The others didn't say anything.

               "Please stop it... It hurts!" Everyone turned to see 
Ryoko stir and Washu quickly gave her a shot for the pain.

               Ryoko opened her eyes to see Washu's looking worriedly 
back at her. "H-hi Mum. I won."

               Washu enveloped her in a massive hug that caused Ryoko 
to wince even through the numbness of the painkillers. "Ow, ow, I'm 
alright already."

               Taishi lowered his head. "I can assume then that my 
daughter is dead?" He waited for the reply.

               After a while Ryoko sat up. "Yeah, I took her out." 
She didn't seem particularly thrilled about it one way or the other.

               Taishi sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't have suggested 
she cut back on her training. Then again, she always had something of 
an affection for you. I trust she fought honourably."

               Ryoko nodded again. "Yeah, she was pretty good."

               After a moment of silence Ayeka spoke. "Why are you 
doing this? What did we do to you to make you act against us?"

               Taishi sat down at his chair. "An exposition? Very 
well, there is no reason for you not to know. A little over a 
thousand years ago I was still a member of the Juraian nobility with 
a seat on the council, the last of my family. Over the years I 
watched the old nobles give way to new blood, and with them went all 
the ideals we had held. I am sure you are well aware of the nature of 
the political system now, even given your time away. I was one of the 
few who were still totally loyal to the crown among the squabbling 
mass the noble council was becoming."

               He rested his chin on his hands as he leaned forward. 
"I'm sure your brother would remember, if that old man down there is 
indeed Yosho. There was an attempted coup in the pirate's guild."

               Ayeka growled. "Why you..!"

               Taishi chuckled. "My apologies. As you can see I am 
more aware of house Jurai's sordid past than most. In any case it 
needed to be put down. Despite my distaste for your `modern' 
technology I was one of those asked to assist in the creation of new 
weapons for the event, as they needed new designs in order to keep 
the element of surprise. My designs were rejected, as I expected they 
would be. However, once the `unpleasant' elements of the guild were 
purged my weapons found their way into the hands of the J.I.S. when 
they raided the base their rogue members had constructed. I was put 
on trial for treason and found guilty, despite the obvious set-up. I 
petitioned for a royal appeal and external investigation. I was 
denied it."

               Taishi sat back again. "I was stripped of my position 
and banished from Juraian space. I was lucky none of the weapons were 
used or I would have been executed. From that point on I began my own 
investigations. The coup itself was a set-up by the J.I.S. Imagine, 
the Juraian Intelligence Service hiring in known criminals to do its 
dirty work, then complaining when they get out of hand. House Jurai 
might as well go back to the pirating it committed all those 
millennia before if that is the way they do things."

               "How *dare* you!" Ayeka fumed.

               "I dare very easily. One by one I managed to uncover 
the Empire's dirty little secrets. The assimilation, and my 
consequent discovery of Tsunami's true nature, the underhanded 
acquisition of Betelgian space, the sudden disappearance of the third 
and fourth emperors, murdered by their own children."

               "They occurred long before even my grandfather took 
the throne!" Ayeka argued back. "We were told of each of those, even 
if the people weren't, so we would not make the same mistakes. What 
would happen if the people found out? It would be chaos! And there is 
not a single ruling party that has not had an intrigue filled past."

               "But surely everyone has a right to know," Taishi said 
in return, "and then they might not be so sure of their faith in 
their rulers and their deity. I would still have stuck by your family 
if they had not assisted my own downfall. That it was through 
negligence makes it all the more bitter. This is my re-payment. The 
cabbits and their technology will be sold, and the bidder will most 
certainly intend to make a play for Jurai. It is an inconvenience 
that may well topple the Empire's hold on the galaxy. It is about 
time that they realised that they must work for their rewards."

               From behind the captives a weak voice was heard. 
"Jurai isn't perfect, but it is better than the terrorism that you 
would start." Kiyone coughed. "I don't know any of what you're 
talking about, and I'm not a patriot to my mother's home, but we 
don't need another terrorism war, and the Galaxy Police can stop you 
before you make your move. The only places you can sell that 
technology will be covered by us already."

               Washu reached over and gave Kiyone another dose of 
painkillers now that she was awake. Mihoshi sat by her, a huge smile 
on her face. "Don't talk Kiyone, it's okay. You need to stay still 
now."

               Tenchi stood up. "I don't know anything about politics 
or Jurai, but thing go wrong like that everywhere. You can't just do 
all this because they made a mistake!"

               "More than just a mistake young prince, an 
orchestrated downfall. I never managed to find out who it was that 
wanted me out, but the J.I.S. and Galaxy Police will. They will have 
to launch an investigation into how the cabbits became available on 
the market. My name is sure to come up, and a new investigation will 
begin into how I got the technology. At some point they will come 
across the person who set me up, since they will have to go through 
my rather expansive history with them, and in doing so find whoever 
it was that was linked with the discovery of my technology, the 
J.I.S. and the `rogue element'. I very much doubt the same people 
will be conducting the investigation as when I was ousted, Queen 
Funaho is better than that, so the truth will come out."

               "You get cleared and re-instated, and you somehow 
manage to build a weakness into the cabbits so you can take them out 
when Jurai welcomes you back," Washu surmised.

               "Oh no," Taishi said with a little amusement. "Jurai 
will have to solve that on their own if they want to stay in power. 
But, my name will be cleared of the crimes I was accused of, if only 
known by the King and Queens, and they will know that it was their 
own fault that it happened to them."

               "What about you?" asked Nagi. Though she was very 
intelligent she couldn't see where he himself was going.

               Taishi looked at her expressionlessly. "I will be dead 
before the year is out." He smiled. "Age has a way of doing that you 
know." 

***

               "Onee-sama? I'm hungry."

               Ayeka looked down to see Sasami awake in her arms. "So 
am I Sasami. He says we will be fed soon."

               Over by Washu Tenchi was grilling her about how the 
two casualties were. Ryoko, although not in the bast of shape, was 
now at least up and about. Kiyone, though awake, was in no shape to 
be moving as the regen packs slowly knitted her flesh together. Both 
were at least clothed again now.

               "Looks like you'll have a few more scars though," 
Washu said. "Can't prevent that with the supplies I have here."

               Kiyone didn't say anything but she didn't honestly 
care. What were a few more scars to add to her small collection? She 
liked to keep them to remind herself of her mistakes.

               Ryoko slouched against the wall. "I'm bored. Are you 
sure I can't cut through the floor?"

               "Quite sure," Washu replied. "Especially at your power 
level."

               Tenchi hesitated. "What... What if you had another 
gem?"

               Ryoko looked at him. "You'd give me back another gem?"

               Washu shrugged. "Whatever."

               Tenchi raised the Tenchi-ken. "It's worth a try 
right?" He closed his eyes and willed the second gem out of the hilt 
and Ryoko did the same in overjoyed surprise.

               A few seconds later she felt the gem appear at her 
right wrist and a flood of power flowed through her. "Alright! Let's 
get it on!"

               She summoned her sword and thrust down at the floor. 
After a flurry of sparks she let it dissipate and sat down 
dejectedly. "Well, that's that." She held out her wrist to Tenchi. 
"Thanks anyway."

               Tenchi shook his head. "You might as well keep it."

               Ryoko looked at him adoringly. "You... you'll actually 
let me have it?"

               Tenchi grinned, wondering if it was right thing to do. 
"Just don't destroy the house okay."

               Ryoko launched herself over and glomped him. "You do 
trust me. Thank you Tenchi!" Then she winced. "Ouch."

               "That'll teach you to listen to doctor's orders," said 
Washu, absently rubbing the bandage on her own arm. 

               All of them looked up several minutes later when 
Taishi re-appeared, a tray-carrying machine in tow. "I think it's 
about time for lunch."

               The machine slid the tray through the field and Ayeka 
passed round each of the bowls. It certainly wasn't gourmet cuisine 
but none of them cared. It was over twelve hours since they had eaten 
last, and that had been a small salad Sasami had thrown together 
before they had headed out. Alongside the food were three weapons; 
Washu's particle rifle, Kiyone's electro-plasma rifle, and Nagi's 
blaster sword. It wasn't like they would do them any good though.

               Taishi himself took his seat and turned to the 
screens. They were now heading away from the Sol system. This plan 
hadn't gone at all the way he had planned after all. And he had lost 
Syren. He sincerely hoped he would have time to find and repair her, 
if there was anything to repair.

               It was lucky for the captives that age breeds its own 
weaknesses, because it allowed them to whisper without attracting 
Taishi's attention. They were now all huddled around their bowls, and 
consequently sitting together around the still floor bound Kiyone.

               "I managed to slip a few bits and bobs into Kiyone's 
bandages. By my calculations Tsunami will be able to fully manifest 
again in about five minutes with the extra beacon and composition 
arrangement devices, so when that happens she'll hopefully get the 
barrier down and we can make a break for it. It's still too risky to 
teleport out so Tenchi will have to carry Kiyone, but we can make it. 
Nagi, you wanted Taishi, so he's yours to deal with. Mihoshi will 
take me to the Central computers and I'll shut down the security 
systems and service machines. Everyone else find a quiet room and 
stay put to rest up."

               Everyone nodded and sat to wait. A little while later 
the plan was in motion.

               "Hello Taishi-san."

               Taishi span round in his chair to see Tsunami standing 
in front of the field prison. He pulled the gun out but it fell 
harmlessly from his fingers as Tsunami's force field snapped around 
him.

               "Release them," she demanded.

               Taishi grimaced. "No."

               Tsunami squeezed the force field around him and he 
cried out in pain. "Kill me and they die!"

               "How?" asked Tsunami strongly. "You cannot reach any 
controls, and there are none of your machines here. I will simply ask 
Washu how to deactivate it."

               They were all startled by a voice at the doorway. "Why 
Tsunami, that is hardly as enlightened as I have come to expect from 
you."

               Tsunami whirled around to see the figure, and Taishi 
collapsed back into his chair coughing. "See `goddess', I have my own 
ace in the hole."

               None of the company spoke a word until Mihoshi saw who 
it was through the shadows. "Shoji!"

               "I don't believe it!" Ayeka said quietly.

               Shoji stood there in full Juraian battle armour of 
black and green, a pole in his hands that bore a light blade emitter 
at the top. His hair was held back in two ponytails one above the 
other, the sides tied above the rest in a traditional style both 
Ayeka and Sasami recognised as popular with the guards at the time 
they were still on Jurai. Two strands still hung around his face.

               "You slimy *bastard*!" growled Ryoko. "It was you all 
along! I knew there was something wrong about you!"

               Mihoshi sat there confused by Kiyone's side. "Shoji? 
What are you doing here? I thought you ran away."

               "A little bit of deception is always fun Mihoshi-
chan!" he said mirthfully.

               Ryoko turned to Mihoshi. "He was playing us! It was 
all a set up! Why the hell would he be in Juraian armour Mihoshi? He 
was supposed to be an Earthing!"

               They watched as Mihoshi took in what she had said and 
her face filled with horror. "No. He... he wouldn't."

               Taishi watched with satisfaction. This part was 
playing out better than he had hoped. "You can't kill us both at the 
same time Tsunami. Not without risking them too." He pointed to the 
captives.

               Tsunami looked at Shoji expressionlessly. "True." She 
turned to Taishi. "I propose a duel. You want to do things the 
traditional way and we have one combat capable member of each side. 
Non-lethal. The winner will do as they decide appropriate in the 
situation."

               Taishi looked at her bluntly. "Why should I give up my 
advantage? If you think you are in the position to make such offers 
you are sadly deluded."

               "It is you who are deluded Taishi. You insult my 
intelligence, and you have harmed my children. I could simply blow 
out the walls to space. They are safe behind the field you have so 
kindly provided. You are not. I am offering a chance to escape 
alive." Then, to the surprise of everyone, she gave him a warm smile. 
"I do not wish to harm you any more than you do my family."

               Taishi swallowed bitterly. "Very well. You will not 
participate though."

               Tsunami nodded. "Yes, that would be rather unfair. 
Shoji-san may choose his opponent from the captives, but he may not 
choose Sasami or Kiyone. Neither is capable of duelling to the level 
required."

               Taishi nodded to Shoji and the young man grinned. He 
held out a hand and snagged his chosen opponent in a force field and 
pulled her through the barrier.

               "Mihoshi nee-chan!" Sasami cried as the blonde 
stumbled to her feet outside the field.

               "Shoji-san? What's going on?" Mihoshi said, her voice 
trembling. "You're not a bad guy, right? You were always nice... and 
you liked me. But you d-didn't mean it?"

               Shoji grinned cruelly, the seemingly carefree face she 
knew now twisted unrecognisably. "Not in the slightest. You were very 
eager to make friends. It was almost too easy."

               Tsunami looked on dispassionately. "A talented 
puppet."

               Shoji brought his pole to bear and ignited the weapon. 
The small ball of energy appeared, sprouting three claw-like blades 
from the top, the outer two angled slightly away from the inner one.

               "A Tsueibo?" Ayeka recognised it from her history 
lessons. One of the lesser-known polearms used when Jurai was still 
conquering other worlds. They were replaced with less unwieldy 
polearms millennia ago. 

               Mihoshi firmed her face and drew her pistol, but her 
tears began to flow in spite of it. "S-Shoji Mugai-san, you're a 
really nice guy and I really liked you, and I don't think you're 
really a criminal, but if you are a bad person I have to stop you. 
I'm Galaxy Police Mihoshi, detective first class. Please, drop the 
weapon."

               "Let's dance." Shoji swung in first, the three blades 
making a wide arc in Mihoshi's direction and she jumped back to avoid 
them. He kept the swing going and spun round, another slash aimed at 
her legs and finally letting the arc go high and slamming the blades 
into the ground at her feet.

               Mihoshi dodged backwards then charged in and Shoji 
parried her punch with the shaft of his weapon and they passed each 
other. Shoji made another high swing, then leaped in to drive the 
inner blade into Mihoshi's armour. She cried out in surprise at the 
armoured shell was torn right off her suit, exposing the black 
bodysuit over the left of her chest. She frantically leaped away 
again to miss the shaft swinging round as Shoji circled the Tsueibo 
around his middle and brought the blades into play again, glancing 
off her shoulder armour and gouging into the arm below.

               Mihoshi cried out in pain and the others gasped as she 
charged again and tackled Shoji, taking him off his feet. "Shoji 
please, you're not like this!"

               Shoji's only answer was to flip her off and plunge the 
blades of the weapon into the floor next to her head. "I've always 
been me Mihoshi, you just need to get to know me!"

               Mihoshi back-flipped away and squared up again. She 
fired off her psudo-stasis weapon, but it just formed a wall of 
crystalline matter against the force shield that Shoji put up.

               Shoji's next swings were parried by Mihoshi's armour 
shelled gloves and she fired her blaster at his shoulders, only to 
have it meet the force field too.

               Shoji swung round again and caught her lightly in the 
stomach with the blades, then was right next to her, the hilt of the 
pole smashing into her chest. She gave a cry of pain as she went down 
and Shoji thrust the butt of the weapon down onto her face. Mihoshi's 
eyes fell closed.

               Shoji turned and bowed to the other captives, a grin 
still on his face. Sasami curled into her sister's arms as she began 
crying and the others frowned. "You'll pay for this Shoji," Tenchi 
said in a low voice. 

               Then Shoji and Tsunami spoke as one.

               "Of course I will."

               "Of course he will."

               Taishi looked suddenly at Tsunami then three shots 
were heard. Shoji's grin collapsed as he staggered forward then fell 
to his knees, the Tsueibo falling from his fingers and going out as 
it clattered to the floor. He flopped forward onto his face and the 
others saw the small smoking holes in his armour, one having breached 
a back seam of the super-toughened material. Mihoshi stood behind 
him, a bruise beginning to form on her face and her blaster in her 
hand. In a flash she was kneeling by him, her tears flowing freely.

               "Even Juraian armour won't completely stop a point 
blank blaster on high yield," said Washu analytically.

               "Now," said Tsunami to Taishi, "lower the shield 
please."

               Taishi looked at her apprehensively, then pressed a 
button on his console. He knew he couldn't win now.

               In the blink of an eye the force field disappeared and 
the others were racing out, Sasami staying with Kiyone. Ryoko was 
almost to Taishi, her sword out and teeth bared, when Nagi's whip 
coiled around her throat.

               Everyone stopped and Tenchi looked at her with equal 
parts anger and apprehension. "Hey Nagi, we have a deal remember?"

               Nagi kept her eyes fixed on Ryoko. "Yes, we do. I get 
my revenge and I leave you alone."

               Ryoko stood there and, as much as she hated to do it, 
extinguished her sword. Nagi nodded and walked past her to where 
Taishi lay.

               Over where Shoji had fallen stood Washu, Ayeka and 
Tsunami, gathered around the weeping Mihoshi as she held her bloodied 
arm. "Please Washu-chan, you can do something, right? You're the 
greatest genius in the world."

               "Mihoshi," Ayeka said, "he was working for the bad 
guys."

               Tsunami knelt by the blonde haired detective and 
looked up at the others. "I think this choice should be up to 
Mihoshi-dono. He was not quite under his own control. While I cannot 
detect this ship I could see many other things, including that he was 
under the influence of some form of suggestive notion. I wouldn't 
wake him up until it has been cleared."

               "You mean Mihoshi was right, he was being used?" asked 
Tenchi as he walked over. "What about the armour, like Ryoko said. He 
actually said that he was deceiving us!" 

               "Correct," said Tsunami, "He will remember it as a 
rather unpleasant hallucination, but he will remember. I would guess 
the armour is as old as the weapon, and I wouldn't be surprised if 
they both belonged to Taishi when he was a young man. It was just 
luck on Taishi's part that I helped him learn the polearm instead of 
another weapon when he was forced to defend himself from Nagi. And as 
he said, a little deception is always fun. Why not make us think he 
was working against us all along? It got you thinking what Taishi 
wanted you to think. His extensive past and life on Earth easily gave 
him away." Tsunami smiled at Mihoshi. "Choosing yourself as his 
duelling partner was a forgone conclusion. He trusted you not to kill 
him, because he couldn't have beaten any of you in an all out fight."

               "You mean he was a good guy after all?" Mihoshi asked, 
her face brightening. She turned to Washu. "Please Washu-chan, you 
can help him. I know he didn't want to say all those mean things."

               Washu thought for a moment then nodded. "Alright. Give 
me a minute. I'll patch you up too while I'm at it. Course I'll have 
to find out what that prat did to him first." She headed over to 
where Kiyone lay and motioned for Sasami to join the others, which 
she did with a great deal of relief, latching onto Tsunami for all 
she was worth. Washu and Kiyone smiled. "I'll have to borrow these 
for a bit Kiyone-dono and we'll need to move out. Tenchi and Ayeka 
will have been leaching that gas out of their clothing since they 
were brought here, and I think that's what's stopping the regen pads 
working as well as they should. You should have at least been able to 
sit up by now."

               Kiyone nodded and tried to do so, but only succeeded 
in aggravating her wounds.

               "Hey Tenchi, give the girl a hand, huh?" Washu called.

               Ryoko looked on with jealousy in her eyes as Tenchi 
helped the injured detective onto his back, and Ayeka couldn't help 
but conceal a chuckle. Ryoko herself got hold of Shoji and they 
trooped out into the hall, leaving Nagi to deal with Taishi.

***

               Nagi looked down to where Taishi sat in his chair, her 
whip held ready to dispense a great deal of pain.

               Taishi looked up to her as she towered over him. "Oh, 
it's you. I suppose you'll want some sort of revenge now."

               "You shouldn't have made an enemy out of me," Nagi 
said coldly.

               "You were the one who broke the contract. You were 
supposed to sneak in, not start a tournament!"

               Nagi frowned at him. "I'm the specialist *you* hired. 
I know my work and what it takes to get it done." She raised and 
ignited the whip.

               Taishi chuckled a little. "Well, it doesn't matter 
anyway. I'm not going to get my revenge, and justice has been 
thwarted yet again. I hope you feel proud."

               Nagi's hand stopped for a brief moment. She wasn't 
fully Juraian, but she could almost feel a glimmer of pity amongst 
the anger and drive she held. It was sad, to see a man once held as a 
pillar of his society, a genius of his time, reduced to the pathetic 
old man that lay helpless before her. It was like seeing a great tree 
finally collapse after all its millennia of life, its core slowly 
eaten away by rot.

               Taishi grinned and raised his hand. He held a small 
mechanical device, its contents already gone. "Neither of us wins, 
Nagi."

               The bounty hunter's eyes widened. It was a hypodermic.

               "You won't get to make your kill. You can do what you 
like with my body, but you don't get your revenge, and you can't get 
Ryoko now either. With me dead the security system won't be capturing 
anyone any more; they will be killing. You and your temporary allies 
won't be getting out of here alive. Congratulations Nagi - you have 
failed. Failed on all counts." Taishi relaxed back into his chair, 
the grin still plastered on his face as his life ended.

               Nagi just looked at him, then swung her sword around 
and smashed it into the side of his head, toppling his inert body out 
of the chair. <Damn it! That low bastard!> She rushed over to the 
console and stated looking of the schematics for a map of the ship. 
<I haven't stayed my hand in so long, and this is what happens! How 
could I have pitied him like that? I'm the most feared bounty hunter 
in Juraian space. Never, NEVER, let emotion get in the way!>

               Nothing had gone right since she had begun dealing 
with this assignment.

***

               "That's better," said Washu as she brought the regen 
pads over and set about trying to get the armour off Shoji. "Ayeka, 
have you lot changed your armour ring design recently," she said, 
trying to twist the ring on his middle finger.

               Ayeka looked over. "No. Why?"

               Washu frowned. "I can't get the armour to deactivate. 
Would you mind having a look?"

               Ayeka walked over and knelt down to examine the ring. 
"It doesn't look any different." She tried to give the mechanism a 
twist. "That's strange."

               Washu looked at the hole in the armour. "*Bleagh*. 
Never mind, I'll just work through the hole." She pulled the hole 
open a little, regen pack at the ready, when she flinched her hand 
back and the armour sparked a little.

               "What the..?" She glared at the armour. "Looks like he 
modified it himself. Juraian armour doesn't have any electrical 
parts." She handed Ayeka the Tsueibo she had taken. "Ayeka, would you 
mind trying to ignite that please?"

               Ayeka did so and almost dropped it in surprise. The 
weapon needed almost no focus at all to get going. "That's not normal 
either," the princess said as she tried giving it a few test swings.

               Washu sighed. "I'll have to get him back to my lab 
then. Can't scan anything in here and the shot wasn't bad enough to 
need attention for a few hours yet."

               Kiyone was being carried on Tenchi's back and the 
unconscious Shoji on Mihoshi's as they all headed out. Sasami was 
smiling as she talked with a very animated Mihoshi about how 
everything really turned out, all the while latched onto Tsunami's 
arm like a blue haired limpet, very happy to have the goddess back 
after their ordeal. Kiyone was grumbling about stupid Earth people 
who get themselves abducted with Tenchi and Washu throwing in some 
classic abduction stories and trivia, with Ryoko just hanging around 
them and having a good laugh. At the back of the group Ayeka heard 
Nagi heading up to them and fell into step beside her. She was a 
little disturbed about the level of knowledge Taishi had had about 
her family's secrets. "Nagi-san, what did you do with Taishi?"

               Nagi looked stonily ahead, saying nothing.

               "Nagi-san, we have a right to know. I will willingly 
put a bounty on him if you turn him over to us. He can't tell anyone 
about what he knows."

               Nagi frowned. "He's not talking to anyone. The bastard 
decided he'd rather kill himself than let me do it."

               From in front of them Sasami let go of Tsunami's arm 
and stopped. "Wait, that means the robots will kill us! He said they 
only took you because he wanted them to."

               Nagi nodded and Tenchi looked at them seriously, 
remembering what he had seen with the others. "Then we have to shut 
down the security system fast. I don't think we can take on all the 
machines he has here."

               At the front of the group Washu had stopped. Her mind 
was turning over at full tilt. She looked at Shoji as he hung on 
Mihoshi's back. Another small spark flicked from the hole in his 
armour.

               "Oh, shit! Everyone *wait*!"

               They all turned to her, Nagi with her weapon ready in 
her hand.

               Washu looked at them all. "Taishi said Shoji was his 
`ace in the hole', but he sure wasn't a match for any one of us. 
Mihoshi got a good shot, but if Taishi was somehow linked to the main 
computer systems what will happen when Shoji wakes up and we haven't 
got him back to himself? If the machines aren't taking prisoners any 
more what about *him*? God knows what stuff Taishi built into that 
armour or programmed him to do now!"

               Ryoko gulped. "We're in trouble."

               Washu turned to Mihoshi. "Where's the central 
computer?"

               Mihoshi looked around before pointing down an 
adjoining corridor. "Umm... It was this way I think. This way from 
where we started anyway. Washu-chan, is Shoji going to be okay?"

               Washu just looked at Kiyone who nodded, "I think she's 
right. I can guide you from the rec. rooms. There's a ship cannon and 
some arachnids there though."

               Washu turned back to Mihoshi. "Just turn your luck up 
to full Mihoshi, because he's going to need it. I think we all are."

***


To Be Continued...


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***************
---------------
Please send any comments and criticisms to:

nutzoide@hotmail.com
Or leave them on the archive where you found this story.

If it will help me improve, I want to hear it.
Also, feel free to visit my website at: www.geocities.com/nutzoides

Author's Notes:
                Argh, cliff-hangers! Don't you just love them? 
*dodges various thrown weapons* ^_^ Sorry, but it had to be done!
                There was an awful lot of plot and action squeezed 
into this chapter and I ended putting the characters through more 
than I had originally intended. I think it worked out well though. 
Writing Shoji's re-appearance was the toughest part though, because I 
had had it in my head almost from the beginning, and getting it right 
was a priority, especially with the way the story has developed as 
I've been writing it.
                Also, the story has taken an unusual turn because of 
the way that part ended up. It just didn't work first time round and 
thanks to the prompting and input of my main proof reader I can give 
it what it really needs.
                
***

Translation Notes: 
                   -chan: Diminutive honorific. The closest English 
speakers have is `little' or `li'l'. Used for children, very close 
friends or lovers. A term of affection with the connotation of youth.
                   -dono: Translated as `Lord/Lady' or as `Sir' in 
the way a knight would be addressed. Can imply martial prestige.
                   -ken: The name attached is the name of a sword. 
The Tenchi-ken is the `Sword Tenchi'. (It can also mean `technique' 
or `fist' when used as a suffix for the name of a move. I won't be 
using it that way in this fanfic though.)
                   -sama: Formal honorific. Translated as `Lord' or 
`Lady'. Very respectful.
                   -san: Translated as Mr. or Miss. And so on. Can be 
used for both family and personal names.
                   -sensei: Translates as teacher or professor and 
can be used as a word on its own.
                   Bokken: A wooden training sword.
                   Chibi: Translates as small with the implication of 
cuteness. I'm using it when describing a super deformed image of 
someone. Super deformed is when the character is very small or 
squashed, chubby and very cute, as seen used in some anime and manga 
for comic effect.
                   Glomp: A very enthusiastic hug, almost physically 
throwing yourself at the target to be glomped.
                   Imouto: Meaning `younger sister' and often used 
with the `-chan' suffix although other can be used.
                   Kanji: The Japanese naming characters.
                   Kappa: A Japanese water sprite. 
                   Karaoke: Popular pastime. Music is played along 
with the lyrics and you sing the song yourself. 
                   Kata: A set of martial arts moves linked together 
into a sequence for training purposes. Practised solo.
                   Kimono: A traditional Japanese outfit tied round 
the middle with a wide ribbon or similar length of material called an 
`Obi'.
                   Manga: Japanese comics. There are types for pretty 
much everybody, not just the children and collectors.
                   Miso: Bean paste often used in soup. Comes in 
several varieties.
                   Mori Tatakai: Literally translates as `Forest 
Battle'. I used the Japanese since I designed it as a Jurai thing, 
not Earth related.
                   Onee-sama / Onee-chan: Meaning `elder sister'. The 
`-sama' variation is respected and the `-chan' one is more 
affectionate.
                   Onii-sama / Onii-chan: As above but meaning 
brother. Sasami uses the `-chan' variations of both for members the 
family because she feels affection for them, as family and friends.
                   (They can also be used without the `O' at the 
beginning when placed after someone's name, signifying that that 
person is their `brother' or `sister'. Sasami uses this for the 
family she is not immediately related to such as Tenchi and those she 
considers family like Ryoko.)                   
                   Onsen: A public or communal bath. Often associated 
with a hot spring.
                   Ramen: A noodle broth.
                   Sake: Japanese rice wine.
                   Sashimi: Small portions of raw fish.
                   Sushi: Small portions of raw fish often with 
vegetables wrapped in rice and a seaweed sheet.
                   Tanto: A Japanese dagger. Often looks very much 
like a dagger sized katana. The katana is the traditional samurai 
sword.
                   Tanuki: Smallish Japanese mammal similar to a 
raccoon (I think). Tanuki statues are often placed outside shops for 
good luck.
                   Tempura: A form of deep fried food.
                   Teriyaki/Sukiyaki: Japanese sauces/marinades.
                   Wasabi: A hot Japanese horseradish often served on 
or accompanying sushi.

***
Completed: June 5th - 2003

Posted: ? - 2003