Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ The Trial ❯ "Space Opera Salad" ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
*Disclaimer: The main characters in this story are property of AIC, Pioneer, & Viz Comics. All the other characters were created by me, so any similarities are just dumb luck so please don't sue me.

** Author's notes: This story takes place about a year after "Tenchi Forever" in which it follows the "Tenchi Universe" storyline, though some names and places from the OAV and manga might appear. C & C is welcomed, but remember, this is my first fanfic, so easy on the flame throwing!

Special Note: If you read the ending of the last chapter, I said that I had a special surprise in store for you readers. So it's my pleasure to introduce my guest writer for this segment of the Trial: William 'ThunderGod' Nichols! Take it away Will!

The Trial: by alighthawk

Chapter X - "Space Opera Salad"
Guest written by William 'Thundergod' Nichols

Cullen stood watching as the red contours of Kiyone's Yagami flew away with an incredible roar. Engine wash eddied around him as the two yellow suns of the GP ships engines blazed into the sky, contrails of white vapor trailing from the ships stub wings. "Good luck you two," he spoke softly as the Yagami closed in other triple red specks of their assailants' ship. "And make those 'tards pay for what they've done..."

"Give me a visual on that ship!" Kiyone barked as she tossed her black field jacket aside and took the right seat of Yagami's bridge.

"Got it," Mihoshi chimed, brushing the accumulation of snack wrappers and drink cups from her console. After spacing out for second, the usually ditsy blonde punched the viewer key. Instantly a contoured screen popped into view in front of them. Filling the screen was the sinewy, black shape of their attackers' ship, its three red engines blazing evilly as it continued to pull away from the Yagami.

"Why does that look familiar?" Kiyone asked as her hands raced across the console, striking a sequence of keys from memory. That is what was so comfortable about the Yagami. Each aspect was built to Kiyone's specifications. Flying the ship came nearly like a second nature.

"Maybe we saw it on TV somewhere?" Mihoshi asked innocently.

Kiyone opened her mouth to start a retort, when something struck her. "You're a genius Mihoshi!"

"Um...Kiyone?" Mihoshi asked, even more befuddled than normal.

"Hold on," Kiyone said, her right hand once again a blur on the consoles keypad. Soon a PiP opened in the bottom corner of the main viewer, showing another picture the sleek black vessel trying to evade them.

"The Darktalon," the slightly metallic female computer voice announced, "Winner of the Jurai Galactic Cup for the years beginning M21.518 through M21.523, universal standard." The pictures flashed through the winning scenes of each race before it turned into a generated three-dimensional schematic. "Capable of advanced hyper-drive velocities via engineering of unknown origins," the computer continued. "Believed to use advanced neural interfacing controls to aid in piloting."

Mihoshi shivered at those words as the schematic rotated to a frontal view, giving the Darktalon the look of an angry raptor with its split angular red canopies, beaklike construction and forward swept wings. Sharp, angular sinews covered the ships hull, looking like black latex stretched over toned musculature. Its three vertical stabilizers fanned out on top while a single strake projected ventrally, sandwiching forward swept wings that looked like scything talons. Slung under each wingtip was a vortex cannon, each adorned with a deep crimson spirals beginning at the barrels apertures and reaching back to their power matrixes. A humped torpedo emitter seemed to have been added to the bottom of the ships beak, giving it a sinister air.

"Last confirmed sighting was after the Jurai Cup of M21.523. It was believed that the ship was to have been retired undefeated from racing and sold to an unknown buyer. Since then the ship has been rumored to be in service of one of the pirate guilds as a contraband runner. Considered armed and hostile. Use extreme caution when approaching," the computer finished, the PiP blinking out as it did.

"Open up a hailing channel," Kiyone ordered.

"Coming right up," Mihoshi said in a determined tone.

"This is Galaxy Police detective Makibi," Kiyone spoke across the channel. "You are to power down and prepare to be boarded."

A tense moment passed with no reply from the Darktalon. "Do you think they heard us?" Mihoshi said, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

Right as Kiyone was about to repeat her orders another PiP opened in the bottom half of the viewer. A dark haired man with mirrored sunglasses occupied the front console while a man with flame orange hair with neural interface jacks connected to his cranium sat in the rear position. "SMOKE YOU!" the gentleman in the front cockpit hollered while flipping the GP's an obscene hand gesture.

"I'd say they heard us," Kiyone sighed as the PiP dissolved. 'They always have to do this the hard way,' she inwardly groaned.
__

"That aughtta frazz them," Osaka joked to Oto as his neural interfaces fed him raw data straight into his brain. Tines extending from his fingertips connected him with the Darktalon's controls at an instantaneous level. Man was machine, and machine was man.

"This will really frazz 'em good," Oto laughed as he plugged an interface jack into the base of his skull to give himself control of the ships weapons systems. "Bring us around!"
___

"They're coming back!" Mihoshi chimed as the hulk Darktalon swung around in a high graceful arc.

"This isn't good," Kiyone scowled. Her sensor readouts on the Darktalon were all skewed. 'They must be using an active stealth matrix,' she thought. 'Just one more thing I can nail on their sorry asses...'

Both women watched intently as the Darktalon came to bear on them. "Should I raise shields Kiyone?" Mihoshi asked with a tremble in her voice. Facing the Darktalon head on now, the ships raptor like construction became even more apparent. The twin split canopies gleamed like a pair of burning red embers. Ambient starlight reflected off the ships facets, giving the beak the appearance of a fanged maw. "Shields, Kiyone?" Mihoshi whimpered again. Before Kiyone could answer the torpedo emitter under the Darktalon's beak came to life and belched an angry mass of dazzling blue energy at the Yagami.

"Shit!" Kiyone cursed as she slammed the Yagami hard to port. The torpedo skidded along the Yagami's hastily thrown up shielding leaving a dark scorch down the ships starboard side. "Good job," Kiyone complimented of Mihoshi, who was somewhat catatonic.

"Uh-huh," she whimpered as the feeling returned to her fingertips.

Kiyone frowned. "These guys mean business." Swinging the Yagami down and around to take them out of the Darktalon's arc of fire, Kiyone sighed. 'I hate to do this, but we have no other option...' "We're going to have to reconfigure," Kiyone stated bluntly.

Mihoshi considered asking Kiyone if they could high tail it out of there at top speed for a moment, but she knew deep down that they had to catch these crooks. If they knew anything about who set Ryoko up, they had to find out. "Okay," she said resolutely, putting on her most serious mask. "We can do it!"

Kiyone grinned. "Let's get these bastards!" Reaching down beside her seat she twisted a red 'D' ring and pulled it up until it locked in place with a heavy clink. Simultaneously Mihoshi and Kiyone reached up to their shoulders and pulled down their restraining harnesses, locking them into place between their legs. Both kept a mindful eye on the Darktalon as the bridge of the Yagami began to reconfigure. The bulkhead behind them hissed shut and all life support was bypassed to the bridge, making the rest of the ship uninhabitable. In combat mode, only the bridge needed to be protected. Servo's whined as Kiyone's station elevated and swung behind Mihoshi's, changing the decks dual layout to a tandem setting.

Mihoshi adjusted her seat as her station slid over and down as Kiyone's rose behind her. Control panels rotated up to give her control of all the Yagami's weapons. Mihoshi put on an eye piece head set that allowed her to visually aim the Yagami's weapons whilst a firing stud popped up for her right hand. A two paned Heads Up Display rose in front of her main console and a set of green crosshairs blinked on and began to track in concert of with her aim. "I'm ready!" she chimed.

Kiyone nodded as her controls came online. "Good," she replied flatly as she toggled the lateral control pedals at her feet. In her right hand a directional yolk controlled the Yagami's pitch and yaw while a throttle in her left controlled engine performance.

In less than ten seconds the Yagami's reconfiguration was complete. Externally the Yagami had changed as well. The dorsal engine stack had become more compressed to the ships hull, giving the cruiser sleeker lines. Also the ships winglets had extended and their tips canted down fifteen degrees. Twin ion cannons dropped down from twin bays under the hull and covers slid back on either side of the hull to reveal multi-rowed missile batteries. Yagami was now a true weapons platform.

"It's gonna be hard to keep track on them," Mihoshi stated as a fact.

"I know," Kiyone replied grimly. "I know."
___

"Looks like those GP bitches wanna play!" Oto said with a sick guffaw.

Osaka grinned wildly. "That out of date piece of GP shit can't hold a candle to the Darktalon!" The pilot laughed at his own joke, as did Oto. Osaka's eyes were glazed over as his neural uplinks fed the raw images from the ships sensors directly into his optical nerves. The other connections implanted into his nervous system allowed him to control the Darktalon with as little as a thought or glance. This system had its inherent dangers and most militaries and agencies chose not to use it for those risks. But to those brave or stupid enough to risk it, it gave a distinct advantage.

"Say Oto!" Osaka called out as he postured the Darktalon for an attack run. "If those GP bitches survive, lets have our way wiff 'em before we off 'em!"

"I like that idea," Oto grinned. Anything to add insult to that damned wench Ryoko's injuries was fair game in his book. Oto's grin broadened as the retinal crosshair from his neural hookup locked onto the Yagami. "Let's see how they like this!"
___

Kiyone grunted as she jinked the Yagami hard to starboard then to port to as bright blue fingers reached out from the Darktalon's vortex cannons to lash out at them. "Damn they're quick!" she cursed at the Darktalon looped beneath them and came up on their tail again. The Darktalon was quick. Damn quick. And what made that sinking feeling in Kiyone's gut even heavier was the fact that she knew they were being toyed with. Yagami was no match for any ship with those capabilities.

Mihoshi was doing her best to keep from hyperventilating. Each time Kiyone could manage to close the gap or maneuver behind the Darktalon it would quickly flit away just as Mihoshi could squeeze off a shot from the Yagami's ion cannons. All of her fears and insecurities were bubbling up to a head right now, but she kept telling her self she would not break. She had to be as strong as Ryoko. Strength. That was one lesson she had learned from Ryoko over the years, and she would not fail her friends. Mihoshi winced as once again the Darktalon flew out of her sights just as she could get a shot off.

"Come on!" Kiyone growled to no one in general as she wrenched the Yagami in a high g turn that caused the grav generators on the bridge to whine as they struggled to compensate.

"I'm tryin'!" Mihoshi said somewhat annoyed, suspecting that the gripe was aimed at her.

"It's not you," Kiyone grunted as she cut the throttle back and hammered hard to starboard, sending the Yagami spiraling down and away from another salvo.

Mihoshi gave a quick nod as the Darktalon briefly reappeared in her crosshairs. "I got them!" she exclaimed as a shot glanced off the Darktalon's stabilizer.

'First blood,' Kiyone thought as the Darktalon quickly banked and pulled into an inverted loop, rolling one hundred eighty degrees as it did so. "Good work," she complimented to bolster Mihoshi's confidence, but she knew that it was going to take more than a lucky glance to bring the Darktalon down.
___

"How much damage?" Oto barked as Osaka brought the Darktalon back to the vertical.

"Five percent degrade of flight controls," he hissed. "Bitch got lucky."

"See that it does not happen again," the gunner growled as the crosshairs on his retinal sight tracked onto the Yagami. "Now let's see how you like it!" Oto laughed wildly as the torpedo emitter under the Darktalon's beak belched a series of torpedoes at the banking Yagami. Warp eddies streamed from the Galaxy Police cruisers winglets as it banked hard to avoid the torpedoes. Oto frowned as a glistening puff of chaff fired from a counter measure array on the Yagami's fantail skewed two of the torpedoes guidance systems and sent them tumbling into one another.

"Ugh," he grunted as the gunner on the GP ship managed to glance the remaining torpedo with a hail of laser fire. 'These two are not your ordinary cops,' he thought as Osaka mimicked the Yagami's maneuvers. 'Either they are top agents or just damned lucky.' With his free hand Oto punched a series of commands on his console. Instantly the ships AI cross-referenced the image of the red GP cruiser with its memory banks and fed the data to his optical link. "Fuck me," he breathed as the file photos of Kiyone and Mihoshi were displayed with a run down of their careers and their involvement in the Kagato Uprising on Jurai. "You see this shit?" he asked Osaka as he let loose another burst of superheated plasma from the ships vortex cannons.

"I see," Osaka replied, still looking straight ahead. "This will be more fun than I thought it would!"

"Loads," Oto growled. He hated GP's with a passion. Having the chance to humiliate two of the force's finest was an added bonus to this gig. 'And when I'm done with them I'll mail what's left back to the GP!'
___

Cullen looked up from his pint of ale at the Outlaw Blues. The first two pints had gone along way to helping him not think about the emerald haired GP that had fallen onto this rock he called home and just as suddenly left him. 'At least we had one night together,' he chuckled fondly to himself. Taking a slug of the amber ale, Cullen savored its crisp nature and tried to force Kiyone from his mind.

"Check this!" one of the establishment's more rowdy patrons called out above the tavern's usual rancor.

"Totally sweet!" another patron cried out.

"Huh?" Cullen mumbled, swiveling on his bar stool to see the growing crowd around the five-meter video screen that adorned the taverns back wall. The static snow faded as a slender man fiddled with the array of tiny knobs at the sets base. Soon the image of two ships dueling in the inter-planetary lanes came into focus. Such things were not uncommon around this rock. The planetary sensor array usually picked up on them quickly and sent real time feeds back to the surface, just for this reason: cheap entertainment. "Oh shit," he mumbled as the black raptor-like ship made another pass on the red cruiser.

"Some one run the board!" a fellow called out. Cullen watched as two columns were quickly chalked off on a slate and the odds laid out for the two ships. One column bore the title 'Darktalon' and the other 'Yagama.'

"It's 'Yagami'," Cullen breathed over the top of his ale. A bald fellow with round spectacles and a crooked nose smeared the offensive 'A' from the board with the heel of his hand and placed the proper vowel in its place.

"I herez dat da reddin' iz a GeePee," a rather burly chap with curly mop of red hair and beard said as he bellied up next to Cullen. His soiled brown tunic and leather vest reeked of several different types of booze, each adding its distinctive scent to his bouquet.

"Maybe," the pirate breathed over the top of his tankard as he watched the Yagami spiral down then loops out of the way of a salvo from the Darktalon. Cullen inhaled sharply as a spider web of energy latticed out on the Yagami's shielding from another torpedo impact. A dark finger reached up the hull from the point of impact. 'You have to be more careful!' Cullen mentally chided the Yagami.

"Iz hatez GeePee'z," the man growled.

"To each his own," Cullen said, non-confrontationally.

"Wellz Iz hopez muh boyz in da Darktalon spankz 'em good!" he bellowed with a deep guffaw. Cullen bit his tongue as others slapped the portly chap on the back and seconded his disdain for the Galaxy Police. A chorus of cheers erupted as the Darktalon landed a series of ion cannon blasts on the Yagami's hull sending splinters of red ceramite spiraling off into the void. "Double me bet on da Darktalon!" Red hooted after the Darktalon's shots. "Hundert towlsand ducats!"

"I'd rethink that," Cullen said calmly, his voice betraying his rising ire.

"Frazz dat!" Red laughed slapping Cullen heartedly on the back, causing the pirate to spill some of his ale.

"Are you sure?" Cullen asked again, setting his tankard on the bar.

"Yeah!" Red snorted as the Yagami barely slipped past a torpedo barrage. "I'd be frazzin' stupit not ta!"

"Suit yourself," Cullen sighed before he decked Red square on the jaw. Everyone fell quiet as the portly pirate toppled over backwards. "Triple my bet on the Yagami," Cullen said loud enough for everyone to hear. "One million ducats." The bookie nodded and marked Cullen's bet on the slate. "Anyone else care to rethink their bets?" he asked as the barkeep slid him a fresh tankard of ale.

"Make mine the Yagami!" someone rang out, which was quickly followed by a chorus of others seconding his lead.

'Come on you two!' Cullen thought as he watched the Yagami take a momentary advantage over the Darktalon and land a few solid shots from her cannons. 'Take these bastards out and save Ryoko! I know you can do it!'
____

"Dammit!" Kiyone cursed as she punched the throttle to the Yagami's engines and rolled violently to starboard before pulling the ship into the vertical. No matter what she did, the Darktalon managed to stay on her backside like Ryo-ohki on a carrot. "Be ready," Kiyone warned Mihoshi as an idea popped into her head. The blonde mop in front of her nodded quickly in response. 'She's really done well,' Kiyone thought, 'let's just hope this works.'

"Now!" Kiyone ordered as she cut the throttle to one-third and dropped the Yagami vertically fifty meters. The grav generators in the bridge throbbed as the two were pushed up in their seat restraints by the negative g's being exerted upon them.

Mihoshi pressed the firing studs for the ion cannons and missile rails right as the Darktalon sped overhead. The Darktalon's pilot realized the maneuver and tried to compensate, but he could not avoid the entire flurry Mihoshi unleashed upon him. Several ion pulses struck true and one missile managed to get close enough for its proximity fuse to detonate. "I got them!" Mihoshi chirped as the Darktalon emerged from the billow of orange flame that consumed its hindquarters.

"Good shot," Kiyone complimented, seeing that one of the Darktalon's vertical stabilizers was damaged. "That ought to even the field a little," she smiled as the Darktalon turned sluggishly to come back around at them. The ship was still quick, but this just might be the advantage they needed.
__

"Frazz it!" Oto screamed as static washed over his tactical displays from the electromagnetic pulse created by the Yagami's torpedo.

"Maneuvering's degraded twenty percent," Osaka hissed as he rerouted subroutines at the speed of thought. "I'm powering up the manual controls if needed," he said, not hiding the disdain for such archaic devices in his voice.

"I'm gonna skin that bitch gunner alive!" Oto growled. 'And each scream I'll savor finer than Terrellian whiskey.' "After I have my way with her of course," he added for good measure.

Data splashed across Osaka's eyes. "They almost have parity," he warned as the still deadly nimble Darktalon felt sluggish to his commands. "But I think we still have the upper hand," he added after calculating the new maneuvering algorithms. "Not by much though."

"Get fancy on them," Oto laughed.

A fanged grin spread across Osaka's face. "My pleasure." Instantly he pitched the Darktalon's bow upwards and applied full thrust. The view screen showed the Yagami trying to match the maneuver, but the larger ship was not as agile as the Darktalon in the vertical, and Osaka new this. Kicking the lateral thrusters in opposite directions, Osaka pirouetted the Darktalon. Bleeding off just enough speed, he then punched the dorsal bow thrusters, dropping the Darktalon's nose down as the Yagami tried to pull out of its climb. Firing at near point blank range, the Darktalon's vortex cannons unleashed a torrent of blue energy beams onto the Yagami's upper surfaces.

"Yeah!" Oto cried out as the Yagami momentarily tumbled before its pilot regained control. His readout told him the GP cruiser shields were down eighteen percent after that blast and that one of its weapons arrays was offline. "Good flyin'," he complimented of Osaka.

"Child's play," the pilot laughed. "They're gonna love thissin!" Osaka laughed maniacally as he punched the Darktalon through a series of maneuvers that an un-augmented person could not endure. Porpoising, the Darktalon executed a series of sharp dives and climbs, jerking violently to starboard then to port as it did. The erratic moves had the desired affect. The Yagami would over compensate with each porpoise, allowing Oto to squeeze off a few shots at the cruisers vulnerable flanks. Some overshot the Yagami, but a precious few stayed the course.
___

Sparks showered Kiyone's consoles as a conduit ruptured momentarily overhead. Ever since they scored their last hit, the Darktalon's pilot had become more aggressive, and their gunner had landed a few well-placed shots allowing to pirate ship to close the advantage Kiyone and Mihoshi momentarily enjoyed. 'He's damned good,' Kiyone thought as she tried to muscle the Yagami back into firing position. 'Poor Mihoshi,' she added, noticing the back of the blondes jacket was soaked with perspiration. 'I owe her big when this is over...' Kiyone smirked as she jinked the Yagami away from another torpedo. 'If we survive this that is...'

'Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm...' was the mantra Mihoshi repeated over and over to herself. She was glad Kiyone could not see her face right now. Silent tears streaked her makeup. She knew Kiyone would yell at her to suck it up, but she was being as strong as she could be. Mihoshi inhaled sharply as a cut on her forehead began to sting even more sharply from the sweat that matted her curls to her brow. Everything seemed to be aimed at breaking her concentration. Reflexively she squeezed off a shot at the Darktalon, which lashed out at the black ships port quarter, striking true.

A burst of white-hot flame erupted from the corsair and a chunk of one the raptor like ships vertical fins spun wildly towards the Yagami. Kiyone yanked the controls to port, to avoid the detritus, but the damages maneuvering thrusters made the move very sluggishly. "Dammit!" Kiyone cursed as the debris clipped the tip of the Yagami's stub wing. None of the shots from the Yagami seem to do any major damage to the Darktalon, but they were slowly winning the battle. Somehow, buy luck or skill, Mihoshi kept hitting the ships control systems or surfaces. The nimble racer was now just about at parity with the larger GP cruiser. 'Too bad she can't hit their guns!' Kiyone thought as she dodged a series of cannon bursts. A sideways glance at a blinking master light did nothing to ease her tensions. 'Not good...' Kiyone realized as the light kept blinking. 'Not good at all...'
___

Tenchi sighed as he leaned back against a magnificent oak in the Saibankan's arboretum. If one thing could be credited to the Jurai, it was their love of nature. So much so that even the most austere military ships such as the Saibankan had an arboretum that made the Emperor's garden in Tokyo at the old Edo castle pale in comparison. The gentle babble of the brook that split the garden washed away the ships normal noises and the hum of the artificial lighting.

Things were happening too fast. And even though he knew where his heart laid now, the certainty of that future was as diaphanous as spider silk, but nowhere near as strong. Time flows like the babbling little brook, never staying in the same place for long, and never to revisit the same place twice. Already his moments with Ryoko were fleeting, and the number he would have in the future been not discernable. 'I will protect her,' he sternly thought. 'Even if I have to fight the whole damned Juraian empire, I will protect her. I will protect...I will protect my love...'

Tenchi raised his head at the sound of Azaka clearing his throat behind him. "Hmm?"

"Lord Tenchi," the knight began, offering a short bow.

"Grandpa, Azaka?" Tenchi asked, rising from his spot of pondering. "What is it?" he asked, noting the glum expressions they wore.

"There is a matter we need to discuss with you," Katsuhito began. "Walk with us," the old priest asked, laying an aged hand on Tenchi's shoulder.

"Okay," Tenchi agreed, keeping step with his grandfather as they began to walk the little stone path that wound its way through the preserve, following the brooks lie. "So what's the matter?"

"This will not be easy," Katsuhito sighed, seeing a small patch of royal teardrops in bloom.

"No it is not," Azaka seconded from a pace behind the one and future princes.

"All right," Tenchi tried to laugh. "What's going on here?"

"There is a condition that must be met before we land on Jurai," Azaka plainly stated.

"What kind of condition?"

"Ryoko will not be allowed to leave the ship in her current state," Katsuhito elaborated.

"What do you mean her 'current state'?" Tenchi demanded.

"She will have to wear this," Azaka explained, pulling a gunmetal collar from his robes. "It will neutralize her powers."

"She's not going to try to escape!" Tenchi exclaimed.

"We know that," Katsuhito said, trying to calm his grandson. "But the senate will not allow her to step foot on Jurai with her powers."

Tenchi shook her head. "Is there any other option?"

"The only other option is that she be placed in stasis till the time of her trial," Azaka said. "And by doing that, it will only further entrench the public's belief that she is a vicious murderer that can only be controlled by such means."

Tenchi stepped away from his grandfather and friend. So many things were running through his head. Part of him wanted to escape with Ryoko right here and now, live their lives on the run. 'At least we would be together.' But her also knew that they would be hunted for the rest of their days. 'Why did I have to be such a fool? Why did I have to lose my cool that night...'

"Lord Tenchi," Azaka began slowly, "Ryoko has consented to the collar already, but only if you consent as well."

Tenchi wrenched his eyes shut, trying to block the world from his mind. All he wanted to focus on was Ryoko, and her alone. Silent tears streaked Tenchi's face as he gathered the courage to speak. "Let..." he croaked, "let me be the one to take that thing to her, please?"

"I think that will suffice," Katsuhito said, to a nod from Azaka. "Azaka my old friend, will your escort Tenchi back to Ryoko?"

"Of course my lord."

"I have a matter I must attend to," Katsuhito spoke as he left Tenchi and Azaka alone.

"Thank you for telling this to me personally," Tenchi said as Azaka patted him on the back.

"I wouldn't have done it any other way lord Tenchi," Azaka sighed. "Times are about to become incredibly difficult for you, and once the media catches wind of your and Ryoko's relationship, it will become a circus."

"I know," Tenchi answered, dreading the slander and humiliation he knew would be spewed towards his love.

"You will have to be strong," Azaka continued as they left the arboretum and headed back towards the sickbay. The dark metallic walls of the ship proper stood in stark contrast to the lively greens of the preserve; the difference between that which is alive and that which is not. "Not only for Ryoko and the Princess, but for your own sake."

"I understand," Tenchi sighed. 'But it will be hard...' The rest of the walk was spent in silence. Only the echo of their respective footfalls broke the sanctity of the silence.

"She is waiting for you," Azaka said, stopping short of the sickbay doors.

"That's the hard part," Tenchi said forlornly.

"You will need this milord," Azaka added solemnly as he once again produced the negator collar from his robes.

"Thank you," Tenchi said, almost a whisper.

"I will see to it you are not disturbed."

"Thank you," Tenchi croaked, trying to steel his resolve as much as possible. But deep down he knew the sight of Ryoko would be enough to break his heart. 'That is what makes love so hard,' he thought. 'Kami, watch over me...' Tenchi swallowed hard and held the collar behind his back as he sniffed his tears back best he could. Straightening himself, Tenchi stepped forward enough for the doors proximity sensors to detect his presence. The doors slid open with a hydraulic hiss, giving him access to the sickbay.

Ryoko looked up from where she was sitting on the bedside the instant the doors slid open. She had caught scent of Tenchi's pheromones from outside the door, and could tell from them his emotional state was not well. She knew that he had been told about the collar, and that he probably did not take it very well. What she did not expect was for him to fall to his knees in tears as soon as the sickbay doors hissed closed behind him.

Instantly the pirate reappeared in front of Tenchi, cradling him. His head rested on her shoulder as he sobbed quietly. Ryoko allowed a few tears to streak her face as she rubbed Tenchi's back. She was traditionally the strong one in the family, but right now none of them seemed terribly strong.

"I'm sorry," Tenchi squeaked through his waves of guilt and grief.

"It's okay," Ryoko tried to soothe. "It's okay dear..."

"No it's not," Tenchi lamented. 'Here I am supposed to be strong, and I break down right in front of her...'

"Let all out," Ryoko whispered in his ear. "Don't keep this all pent up, or it will eat you alive and get you when you really don't want it to..."

Tenchi saw the wisdom in her words, but is seemed hollow to him. It would take everything in his being to keep from doing this every time he saw her berated or slandered on the news, and the gods only knew what vile would be issued forth at the trial, trying to further demonize the woman he loved. "Always the strong one," Tenchi sniffed.

"Yeah that's me," Ryoko replied weakly. "But even I need someone to be strong for me at times," she sniffed.

"I will be there," Tenchi said, drawing her closer to him. "I may not be the best at it," he tried to joke, "but I will be there."

"That's all I ask."

Tenchi just held Ryoko there on the floor as his tears dried. He stroked her back as he began to gently rock back and forth. He would be her rock. He would protect her at all costs. He would be there for her when no one else would. He loved her, and that was all that mattered to him.

"I take it Azaka and the old man found you," she finally spoke, breaking the stillness of the medical bay.

"Yeah," Tenchi croaked, not wanting to remember that conversation.

"Just be by my side," Ryoko begged. "I know how these people eat up scandal...they love to parade people suspected of crimes in front of the media."

Tenchi choked back his tears. He had feared that such a thing would happen judging on what Ayeka and his grandfather had told him of the Juraian legal system. He also knew that unless one of them held sway, Ryoko would be appointed the most inept public defender in the empire. Her fate would be sealed the moment the trial began, biased by a bigoted media, and a jury out for blood. Again the thought of running right then and there crossed Tenchi's mind, one man and his love against an entire galactic empire. 'How does it go?' he thought. 'Love conquers all?'

"You okay?" Ryoko asked, noting the dower look that Tenchi wore like a mask.

"I'll be there," he said, cupping his hands around her face and tenderly kissing her on the lips. "I'll always be there for you."

"I know," Ryoko said, wrapping her arms around him and drawing him closer than she thought she ever could.

"I love you," Tenchi breathed into her ear before he began to nibble on her earlobe.

"Uh-huh," Ryoko purred.

"I truly do," Tenchi added.

"Stop it before you make me cry again," Ryoko teased. "It ruins my tough bitch image."

"You're not a bitch," Tenchi said softly, moving his kisses from her earlobe down the side of her neck. "Not to me..."

"If you make me cry again," she teased again.

"You'll do what?" Tenchi breathed.

"This." Ryoko pulled his face back up to level with hers and kissed Tenchi firmly on the lips. It did not take long for the embrace to become heated. Each was more than eager to explore their newfound passions for one another, and the dire circumstances of the situation, only added to the urgency.

"Stay with me," Ryoko begged, as Tenchi began to caress her breast through her blouse. "Please..."

"Always," he replied. Slowly, gently he tilted her head back up to eye level. "I will always be with you," he said softly.

"How long?" she asked, not wanting to know the answer.

Tenchi knew instantly what she was talking about. It was something he had been dreading for days now. "In a few hours," he said quietly.

"So this could be our last moments alone," Ryoko sighed.

"We will have plenty of moments alone," Tenchi assured her. "When this is all over I'm bringing you home to Okayama with me."

"Make love to me again." It was not a request, nor was it an order. It was an understanding. Tenchi just smiled as he kissed Ryoko again. It was a deep, passionate kiss. Both of them wanted this, needed this. Soft moans escaped Ryoko's lips as Tenchi began to unbutton her blouse.

"I love you," he said throatily. The fiery look in Ryoko's eyes evidenced her answer.

"Oh gods..." Azaka moaned as he rested his forehead in the palm of his hand. 'I am going to make a formal request to the Minister of Defense that all med bays be sound shielded!' Shaking his head, the grey knight leaned back against the opposing bulkhead in an attempt to distance himself as much as possible from the amorous vocalizations arising from the medical bay. "I just hope they do not hear this on other decks," he sighed...
___

Kiyone gritted her teeth as the Yagami's grav generators over compensated for the turn she had just pulled. Exhaling under three times her normal weight, she muscled the damaged cruiser back into a line of fire. By luck or by skill, Mihoshi had been able to steadily chip away at the Darktalon's superior maneuverability. Each shot, which never seemed to strike a cannon port or torpedo emitter; always hit the corsairs control systems and surfaces.

While this was all and good, Kiyone knew that they were steadily losing this battle. A master alarm light still glared at her angrily from the console at the upper right. And next to it, a propellant gage slowly ticked lower. They were bleeding oxidant, and if they did not end this soon, they would be dead in the water, and easy pickings.
___

"They're bleedin'!" Oto barked as the Yagami maneuvered away from a salvo, trailing a wake of gleaming crystals.

"Oxidant," Osaka sneered, the raw data from the ships sensors being fed directly into his processor augmented cortex.

"They'll be dead in the water soon enough!" Oto howled. "Get me behind them!"

"Easy 'nuff,' Osaka laughed. Jerking the manual controls in conjunction with his sensory augmentation, he pitched the raider down and to port while gunning the throttles. Seemingly spinning on the vertical axis, Osaka whipped the Darktalon behind the beleaguered Yagami.

"Let's have some fireworks!" Oto laughed as he depressed the firing stud to the Darktalon's vortex cannons. The Yagami wrenched away from the arc of fire, but Osaka managed to keep the Darktalon's port cannon in range. A bright blue streak caught the tail wisp of the oxidant trail, and ignited it in a billowing purple inferno.

Both corsairs howled in perverse delight as the Yagami was tossed and buffeted on the resulting shock wave. The once mighty police cruiser was now floundering in the wake of its ignited propellant.

"They frazzed now!" Oto sickly laughed. "They frazzed now!"
___

"Shit!" Kiyone cursed as the Yagami tumbled through the void. Warning lights and klaxons were blinking on faster than she could she could turn them off.

Mihoshi held her hands to her ears, trying to balance her equilibrium and make the high pitched ringing stop. Once the ringing stopped, Mihoshi noticed it had been replaced by a static hiss. All around her displays and screens were crashing. "What's happening?" she asked, desperately trying to stave off the inevitable.

"They got most of our sensor array," Kiyone answered as her readout screens one by one blinked from active to static snow. What few sensors that did remain online, were fragmented, and their information was of little consequence to Kiyone.

"So basically..." Mihoshi sniffed as the lights dimmed in the sensor-deprived cockpit.

"We're blind," Kiyone replied grimly. The Yagami rocked as another barrage from the Darktalon impacted her stern shields. The few remaining readouts were for such things as shields and propulsion. All the tactical displays were off line, as were the IFF and navigation screens. "We have to see out." Kiyone watched as the blonde bob of Mihoshi's hair nodded in front of her. The only option left to them was to jettison the front armor and use the cockpit's crystal dome as an old fashioned canopy. It was dangerous, but it was the only option left open to them.

Kiyone inhaled deeply as her fingers laced around the armor jettison handle. In a swift motion she pulled it up, snapping the safety pin. With a low metallic clink the magnetic servos let go of the cockpit armor and small peroxide jets hissed in the hard vacuum as they pushed the red ceramite dome away from the Yagami.

Under other circumstances the natural view of space offered by the crystal dome would be considered extraordinary. The vast sweep of the Milky Way extended above them in curved bands of deep violet and crimson, dotted by a myriad sea of ageless stars.

In front of them they could see the red glow of the Darktalon's star drive exhausts as it began to swing around for another run. Kiyone knew she had to be especially cautious now. All that separated her and Mihoshi from the hard vacuum of space was a quarter inch of juraian crystal and a micrometer thick force field. Kiyone allowed herself a small smile. 'If they weren't trying to kill us,' she laughed to herself, 'this might be fun.'

Mihoshi stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as she tried to concentrate on the erratically moving form of the Darktalon. The minimal sensors she had left were slowing in tracking the evasive pirate ship. The crosshairs would lag a second behind the Darktalon as the impaired computers tried to keep pace. Each time Mihoshi would squeeze off a shot, the black corsair easily evaded it. Without the tactical and targeting arrays functioning properly, she was too slow to keep up with the pirate ship. 'There is a way,' a small voice said in the back of her mind as the Darktalon slipped past another salvo and unleashed one of its own. 'No...' Mihoshi replied. 'Not again...never again...'

Kiyone blinked as she saw the terrified look on Mihoshi's face reflected on the crystal. Her partner and friend were obviously fighting an inner daemon to keep her composure. The look on Mihoshi's face worsened as another of her salvos was unleashed too late to strike home. Kiyone could not fault her though. She was leading the Darktalon the best she could without sensors. Her shots were well aimed, but the corsair had the upper hand right now. Kiyone felt a chill run up her spine as Mihoshi's eyes glazed over. 'She can't be...'

"I don't wanna..." Mihoshi whimpered to herself as yet another barrage she let loose flew wide of its intended mark. "I don't wanna..."

Kiyone grimaced as her thoughts were violently returned to the Darktalon by the blue blur of a torpedo streaking a scant few meters over the canopy. She knew for certain what Mihoshi was thinking of doing, and it terrified her. There was a reason the Galaxy Police and other military organizations in the Juraian Empire and protectorates did not use interface technologies like the Darktalon employed. It was inherently dangerous, especially to the poor soul jacked into the ship's AI. The slightest power surge and the operatives' neural pathways could be fried, or even worse.

Kiyone again saw the look of abject terror on Mihoshi's face. It was after a mass fleet action against a pirate guild seventy years ago that the civilized systems finally banned neural interfacing in military vessels. Three thousand Galaxy Police officers and military personnel were either killed or permanently incapacitated in some form or another when the pirate guild detonated a white dwarf star to create an electromagnetic pulse. No one knew how many of their own were sacrificed that day, but the corsairs escaped the armada in the confusion that followed. The armada was too concerned with their own casualties to give chase. One of those casualties was detective, junior grade, Mihoshi Kuramitsu.

"Don't even think of it Mihoshi!" Kiyone growled. "We'll get these bastards or die trying!"

Mihoshi sniffed loudly. "We hafta help Ryoko..." she squeaked as more of her shots flew wide of the Darktalon. Another sensor screen blinked out to her left, and the targeting display lagged even further behind the Darktalon.

"And we are!" Kiyone exclaimed, jerking her controls hard to port to dodge a burst of ion cannon fire.

"I can do it!" Mihoshi announced, trying to quell her innermost daemons. "And I'm gonna!"

"Mihoshi no!" Kiyone barked as she watched Mihoshi reach behind her neck and slid a panel open on her seat. In a flash she had extended the tine and its connecting cable and inserted it in the base of her neck.

Mihoshi never heard Kiyone's scream of admonition. Her ears filled with a white static hiss as once fused pathways and synapses were forced open. Binary raced across Mihoshi's eyes as her brain was forced to react in ways it had not in seven decades. Kiyone watched as her partner's hands became a peach colored blur as she worked her console. Systematically Mihoshi was rerouting what ever she could at the neural level.

"They're coming around!" Kiyone shouted as he controls went dead.

"I am aware," Mihoshi's voice replied from the cockpit speaker system. Kiyone cringed at the metallic grate the voice had compared to the chipper squeak Mihoshi usually bubbled.

'Mihoshi...' Kiyone inwardly moaned as she watched the Darktalon begin its run through the crystal dome. Deftly, they dodged the first barrage, but the second clipped their starboard stub wing. Blue electricity rolled along the sides of the cockpit and crystal before concentrating on Mihoshi.

"Mihoshi! Mihoshi!" Kiyone barked as she saw her partners' eyes go blank in the canopies reflections. 'Not again...'

'I can do this,' Mihoshi repeated inwardly as she fought to maintain control of her senses. Every inch of her body felt like it was on fire. The stinging was nearly unbearable and her instincts wanted her to screw her eyes shut in pain. But she kept them open as the Darktalon swung around. 'Now!' she cried mentally as the remaining weapon systems locked onto the Darktalon's drive section and unleashed all their pent up fury.

Coruscating fingers of incandescent flame cascaded from the stricken corsair as large, sinewy chunks of blackened hull splintered forth. Kiyone felt her controls tighten as Mihoshi slumped in the gunners' chair in front of her. Acrid smoke rose in thin wisps from her clothes and hair. "Oh gods..." Kiyone mumbled, fearing the worst. Her worries faded as a small cough squeaked from Mihoshi and a shaky hand reached back to pull the tine from the back of her neck.

"Ouch!" Mihoshi whimpered as the feeling returned to her extremities. All over she felt like thousands of pins were prickling her.

"That was the single most stupid thing I've ever seen you do!" Kiyone growled with a bit of a sigh.

"I'm sorry..." Mihoshi whimpered. She knew that Kiyone would be angry with her, especially since they both knew the risks that were involved.

"But it was also the bravest thing I have ever seen," Kiyone added.

"Really?" Mihoshi asked, not sure if Kiyone was serious or not.

"Yeah, really," Kiyone smiled back at her partner, "Just don't ever do it again." A thud over the cockpit's speakers diverted their attention back to the tumbling Darktalon. A secondary generator had just exploded, sending more splinters of the disabled corsair into the void. "Let's nail these guys," Kiyone said with a wicked grin.

"Right!" Mihoshi chirped, her chipper self returned.

____

"Pay up!" Cullen laughed as wads of bills and stacks of coins were slid towards him. "The smell of victory! He bellowed after fanning a bunch of the paper money under his nose. "I'm buying everyone a round!" A chorus of rose up from the motley patrons of the Outlaw Blues as each ordered their favorite draught.

"Uuuuugggggh..." Cullen heard from behind him as the red bearded chap he had decked earlier finally began to stir again. "Whut happen'd?" Red asked, rubbing his tender jaw. "Whut I'd miss?" Cullen just grinned as he heard a string of explicatives in several languages being spewed behind him. Obviously Red had just seen the images of the shattered Darktalon hanging listlessly in space; the neon glow of a space billboard proclaiming 'Eat at Joes' reflected off its obsidian hull.

"Looks like you should have changed your bet," Cullen said, offering Red a hand to help him to his feet.

"Yeh," the portly buccaneer moaned, still holding his jaw. "Wellz, dem da breaks."

"Have one on me friend," Cullen said with a smile, sliding Red a frothed tankard.

"Tankz," Red said, taking a chug of the ale. "Youz allz right in muh book."

"No problem at all," Cullen laughed. "No problem at all."
___

"Frazzin' bitches!" Oto growled as he tried to manipulate his console with one hand. When the ship's power grid went down, the shock and EM pulse had wrecked his neural implants, leaving his left arm paralyzed, but he got off easy. Osaka did not have time to disconnect from the ships systems. His blackened corpse wad draped over the charred remnants of his console. Putrid, foul smelling smoke rose from his desiccated husk.

"Frazzin' bitches..." Oto hissed again as his one remaining view screen showed the Yagami swinging around.

"Prepare to be boarded!" came across the ships comm. system amid a wash of static.

Oto grinned. He just wished that he could send a message to them, properly showing his disdain for the authority they represented, but his outgoing comm. links were all fried. "This'll have to do instead," he half laughed, half coughed. A small timer rotated up in front of him and began to countdown from one hundred-eighty seconds.

____

"Take it slow," Kiyone said as Mihoshi began the boarding pre-check.

"Uh-huh," Mihoshi nodded as she made her way through the list. Her butt was numb and her fingers felt all tingly, but apart from that she felt fine considering her ordeal.

"One hundred meters," Kiyone called out, making sure Mihoshi was at the appropriate portion of the list.

"External mag-clamps online," Mihoshi replied in response.

'Spot on,' Kiyone thought as a white puff of peroxide was vented from one of the Yagami's thrusters. "Fifty meters-" she began before the cockpit comm. system was filled with an earsplitting howl.

"Chow-woooooooooo!" erupted through the cockpit a beam of yellow energy sliced the reeling Darktalon in two, before a ball of red and purple flame engulfed the remains.

"What in the blue hell?!" Kiyone screamed as the explosion buffeted the Yagami. Finally she wrestled the Yagami back to some semblance of level flight.

"Look!" Mihoshi chimed, pointing to the spiked metallic blue form of Ken-ohki de-cloaking.

"Oh great..." Kiyone moaned. "Nagi..."

"You could show some gratitude to the person who just saved your lives," the bounty hunter laughed as her face popped onto the Yagami's remaining data screens.

"What?" Kiyone barked. "Those two were under arrest!"

"They had activated their self destruct," the huntress calmly announced.

Kiyone deadpanned. They had no external sensors, so Nagi could be telling the truth. 'Besides, if she wanted the bounty on these guys' heads, why kill them?'

"I'll give you a hand," Nagi said coolly, "for a price."

Kiyone did not like Nagi's smile. It reminded her too much of the one Ryoko would give when she was up to no good. "I guess we have to trust you," Kiyone sighed begrudgingly. 'Whether I like it or not...'
___

Tenchi sighed sadly as Ryoko squeezed his hand in hers. The Saibankan was about to settle down onto the octagonal landing platform adjacent to the royal judiciary arbiters' precinct. The Saibankan rocked gently as its thrusters broke their descent and flared the ships nose up slightly as her arachnid like planet-fall legs extended. A low, rumbling metallic groan creaked through the ship and the mammoth ship hunkered down on its legs and the engines began to run down. Tenchi stiffened a group of armed men in rigid blue-black uniforms clanked into the nave where Tenchi, Ryoko, and the rest of their extended family were waiting. Gunmetal gray mauls hung from their wastes and black steel riot shields were slung over one shoulder.

"I am Constable Janus Krieg," the man in the center said flatly in a cold, icy baritone. His platinum flattop and steel blue eyes stood in stark contrast to his dark togs. "I am to take the murderess and pirate Ryoko into custody until it's time for her trial."

"I present the accused," The Saibankan's captain said, snapping Constable Krieg a sharp salute.

"I see the negator collar is in place," Krieg said coolly, checking Ryoko from head to toe. "Where are her shackles?"

"What shackles?" Tenchi said a little too anxiously than he would have liked.

"All accused criminals must be shackled when they set foot onto Juraian soil," Krieg spoke as a subordinate of his stepped forward with a pair of wrist and ankle restraints.

"You said nothing about shackles!" Tenchi spat towards his grandfather and Azaka. His indignation was getting the better of him, and could potentially make the situation worse.

"It's okay," Ryoko said, placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Remember what I said about strength," Azaka whispered into his prince's ear. Tenchi bit his tongue and forced his ire down as far as he could.

"For-r-r-r-m guard!" Krieg barked as his men formed a barricade around Ryoko.

"Not without me," Tenchi said, slipping beside Ryoko.

"As the prince sees fit," Krieg said as one of his men stepped forward to remove Tenchi.

"Thank you," Ryoko sighed as Tenchi took her hand. The noise was tremendous as the egress ramp descended from the Saibankan's hull. The brightness of the Juraian day washed over Tenchi and Ryoko as they stepped forward towards their destiny.
___

"Say Washu!" Nobuyuki said as the TV program he had been watching in lab was interrupted by the galactic news agency.

"What is it?" she replied slightly annoyed to have been interrupted from her work.

"They're on the news!"

"Eh?" Washu squeaked, sliding her goggles up onto her forehead. "Turn it up!"

"And we see that the battle cruiser Saibankan has landed and the criminal Ryoko is being escorted off the ship," an unseen male voice spoke as the events unfolded.

"Is that Prince Tenchi next to Ryoko?" a rather surprised female voice asked as the camera switched from an aerial view to one on the ground. It was clear that the prince was holding the accused's hand and trying to protect her from the slings and arrows being spewed her way.

"And we see princess' Ayeka and Sasami egressing now," the male commentator added. "And it appears that Prince Yosho has returned as well."

"Let's take this to Roan Darke on the ground," the female commentator said.

"I don't like this," Washu said. The verbal abuse being issued towards Ryoko was quite loud and graphic, even with the muting nature of the news cameras.

"Looks like Tenchi has finally admitted his feelings," Nobuyuki forlornly observed as Ryoko buried her face into his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Yup," Washu commented as the newscaster narrated the scene for them.

"I'm going to try to get a word with prince Tenchi," Roan said as he elbowed his way towards the procession, which had momentarily come to a stop. "Prince Tenchi! Prince Tenchi! Can I have a word?" Tenchi shot the reporter a disinterested glare, which did little to deter him. "Is it true you have amorous feelings for the pirate Ryoko?"

Nobuyuki "uh-oh"-ed, as he saw the flash of anger on his son's face.

"If this is true," Darke pressed on, "Why sully the good name the Masaki royal line with a harlot such as the space pirate Ryoko?"

That was probably the single worst mistake Roan Darke ever made in his journalistic career. A gasped silence rose up from everyone present as Tenchi Masaki, descendant of crowned prince Yosho and heir apparent to the Juraian throne, decked the out of line reporter.

"That was not good," Washu cringed as Tenchi turned back towards Ryoko and scooped her into his arms. The flurry of derogatory remarked and inquisitions into the prince and pirates love life increased exponentially at this point. Ryoko buried her face further into Tenchi's shoulder as the arbites guards formed in closer around them, riot gear drawn.

"I'd say," Nobuyuki added nonchalantly.

"Princess Ayeka! Prince Yosho!" Another reporter asked as some helped the stricken Darke back to his feet. "What is your response to Prince Tenchi's actions? Is there an amorous relationship between the prince and the pirate Ryoko?"

"Prince Tenchi has spoken," Ayeka calmly announced. "And I advise that you do not make him repeat himself."

To be continued...



Notes:

First let me thank Alighthawk for asking me to guest write this chapter. I really enjoyed this little space opera, as it let me feed off the vast science fiction trivia I have stored in the ol' noggin. This has elements from several shows and books you may have read, but that was intentional. This is my tribute to 'Space Opera's' and the great space based sci-fi dramas. Also this was my way of explaining Mihoshi's ditsyness as well. I hope you have enjoyed this, and now in a shameless plug, check the fics of my own that I have written. Thanks again.

William 'Thundergod' Nichols


Author's Notes:

When I finished posting the last chapter and started to make up notes for this one, I wanted this space battle to be spectacular, but feeling that my sense of imagery is still kind of shaky I decided to enlist some help.

If anyone hasn't read Will's big epic 'Odyssey', I strongly recommend it. His use of imagery in the different places he had Tenchi visited and the final battle with the villain was nothing short of brilliant and it was the latter that had me thinking about asking him if he would like to do this chapter. Being that he wrote a chapter for Bobr's 'Ladies Night Out', I figured that he wouldn't mind.

So after a couple of months of trading emails and instant messages, I think this is one heck of a storyline. Personally, I know I wouldn't have thought half the stuff Will wrote for the space battle and Mihoshi's characterization. Great job bud.

RESPONSES FROM LAST CHAPTER:

ThunderGod: No Will, I haven't forgotten about Second Time Around. Hopefully when I finish with my other story, 'I am Ayeka', I'll get to work on it. (Until then, you folks can read the Ayeka fic while you wait, heh)

AstroKender: I think after this chapter, Tenchi and Ryoko won't have enough time to get too mushy. Now that they're on Jurai, their quality time may be hampered, heh.

Sebayn: Glad you thought the Ryoko-Ayeka moment was good. Even though my stuff is strictly T/R, I still think it's so important that the girls have their own bond and with the scenario I created, it's going to be tested severely.

I3itterSweet: As far as Cullen and Kiyone goes, haven't you heard of Love at first Sight? Heh. After Ryoko, Kiyone's my other fav character so I'm giving my gal some much needed TLC. Who knows, I might do a T/K fic someday. (If the mood strikes me)

Racer X: Glad you're on the bandwagon and I appreciate the recent emails.

Well, after reading this fine chapter, I regrettably announce that we are going back to the plain speak writing style that is mine. By my estimate, the story has about six chapters to go (But don't hold me to that) with Ryoko's trial to begin.

As always, your reviews are appreciated. If you want a more elaborate explanation, you can email me at a.falc@verizon.net

Later, Alighthawk