Authors notes: This is the third part of CV Tenchi Muyo! Will our heroes succeed in their mission to save Tenchi…or is it just a suicide Mission? Find out now as CV Tenchi Muyo continues. Tenchi Muyo is the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC but the writing belongs to me. CV Tenchi Muyo! Everyone was grouped in the sitting room, making final plans for a course of action. Tenchi was obviously absent, Ryoko was absent as she was still recovering and Nobuyuki decided to watch over her. And of course, Aeryn still hadn't come to yet. "After analyzing the ship we are about to encounter…I have identified it and things are now looking bleak." Washu explained and was the only one standing after a full hour of planning. "How so miss Washu?" Ayeka asked. Washu suppressed her irritation at not being called 'little' and continued. "Let me explain…this ship has been identified as the Equinox. It is a state of the art Alliance warship and I don't think Ryo-ohki would be much of a match for it; especially since she hasn't fully recovered yet." Ayeka appeared to have thought of something. "Can't we just get Tsunami to help?" And before Washu could say anything Sasami stood up. "No, we can't." Sasami added. "Why not?" Her older sister insisted. "I've not felt her presence for sometime now…I don't know why." Sasami tried. For a few moments, it all seemed hopeless. As they were looking helplessly at each other, the room started to shake, as if something were descending upon them... The thought flashed through everyone's head, as they all headed for the door, with Sasami running ahead while Yosho walked calmly, as always. After a few seconds it came into view…a familiar Alliance ship. In a flash everyone was back into the house, with Yosho slamming the door shut and holding it down as the ship came careening down towards them. A huge splash erupted from outside, and the doorway trembled, but held, and a stream of water emerged through the space beneath. Reasoning it was safe now, Yosho cautiously open the door, to see the water slowly receding. He then noticed a familiar ship floating on top of the lake, thanks to a floatation device created by Washu, one of the two last inventions she created. There was a glow of light and Mihoshi materialized wearing an Alliance uniform. "Hey everyone!" Mihoshi called out with excitement. "It's so cool that my ship wasn't damaged during the landing…those upgrades really helped a lot." "Hey Mihoshi, we were about to embark on a mission to rescue Tenchi." Washu commented then appeared to have an idea. "Say…can we borrow your ship?" "Errr, what for?" Mihoshi asked, with that blank look on her face. Washu just sighed. "We are going to board that ship up there and get Tenchi back." Washu explained with irritation in her voice. "Oh right…sure, you can borrow it." Mihoshi answered. With this said, everyone went back inside. Filled with extra confidence, Washu made another plan. When the little scientist finished explaining it to the others, there were sounds of agreement…and one sound of confusion. "Okay, now we have a working plan…well who better to come up one than the greatest scientific genius in the universe." Washu mused and sighs were heard in response to her over confidence. "We leave in ten minutes…agreed?" She asked. "Agreed." Everyone said simultaneously and they all looked over to Mihoshi who was the only one to say it. "What are we doing again?" She said nervously as she barely got it and it caused everyone to 'facefault'… Part three: Endgame The Equinox crew was just about ready to leave orbit. "Now that we're ready, break orbit and standby to jump to hyperspace…" the leader Hadess said but was cut off by the sensors officer. "Sir, sensors have picked up a ship on an intercept course." "What kind of ship?" Hadess insisted. "It appears to be Ryo-ohki class." "That's a pretty dated ship. They should know they're no match for us." He replied with a smug tone. "Okay, let them come. Activate shields and power up the lateral energy cannons." Hadess suddenly felt lenient. "But hold your fire." "But why sir?" The weapons officer asked. "I just want to give them the idea that they have a chance. Well, at least for a while. As soon as I give the order…you destroy them." He explained. "The ship is about to reach weapons range." "Battle stations!" Hadess called out. The ship was once again on red alert status and charging the weapons and shields. Washu was sitting in the command chair onboard Ryo-ohki. "Ryo-ohki, initiate evasive maneuvers and get ready to fire on my mark." Ordered Washu and the cabbit ship responded and increased speed. Ryo-ohki rapidly got closer but…still nothing. "Dammit, why haven't they opened fire yet? I guess it's their loss." Washu said to herself, smiling at this opportunity. "Their weapons must be down, so I better exploit this advantage as much as I can. Ryo-ohki, open fire!" Ryo-ohki flew past the Equinox at close range and fired several shots that exploded on impact with the shields. On the Equinox Bridge, everyone shook in their seats as the impacts were causing tremors throughout the ship. "Should we return fire now?" Asked the weapons officer impatiently. "No, hold your…"(interrupted when the ship shook) "Hold your fire, that's an order...for now." Hadess responded, looking as if he had something up his sleeve. Ryo-ohki closed in on Mihoshi's ship, which was on its approach and positioned itself beside them. The two ships entered weapons range but still nothing. "They haven't fired…but haven't attempted communication either. I'll assume that they're hostile and that we should disable them before they can attack." Washu thought aloud and pressed a control on the armrest that opened a channel to Mihoshi's ship. "This is Washu, commence with the attack." Ordered the little scientist who has established herself as the leader of this operation. The two ships moved in slower than before throwing a volley of beam and projectile weapons. Then like a delayed reaction, all the shots started exploding on impact of the ship's shields. Everyone struggled to hold themselves steady. "Sir, shields are at 40 percent." The weapons officer called out then the room shook again. "Now, shields are at 25 percent and starting to buckle!" He called out again with a lot of urgency in his voice. "I said hold your fire until I say so…we are in no danger." Hadess bellowed at him and the turbulence stopped as the two attacking ships broke off their attack. Mihoshi's ship and Ryo-ohki move away to regroup. "Sir, our shields are at 20 percent and holding. I don't know about you but we cannot sustain another assault like that…" overlapped by Hadess. "Yes we can…because there's something about this ship that you don't know about." He said and pressed a few controls on the armrest of the command chair. "Huh?" The weapons officer let out as he saw that the shields were rapidly recharging. "Of course…we do still have the upper- hand." The two ships closed in once again and Washu was feeling skeptical. She looked at an analysis of the ship and noticed that their weapons were active and this put a look of worry on her face. Washu opened a channel to Mihoshi's ship again. "Mihoshi, they're armed. You better…" cut off when a tremor threw her from her seat. (Onboard Mihoshi's ship.) "Emm…Washu? Come on, why won't you respond" Mihoshi tried, sounding a little worried but then one of the bridge officers spoke up. "Sir, Ryo-ohki is under attack and has taken heavy damage." "What are you waiting for, return fire." She ordered, sounding more serious than normal. Ryo-ohki had already received a lot of punishment already so she had to back off from the fight. Mihoshi's ship quickly strafed left and right as they desperately dodged the energy blasts from the enemy ship. They both fiercely exchanged weapons fire and Mihoshi's ship turned and speeded away to get a little distance between them. Hadess watched this and grinned. "It's time…" he said aloud. "Time for what?" The helm officer asked. "Time to destroy them of course." The leader returned. "Arm quantum torpedoes and fire!" He ordered, sounding aggressive. Two torpedoes fired and rapidly approached Mihoshi's ship. "Sir, two torpedoes approaching," said a bridge officer with urgency. "Do something…try and avoid them," ordered Mihoshi. Her ship turned sharply to the left and one torpedo missed completely. "Sir, I can't loose the other one." The helm officer commented, trying very hard to avoid it. "Oh no, we're gonna die!" Mihoshi yelled out then pressed a button on one of the command consoles, "emm…everyone hold on to something." The sensors station beeped as it closed in and everyone secured themselves against something. The torpedo ripped through the shields and blasted a massive hole in the ship. A console at the back ruptured and exploded causing the officer there to go flying back. A jet stream of gas was released just above the command console. "Report…is everyone okay?!" Mihoshi exclaimed. Another officer read what was on his screen. A layer of mist formed along the floor as high-pressure gas continued to pour into the room. "Hull breaches on decks 4 through 7, emergency force fields are in place. A plasma conduit has ruptured on deck 6…main power is fluctuating and the new slip-stream drive is offline." Yosho went to the fallen officer and briefly paused as sparks exploded out of a nearby console. He knelt down to check his pulse but sighed, stood up to face the others and shook his head. Ayeka, who was in her battle outfit, grunted to her self in anger. On the Equinox, Hadess smiled sadistically upon this. "Stand down from battle stations and prepare to jump." He said, knowing he had already won. The lights then returned to normal. "It will take ages for them to repair their ships and if they do attack us again, well…we'll destroy them then. "To be honest, I'm just not in the mood to mess around when there are more important things to take care of. A chorus of agreement was heard on the bridge. "Now that that's settled…take us out." The Equinox slowly moved away and within view was the two other ships that were drifting, lifeless in space. A distortion then appeared and the warship passed thorough it. The distortion flashed and it was gone once again. An hour later… Everyone was working hard to repair the two ships but were making slow progress. At the engine room of Mihoshi's ship, the crew was attempting to bring the slipstream drive online. It was a more advanced version of the standard hyper-drive and is loosely based on theories created by Washu…or more like based on their limited understanding of them. There are clear advantages with the new design; greater power output, which can improve defensive capabilities. There's also the ability to suppress external energy emissions (making it more difficult for scanners to pick up) making it possible to enter a 'stealth mode'. Everything was looking good and all they had to do was reinitialize the engine core. "We're ready up here," called someone on the upper level. "Good, then all we have to do is bring it online." Responded the chief engineer. This was the chief engineer who has been onboard since the refit and was very good at what she did. "Lets go ahead with the startup sequence. Activate injector systems." Someone just behind her entered a few commands then spoke up. "Injector systems active." "Good. Now initialize the reaction chamber." The officer on the upper level worked on his console. A few lights came on around the engine core and the engine hummed as the reaction chamber powered up. "Reaction chamber online," he called down to the chief engineer. "Excellent." She commented with a hint of surprise in her voice. She worked at her own console. "Now, begin the reaction sequence." Someone to her right started working and the engine core started to light up and sprung to life. "Slipstream drive is online." The officer said enthusiastically but noticed something. "Wait a second…" he looked at his console. "There's an instability in one of the plasma relays," he let out urgently. "Try to stabilize it," ordered the chief engineer. "I'm trying to…there's nothing I can do." The console started to make an alert sound. The room then darkened and the alert siren started. "We're going to have to shut down the engine core before its too late…" overlapped with an explosive discharge at his console throwing him back. Two other officers helped him up. "Take him to the infirmary right away." She ordered. The two helping up the downed crewman nodded in agreement. "Computer, initiate an emergency core shut down." She called out, entering her authorization code. The core deactivated as well as all the lights. Illumination was restored a few seconds later when emergency power came back online. "Apparently it will be a little longer before we get main power back." The chief engineer thought aloud. "I see repairs still have to be made before we can bring it online. Lets get to work." She pressed a control on her wrist then spoke up. "Engineering to bridge, it will take longer than we thought to make the necessary repairs. I estimate a few more hours at least because there's apparently a few problems that we didn't anticipate." Mihoshi's voice responded. "Well, the communication…thingies are still working so we could get another ship to help out." "Yeah, that should speed up repairs." **** At the Masaki home, Aeryn was still out of it and Sasami was in the kitchen, figuring out what they had and what they needed, occasionally saying. "We don't need any of that," and "better get more of that." While this was happening, Aeryn started to come to. Since her eyes were still closed, she assumed she was just on the couch at her own home. With this, she opened her eyes to see a strange room. "Well…we'll need a few of, huh?" Sasami stopped what she was doing when she noticed Aeryn was finally awake. The princess made her into the sitting room. "Oh, you're finally awake." "Yeah, hi." Aeryn responded hesitantly. Meanwhile in the lab, Nobuyuki was asleep and Ryoko had just woken up. Since Washu wasn't in sight, she slowly got up and made her way to the door. When she opened the lab door and entered the sitting room, she noticed Sasami sitting on the couch beside some strange girl. "Who are you?" Ryoko asked in her groggy, not yet recovered state. Sasami heard this and turned around in surprise. "Ryoko, you're up." Sasami said. Aeryn turned to see Ryoko. "Err…I'm Aeryn. Emm, are you Tenchi's sister?" Aeryn asked. "I'm not his sister…but I do live here." "Oh, so you must be his emm, you know." Ryoko knew what she was trying to ask and was so tempted to say yes but she knew it wasn't true. It took a little thought but she finally decided to tell her the truth. "No." She finally said and smiled. "No I'm not." Still feeling weak, she basically wasn't in the mood to start an incident. "I'm just wondering…what are you doing here anyway?" In response, Sasami spoke up. "I guess I better explain what's been going on. Yesterday, Tenchi decided to go away for a while and told me not to say anything. Later on, my sister found you and took you to Washu's lab. (Pointing to Aeryn) She suddenly appeared with Ryo-ohki saying that something has happened to Tenchi. The others left to rescue him from a ship that was in orbit. There's no way to know how they're doing up there." "Wait a second, I think I have a way." Ryoko responded then closed her eyes. She started to mentally communicate with Washu. Sounding a little demoralized by the defeat. Ryoko tried but was cut off. Ryoko concentrated and tried to teleport herself up there but nothing happened. Ryoko responded sarcastically as she just found out the hard way. After a little hesitation, Ryoko agreed. Ryoko finished and looked at the others. "They weren't successful but they appear to be okay. Once repairs are made, they'll try again." She said and grunted to herself. "What is it?" Sasami asked. "I just wish I could help…Washu told me I was in no shape to do anything and that it would be better for me to stay. And the worst thing is…she's right, I can't do anything in my state." Ryoko explained. "I understand what you mean." Sasami returned. "In times like this I always wish I could do something but I know I'll only get in the way." **** The Equinox jumped out of hyperspace and was approaching a group of ships. These were other Alliance ships that were ordered to intercept the Equinox but they were all dwarfed by the dreadnought. "Sir, the Alliance ships are about to enter weapons range." The weapons officer said. "Good, now I can try out a new weapon system I just discovered…with this, the fight will be over even quicker than that one back at the Sol system." Hadess commented. "Give me firing control, I'll do this myself." The weapons officer entered a few commands. "Sir, you now have firing control," said the weapons officer. "Excellent." Hadess replied. "Sir, they're starting an attack run." The sensors officer stated. "Let them come," the leader remarked to himself. The smaller Alliance ships scattered and sped towards the Equinox, not knowing what they'll really be facing. They all fired as they sped past the warship. Hadess laughed to himself and pressed a few commands on the control panel. As the other ships were on approach again, the Equinox fired several white energy spheres. The ships desperately avoided the shots but a few were hit. For the ships that were hit, there was a huge energy surge, and they went completely out of control. One of the ships deflected off the Equinox's shields and smashed into one of the others causing a huge explosion. The Equinox just moved away and jumped to hyperspace, leaving a number of disabled ships and some flaming debris in its wake. Two hours later… A support ship jumped out of hyperspace, near Mihoshi's ship and Ryo-ohki. Officers were transported from the support ship to Mihoshi's ship and 2 transported to Ryo-ohki. Everyone worked fairly hard for over an hour before all the crucial repairs were made. Numerous things couldn't be repaired and would need to be completely replaced, which means going to the nearest Starbase for a refit…and this was out of the question because it was a race against time to find the Equinox again. **** On the bridge of Mihoshi's ship, although many repairs have been made, there were still clear signs of damage. "Okay, are we ready to go?" Asked Mihoshi and the nearest officer turned round and spoke up. "The slip-stream drive is online, hull integrity is at acceptable levels…" (Checks his console again,) "…Weapons have been partially restored and the shield strength is around 30 percent." "How is Ryo-ohki doing?" Mihoshi added. "It appears that the Ryo-ohki has…recovered." He responded. "Oh good, so we are ready. She commented with little excitement. Mihoshi turned to the main viewscreen at the front of the room. "Open a channel." She ordered. "Channel open sir." The communication officer responded a few seconds later and Mihoshi spoke up. "Hey Washu, you ready over there?" Mihoshi asked, facing a blank viewscreen. The screen then lit up and Washu appeared. "Yeah, me and Ryo-ohki are as ready as we'll ever be. How about you?" Washu responded. "We still have a lot of damage but I think we're ready to go now…" Mihoshi commented and sounded like she had more to say. "I know that look, well I've never seen you use it but I do recognize it. You have something else to tell me don't you?" "Yeah, there is. I got information for that ship for you to look at." "Oh good, I can analyze them as we search for that ship and hopefully find a weakness we can exploit. This is an advantage we definitely need if we are to have any chance…otherwise it would just be like last time." "Well, we're about to head out…just thought I should tell you." She said and the screen goes blank again. "Okay, find out where that ship was last spotted and take us there." She ordered. This is surprising as she was never able to give orders (properly) before. Apparently working with the Alliance must have improved her confidence a little. Mihoshi's ship and Ryo-ohki headed away from the support ship and jumped to hyperspace. As the others were looking for the Equinox, Ryoko was still recovering and Sasami was getting acquainted with a new friend. Meanwhile, the Equinox was heading back to the Orion colony where they were going to use Tenchi as a test subject for their own experiments. Hadess heard of Tenchi's powers so he wanted to discover the secrets behind them in order to enhance his own. Since he was already extremely powerful, adding Tenchi's power to his own would make him unstoppable. Washu was looking at pictures and diagrams of the warship they were after. Twenty minutes of looking and she finally found something. Washu opened a comm. Channel to Mihoshi's ship and the GP officer's face appeared on the view screen. "Mihoshi, I've found something we can exploit." Washu started. "If we modify our sensors to detect multiphasic energy signatures then we should be able to figure out their shield frequency…but since the new engines suppress most of the energy output, we'll have to be pretty close to take the scans." "Oh good…but just to make sure it works, I kind of sent for more ships to help us out." Mihoshi commented. "Yeah, even with this we'll still need help." They contacted an alliance taskforce that was on their way. Soon after, Mihoshi's ship and Ryo-ohki jumped out of hyperspace when the Equinox herself appeared on their scanners. On the Equinox, they see the two ships. "Sir, those two ships are back." The sensors officer said. "What, have they come back for another thrashing…so soon?" Hadess asked with amusement in his voice. "Regardless, they're heading straight towards us with their weapons charged," warned the weapons officer. "Okay…battle stations, arm energy weapons and shields," ordered Hadess, with little enthusiasm. The two ships moved in at high speed, rapidly getting closer. "We're about to enter weapons range," said the weapons officer in Mihoshi's ship. "Okay…here we go." Mihoshi responded. Both ships fired all they could at the warship. Onboard, the ship shook with each hit. "Well, just like last time…lock weapons and fire!" Hadess commanded but just as he said it, the sensors officer noticed something. "Sir, there are multiple jump points opening." He said. "What?" Hadess let out. The other ships fired at the Equinox as they entered the battle. Then of course, the warship started firing back. Meanwhile, Washu was finding the shield frequency. "Almost got it…I just need a little more time." She said as she raced against time to find the frequency. As the Alliance ships headed in for another pass, the warship fired several energy shots in their general direction. The whole group scattered in all directions but one ship was a few times and destroyed. With this they retreated. "Damn, they're leaving." Washu thought aloud when she saw the ships going away. "Oh yes, I got it!" She let out as she found what she was after. She then transmitted it to Mihoshi's ship. The two remaining ships flew past while keeping their distance and opened fire. The shots managed to pass through the shields and explode on impact with the hull. The bridge shook violently and there was an explosive discharge at the back of the room. "Report!!" Hadess called out. "I don't know sir…but they're following to penetrate our shields." The weapons officer replied. "That does it…fire all weapons, just destroy them." Just before the others could fire again a barrage of weapons fire from the Equinox overcame them. On Mihoshi's ship, everyone was desperately trying to hold everything together. "Come on, disable them before it's too late." Mihoshi said with desperation in her voice. The ship shook again and the sensors officer spoke up. "Sir their shields are weakened…I think we can risk a transport now." Mihoshi thought about it for a second. "Okay…get Washu up on the screen so I can tell her." She replied and when the channel was open, she continued. "Washu, I think it's time to transport now…" She was interrupted when the room shook. "I'm starting to wish I didn't go on this stupid mission in the first place." Mihoshi added as she started to get emotional. "Pull yourself together Mihoshi!" Washu yelled. "Okay…I'll try." She responded in agreement and the screen went blank again. Mihoshi's attention moved to the weapons officer when he spoke up. "Sir, our shields are gone and the Equinox is getting ready to fire." "Lets do it…take us over there." She ordered. The Equinox fired and the shots impacted and blew the ship apart. Ryo-ohki received numerous hits and was heavily damaged. "Ryo-ohki, initiate emergency transport to the pre-designated co- ordinates." Washu called out. Hadess watched on the viewscreen what was going on. "Oh good, only one more to go…arm torpedoes and finish them off." The weapons officer responded and entered the command to fire. The Equinox fired several torpedoes at Ryo-ohki. The cabbit ship started to glow and disappeared in a flash…the torpedoes just shot past. "What happened? Where did they go?!" Hadess said with frustration demanding an answer. "Sir, internal sensors have picked up an unauthorized transport." The sensors officer mentioned. "Yeah, they're a little smarter than I thought…but I doubt they'll get very far." **** In a cargo bay, Washu, Ayeka and Yosho were there as well as Mihoshi and a few of her officers. These included a few of the bridge crew and the chief engineer. "Okay, now that we're all here." Yosho started. "Mihoshi, you and your crew members try and create distractions and of course, try and stay alive. While you do that, Washu, Ayeka and I will begin our search for Tenchi."… To be concluded… Author's notes: Well, there's now only more one part left. The next part will involve a lot of fighting so if you've enjoyed it so far then you should really like the final part. On the conclusion…our heroes have finally made it onboard the Equinox. Rescuing Tenchi is going to be rather difficult and not only that, how will they escape? Mihoshi's ship is destroyed and Ryo-ohki is in a pretty bad shape…it all comes to an explosive conclusion in the next, not to mention final part of CV Tenchi Muyo! Part 4 - Cataclysm