Legal Stuff : Yeah, yeah, yeah... We heard it all before. I don't own the characters that are owned by AIC and they don't own my characters ( Unless there's a profit to be made... tee hee ). So then, let's get on with it... ************************************************************************************* TENCHI MUYO : THE DARKEST HELL 3 - The War begins... "Where have they been spotted?" Said Ayeka, her voice more serious than it has been in a while. "In sector 232911, heading in this direction." A voice said to her left. "They are heading for Jurai. All battleships FULL ALERT!" screamed Ayeka as all of the battle ships, Juraian and otherwise, armed themselves to the teeth. Then the war party sped forward at a faster velocity. Ayeka jumped when her thoughts of Tenchi were interrupted next. "Lady Ayeka! Computer scans have located the enemy. They are approximately 2/8 of a parsec away. Engage?" "No, I want to see them first. Put them on screen." A monitor flashed before her eyes as a shot of space opened up. But, there was nothing there, not even any stars. Ayeka suddenly became very confused. "Whe...Where are they?" Suddenly, a laser blast was fired from the blackness, revealing a massive fleet of ships, larger than that of the entire Juraian empire. Ayeka's eyes went extremely wide. "Oh, my GOD! How is it that they could have a larger fleet than us? We are supposed to be the most powerful empire in the universe!" clamored Ayeka in despair. "In THIS universe, yes. But there is no telling how many universes they've perverted with their religion and technology. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of universes are probably bent under their will. But this universe is different. This is the mother universe. They need this one more than the others. And they will take it with as much force as necessary." Spoke Washu, who stood toward Ayeka's right. "Well, we cannot let them have it. They must be DESTROYED. All fleet members, ATTACK!" Shouted Ayeka, the anger welling up in her. Suddenly, all of the ships in the fleet rocketed ahead, full speed. Then, laser fire was all around them. The yellow of the Juraian fleet's gunfire mixed with the deep blue of the Dark Juraians. The Juraian fleet began to disperse into different directions, attacking the Dark Juraians with all of their might. "Lady Ayeka, our scan has counted nearly two hundred million, three hundred thousand and forty one Dark Juraian battle cruisers. We only have one hundred million, five hundred thousand and two hundred. They, for the most part, outnumber us two to one. The odds in this battle do not look favorable." "No matter the number, no matter the cost, we cannot let them win. We must use any trick that we could think of. Washu!" "Yes, princess..." answered Washu. "Can't you make something, like a weapon, to aid us in this battle?" "Boy could I! But I'd need a room and some peace and quiet so that I can think..." "Then do it. Please Washu, hurry! If we do not turn the tide early on, then we might not make it back to Jurai." "Don't worry your royal little head princess. This is a minute task for the greatest scientific genius in the universe!" Washu said before she hobbled off into the bowels of the ship. Washu was intercepted by a servant and led to a large, empty room. Washu nodded him off and snickered to herself, a hint of the old Washu boiling up inside of her. She shut the door and locked it and summoned her phantom computer. She cackled as she began to type... ************************************************************************************* Yyyeeeeeeaarrrrggggg! Damage Report!" shouted Mikhal, captain of the Galaxy Police ship Jokers Wild. Various screens popped up, showing numerous damaged locations. Suddenly, in front of the ship, two Dark Juraian Battle cruisers flew into view. "Shit, there's more of them! Fire! Keep firing until I can see the color of their mess hall! Come on, hold together..." Commanded Captain Mikhal. A barrage of weapons fire flew from the Jokers Wild, for the most part, striking the hulls of the other ships, but they remained, unharmed. The ships began to charge up their laser weapons, when, out of no where, yellow laser fire connected with the ship on the left. It exploded in a bright explosion that severely crippled the ship to the right. The Jokers Wild was shaken by the blast, knocking several crew members out of their chairs. As the ship on the right began to tilt and glide away, a communications channel opened up. There, Mikhal saw what looked like an angel, sent to save him from certain death. "First class detective Kiyonne here. You should thank me Mikhal!" gloated a familiar voice. "I'll thank you later Kiyonne. Let's just live through this first." "Yeah, well, sorry I'm late. It took us a while to get here. We had to do traffic duty in sector 7245339." "Enough with the small talk. If we live through this, I'll promote you, go on a date with you and marry you on the same day, now, let's get cracking." "Got it. Yagami, out." Kiyonne added as her picture faded out. "Okay, we've got our second chance in life people. Hey, Engineering, what's taking so long with the repairs!?" Mikhal shouted. "She took heavy damage to the power couplers. We just don't have the power!" "Ha, ha. Very funny. Now get to it. Lets go kick some Dark Juraian ASS!" And with that, the Jokers Wild began to move forward, next to it, the Yagami. ************************************************************************************* "Kiyonne! What's going ON!?" Shouted everyone's favorite blonde bombshell, Mihoshi. "We're in the middle of a WAR Mihoshi! Don't you READ the reports!?" Shouted an exasperated Kiyonne. "I try Kiyonne! But they make me so sleepy!" "Listen you, I don't want to hear another word from you. Just help me fly the ship." "I'm sorry Kiyonne..." Mihoshi said, her eyes beginning to tear. But she was interrupted by a massive blast that rocked the entire ship. The two detectives screamed as the Yagami rocked. "What the HELL was THAT!?" shouted a perplexed Kiyonne after the explosion subsided. She typed on some keys and a monitor appeared. The screen showed several Dark Juraian ships, all laid to waste. Suddenly, the Royal Battleship cut through the mass like a knife through butter. Now Kiyonne was REALLY confused... ************************************************************************************* "Well, I take it the Beta test went well..." smiled a triumphant Washu. "Yes, very well. What WAS that?" Asked Ayeka. "I simply created a weapon using spare energy from pseudo-space and configured it to the exact energy reading of Dark Juraian energy. Now we got a massive energy weapon that'll hone in on Dark Juraian energy, to say it in laymen's terms." "Excellent Washu. Fire another barrage!" Suddenly, a huge gun popped out of the upper hull of the Royal Battleship. It arced with power as the weapon charged up. Finally, like a blast from hell, it fired. A mammoth white laser blast then flew out of the cannon. Ayeka watched as it zipped through space, curving around all of the Juraian ships and right into the heart of a large clump of enemy ships. The resulting explosion rocked just about the entire remaining fleet, and nearly knocked Ayeka off her feet. Suddenly, the Emperor of Jurai ran into the bridge. "What the hell was THAT!?" he inquired. "That, was our new weapon. Why are you here, anyway, Father?" "And what, miss Jurai's greatest moment? Never. Besides, I thought I had asked you to stay behind..." "What!?" cried out Washu. "I couldn't stay. Not after what they did to Tenchi, and to the Earth." "Gee, I remember you making a certain somebody stay behind, even though he had the exact SAME reasoning." Returned the Emperor. "Yes, but he is one of the last of his species. The citizens of Earth were not a space faring civilization. They all died. If he died today, then that would be the last of the human race. I could not allow the extinction of an entire race, especially the human race." "Well, then. Let's finish it. Prepare the life rafts in case we must evacuate." The emperor shouted at the crew. "Now they will know the true might of Jurai!" But, outside, a dark robed figure glided into the barrel of the super cannon... ************************************************************************************* "Yeah! Take that!" Shouted Mikhal as another Dark Juraian ship exploded violently. "Go work SIR!" Complemented a crew member from behind. "Yeah, thanks. Come on. Lets ROCK!" The Jokers Wild flew into another area thick with the enemy, stealthily dodging blue laser fire left and right. They neared another ship that had been heavily damaged and let loose all the laser fire that the ship could manage. Once again, another ship exploded in a violent eruption. The Jokers Wild quickly nose dived and dodged the explosion. When they came up again, they fired on another ship right above them. But this ship was completely healthy and returned fire. The Jokers Wild barely escaped by the skin of it's teeth. Then, the gunfire of the Dark Juraian battle cruiser was diverted as it began to fire on another ship, the Yagami. Taking this opportunity, Mikhal commanded that they fire again. Another barrage of laser fire erupted, slamming into the distracted ship. Then the Yagami fired also. The entire battle cruiser was pushed back by the sheer force of the laser fire. But it still refused to die. The engines started up as it flew in between the smaller and faster ships. More blue laser fire poured out of the ship as the Jokers Wild and the Yagami swerved and dodged the laser fire. Then Mikhal saw something. "Kiyonne! Pull up!" He shouted. Both ships simultaneously pulled up as the battle cruiser ran into an exploding Juraian ship. Both of them exploded in a flash of light and a blaze of fire. Both the Jokers Wild and the Yagami split up somewhat, putting some space in between them. Suddenly, a massive white energy blast sped in between them. It smacked into the giant mass of Dark Juraian ships that they were flying toward. "SHIT!" screamed Mikhal as the entire Dark Juraian force before them vanished in a large flash of white light. When the light faded, all that remained was desolation. Shrugging, Mikhal turned on the com unit. "Okay, Kiyonne. Let's go find someone ELSE to play with." "You got it, sir." Kiyonne returned. "Damn right." ************************************************************************************* "Excellent. Soon, these forces will be no more and Jurai can finally rest for a while." Said the Emperor as he watched several more Dark Juraian ships explode. Then a thought had occurred to him. "Computer. Casualty report." "Fifteen million, eight hundred and sixty eight Dark Juraian battle cruisers are destroyed. Thirty two million and two Juraian ships are destroyed." "WHAT!? How can that be!? They are falling left and right!" shouted the very shock emperor. "Once again, I bring up the two to one ratio, and the fact that the Dark Juraians seem to be gaining support from other ships." "Other ships? Why wasn't I notified of this?" "My conclusion was only a theory. But the ship count of the Juraian battle cruisers has almost doubled within the last hour." "My god. And we are down to 70 percent. Where are they getting all of these reinforcements!?" "Is a retreat in order sir?" asked the computer. "Tell all heavily damaged ships to fall back and retreat. All moderate to no damage ships MUST remain in the area. We will fight this to the very END!" "You realize sir that telling all heavily damaged ships to retreat will result in a 30 percent loss in our forces, leaving us at 40 percent. "I realize this. We must then try that much harder. Do as I ask computer." "Yessir." "Washu, fire another blast." The emperor said, as he watched all heavily damaged ships fall back, just as he had ordered. "But, sir, there's something wrong, I can feel it." "There's NO TIME to worry about things like that. We will lose this battle if we wait too long! Fire, fire, FIRE!" "Yes, your majesty." Washu pressed the rapidly flashing button on her consul, knowing something very BAD was gonna happen. She watched as the cannon began to charge. Then, she decided to do a scan of the barrel, just to be sure. A few seconds into the scan, an alarm went off, confirming Washu's fear. Inside the barrel stood a figure, with a Dark Juraian energy signature. "OH MY GOD! ONE OF THEM'S IN THE BARREL!" "So? Let the blast vaporize him as is fires. We'll kill two birds with one stone." Returned the Emperor. "That ISN'T how it works! I made it so that it would create a mini sub-space anomaly in the area around the target! The cannon is gonna create one INSIDE the BARREL!" shouted Washu with hopelessness. Then she remembered something. "Oh, my God, how could I forget!?" Washu began to type onto her consul. Her fingers moved so fast that they seemed to blur. "I've got to hurry, there's no time left!" she said to herself. Suddenly, a loud, metallic grinding sound flooded the ears of everyone on the Royal Battle ship. Washu watched as the cannon broke it's contact with the ship and drifted out into space. "Emperor! Get us the HELL out of here!" she added. "All engines, FULL TO STARBOARD!" the Emperor commanded. The battle cruiser swiftly moved away from the cannon as it continued to charge. Finally, the charging stopped, and there was a silence. Everyone in the Battleship looked at the rapidly shrinking cannon. Then, finally, they were all blown back by the intense bright light that was emitted from the blast. But that was nothing compared to the shockwave that followed. The entire ship was rocked so hard that it nearly split in half. Only a few support structures kept it in one piece. Just about everyone in that area of the ship was sucked out into the blackness of space, the loss of pressure causing their vital organs and heads to implode in a bloody mess. Ayeka fell to the floor hard, smacking her head against something hard. Then everything faded to black. ************************************************************************************* "AAAAHHHHHHHHH! SHIT!" Screamed Kiyonne as a massive explosion swept past, through, and over her ship. Mihoshi screamed as well in her annoying high pitched voice. Suddenly, Yagami went dark. "Oh, no. Yagami's been knocked off-line! I've got to restart the engine manually. Mihoshi, stay here and get ready to move at top speed, got it?" "Y...Yes Kiyonne." Mihoshi wept. Kiyonne got off of her chair and ran out of the bridge. She ran as fast as she could to get to the engine room. Inside the bridge, Mihoshi was crying her blue eyes out. But her crying subsided when a huge black ship flew up close to the Yagami. ************************************************************************************* "SIR, A MASSIVE ENERGY BLAST HAS BEEN RECORDED! A LEVEL EIGHT SHOCKWAVE IS HEADING TOWARD US!" "FUCK! Prepare for impact!" Said Mikhal. A second later, the shockwave rocked the ship. But the shock wasn't too violent, for they were farther away than everyone else. But still, the various consul exploded, killing everyone in the bridge, except Mikhal. Weakly, he opened up a visual monitor and looked at the Yagami. It just floated there in space, a sitting duck. And then he saw the hunter, with his big gun. "K...Kiyonne..." grunted Mikhal. With his last bit of strength, he revved up the engines of his trusty old ship, and flew forward at top speed. ************************************************************************************* Mihoshi started to scream as the Dark Juraian battle cruiser charged up it's lasers. She didn't even notice as the lights began to flicker on. She still screamed as the ever growing energy arcing over the cannons was growing. And she didn't stop as Kiyonne ran back into the bridge. "MIHOSHI! I TOLD YOU TO BE READY!" shouted Kiyonne. "OH MY GOD! WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" Shouted Mihoshi. Suddenly, a communication monitor opened up and Mikhal's face lit up the screen. "Don't...worry. I won't...let...them touch...you." he managed to spit out. "Mikhal! What are you DOING! Get out of here! Save yourself!" shouted Kiyonne. "Not...this time. I'm...not...going to...let this happen...again. Say...goodbye...to...my...daughter for...me." added Mikhal as the communications monitor closed. Kiyonne looked out of the window and saw the Joker's Wild, flying at full speed, right toward the Dark Juraian battle cruiser. Kiyonne's eye's went wide like saucers. "MIKHAL! NOOOOO!" She screamed. She turned her head as the ship plowed into the larger one. It flew right through the hull and into the center saucer. With his final breath, Mikhal pressed the self-destruct button. Forcing herself to be strong, Kiyonne quickly jumped into her seat and sped the Yagami backward. She watched as the battle cruiser went up into a burst of fire and released energy. "Goodbye, Mikhal." She whispered under her breath. "Oh, no! Not Mikhal!" Mihoshi lamented. "There's no time to morn now Mihoshi. We've got to go...NOW!" The Yagami did a massive 180 and streaked off into the distance, following the rest of the retreating battleships. What she saw next surprised her beyond all belief. The space around the retreating ships distorted as about a hundred thousand more Dark Juraian battle cruisers blocked off all escape. "FUCK!" Shouted Kiyonne as her eyes began to tear. "Kiyonne..."Said Mihoshi, surprised. "My god. It was an ambush. They knew we were coming. We're gonna die..." "OH NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE KIYONNE!" shouted Mihoshi in fear. Then, all of a sudden, a bright flash appeared behind one of the battle cruisers. The ship exploded violently, taking out five more ships with it. Kiyonne nearly leaped out of her seat. A smile of pure joy crossed her face as she saw Ryo-oki fly right through the flaming ship, cutting through it like wet paper. Ryo-oki began to zip all around the dark Juraian ships, firing well timed shots, hitting all of their weak spots. More began to explode as Kiyonne was hailed. Ryoko's face, albeit sadder and more determined, popped up onto the screen. "Kiyonne! Get the others the hell out of here! I'll stall them as much as possible." "Ryoko! Be careful! They are VERY powerful!" "Their just like normal Juraians, very powerful, yes, but overconfident and with a very poor strategic sense. I've had plenty of run ins with Jurai. I know every nook and cranny of these ships. They are exactly the same as the Juraian battleships." "Okay, then. Be careful, and don't die on us!" "Don't worry. They'll pay." And with that, Ryoko's face disappeared. The Yagami flew forward at full speed, zipping past all of the larger ships and began to fire on the Dark Juraians. Suddenly, from behind, a larger blast appeared. It was the Royal Battleship. Inside, were the Juraian royal family, well, those not on Jurai, Washu, and several crew members. The battleship, flying at an impressive speed, flew in between the large force of Dark Juraians and the retreating party. The ship began taking all of the weapons fire, and returned some of its own. Suddenly, every ship remaining was hailed by the Emperor. "Take this opportunity! Run! Get away! I, as the Emperor of Jurai, command it!" All of the ships followed his orders and took this opportunity to exit the battle, the Yagami included. The Emperor then Hailed another ship. "Ryoko, just seven hundred years ago, you were Jurai's greatest enemy. Why do you fight to save her now?" "Because these bastards killed the only man I ever loved. And he, consequently, was a Juraian. I've paid my debt, now I must repair what damage was done." "There is no more damage Ryoko. You will be hailed as a hero on Jurai. They will speak of you for ages and you will NEVER be forgotten." "Thank you..." "As of now, you are clear of all crimes to the empire of Jurai. But, there is a favor I must ask of you..." "Yes...?" "Please, save my family. I jettisoned a life pod with them in it. Find it, please, before they do. I do not know how much longer I can hold them off." "Have no fear, Emperor." With that, the communication was broken and Ryo-oki broke it's attack and flew into the center of the battle field. Off in the distance was a Juraian lifeboat, drifting in space. And, closing in on it, was the reminisce of the Dark Juraian fleet. Gritting her teeth, Ryoko put Ryo-oki into full speed. Then the laser fire began. Ryo-oki took many hits, but kept on going. Ryoko screamed as another ship zoomed by, destroying a battle cruiser. It was the Yagami. Grinning, Ryoko commanded Ryo-oki to retrieve the people in the lifeboat. Ryo-oki fired her teleportation ray and transported the survivors into her cockpit. "What the..." voiced Ayeka when she found herself on Ryo-oki. "Buckle up princess. It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" exclaimed Ryoko. Then, Ryo-oki began to fly even faster, twirling around the lifeboat, dodging the laser blasts. One blast hit the lifeboat and destroyed it in a small explosion. The Emperor's heart skipped a beat, but was snapped back into reality by a familiar voice. "FATHER! What are you doing!? Get out of there!" screamed Ayeka. "No, my daughter, I cannot. Someone must stay behind and make sure the enemy doesn't follow. Go now. Live your life to the fullest, my sweet." "NNNNNOOOOOO...." Screamed Ayeka as the Emperor cut her off. The Emperor then looked out at Ryo-oki and sighed. "Computer, set self-destruct on and release exterior wall unit." "Command received. Complying." Voiced the computer. Soon, a loud alarm was heard as the main section of the ship exploded off of the small saucer section and floated toward the approaching forces. The main section erupted in a violent explosion, taking out thousands of the enemies vessels. The saucer section floated toward the middle of the battle field. The Emperor began to focus and channel his Jurai energy, letting it flow out of his body and fly around outer space. The Dark Juraians sensed this power and ran in toward the saucer, guns at the ready. The space around Ryo-oki was frighteningly calm as she sped through space, out of the battle field and into the safety of hyperspace. The Emperors last thoughts were of his family as he upped the Jurai power past maximum and overloaded the entire section of space with pure Jurai energy, destroying the enemy fleet, and himself, all at once... ************************************************************************************* Back on Jurai, Lord Yosho felt the tremors left by the Emperors final act to save his family and Empire. But, he also felt something else, something dark following on the horizon. He felt out into the void with his Jurai powers, seeking to find this dark presence. He eventually found it. A being comprised of Dark Juraian energy so powerful, it boggles the mind. He saw as it flew past all of Jurai's defenses as if they were nothing, going faster than the speed of light. The being too, was feeling out into the planet of Jurai, but for reasons that Yosho could not fathom. Quickly, Yosho summoned his Light Hawk Sword and ran outside. He gazed up into the heavens, noticing that sunrise was coming soon. He stood, looking up into the sky, watching for the Dark Power. And then, he saw it. It soared so fast it was hard to see, but it eventually landed on the surface of the planet. It left a tremor that nearly shook Yosho off his feet. Soon the tremors subsided, but the being, whoever it was, was shrouded in a thick vale of smoke. Soon, a sword, much like the Light Hawk Sword, but corrupt and evil, peeked out of the smoke, its immense power blowing the smoke away. In its place was left a warrior, dressed in black biomechanical armor, a skull like helmet covering his vile head, its eyes glowed bright red. "Death, is the only way out..." the warrior spoke in a deep, dark, raspy voice. ************************************************************************************* End Chapter three... Stay tuned for Chapter four... Call me at ruby@pa.net for any questions of suggestions. Thanx.