(Part Thirty-Four - Opening Gambit )

It is now six months into the war.. things haven't been good. For one 
thing, I think I hate politics.
Basically, it all sums up into a running nightmare, starting with the 
argument I endured with Emperor Azusa. The concerns of internal 
matters, and the fact that the Jurai empire had already endured a 
traumatic conflict recently, made them feel unready to jump into a 
separate conflict so soon; so Azusa's reasoning was. It didn't help 
matters that there was apparently more strain between Jurai and 
Fungesia than I first thought, hence a sense of 'float on your own' 
attitudes from between these two.
Worse was that most of the other realms felt the same, making the whole 
thing sound like a group of 'associates' leaving one of their own to 
die from piranhas.. slowly..
It was then that Azusa was recalling the Juraian contingent back to 
Jurai space, basically ordering me to abandon the Fungesians to an 
uncertain fate..

..I declined.. I wasn't as jaded in the matter of politics, and 
assuming loyalties, and knew the realm of good vs. evil, one thing that 
I knew also, was honor; and for once how little I felt from the other 
end of that transmission.. an insult I'm afraid.
I found Misaki and Igonusi standing behind me, uncertain of the 
position to choose.. I 'suggested' for them instead, as well as for 
Tora and Ala.. I couldn't leave, but they had too, at least in the 
similar manner Azusa had allayed too. No need for other Juraians 
causing retaliatory attacks by their presence, (I didn't truly consider 
myself Juraian anyway, for now..) especially in Misaki's case, as Azusa 
had the edge of near panicked worry in his voice in this case.. (how 
compassionate.. no lie..)
In the end, Ala and Tora; under protest, accompanied the Queen and 
Council Member on a courier transport just past the Gate Barrier. 
But coming back, the last that Azusa relayed to me, was that our task 
had been reasonably accomplished under the stated goals.. we found out 
who the perpetrators were, and their apparent objective.

But I felt a deeper obligation now, like I said before, Fungesian blood 
had been shed for Jurai, the favor had to be repaid.
To bad Azusa couldn't see it.. or so I thought..

After that spat, and before the Juraian portion left, Fenganis found 
out about my decision to stay, and the rest as well. And for reactions, 
it was actually passive, mainly wishing Misaki and the rest a good 
journey back. After which I escorted the party back to the Gate, with a 
set of Knight's that were a hybrid of uneasy, and semi-suspicious.. of 
each other.. fun no?
I was 'allowed' to keep Sele`nta and the Guardians as support.. then a 
quick and deep hug from Misaki that caught me completely off guard, 
plus the shed tear; of understanding.. I told them to tell the family 
that I would survive somehow, and got advice from Igonusi that all 
shadows have to have a source of light to create them.. we just had to 
find it..
Small comfort.. as I saw their escort, a Juraian Dreadnought, depart 
the area.

Then back on Fungesia, despite the situation as it seemed, we moved 
on..
Starting off with Emperor Fenganis appointing myself the command of a 
full Battle Fleet, the Sapphire High Fleet Command, and a rank of 
Facet-Two-Beta (About the rank of Captain in Terran Naval terms); and 
immediate orders to begin tracking sources of Collective activity, and 
more not getting involved with the growing crises near the Traquis 
Imperial lines..
At least the fact of being in command of over five-thousand warships 
plus accompanying mecha and fighter support, and all the rest of the 
support stuff you always read about in those science fiction and 
military novels; it's more realistic and equitable than you'd think.
As for the nature of this war, it's nothing like anything that could be 
normally equated. Fundamentally yes, but not on this scale..

Starting off, the expanse of the major empires: Jurai, Fungesia, 
Kartasian, Hylian and Alcorian, along with at least seventy minor 
states, and hundreds more independent Star Systems of all bloody kinds, 
all of this spread over around 57 Galaxies of all types, though most of 
the heavily populated ones were of the Spiral variety, with the next 
usually Elliptical, due to the ages and sizes of each, the younger 
Galaxies weren't as populated, and therefore not at the center of the 
conflict as much.. except for one case..
As a rule, each major empire controlled most of one Local Galactic 
Group; as one might expect, the Jurai and Fungesia portions were the 
largest by far, though Jurai commanded slightly more territory, and 
larger fleets, resources, etc.. But the Fungesians commended a most 
respectful portion, which puts the situation into a realistic 
perspective. They hold over 3,500+ Star Systems, and large support 
infrastructure to hold it all together, but there are only 25 major 
shipyards/Fleetdocks in the entire empire, and the three largest were 
attacked, with as mentioned, heavy casualties; reports still came in 
with numbers as high as 300 vessels still burning in space, along with 
a whole Dock, at least three kilometers in size.
The 70+ planets that were attacked, along with all the commerce lanes, 
and additional raided planets before the war was declared, was actually 
a fraction of the total strength of Fungesia, so maybe Azusa had a 
realistic point, in cold hard terms that is.. still didn't like it.

The nature of this conflict with the Traquis Empire (still in stylized 
stupidity one thinks..) actually concerns three major Galaxies, and two 
minor. The nature of the conflict started on a psychological level, 
with the shock of thermo-plasmatic weapons giving ANYONE sleepless 
nights, since no one knew where the Pirate portion of the conflict 
would strike next, though one haven had been pretty much confirmed. 
This brings the other two portions of the conflict, the third 
aforementioned the Pirates, the Empire and the Dark Jurai.
The Traquis Empire seemed to have the main objective of invading as 
many planets their scattered territories would physically allow them, 
demonstrated with the invasion of fourteen separate Star Systems of 
relative sizes, and semi-reasonable resources. Due to the shock of the 
initial suprise attacks, they managed to take these Systems with 
relative ease, within two waves from the reports I read.
The third faction was the linchpin as they seemed to be responsible for 
Fleet Hunting, a nasty, and large scale form of the Hunt and Destroy 
routine. Plus, on top of that, they seemed to be actively supporting 
the invasion by the Traquis Empire, by sending in apparent scores of 
Constructs as shock troops, and I mean whole armies of them, along with 
reports of even larger mecha like ground units, and if the reports of 
them are to be believed, scary as bloody hell.

So it seemed to be a three way campaign, over a vast expanse of 
territory, with the Pirates on a raiding campaign, the Empire after 
territory, and the Dark Jurai in support by diverting Fleet assets in 
pitched battles.
For most of the initial phase of this war, it's been a jockeying 
position war, within Fungesian space for the most part, with a few 
brave moral incursions into Traquis territory (including one I got 
saddled with when no one else was available..), unfortunately, no real 
damage was accomplished by these.
And then there are the fleet engagements, at the moment, a VERY common 
occurrence, as hundreds of Capitals on both sides literally pound into 
each other, leaving littered husks spewed over many sectors.

Up to the time of this writing, with over sixty battles, I myself have 
been in thirteen different fleet engagements, and the Sele`nta; as well 
as my Jurdam gifts have gotten a severe workout. 
The engagements have been mostly one where our forces have been under 
attack from DJ hunter Fleets, mostly consisting of heavy Capitals, of 
which there doesn't seem to be a short-term lack of. They would jump in 
from random directions, usually on a few hundred thousand kilometers, 
hit with jammers; fighters and mecha would scramble into horrendous 
furballs, then the long range exchanges, with torrents of ion 
disruptors to flush out whether a formation would hold discipline, 
taking down a few ships at a time before they bit it usually from long 
range magnetic ferrous cannon shots, the slugs shredding the poor ships 
and crews like tinfoil. 
Then the engagement would move into mid-range, with the occasional jump 
to the jugular between Capitals, the medium and short range guns 
raining horrendous physics upon exchanging vessels. Then would come the 
final close combat if it got that far.. with severely close fighter and 
mecha combat sometimes skimming the hull, or even on the hulls 
depending on the nature of the combatant. 
And then there were the seemingly routine boarding actions, as certain 
vessels were either prized for capture, information raids, personal 
assassination (which I nearly got twice.. thank goddess for Brentai 
both times..), and even just to cause general havoc and bloodshed; the 
last almost a relishment for the Dark Jurai, in characterization.
The battle would end with either a Fungesian Fleet badly bloodied, a 
Dark Jurai Fleet utterly destroyed (no concept of surrender.); or an 
event or some other crazy thing would happen to break the fight up, 
such as what happened at Deaza-7, as it was learned that the planet no 
longer existed. That caused the Fleet to immediately disperse, and make 
good it's way to the closest Fleet Docks. since one didn't exist 
anymore. 

We obviously lost that battle there.

Then there are the battles against the Collective, starting with the 
same Nebula farm in the Toalh Sector, which became the most dangerous 
assignment to date, since it's one thing to fight outside the edge of a 
Neutron Star zone, another to fight IN it..
As such, nothing went to plan, as; despite having two full Fleets under 
the command of Facet-One-Gamma Tilian; whom my Fleet had been attached 
too. The battle started with us probing the Nebula, then pairs of 
Capitals would bait the Pirates into coming out, which only netted us 
two vessels in return for one viciously burned vessel.
After two hours, Tilian decided to push the issue, and tried a long 
range trans-plasmatic salvo, where we sent volleys of battle drone 
probes armed with two fusion warheads each. The effect caused one 
nearby Neutron star to loose all cohesion, and the radiation splash 
cindered six of our vessels, their screams the worst I had heard up to 
now. This followed in the confusion, as a Collective Task Force, 
accompanied by a DJ flotilla of smaller vessels, and one large mammoth; 
appeared behind our flanks, obviously using the 'scape' as a cover for 
movements from overloaded sensor arrays. We had a few screens to try to 
warn off such a move, but they succumbed to vaster numbers. 
The battle was a complete fiasco, and we left with the worst bloody 
nose yet to date. At least we knew this was a haven for the Collective 
now.

Then came the Battle of Jusxa-Beta, as we chased down a fleeing Traquis 
'Imperial' squadron that had goofed into one of the Fungesian Deep 
Stations that had us refitting at it, which we were nearly do with at 
the time. We chased down the foe to this planet just inside the Traquis 
member state of Sahiram, there we meet a LARGE Fleet of ships, one that 
we assumed that was preparing for a MAJOR thrust into the adjoining 
sectors. 
I once read that the Battle of Gettysburg had once started over a minor 
raid over footwear, that turned into a pivotal battle of that 
particular war if I read right. The same could be said here..
Once we found the site, the flood gates opened, as Collective, 
Imperial, DJ, and some strange vessels we couldn't immediately identify 
literally descended on us from all sides. We fell back to the System's 
Orrt Cloud to fend off from a more defensible location. We fended off 
for two days until the Fleet was viable enough to push for a jump 
point. Then things got vicious, as a full Fungesian Grand Fleet (8,500+ 
vessels) suddenly jumped in from the Nadir point in the System, at that 
same moment, two Fungesian Fleet Group Commands (5,000+ vessels each) 
came in from the Zenith point.
I wasn't sure what was going on, but Ora suggested that we pitch in, 
even in our current condition, even if to delay the current forces 
allayed upon us. And so, the battle REALLY began, as we counter-
attacked the DJ portion of the enemy against us, destroying outright 
six vessels. For there we got flanked, but we weren't concerned with 
out rear, as I ordered a full burn for the Beta planet again, vectoring 
a course that would pass us by the main Fleet Docks.
It took three bloody hours to fight our way to close range of the 
station and planetary batteries, but by then one Fungesian Battle Group 
from the Zenith spoke of the attack linked with us, as we overpowered 
the defenses, leaving a nearly wide open station itself to destroy. 
Then two things happened.
One, a planetary cannon opened up on us, indiscriminately razing allied 
and enemy vessels alike, more out of panic from the way it fired, and 
then we found out from WHERE!

A signal had somehow been detected by Yasani; whom had taken on the 
task of monitoring the frequencies during the battle, and had informed 
me during the battle, that this was a major focal point of all the 
Traquis forces along this front. And that the Fungesian Fleets had 
arrived according to a pre-planned offensive, the first I heard of 
such, and; (worse) our actions had cause the Fleet to force it's hand 
early, with better results than they dreamed off.. 
Our chase set off a major battle!! Great, yay for our side.. =--=;;;

The signal that Yasani informed of, was coming from the station, NOT 
the planet.. which confused the hell out of me.
Then a Facet-One-Oerth appeared on our monitors, and warned that the 
Fleet couldn't retreat for twenty minutes, until all Fleet ships could 
clear the gravity well, as well as the combat zone, which meant they 
were sitting ducks for the cannon, as were we. I turned to Vycan, Ora, 
and U; along with Brentai and San; informing a boarding party was to be 
formed to deal with the matter. At that point, I formed my Avatarhawk 
form, and immediately sped the Sele`nta towards the station.
We fought in while the Sele`nta moved on as a screen, met severe 
resistance (they don't like us I think..), along with some of the DJ 
Armored mecha, if even that is descriptive enough correctly. We managed 
to eschew enough pursuers to make to the command stations, a LARGE 
center that reminded me of the GP stations. We fought in some more, me 
taking a glancing blow, before I razed the offender; as we finally 
found the target, a specialized control room that housed more than just 
the cannon signals center, it had a full Admiralty to it as well. At 
least six major Admirals along with scores of secondary officers. 
After dispensing with the remaining guards, and forcing the surrender 
of the humanoid Traquis side of the Admirals, we then came face to face 
with our first Dark Jurai Admiral. 

For whatever reason, I felt the emanation of Mulhorand coming from 
this.. thing.. what more, three lessors of the same branch had the same 
sensation coming from them as well; it was like I felt my mortal enemy 
was still alive. I forced myself to shake the feeling, as the DJ 
Admiral, or.. whatever, suddenly leapt at me; almost with animal 
instinct. The end result came at the end of my Avatar sword blade, 
leaving the 'creature', his ashen gray form of death cleaved in two. 
The seconds attempted the same feat at only me, ignoring all the 
others, and met the same fate as I reacted almost as instinctively. 
To be truthful, what I felt in that moment of blood spilled.. 
frightened myself beyond words. I felt like as soon as I saw them, I 
saw something that a bigot would kill instantly, and I felt the same 
coming from them. 
I would have dwelled more, but everything suddenly started quieting 
down, the station, as I found out from U, the battle as a whole. It 
took a bit to piece the situation together, but I found to an 
incredible shock, that two more Full Grand Fleets had jumped in at 
opposite ends of the System, (one almost directly behind the Orrt Cloud 
area we had hid in prior..) and that a full invasion of the System was 
underway..
With the cannon silent, and most of the enemy destroyed, captured, or 
fleeing, the invasion of the planet and most of the surrounding assets 
took very little time. 

We won our first victory of the war.. a real one..

Now I'll say it again, I HATE lauded attention, but the exploits our 
Knight team had performed became a major source of the badly needed 
morale boost the empire needed, and as a result, three more planets 
nearby were invaded and captured, while several other Systems were 
liberated by relief forces, it seemed the tide had turned. 
There was the order of public business where Fenganis placed the Order 
of the Second Gem on each of us, as well promoting me, and each of the 
Admirals of the Battle of Jusxa-Beta one grade (a Facet-Two-Gamma; 
think Colonel.. ..not bad for one with no Academy experience.. hehe he. 
Uh.. ahem..) and that a celebration would be held in our honor, which 
if nothing else, gave be a break from the near constant battles (six 
months straight.. heck..); There was the minor parties, one massive 
celebration, mostly for morale, and a Fungesian Knighthood I didn't 
want, but got nudged into with the other Knights.. (Yasani has a 
different side, I'll explain in a moment..)
But mostly, I got time to start thinking about the one thing the war 
had shoved out of my heart. Tsui..

I managed to steal away the Sele`nta under the auspices of the help of 
a Facet-One-Leo (bigwig) and make a quick delivery to the Gate Barrier, 
with a drop off to the Juraian Commander to relay a message buoy for 
the Juraian government to relay to Earth, you know where. And on the 
way back, I began to start reminiscing about the souls that suddenly 
occupied my life, and started comparing them to my family.

Yasani and Ora, starting from the local area of sorts; Yasani is a high 
spirited person, more interested in information than all else, though 
over the past few months, I've heard her display an affinity for music 
that sounded much like Terran country music, she also likes to dwell in 
mathematical equations, a quirk that seems to revolve around just 
simply figuring out complex calculations she ADMITS to not 
understanding, but even so, somehow manages to derive a correct answer 
about 86% of the time, when it's back check, and the rest usually 
corrected with a few flaws by a computer, needless to say, she and 
Washu have to meet. Her dress usually is conservative, in a mechanics 
like fashion, with her blue-black hair tied in multiple braids.
Ora, her hair already mention, but awe inspiring nonetheless; was even 
MORE hyper than Yasani, with her usually in charge of Gem structures, 
which made her a natural ships engineer, especially with the Sai`Hon 
Tree, her expertise save our collective butts many times. Her quirks 
surround talking about the seemingly legions of suitors that had 
affectioned her, and then her dropping them like lead weights. 
Ladykiller was an understatement, which made for some interesting 
stories. But even she was shocked when I told her of the exploits of 
Lord Tenchi, and his entourage. Got one on her, heh.. her dress matched 
that of a Ladykiller alright, thank gods I'm married, and to a goddess 
no less, I'd wind up as another chalk scratch otherwise I think..

Now Vycan is a treat, the passion that come with his nature, in fact a 
trait of his race; is marked with a passive reclusiveness that 
sometimes seems scary from the same person, it seems his nature is to 
fight as much as possible, and then go and meditate until the next 
'episode' broke out.. not to say he's a complete nutcase, FAR from it, 
it's just like his nature is normal for Hylians as Human traits are, in 
fact, he's one of the few people that I can confide the darker aspects 
of my life with, and not worry about it being spread like gossip, since 
they have this thing about mostly talking about what counts, and not 
for the little talk.. 
Strange for a person that has three eyes, and skin that seems to suck 
light like a black hole.. 

N and U.. um.. Alcorians are too strange for me.. sure, their avian 
features aren't that bad, but their mannerisims make Mihoshi look like 
a REAL social genius. Not that either way is an insult, but Ayeka and 
Ryoko were quieter when they argued, but they NEVER are violent with 
each other..
Logic is the order of arguments, and for me to try and debate them is 
ludicrous, they'd make those Genius societies on Earth a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-
l-y look infantile, they KNOW what they are talking about, a trait that 
is required for Alcorian Knights I've learned. They however balance 
this out with a almost VORACIOUS snack appetite, which has gotten them 
both in trouble for sneaking food from Vycan and Ora during group meals 
(a tradition I decided to start to build solidarity.. it works.. =^^=); 
then there are the sparring sessions they seem to start out of thin 
air, not for the fights, but for to see who can catch them..
..which involves their avian traits.. leaping 50 meters isn't uncommon, 
unaided, unpowered, un-ANYTHING!! I can't claim this victory yet, 
unpowered anyway, but Yasani shocked the heck out of them when she 
grabbed N out of the blue with a single leap, unpowered (get the 
theme?), and even better, Prlras make a mockery of them when the mood 
suits him.
N's feathery skin tint tends towards the darker shades, while U likes 
her tint greenish; on the forest color scheme usually.. (which both can 
change at will, chameleon like even; very VERY useful..)

And the aforementioned leaper esquire: Prlras; whom has the bonehead 
plates of a dinosaur, but the demeanor that Ghandi would be proud of. 
I know that using the word Klingon is stereotypical from one such as 
myself, but.. but.. can you say mirror image? At least the dress and 
hairstyle, which is white by the way, with one blood red streak from 
the forehead back. Cool huh? (A Katarsian trait.. sweet..) but the 
attire is usually robed for a priest, rather than a warrior, though 
both are perfect fits. 
His traits actually also fit the attire, usually either with prayer 
sessions; sessions where we all sit down and tell our life stories (his 
idea there..), or just with a song, and for the life of me, he could 
make tenors on Earth cry. If James Earl Jones can sing like Parvarotti; 
that's a good close description.
Course, the heart of a warrior poet is his theme, especially at the 
said Battle of Jusxa-Beta, where on the station, he cleaved a ten meter 
tall DJ mecha in precise fashion.. his highlight..

..in fact, despite the loss of Ala and Tora, I would start to 
cautiously believe we all together might actually survive this war to 
become on a level, that I share with the Misaki Clan..
Guarded hope anyway..
And I met these same individuals back on Fungesia Prime, to start 
planning our next move.
But events again spiraled on us all..

The Traquis Imperials rebounded in their own way, by invading DEEP into 
the midrange sectors of the Homeland Territories, as well as a deep 
military raid into the Colony Galaxy of S-019-D; as a demonstration 
that the Battle of Jusxa wasn't the end for them..
Then other things started happening, as Pirate raids along two major 
shipping lanes yielded something not expected for such warfare.. 
hostages..
Fungesian High Command learned soon after, that the Collective had 
moved more than 600 hostages to a dead Star System near of all places 
the Toalh Nebula, it was starting to look like there was something to 
that dammed Nebula. The System was only cataloged as P-0912-F; a -4 for 
the fourth planet in the system, a semi-volcanic world.. one that had 
no seemingly strategic value, unless the Collective liked dark scary 
places.
Then the message, and a vid to accompany showed up in a Dark Jurai 
message droid-unit. 

~ DJ Droid: "One ship, One Knight, all others will bathe in blood and 
fire. The terms for release of the victims, otherwise.. 
..genocide by fire.." ~

If I didn't know better, I 'knew' that tone of voice, but it was 
impossible, it.. HAD to be a different person..
With further scanning of the droid, it was found that there was a set 
timetable, two days. Just enough time to journey in transit, barely..
It was a trap, expressed first by N.. then something else appeared from 
a compartment one of the Fungesian Officers stumbled upon, and took out 
a object.

..a piece of a branch from a tree..
..the piece had come from a Juraian Space Tree, so I took hold of it; 
and immediately found the branch had a memory fragment, and that 
fragment stabbed into my mind almost upon me probing it.

..an image of a supreme Tree..

..an image of black fire and screams of defeat..

..an image of a second supreme tree..

..an image of the final fire..

..an image of a planet dying in sacrifice..

..and.. a dark oily laugh..

I remember next reawakening to some Fungesian fragrance akin to 
smelling salts, and then VIOLENTLY I stood up, the branch I gripped in 
a mix of turmoil and emotion..
The branch I knew to be from the original Sai`Hon Tree on Sentai..
..the images were of the final battle on Jurai..

..the laugh, that.. laugh.. 
..the evil.. that unfathomable evil..

This I spoke aloud to the gathered, and while most had heard only 
stories of what had happened on Jurai,         the simple look on my 
face said enough, as was the message..
Only one person in the universe could be that way.. had somehow 
survived..
Dam the fates and us all..

There was no discussion, and the message was quite clear; I was the one 
being mentioned.. and if I didn't go, 600+ people would die as a 
consequence, talk about the horror of burden.
I looked into eyes that after eight months with them, six in wars fire, 
that desperately wanted to go with me into the maw of death. I felt 
ashamed, and.. proud..
But I decided that prudence was proper here, and that a Full Fleet be 
assembled to journey to this world, but not into it..
We made a plan of our own, and so did I..
Two days later, I stood alone on the deck of the proud Juraian 
Destroyer I proudly called my heritage and my own, and looked into the 
face of a dead planet, equally cold looking, and equally I almost could 
feel the heat of the Hades inferno from the streaks of red the planet 
seemed to bleed from openly..
I search with Sai`Hon onboard, and tried as best to gain a semblance of 
what was going on, as well as..
Two hours later, I reached a small, equally dead looking research 
station; one that seemed at least a hundred years old, and warped from 
years of exposure of intense radiation from the hellish world it 
somehow orbited, a La Grange point I assumed.
There I saw three Collective vessels, and from experience, hardly a 
match for a full Juraian Treeship. So the worry wasn't from space 
combat.

But then, as I moved closer; I suddenly sensed the hostages, as if 
their signatures were suddenly being amplified on purpose, but then 
they suddenly fell back as quickly; as a taunt.
Then the feeling of an aftertaste like death was in my mouth as a 
tangible taste; in my mind.. and then it too vanished.
No doubts remained except for my eyes to confirm all else.

I had the Sele`nta dock on the farside of the elongated station; and 
made good to the hatch, after all traces of harmful agents were tested 
by the sensors.
And I exited the Treeship into the station corridor, thinking in the 
deepest recesses of my mind, that I wished Tenchi and the others were 
here with me right now.. I thought I knew my fear, I was about to learn 
worse.
I slowly moved my way through the corridors; probing in a passive 
manner, but I more felt like rushing in like a mad fool; this was too 
dammed creepy.
It therefore took awhile, and all the while, I felt the echoes, as the 
evil teased my mind with teases that seemed to bounce off the walls, 
the effect was obviously intended.

And as I expected, as I neared the center, I sensed the first of the 
hostages unaided, as well as several Collective Pirates, their minds 
all too rancorous to mistake. I waited to see if there would be a 
welcome committee, it came.
A bolt lanced by me from my left, as a Pirate nearly got true surprise. 
Three more joined, but Azusa's training, as well as the combined 
experience from Tenchi, Yosho and Misaki aided me like never before.
In a blur of a running battle, I slew down the three, and six more; all 
without a single hostage wounded..
I then moved around to make sure all was clear.
After that, I simply moved to call for a vessel captain, and three 
answered. I told them to wait in the Sele`nta down the direction I 
came, and then watched as they quite orderly moved towards that 
direction; despite several protests from certain members.
I waited, and absentmindedly make a head count..

..there weren't enough heads.. 37 were missing.. 
And I realized, the men and women, but.. no..

I moved like the wind as I followed several corridors, and allowed them 
to lead me to a lower level in a strange curve downward. It lead to a 
large laboratory area.
Where I found the children..
And Him..

I was exactly as I remember Mulhorand, back in the Alcove of 
Generations, and this display of desecration befitted his character.
We stood there, as the occasional whimper of a child floated up..
I looked in the eyes of hell, and knew he had to be behind this entire 
war. Had too.. Just..
Then he spoke, in a ice cold, oily tone; punctuated with a crackly 
sound that a dying man would make, except, this one wouldn't. die..

Mulhorand spoke in a pleasant manner, of one welcoming a guest, and 
that it was good I followed the summons, I responded dryly that it was 
rude of a Royal member to dismiss such a gracious invitation. We traded 
a couple of more quips, and then he turned to the matter of the 
children.
Reflexively I glowed my sigil, signifying any hostile attempt towards 
them would end poorly.. Mulhorand only laughed, and informed that he 
wouldn't waste his time with unworthy subjects, since they weren't 
Juraian in the first place; and that blood wasn't his agenda, with 
that.. he gestured a hand, and they suddenly vanished..
Sai`Hon Linked me to inform the children were on the vessel..
I then Link-old the ship to undock, and move away. not wavering my gaze 
from Mulhorand the entire time.
I knew what the demon wanted, and right now; as I extended my Avatar 
Key out; I expected him to do the same..

He only laughed more; and the tone of the laughter grew ever more 
steadily inhuman, echoing like a true demon was welling up from him.
Then.. I.. saw it happen, and felt it..

His sigil of the Lighthawk suddenly flared out, and so did three 
throbbing gray Wings..
In a smooth, ungodly instant in time, Mulhorand formed Lighthawk Armor, 
and connected two Wings into a single double sword, and suddenly lunged 
at me!

I had already formed my Armor in instinct, and blocked with my own 
weapon. My mind was screaming for the logic in this, as I parried 
several strikes, and then double bowled myself, throwing him off me, a 
few meters away..
This started a running duel that shot us from the station into open 
space, I grasped immediately, that between my shock, and his severe 
anger and hated, that he had the upper hand; and I decided that I would 
try and use that against him.
We danced around the station for a bit, trading bolts and hatred back 
and forth, then I arced past a overslash, and bucked 90 degrees towards 
the appropriate direction..

I emerged through the sulfurous clouds, and saw the face of hell as I 
passed over it, with hell on my heels; and tried to peel the pursuit, 
as I made suicidal turns through hellish mountains, and straight 
through a few volcanoes, but the demon would not yield, and I made two 
more passes by a volcano; then double backed straight through the 
demons chest, I never connected..
I ducked in time from another overslash; missed a crosscut as he 
phased, and started trading misses back an forth, as neither of us 
could reach the advantage, but then I tapped into my Link and forced a 
explosion of speed though my body, finally catching Mulhorand in the 
shoulder..
I paid with a stab to my left forearm.

We both finally bled..

And then he stopped.. and laughed again.

I was about to lunge again, when he spoke a saying in Ancient Juraian: 

~ Hras`tha ~ mor`tial ~ Arlakoi ~

Knowing I understood through my link, I staggered back.. 
If.. if I hadn't saved. anyone.. then..

Suddenly, I was struck with the feeling of looking behind me, as if my 
life depended on it..
I looked.. and felt myself crack..

637 bodies.. in a smoldering heap; their skin burning from the sulfur 
and hellish heat.. the smell was what hit the worst, an odor that had 
no equal in the vein of tragedy.
Then.. what.. what did happen.. on the.. the..
The deathful laughing echoed in the harsh wind, as Mulhorand only 
informed that living with a goddess made me loose sight of reality, the 
hostages had already died, and I had been though a cruel illusion, one 
that Sai`Hon didn't see through.
Mulhorand had done his masterwork, and shaken me to the core..
He then added, that if I couldn't tell of this was real, what else 
important to me might be the same way.. And made slightful comments 
referring to the Misaki clan..
..I let out a vicious howl, and lunged in vain at the monster, the 
murderer, and saw only a black wisp as I flew through it.. 

I was alone, with my failure.. never, NEVER have I felt so helpless and 
alone. 
After awhile, knowing the situation to be hopeless, I made a respectful 
prayer for Kami to watch over these innocents, and teleported back to 
Sele`nta in remorse. I so badly at the moment wished Tsunami was there 
to drive the horrors out of my mind, if just for a few minutes; the 
scene I just witnessed to this day makes me wake up in a sweat.
And that was only the beginning..

I made my way to the meeting point for the Fleet, and found it littered 
by hundreds of wrecks, all twisted, and full of the same misery I felt.
A beacon made my way to a spacestation halfway to Fungesia, where the 
remainder of the badly mauled Fleet was, along with my Knight team, 
quite beaten up..
Yet another ambush, but with DJ ships not yet seen in the war, things 
that made the original Capitals like meek toys if description was 
accurate. And then I told my sorrid tale, and saw the agonized faces.
But then came the news that yet ANOTHER Traquis offensive had pushed 
deeper into the mid-regions; growing close to the Home Zones. It then 
didn't get better.

Two days later, as the news of the offensive dragged down. The shock of 
the war came.. 
The Hylian Empire was declaring War on the Fungesians, proclaiming 
ancient feuds over territories of their birthright was needed to meet 
their expanded needs, as well as from their point of view, Fungesian 
imperial aspirations upon the other empires, which was absolutely 
ludicrous. Vycan couldn't believe his ears, and from his descriptions 
of the Hylians as a whole, this was BEYOND illogical.
Unfortunately, shortly after this pronouncement, three Hylian Fleets 
invaded the Colony Local Group A-34; shared by the Fungesians and 
Hylians. And while direct invasion by the Hylians was moot, (since only 
3 percent of the Hylian Empire actually touched Fungesian space, the 
rest either with other empires, or open space too far away.), the 
campaign against the Fungesian Colonies blew the breadth of the war out 
the airlock.
With the Fungesians already mauled, most of the Battle Fleets having 
already gone through many bloody engagements, and a new, fresh foe 
attacking the under deployed regions, the tide of the war had shifted 
badly against us.

Worse, was the Dark Jurai, whom with Mulhorand all but confirmed as the 
leader of this faction, and with new, worse weapons at their disposal; 
things could only get worse.
And yet, even despite this, the Jurai, Alcorian, and Kartasian Empires 
still continued to pronounce neutrality, and the GP wasn't in any 
position to try and intervene in a conflict of this magnitude. We were 
alone.
And then is what Mulhorand had said to me, after my horrific discovery.

Was Tenchi, my wife; and the others alright? There was no way to find 
out, as all communications outside of the Fungesian Empire had been 
cutoff by a strange superspace jamming field that seemed to cover most 
of the Empire; the source is still as of this writing unknown.
And the final break straw. When suddenly, Mulhorand broke in on a 
standard vid broadcast, and demanded that I be handed over to the 
Traquis Collective as a war criminal for trail. The consequence he 
described turned into a object display of unbelievable magnitude, as 
one of the planets in the Homeworld Nebula Complex.. suddenly exploded.
It was determined as Fungesia Emerald System; the world of Amnlad; of 
approximately 7 million souls.. 

..gone..

The demon then ordered that unless I was handed over in a week, another 
planet would be annihilated just as easily, and he stressed that there 
was no way to know which world would be the target, out of the 
THOUSANDS of worlds available.. the effect on morale and loyalty would 
be obvious extremely soon.

And there you have it, six months into the nightmare of this war, and 
we all were faced with the impossible.
And I was faced with surrendering myself to my sworn enemy out of mercy 
for the all.

We were losing this war..

..badly..

(End Part Thirty-Four)