Season 1: Return of the Akuneko Episode: 11: No Need for Medics Yagami Bridge "Captain Makibi," Kiyone turned around to see Karya standing behind her at attention. Mihoshi was sitting in her co-pilot's chair mercifully unconcious, somehow the fact of the battle had finally made it through her head. The blonde had fainted soon after Rikyu had tiredly confirmed her theory. "I don't believe that we're going to find any more survivors, and Lord Ryoi should be collecting his commanders." "I hate this stuff," Kiyone muttered. "Okay, Rikyu-San, let's head over to Tenchi's clinic." "Aye, aye, Captain," he teased. Kiyone turned a narrow-eyed glare on him. "Ah ah, watch it, remember who signs your paycheck." "Ha," Kiyone laughed. "I can get another job." Karya watched the playful exchange curiously while Mihoshi started snoring. A Jurai soldier entered the bridge. "Captain Makibi," he addressed her respectfully. Kiyone was getting a lot of that recently, and she wasn't sure that she enjoyed it as much as she thought that she would. "There is an Akuneko noble wanting to speak to you." Kiyone sighed, resigned, they had not put the survivors they picked up in the brig. This noble must have been one of them. "Where is this noble?" she asked. The Jurai answered and she opened a communication screen to the guest quarters. "Teleport up here, I want you where I can see you." A silver-haired Akuneko appeared before them. "Captain Makibi," the man kneeled before her and hung his head. "I am Rakkan of the Kuroi clan." "What do you want?" Rikyu asked sharply. If anything the man was more contrite at Rikyu's question. It was unusual for Ryoko's son, but then the Kuroi seemed to be at the root of a lot of pain. "Lord Ryoi will have their families killed," he told them, when he realized that they might not know what he was talking about he continued. "The families of the other five clans involved in this invasion. You have to prevent that." He sounded desperate. "I'm not surprised," Rikyu mumbled. He had seen similar dramas on a smaller scale in his time. "Why are you telling this, wouldn't this be a betrayal of your Lord?" Karya demanded. "I have a sister in the Midori clan," he informed her. "And Lord Ryoi has not been accepted as Thane by the other clans." "And why now instead of earlier?" The man really had no obvious reason to lie, and it fit Ryoi. "There is no other way to stop him," he answered. "He is defeated, he will strike against the lesser clans for it." "I will do what I can," Kiyone told him. She had indeed read Ryoi correctly, he was a selfish, little coward. Still it was more than plausibly a lie, hard to investigate, a distinct possibility, and the man did have something to gain from it. For now she would operate as if it were the truth, but she'd keep her eyes open. "Thank you, milady." "I am not a noblewoman," Kiyone corrected him. "Try Captain." "Yes, Captain," he responded. He remained kneeling, Kiyone realized that he was waiting to be dismissed. "If that's all, you can go." "Yes, Captain." He stood up and bowed to Rikyu and Kiyone, a little deeper to Kiyone. "Milord." He then walked out. "I'm liking the Kuroi less and less," Rikyu commented. "Aren't I the noble here?" Karya asked, half-offended. Ryo-Ohki Ryoko was worried, something had happened. She could feel it, one of her friends was hurt. She'd had that feeling before, during the Caine incident when Tenchi was fighting Caine among other cases. This time the feeling hadn't come on suddenly, half-way into the battle it had started, since then it had been building. "Something's wrong," she told Ryo-Ohki. "Something's wrong." Washu's Station The scene at Washu's station had not been what Kiyone expected. She knew Tenchi had convinced Washu to form a medical unit of some kind, and had passed along his command to the Gyanburu. Kiyone herself had sent some of the Kagekiha's wounded down, the ones that she felt would be better served by what Washu could offer. Then she began combing the battleground for more escape pods and survivors. When she finally arrived herself at Washu's station it was far more than she expected. The Washu factor was expected, she had scavenged the destroyed fighters to build a variety of general medical equipment. The presence of ten Jurai medics was not entirely surprising either. What Kiyone didn't expect was the number of people there. Not only was the overflow from the Gyanburu, and the five reinforcing craft, here, but so were a large number of Akuneko common soldiers. The nature of space battle meant that injuries were usually minor, from being bumped around as the ship was struck. Most major injuries were caused by boarding actions, or else made moot by the fact that the wounded party was also suddenly exposed to vacuum. Washu and the two Jurai medics worked with an Akuneko commoner on the few major injuries while Tenchi, the knights and a collection of uninjured soldiers performed first aid on those that needed less. Next to Kiyone, Mihoshi stood yawning. Rikyu scanned the site, impressed, the MASH units he had seen in Earth battles were much less organized than this. Captain Karya was standing a little behind the teal-haired detective. Rakkan stood rigidly next to the Jurai. Kiyone had ordered her reinforcements to make sure no Akuneko craft left, she would have done it anyway, they might have their own help after all. Still it had been fifty minutes before "Mihoshi, don't touch anything," Kiyone ordered, she couldn't think of anything Mihoshi safe to assign the blonde to, that meant carting her around. "Do you understand?" "Of course, Kiyone," she answered. "Hey, look there's Ayeka! She looks sick." Kiyone looked where Mihoshi was pointing and saw Ayeka wearily carrying supplies for the medics. She had a gray color that Kiyone didn't like. "Kiyone-San, Lord Rikyu" Ayeka called happily as she saw them. The purple-haired princess handed off her bundle and shuffled towards them, attempting to maintain something of her usual demure manner. Then she hugged them both, and came to the dizty blonde. "Mihoshi, for once I'm even happy to see you." "Really?" Oh thank you, Ayeka! I always knew you liked me." "Ayeka, are you all right," Kiyone asked. "You look...gray." "I'm just tired," Ayeka waved it aside as she pried herself from Mihoshi's grip. Karya blushed and bowed as Ayeka looked at her. "Princess Ayeka," the young Captain addressed her. Rakkan noted the action and title. He went to his knees as was standard for Akuneko before higher ranked nobility. "Milady." Ayeka looked down at him, unsure of how to react. "Kiyone-San, the Akuneko commanders have not yet arrived," Ayeka told her. "I'm sure Lord Tenchi or Washu...Chan could use some help." "Do either of you have first aid training," Kiyone asked the rigid pair of nobles. "Yes, Captain," Rakkan answered from his kneeling position. "I'm afraid that I do not, Captain Makibi," Karya said embarrassed. Kiyone turned to Rikyu. "I've worked in MASH units before," he told her, he was already moving. "You were on TV?" Mihoshi asked, wondering. Karya and Rakkan looked at her, confused, Kiyone merely rolled her eyes. "Okay, I want Rakkan to talk to Tenchi anyway, Karya, could you help Ayeka," Kiyone added quietly hoping that the princess, who was already returning to her labors. "Watch her, I think she's pushing herself too hard." The woman glanced at Ayeka and nodded. "Yes, Captain," Karya bowed and moved off to help Ayeka cart supplies around. "Captain," Rakkan asked as he and the rest of the group began moving among the wounded. "Who is this Tenchi?" Kiyone saw him wrapping an arm bandage around an Akuneko soldier. "That's Tenchi," Kiyone explained, she waved to him and started to pick a path in his direction. "He'd be the next king of Jurai if he wanted it," Mihoshi added helpfully. "If he wanted it?" The boy saw them and waved back after finishing the bandage. "Hey Kiyone, Mihoshi," he called, and walked over. He looked at the Akuneko warrior suspiciously. "Who's your friend." "This is Rakkan of the Kuroi," she introduced the man, who was already kneeling and addressing Tenchi as "milord." "Please don't do that," Tenchi said embarrassed. "I get more than enough of that from the Jurai around here." Rakkan looked up and scanned from side to side, confused, this Tenchi was the first noble of any sort who appeared to not like being addressed as was proper. "As you wish," he answered slowly, raising from the ground. "You need to talk with him about Lord Ryoi," Kiyone informed Tenchi. "I'll fill in for you in the meantime." "Something important I assume," Tenchi said tiredly. "Well okay, let's go find somewhere to talk, but make it quick. We have a lot of work to do." "Yes, milord," Tenchi rolled his eyes and started walking. Knight-Azaka, who had been watching, filed in behind him and the Akuneko. The knights still considered themselves Tenchi's bodyguards, though Kamidake was with the more severe cases under enforced bed rest. "How can we be sure that he isn't lying, Lord Tenchi?" the bearded knight asked after the Akuneko had explained matters. "We don't know," Tenchi agreed. Then he thought to himself, "But we can't ignore it either." "I swear that it is the truth, milord," Rakkan made Ayeka seem loose. "I didn't say I wouldn't do what I can," Tenchi answered. "For now find somebody and patch them up." "Yes, milord." The Akuneko soldier was staring hard at Mihoshi while Kiyone was immobilizing his arm and shoulder. He was finding it difficult to believe that this blonde was on the Yagami's crew, he had seen the maneuver's it had been making in battle. The Yagami had actually out maneuvered some of the less skilled fighter pilots. "Now where was it," she was saying. The blonde was twisting and turning her storage cube and producing a stream of oddball objects. "It's a neat magazine, lots of pictures and comics and stuff." "Okay, I'm finished here," Kiyone declared as she made sure the sling was tight. "Come on Mihoshi pick up your stuff." "Huh, oh okay," Mihoshi began frantically putting stuff back into her cube. "Oh there it is!! Don't worry I can find another copy." She took a folded magazine and handed it to the confused Akuneko. This was Kiyone's plan to keep Mihoshi moderately out of the way, talking to the patients. Most of the Jurai had already been treated, after all the Akuneko still outnumbered them by quite a bit. Kiyone was bandaging a torso gash when Nagi walked up, Kiyone noted that she was still favoring the one side. Apparently the bounty hunter had aggravated her injuries a little. "we're here, Captain," Nagi smirked at the title. "Thanks," Kiyone responded, finishing up on her most recent charge. "Could you find Tenchi and Captain Karya? I'll find Rikyu and contact the captains of the other ships." "Grabbing everybody you can?" Nagi quipped. "Oh yes." Kiyone answered. "Come on Mihoshi, we got to go." "Kiiyoooneee, I'm tired of walking, when will we get to sit down?" "Pretty soon, Mihoshi," Kiyone promised. Then the policewoman walked unerringly in Rikyu's direction. Ryoko's son was finishing up on his own patient as the Miho-Kiyo pair walked up. He turned around to greet them before they announced their presence. "Lord Ryoi is here," Kiyone explained. "I think you and Ryoko should both be there." "Looks like we came in at the tail end of things anyway," he agreed. "Everything is pretty much under control here. Lead away, Captain oh my Captain." "Everybody's oh so funny today," Kiyone huffed before walking off. They met Ryoko, Lord Ryoi, and his commanders at about the same time the captains of the five reinforcing ships arrived. "Miho-Kiyo, Rikyu" Ryoko waved, the collected Akuneko clansmen glared at the undisciplined space pirate as if she was an embarrassment. Kiyone regarded her carefully, she was worried about something. "You're all safe!" She teleported across the barren ground to meet Miho-Kiyo and Rikyu. Then she hugged Rikyu in one of her uncharacteristic displays of emotion. "Uh...Ryo...Mom," Rikyu mumbled. "Could you let go of me?" "I'm sorry something's bothering me," she said as she released her son. "Captain Makibi," one of the reinforcing commanders addressed her. "You were given command of these forces for battle, but that does not give you the authority to set terms." "Will you accept the crown prince of Jurai?" Azaka demanded as Tenchi arrived. "Tenchi!" Ryoko seemed happier now, she hugged him as she had Rikyu. It wasn't one of her normal glomping embraces. "You're safe too!" "Ryoko, Let go!" Tenchi protested. "Of course I'm safe, don't you think you would have heard otherwise!" Rakkan stood a little ahead of Azaka, where the Jurai knight could watch him. If it weren't for the fact that everybody was treating this as if it were rather normal he would have intervened. The Akuneko moved to a position behind Kiyone as he arrived. Ryoko watched the man carefully, upon noticing him. Rakkan, on the other hand, lowered his head as Ryoko regarded him. The space pirate recovered her composure and released Tenchi, she was beginning to think that she was worried over nothing. "Lord Tenchi," the captain gasped. "I did not know that you would be leading these surrender proceedings." "Would it be too much for anybody to just call me Tenchi?" the young Jurai-warrior asked nobody in particular. "Hey, we call you Tenchi," Mihoshi put in. "Mihoshi," Kiyone shook her head embarrased. "Hey, where's Ayeka," Ryoko asked. "I'm right here, Ryoko," Ayeka responded irritably. She sounded tired, as the reversal to Ryoko's proper name also showed, but she was apparently fine. Ryoko breathed a sigh of relief as she turned about to see another of her friends safe and sound. Then she stopped in mid motion. "What's the matter, were you expecting me to be dead?" Captain Karya and Nagi were with her. Karya moved to stand next to Rakkan behind Kiyone, eyeing the taller Akuneko warrior with a little trepidition. "Ayeka..." Ryoko had seen a more severe version of that grey pallor once before, immediately after the fight with Caine. Achiko had looked like that after burning out some of her Jurai power in fighting the monster.