Disclaimer: This is it. Part five the "The Last Avatar." I have recently decided to quit writing Tenchi fiction in favor of El Hazard, however, I do intend to finish up a few last Tenchi projects before leaving for good. "The Last Avatar," is one of them. Tenchi Muyo is the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC. I own only the writing and the characters I create. I hope you enjoy the chapter. The Last Avatar: Part 5 The Day of Heartache Ayeka fell to her knees, the front of her kimono soaked with blood. She could just hear the Queen's dying breath over the flames around her. "Ten...chi..." "AYEKA!" Sasami shot straight up from the jungle floor, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she sat in the darkness, trying to make sense of what she had just seen. "What is it?!" She looked up and saw someone moving in the darkness near her. She tensed and reached out for her lightsword, but stopped as a dull glow began to emanate from his wristwatch, bathing his face in a soft glow. She began to relax. Carvin looked down at her, his face a mask of concern. "What is it?" he repeated again. She shook her head. "A...A bad dream. I'm sorry. It's nothing." "Are you sure?" he asked. She nodded, her hand going to her face as her eyes closed. It had been so frightening... He nodded. "Okay," he said quietly. She could hear the sounds of the Mallistair jungle around her. They had decided not to have a fire, lest it be discovered and the two Jurains caught by whoever had attacked them. "Try to go back to sleep," he told her. "What time is it?" she asked. "Almost three." She shook her head. "No, you should get some rest. I'll take this watch." "No. Sleep," he told her. "Hey, Kenzaki," she told him, "I'm okay." He didn't look convinced. "What? You don't trust me?" "It's not that," he said. "Oh?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Then what?" "I took a stim tab," he told her. Her eyes widened in realization. "I couldn't sleep now if I wanted to." "Oh," she said, feeling just a little stupid. "Well, I can't sleep either." He sat down on the jungle floor. "Then I guess we're both missing out," he said as he dimmed his watch again. They sat together, trying to stare at each other through the darkness. Mina let the cigarette burn between her fingers as she waited. She looked at the communicator sitting on the table. Only three hours had passed since the Queen's assassination. She had called in her report immediately, detailing exactly what had happened. The response had been two, simple words... "Stand by." That had been three hours ago. She waited, sitting in a small lounge in the Mollidoni hospital where the wounded had been taken after the attack, where Her Majesty's body was being kept. She continued to wait. She winced and dropped the cigarette as the burning embers reached her fingers. A second later, her communicator pinged. She nearly jumped in shock. She grabbed it and switched it on. "Todara," she said quickly. "Stand by for Lord Akita, Major," Akita's secretary, Ms. Kanesento, told her. A moment later, Akita was on. She could hear him sigh over the other end. "Major?" "Yes, Sir?" "Give me your status." Mina took a breath. "I'm at the hospital. I'm hoping to talk to one of the wounded here. Had his arms chopped off during the attack. I think he got a good look at the assassin. I'm going to question him." Akita was silent for a moment. "Very well," he said. Mina bit her lip. She knew what she had to do. "Sir...As the agent in charge on this mission, I accept full responsibility for this..." Akita said nothing. "And I hereby resign from Her Majesty's SIS..." "Spare me the self sacrificing nonsense, Major!" Akita's angry voice came blasting over the comm. Mina flinched. "Sir?" "This is hardly the time or the place to be assigning blame and pointing fingers! You have new orders, and I won't stand for this kind of pitiful behavior!" "Yes, Sir!" she replied. Akita sighed and began again quietly. "Here are your new orders. We need a civilian leader. I'm dispatching agents to find Princess Sasami. She's next in line, but just in case I want you to go to Earth and pick up the other two heirs." Mina blinked. "Two heirs, Sir? I was aware of only the one. The crown princess..." "Her Majesty's older brother, Yosho, has been living quietly on Earth for quite some time, Major. It's not something discussed outside the higher levels of government." "I see, Sir." "The Indomitable will arrive in a few hours. When it does, it'll take you to Earth at the quickest possible speed. Once there you will make contact with the royal heirs and bring them back to Jurai. Admiral Wakazi is dispatching orders to the Indomitable's captain to put the Indomitable's S3 team at your disposal." Mina blinked. An S3 team? "That's an awful lot of firepower for a simple recovery mission, Sir." "No more risks, Major. This is the kind of mission the Special Space Service excels at, so use them." "Yes, Sir." She heard Akita sigh. "The Courageous will escort the Ryu-Oh and bring Her Majesty's body home." Mina swallowed back fresh tears. "Yes, Sir." Akita paused, then, "This is a dark day, Major Todara. I hope it doesn't get any darker. Akita out." "It won't, Sir," she told him, cutting the connection. "I swear it." "Ow! Damn!" Sasami hissed, pulling another fracta thorn from her finger and sucking on it. After a second, she pulled herself over the fallen tree before her and leaped down to the other side, joining Carvin there, who was looking at a map. "We're lost," she accused him point blank. "We're not lost," he assured her. "We just happen to not know *precisely* where we are, that's all." Sasami groaned. "Kaeya, give me a fix," Carvin ordered. Sasami watched fascinated as a three inch hologram of a young girl appeared on Carvin's wristwatch. The girl turned from him and pointed. "That way," she said simply. The hologram disappeared. Sasami smiled. "Nice to find a guy who doesn't mind asking a woman for directions." Carvin chuckled. "First rule they teach you at the Academy: Make maximum use of every available resource." "I see," Sasami said. She gave him a once over. "Royal Army?" "Navy," he corrected, starting down the path Kaeya had suggested. Sasami followed close behind. It was getting later in the day, the sun was shining high above them. "What do you suppose they wanted?" she asked him, searching for hints to what he was thinking. "Hard to say," he told her honestly. "They wanted Kaeya... they wanted *you*," he pointed out. Sasami swallowed nervously. "Yes." "What do you know about this Order of Tokimi?" he asked. She walked up so that she was striding alongside of him. "Ancient wacko cult," she began. Carvin laughed. "What?" "Nothing," he told her. "Please continue." Sasami paused before going on. "They appeared out of nowhere a little over ten thousand years ago. First as a minor annoyance. Like I said, just another wacko cult. Before long they were a power. Political ties within the government. Military connections." Carvin was shocked. "I never heard about any of this." Sasami smiled. "After the Fifty Year's War, the Tsunamic Church forbid educating people about it. They felt it was a darkness best left forgotten...to let it rot in obscurity so that no one would ever make such an attempt again." "What kind of attempt?" he asked, already knowing. "A putsch," she said. He blinked in puzzlement. "Sorry," she said, "Terran term. They tried to take over the government in one neat, violent uprising. The Knights of Jurai and Tsunamic Clerics stood against them, and drove them off Jurai. The Navy hunted them. Finally, after fifty years of brutal fighting, the Order was cornered here on Mallistair, the last of their eight great tree nurseries. The Knights and Tsunamic Clerics stormed their temple. When the battle was over, there were *three* survivors." They stopped at a large stone blocking the path. Carvin climbed up and reached down, helping Sasami up. "Sounds like one hell of a fight," he commented. "Yes," she told him. "The Tokimians fought like men possessed. There are those who said that they *were*." "So what did they want?" he asked. Sasami stopped dead in her tracks. Carvin blinked in concern. "They wanted to kill Tsunami," she said softly before continuing on down the path. Mina stepped through the double doors and into the morgue, walking silently to the table flanked by two massive, wooden Guardians. She looked down at the sheet covering the woman's face and reached out, pulling it back from her. The Queen's body had already been cleaned and prepared for viewing and burial. She looked as if she were in a sound sleep, as beautiful now as in life. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She looked at peace. Mina reached out tentatively and rested her fingers on Aeka's cold hand. She shut her eyes, a tear rolling down her face. "I'm sorry," she whispered painfully. She replaced the sheet and turned from the Queen. The Indomitable would be making orbit in a few minutes. Suddenly, she stopped. She remembered something odd. <"Azaka! Kamidake!"> The Queen had called out for her Guardians. "Guardian," she said, addressing one of the wooden soldiers, this one with a blue character on its trunk. "Yes, Major?" the Guardian's booming voice replied. "Did Her Majesty summon you during the attack?" "No, Major," the Guardian told her. "We were not summoned." Mina took a breath. "I see," she said. she thought, Or he really didn't hear the Queen's mental summons. She filed that bit of information away as her communicator beeped. "Todara," she responded. "Major, the Indomitable has just made orbit. Also, Private Garidan is awake." "Thank you," she said woodenly. "Todara out." She gave the covered figure one last glance before walking out of the morgue. "Hard to believe we made it," Sasami said stretching as the two of them entered the hotel where Sasami had arranged to stay before coming to Mallistair. Well dressed guests gave the two dirty, unkept figures odd looks. "I guess this is where we part company," she said. "Not quite," he told her. "This is where I'm staying." She arched a skeptical eyebrow. "Besides," he said a second later, "I don't think it's a good idea to be separated." She nodded. "Okay, I'm going to check my messages." "I need to make a call. Meet back here in ten minutes?" She nodded and walked off. Carvin watched her go then went to a service desk. Giving the woman behind the counter a smile, he asked to use the comm system. She handed him a customer service comm unit. He held the head set up to his ear and dialed the appropriate frequency. A cheery secretary's voice met his ears over the comm. "Zenbu Yushutsu," she greeted, using the name of the SIS's front. "How can I help you today?" "Kenzaki," Carvin told her. "Get me Lord Akita." "Give me your day word, Sir," the secretary's voice replied, her cheer replaced by a serious tone. "Nageyari," he replied. "Hold one, Sir." Carvin looked up and watched as Sasami spoke with another service rep as she tried to check her messsages. He heard the click on the comm as his call was transferred. "Commander Kenzaki? This is Lieutenant Commander Ogawa, Officer of the Day. Lord Akita is unavailable. We are currently at Red Alert. Our state of readiness is at 'Chambered Round.' Do you understand?" "Understood. Give me the bullet," he ordered. "Approximately eighteen hours ago, Her Majesty, the Queen, was assassinated on Mollidon." "What?!" Carvin hissed in shock into the receiver. He looked up suddenly. No one appeared to be watching. His eyes locked with Sasami's for a moment. He turned away. "Agents have been dispatched to retrieve the royal heirs, but we're still looking for Princess Sasami." "She's here with me," Carvin told him. Silence. "Say again, Commander Kenzaki?" "She's with me," he repeated. He could hear cheers from the war room on the other side of the comm line. "Understood, Commander. You are ordered to bring her in as soon as possible." "Understood," Carvin told him. He took a breath. "Should I tell her?" he asked. Once again there was silence. "Your call, Commander," Ogawa finally told him. "Tsunami with you." "Yeah, you too," he replied. The connection went dead. He looked up at Sasami, who was now making her way back to him. The man lying in the hospital bed had no arms, charred, bandaged stumps lay at his sides. His eyes were half closed, and his breath was shallow, labored. Despite what had happened to him, Mina knew for a fact that he appeared worse than he honestly should. "What's wrong with him?" General Redara asked in a haunted whisper. Mina listened as a Mollidoni doctor in spectacles and a beard tried to explain. "The wounds are...damned odd, Sir," the doctor told him. "We detected an odd energy variance emanating from the wounds. At first we thought it was pluton radiation, but the signal graph is too unstable for that. It appears to be inhibiting his natural healing processes, preventing even the slightest bit of regeneration. If the sword hadn't cauterized his wounds as it cut, he'd already be dead." "Can't you clone him new arms?" Redara asked. Limb replacement was a fairly simple procedure. There was no obvious reason to keep the soldier like this. "No, Sir. As I said, it's inhibiting all forms of regeneration. A graft won't take. Also...it appears to be spreading." Mina chuckled quietly and shook her head. "A weapon designed purely to inflict a wound that will never heal," she whispered. "Even a scratch will kill." "Quite right, Miss, quite right," the doctor told her. "Unless we come up with a way to stop the variance, the good Private here is going to die within the next five hours." Mina leaned in close to the man. "Private Garidan?" she whispered. "Can you hear me?" His eyes opened a bit wider. He swallowed back either fear or bile, it was impossible to tell which. "Yes," he whispered. "Did you see the woman who did this to you?" she asked. "Did you see her?" He nodded slowly. "Da...Dan..." He swallowed again, painfully. "Danitan..." Mina took a breath. "How do you know?" "Face....Face paint...Dani...tan..." "Are you absolutely certain, soldier?" Redara asked. The Mollidoni nodded. "Yes...Sir..." Mina and Redara looked to each other. Sasami watched him while he spoke over the comm. Their eyes met for a second, and for that second, she thought she saw something terrible. He turned away again. Sasami went back to checking her messages. Not many people knew where she was going. Only Mayuka and Ryoko, although she was sure her sister would've found out by now. "NO NEW MESSAGES," the computer pad read. Sasami sighed. After the dream she had had, she was hoping for something cheery from Aeka. No luck. she thought. She put the pad down and made for the Jurain agent. He met her halfway and took her arm. "We have to talk," he told her quietly. "Your room." The tone of his voice filled her with dread. She nodded once and led him to the stairs. As she began to climb, she remembered her dream. Her heart plunged into her stomach. Standing near a public comm terminal near the stairs, a Mallin watched them start up the stairs. It inserted a coin into the comm and made a call... "Lord Kayzin!" Kayzin turned from the majestic view before him. This Mallistair reminded him of his own world at times. Beautiful, but deadly. But now was not the time for reminiscing. "What is it, Deelin?" The waif-like Danitan approached and held up a comm unit. "We have them." Sasami stood there for a moment, unable to think. She shook her head slowly, her mouth opening and closing for a moment as the full force of what she had just heard began to take hold. She took a step back, as if she could somehow retreat from it, keep it at bay for a few moments longer. As she took another step back, her legs gave way beneath her, and she stumbled to the ground, her back striking the side of the hotel suite's queen size bed. She stared wide eyed directly ahead, moisture pooling up in her eyes. "You're lying," she whispered, hoping beyond hope that he was, for whatever reason, she didn't care as long as he *was* lying to her. Carvin looked down at her sympathetically. "I wish..." he began, "I wish I were." The moisture pooled up and began flowing down her face. Her mouth opened, but no sound emerged for a moment. Then, "AYEKA!" Her hands came up and covered her face as she howled in pain. She screamed her sister's name again in agony. That one name soon deteriorated into an incomprehensible cry of anguish. The blue-haired archaeologist pulled her knees into her chest as she wept. "Ayeka!" she wept again more softly. She didn't look up as she felt someone's arms encircle her shoulders. Didn't notice when that someone pulled her closer to him and let her bury her face in his chest while she cried. She didn't care when she felt his hands come to rest on her back as he held her, allowing her to cry into his shirt. "Shhhh," Carvin cooed gently. He placed his hand on the back of her head and held her to his chest. "It's okay," he whispered. "It's going to be okay." "Ayeka....Ayeka..." came Sasami's muffled sobs. She wasn't sure how long he had held her, maybe minutes, maybe hours, but she did know that the sun had been out when she heard the news, and that it was dark outside her window when she finally opened her eyes again. He continued to hold her, content to wait for her to come out of her shell. When she did, she knew she had been changed forever. She knew. She knew because she had seen Ayeka change after hearing about the death of their parents during the war. "Carvin," she whispered. "Hmm?" "You said you worked for me, remember?" she asked quietly. "That's right, Your Highness." She paused for a moment, hesitant to take the final step and make that change permanent. To go from the person she is into what she would have to be in the coming days. She mentally closed her eyes and took that step... "Kill them," she whispered. She felt him tense slightly. "I don't care who they are," she told him in a haunted whisper. "I don't care why they did it. I don't care for whom they did it." She swallowed back another grief stricken sob. She felt her strength returning to her. "I want them dead." Carvin said nothing for a long moment. Then, "Yes...Your Majesty." Lady Mika Katsuragi, spymaster of Her Majesty's Internal Security Service, passed through the double doors into the inner sanctum of the Patriarch of Jurai, Kimio Akagi. She turned and gave a short bow to the statue of Tsunami before she and her two ISS bodyguards continued on inside. She was a devout follower of Tsunami, and even she, arguably one of the most powerful people in the Jurain Empire, gave homage to her goddess. When you got right down to it, there were six people who could be called the most powerful Jurains alive. Her Majesty, the Queen, Tsunami rest her soul, was on top of that list until only a short while ago. The Prime Minister and head of the Great Council was second. Admiral Wakazi, the leader of Jurai's Royal Navy was third on that list simply by his position at the head of the greatest Navy in the galaxy. Herself and Lord Akita were next, both wielding the most powerful weapon of all, information... But the last held even more power than that, for he had the combined power of the faith of every single Jurain man, woman, and child. The Patriarch. He had started out as a simple Tsunamic monk, a monk who had seen first hand the devastation of Ryoko's attack on Jurai seven hundred years ago. He was ancient, some said as old as Tsunami herself. He was a powerful figure. A powerful figure who had somehow got hold of information concerning the Invincible. A powerful figure who had all but declared war on the galaxy on behalf of Jurai. Powerful or not, it was time to bring him down a peg. She entered his private chambers without knocking, an agely priest nearly had a stroke from her perceived lack of etiquette. She stood before the Patriarch's ancient wooden desk and waited for him to acknowledge her. Akagi looked every bit the frail, old man. He looked up at her and squinted, trying to make out who it was through his failing eyesight. "Lady Katsuragi," he said in greeting. "Tsunami with you, child." "And with you, Your Holiness," she returned. "I hope you don't mind the intrusion, but there is something of great importance we must discuss." "Of...of course," Akagi said weakly. "There is something I wished to discuss with you as well...child..." He stood up. Katsuragi's eyes narrowed as she heard the doors shut behind her. "I...I was rather hoping..." Akagi said as he approached her, "That you would...be kind enough to bring young Akita with you..." He trailed off and looked her in the eye. "Pity." The attack came without warning. Katsuragi turned as her bodyguard gasped in shock. She looked down and found the pink tip of a lightsword protruding from his chest. She turned and went for her own sword as she heard a gag behind her, followed by a dull "thump." She spared a glance downward and found the head of her other bodyguard rolling slowly across the floor. She ignited her lightsword and faced her new attackers. Two men and one woman in black Jurain garb stood before her, lightswords of their own ignited. Katsuragi blinked in shock. How had they fallen upon them so quickly!? She felt something touch the back of her head, Akagi's finger. She suddenly felt lightheaded. She collapsed to the floor unconscious. "Rest, child," she heard the ancient voice command. "Your true Goddess awaits your service." "You don't have to do this now," Carvin told her sympathetically. Sasami continued to rummage through her suitcase. "Yes, I do," she told him, not bothering to look back at him as she searched. "What else can I do?" She paused. "Sit around and think about it?" He nodded once in understanding. He watched as Sasami removed a large, thick, leather-bound book from the suitcase. Now he understood why she hadn't brought it with her to the temple. It looked ancient, fragile, delicate... And extremely heavy. She placed the book on a nearby table. "Okay," she said with a huff. "Here it is. Where do you want to start?" "Let's do this one the easy way, shall we?" he asked, removing his wristwatch. He placed the PFA on top of the book. "Kaeya, scan and download." "Working. I'll need a few minutes." "Understood." They waited in silence while Kaeya copied the book into her database. Sasami stared at the book, lost in thought. She glanced up for a moment and caught Carvin staring at her. She returned her gaze to the book. she asked herself. Carvin hadn't known the identity of the assassin, only that it was being investigated. It seemed a little *too* coincidental, though. She shut her eyes in pain as an image of Ayeka's smiling face appeared before her eyes. They had always been close, but their lives had kept them apart for the last several years. After Tenchi's death, Ayeka had thrown herself into her duties as princess, and later as queen. Sasami, however, had chosen a different path. If Tenchi had taught her anything, it was that dreams were meant to be pursued, and if his death had taught her anything, it was that life, even for a Jurain, was too short to waste. So she had left the palace behind to find her own path. She liked to think Tenchi would've been proud of her for that. More pain filled her heart as Tenchi's face appeared before her. How many more friends would she have to lose? She looked up again at Carvin. How much could she trust this man? He *claimed* to be a government agent, but still hadn't given her any proof of that. She wanted to trust him. So far he'd given her no reason not to, but even so, fear made her hesitate around him. For Sasami, it was a painful, alien thing. She was the kind of person who reached out to others as a matter of habit, because it felt natural to her. Now, she was in a position where reaching out to someone could kill her. Even this man, who had stood watch over her in the jungle, who had held her while she cried for her sister.... Even he had to be seen as threat. At best, a wary ally, at worst... a traitorous murderer. "Download complete. Running translation," Kaeya's contralto announced. "Display the first six scrolls," Carvin ordered. The face of the wristwatch began to glow, and a beam of light shot out from it, forming a holographic projection directly in front of them. Six, holographic images of dried, dirty parchments appeared. The words on the parchments were alien, but after a moment, as Kaeya ran the translation protocol, the strange text was replaced by Jurain words. "Handy thing," Sasami commented. Carvin smiled dryly. "She has her uses." Soon, the documents were completely translated. Even so, Carvin still had trouble reading them. "Kaeya, I thought you translated this?" "Translation is complete, Sir." "Then why..." "It's Jurain, but in a different dialect," Sasami told him. She stepped forward and began to read, allowing some of the knowledge she had gained from her assimilation with Tsunami surface. She began to read words as she recognized them. "Salt," she said, pointing at one word. "Seventeen repair droids," she said, pointing at more text. "Beef?" She blinked in puzzlement. More words were recognizable. "This reads like a shopping list," she commented. Carvin's eyes widened slightly as he realized something. He didn't recognize the words, but the format of the documents was familiar. "No," he said, "Not a list...an inventory." She looked up at him. He pointed at one column of words. "It's an inventory or some kind of shipping record. See? I can recognize these numbers. They're dates." Sasami nodded and pointed. "Here are lists of supplies being sent. And here are their destinations." "This must have been the supply records for those eight nurseries," Carvin told her. He shook his head. "It's a good archaeological find, I suppose, but it doesn't exactly help us now." Sasami was reading the ledgers again. Something Carvin had just said struck her as wrong. she asked herself. She gasped when she realized it was staring her right in the face. "That's not possible!" she breathed in alarm. "What?" Carvin asked. "Accordi..." She broke off as she felt something. She was cold. "Oh no!" Carvin looked at her. "What?" he asked. Sasami was staring at the door. "They're here," she whispered. Carvin drew his PP70 and ran to the door. He placed his ear against it and listened for a moment, then he opened the door and raised the blaster. Nothing. He dashed out into the hall and looked down the stairwell directly across the hall from Sasami's room. He looked down and could see five floors worth of stairs reaching down to the lobby below. Four stories down, three black figures were climbing the stairs. Carvin rushed back inside and shut the door, locking it. As an afterthought, he shoved a chair under the doorknob. He took a quick look around the tiny suite Sasami had rented, searching for something he could use as a weapon or means of escape. Sasami was still staring at the window in fear. Carvin's eyes rested on the PFA, still sitting on the book. He looked up and saw the window. "Get your stuff," he told Sasami. "We're leaving." He grabbed Kaeya off the book and ran to the window, throwing it open. He looked down. Five stories. He hoped the PFA had enough cable... He climbed out onto the ledge and pointed the PFA up above his head, aiming at a brick outcropping. "Kaeya," he ordered. "Piton." With a tiny "pop," a part of the wristwatch shot up, a thin, metallic cord following it. The tiny piton struck the brick outcropping, inbedding itself there. "Drag setting two," he ordered, simultaneously hooking the wristwatch to his belt. "Your Majesty, are you..." He looked up to find Sasami still staring at the door. "Your Majesty?" Nothing. "Your Majesty! It's time to go!" Sasami couldn't move. *He* was coming. She could feel it. "Sasami! It's time to leave!" Carvin calling her name snapped her out of it. She turned and ran to him, climbing out the window with him. "Hold onto me," he told her. "Wait! What are you doing!?" she cried confused as he grabbed hold of her and held on tight. "Olly OOP!" Carvin cried, and jumped back from the ledge. Sasami screamed as they fell. A high-pitched whine could be heard over her cries as the spindle of high-tensile wire spun faster than it was designed to. After all, it was supposed to be used as rapelling cable, not a bunji cord. The whine stopped as the PFA ran out of cable. The two jerked to a halt without warning. Sasami slipped out of his grasp and started to fall. She cried out fearfully, but Carvin's hand shot out and snagged her wrist. He took a look around and found that they were only one and a half stories up. He began searching for a window, but found out he didn't need one. Right below them was a canvas overhang for the hotel entrance. "Kaeya!" he shouted, "Detach cable!" "WHAT?!" Sasami screamed at him. There was a sharp beep from the PFA as the cable was severed. Sasami and Carvin fell to the canvas overhang below. The material turned out not to be canvas, but a more resilient material, so instead of falling through the overhang, the two actually *bounced off*! Landing in a cart full of fracta fruit. Sasami tried standing up, her legs disappearing into the mass of fruit below her with a squish, red-orange stains covered her front, arms, and legs. "Oh," she said in weary disgust, "That's flattering." She started to wipe the fruit off her arms, but didn't have time. Carvin grabbed her arm and pulled her off the cart, fracta fruit covering his entire body. "Come on!" he ordered quickly. Sasami quickly followed, hopping down from the cart. He caught her and the two began to run. Carvin stepped out into the street, waving his arms in the air. "Taxi!" A blue and green Mallin taxi halted in front of them. Carvin opened the door and pushed Sasami inside. "Isissis Spaceport!" he ordered, entering the taxi and pulling the door shut. The cab took off down the street. A purple light blade shot from the other side of the door and sliced to the right, cutting the chair in two. The jerry-rigged lock fell to the floor in pieces. A second later, the door was kicked open. Kayzin stood in the doorway, his lightsword humming quietly in his hand. He saw that the room was empty, the open window, and put it together. He ran forward and looked outside, down into the street. He saw two stained figures, one with blue hair, rushing into a waiting cab. He growled, planted his hand on the window sill, and vaulted over, his Jurain clothing flapped in the wind as he fell to the street below. He hit the asphalt street below, bending his knees as he hit the street, cracking the concrete. He stood up and watched as the cab raced away down the street. He doused his sword and growled in defeat. "Five...four..." Mina took a deep breath and closed her eyes, bracing herself. "Three...two...one..." She clenched her teeth, her hands tightened around her RB20 automatic blaster pistol... "Mark." The floor seemed to fall out from under her suddenly as the drop ship fell away from the Indomitable's rapid launch bay. Her stomach flew up into her throat, and she had to fight to keep her lunch down. A few seats away from her, one of the other soldiers gave an excited war whoop. The tiny ship began to bounce around due to turbulence as it entered Earth's atmosphere. Mina took a quick look around the tiny ship's bay. The twelve members of the Indomitable's Special Space Service team appeared calm, but prepared. Many rechecked their weapons or looked over their black jumpsuits again. "Remember," she called out over the sounds of the dropship rattling around in the Earth's atmosphere. "Check your fire. This is a rescue op." She knew the reminder was probably unneccesary. The Special Space Service was the cream of the crop of the Jurain military. Rescue missions like these were their specialty. During the war, they had been used to repatriate POW's and recover downed pilots. A red light above their heads came on. "Okay, two minutes!" the S3 team leader, Captain Misa Rikari called out. "Positions!" The thirteen black-clad troops unbuckled from their seats and made for the port and starboard hatches. "One minute!" Rikari called out. "Safeties off!" The bay was filled with the sound of thirteen automatic blasters being cocked. "You ever do this before, Major?" Rikari asked. "Not for awhile," Mina told her. "Just remember, this crate will be on the ground for *five* seconds. At the end of a five count, she's off again. You hit the ground, you stay down until she dusts off again." "Got it," Mina replied. The deck bucked under their feet. The light above them turned green. Rikari threw the door open. "GO!" Mina threw herself out the door and onto the grassy plain below. Lying on her stomach, waiting for the all clear signal, Mina took stock of her surroundings. It was dark out. Mountains surrounded them, and a line of trees could be seen in the moonlight. She turned and glanced up as the black dropship lifted off again. She felt Rikari tap her shoulder. Mina got up and started forward for the trees. Mina stood next to the front door of the quiet house and looked up at Rikari. The red headed S3 commander held up three fingers, then two, then one... At one, a soldier stepped forward and kicked the door in. Mina rushed in and began her search. "Princess Mayuka!?" she called out. "Ms. Ryoko!?" She checked the kitchen. "Professor Washu?!" She entered the living room. "Prince Yo...Tsunami in Heaven," she ended in a haunted whisper. The living room was in ruins. There were charred, gaping holes in the wall, obviously caused by energy blasts. Furniture had been overturned. The couch was all but obliterated. Burned cuts had been made in the wall. Rikari joined her there. "Holy shit," she breathed. Mina bit her lip. "Room by room search!" she shouted. She turned to three S3 troops. "You three, up the stairs! Go! You three," she said, addressing another three members. "Go to the temple and check there!" The soldiers rushed to obey. "Shit!" Mina swore. "Looks like a helluva fight," Rikari commented. "Yeah," Mina whispered dejectedly. "Looks like." "Major! Get over here!" a soldier called out. "We got a survivor!" Mina and Rikari ran to the source of the hail. A soldier was standing next to an open closet. Mina pushed forward and knelt down in the doorway. A young woman with dark blue hair was crouched in the closet, some strange animal clutched in her arms. She was staring off into space. The blonde recognized the girl from a holograph Lord Akita had sent her. It was Princess Mayuka. Mina handed Rikari her carbine to make herself look less threatening. It was obvious that this girl was scared out of her mind. "Princess Mayuka?" she whispered. "Can you hear me?" The girl didn't say anything for a moment. Then, "Mom?" Mina bit her lip. "No, honey. We're still looking for her." She looked up and frowned. There was carbon scarring all along the sides of the closet. It was if someone had tried to cut through the back of the closet, but then stopped when the last cut had been made and didn't try to crash through. Rikari came up behind her and handed her a blanket. Mina took it and began to wrap it around the girl's shoulders. "Your Highness," she whispered. "What happened here?" Mayuka shook her head. "I don't know," she breathed. "I came home...and found it like this." Tears began to run down her face. "Mom was gone...and I couldn't get into Gramma's lab." Mina noticed that along with the animal, there was something else clutched in the girl's fingers. "Mayuka." The girl looked up at Mina, tears in her eyes. "Where did they go?" Mayuka was racked with sobs as she began to cry. "They're dead," she cried. "They're dead." As proof, she held out what was in her hand. A single red gem. Mina didn't understand the significance, but knew that she still had a job to do and one live heir was better than nothing at all. "Help me get her out of this," she ordered Rikari, reaching in to pull Mayuka from the closet. Before she could, however, her comm squawked. "Tac One, Tac Two," the comm announced, indicating that it was the soldiers Mina had sent to the shrine. "We're in the shrine. No sign of life here. Proceeding to...SHIT!" There was the sound of something hard coming into contact with flesh and bone. Mina heard a repeating blaster go off and sounds of several shouts of pain. "Shit!" Mina swore. "I need three men to pull them out!" she cried. Three S3's stepped forward. Leaving Mayuka in Rikari's care, Mina took the men and raced up the steps to the shrine. Mina was breathing hard by the time they got there. They approached, weapons raised. There was no movement. "Go!" Mina ordered. The four of them rushed up to the entrance of the shrine, and through the open door. Mina looked around and found the three men she had sent lying unconscious in a pile on the floor. "What the hell?" one of the soldiers asked from beside her. The door suddenly shut behind them! Mina turned and found an elderly man standing there, armed with a simple boken. "Who are you?" the man growled. Mina thought she recognized him from an old holograph. "Prince Yosho?" she asked. The man said nothing. "I'm Major Mina Todara of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service. We're here to collect you and your family. There's been an..." she choked for a moment. "Incident," she finished. To prove her sincerity, she placed her repeater on the floor at her feet and motioned for the others to do the same. The man looked at them suspisciously. "What has happened?" "I was about to ask you the same thing, Your Highness," Mina told him. Yosho looked at her quizzically. "Down at the house," Mina elaborated. Yosho's eyes went wide. "Explain!" "It appears that the house was attacked. We don't know by whom yet." "Mayuka!?" "She's alive, but shaken. We don't know where the others are." Yosho turned, opened the door, and started down the steps. "Help them," she ordered, pointing to the unconscious men. She started after Yosho, just managing to catch up to him. "Your Highness, we are in the middle of a crisis. We need to take you and your granddaughter back to Jurai." "Major Todara," Yosho began, "I have returned from a long trip only a few minutes ago to find armed men ransacking my shrine and a strange woman telling me that my granddaughter has been attacked and that two of my friends are missing. What crisis can possibly top that?" Mina took a breath. "Your sister," she said quietly. Yosho stopped on a dime and turned to her. "Aeka?" Mina nodded. Yosho remembered what she had said about needing to take him and Mayuka back to Jurai and put it together. He shut his eyes painfully. "Aeka," he whispered. "How?" he asked. "Murdered," Mina told him in a whisper. "By a Danitan assassin." In a flash, Yosho's expressionless mask was back on. He started down the stairs again. "Very well, Major," he said. "Once I'm sure Mayuka is all right...you may take us to Jurai." Author's Notes: Please send C&C to Thomas "009" Doscher doscher009@hotmail.com Thanks for reading.