Episode 5:  No Need for Bioroids

    The GP Bioroid is the latest in civil defense and military strike
technology created by GP scientists. The Bioroid is fundamentally an android
that is designed to think like an officer. However, unlike a standard GP
officer, Bioroids are totally inflexible when it comes to rules and
regulations, and they maintain indifference, even when eliminating hundreds
of outlaws. Their basic armament includes a standard issue grappling rifle
and a high-powered military laser. They have been known to be upgraded with
concussion missile launchers and lasers of even greater strength and
accuracy for special missions involving Class A-5 or higher-ranked
criminals. Malfunctions have never been known to occur. - excerpt from GP
Headquarters Online.
    "Headquarters, I don't think you understand," Kiyone said over the
comlink. "These Bioroids are heading for the correct target, but it's a
densely populated civilian area. The tertiary objective will mean the deaths
of over 5 million innocent people!"
    "I'm sorry, Detective First Class," GP Headquarters responded. "These
orders come straight from Jurai; there's nothing I can do."
    Kiyone thought for a minute and reopened the link. "Doesn't Earth have
missile defense weaponry?"
    The officer at GPHQ seemed confused. "Yes, I believe they do."
    "The Yagami's missile tubes are fully loaded." Kiyone continued. "If we
destroy the Bioroids before they reach Earth, then we can say that they were
destroyed by Earth's military."
    There was a pause, and then an answer. "That could work; good thinking
Detective! That wouldn't postpone an attack forever, but it would stop the
immediate threat and give us time to sort things out with the Jurai Royal
Family. However, you'll have to strike within the Earth's missile range or
it will look suspicious."
    "What is that range?" Kiyone asked.
    "Let me see," the officer replied. There were clicking sounds in the
background. "Assuming Earth is well into the Computer Age, the estimated
range comes out at 300,000km above the planet's atmosphere."
    Kiyone smiled. Now something could be done. "Thanks, Commander. First
Class Detective Kiyone out." With that she closed the comlink.
    "All right, Mihoshi, set a course for-"
    The blonde-haired detective was snoring once again. Kiyone grabbed a
megaphone and placed it beside Mihoshi's ear. "Wake up, dammit!!"
    Mihoshi fell out of her chair giving Kiyone a hurt look with her large
blue eyes. "What was that for?"
    Kiyone sat in her command chair. "I've already told you that this is an
emergency and that millions of lives are at stake, and all you can do is
sleep?! Free time is over, Mihoshi! We have a mission to fulfill, and I
would really appreciate the help of a GP officer. Is there one onboard
besides me?"
    Mihoshi smiled and got into her chair, punching up a navigation display.
"Detective First Class Mihoshi reporting for duty, sir!"
    Kiyone's kinder expression returned. "Okay, Mihoshi. Line us up at
300,000km above the Earth's atmosphere facing the Bioroid squadron."
    "Sure thing!" Mihoshi chimed.
    Kiyone pressed a red button on the tactical console and announced, "This
is Detective First Class Kiyone, authorization Blue
Six/Alpha/Bodai/TC/Command Zero Zero A, load primary and secondary
anti-spacecraft missile tubes."
    The computer responded. "Authorization accepted." A rumbling shook the
Yagami's hull. "Missile tubes loaded and pressurized. Awaiting fire
 command."

<<>>

    "There, you like it?" asked Sasami, flashing her big, pink eyes. The
master chef's eyes grew out of proportion theirselves and a smile grew on
his aged face.
    "This is stupendous! Absolutely delectable! Confoundingly scrumptious!"
He leaned down. "It's good too. Who taught you to cook like this, er . . .
What did you say your name was, little girl?"
    Sasami giggled. "My name is Sasami, and I'm mostly self-taught."
    Ayeka and Tenchi were having a ball watching Sasami outwit the master
chefs and tasting the results. This established restaurant was famous for
the best chefs in Japan (sorry, Iron Chef), and they had now been bested by
a 10-year-old girl.
    "It's not really surprising." Ayeka commented. "She is my little sister,
and she does carry within her the blood of the Emperor Jurai-" She stopped
suddenly when she recalled the incident in the Royal Tree Chamber. "Jurai .
. ."
    Tenchi was barely paying attention. Between the hilarious kabuki theatre
and Sasami's cooking, he was well occupied. He also didn't notice that the
Master Key was reacting to something.

<<>>

    Yosho had finished the evening prayers and now sat in the den with
Noboyuki drinking some highly suspicious "tea".     "Say," Noboyuki
inquired. "Don't you think it's a pretty outrageous coincidence that all
these aliens landed in our backyard?"
    Yosho drank a shot glass and reloaded. "Coincidence? No. I sense a great
plan at work here." He gave Noboyuki a serious look. "What bothers me is
that I can't tell whose."
    Ryoko stood in her astro-body on top of the shrine roof, gazing at the
full moon that hung heavy in the sky. The Galaxy Police were on their way
here; she could sense it. She hoped that they would be officers and not
Bioroids, but she knew better. She hated it, but she couldn't protect Tenchi
when they came for the gems. She saw the black silhouettes of the squadron
against the moon.
    Please be safe, my dearest Tenchi.

<<>>

    "Swing her around!"
    The Yagami tailspinned in front of the Bioroid squadron and continued
earthward on reverse thrusters. They began to enter the atmosphere, and the
Yagami's backside began losing paint.
    Mihoshi's fingers flew nervously over the controls as Kiyone disengaged
the manual safety lock.
    "Kiyone?" Mihoshi whimpered. "We can't stay ahead of the squadron for
long at this rate!"
    Kiyone smiled fiendishly. "I wasn't planning on staying ahead." She
focused her targeting reticule on the leader and strung the Bioroids
signatures together into a multiple target string. "Punch it, Mihoshi!"
    Mihoshi had heard that command often enough to know what that meant.
Reluctantly, she rammed the throttle to maximum.
    The Yagami jumped from the sudden acceleration and orbs of flame
appeared behind the boosters for a split second. Then the flames flew out as
miniature Phoenixes and spiraled above the Earth as the Yagami bolted
straight into the middle of the Bioroid squadron.
    Kiyone groaned at the acceleration and tried to focus the targeting
reticule. "Fire!"
She mashed the red trigger as they passed through the ranks of the squadron.
Missiles and warheads blasted out of the Yagami's tubes like exceptionally
dangerous corks out of unnecessarily large bottles. They each followed their
own targets and proceeded with a small chase before destroying said target.
    Because of the group formation, the explosions were causing a chain
reaction. The Yagami pulled out of the fiery cloud.
    "We did it, Kiyone!" Mihoshi cheered.
    Kiyone grimaced. "No, we didn't."
    As they looked again, 30 Bioroids had survived. Twenty continued on to
Earth, while the other ten headed straight for Yagami.
    Mihoshi gasped. "Oh, this is bad, Kiyone! Let's turn back right now!"
    Kiyone growled and threw down her headset. She then stomped out of the
bridge, calling back: "Take the controls, Mihoshi. I'm going out there in a
Bio-Armor Suit."

<<>>

    It was night in Tokyo, and the shadowed buildings provided perfect cover
for anyone in need of it. Unfortunately, the Bioroids were not so subtle.
All 20 were lined up on top of a skyscraper and looked down on the city. The
leader was beeping and clicking; scanning for the gem signature. It suddenly
pointed at a high-class restaurant downtown.
    "There."
    The squadron blasted off in that direction, oblivious to the wondering
eyes below.

<<>>

    The BAS began to emerge from the top of Yagami's hull. It's apparent
"head" was triangular at the bottom and rounded off at the top with a
shining camera unit inside a green pane of glass that stretched from the
bottom of the head section to the shoulders. The Bio-Armor Suit had a
hulking stature, and carried a chain gun on the right arm, a scorpion
missile launcher on the other.
    Kiyone smiled as the Bioroids neared her ship. "Let's see who the next
generation of officers will be."
    The BAS blasted off the hull and soared straight at the group, firing
off a salvo of missiles. Two were caught in the blast and exploded, while
the rest rocketed out of the way.
    "Come on!" Kiyone shouted as she whirled the mecha around and ripped
another Bioroid to shreds with the chain gun.
    Two more Bioroids grouped up behind her and began firing. Luckily, the
lasers tore into the legs, which were of no use in space.
    "You've got to do better than that!" Kiyone continued, firing off the
rest of her missiles. Both Bioroids failed to evade and exploded. The other
five started to fire at the Yagami.
    Kiyone's BAS ejected its missile launcher and produced a blade from it's
arm. The Bioroids were caught totally by surprise as the BAS cut the first
two clean in half and riddled a third with high-density slugs. They both
fired, but Kiyone had rocketed inside the Yagami's shields.
    Twin lasers emerged from the Yagami's cannons, which vaporized the last
two Bioroids. Kiyone turned. "You know, Mihoshi, we were supposed to use
conventional weaponry."
    Mihoshi's voice came over the comlink. "Oops."
    Kiyone smiled. "No problem. At least you vaporized them." She began to
rocket back towards the Yagami. "Set a heading for Earth's upper atmosphere
and deploy a subspace net. We've got some Bioroid hunting to do."

<<>>

    Tsunami gazed into a viewing pool at the surviving Bioroids on their way
to confront Tenchi. "Protect Sasami and Ayeka, Tenchi." she thought aloud.
"Destiny has chosen to test you."

<<>>

    Tenchi was busy enjoying Sasami's food and the onstage entertainment
while Ayeka attempted half-baked proposals, which were lost in the noise.
Then, out of nowhere Tenchi heard a voice.
    "Protect Sasami . . ."
    The voice was so commanding that he was compelled to act. He hurtled
himself across the table, grabbed Sasami's hand and pulled the shocked girl
out of her seat.
    "What's going on here, Tenchi?!" Ayeka cried.
    A split-second later, five off-target lasers tore Sasami's seat to
ribbons. Ayeka screamed and ducked under the table. Sasami took cover behind
a counter. Amid the screaming and rushing of bodies, Tenchi saw several
gleaming red eyes.
    The same voice that had emboldened him before now said: "Bioroids."
    Tenchi pulled out the Master Key and activated it. The blue light blade
shot out of the hilt like a meteor, summoning the attention of the GP
machines.
    "Who are you?" Tenchi shouted, disregarding the voice in his head.
    The response was robotic. "Are you the Space Pirate Ryoko?"
    Tenchi gasped. Yet another space alien had mistaken him for Ryoko. He
looked in a mirror to reassure himself that his hair had not spiked up and
been dyed green during the day.
    The Bioroid seemed to think that question time was over. It fired a
laser at Tenchi that would have been impossible for a human to block. Then
again, Tenchi wasn't entirely human. The blade flew at an impossible speed
and collided with the laser, sending a shower of sparks in every direction.
The shot ricocheted off several structures before grounding out in a stove,
which immediately exploded. Ayeka grabbed Sasami and ushered her out of the
diner.
    Tenchi was angry. What right did these machines have to burst in on a
happy dinner and attack he and his friends while mistaking him for a space
pirate? None.
    Tenchi lowered the blade slowly and pulled into the sword-fighting
stance that his grandfather had honed to perfection. The Bioroids readied
their blasters while an insane band member started up a techno theme on the
synthesizer, taking advantage of the publicity. Tenchi glared at the
Bioroids and placed the Master Key at a parallel angle to his face. "Let's
dance."
    He dashed at the five Bioroids with unbelievable speed and cut the
leader in half on the go. The other four turned to face him, but he was too
skilled. Tenchi preformed a controlled roll under the Bioroids, keeping his
torso above the floor and putting extreme strain on his arm muscles. He then
swung the blade under two more Bioroids. They fell to the ground and
exploded, legless.
    The other two rocketed upward to the roof where they had made their
entry. Tenchi dashed upward, leaping off the ceilings and desks of the
office floors above. He emerged out of the building in perfect fighter's
stance and then faltered with a whimper. He was surrounded by 17 Bioroids
with blasters leveled. Tenchi laughed nervously. "No chance we could talk
this out? Heh, heh."
    The robots never got the chance to fire. The crowd below that surrounded
the ruined restaurant gaped in awe at the huge red starship that swooped
over head. It came so close to the building's top that the shock wave of its
approach blew all those standing atop it off into the air. As Tenchi hovered
through the air and saw the solid ground below, he let go of his breath. So
this was it. His crazy life was to be cut short by a piloting error. How
fitting.
    Suddenly, a ball of light encircled him, and he found himself on the
bridge of the Yagami. A blue-haired officer grabbed him by the lapels of his
tuxedo.
    "What do you think you're doing?!" she inquired.
    "What do you mean? I was just going out to dinner and-"
    Kiyone pulled the Master Key from his hand. "Just going out to dinner,
with Ryoko's gems and the Master Key of Jurai? Who do you think you're
fooling?"
    "Kiyone," Mihoshi commented. "Aren't you being too rough?"
    Kiyone let go of Tenchi's clothes and brushed her hair back with
frustration. "All right, what are you doing with the Master Key, and why are
Ryoko's gems in its hilt?"
    Tenchi looked serious. "I don't have time to tell you the story, but the
Juraian princesses are down there with the Bioroids. Don't you think we
should pick them up first?"
    Kiyone gasped. "How could I have forgotten?!" Then she looked at
Mihoshi. "Of course."
    She whirled into her command chair and started pressing buttons in a
rapid flurry of activity. "Mihoshi, bring us around. I'm locking onto their
bio-signatures."
    Kiyone then looked out of the viewport. "That's strange."
    Tenchi looked as well. "What's strange?"
    Kiyone frowned. "Damn, the Bioroids have gone into secondary protocol
mode. They find a place to conceal themselves and wait for orders from
command. We'll never find them at this-"
    The control panel started to beep. Kiyone entered another series of
commands. "I've locked onto Princess Ayeka and Princess Sasami's
bio-signatures. Yagami, beam them aboard."
    While the ship was in the process of completing its task, Kiyone
ordered, "Get us into orbit as soon as they're aboard, Mihoshi. We've
already crossed the line by coming within visual range. We can't let any
Earthlings know that this isn't just another military test."
    "Then what are you going to do about me?" Tenchi asked.
    Kiyone groaned. "One problem at a time!"

<<>>

    Inside GP Headquarters, several displays floated around the central
command core. One of the displays flashed red, and an officer called it down
to his station. He turned around in his command chair and reported,
"Commander, the Bioroid squadron that we sent to Earth has been decimated by
some unknown force and they request backup."
The commander frowned. "Send the prototype."
    The officer's eyes twitched for a second before he entered the command.
"Prototype Bioroid Alpha dispatched."
'Kiyone and Mihoshi,' the commander thought to himself. 'They'll be sorry
that they interfered this time . . .'

<<>>

    Washu opened her emerald-hued eyes. That shining blue jewel called Earth
was drawing ever closer. Why was her prison crystal being drawn here? She
knew the answer.
    'Why do you call for me, Funaho?'

Disclaimer:
 This is a work of fan fiction and uses characters and situations from the
Tenchi Muyo TV series, copyrighted under Pioneer.  Also, some characters may
come from the No Need For Tenchi graphic novel series, copyright Viz Comics.
I take no credit for the base characters and plot, but all developments as
of the time frame of my story are of my own design.  If by some strange
chance my plot is parallel to another author's fan fiction, I wish to be
notified.  For comments and information, E-mail me at bkvhw@earthlink.net

    Sorry about the delay on this edition, but I've been cut off from my
computer for over a month.  Coming Soon:  TENCHI MUYO:  LIGHTHAWK LEGEND,
"Episode 6:  Battle in Tokyo"