Outsiders, chapter 4: the Chase a fanfic by Whitestar And we've reached part 4. Don't worry, I wont stretch this out too much longer. At this point, there's not much left to say, so, back to the story. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN HERE! I'LL GET OUT AND SEND YER SCRAWNY LITT-" the screaming was abruptly cut off as he flipped the switch controlling the cell's internal speakers. After the subject inside had calmed down enough to stop shouting at no one in particular, he flipped it the other way and started explaining. I told you before, the ship doesn't recognize you, and it can't identify you as Jurian. As such, it won't let you out of the cell until it receives an update from an authorized source, and that means the princesses. It was hard to tell through the distortion of the cell's security field, but she seemed to have calmed down a bit. At least enough not to try something foolish, like disrupting a wall or something and escaping. He didn't want to have to track her down on top of everything else. He flipped the speakers back into neutral and floated back to the door. On the other side he confronted Tenchi, still waiting in the security office. He interrupted the other's inevitable question with "She's taking it rather well, considering. Now we've got bigger problems." he motioned for the prince to follow. As they rose up the gravishaft he explained further. "Our first task is to find the princesses, then we can look for Ryoko and the.. enemy." They stepped out of the shaft to face the long hallway leading to the command and control centers. Instead of turning onto the path which circled around to the tactical bridge, he stopped at the door before them. His hand rose to the small hole beside the door, changing as it did so. He inserted the newly created keycrystal into the hole and the door opened. They entered, and Tenchi stopped, stunned by the room. He was standing on what looked like a bridge above a strange gray surface. The walls seemed to be made of the same stuff, and the room itself was a large spheroid. At its center a platform was suspended, which his companion was already on. The platform was dominated by a set of chairs around a circular table. Danza sat in the one on the left and indicated the one opposite for Tenchi. After a few seconds Tenchi managed to control his amazement long enough to sit down. as he did, the bridge began to retract into the wall below the door, which was now indistinguishable from the rest of the wall. When the bridge was gone, the walls lost their gray tone, which was replaced by a space-black coloration. When his eyes adjusted, he realized it was actually a starfield. The view shifted to focus on an image of Ryu-Oh next to what he recognized as his own planet. Danza elaborated, "The disruption here," a bright red circle appeared some distance to Tenchi's right, "indicates a treeship jumped through this point, which leads to Zeta Cygni, a Jurian held system. Gravitational distortions indicate our enemy hyperplaned 8 megameters short of the stellar surface, so it's impossible to know exactly where he would have come back in. Our first objective is to reach the princesses, then we can worry about finding Ryoko. Washu has been listening to this from the cell as well. Any questions?" "Just one, what is.. whatever it is going to do with Ryoko?" There was a slight pause before he answered "I don't know. If it's what I think.. I'll explain when everyone's here." The starfield abruptly faded out and disappeared, and the bridge returned. As he floated away, Danza advised, "You should get some rest. The guest quarters are two decks down. You can use the second one on the right." A small keycrystal floated back to Tenchi, which he took. "We'll reach the jump point in about three hours. I'll be by in two so we can get in some practice. You'd better get back in shape before it's too late. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Outside the universe?" Tenchi was understandably incredulous, " Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, after all, only a matter of months ago I had no Idea what was outside my little corner of space, and now I'm the crown prince of most of the galaxy." he sighed, "Sometimes I wonder when It'll ever end" "That's If, kid. Sometimes it just keeps on going. This room is really a great idea here." he changed the subject abruptly, "Nothing compared to what we have, of course, but still great." He released the appropriate ID code and the door slid aside. The pair entered to find themselves in pitch darkness, save for a circle of light around their position, casting exaggerated shadows on an otherwise unseen ceiling 6 meters above the floor. "We'll start with a standard training room." he continued, "Sabers and bodies only. First one to score a critical hit wins." Tenchi inhaled a lungfull, "Ready when you are." He withdrew Tenchi-Ken from his belt. The energy sword had been brought aboard along with most of his stuff after the ship had risen. His opponent spun and a blade appeared between his bare hands. Unlike Ryoko's sword, his was bright white. Tenchi-ken ignited with its own blue beam, and the combatants started circling. Tenchi made the first stroke, which was easily swatted aside as Danza retaliated in a furious storm of blows. If Tenchi had been a little less busy blocking and dodging, he might have realized his opponent was using only the smallest fraction of his power. "You're better than you look, kid." Was heard through a shower of sparks. The Outsider provided a slight opening, which Tenchi eagerly took, turning right and sliding to his left as he brought his blade across under his opponent's. He found himself pushed down by unexpected pressure on his sword from above, managing to stop just in time to see a flash as his opponent's beam vanished an inch from his face. A voice declared, "Fatal blow confirmed, winner, Danza." "Don't feel bad, kid. Most humans wouldn't even have noticed that opportunity." "You mean-" "When I let my guard down back there, you did exactly what I expected." The scene began to replay itself a short way off. Tenchi recognized his mistake as he watched. The opening had been calculated, and he had taken the bait. "This time why don't we try something else." "As long as it doesn't involve me losing spectacularly again." The Outsider smiled slightly, "I think this will be a little more suited to your ability." As he finished, the room shifted to a dark-walled box. "Get ready to fight some more" echoed throughout the chamber. He sensed a slight disturbance in the air behind him. He spun just in time to block the faceless swordsman which had appeared behind him. Slicing the now immobile figure and seeing it vanish, he readied himself for another one ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tenchi walked slowly into the room and flopped down on the bed. Training with someone like that was effective but exhausting. When he left, Danza had given him instructions for the jump procedure. He was to strap himself into the bed and take one of the pouches he found in the shelf nearby. Having recalled that his mind refused to do anything else besides go to sleep. He awoke again to an alarm sounding, managed to try getting up and ended up falling on the floor. Before he picked himself up again, the warning stopped and a synthetic voice broadcast itself through the speaker system. "Approaching jump point. Secure for interface. Jump in 1 minute." Tenchi shook himself awake and climbed back into bed. He stripped down to his underwear and strapped himself in. He grabbed one of the pouches on the shelf to find it had a subdermal injector. Placing what looked like the tip against his arm, he pushed the release button. There was no response for a moment, but the pouch had deflated. He dropped the packet reflexively and laid down as his body started relaxing. Within seconds he was asleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It first appeared as a distortion in the planar interface. As it took on shape, the sensors identified it for what it concealed. Since there was no one In the interface chamber, they alerted the second captain, who was on duty at the time. "Treeship entering system at jump point beta," recited the flat voice, "no identification signal detected" The captain roused himself from his thoughts and focused on the display beside his chair. "Scan and identify," He ordered as he studied the information on the console. It was all very coherent. The conclusion was obvious, but at the same time impossible. "Scan complete." The results appeared on his console before the computer finished speaking. The captain sat motionless for a time, processing what the information meant. He stood and tapped the communicator on his wrist. "Aeka-hime, this is captai-" he cut himself off as the door opened with a whoosh to reveal princess Aeka, who had obviously just awoken. He turned and bowed respectfully "Aeka-hime, we have detected-" The princess interrupted him, staring straight ahead as if focused on something invisible. "Ryu-oh. Yes, I felt its presence." She looked directly at the captain. "Hail them." She strode to the center of the bridge. As the projected image appeared before her, a startled expression escaped her control for a moment. "Sir, please explain..." her question trailed off as she realized she had no idea where to begin with her demand for an explanation. The figure on the screen responded, apparently unfazed. "Aeka-hime, as you can see, I have brought Ryu-oh here for you. If you would come over here, I would be happy to explain the situation. It took another moment for the princess to regain her composure after that. Slowly, she nodded her assent. The picture blinked out, and the princess spun, giving orders as she made for the door. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her vision cleared. She blinked twice while her eyes adjusted to the light. The sight before her was familiar, it was the main teleportation chamber of her own ship. The two people she saw were also familiar. The outsider strode confidently forward, but dropped into a respectful bow. "Welcome aboard, your highness, if you would join us in the conference room, I'll explain the situation, but first-" He was interrupted as a blue apparition of another familiar person appeared between them. "It's about time you got here. I've been stuck in this cell for days! Get down here and l-" Washu's image abruptly vanished and the outsider spoke again, rubbing the back of his head. "As you can see, we've been having a few problems." "That's the third time she's broken into the ship's systems." The last was from Tenchi, who stood at a console on the far side of the room. "Like she said, she's been stuck in there since we came aboard. Ryu-oh refused to let her out unless you said so. Anyway, why don't we go let her out before she breaks something." As the entourage approached the door, she felt a presence in her mind. Surprised, she paused for a moment before continuing. *I've missed you* "Why are you smiling?" Tenchi asked the taller man beside him. "Hmm? Oh, nothing" he waved dismissively and resumed listening mentally to the conversation between the reunited comrades. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Absolutely not! If that pirate has been captured, she is probably dead. Even if she is not, I have no intention of allowing myself or my ship be placed in danger in order to rescue her!" A few seconds passed. "Are you done?" Assuming she was, he continued, leaning over the table, "First of all, I know she is alive. Second, if we don't rescue her, our enemy will get what he wants and your precious empire will be as good as dust." She tried to hide it, but he saw she was taken aback at that. Pressing the advantage, he kept talking, "The Sol system is in Jurian space, and it's relatively insignificant. Only someone specifically interested in Ryoko would come there and then leave with her. Do you remember why you were recalled, princess?" She seemed to straighten up as she answered, "A hostile force was detected approaching the system, and the royal family felt it was necessary for us to leave." He marveled at the control it must take to keep her voice in such an unnatural range. "A threat approaching the system. And soon afterward, a being appears above the planet, captures Ryoko, and leaves. You can't believe it is not the same being." He leaned close again, You have a duty to your Empire. The threat must be destroyed. We must rescue Ryoko before he completes his plans." At the end of the table, Tenchi grinned slightly. Even someone like him could see what the Outsider was feeding her. He would have thought she could see through it easily. Unless... If he was using some sort of suggestion to influence her thinking... Tenchi chose not to pursue the idea. His thoughts instead turned to his newfound enemy. He really knew nothing of the enigmatic being, except that he had kidnapped Ryoko. No, he also knew that the Jurians were aware of it. If this thing wasn't afraid of the Jurian empire, what could this band do? The only chance they had was the other enigma in the game. But he was still a relative unknown. Then again, there was really no choice but to trust him. If that trust was misplaced.. He shuddered at the thought. For better or for worse, they were a team. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everyone was there. Tenchi and Washu stood off to one side, the Outsider, Danza, was at the room's center, having become de facto leader of the group. Aeka and Sasami were entering, approaching the two semimetallic doors which had been closed since the Rebirth. On some level, even Ryoko was there. All of them were aware of her, aware of her pain. And all of them with natural emotion (at this thought the outsider smiled slightly, for even his amplified shadow-feelings registered the effect) felt a deep desire to help her. The princesses took their places and cleared their minds. They each placed a single finger into the tiny niche. Having tasted their cells, the great ship opened the alcove doors. Almost eagerly? The two slowly entered, turned, and were engulfed by the soft green radiance. Only his sensitive pseudo-mind could feel their pleasure as they slipped into a connection with Ryu-oh. He let the calmness enter him, and used it to clear away the mental pollution that resulted from thinking like a humanoid. A tear started to form in the corner of Aeka's eye, and the Outsider felt his phantom of sadness that such intensity of emotion was denied him by his nature. When the connection was complete he returned his gaze to the as yet blank wall dominating the front of the room. He announced "If you two are ready, we should go immediately." "Hai, initiating now." This time there was no need to use a jump point, and everyone could remain conscious during the jump. That was definitely for the better, as there was no way of knowing exactly what awaited them on the other side. By now the Culler had certainly finished with Ryoko. They had to catch him before he was able to proceed with his plan. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I've figured it out, there's only two more parts to go. I know the characters are a little unpredictable, especially the new guy. Oh well, until next time.