Tenchi Muyo is the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC. The author owns only the writing. I'd like to thank the people who have preread this fic for me. Cav, Meg, Zero, STRIKESTWICE, and TAN, you all have my thanks. Now, then, moving right along... Taifun Tenchi spit the gag out of his mouth and glared at Ryoko. "What the hell are you doing, Ryoko?!" Ryoko grinned down at him on board Ryo-Ohki. "I just wanted to help set the mood, Tenchi." She pointed at the viewscreen and the starfield it displayed. Tenchi struggled in the ropes that bound him. "So you tie me up and drag me into space!?" Ryoko grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "C'mon, Ryoko! Untie me! This has gone too far!" Ryoko grinned and caressed his face. "Not far enough for me," she whispered. "MIYA!! MIYA!!" Ryoko turned quickly. "What?! Ryo-Ohki! Slow down! I can't understand you!" "MIIIIIYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" The cabbit ship lurched to one side, throwing Tenchi and Ryoko against the wall. Ryoko grimaced as her arm struck a control crystal, slicing her arm open on the crystal's sharp edge. "What's happening!?" Tenchi cried. "Some asshole is dropping out of hyperspace right next to us!" Ryoko told him as she tried to get up. "The shockwave hit us at full force." Ryo-Ohki lurched again. The cabbit cried out in pain. "Are you okay, Ryo-Ohki?!" Tenchi cried. "Mi...Miya..." the cabbit replied weakly. Some of the control crystals went dark and hit the deck. The lights flickered. "Who hit us?" Tenchi asked, struggling to get to his feet. Ryoko got to her command chair and activated the viewscreen. She blinked and gasped. Tenchi looked up and saw a familiar ship floating in front of them. "Tsunami?" he asked. He had seen Tsunami's ship form during the fight with Kagato last year. The ship was immediately recognizable. Ryoko was concerned with something else. She called out as she held her arm. "Ryo-Ohki?" The cabbit didn't answer. "Ryo-Ohki?" She looked at Tenchi. "Uh oh." Suddenly, the two of them disappeared in a flash of light. Tenchi and Ryoko woke up at the same time, lying together on a smooth, crystal deck. "Tenchi?" Ryoko asked, grimacing in pain as she held her arm. "Are you okay?" "Yeah," Tenchi told her, holding his head. "Where are we?" "I don't know." She looked over and saw Ryo-Ohki, in cabbit form, lying unconscious not far away. She picked up the cabbit and put her ear on her chest. "She's alive," she told him. Tenchi looked around him and blinked. There was something familiar about this place. He saw a tree standing in a basin of water not far away, surrounded by crystal control ports. "We're in Tsunami," he said. Ryoko looked around in shock. "We are?" He nodded. "Yeah. It makes sense, right?" She nodded. "I didn't see any other ships." "Tsunami?" he called out, approaching the tree. There was something off about this place. It seemed a little darker than he remembered. "Tsunami?" Suddenly, a tall woman with dark green hair appeared before him. Her hair fell down behind her all the way to the floor, held in place by a decorative pin. Her kimono matched her hair, her blue eyes seemed to dance in the dim lighting. Tenchi blinked in puzzlement. "Tsunami?" "I am Taifun, the ship of Jurai," she said in a harmonious voice that reminded Tenchi of Tsunami. "Um..." Tenchi blinked in surprise. "Hi," he said stupidly. Taifun smiled at them gently. "I'm Tenchi...Tenchi Masaki, and this is Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki." Ryoko nodded her greeting. "I apologize for damaging your ship. I was not aware there was a ship there until after I jumped into normal space," Taifun told them. Tenchi looked and saw Ryoko holding her arm. "Ryoko! Are you okay?" "It's just a scratch," she told him. "I will see to your injuries," Taifun told her. Before she could protest, Ryoko disappeared in a flash of green light, taking Ryo-Ohki with her. "Ryoko?!" "She will not be harmed," Taifun told him. Tenchi nodded slowly, but unsurely. Taifun was staring at him oddly. "You have been within Tsunami, haven't you?" "Um, yeah." Tenchi told her. "Um....Do you two...know each other?" "Yes," Taifun told him. "She was the first. I am the third." "Er, third what?" Taifun blinked. "The third." Tenchi paused. "Okay." "Is Tsunami still...functional?" Taifun asked. "Well, yeah, I guess." Taifun said nothing. "Um...I hate to trouble you, Ms. Taifun, but do you think you could take us home? I don't think Ryo-Ohki is up to it." "Where is your home?" "Earth." Taifun seemed to stare off into space for a moment. "Earth... Colony world designation three-one-five, noncombatant." Tenchi blinked. "Um...yeah, that's the place." Taifun stared off into space again. She seemed to be reading something that wasn't there. "We will pass within ten thousand light years of colony world three-one-five in the course of my mission. If you are willing to wait, I will alter my course to return you there at that time." Tenchi nodded. "Okay. How long will that be?" Taifun blinked. "How long?" "Um...Yeah. How long?" She stared off into space for several minutes. Finally she turned back to him. "Please rephrase the query." "How long will it take to get to Earth?" Tenchi asked uneasily. She blinked again. "I do not understand. We will arrive at Earth at such time as the mission allows." Tenchi paused. "Okay." Maybe she just wasn't sure. "How's Ryoko?" Ryoko appeared a second later in a flash of green light. She blinked and looked around her. Her arm was healed now. Ryo-Ohki was still in her arms. "Are you okay?" Tenchi asked. Ryoko flexed her arm. "Yeah. Gee, that was weird." Ryo-Ohki was still unconscious in her arms. "What about Ryo-Ohki?" "I do not have your ship's schematics. I cannot help her." Ryoko looked down at the cabbit. "She's breathing okay. I guess she'll be okay." She looked up at Tenchi. "Now what?" "You have been within Tsunami," Taifun announced, staring at Ryoko. Ryoko blinked. "Nope, can't say I have." Taifun stared at her in puzzlement. "But...You have been within Tsunami," she said. Ryoko arched an eyebrow and spoke slowly, as if addressing a three year old. "No...I....haven't." "Explain." "Explain what?!" "Explain how you could have the essence of Tsunami about you without being within Tsunami. Were you within Jishin?" Ryoko shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about." "You were not within Tsunami," Taifun told her. "You were not within Jishin. Is there a fourth?" "Fourth what!?" Ryoko turned to Tenchi. "Tenchi, who is this woman and why the hell is she grilling me like this?!" "Is there a fourth?" "Fourth what?!" Taifun stared at her for a moment before saying, "I will show you to your quarters." She turned and started for a door not far away. "Hold on a sec!" Ryoko cried after her. "Our 'quarters?'" Taifun turned to them. "Yes." She started for the corridor again. "Hey!" Ryoko growled. Tenchi held a hand up. "I think it's okay, Ryoko." He started after Taifun. Ryoko blinked and sighed. She followed. "I knew it! I knew she'd do something like this!" Ayeka cried out in rage. "Ayeka," Sasami said, trying to calm her sister down. "I'm sure it's all right. Ryoko wouldn't hurt Tenchi." Ayeka didn't pay attention. "Kidnapping him and stealing away into space with him!" Sasami gave up. Washu, typing away at her holotop not far away, grinned and had a little fun with the princess. "Yeah, just imagine the kinds of things she's doing to him right now. I bet he's just about dehydrated now." Smoke poured from Ayeka's ears. "THAT'S IT!!" She turned on Washu. "Ms. Washu! Prepare Ryu-Oh for flight!" Washu grinned. "And just when did I start working for you?" Ayeka reached out and grabbed Washu by the front of her Science Academy uniform. "Let me rephrase that," Ayeka said in syrupy sweet voice. "Please prepare Ryu-Oh for flight, or I will cut off your eyelids, stake you to the ground, cover you in honey, and let the ants have at you. 'Kay?" Washu gulped. "Sure. No prob." Ayeka released her and straightened the scientist's collar. "Good." Sasami just blinked. "It's still a young tree, Ayeka," Washu warned her. "We're not going to into combat or anything, we're just going after Ryoko!" She sighed. If Mihoshi and Kiyone weren't out on patrol, she could take their ship, but now she would just have to risk using Ryu-Oh. "I wish to leave within the hour." Tenchi and Ryoko followed Taifun through the corridors of the ship. "How many people are on board this ship, Ms. Taifun?" Tenchi asked, trying to make conversation. "This class of vessel is normally crewed by ten thousand, one hundred, and twenty-three, officers and men," she told him, "But we are currently running with only four life forms aboard." "You mean us?" Ryoko asked. "Yes. I control this ship." "Good for you," Ryoko muttered. "You said you were the third," Tenchi told her, "And that Tsunami was the first. Who was the second?" Once again, Taifun answered him. "The second was H.M.S. Jishin." "You mean the second *ship*?" Tenchi asked. "Yes. The second Tsunami-class vessel to be produced. Constructed at the Brosna shipyards, Jurai system." "So where is it now?" Ryoko asked. "Jishin was destroyed soon after it was brought online." Taifun continued walking. "How?" "Jishin's trees sustained a catastrophic command protocol error that resulted in the ship's destruction." "Oh," Tenchi said. A thought occurred to Ryoko. "You look familiar," she said in a friendly way. "Have we met before?" Tenchi blinked. "No," Taifun told her. "I could swear I've seen your face somewhere before." "The body you see here is that belonging to the Will. The Will has no memory of ever meeting you." "Oh. So who is the Will?" She turned to them. "The Will belonged to Dr. Tomoe Ataki." She resumed walking and stopped outside a door. With a wave of her hand, it opened. "This will be your room, Mr. Masaki." "Um...Thank you." "We'd rather sleep together," Ryoko said quickly. Taifun arched an eyebrow. "Ryoko! Knock it off!" Tenchi entered the room. The door shut behind him. Ryoko swore under her breath. She had said that so that they wouldn't be separated, but apparently, Tenchi didn't catch her meaning. She didn't trust this Taifun woman. She looked up and found the ship staring down at her. "This way." Ryoko walked behind her. "So what happened to this Tomoe person?" "She is of us." "I know, but I mean..." "She is of us," Taifun repeated. Ryoko remained quiet. She didn't want to set this woman off. She followed her. Taifun appeared at the Center. The Center was the name the Will used for the area where all the trees that made up Taifun came together. It served as the nexus of their collective consciousness. "The essence of Tsunami is with both," one tree announced. "Yes, although the woman claims to have never been within her." "She is lying." "I do not believe so," another tree argued. "I have conducted scans. She has great power of her own." "As does the boy," a new tree pointed out. "How could that be?" "It is," Taifun told them. "We will accept it." "It is a great power. If we could harness it..." "If we could harness it," Taifun finished, "The problem of power sources for the fleet would be solved forever." The trees were silent. Taifun was pensive. "How?" one tree asked, breaking the silence. "A capacitor can be constructed. One that will harness their power and channel it appropriately," Taifun told them. "They will resist." "Their resistance must be quashed. The rebellion must be quashed. This will give the Empire the edge needed to defend it from it's enemies." "But their resistance," one tree noted, "Their resistance will be powerful." "We will circumvent it," Taifun told them. "Begin work on the capacitor, I will find a way to secure their cooperation." "If they resist..." "If they resist we will handle it," Taifun told the tree harshly. "We are Taifun! The ship of Jurai! There is no danger to the Empire that we cannot destroy!" The trees were silent. "Begin work on the capacitor." "We obey the Will," the trees answered as one. As the trees bent their attention to other tasks, Taifun reached out with her mind and checked her course. They were on course for the next target. She turned to the column of water situated in the middle of the Center. It was like a glass column, although she knew it was not glass, but very still water. Immersed in the middle of this column of fluid was a single, nude, female with green hair. Her eyes were closed, but she appeared to be breathing normally. Taifun regarded her for a moment before returning to her task. Taifun blinked for a moment, confused. Another errant memory was surfacing. How did she get here? She really wasn't sure. She couldn't remember much before the light. The light? What light? There was the light....and then there was here... Here being.... Here. Now. Now? Yes. Now being.... She blinked. She didn't know. The memory. Yes, the memory. What about the memory? "Shit," Kooiti Sirahama said, gazing up at the tree before him. "Isn't she a big one?" Tomoe Ataki smiled at her assistant as she typed away on a holotop computer. She looked up at the spaceship tree in front of her. The wires and sensor nodes placed along the trunk gave the tree an odd, unnatural look. The tree glowed for second, beams of light emerged from the branches and struck the water in the basin in which she was planted. Sirahama turned to Tomoe. "Um...what did it say?" "She told you to watch your mouth, you're in the presence of ladies," Tomoe told him with a grin as she read the translation on her computer. Jurain nobility could understand the great trees, but commoners such as herself and Sirahama had to rely on computer interfaces. "Oh," Sirahama said sheepishly, "Sorry," he told the tree. "Did you get the results of the metallugical tests?" Tomoe asked as she brushed a lock of green hair out of her eyes. "Yup," Sirahama told her and handed her a datapad. Tomoe read it and nodded. "Good. Everything checks out okay." Sirahama was looking up at the tree again. "Um, Doctor?" Tomoe looked up. "Yes?" "Well, I was just wondering...Do you have any idea where it...I mean...she...came from?" Tomoe typed at her holotop. "Imperial R and D," she said. "They've been experimenting with new nutrient baths that result in more powerful trees." "That ain't what I heard," Sirahama told her. Tomoe arched an eyebrow. "Oh?" Sirahama looked over his shoulder before leaning next to her ear. "*I* hear some archaeologists found her under an old Tsunamic temple." Tomoe laughed. "Right! Next you'll be telling me that she's the real life Tree of Origin, come from Heaven to punish us!" "That's just what I hear," Sirahama told her. "Uh huh," Tomoe said with a shake of her head. She handed him another datapad. "Take this to the armament department. That's what weapons I believe we'll be able to safely mount on her given the power involved." Sirahama arched an impressed eyebrow. He turned to the tree and shook his head, raising the pad in emphasis. "You are going to be one tough bitch," he told her with a grin. The tree flashed with light in response. "Oh, yeah...sorry," he said again, and left. Tomoe smiled after him. She looked up at the tree. "Where *do* you come from?" she asked. The tree flashed with light. Tomoe read the translation. It said, "Jurai." Tomoe smiled. "True enough, I guess." She looked up at the schematics hanging on the wall. The name of the ship being designed was written in bold letters at the top. H.M.S. Tsunami. Ryoko looked up at the ceiling as she lay in the bed Taifun had provided for her, but she dared not sleep. There was something wrong on board this ship. She could feel it. It frightened her. She bit her lip in worry. Who was Taifun? Where did she come from? She looked over at Ryo-Ohki, asleep on the pillow next to her. She'd bounce back, she always did. She hoped it was soon. She wanted to get out of here as soon as she possibly could. Tenchi stepped out of the shower in his room and dried himself with a nearby towel. He stood in front of the mirror and picked up a comb. As he was wrangling his hair into its usual style, he blinked. There was someone in the mirror. Besides him, that is. He turned, but there was no one behind him. He turned back. She was still there. He blinked. "Ms. Taifun?" Taifun stared at him. He blinked again. There was something about her eyes... Her eyes. He couldn't stop staring at her eyes. He looked up and found her staring at him. he heard in his mind. What was happening to him? He tried closing his eyes, but couldn't. Tried to look away, but couldn't. Suddenly, the lights in his room turned red. He shook his head and looked up. Taifun wasn't there anymore. "What the...What was that?" "Report status," Taifun ordered. "A warship approaches," the trees told her as one. "Identify." "Impossible to identify. Ship is unknown class, unknown configuration." "Display it." A sphere of light appeared before her. Within the sphere, the image of a ship appeared. "It looks like a Jurain design," Taifun noted. "A rebel warship," one tree concluded. "There is nothing like it in the warbook," another agreed. "It must be something new. Something we have not seen before." "Charge weapons," Taifun ordered. "We obey the Will." Captain Jiroo Kafuro of the newest Jurain warship, Courageous took a breath as he regarded the monstrosity before him. "You're sure it's the Tsunami?" he asked his sensor officer. "Their IFF doesn't seem to be operating," the sensor officer told him. "However, the dimensions are exactly the same." Kafuro tapped the armrest of his command chair in thought. "What the devil is she doing way out here?" he asked himself. "Open a chan..." "Sir, we are being hailed." "Saves us the trouble," Kafuro noted. "Open frequencies." He stood up and took a breath. "This is Captain Jiroo Kafuro of His Majesty's warship Cour..." "Rebel ship," a female voice interrupted. "Surrender or you will be destroyed." Kafuro blinked. "Excuse me?" "You are in violation of Article three two eight dash eight of the Imperial Seccession Act. Any attempt to resist will result in your destruction. Any attempt to flee will result in your destruction." Kafuro grit his teeth and responded. "Unidentified ship," he began through clenched teeth. "I don't know what your captain has been drinking, but if you think one of His Majesty's most advanced warships is simply going to heave to on your say so, then you are quite in error." "Energy spike!" his sensor officer called. "Light Hawk Wings!" Kafuro ordered. The Courageous shuddered beneath him. "Report!" he called out as he took his chair again. "They have us in a tractor beam. Light Hawk Wings are deployed, but are beginning to buckle." "Charge weapons. Target the source of the tractor beam." "Target locked." "Fire!" Blue streaks of light shot from the front of the Courageous and struck the attacking ship head on. "Minimal damage to their forward compartments," the sensor officer reported. "Maintain fir..." Suddenly there was a flash of light from the attacking ship. Ryoko's eyes shot open. She saw the red lights resume their normal hue. She blinked. "I wonder what that was." Taifun watched as the wreckage on her sphere display floated before her. A victory. The first in... How long? How long had they been out here? What was the last victory they had had? She couldn't remember. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. She had been in the middle of asserting the Will over Tenchi when the rebel ship appeared. Now she would have to start over. "Resume course for the target planet," she ordered. "There are problems," a tree informed her. "The capacitor, while efficient, will not stand up to the power output. They are too powerful. The capacitor will overload." "Options?" "We do not know." Taifun sighed. "Show me the schematics," she ordered. The capacitor designs the trees had been working on appeared. "There does not appear to be a solution readily available," the tree told her. "We cannot use them." It almost sounded as if the tree were whining. Taifun wasn't paying attention. It was an engineering problem. Engineering problems had solutions, they always did. For every problem, there was a solution. Tomoe laughed and sipped her champagne. She looked out the spacedock window and saw her proudest achievement, her Tsunami, floating not far away. She raised her glass in toast. "Here's to you, old girl." "Dr. Ataki." She turned and found two men pushing their way through the party toward her. She recognized the larger man and bowed. "Your Majesty." King Azusa nodded in greeting. "Dr. Ataki." The other man, her supervisor, Dr. Mido smiled. "His Majesty is most impressed with your accomplishments, Doctor." Tomoe smiled at the praise. "Yes," Azusa said, walking to the window and looking out at the newly launched Tsunami. "I was wondering when I can expect the next one." Tomoe blinked. "Next one?" Azusa turned to her. "Yes. We've invested quite a bit in the design and construction of Tsunami. I want to know when I can expect the next one." "Um...well...as soon as Imperial R and D sends us a new advanced tree, we can..." "There are no more," Mido told her. "What?" Azusa turned. "You'll have to make do with other trees." "We can't!" Tomoe blurted. Azusa arched an eyebrow. "Your Majesty," Tomoe started again, "The power needed to run a ship like this is enormous. A standard tree won't do it." "Find a way, Doctor." "Your Majesty!" "War is coming, Doctor. The Empire is in danger," the king told her. "Find a way." Tomoe gulped. "Yes, Your Majesty." As she did back then, she found a way. "Adjust the flow rate enhancers accordingly," she told the tree as she willed the schematic in front of her to change. "The solution lies not within the capacitor but within the power source. If we can control the development of the power source over a controlled period, we can keep the capacitor from overloading." "It will take years," a tree warned her. "They will still resist. What then?" She answered both questions at once. "It takes between one and two hundred years to produce a suitable tree capable of the same amount of power output," she pointed out, "This power source will be viable in less than twenty. As for the resistance...we simply will not use them." "Explain," a tree requested. "In order for this to work, we need to be able to control the development of the power source....as it matures. Both subjects are now too old to use. They would resist. If we had a third..." Yes, this would work. She would still need their cooperation, however. "Run brainwave analyses on both subjects," she ordered, "And display them here." The scans took only a few seconds. Taifun nodded at the display. The female, Ryoko, could be controlled mentally, but according to this scan only on a certain frequency and by certain people. The rest of her mind seemed to concentrate on keeping other people from controlling her. Taifun would have no power over her. The male, Tenchi, however, was another story. She nodded. Yes. This would work. "Tenchi! Are you okay?!" Tenchi looked up and found Ryoko flying down the hall towards him. She came to rest right next to him. "Yeah, Ryoko, I'm fine. What's wrong?" "I was so worried," she told him. Tenchi blinked. The night had passed quietly for him. "Did something happen?" he asked her. Ryoko shook her head. "No, but...Tenchi, I don't like this place. It *scares* me, Tenchi. Can we go? *Please*?" "Is Ryo-Ohki well enough to fly?" he asked her. Ryoko bit her lip axiously and shook her head. "Then what can we do except wait here?" "But Tenchi," Ryoko whined. "How are you this morning?" Both jumped and turned toward the voice. "Ms. Taifun," Tenchi said with a smile. "You scared us." "I apologize," she said. "Taifun, what's the next inhabited world you're going to pass and how long until we get there? Tenchi and I are getting off," Ryoko told her. "Ryoko," Tenchi warned. "The next planet we'll be passing is Dalgo, but you don't want to go there." "Oh yes we do..." Tenchi held up a hand. "Why not, Ms. Taifun?" "Because it is inhabited by methane breathers. You would not be able to breathe." "Oh," Tenchi said. "I see." "Okay, how about after that?" Ryoko asked. Taifun blinked. "After that is Cardell." Ryoko nodded. "Fine. Cardell. How long till we get there?" Taifun blinked in confusion. This time, Tenchi took note of it. This was the second time Taifun seemed to have trouble with a simple question concerning time. The green haired woman smiled. "Not long," she said. Ryoko took an uncomfortable breath and scratched her arm. "Your arm troubles you?" Taifun asked. "It's just a little sore." "I will see to it later," Taifun told her. Ryoko looked ready to protest. "I must make sure that the treatment I gave you earlier is working properly." Ryoko sighed and nodded. "Now, how about breakfast?" Taifun asked with a smile. "The female is too alert by half," one tree complained. "I know," Taifun told him. "She's...jittery." "She is tensed." "Combative." "She will resist." Taifun faced the cluster of trees. "We will succeed." "We obey the Will," they said as one. "We cannot control the female's mind, therefore we will not try." Taifun took a breath. "We will concentrate on the male." She turned to them again. "What of the capacitor?" "Design is complete. Construction has begun. It will be ready before the powersource is created." "Good. In the meantime, I will work on the male." Ryoko looked around herself nervously. "Ryoko, I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but I wish you wouldn't act so rude to Ms. Taifun. She's our host," Tenchi told her. Ryoko leaned across the table in the officer's mess and whispered to him. "Tenchi, I have a *really* bad feeling about all this. Can't you sense it?" Tenchi lifted his tea cup and shook his head. "Ryoko, we won't be here for too long. Please, just try to relax....and try to keep from insulting Ms. Taifun." Ryoko was answering him as he looked within his teacup. There was another reflection in the tea. Tenchi blinked. "I don't think we should stay here, Tenchi," Ryoko was saying. the reflection told him, speaking directly with his mind. "She gives me the creeps..." Tenchi stared into his cup. "Doesn't it bother you at all that this woman appeared out of nowhere? And what about how evasive she's being?" "Tenchi? Are you listening to me?" Tenchi stared into the cup. "Tenchi?" "Tenchi?!" Tenchi blinked and looked into his teacup. Taifun was gone. Had she really been there at all? He sighed. Probably not. "Tenchi?!" He looked up at Ryoko. "Huh?" "You haven't heard a word I've said!" Tenchi blinked, embarrassed. "Um...Sorry Ryoko. I guess my mind was elsewhere." Ryoko looked at him worriedly. Ayeka tapped her foot in annoyance. "Well?" "Cut me some slack, Ayeka," Washu's annoyed voice called out from the repair access port. "I warned you he was still too young." Ayeka sighed. They had been out here for almost twenty four hours, and aside from the apparently unending technical problems, there was still no sign of them. Off to the side, Sasami was playing with the Guardians, Azaka and Kamidake. At least *she* was having a good time. Washu got up and hopped out of the access port. "Okay, that should do it. Give it a whirl, Ayeka." "Ryu-Oh," Ayeka ordered. "Move us ahead." The spaceship tree flashed with light, and the ship moved forward. "All right! We're on the move now!" Washu exclaimed with a grin. "Hang on, Lord Tenchi," Ayeka whispered. Ryoko was walking down the corridor towards Tenchi's room when she suddenly tensed. She stopped and whirled around. Taifun stood behind her. "What do you want?" Ryoko asked suspisciously. "I must check your arm now," Taifun told her. "It's fine. Excuse me." Ryoko started walking. "I am responsible for your safety, Ms. Ryoko," Taifun told her. "I must make sure that your arm is healing properly. It will only take a few seconds." Ryoko sighed. "Fine, do whatev...." There was a flash of light. "...er you want," Ryoko finished, now lying on a padded bed in the Taifun's sickbay. She quickly looked around and tried to sit up. *Zat!* "Ow!" Ryoko cried, rubbing her head where it had struck the forcefield three inches above her head. "What's with the suppressor field!? I ain't going anywhere!" "You must remain still while I conduct the tests," Taifun said, appearing next to her. She smiled down at Ryoko. "Just relax. This won't hurt a bit." For some reason, Ryoko didn't believe her. A green light flashed from the ceiling and ran up and down her arm, scanning it. After a few moments, it moved up and began scanning the rest of her body. Ryoko turned her head and found Taifun staring off into space as if reading something that wasn't there. "You are a very powerful woman, Ms. Ryoko," Taifun commented. "Thanks," Ryoko said woodenly. The scanning beam was focusing on her lower abdomen. "You and Mr. Masaki," Taifun began, "Are you lovers?" Ryoko growled. "That's none of your business!" "Hmmm," Taifun commented. She nodded to something Ryoko couldn't see. Ryoko cried out as she felt a short, stabbing pain in her arm. She turned her head and saw hypo syringe on the end of a robotic arm retracting back towards the wall. "What did you just inject me with?!" Ryoko demanded. "A healing agent," Taifun told her. "As well as a mild sedative." "I didn't *ask* for a sedative!" Ryoko spat. "You were becoming erratic. I felt it neccessary. I apologize." Ryoko stared at the green haired apparition. "How much longer is this gonna take?" "It will be over soon," Taifun replied. "Tell me, Ms. Ryoko, do you have any children?" Ryoko blinked. "What's the relevance?" she asked suspiciously. Taifun shook her head. "No relevance. I am merely curious." "No, I don't," Ryoko told her. "I'm not even sure I can." This was true. Given the way she was created, Ryoko didn't know if it was even possible for her to reproduce. "Hmmm," Taifun commented. The green scanner focused on Ryoko's pelvic region. "Would it comfort you to know that you can?" Ryoko swallowed. "A little, I guess. Why are you so interested?" Taifun smiled at her. "I'm just trying to help." Ryoko stared at her. "Thanks, but no thanks. Are you done yet?" "Yes." The suppressor field disappeared. Ryoko sat up. "How's my arm?" Ryoko asked. "Huh?" "My arm," Ryoko reminded her. "Oh, yes. Fine. Nearly completely healed." Ryoko studied the woman for a moment. "Good. Now I just want to..." She paused. Her eyes fluttered for a moment. "Ms. Ryoko?" Taifun asked. "Are you feeling all right?" "Just...Just a little dizzy," Ryoko told her quietly. "I'll return you to your quarters. You should rest now." Ryoko swallowed as another wave of dizziness overtook her. "Fine," she said, in no mood to argue. Taifun smiled. Ryoko disappeared in a flash of green light. Ryoko reappeared in her room and reached out to steady herself. There was something seriously wrong here. She felt so weak she could barely stand, and she was getting weaker. she thought angrily. She was too tired to continue the thought. She collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes. Sleep. She needed sleep. She'd be okay. She just needed a little rest. Just a little... Ryoko nodded off. "Her breathing has slowed. Her powers have dissipated temporarily. Now is the time," a tree informed her. Taifun nodded. "I believe the male is ready. One last thing..." The trees waited for her to continue. "Their spaceship. Once we are sure the pairing is a success...kill it." "We obey the Will." Tenchi yawned and lay back on his bed. He didn't know what Ryoko's problem was, but her insulting behavior towards Taifun wasn't helping their situation any. He sighed. Who knew when it came to Ryoko? He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to overtake him. The second he shut his eyes, he saw something. A woman was smiling at him. a soft voice whispered in his mind. Tenchi didn't reply. The woman knelt in front of him. She reached out and kissed him. Tenchi found himself kissing back. He felt her enter his mind, piercing his consciousness. His head hurt. He continued to kiss the woman through the pain. He felt as if his soul were being eclipsed, darkened by her, and a part of him wanted her to do it. He felt a chill run up his spine. He tried to pull away from her, but found he couldn't move. He blacked out. Yet his eyes were still open. The man, it was impossible to call him, "Tenchi," since Tenchi was not in control of himself, got up and left the room. Ryoko smiled in her sleep as she dreamt of Tenchi. Tenchi smiling down at her and kissing her, doing things to her she'd always dreamed he would. She sighed and opened her eyes... Only to see that she was still in the dream. "Tenchi?" she asked groggily as he crawled into bed next to her. Tenchi said nothing. He leaned over and began to kiss her. Ryoko blinked in shock and began to kiss back as best she could. She still felt as weak as a kitten. Tenchi moved closer to her, pulling at Ryoko's clothes. Ryoko managed to break free of his lips and looked up at him in shocked surprise. "Tenchi! What's gotten into you?" He responded by kissing her again. For a few moments, Ryoko was caught up in the moment and reciprocated. She felt his hands roam up her body. She wished she felt stronger. She'd gladly show her appreciation. Her eyes shot open. This wasn't right. She could feel it. This wasn't Tenchi. Not *her* Tenchi, at any rate. "Tenchi....stop." Tenchi ignored her. "Tenchi," she said again. "Stop!" She reached up to try and push him off her, but his hands encircled her wrists and pinned them to the bed. "Tenchi! Please!" Tenchi ignored her. Ryoko struggled, but in her weakened state there was little she could do. A lone tear made its way down her cheek as he moved above her. "Insemenation proceeds," a tree informed Taifun. Taifun watched the image in her viewing sphere, watched as her pawn violated the female. It took a great deal of her concentration to control the male, but as long as the goal was reached... "A ship approaches." Taifun turned. "Identify." "The ship is a luxuy yacht. Modified Hato Two class." "Weaponry?" "Confirmed." Taifun thought quickly, trying to maintain her control over Tenchi while simultaneously dealing with the new threat. "Charge weapons. Hail them." Ayeka blinked at the image on the screen. "Tsunami?" she whispered. Washu blinked at the readings on her holotop. "Looks like her." She gasped suddenly. "Ryoko's on that ship!" Sasami was staring at the ship in horror. "That's not Tsunami," she whispered. The other two women didn't hear her. "Princess," Azaka boomed. "We are receiving a message." "Play it, Azaka." "Unidentified ship," a female voice addressed them. "Surrender yourself." Ayeka blinked. "Excuse me?" she asked in shock. "Surrender or we will destroy your ship. Any attempt to resist will result in your destruction. Any attempt to flee will result in your destruction." Washu looked at the screen in awe. "Do you have any idea who you're addressing?" Ayeka asked, refusing to be cowed by one of her own ships. "I am Ayeka! First Princess of Jurai!" The ship seemed to pause... "She could not possibly be telling the truth," a tree pointed out. "Our reports place Princess Ayeka nowhere near this sector!" "What if she *is* telling the truth?" "Then she will have the codes," Taifun assured them. She brought up a display and read the command codes for today's date. DAY WORD: ASP COMMAND WORD: CUSTODIAN ACTION WORD: AMBIVALENCE Taifun reopened her hail. "Day Word?" Ayeka blinked. "What?" "Day Word?" Washu snapped her fingers and turned to Azaka. "Azaka! Bring up the command code words for today's date!" "Yes, Ma'am." "Day Word?" the ship requested again. "I have them," Azaka said. Three words appeared on the screen. DAY WORD: TORCH COMMAND WORD: AVALANCHE ACTION WORD: OVERLORD "Read, Ayeka," Washu ordered. Ayeka cleared her throat. "Torch," she announced. Taifun glared at her view sphere. "Rebels," she whispered. Ryu-Oh shook beneath them, throwing the three girls to the ground. "What's happening?!" Ayeka cried out. "We have been enveloped in a tractor beam," Kamidake announced. "WHAT?!" Ayeka looked up and saw a green beam of light emanating from the nose, ensnaring Ryu-Oh. The same female voice came over the speakers. "Rebel ship. Surrender or be destroyed. You are in violation of Article three- two-eight dash eight of the Imperial Seccession Act." "Azaka! Get us out of here!" Ayeka ordered. "Yes, Princess." The ship began to shudder as Ryu-Oh attempted to move away. "I don't think we're going anywhere," Washu whispered. "Shall we attack, Princess?" Kamidake asked. Ayeka bit her lip in worry. If Ryoko was in that ship, then Tenchi might be as well. The decision was made for her as Ryu-Oh lurched beneath her. "Direct hit," Azaka noted calmly. "Attack!" Ayeka ordered. Ryu-Oh's weapons opened up on the strange ship. "No effect," Kamidake informed her. "What?!" Ayeka looked up at the screen where several energy beams from Ryu-Oh were striking its hull. "Our weaponry is simply too weak to do much damage to a ship that size, Princess," Azaka boomed. Ryu-Oh lurched again. She saw a piece of Ryu-Oh float in front of the screen. "They're slicing us up," Ayeka whispered. Washu acted. Opening her holotop she quickly connected a wire leading from it to one of Ryu-Oh's control ports. She began typing as fast as she could. Suddenly, one of Ryu-Oh's blasters began firing again, raking the front of the strange ship. There were a series of explosion along the ship's hull, and the tractor beam disengaged. "Get us out of here, Ayeka!" Washu called out. "Azaka!" Ayeka commanded. Azaka was already moving Ryu-Oh away from the ship, accelerating as fast as the young ship could. The ship turned toward them. "Princess," Kamidake called out. "We are being pursued." Ayeka swallowed nervously. "Send a message to any Jurain ship nearby," she ordered. "Tell them what's happening..." "We cannot, Princess," Azaka told her. "The ship is jamming all stellar communications." Ayeka took a nervous breath. Washu continued typing. "Azaka, I want you to take us to these coordinates as fast as you can get us there." "But...Ms. Washu, these coordinates are..." "I know where they are. Just do it," Washu ordered irritably. Azaka turned to Ayeka, who simply nodded. "Yes, Ms. Washu." Ayeka stepped toward Washu. "What did you do back there?" she asked quietly. Washu didn't turn from her holotop. "I retuned your ship's weapons so that they worked on the same frequency as Ryoko's." Ayeka blinked. "What difference would that make?" Washu stared up at Ayeka for a hard second before saying, "Ask me again, someday." "Ms. Washu," Kamidake announced. "We are approaching the coordinates you gave us." A picture of two suns appeared on the screen. "Um...Ms. Washu," Azaka boomed uncertainly, "Are you sure you really want us to go...*between* them?" Ayeka's eyes went wide. "*Between* them?!" Washu nodded. "Keep going, Azaka." Ayeka swallowed nervously as Azaka guided Ryu-Oh between the binary stars and came to a slow stop. "There is a great deal of magnetic interference, Ms. Washu," Kamidake informed her. "Alpha and Theta band radiation spikes. I do not believe we will be detected." Washu nodded as she continued to stare at the star on the screen. "What about that ship?" "The last thing the sensors detected before blacking out was the unknown vessel slowing to a halt." "Maybe they've left," Ayeka suggested. Washu shook her head. "No. I can still sense Ryoko nearby. But I can't speak to her for some reason." "So what do we do now?" Washu turned from her. "I don't know." "The rebel ship has hidden itself between two stars. We cannot detect them due to the conflicting magnetic fields." Taifun turned to the tree. "Full scans. We will remain here until they come out, and then pounce." She returned her attention to the other view sphere. She sighed. "Insemenation is complete. Conduct full bioscans on the female." Tenchi blinked and shook his head. His head hurt, his body ached. His hand went to his head, and he closed his eyes. He heard something on the bed next to him. He turned. Ryoko was lying on her back next to him, staring up at the ceiling. It was then that Tenchi first noted his state of undress. "ACK!" His hands went down to cover himself. He turned to Ryoko angrily. "RYOKO! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" He paused and blinked when Ryoko failed to answer him. She continued to stare at the ceiling. Her hand went up to her face and wiped a tear away. "Ryoko?" Ryoko said nothing. "Are you okay? What happened?" Ryoko grimaced and blinked tears out of her eyes. "What do you mean, 'what happened?'" she bit out. "You were there last time I checked." Tenchi blinked in puzzlement. "Ryoko, what happened?" he asked in a haunted whisper. She looked at him in disbeief. "You really don't know, do you?" she asked in frank horror. "You *really* don't remember." "Remember what?" Tenchi listened in pure horror as Ryoko quietly told him what he had done. "Ayeka, I have an idea." Ayeka blinked down at her sister. "What do you mean, Sasami?" "I can bring back help." "Sasami, this really isn't the time for games..." "What do you mean, Sasami," Washu interrupted. "I can bring Tsunami back here." Ayeka was confused. "I thought...*that*," she nodded at the screen, "Was Tsunami." "It's not Tsunami, Ayeka! I know it's not!" "How can you bring help, Sasami," Washu asked, determined to get answers. "I can go get Tsunami! She'll help us!" "How, Sasami?" Washu asked. "How?" Sasami stared up at her. "The pathway made by the light." Taifun watched the suns on her view sphere. She had time to wait for the rebels to reappear. Time. She had plenty...didn't she. "What is today's date and time?" she demanded. A tree answered her. "It is the fifth day of the month of Ara, zero-six-thirty, Jurai time." Taifun nodded. That sounded about right. She had time. Plenty of time. There were occasions when she didn't have time. Occasions when she had to think quickly and take chances. She wouldn't have to do that here. Tomoe sat at her design table, her face buried in her hands. The office was dark. She looked up at the model on her desk and shook her head in disbelief. The name plate on the bottom of the model stand could be read from her place at the desk. H.M.S. Jishin. She sighed and stared at it. There was a knock at her door. She looked up and saw Sirahama standing there, a sympathetic look on his face. She shook her head at him. "Twenty-three seconds," she whispered. "Twenty-three seconds of smooth sailing..." "Tomoe..." "And then the damn collective fritzed out," she said as if she should have known it would happen. "It's not your fault, Tomoe," Sirahama said gently. "There was no way of knowing the trees would behave that way." "Twenty-three seconds," she whispered again. "And then they drove themselves into three parked destroyers," she said quietly. "Thirteen hundred casualties, twenty three *million* Jurai in damage, and Azusa pulls the contract." She shook her head in disgust. "It gets worse," Sirahama told her. Tomoe looked up at him. "A rebellion has begun." "Under who?!" she asked, aghast. "Seiryo Ragidagan?" Sirahama shook his head. "A commoner. Ichino Yanagida. Out in the Entara System." "A war," Tomoe whispered. "What about the Taifun?" Sirahama asked. "We have the trees ready to go, all that's left is..." Tomoe shook her head. "The collective will go insane just as fast as the one on Jishin," she told him. "The trees are great doing the bidding of Jurains, but apparently there's a reason the ancients said, 'one tree, one ship.' You get more than one tree together, and they bicker like children, unable to cooperate without a babysitter keeping a watch on them." Sirahama smiled. "Or Councilmen," he joked ruefully. "Without the Emperor keeping an eye on them, the Liberals and Conservatives in the Great Council would tear each other's hearts out." "Heh," "At least Tsunami is working properly. The Emperor has nothing but praise for her." Tomoe nodded. Sirahama smiled. "I'm gonna go get you some coffee, and then, you and I are going to work out a solution to this." With that, he left. Tomoe didn't watch him go. She looked up at the wall of her office. Two paintings hung side by side. The first was a painting Azusa had commissioned for her as a gift. It was a painting of the H.M.S. Tsunami, her brainchild. The painting next to it was Tsunami. Not *her* Tsunami. This was *the* Tsunami. The legendary Ship of the Beginning. The chariot of the goddess of Jurai, herself. It was beautiful, graceful. Her designs had been based on it. She stared at the painting. "What would you do?" she asked the legendary ship. "How do you get a group of your trees to sit down and play nice?" She sighed and sat back. "They don't need an engineer," she growled in disgust. "They need a babysitter." She blinked and paused. "A babysitter," she whispered. She got up and rushed to the door, nearly knocking over Sirahama and the two cups of scalding coffee in his hands. "Ack! Tomoe!" "What are they going to do with Taifun's hull?" she asked quickly. "Um...I guess they'll scrap it." "Call whoever's in charge at Brosna and tell them to hold off on it, then go down to the nursery and tell them that our order for Taifun's tree collective is *still* in effect, *then* meet me downstairs!" Sirahama blinked, then grinned. "YES, MA'AM!" He looked at her in puzzlement. "Um...What are we gonna do? The collective..." "The collective is getting a new member," she told him with a grin. "She'll keep 'em in line. I happen to know she's the take charge type." Sasami stood before Ryu-Oh and took a breath. "Be careful, Sasami," Ayeka told her from off to the side. "By the royal seal and my true name, please open a path to our ancestors, the space trees. Heaven to Ocean, Ocean to Earth, Earth back to Heaven. Show me the path engraved by the light." The symbol on Sasami's head began to glow. Ryu-Oh did likewise. There was a flash of light, and Sasami was gone. "Sasami?!" Ayeka cried out. Washu took a breath. "Hurry back, Sasami." Tenchi finished dressing, buttoning up his shirt angrily. "What are you going to do?" Ryoko asked quietly, still lying on the bed. She stared at him in grief. He turned to her. "I'm going to find some answers," he told her. He started for the door and paused. He didn't look back at Ryoko as he said, "Ryoko...I'm sorry. I..." Ryoko said nothing. She struggled to get up, swinging her legs out, off the bed. She stood up slowly, unsteadily. "Ryoko?" "I want her," she said quietly. "Ryoko, listen..." She turned on him, hate in her eyes. "I WANT HER!" Tenchi looked at her eyes. She had lost something, something she hadn't been aware she had until it was gone. Faith in him. He nodded. "Okay. Ryoko, I don't what to say. I..." She walked and pushed past him. "I don't want to talk about it," she told him quietly. "Ever. Do you understand?" He had never heard her sound so serious. He nodded. "Yeah." She started down the corridor, and did not look back at him. "Ms. Washu, there is a problem," Azaka boomed. "What is it, Azaka?" Washu asked from within the control port. She had been working the past four hours trying to get Ryu-Oh's defenses into some kind of shape to face off with the marauding vessel. "A solar flare." "ACK!" Washu hopped out of the control port and looked at the screen. An eruption on the surface of one of the suns was heading their way. "Damn! How long till it gets here?" "Twenty-one minutes." "Ayeka!" Washu called, whirling around to find the princess standing not far away. "We're gonna have to leave soon. Once we're out of the magnetic interference, we have to keep our speed up. We won't last long against that ship." "I thought you said...What about the modifications you made to our weapons?" "She would've been a fool not to have adapted her systems. It won't work again. Our only hope is to run for it. Once we're out of the suns' interference, you hit the gas!" "Right!" Tenchi followed Ryoko down the corridor. She wouldn't look at him, didn't even speak to him. She stumbled and reached out to steady herself on the wall. Tenchi reached out to steady her. She wrenched away from him. Tenchi felt like he had just been punched. He felt horrible about what happened. When Ryoko had told him, he had almost thrown up. He didn't remember it happening, only a dream about some woman that was too hazy for him to remember. Even so, the thought that he could...that someone would use him to hurt Ryoko like that... It galled him. It sickened him. It shamed him. "Maybe we shouldn't have left Ryo-Ohki in the room," he said, trying to break the silence. She paused. "She's safer back there," she said, not turning back to him. "Ryoko..." "She's this way," Ryoko said simply. She started forward again. The two of them entered a large, crystalline chamber. Tenchi gasped at what he saw. Trees. There must have been a hundred of them. They lined the walls in three tiered rows like a botanical choir. In the center of the room was a translucent sphere and a column of water. In the center of the column was Taifun. Ryoko took a weak step forward. "Okay, you bitch," she muttered. "Time for your wake up call." She reached out and formed a light sword. It sputtered for a moment, but strengthened. She growled and started for the column. "Ms. Ryoko, you look upset." Ryoko whirled around and sent her lightsword slashing through the source of the voice. Taifun, who had appeared less than a foot behind her, smiled as the sword went through her without slowing. Ryoko growled. Taifun smiled. "Too much exertion can be bad for you. You should rest." "I've rested enough, thanks!" Ryoko spat and slashed the sword through Taifun's face. The image of the ship's face distorted for a second, then snapped back into place. Tenchi grabbed Taifun's arm and whirled her around. "What the hell did you do to us?!" he demanded. "I did what was neccesary to keep the world I am charged with protecting safe," Taifun said. "I'm sorry if it's inconvenient, but Jurai comes first. Before friends, before family, before self." "That doesn't give you the right..." "The right, Tenchi?" she asked. "I have every right. I am charged with protecting the lives of two trillion, one hundred fifty-two billion, six hundred twenty two million, five hundred seventy four thousand, six hundred and sixty six people. I have the right to use whatever means at my disposal to keep them safe." Tenchi glared at her. "And if that means two people must be inconvenienced..." "INCONVENIENCED!?" Tenchi screamed. "I *RAPED* HER!" Ryoko flinched. "You didn't rape her, Tenchi," Taifun told him. "You were merely a vessel..." Tenchi punched her. Not expecting such a violent response from Tenchi, she didn't have time to phase out. Tenchi's fist struck her across the face. Taifun's head snapped around, but aside from that, she was unaffected. She turned back to him and frowned. "That was unneccessary," she told him. She raised her open palm to his chest. There was flash of green light, and Tenchi was thrown back fifty feet. Ryoko rushed forward and slashed at Taifun with her sword. This time, Taifun was ready, and the sword passed right through her. She regarded Ryoko for a moment. "Heiwa! Hogo!" Ryoko blinked as two Guardians, a green one and a purple one appeared on either side of her. Before she could turn to them, they had her encased in a forcefield. She screamed and struggled against the field. A column of water appeared behind her. The Guardians began pulling Ryoko toward it. Ryoko saw the column and began to scream again. Taifun regarded her with sympathy. "I hope," she said quietly, "I hope that the knowledge that your offspring will be of tremendous help to the war effort can comfort you." Ryoko screamed as she touched the water. The two Guardians maneuvered her inside. Her screams were cut off as she was immersed in water. "TENCHI! TENCH..." Air bubbles poured from her mouth as screamed within the column. Tenchi lay unconscious on the floor not far away. Ryoko screamed as water filled her lungs. Taifun watched her struggle. After a few minutes, Ryoko's eyes closed, and she stopped moving as the sedatives in the water took effect. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed the oxygenated Jurain water. Taifun regarded her another moment before one of the trees alerted her to something. "The rebel ship has emerged from the magnetic interference. It is attempting to flee." "Pursuit course. Maximum speed." "We obey the Will." "They are pursuing," Kamidake called out. "Stay ahead of 'em!" Washu called back. "They are gaining," Azaka boomed. Ryu-Oh lurched beneath them. "Tractor beam," Kamidake announced. "We are slowing." "Rebel ship," the same female voice called out over the communicator. "Surrender now and His Majesty's government will show mercy." "Ms. Washu?" Ayeka asked. Washu was staring at the ship. "Ryoko?" she whispered. "Another ship approaches," Kamidake announced. Ayeka whirled around and faced the Guardian. "Who is it!?" The screen shifted a view of the new ship. It looked exactly like the one attacking them. "It's Sasami," Ayeka whispered. "A ship approaches," one tree announced. "Jurain. Tsunami class dreadnaught. IFF confirmed. It is the Tsunami." Taifun regarded her sister ship on her view sphere. "It could not possibly be the Tsunami!" another tree spat. "Our records place Tsunami in Sector Eight!" "Perhaps it is a ruse," one tree suggested. "A ruse?!" a new tree replied incredulously. "And where would the rebels get a Tsunami class dreadnaught?!" "Quiet!" Taifun ordered. "You could all be right. We won't know until we see for ourselves. Maintain our lock on the rebel ship." With that, she disappeared in a flash of green light. Ayeka, Washu, and the Guardians watched helplessly as the two warships faced off with one another. "Now what?" Ayeka asked. "We pray," Washu told her. Taifun appeared in space directly between the two ships. A moment later, a blue haired woman appeared before her. Tsunami regarded her sister ship/creator with pity. "Tomoe," she said in mild greeting. "So this is what's become of you. Why are you doing this?" "The defense of the Empire is paramount, Tsunami." "We are not at war, Tomoe," Tsunami told her gently. Taifun blinked in confusion. "We...are at war. The rebels..." "Were defeated seven hundred years ago," Tsunami finished. Taifun stared at her. "That is not possible. The declaration of war was declared only nine months ago." "Tomoe...Something has happened to you. You are not well. You're confused." Taifun said nothing. "What is the date?" Taifun blinked. "The date?" "Yes, the date." Taifun paused before saying, "It is the fifth day of Ara." "What year?" Once again Taifun paused in confusion. "The one hundred and twenty-sixth year of the reign of Azusa." Tsunami shook her head. "Tomoe, it is the *eighth hundred and thirty fifth year...of the reign of Azusa." Tomoe said nothing. "You are attempting to fight a war that has not existed in seven hundred years. H.M.S. Taifun and her battle group was reported missing and presumed destroyed seven hundred years ago." Taifun stared at her. "Tomoe?" "It's a trick." Tsunami blinked. "Tomoe..." "It is unlikely that time has been altered," Taifun told her, "Or that I am malfunctioning. It is more likely that this is an attempt at deception by rebel forces intent on capturing me intact." "Tomoe..." Taifun's eyes narrowed. "There is no Tomoe," she hissed. "There is only the Will." She raised a hand and pointed at Tsunami. Tsunami blinked, then noticed activity from Taifun's ship form. There was a small flash of light, and suddenly, a plasma torpedo flew past her, striking her own ship form dead on. Tsunami turned to Taifun. "Don't do this, Tomoe!" Taifun disappeared. Tsunami closed her eyes and vanished. Taifun reappeared on her ship. "Deploy wings," she ordered. "Target the dreadnaught and fire at will." "Tsunami!" Sasami cried, "What's happening?!" "Brace yourself, Sasami," Tsunami warned. She closed her eyes and felt her Light Hawk Wings spread out. "Look at that," Ayeka breathed. "Amazing." On their screen, Tsunami's ten wings spread out in front of her. Taifun was spreading Light Hawk Wings of her own, but only eight of them. "The gods at war," Washu whispered. "There has to be something we can do to help!" Ayeka cried. "Perhaps," Washu mused. "If those wings go down, and we can get close enough, we might be able to transport Tenchi and Ryoko out of that ship." Ryu-Oh shuddered. "What now?!" Ayeka asked. "The tractor beam has released us," Kamidake reported. Ayeka blinked. "Why?" "To give her room to fight," Washu told her. "C'mon, Ayeka, we have to get in there and help." Ayeka nodded. Taifun shuddered beneath her feet. "Direct hit on the port quarter," a tree announced. "Moderate damage to the secondary hull." "We are outmatched!" a tree whined. "Eight cannot stand against ten!" "We are not outmatched!" Taifun replied. "We *will* stand! We are Taifun! The ship of Jurai! There is no threat to the Empire we cannot destroy!" The ship shuddered again. Nearby, Tenchi's eyes opened. "Remodulate our weapons to this frequency!" Taifun ordered, mentally displaying numbers on the viewsphere. "And return fire!" Tenchi slowly climbed to his feet. Three more energy torpedoes flew from Taifun and struck three of Tsunami's Light Hawk Wings. The wings flickered. One of them died out for a moment. Tsunami struggled to hold the wings together. Reflected in the pool beneath her, Sasami looked around fearfully. "Tsunami! I'm scared!" Tsunami closed her eyes and continued to fire back. "I know Sasami. So am I." "You have to get us closer, Azaka!" Washu barked out. "I am trying, Ms. Washu." "I don't think Tsunami's doing so well," Ayeka remarked quietly. Washu looked at the screen. Taifun was moving closer to Tsunami, raking her with fire, and Tsunami... Was retreating. "Damn," Washu remarked. Taifun thought. Taifun watched another energy torpedo strike one of Tsunami's wings. The wing flickered and died. It did not reappear like the others. Taifun smiled. Retuning the Taifun's weapons to match the frequency of Tsunami's energy field matrix was something only her creator could come up with. she thought. She mentally ordered the engines to increase their output. If she could get around Tsunami and strike at her engineering section, where the armor was weakest, she could... She stopped. She was having trouble breathing. Her hand went to her throat. What was happening to her? She didn't need air, yet she felt as if she were suffocating. She gagged and tried to get air into her lungs. "Will, you must concentrate," a tree reminded her. Taifun coughed again. She couldn't concentrate. She couldn't breathe! What was... She looked to her right and saw Tenchi next to a pillar of water. *Her* pillar of water. Tenchi had reached into the pillar and now had his hands around Tomoe Ataki's throat. He gritted his teeth as he squeezed the life from the hibernating scientiest. "N..." she gagged, unable to get the word, "No," out of her mouth. She fell to her knees. "Will! You must guide us!" She gagged. She tried to scream, to order the Guardians to kill the male before he killed her, but she couldn't! "WILL! CONCENTRATE! WE NEED YOU TO GUIDE US!" The ship lurched beneath her. Spots appeared before her eyes. Tenchi squeezed the green haired woman's throat. He could hear Taifun struggling to breathe behind him, so he knew he was doing *something* right. Behind him, Taifun disappeared. Suddenly, the woman before him opened her eyes. Her hands went to her throat, trying to dislodge Tenchi's hands from around her neck. Tenchi continued to squeeze. "Tsunami, do you think you can get close enough to transport Tenchi and Ryoko out of there?" Ayeka asked. On the screen, Tsunami nodded. "I believe so, Princess." "Good. I want you to bring Washu and my Guardians to your ship and wait for my signal." "What is your plan, Princess?" "We cannot allow that ship to escape to wreak havoc on Jurai. It must be stopped." On the screen, Tsunami's image shuddered as her ship form was struck again. "I will await your signal, Princess." Washu blinked. "Their wings are dropping." She looked up at the Princess. "Good luck, Ayeka." Ayeka watched as Washu, Azaka, and Kamidake disappeared in a flash of blue light. She turned to the screen and used her key to mentally order Ryu-Oh forward. The woman struggled with him, but was too weak to offer any real resistance. A few minutes later, the woman went limp, the light drained from her eyes... And Tomoe Ataki, professor of engineering at the Royal Academy of Science, designer of the Tsunami class warship, was no more. Tenchi pulled his hands out of the water and watched the green-haired body float in the column. He didn't waste any time. He ran to the other water column and pulled Ryoko out of it, laying her on the ground at his feet. Ryoko coughed up a lungful of water and opened her eyes. "Can you walk?" Tenchi asked. Ryoko nodded weakly. He helped her up, and they started out the door and down the corridor. The ship shuddered beneath them as they stumbled down the hall. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached Ryoko's room. Ryo-Ohki was still comatose inside. Tenchi picked up the cabbit and bit his lip in apprehension. If Ryo-Ohki wasn't awake, how would they escape? Taifun lurched to one side, throwing them against a nearby wall. Tenchi caught Ryoko and held her until the deck stopped bucking beneath them. They got to their feet. "Now what?" Tenchi breathed. The deck bucked again. "Ryoko, I'm sorry," Tenchi said quietly. Ryoko swallowed. "I know, Tenchi. It wasn't your fault." She looked up at him and offered a weak smile. Tenchi returned it. "You should go," he told her. "Huh?" "You can survive in open space," he said. "Go." She shook her head. "I'm not leaving without you." "There isn't time to argue, Ryoko! Go!" "No," she told him quietly. "We go together, or not at all." A flash of blue light surrounded them, making the argument moot. Without the guidance of the Will that controlled them, the Taifun went from warrior to flailing fighter. Energy weapons fired out blindly in all directions. The eight Light Hawk Wings died out. Through all this, Ryu-Oh flew forward. Ayeka watched the screen in front of her. Her ship lurched beneath her as one of Taifun's seemingly random shots hit home. The image of Taifun on the screen grew larger. "We all go to Hell together," she whispered. Suddenly, she was overcome with blue light. She reappeared on a floor made of crystal. Her head shot from side to side as she tried to get her bearings. "Ayeka!" She turned to the voice. "Tenchi!?" Tenchi rushed to her and helped her to her feet. She saw Tsunami standing nearby, her sister's image reflected in the pool of water at her feet. Ryoko was standing off to the side, facing away from the group. Washu had her holotop out, recording everything that was happening outside the ship. Azaka and Kamidake flanked her. "Tsunami," Ayeka said as she got to her feet. "What's happening?" Tsunami said nothing. She was staring at her screen. "Tsunami?" Tsunami continued to stare at the image on her screen. "Tomoe," she whispered. Ayeka turned to the screen, her eyes going wide. She watched as Ryu-Oh slammed into Taifun's side, the wooden prow slicing into the hull. Explosions wracked Taifun's side. Ryu-Oh was engulfed in flames as the space ship tree exploded. Taifun seemed to struggle to stay together, but the struggle was in vain. The ship split apart, the rear section exploding in a tremendous fireball. The forward section was covered in explosions of green flame. Finally, the forward section detonated, leaving only flaming pieces of wreckage. The all watched as the third ship of Jurai died a fiery death. "I suppose the strain was simply too much for her," Washu said as she sipped her tea in the Masaki dining room. "Hundreds of trees linked into her mind, she couldn't take it. She snapped." Tenchi shook his head. "But why attack Jurain ships? I mean, if what Tsunami and Ayeka said about this rebellion is true, it ended seven hundred years ago." Washu shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she was caught up in some cosmic event, sucked into a black hole, or maybe it was simply a design flaw." She took another sip of tea. "If we could have retrieved her log, we might've been able to find out for sure, but I guess now we'll never know." "At least Tsunami was able to give you another seed, Ayeka!" Sasami said happily. Ryo-Ohki miya'd happily on top of her head. Ayeka nodded, cradling Ryu-Oh's seed in her arms. She sighed. "Yes, I guess I'll need another unit for it, Ms. Washu." "'Ms.?'" Washu asked with an arched eyebrow. Ayeka sighed in defeat. "Little Washu, would you please construct a new unit for Ryu-Oh?" Washu beamed. "Sure, Ayeka!" As this was going on, Tenchi looked out the window and saw Ryoko standing by the lake outside. He got up and went outside, walking up to the demon cautiously. "Ryoko?" Ryoko wiped a tear away and took a breath. "Oh, Tenchi," she said, finally realizing he was there. She dabbed at her eyes, but wouldn't face him. "Hi." "Ryoko," he said quietly, placing his hand on her shoulder. "She tensed slightly. "I...I can't tell you how sorry I am about what happened." "I told you, Tenchi," she said. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault. You couldn't control your actions...It's...It's okay, really, it is." "Ryoko, I don' think..." "Tenchi, I don't want to talk about this." She turned to him, and he could see the tears in her eyes. "That wasn't you," she told him. "And I don't want to think of you like that." She looked at him. "It didn't happen, all right?" He regarded her for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, Ryoko," he whispered. "It didn't happen." She smiled, and reached out cautiously, taking his hand in her's. "One day, Tenchi, I'll take you up in Ryo-Ohki again, but when I do, it'll be because both of us want it." Tenchi didn't know what to say, and so said nothing. He knew Ryoko was hurting inside, but didn't know what he could possibly say to make it better. "Are you going to come inside?" he asked. "Sasami made a cake." She wiped her eye again and nodded. "I'll be in in a minute." Tenchi nodded and turned to go. He paused and turned back. "Ryoko..." "It didn't happen," she told him with a tone of finality. He nodded and continued back into the house. Ryoko looked up at the moon above her and wiped another tear away. She didn't blame Tenchi, she couldn't. Taifun violated him just as she did her, and she knew it was hurting him as well. There was no point in making him feel worse. That was the last thing she wanted. All she wanted to do now was to put it behind her. And the best way to start was to go have cake with the family. She turned to start towards the house, but paused. She felt something odd, a flash of nausea. Her hand trailed to her lower abdomen. She looked down at her stomach. No, she was imagining things. She walked back to the house. Author's Notes: The question arose, "What if Tsunami were crazy?" Rather than drive her insane, I decided to try a different approach to this idea. This is what I came up with. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Thomas "009" Doscher doscher009@hotmail.com