Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me) Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be listening anyways, la la la.... This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------- Thicker than Blood Chapter 8 Ryo-ohki and Ryeka crept along a service corridor in the lower levels of Senzo. There were few crewmen back near the massive space engines. Juraians were a pampered lot, and they preferred to frequent the gardens and the hot baths instead of the dirty, chilly bowels of the ship. "But, this is where we'll find Ryoko if she is here," Ryo-ohki whispered to Ryeka. They turned a corner and were presented with a short corridor with twelve reinforced doorways. It was the cargo hold area that Washu had suggested they check. Ryeka and Ryo-ohki began to search the holds. Ryeka walked up to the first cell and paused then, carefully, she leaned forward, letting her head phase through the wall. After a second, she pulled it back. "Nothing." Ryo-ohki did the same to the cell on her side. Phase shifting was one skill that Ryoko, Ryo-ohki and Ryeka all had in common. "Nothing here either," Ryo-ohki reported. "Try the next one." Again, neither had any luck. But, on the third door, instead of passing through the door, Ryeka's head smacked up against it with a loud crack. She sat down heavily, holding her head, tears squeezing through her clinched eyes. "Oww, ow, oohhhhhh, that hurt." Ryo-ohki bent down to check if there was any blood. "You're fine. And, I think you found something." Ryo-ohki stood up and examined the cell door. There was a control panel on the right hand side. She pressed few buttons and the door slid open. Ryeka opened her eyes and peered into the room. It was a spacious cargo hold, dimly lit and shadowy. Suspended in the air by two long chains against the back wall was something that looked like a giant crystal. Visible inside the crystal was the shape of a woman. "Mommy!" Ryeka cried, dashing into the room. "Wait, hold on," Ryo-ohki clutched after her, but missed. She followed Ryeka into the makeshift cell. "Mommy! Mommy, wake up!" Ryeka was pounding on the bottom of the crystal. Inside, Ryoko's eyes opened slowly, then wide. Her mouth was moving, but no words could be heard. Ryo-ohki caught up to Ryeka and pulled her away slightly. "We have to get her down, we have to get her out!" Tears were streaming from Ryeka's eyes. "I know, Ryeka, just calm down, getting upset won't do any good." Ryo-ohki held Ryeka and looked up at Ryoko. Ryeka twisted free. She raised her hands towards the crystal and screamed. A bright orange ball of energy leaped from her hands and blasted into the crystal. Ryo-ohki raised her arms to protect her eyes from the blast, but the blast never came. "Huh?" Ryeka wavered, then blasted again, and again. Each time, the ball of energy simply splashed against the crystal and dissipated into it. Ryeka panted for breath and leaned forward, hands against the crystal. It glowed slightly where she touched it. Ryoko's features were hard to distinguish inside the giant stone that seemed to distort and bend the light. Her eyes kept moving up and back as if... Ryo-ohki spun around suddenly. "Well, well, if it isn't the demon Ryo-ohki," Commander Tomokon sneered. "What do you mean Ryeka's with Ryo-ohki on the Senzo?" Tenchi demanded. "She never teleported back," Kaji replied. "Right after she left you and we disconnected, she teleported Ryo-ohki over, all according to plan," Noboyuki explained. "But she never returned." "I am certain she refused," Washu surmised. "She probably convinced Ryo-ohki to take her with her. And short of transforming into a spaceship, Ryo-ohki would have had no way of forcing her to return." Tenchi grabbed Washu's shoulder and steered her over to the computer console. "Washu, find her. Kaji, if you're here, who is flying?" Kaji looked a little sheepish. "Well, ah, Mihoshi wanted to remember what it was like so..." "You let Mihoshi fly my ship, Detective?" Kiyone shouted. "Actually," Tenchi interceded, "that is the first piece of good news I have heard." He keyed the communications console. "Mihoshi, turn around and start flying along side the Senzo. And, Mihoshi, I want you to get as close as you can." Kiyone paled. "I just had this ship painted." Tomokon was surrounded by dozens of soldiers with weapons. Several were wearing tanks and had spray nozzles instead of rifles. Ryo-ohki crouched backwards and put her arm on Ryeka's shoulder. "Teleport us out of here, now," she hissed at Ryeka. Ryeka closed her eyes and visualized the landing dock. Tomokon waited patiently. A nervous soldier wiped his nose. "Ryeka, what are you waiting for?" Ryo-ohki gave her shoulder a little shake. "I can't do it!" Ryeka said, starting to feel a little panic. "Something is preventing me from dematerializing." "Yes," Tomokon spoke up. "We have a dampening field in the walls of this hold. You can't float through the walls or teleport out of here." He chuckled. "Well, then, we'll do it the fun way," Ryo-ohki leaped up and straight towards Tomokon. Her disguise melted away in mid-flight. Her fur darkened and took on Jurai battle stripes, her claws extended. Tomokon fell over himself backing away. The soldiers with the tanks swiveled towards her. "Ryeka, blast those tanks!" Ryo-ohki howled as she landed in the midst of the soldiers and started to slash. Ryeka came out of her stupor. The soldiers with the tanks froze for a split- second, their training telling them incorrectly that Ryo-ohki was the more dangerous opponent. Orange balls of energy shattered the tanks, causing the gel within to spray in all directions, turning to crystal in the blast of Ryeka's power. Several soldiers had to raise their eyes to protect against the flying crystal shards. Ryo-ohki kicked and slashed her way over to the door. "Ryeka, teleport over here to the door!" Ryeka winked over to the door. "My power works inside, I just can't get outside." Ryo-ohki punched the console. The door slid open. "These idiots spent so much time blocking Ryoko's power, they never added physical security to the door codes." Ryo-ohki dragged Ryeka through the door and down the hallway. On cue, the first screech of metal on metal reverberated through the ship. Mihoshi's whine echoed down from the cockpit. "Oh no, oh my. Sorry! Oops not again, oh dear." Predictably, in her attempt to fly close to Senzo, Mihoshi was leaving skid marks of Yagami's new paint on the battleship's hull. "Washu, find her, now." Tenchi turned back to Washu. "I'm on it, Tenchi," Washu's fingers flew over the keyboard. "Kaji," Tenchi turned, "are there any communications from the Senzo?" "None, Ambassador." Tenchi frowned. "They should be screaming about Yagami scratching their paint. Unless ... unless they are preoccupied." "You mean like by a nine year old half demon child blasting her way through their ship?" Washu asked. "You found her?" Tenchi rushed over. "Heading forward from the stern, about to reach the main arboretum." "Mihoshi," Tenchi called into communications, "stop here and extend the docking tube." "B-b-but there's no port hole!" Mihoshi sounded terribly stressed. "Make one." Tenchi nodded for Noboyuki and Kaji to join Mihoshi in the cockpit. Then, stormed down the docking tube and Washu ran after him. Kiyone grabbed a blaster from a nearby locker. The docking ramp had smashed through the wood outer hull of the Senzo and into a crewman's quarters. A slight hiss of escaping air was already fading as the Senzo automatically sealed the breach. "Kiyone, stay here and guard the ramp." Tenchi and Washu exited the quarters and turned out of sight down the corridor. Kiyone stayed behind, left eye twitching. She played with her blaster rifle absently. "A fresh paint job," she muttered. "Two years of piece and quiet, three years salary repairing Yagami, gone. All gone." Ryo-ohki laid out the guard with a wild left handed haymaker. She was getting tired and she was starting to use more force than technique, and that was making her more tired. She ran on. Ryeka ran beside her. They burst into the Arboretum, startling a couple of Juraian crewman who were taking a break from work for a romantic encounter. "Get back to your posts." Ryo-ohki snapped. The two ran off. "Aunt Ryo-ohki, we have to stop for a minute. I'm tired." Ryeka was bent over hands on her knees gasping for breath. "Can you teleport us to Yagami?" Ryeka shook her head. "We are to far, I can't really feel it. I just not as good at is as mom." She hesitated. "I didn't want to tell you, but I can't actually believe I teleported you from the Yagami to the docking station. I've never done anything that powerful before." Ryo-ohki went to her and hugged her tightly, kissing her on her head. "You laid some pretty strong medicine on them back in the cell. You're doing great." "Hold it right there!" Several guards appeared on a balcony above and behind them. Ryo-ohki spun just in time to see a shower of gel rain down. In a blur she grabbed Ryeka and rolled out of the way. Ryeka rolled up to her feet and let off an energy ball that bisected the balcony. The Juraians were thrown off their feet as they slid down the now tilting catwalk to the ground level. Twenty or so more soldiers appeared from the other side of the Arboretum and were briskly making their way over. Tomokon was leading them. "Shoot the animal, capture the girl," he ordered, deadpan. The Juraians raise their blasters and fired. Ryeka screamed and Ryo-ohki turned to shield her from the oncoming fire. It never arrived. When Ryeka looked up, Lord Tenchi stood between her and the soldiers, Lighthawk Wings extended to shield them from the fire. "Good work Tenchi," Washu was there, off to the side, fingers over the keyboard of her trans-dimensional console. "Now, let me contact Yagami to come get us. Aaahhhh." A battle lance ripped through her side and glanced off her ribs. The force of the throw knocked her down. There were soldiers coming from behind her, weapons raised. "No!" Tenchi dashed over and again raised the Lighthawk Wings. Just as he did so, a Juraian soldier stepped out from behind a pillar and sprayed gel towards Tenchi and Washu. The Lighthawk wings deflected the gel from reaching them, but the gel turned to crystal on contact. As the soldier continued to spray, the crystal spread out over the wings, cascading down behind Tenchi forming a sphere, sealing Tenchi and Washu inside. "Daddy!" Ryeka screamed, reaching out. Ryo-ohki held her back. Too late, Tenchi stopped the wings and pounded on the inside of the shell. Then he formed the Lighthawk sword and slashed at it, to no avail. Tomokon walked up deliberately and kicked the crystal. It wobbled and fell over, sweeping Tenchi and Washu off their feet inside. "And, now for the brat and her pet." Tomokon turned towards Ryo-ohki and Ryeka. "I think not." Ryo-ohki hissed, hoisted Ryeka and leaped into the air, folding and turning as she went. Her body seemed to turn inside out as it grew, long wings and spines spreading in all directions. Ryeka was swallowed up inside as Ryo-ohki transformed into her first, greatest form, Washu's second-generation Juraian battleship. Howling, she burst up through the ceiling of the Arboretum, causing a tremendous explosive decompression as the air, glass and debris ripped into space. Immediately, though, the living Jurai battleship extending itself over the breach, long branches and vines growing at a fantastic rate to seal itself. Ryo-ohki called Yagami to retract the docking tube and get away. The two ships sped down from orbit away from Senzo. Shaken by the sudden changes in pressure, but otherwise unharmed, Tomokon picked himself up and regarded his new prisoners. Tenchi was still pounding against the crystal and seemed to be shouting something at Tomokon. Washu was simply sitting and scowling out from the shell, hand pressed against the slight wound in her side. "Hang them up with my other little prize in the hold." Tomokon turned and headed for the bridge. "Then clean up this mess."