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/

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Thicker than Blood
Chapter 10

Ryo-ohki stalked up the dim hallways of the Jurai royal palace.  She was 
troubled slightly by the developments. She didn't mind that Ryoko was captured. 
Which isn't to say that Ryo-ohki didn't care about Ryoko, she did. They had 
shared a deep bond of love and friendship. They had even had a tearful argument 
the night when Ryo-ohki left to discover herself, like a teenage daughter 
leaving home for the first time. However, Ryo-ohki knew that Ryoko was extremely 
resilient, and Ryo-ohki suspected that the crystal that held her probably 
protected her as well. Ryoko wasn't in immediate danger.

Tenchi on the other hand was a different story. Ryo-ohki had eventually planned 
to use Tenchi's power in whatever final assault was needed to recover Ryoko, 
after they had discovered all of the conspirators. Tenchi's capture was 
definitely not planned, and Ryo-ohki wondered how long Tenchi could survive in 
the crystal shell. Despite his great command of the Jurai power, Tenchi was 
still a frail human, vulnerable and weak, relatively speaking. 

What troubled her most of all was that after her escape with Ryeka, as she 
thought more about it, she realized that Tenchi's capture had been orchestrated. 
The soldiers hadn't put up that much of a struggle. Moreover, they had actually 
herded them in Tenchi's direction. Tomokon had wanted Tenchi all along. Or maybe 
it was Washu he had been after?

Ryo-ohki shook her head. She had once heard that intelligence was often like one 
of those four wheel drive vehicles that were so popular on Earth. The better it 
was, the better it was at getting you stuck in intractable situations.

Ryo-ohki arrived outside Ayeka's offices, where the Empress conducted her day-
to-day activities. She went through and up the long, open courtroom to the other 
side. There, she opened a side door and walked down a short corridor to another 
door where Asaka and Kamadake stood guard. They bowed.

  "Welcome back, Lady Ryo-ohki," Asaka greeted her. "Was your mission 
successful?"

"Not entirely, valiant knights," she stopped. "Your long rest is over. One at a 
time, go prepare what you need for an indefinite period of travel. We may be 
going somewhere."

Kamadake smiled and pulled back his robes slightly. Hidden discretely beneath 
them was a modest travel sack.

"When we heard you were returning, the Empress bade us to get ready. We need no 
further preparation, we are standing by to serve however, wherever we are 
called."

Ryo-ohki grinned. She instantly felt better. Of course Ayeka would have 
everything under control. Ayeka always had everything under control. Ryo-ohki 
knocked once and phased through the door. Ayeka was seated at her desk reading 
from the console. Ryo-ohki walked around and knelt down beside her, placing a 
hand on Ayeka's arm and leaning her head against Ayeka's shoulder.

"Empress."

Ayeka smiled down at Ryo-ohki and embraced her, kissing her forehead in 
greeting. 

"Welcome home, Ryo-ohki. You certainly have a warped personal view of my 
instructions not to antagonize the military."

Ryo-ohki looked sheepish. "It was not entirely my doing. Ryeka takes after 
mother when it comes to destroying Juraian battleships."

"And that was when they took Tenchi?"

Ryo-ohki couldn't meet Ayeka's eye. She just nodded. Ayeka stroked Ryo-ohki's 
long soft hair. 

"It's not your fault, my friend. We are up against a very cagey opponent. We 
make our moves and they make theirs. The just managed to outplay us by one move, 
this time."

Ayeka stood. "Still, it is time I took a more active role. I spoke to the Jurai 
military council. Some there are reluctant to believe right away that Tomokon 
has gone rogue, distinguished career and all that. They are starting an 
investigation, but that could take weeks. We don't have that long."

Ryo-ohki stood and walked over to a sofa. She slouched onto it. "Galaxy Police 
is unlikely to intervene in our internal matters, however, I am sure that Kiyone 
and probably Kaji will help in any way they can. And, you have me."

Ayeka nodded and paced slowly around the desk. "My own private investigation 
reveals that a number of Juraian ships are discretely moving towards Earth. I 
wonder if even you, I and Yagami could stand against them."

Ryo-ohki judged the time was right. "Then, perhaps it's is time to get some 
help."

Ayeka stopped. "It has occurred to you where the pattern is leading? First 
Ryoko, then Tenchi. I may be a target, but certainly, any Juraian military 
commander who seeks a rebellion knows that eventually he will have to face 
Tsunami. They must have planned for that."

Ryo-ohki stood. "Capturing Ryoko and Tenchi, while impressive, is nothing like 
trying to capture Tsunami. I can't believe they could make enough gel to capture 
her, or if it would even work against her."

Ayeka wasn't so sure. Still, there didn't seem to be much choice. 

"Very well. Let us leave tomorrow."

"You know where to find Tsunami?" Ryo-ohki probed.

"Yes, always. She is my sister, after all. She regularly stays in contact with 
me, even if you don't always hear about it."

Ryo-ohki raised an eyebrow. That anybody was somehow maintaining contact without 
Ryo-ohki knowing about it was news indeed. Ayeka stood.

"Let's get something to eat and then turn in. I am afraid we have a lot of hard 
work ahead of us."



Later that evening, with Ryo-ohki stretched on top of the blankets beside her, 
Ayeka continued to discuss the situation. Everyone involved seemed to harbor the 
opinion that Tomokon wasn't capable of orchestrating the entire situation on his 
own, but no one had yet guessed who was really behind it.

"Kaji and Kiyone are considering that you may have had something to do with it." 
Ryo-ohki couldn't meet Ayeka's gaze.

Ayeka just looked out the window, into the distance. 

"That is my fault," she said quietly. "I have been too wrapped up in my duties, 
I haven't been around as much as I should have. The must be wondering if 
'absolute power' has corrupted me."

Ryo-ohki squeezed her arm. "Their exact words in fact. They are just confused. 
In their hearts they know you."

 "They must have broached their concerns to you. What did you tell them?"

Ryo-ohki yawned. "I told him that I was in love with you, just to get them off 
my back."

"And are you?" Ayeka asked, after a moment's thought.

Ryo-ohki didn't answer right away.

"You know that that I care about you deeply, but that I'll never feel 
romantically towards you, dear Ryo-ohki." Ayeka continued softly.

"I don't know how I feel. I am not human and I am not a woman. I am a machine, 
so how can I love? And if I can, and I loved a woman, how could that be wrong or 
deviant?" Ryo-ohki said bitterly.

"It wouldn't be wrong," Ayeka answered immediately. She sat up and leaned over 
Ryo-ohki and kissed her tenderly on the eyelids that were already squeezing out 
tears.

"And I wouldn't be ashamed to have you as a lover either. It's just that I 
haven't felt romantically attracted to anyone for a very long time. Not since I 
became Empress. Ever since then, Jurai is my first and only love."

Ayeka lay back on the bed and both beings thought about the time she was 
referring to. 



The gargantuan arachnoid aliens crept closer, as one large mass threatening to 
over run the Juraian force. The Juraians for their part had no hope of survival. 
They fought desperately, as does a cornered animal. Occasionally, a Bugrom 
warrior would fall, but never often enough.

Ayeka projected her shield to defend as many warriors as she could, but she was 
growing weaker by the minute. The Juraian honor guard formed a wall between the 
princess and the enemy, just inside the shield. They had fired outward through 
the shield with the blast-rifles that Professor Washu had provided until they 
ran out of power. Now, they stabbed at the insectoid aliens with swords and 
spears. They had been under attack for hours, and the strange bolts of energy 
that the aliens emitted from their antennas were devastating to the Juraians. 
Even the shield of Jurai power that Ayeka emitted only softened the blows, it 
could not eliminate them entirely.

Sensing her weakness, the enemy leader shouted orders in the strange rattling 
language of the Bugrom. More and more blasts came her way, forcing her and her 
royal guard further back into the canyon. It was a dead end, in more ways than 
one. Once in a while, a Juraian soldier would stumble and fall out through the 
shield. Instantly, the Bugrom would drag the unfortunate soldier away to be 
dismembered. All the while the enemy commander would be howling with insane 
laughter.

Ayeka stared at him, the enemy commander, this insane Jinnai. His long face was 
scarred evilly by some previous foe. His hair hung long and greasy over black 
armor that looked to be formed from the shells of dead insects and other kinds 
of enemies. Ayeka could clearly see the gleam of pure malice that lurked in his 
eyes. This man didn't want to conquer the galaxy, he wanted to destroy it, 
seeking vengeance against it for past wrongs, real or imagined. 

And then, as another Juraian soldier was mutilated, Ayeka realized that she too 
was going to die. There were just three Juraian soldiers left. Sensing the 
princess's fatigue, they desperately moved into shield her, their backs pressing 
her against the dead end of the canyon wall. But, Ayeka refused to die this way, 
cowering behind another. In life, princesses and kings were important people, 
bowed to on bended knee. But this was not life. This was death, and in death 
royalty was no more or less than anyone else. On Earth, Ayeka had once seen a TV 
show in which it was described how a king would pass through the intestines of a 
beggar by way of a fish that would eat the worm that had eaten the dead king. So 
be it, Ayeka thought. I will die fighting along side the warriors.

"Attack!" she cried, stepping out in front of her dwindling honor guard and 
letting her shield drop. Jinnai, suspicious, called for his evil army to hold 
for a moment. The canyon was plunged instantly into silence. Even the remaining 
Juraian warriors were caught off guard and turned slightly to see their 
princess.

"Come, warriors, attack!" Ayeka repeated, her small voice echoing clear and 
strong over the hoards of the enemy, "Remember we swore we would die together? I 
say that you will not die defending someone as unworthy as myself!"

Ayeka picked up a sword from a fallen Juraian soldier and pointed it at the 
grinning figure of Jinnai. "If we are to die, then we die, together, for Jurai! 
Attack!"

And with that, Ayeka and the three Juraians charged at their attackers, blades 
whirling and glinting in the triple suns of the alien world. Caught in surprise, 
the Bugrom fell back at first. Ayeka and her troop made use of the narrow walls 
of the canyon to limit the ability of the Bugrom to attack en masse. 

As the Bugrom fell beneath the renewed Juraian onslaught, the evil Jinnai 
recoiled in fear. Instead of seeing the princess and three warriors, his 
diseased mind was filled with images of four unearthly horsemen riding towards 
him through a hellish inferno. Screaming wildly and foaming at the mouth 
slightly, he lashed at his troops to attack the four harder.

Despite their early successes, four against a thousand are too great of odds, 
and soon one, and then another of the Juraians fell. The final soldier leapt in 
front of an energy blast directed at Ayeka, and fell to the ground, burned badly 
but alive.

"Noooo!" Ayeka screamed, dragging the dying soldier into a side alcove. The 
sight of her last fellow Juraian falling was just too much for her to bear. 
Irrationally she was determined to save him, even as he was gasping breaths at 
her to save herself. Shielding the soldier with her own body she slashed and cut 
one handed at the enemy, tears streaming down her face. 

Ayeka's mind suddenly cleared and she found she had no fear of death. Instead, 
she found herself consumed by one single thought, that life was precious. She 
absolutely knew that the soldier behind her, whose name she didn't even know, 
must be protected at all costs. He was one of her subjects, a citizen of Jurai, 
and it was a ruler's first and most sacred duty to protect her subjects. Ayeka's 
body began to glow with a pale blue aura. Her Jurai battle garb melted away, 
leaving in its place the brilliant white robes that manifested whenever a member 
of the royal family called upon the purest form of the Jurai power.

The white aura spread out along the blood stained blade that Ayeka still held, 
and all at once it felt light as a feather. Ayeka stood in the entrance to the 
alcove and fought single-handedly against the Bugrom army, hacking, slashing and 
killing all who came within reach.

All the while, Jinnai was shouting himself hoarse, exhorting his minions on to 
crush her. The supply of aliens seemed inexhaustible and even the Jurai power 
was not limitless. Finally, the strength left her and a severe blow sent her 
weapon flying through the air. Stunned and numb, her mangled arm flopped 
uselessly at her side, bleeding, and she collapsed against the soldier, who 
pulled her closer, still trying to do his duty to protect her. 

The nearest Bugrom lunged forward at once. Ayeka closed her eyes and screamed. 
The scream came far louder than she had thought herself capable, and the pain of 
dismemberment seemed to be taking a tad longer than expected. In fact, Ayeka 
realized, as she drew another breath, that she wasn't the one screaming and she 
wasn't being dismembered. But, someone was screaming, a horrific, blood curdling 
scream of rage, anger and defiance. A great deal of battle noise accompanied the 
screaming. Ayeka opened her eyes.

Two legs and a fairly tight set of buttocks were planted firmly in front of her, 
clad in a skin-tight red cloth. A blur of bright orange seemed to flash 
everywhere at once, and where it passed, little bits of alien blood and body 
parts fell. Ayeka looked further up the legs and back as the clothes turned from 
red to black, and long, cyan hair seemed to swirl and snap through the air. The 
black outfit continued up the neck across the face, passing bared fangs, 
snarling lips and brilliant yellow eyes. 

It was perhaps, Ayeka though perversely, the most beautiful that Ryoko had ever 
looked to Ayeka. And a thing of beauty she was. Never moving her feet, whirling 
her orange blade faster that the eye could follow, carving away at a seemingly 
endless supply of Bugrom warriors. 

Ayeka unsteadily got to her feet and picked up her discarded weapon. Summoning 
previously unknown reserves of Jurai power, she stepped up beside Ryoko and 
began to hack and slash furiously at the Bugrom, adding her own, though somewhat 
weaker war cry to Ryoko's. Together, the princess and the pirate, perhaps two of 
the most powerful women in the universe, began to drive the enemy back, away 
from the alcove and the wounded soldier.

Snarling, the enemy commander Jinnai lashed his whip at his soldiers, demanding 
that they hold their ground. Suddenly, a panic swept through the enemy forces. 
Heads were turned, not to look at the two death-dealing women, but to look 
behind them at the mouth of the canyon. Ayeka allowed just a tiny glance in that 
direction.

There, on the rear flank of the Bugrom hoard, dealing a little death of their 
own, stood Lords Yosho and Tenchi, white Juraian battle robes shining 
brilliantly across the battle, each with a Lighthawk sword in their right hand, 
and a shield of Jurai power in their left. Caught between these two forces, and 
now suddenly taking aerial fire from the newly arrived Yagami and Ryo-ohki, the 
Bugrom army shrank rapidly from a thousand, to a hundred, to ten. Ryoko and 
Ayeka, moving as one, slashed forward through the ranks, towards the leader of 
the enemy army, Jinnai. 

Jinnai, for his part, was not caught unaware. He had already drawn his sword to 
slash at Ayeka. Ayeka didn't even move, knowing that Ryoko would save her, even 
as the space pirate flashed forward, severing Jinnai's arm from his body. And, 
Ryoko was already extinguishing her blade, not needing to fear for her own 
safety as Ayeka's blade separated Jinnai's head from his body.  

Lord God Katsuhito Jinnai's head fell, and with it, complete silence. Ayeka 
stood, refusing to succumb to the fatigue and strong urge to pass out. She 
listened to the silence that signified the end of the battle, and the end of the 
war. She turned, not to Ryoko, or Tenchi, but back to the fallen soldier, who 
was weak, but conscious. Tears streamed from his eyes as he watched in awe and 
devotion as Princess Ayeka approached him, her white robes swirling behind her 
as she walked. She tore off part of her sleeve and began to bind his wound, 
oblivious to her own nearly broken and mangled arm.

"Empress," he gasped, and began to sob.

Ayeka looked at him, and a tear began to trickle down her own cheek as the green 
glow of Yagami's transport beam began to take her on board.



Ayeka woke suddenly, feeling the wetness of tears on her cheeks. Somehow she had 
managed to sleep through the horrible memory. Outside, the cicadas chirped and 
chattered on as the sun began to rise. Ryo-ohki had fallen asleep some time 
earlier and was snoring almost silently in long deep breaths. On the trip back 
to Jurai from that fearsome battle, Tenchi and Ryoko had related the story of 
their escape from El Hazard that had allowed them to come to Ayeka's defense, 
and broken the news of their engagement. Stunning all others present, except 
perhaps Ryoko, Ayeka kissed them both and embraced them tightly. She still 
couldn't remember when she realized that not only could she no longer feel the 
slightest bit of jealousy towards Ryoko, but also she couldn't even seem to 
remember having ever felt the need to be jealous.  

The wounded soldier had clung fiercely to life until they returned to the 
shattered royal palace on Jurai. There, he had told the story of the final 
battle with his dying breaths, referring to Ayeka only as Empress and never 
princess. In honor of his memory, Ayeka had accepted no other official 
coronation and immediately had set about rebuilding her planet as monarch of 
Jurai.

Ayeka carefully got out of bed and began to dress herself. Ryo-ohki, sensing 
Ayeka's absence woke up and looked around sleepily.

"If you are rested, my friend, I think it's time we were going."

Ryo-ohki nodded and followed her out of the bedchamber. The two Juraian knights 
fell in behind them. Ayeka led the small party out to a wide balcony, hundreds 
of feet above the ground. The clear blue Juraian sky surrounded them. Ayeka 
breathed in the fresh air. It was hard to believe that evil existed anywhere in 
the Universe when she breathed free, clean air such as this. Well, no point in 
delaying the inevitable.

"Ryo-ohki, if you please."

Ryo-ohki stepped up to the railing of the balcony, then dove up and outwards, 
enjoying the fall. Her hair streamed out behind her as she dropped, arms and 
legs spread out like wings. She began her transformation, turning, folding, and 
growing. No longer falling, Ryo-ohki soared in a long loop, rising and turning 
back to the balcony. A green light bathed Ayeka and the knights, lifting them 
into the air and sweeping them up into Ryo-ohki as she roared past. 

"Mreeoooooowwooooooooooooo!" Ryo-ohki howled for all to hear as she streaked 
upwards through the atmosphere, bursting through the morning clouds. 

Inside the cabin, Ayeka sat in the pilot's chair. She had directed the two 
knights to get some sleep, since she had no need for bodyguards while on board 
Ryo-ohki. 

"We are in space, Empress," Ryo-ohki's tinny mechanical voice reverberated 
through the cabin. "What course shall we set?"

Ayeka punched in the coordinates. "Open a channel to Galaxy Police 
headquarters."