(Part Thirty-Eight - Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold)

Operation: Final Light

The operation bearing this name began appropriately enough in the Toalh 
Nebula, obviously considering the nature of the forces allayed against 
Alliance forces deployed there. About 200 Fleet Groups began the 
insertion under Emperor Fenganis's direct command. Their assault began 
about two hours into the code signal being given, as they had the 
longest journey to endure. And from all accounts, the actions there 
were quite vicious if reports are to be believed.
After much of the Fleet, composed of primarily Fungesian and Alcorian 
warships, made it's way through the hell of the Neutron Star nursery; 
they attacked the remaining forces, mostly Traquis elements trying to 
flee from the area; and all but wiped the Pirate Nation's forces out of 
existence. The reports from the Fleet against the DJ forces were more 
harsh, as they obviously gave much more of a fight.
Within the third hour of the operation, the counter code signal for the 
end of Phase One came across the Code White frequencies. This signaled 
Phase Two to commence, with the invasion of the Core of the Traquis 
state of Orandi; where the second dimensional tunnel actually was. 

Considering the forces were on a forty to one level against the Traquis 
Fleet, this operation was completed in under seven hours, during which, 
the Capital System was completely ignored, as all forces converged on 
the tunnel as ordered. 
The accompanying Code signal  sent as Alliance minelayer warships 
sealed the Traquis System off from a counterattack; began Phase Three. 
This is where most of the planning came to fruition; as the tunnels 
Washu had promised were activated at points just outside the major 
Capital Systems, where most of the Fleet Groups were stationed. A slew 
of hyper-subspace communicaes from various Fleet Commanders told that 
Washu's system was working flawlessly, done obviously from her 
cherished Lab. This left only the dimensional tunnel in the Sol System, 
where we all were waiting. The first act was to force the tunnel into a 
wider configuration, allowing the entire Sol Station Fleet to enter at 
the same time. The second act was to introduce a 'retaliation' weapon, 
another of Washu's inventions, a plasmatic weapon at least a hundred 
times more powerful than the thermo weapons our enemies had been 
raining upon us, mainly the Fungesians. This weapon was the result of 
harnessing energy from several unassociated stars without planets 
around them, and encasing the energy into a Matter/Anti-Matter device, 
basically a oversized bomb.

The 'bomb' was launched upon a constructed rail gun set around the 
orbit of Uranus; and was commanded to do so, as the order for Phase 
Three was initiated by Azusa himself, given in command of the whole 
operation. The weapon then arrived at the front about three minutes 
after it was launched, hitting the tunnel like a needle on fire.
The next report came about four minutes later, as signals on the Code 
White channel came across of 'licks of fire' spouting from several of 
the tunnels. It was hoped to mean that the weapon was having it's 
effect. All we could do then, was to wait the recommended time period 
of one hour Washu had harked heavily about. So for basically over half 
a day, we at our end had sat and waited, hearing of other souls die 
before we had even acted. Needless to say, we were getting antsy, and a 
number of Commanders wanted to do something about it. 
It was there that Tenchi came into his own, admonishing those with such 
foolish notions of dying so readily, saying such ideas could do nothing 
more than dishonor those already in sacrifice.

However, our enemies had other plans, as three Squadrons of DJ vessels 
breached the tunnel suddenly.
The Alliance gunners however were more than ready for such an 
occurrence, as this, and two more DJ excursions were met with a 
vicious, and weathering fire; cutting down them all like chaff. 
As the last DJ attempted faded, Azusa gave the final command signal for 
all forces to invade their tunnels.
It could almost be felt over these vast distances, as the massive 
forces moved as a single, massive juggernaut. All entering their 
targets with a final resolution.

As the words ended, the conflagration began.

The tunnels were code named after their locations: Sol, Toalh, Jurai, 
Fungi, Alcora, Karat, and Traquis. Traquis and Toalh came first, 
followed by ours a split second after.
A lot can happen in a split-second. 
As we came through, it was apparent the weapon 'didn't' have the effect 
promised, as an equally large Dark Jurai Fleet met us at each tunnel, 
with a good number past that apparently in reserve. We were met with 
equally fierce initial volleys, but we fared much better with the 
Lighthawk Wings and Gems shields of the Juraian and Fungesian elements 
set as lead craft screens. We retaliated with a counter barrage of 
staggered mega-pulse cannon shots, along with a massed charge of mecha 
and starfighter craft. After that, all hell was asunder, as fleet 
orders of battle on both sides began to be tested under such incredible 
amounts of fire. It didn't take long for both fleets from along all of 
the tunnels to engage at point blank range, as fighters and mecha 
screamed, burned, and died all around us.
In the midst of this, despite the apparent chaos; there was still a 
semblance of order of battle that maintained across the entire 
situation.

The initial battle plan consisted of disorganizing certain sections of 
the DJ Fleets, mainly their Destroyer cover, by now a well known 
weakness among Alliance Fleet Command. As such, much of the initial 
fire was preprogrammed into the Capital's Gunnery order of fire. 
Despite punishing fire received from other Capitals, the plan was 
immediate in it's success, as the DJ forces allayed to cover the tunnel 
began to break up, trying to cover the gaps suddenly appearing in their 
ranks.
Within an hour of the attack, all of the tunnels had created a set of 
stable beachheads to starts to work from, with several connecting 
together within the second hour. It was here that certain Fleet units, 
including one of which I was commanding, were given the task of sowing 
as much confusion in the main DJ Fleet line. It was there, that I took 
my command of seventy Destroyers and Fast Cruisers and began a series 
of hit and fades meant to break as many DJ vessels from their ranks, 
where concentrated Capital fire would take them down. Meanwhile, the 
Jurai Royal Family, Tenchi and Ayeka included; created a massive Jurai 
Force Field around the main Fleet lines, now in a set of two massive 
pockets. This allowed the Alliance Fleet to act as a single unit now in 
all reasoning.

Oh, the DJ did their damnedest to attack enmasse, concentrating on 
single points of the shield with massed plasma strikes, but the order 
of battle came through again, as mostly DJ Destroyers were targeted and 
destroyed. But the enemy did have one tactic that made us pause, they 
used a specialized cloak-seeker torpedo, one that moved slowly enough 
to push past the Force Field.. normally, this wouldn't have been a 
problem, but with the horrendous chaos of the battlefield, the missiles 
were able to get at least half their number within the Destroyer picket 
lines, where they rocketed at high warp into a random target. This 
started to take a slight toll on the Cruiser and up line of Capitals. 
One even nearly got Fenganis's Warship, barely stopped by a brave 
Kartasian pilot. It was there, that Azusa ordered a slight pull back.. 
Considering the scale of the battle, this could have been either a good 
or bad call.. thus, I decided to force the issue, despite some vehement 
protests.

This took the form of screaming Sele`nta along a line of using broken 
DJ Destroyers as cover.. I then had the Wings redeploy with them set as 
an elongated cross along all four main axis of the vessel. Barely 
missing being hit by a dying DJ fighter, I SHOT Sele`nta straight at 
the closest DJ Flag Capital I could sense. N called out to Mark 127.5, 
near the Karta tunnel. 
She called out a beauty, as a four kilometer vessel bloomed into view 
all too fast! I then just directed Sele`nta right towards the bridge of 
the vessel (at least I HOPED it was..), and began receiving an 
inordinate amount of fire (with an inordinate amount of cursing over 
the comm.)
But we made it, slashing the correct area clean through, the DJ shields 
unable the hold the power of the Wings back..
..the massive detonation ensued, as a flight of launched Capital class 
torpedoes crumpled the mighty behemoth, finishing it off.

The effect would have been short lived, if not for the timely fire from 
Soujya's main cannon, taking out a Cruiser that basically HAD me dead. 
I promised Kagato a bottle of Jurai's fines vintage for after the 
battle.

The effect of taking out a Flagship so easily had an obvious effect, as 
the forces around and near the Karta tunnel line suddenly began falling 
back in confusion. Azusa acted swiftly, as he ordered as many forces 
into that area, into point blank range.
The order sent hundreds of thousands of Alliance vessels right into the 
broken jaw of the DJ lines. They got into ranges meant for only 
throwing stones back and forth, much less fully powered turbolaser 
fire! The confusion of the now becoming a rout, began to tell, as DJ 
vessel fell in massive swaths; our first major breach of the battle.
It didn't last long, as reinforcements plugged the gap, but then, the 
damage was done, and we now stood only 70,000 kilometers from the 
target world. (Hey, it was better than 120,000 km..), meanwhile the 
flanks were beginning to strain, as Alliance vessels there constantly 
outmaneuvered by their slower counterparts. We seemed ready to initiate 
the next phase of the plan. 

The Dark Jurai had other plans.

"{{~ I am sure, that you all are enjoying the viewscapes provided by 
your gracious hosts of the planet Vasier.. ~}}" The transmission began, 
cutting into all Fleet channels, even Code White..
"{{~ ..but these accommodations come with an upkeep, one that I now 
must invoke..

..with your blood.. ~}}"

The transmission stopped there, and I had to contain my blood from 
boiling over, as others in my Knight team questioned what 'that' had 
meant..
Azusa ordered the attack to continue, but also called back to Washu to 
setup a second rail-bomb shot. Wise as it turned out. I meanwhile, had 
the fades start striking deep, targeting any Destroyers hiding within 
the Cruiser screens, a task that had mixed results, but helped taked 
down a DJ Dreadnought that was leaking fuel cells, taking out a Frigate 
and Corvette in the process.

Then the viewports on Sele`nta, off to out Zenith-Port, suddenly FLARED 
violently..
It was our turn to have massive confusion, as the effect of 'whatever' 
had hit, to completely blank out communications between the two 
pockets. Some kind of electromagnetic flare storm, an aftereffect of 
the explosion.
I was getting scattered reports from Azusa's command, when Ketira 
SCREAMED with a pointed finger, jabbed out from the front viewport.

The sight that greeted me was like a kick to the gut. The entire planet 
of Vasier was just WRONG!
The planet now looked like, it had been split partially, along two 
perpendicular lines, and pulled back, like an orange; into an open 
flower; the maw pointed straight at us. In the center, the glow of a 
MASSIVE weapon having just discharged was clearly visible, as massive 
plasma arcs rippled the surface, clearly even from such a long 
distance. 
It had the be the weapon, the culprit behind the massive travesties 
seen in this war. Clearly, this weapon displayed high levels of 
Dimensional energies, more than the Force Field would be able to take 
for long.

It also had to be a demonstration shot. It could have just incinerated 
us outright. Why I'll never know, but Mulhorand was a sadist at heart.. 
(..if he 'had' one that is..), but it was also clear, that the battle 
had suddenly become a MAJOR disadvantage against us!
The shot had hit hardest near the Toalh and Traquis tunnels, but the 
Force Field saved many more from destruction that would have normally 
survived. But it couldn't protect against the electromagnetism effects 
completely, and even the spacetrees were affected. Azusa became 
indecisive, as the planet would most certainly fire again soon.
That's when Tenchi ordered Washu to fire 'two' rounds from the Alliance 
Cannon, instead of one.. Azusa protested, but was cutoff by both 
Washu's acknowledgment, along with Misaki's and Naja's immediate 
approval, voice quite openly over normal comm.

It was there that I decided to play the trump card, just as Washu 
announced that the shots would be coming in two minutes. I mentally 
contacted Tsui, Tokimi, and Gaia simultaneously. 

Code: "Do you love me?"

Counter: "~ We love you. ~"

That opened tunnels Avatar A, B, and C, a tunnel series three times 
larger than the other Alliance ones. Out from them came the bulk of the 
Goddess Fleet.
Literally millions of strange vessels, mostly of an undeterminable 
shape other than smooth, elongated, and large. Each sported what seemed 
to be hundreds of spokes, from closer inspection, not actually 
connected to the vessels.
The closer inspection revealed something else.

The spokes were actually HUNDREDS of miniature Lighthawk Wings. These 
hundreds belonged upon the millions that brought them, a show of power 
in itself. Awe inspiring to say the least.

Unfortunately, they also were out of position as Vasier fired it's next 
shot.
And rapidly fired another!

The shots hit home.. blinding my sight along with many others in the 
Fleet. But the lack of any shuddering, not to mention my continued 
sense of my body caused me to sense the cause of our miracle.
Again, the miracle was goddess driven.. 
The Fleet was saved by literally the LARGEST Lighthawk Wings ever 
SEEN!! A pair of Wings that spanned at least several hundred kilometers 
in length, held back, and then absorbed the massive shots; even 
dissipating the electromagnetism like it was nothing. Tsunami then 
giggled, as I openly portrayed my awe along our Link. I was then 
gestured to my left, and saw the source of these gargantuan Wings.

A pair of the LARGEST spacetrees ever seen!! At lease the size of the 
Imperial Palace Tree, and there were at least twenty of these 
monoliths!
Each was set in a massive, recessed platform, and had several bands 
wrapped around the higher portions of the trees, their function that of 
ANY number of tasks. Several large vanes extended from the bottom of 
the platform, with several smaller branches protruding from them each, 
and giving off a light teal glow.. The Trees themselves were extremely 
vibrant to look at, not effected by the negative color inversion 
suffered in this hellish Dimension. The trillions of leaves, both had 
the look of both leaves, and pine needles to them, and the fact that 
they showered beams of energy didn't hurt either!
And it was only two of them that were actually acting, each combining 
the usual three Wing prongs into a single super shield. Hence they 
became known as Shield Trees.

The Goddess Fleet then began a large scale bombardment of the DJ forces 
that were assaulting the Toalh tunnel area, driving them back 
vehemently! The Goddess Fleet began to disperse among the Alliance 
forces, as the Shield Trees moved to a strategic series of positions, 
setting themselves to cover each main Fleet area, adding their Wings to 
the overall Force Field.
On top of that, the initial Wings that had saved the Fleet, were set 
among the DJ lines, resulting in CONSIDERABLE damage to the lines 
facing the Karta tunnel.

And then, the two rail-bombs shot through the Sol tunnel, and sped past 
the Fleets, both Alliance/Goddess, and DJ; and headed straight for the 
planet.
Azusa immediately had the Force Field maximized, as the Shield Trees 
did the same, we all also blinded the viewports. Right then, the planet 
Vasier was exposed to a pair of miniature supernovae. At the very 
least, the damage to the DJ reserves had to be evident. But, the stakes 
were raised again, as we found out when the flares died down, and saw 
the planet had in operation it's own set of Lighthawk Wings, 
translucent, but black, and completely dwarfing the Shield Tree Wings..

All the stakes were high now, as every card on the table was being 
played. The confusion of awe and jaw dropping displays lent into the 
battle itself, as the DJ literally THREW themselves at the Alliance 
lines, trying to get at the Shield Trees!
As more and more DJ vessels launched their juggernaut, the point blank 
combat began to encompass the entire battlefield, the entire lines 
waving back and forth as ships died, and others plugged holes; and then 
did the same in turn. The fighters and mecha fought and died in even 
MORE frightening rates, many crashing into vessels as they died.
This went like this for a good two hours, as the DJ were seemingly 
relentless, even giving the Goddess Fleet elements trouble, as kamikaze 
attacks were becoming more frequent. But the tactic of taking out 
Destroyers began to have a major impact, as the slower DJ Capitals were 
becoming more and more flanked by vessels; moreover, the DJ Frigates 
were now having a major problem of assuming the Destroyers job; a task 
it couldn't perform adequately, leaving it's primary task of screening 
against Alliance fighters and mecha suits unviable. This left many 
fighters and mecha to attack the Capitals as well.

By the beginning of the third hour of this death fest, the DJ were 
starting to show signs of breaking under this focused pressure. That's 
when Azusa ordered all Juraian Treeships to begin using their Wings in 
a more offensive manner, that that could do so reasonable safely. This 
then turned into hundreds of Wings firing off massive pulse shots, many 
of which struck home on as many large DJ Capitals they could target, 
and while many Treeships died from counterfire, even more enemy vessels 
died. The gaps this left became large breaches that were becoming 
harder to close for the enemy.
At hour four, the DJ became more and more localized, as their lines 
became broken too far to fix.
At this point, at least a quarter of our forces were casualties, most 
of them Alliance in origin; but over half of the enemy were the same 
now.

We were winning. 

In the midst of all this, the planet fired at us three more times, all 
for naught, and Washu fired her cannon twice more, also the same.
Super weapons couldn't settle this battle, the grinding way was the of 
order then. But by now, we were within 12,000 km of the planet, and 
even it couldn't fire the planet weapon now, assuming they couldn't 
sacrifice Vasier so easily. But they had at least one more push up 
their sleeve.
And guess who decided to lead it.

It started when a large DJ Fleet Group, about 700 plus vessels, 
apparently fresh; jumped in right on top of a Alliance Fleet element at 
Mark 212.8; near the Alcora tunnel; and began pushing towards the Sol 
tunnel area with alarming ease. 
A frequency broadcast announced that Mulhorand's vessel was at the 
center of this incursion. And that they seemed to be heading for the 
Shield Tree in the core of our lines.. if that went down, the planet 
could vaporize the entire Fleet Command in a stroke..
Tsunami had placed itself, with a large Goddess Fleet Group in the way 
of the advance, and grappled severely with Mulhorand's personal Fleet. 
Sele`nta was with a GP Fleet Group under Nen's command, and I was 
unable to answer the call that came through..

A dire consequence would result, one that hit to the core..

As Tsunami's and Mulhorand's Fleets grappled with each other, three 
Alliance Fleet Groups began to surround them both, but still all were 
hard pressed to halt Mulhorand's Fleet. 
Mostly, because these were the only vessels that displayed Lighthawk 
Wings; giving them more of a kick. With them, they managed to press 
deep through Tsunami's line, and were about to be stopped by Tsunami 
itself. Two DJ vessels began exchanging fire with Tsunami and tried to 
veer it away from Mulhorand's ship. 
That's when Mulhorand displayed his trump card, as he extended a full 
six Wings from his vessel, and charged them all for a direct line clear 
shot of the Sol Shield Tree! Azusa, Hikari, Misaki, and  Funaho placed 
themselves directly in front the Shield Tree, it now being too close to 
redeploy it's Wings effectively.. Mulhorand could take out nearly the 
entire Jurai Imperial Family in one shot, and the demon knew it!

That's when everything got chaotic, as several DJ vessels suddenly 
chopped at the Royal Treeships, catching them off guard, after which ; 
they biting it from Alliance counterfire. This however left them WIDE 
open to Mulhorand, who immediately fired..
..they were dead.

..except for a single vessel that suddenly THREW itself in front of the 
blast.. and saved the Royals from destruction.
But in that moment, something TORE at my mind, and caused me to 
immediately break off my pursuit of a DJ Frigate; and fly straight for 
the area FAST!
I arrived, as Mulhorand's remaining forces withdrew from the area; 
pursued hard by scattered Alliance units also enraged by the attack.

I arrived to find this single vessel, a dead floating hull in space..

My heart sank, as I saw the partial Juraian writing on the side of one 
of the floating sections..
..the Juraian Cruiser having brunt the entire blow of the pulse at 
point blank range.
And I tried to sense through the Link for any trace of them, and could 
feel anything, my heart sinking even lower..
Thus, I wept the first of what would be many tears for those that had 
brought me into this universe.. 

..and for the last time, my parents had done their sworn duty; as I 
looked at the death of Terrai in all it's honor.

Mom.. and Dad. were gone..

A subdued atmosphere suddenly enveloped the entire battle, as the 
turning point had been reached..
For a few moments, there seemed to be nothing, at least.. I couldn't 
hear anything..

..and then, I heard that damned laughter, somehow reaching my ears; 
blocking out calls from those I knew about the obvious, I didn't know 
if it was coming through the comm, or into my head.
But the hollow depths of my sadness suddenly began to fill with a 
growing, pure, raw hatred; one I didn't even bother to care to stop 
from growing. The bastard had finally done it.. he had taken something 
dear away from us all.. from me..
..from me..

All I remember next, was sounding out, with the most unnatural roar of 
anger possibly ever heard by mortal ears; as I wrapped the power of the 
Lighthawk around my anger, and used it to fuel my anger even MORE!!
Whether the others were trying to stop me, or just too shocked and were 
screaming, I couldn't tell. Because I simply EXPLODED out from Sele`nta 
with only one holy wrath of a though on my mind.

~ Vengeance! ~

For the first part of what happened next, I only had recollections of 
eyewitnesses to piece together what happened, but it all simply came 
down to me ERUPTING through the entire battle line in some kind of 
conical Wing shield, my speed apparently INCINERATING every DJ vessel I 
even remotely came close too, thus resulting in a MASSIVE string of 
smoldering DJ vessels, all on a beeline towards Mulhorand's ship.
My white anger was subsiding slightly, as I finally reached the 
bastard's ship, and simply pumped one single, MASSIVE energy beam into 
said vessel, burning it with everything angry inside of me. I of course 
didn't expect this to kill him, as I didn't actually sense the demon 
inside his ship anymore, no doubt teleporting off the now charred hulk; 
and then, I finished venting my wrath upon the remains of his Fleet 
with one single Cocoon Shell Blast, a shockwave crushing them all into 
two dimensional pieces of sheet metal upon striking.
Needless to say, this finished my venting, and left a HUGE hole in the 
DJ lines; one that was only slowed by the shock the Alliance vessels 
more than probably were slowly over coming..

I simply floated there, in  Wing Shield Cocoon for awhile; at least 
until Tsunami finally stopped near me, and I was phased into the 
control zone. As it was, I was catatonic, I wasn't going to be of much 
immediate use until Tsui helped straighten my mind.
As this portion settled down some, Alliance forces finally achieved 
apogee with one of Vasier's two moons; both a pair of black basalt 
satellites floating around it's morbid parent. 
Azusa then called the Alliance commanders, and gave instructions for a 
general bombardment to begin.. also, the source of the planet's Wings, 
and a way to permanently silence the planet's cannon were of high 
priority; it was however uncertain, if the planet should be invaded.
The order to make bombardment however wasn't as easy to carry out.. as 
the still split open planet began firing some kind of plasma cannon 
weaponry; a good number that ended up finding their targets. Nagi and 
Ryoko came over the comm just then, and yelled the moons were beginning 
to do the same thing. The Fleet was stuck in a HUGE crossfire, and the 
DJ Main Fleet was racing to send what they could the defend against our 
forces..

Suddenly, of all voices that came over the comm at this point, came 
both Ketira's and Ange's voices, telling everyone to 'hold on'.. Azusa 
demanded an explanation, but Tsunami, whom I was next to; suddenly 
nodded, and simply stood..
..and as she began glowing, I could feel her aura, merge with my other 
two 'wives', Achika, and then somehow Ange and Ketira as well..
That's when the already massive Shield Tree Wings expanded to match the 
size of the Magical Force Field. Not even the massive DJ counterstroke 
could penetrate that..

And for some reason, that event also lent something that slightly 
lightened my heavy heart; enough that my sanity and tactical thinking 
came back into their own.. It was then that I decided something had to 
be done to destroy the enemy at it's source. I asked Tsunami how long 
the new shield would be able to hold, and I got a sly chuckle.. "How 
old is this universe again?" ..was the response. 
Good enough..
I called out to Tenchi, and mainly the rest of the family, now 
scattered all around the Fleet; and asked how willing they were of 
going on an expedition to the surface of this death world. The 
responses didn't seem promising, and the protests of Azusa among other 
high Alliance commanders and officials seemed that this wasn't going to 
be the way to settle this..
Azusa did however decide that an attack to disrupt the power of the 
main planet cannon was of a high priority; considering the planet 
shield was preventing Washu's cannon from getting through to damage the 
planet. He therefore made the decision of far reaching consequence. He 
ordered a limited shock invasion to take out the control apparatus for 
the planet cannon. Tenchi was given command of this force, with Kagato 
and Ayeka sub-command. 

They chose most of the entire Misaki clan, and friend base to help 
command lower elements, as well as give me a valid excuse for what I 
wanted to do for so bloody long. Ryoko was given control of the 
atmospheric elements, via her cabbit vessel force, and as many mecha 
and starfighters that could be spared from the defense of the Fleet.
The only ones not coming were Kiyone and Mihoshi, as they would be 
using the GP Expedition Fleet to cover the area between the Main 
Alliance Fleet in High Orbit, and the shock force going in. Lonar and 
Aphelia then called over from Sele`nta and offered o  behalf of my 
Knight team, their services for when I finally went after Mulhorand. 
Gracious was my acceptance, and half an hour later, the main 
bombardment began; with a screening fleet to hold off the moon 
batteries, and the approaching DJ scattered elements. I had already 
teleported back to Sele`nta and was finalizing my person, and mind when 
most of the Misaki clan phased over, minus Ryoko; with Tenchi and the 
others already dressed in their combat armor. Tenchi came over, and 
placed a brotherly like hand on my shoulder, saying for the others 
their condolences. I only replied, that I had already enjoyed a second 
chance, the only thing that was lacking; was paying back their 
tormentor for so long. The rest could come at an appropriate time.

Tenchi nodded, and Ayeka then came up and gave ma a strange Juraian 
device; one that most of the others were wearing on their shoulders and 
whatnots. A mini-atmosphere shield generator. Vasier had an atmosphere 
that put the battle at P-0912-F-4 to shame; more than to shame.
Super twisters; volcanic landscapes, windstorms only hell itself could 
come up with. Ayeka joked that Vasier might be the perfect vacation 
spot for Ryoko next year.
I won't mention the verbal barb that stung through next, my kids might 
read this.
Finally, as the bombardment was reaching crescendo, Azusa ordered the 
launching of atmosphere condensers; a series of large, elongated 
torpedoes; launched from primarily the Dreadnoughts and Battleships. 
They were made to burn a quick and dirty atmosphere on 'unfriendly' 
world with vicious environs. The devices would scrub the atmosphere and 
generate a large pocket of M-Type breathable air; if on the nasty side. 
The number of devices used would cause half the world to be covered in 
such a drastic change within an hour. 
Ryoko's group were sent to cover the scrubbers as they operated, while 
we with our atmo-shields began to  accompany the initial force, as we 
burned towards the operations center of the shield generator.
Providence would deliver what all parties seeked as it would all turn 
out.

Everyone accompanied down on Sele`nta, it being the invasion command 
ship; and one that ended up on the wrong end of unfathomable numbers of 
ground lasers. We had to make maneuvers that Mihoshi would be proud of, 
though many vessels that journeyed with us were quite so fortunate. But 
by the time we started reaching sight of the literally charred black 
and gray surface, a full Six Alliance Army Groups had survived the 
journey, and a 72% stable atmosphere rate was confirmed, enough for the 
shock invasion to proceed with the final stage.
Everywhere one could see, Alliance mecha, suit troops, power suits, 
heavy vehicles and tanks; both walker and tracked variety and attack 
bombers in support, all moved as a mass of hell spawned vengeance 
against the general direction of where the shield generator was 
detected.
Tenchi began the operation by ordering units to split along a twin 
barbed line, intent to surround the broken land the generator was. The 
battle was quite the sight, and ended up being a quite short one, as 
the word shock was more than apt the description. Most DJ ground 
elements that rushed to stop the advance were blasted by at least six 
to seven elements each. The DJ never had a decent chance to set a 
defense line, as Alliance troops consistently broke through each 
barrier thrown up. Two hours into the advance, we finally saw the 
generator.

And about went old from the sheer sight of it.

A massive Tree, a single massive, black basalt like Tree. As if the 
Shield Trees didn't already rival the size of the Imperial Palace Tree, 
this one dwarfed it. (yeah you read right..)
Worse, the Tree we a glowing, throbbing mass of green and purple; as it 
generated the massive Wings defending the planet. It was also quite 
possible that this was the source of the planet weapon as well, one 
Tenchi called up to Azusa to confirm if possible. Unfortunately, the 
terrain of the area surround the Tree area was a change among the most 
abrupt ever seen. The floor around the Tree looked like a nightmarish 
weed infestation, with thorns and impenetrable 'vegetation', both that 
looked like the part of the whole Tree itself, a nightmarish skeleton 
of warped and mangled branches and roots, also sporting thorns and 
'weeds'..

It was here that Tenchi called in a favor from Ryoko's force; one that 
included the use of plasim-jelly bombs.. 
They fought their way through the vicious DJ fighter screen to deliver 
their payloads not too long after, and the burn began. It was still 
slow, too slow, as the vegetation was harder to burn than expected. It 
was then the DJ finally put up an effective defense line, mainly within 
the thick vegetation zone. The loses began to mount rapidly after that.
Ten minutes after that, Ayeka suggested using the combined force of all 
the Alliance Jurdams in the area to tear one massive shot into the 
vegetation line with their mega cannons. Tenchi amended that with an 
idea of his own.

Twenty minutes later, the remains of part of the vegetation zone, a 
wedge running almost right to the Tree itself; burned from the effects 
of the massive Jurdam shot, as well as the effect of Tenchi's and my 
Lighthawk Wings, used to amplify the power of the mega shot at least 
ten fold. As we both looked from across one another at the results, we 
saw the only reason why the Tree itself wasn't destroyed outright. A 
single HUGE Wing was humming in front of it. A massed shot wouldn't be 
enough to even destroy the Tree just outside of it, we would have to go 
in. 
Fine by me I thought..

The remainder of the fight to reach the Tree was mainly a repeat of the 
initial battle; as the DJ didn't have the cover to form a line again. 
By the fifth hour of the invasion, we finally were at the Tree.
But the Tree was a nightmare in itself, with the natural defenses of 
the Tree beginning to kick in. Worse, the Tree used a version of the 
lightbeams normal spacetrees emitted as a nasty weapon, one that Prlras 
nearly had a taste of, as a beam clipped the Jurdam he was piloting in 
one of the wing vanes, he manages to eject cleanly. 
We however managed to bust inside the Tree in at least two areas. The 
inside of the Tree was a maze of course, as the interior halls and 
passageways (both a bare manageable description of such..) were clogged 
with defending DJ troops. But along the way, we began to notice more 
and more areas that seemed to be important to the health and function 
to the Tree. Also, more and more; the enemy tried to delay our advance; 
using mostly force fields to halt us, while DJ units tried to regroup. 
Each time though, a Jurdam platoon would strike an area along the 
outside, or a heavy sapper unit would blow us an alternative route and 
we would break up the DJ defenders as a result. 

It however began to get extremely vicious at a certain point, as DJ 
units simply stopped being pushed so far back by simply our advance. 
Something else had to happen to help..

..and, oh yeah.. it did..

As we were in the midst of regrouping for a push, news came down from 
the Fleet, that the remaining DJ Battle groups were beginning to break 
apart from battle order.. which meant they couldn't maintain their 
defense anymore, and were beginning to think for only themselves. 
And then, just as that news swept through the ranks.. a TREMENDOUS 
crash shuddered the entire Tree.. Tenchi demanded a report, and got a 
startling return. A DJ Battleship of all things, had been forced into 
the atmosphere, and crashed dead near the base of the Tree, shearing 
off a large portion of the branch structure above. 
Moreover, the Tree was now burning heavily. With the DJ probably 
unwilling to put it out.. it came down to a matter of time before the 
Tree burnt down. But before then, we had to destroy the Shield 
Generator apparatus. Tenchi ordered forces to push forward again, but 
this time. The resistance was like a flaccid jelly suddenly, and there 
was belief that the crash had done something to the DJ ranks. Whatever 
it was, the DJ suddenly started falling like they simply didn't care 
anymore.

Tenchi was baffled to say the least, and Ayeka was uncertain if the 
attack should continue, or extricate from a situation that had 'BAD 
FEELING' written all over it.
That's when for the first time since the tragedy, that I finally felt 
Mulhorand somewhere nearby. The fact that I could feel him, suggested 
that the Tree wasn't being abandoned.. that's when it hit me. The Tree 
must be in shock. The impact, I relayed my quick hypothesis to the 
others; must have caused the Tree to go into a catatonic state, 
considering the massive damage the Tree had absorbed; it must have 
shrunk it's will into a healing state, and THAT may me why the DJ 
troops suddenly were so droopy in discipline. 
Tenchi took the hunch like a gold mine, and ordered all forces to 
assault with all their fury. This meant the die was cast, and with it, 
the DJ now were basically doomed; from their own devices.
Meanwhile, I decided that the time had come, and asked permission from 
Tenchi to engage in a 'distraction maneuver'. 

Tenchi just warned, that if the shield came down, I'd better had 
already finished or else.. (and there was no Jurai Tree to save me this 
time either.)

Lonar and Aphelia broke off with me, as we darted around a blasted 
corner; and slashed our way past a few constructs as we made into the 
direction of where abouts I could most feel Mulhorand at. We had about 
made our way through a slightly upward branch hallway, when a HUGE 
explosion forced us to halt. When it cleared, the familiar voices of a 
bounty hunter, and a space pirate floated through the dust.
I asked of course what Ryoko and Nagi were doing together at this 
moment here. Ryoko of course punctuated that she couldn't miss a 'wild 
party' such as this one, Nagi just was following Ryoko's lead. (go 
fig..) 
Minagi then appeared, in the form of a lance of bolts, ones that felled 
two constructs. Nagi admired her ability as a result.
Despite, we soon moved forward again; soon reaching a suddenly 
expansive area, one that looked like a spidery dome carapace, glowing a 
slight green upon the brown sub-coloring. We then slowly moved forward 
some more, more distracted by the sheep spookiness of this area. 
But I knew we were close, the cold feeling was very harsh now.
I had my Sword held at a constant defensive posture now, and could only 
guess how the final duel would begin.

"{~ Enjoy you have, the fruits of my years of brooding hate. You, the 
sons and daughters of those that once felt my wrath, a wrath that 
destroyed a civilization, one that forced them to flee from under my 
eye. 

..and one now, a wrath that take the last hope from your grasp.

..if Vasier will go, so will the entire Universe with it, with me, into 
HELL!! ~}"

The black voice gave no substance to it's location, a tiring prospect 
in itself. But one that suggested a HEAP of trouble was coming. I 
commed back to Tenchi, but got only static. Lonar tried as well, and 
Ryoko tried her mental link with Tenchi, still nothing.
I simply then suddenly transformed into my Avatarhawk Armor, and 
ordered the rest to find a way back to Tenchi and warn him of a great 
peril. Nagi objected, but Ryoko took the lead in following, the rest 
finally acquiescing and following.
But not too far unfortunately.

Suddenly, the 'room' was flooded by great numbers of constructs, so 
many, that Ryoko was in shock too much to make an assault. Fortunate.
The tense situation had only one obvious outcome, but hadn't happened 
yet due to Mulhorand's commands no doubt. Aphelia worried like the rest 
of us if the rest of the Alliance forces were alright. Names of whom 
that came to mind weren't necessary.
It didn't take long, as the oily laughter that crashed through 
threatened a vicious result. 

But the result that was expected was DIFFERENT than expected, as a 
large detonation gouged through the left corridor, and a glut of 
Alliance Troops mowed down the DJ constructs like chaff. Ryoko then 
suddenly cut loose, and ripped a patch slight-off perpendicular with 
the attack direction. Constructs then began simply fleeing, as Tenchi 
and Ayeka linked up with us. Ayeka made a mock salute, and a promise to 
get Ryoko to pay her back for saving her. Ryoko went smug of course, 
and just helped in the destruction of our assailants with just 
efficiency. 
Just as the immediate threat was dying down, Ayeka suddenly yelled for 
Tenchi, whom was pointing at a large opening archway to our far left. 
Tenchi called me, and pointed for me. I then saw Mulhorand escaping 
that way, and I almost began following. 
I turned back first, and told Tenchi to inform Azusa that Washu had 
better get the cannon going fast. Just before he could respond, I 
bolted after Mulhorand as fast as my abilities allowed.

I cut past three last constructs, and a strange monstrosity that tried 
to block, but I pushed past and flew hard after my quarry. 
I moved past a strange collection of devices, more and more seemingly 
too important to miss. Again, I finally was forced to stop pursuit. For 
I had stumbled into the Control Center of the dark Tree. I cursed to 
the deities, but mentally forced a message to Tenchi for him to get out 
FAST!! I knew that what I would do next would most likely destroy the 
Tree. And I charged my powers to the maximum, at the same time; 
changing my weapon into the Wings alone. 
There I kept a constant building charge, and was about ready to unleash 
my powers when Tenchi suddenly appeared above me. I saw his Wings set 
in the same fashion, and got a mental ping that the troops were being 
evacuated via teleporters fast!
I apologized for some reason, mainly in allowing my hate to cloud my 
judgment. Tenchi just shrugged it off as always, and only told me to 
follow his lead. I then felt him link his Wings to mine, and the surge 
that came with it was simply unfathomable. The strike alone would at 
least vaporize the Tree, if not crack the planet's crust.

Soon enough,  Tenchi got the word that most of the Troops had been 
evacuated; leaving only a contingent with Ayeka in command. Tenchi gave 
the go ahead there and then, and like a severely bent bow about to 
snap, we released the immense energy in one, single, GARGANTUAN pulse! 
It all happened so fast, all I saw next was a bright blur, as the pulse 
shattered the Tree into so much toothpicks!!
The next thing I noticed, considering how fast it all actually 
happened; was a massive crater, the remains of two giant trunk 
splinters, and lava oozing from great cracks in the surface.
Tenchi had another surprise waiting, as Ayeka, Ryoko, Nagi, Aphelia, 
and Lonar were within his Wing Shield globe. I had to laugh 
reflexively. It was there, that Tenchi ordered us all back into space, 
FAST!!

We were suddenly moving fast, and soon were almost into space. But, 
just as Tenchi was giving the final go ahead to Azusa for firing the 
cannon, I felt the coldness again, and the force of how HARD I was 
slammed into by Mulhorand took all by surprise. Tenchi tried to help, 
but was still saddled by his charges. All too fast, I found myself 
crashed back into the planet's surface, the crater I left was quite 
deep.
I shot out from the crater in time to avoid a pulse blast, and hovered 
directly at whom I was seeking all this time, a Lighthawk Sword of his 
own at the level.

"{~ Are you ready for the real battle to decide our fates? I know your 
hate swells, and I too am ready to settle the war between us.
..so join me in a final dance, as the universe all around dies; so too 
will I feel your death, just in the same way you thought I had died..
..futile, and incomplete.. 

..just like you and your whore of a wife! ~}"

Whether whoever gave in to the hatred first, didn't matter, as 
everything was an immediate blur of parried Wing Blades, and enhanced 
speed attacks.
By the time we both broke off from the initial clash, two craters had 
formed from the sheer force of the attacks. We both fell back and 
hovered about a kilometer from the ground.. Mulhorand wasn't all that 
interested in talking, but he did ask if my parents enjoyed their last 
moments..

"{{~ Now.. all that is left is to destroy you.. 

..your parents will not alone for long.. your whole civilization will 
come along with you! ~}}"

We bounded and parried immediately after that, as both of us fought for 
initial positioning, neither trying to given an inch..
As the speeds became more and more blurred, we started battling over 
areas that edged upon the split zones the planet had left as it had 
opened.. the atmosphere was thinner in these areas.. but the Lighthawk 
made breathing unnecessary. As the battle progressed steadily, I also 
began noticing great arcs of plasma begin to play across these same 
chasms, and Mulhorand's threat then became a real one!
As I fought him off, I vainly ordered him to stop this nonsense, he 
knew he had lost the war.

"{{~ ..no.. the likes of this war was not meant for me to simply win.. 

..killing everything is all that ever mattered, the destruction of a 
single Galaxy is nothing compared to what I will do as my last act upon 
your existence! ~}}"

..and he meant it.. of the cannon went off, the consequences were 
unfathomable..

..and I couldn't stop this tragedy alone.

It was there that Tenchi suddenly called out, informing Mulhorand that 
he would not be able to carry out his plan. I then saw that Ryoko and 
Ayeka were floating next to him. I asked what they think they were 
doing!
My next answer shouldn't have surprised me, as Ryoko suddenly drew upon 
her three Gems, and Ayeka invoked her Jurai Power to create a series of  
magical energy shield filaments.. Tenchi was still cloaked in his Wing 
powers while this happened.
Mulhorand acted nonchalant of course, calling this display a crude 
guesture. Ryoko shot back that Mulhorand wasn't a good poker player, 
she could sense his fear. She said this as she drew her energy blade 
into the open. 
Then the train of surprises began, as Mulhorand tried to attack 
Tenchi's small group. This was met by a green energy bolt, as of all 
people, Kagato was hovering off to our left. Naja was with him, both 
floating in shield globes. Mulhorand cursed them both, calling Kagato a 
poor slave. (The real words toned down just a bit.) The next words came 
from Minagi, holding a strange energy sword similar to Kagato's, but 
white and crackling fiercely. The words called Mulhorand a pale shadow 
of the world he came from. Mulhorand was as less impressed, but was 
becoming aware of his situation.

He next tried to bolt out of this predicament, and caught a large laser 
to the gut from above, only his Wings saving him from a quick death.
The source came from no less than the Azusa itself, near it was in very 
low orbit. A second laser then came from what turned out to be the 
Yagami holding position near the opposite of Azusa. Mulhorand deflected 
the second laser easily, but was now exhibiting signs of panic. He kept 
sluing less than savory comments at everyone. 
I responded with that his manhood was now even 'less' than the last 
time we had met.
Mulhorand just looked back and made a simply stupid insult, but then 
added stuff he had said back when I was enduring that horrid torture. 
Stuff that included that 'I' wasn't man enough to die when I had the 
chance.

A sickening crack upon Mulhorand's face came from no less than Ryoko, 
as she more than compensated the remarks with the fact that Mulhorand 
was at the wrong end of the wrong side of this war, and that if the 
sides were reverse, he wouldn't have lasted a day of the torture I had. 
Mulhorand just spat back, and tried to cleave her in half. 
A shield filament stopped that cold! 
He then SHOT towards Ayeka as a surprise tact, but Naja CLOBBERED him 
with the back of her own energy blade. He then thundered back, but was 
block parried by Tenchi and myself at once. He knocked me back, but got 
a gut check by Minagi, just as Tenchi slashed his shoulder, forcing him 
back in quite the pain.
He tried to retreat off, but a slew of lasers from above killed that 
attempt, that, and the back of Ryoko's heel on his cheek.
I finished off the round by phasing in behind, and elbowing him in the 
neck. 

Mulhorand knew he had lost. But for some reason, what had been fear, 
suddenly turned into a thick laughter. No one else seemed to know why, 
just a second before I felt a second presence approach, one I had 
endured before.
She then appeared in a storm of dark energy, which parted to reveal her 
form. Tenchi mistakenly called her Tsunami as expected, but the shadowy 
horror was quite clear of whom it actually was.
Mulhorand was laughing even harder as everyone was stunned by what had 
transpired. I however wasn't as dumbfounded, more because I immediately 
sensed the connection between the cannon and the source. I also sensed 
how much power this cannon was creating, simply by how much energy this 
shadow was giving off.
And she was even trying to hide it. This I sensed using Tokimi's power 
base more than Tsui's..

That's why Tenchi was more surprised than he should have been, but 
didn't stay that way for long. He demanded to know who she was. 
Instead, she turned to me, not so blunt not to notice what I had.

"((~ I was rude not to better introduce myself before..

..I am Tidal, and you do not know the magnitude of what I shall 
inflict. The world of my shadow and her sisters are no longer going to 
shine their ways over mine. 
..and your pain of loneliness will tell of our REAL victory..

..as I speak, I am powering the cannon to send a shot that will not 
damage normal space. But the subspace layer instead. With the after 
shock that occurs as the dimensional rift begins to rip, normal space 
will be absorbed in, the effect will feed upon itself. 

..and nothing will stop it, not even my sisters. 

..and I have your link with Tsunami for giving me the ability I needed 
to do this. Your help is most appreciated. FOOL!! ~))"

Immediately after that, Tidal suddenly opened the entire well, as the 
cannon suddenly jumped to full power. Tenchi tried to attack the 
goddess, but was blunted by a powerful shield of shadow. Everyone tried 
to attack, but were constantly distracted by a series of counterattacks 
by Mulhorand. 
I finally had to grapple down Mulhorand, while everyone else attacked 
Tidal, but as far as I could note, nothing was getting through, and 
even the power of the orbital batteries couldn't get through.

And the cannon was all to soon ready..

Tidal then FLOODED a wave of Dark Jurai energy, stunning everyone just 
long enough. 

That's when Tidal got SEVERELY caught off guard, as four immense bands 
of energy surrounded and trapped her. There, the voices of four 
familiar goddesses informed Tidal that it was all over.
Tidal was so obliging, as she spat at Tsunami, Tokimi, Achika, and Gaia 
in turn. And then thundered as much energy she could muster into 
escaping the entrapment. A four on one tug of war ensued, as Tidal 
fought with everything she had, the surface of the planet being 
physical evidence of the struggle, as the link between the two made 
apparent itself.
Mulhorand also show this sign, as he was howling in pain in the energy 
backlash though their apparent Link, however it amounted to.
It was this the cause that he suddenly LAUNCHED at the closest target 
he could reach..

Tsunami..

I acted instinctively when I saw this, and launched myself at him to 
cut him off.

In the massive confusion that occurred next, with all the energy 
viciously flying around , the one thing that was apparent to everyone 
was the result of my action.
As Mulhorand found himself felled through upon my Avatarhawk Blade..

..straight through the side of his chest. 

Everything seemed to go deathly quiet all of a sudden, as Mulhorand 
managed to pull himself clear of the blade. In my haste, I had simply 
tried to make a blocking attack.. Despite all that I wanted to do, this 
simple action STUNNED me cold.
In the next instant, as Mulhorand locked his eyes upon me, knowing he 
was dead this time, started falling back..
..just as Tidal ERUPTED free of the bindings, and caught Mulhorand.
It was then that I saw the last thing I could expect, happened.. Tidal 
was actually showing..

..tears..

My hate drained away as I saw that, and then..

"((~ I'm sorry my beloved.. I failed in delivering your dream..

..I failed giving you the world that you wanted, I'm sorry, and..

..I will make them sorry for you as well.. ~))"

The next gaze I saw made me run cold..

..if Tsunami had been in that position, with me in Mulhorand's; the 
reflection was more than understandable. 
As it was, with a fully charged cannon set, we had to act FAST!!!!!

 But it wasn't fast enough, because, the next sound I hear was the most 
angry scream of raw hatred and seething terror I had ever heard, and 
never wish to hear again. The same was felt through everyone else, as 
Tidal suddenly SHOT all her energy into discharging the cannon..
The pulse RACED through the entire surface, shooting plasma bolts 
everywhere.

It was then that a warning PINGED through the entire gathered, saying 
for us to get off the planet now!!
It was Washu, and the call was because her cannon had already fired two 
minutes before, with a charge that WOULD destroy the entire Star 
System. The goddesses (good) responded by teleporting everyone to the 
Azusa, and then leap-teleported us right to the tunnels. 
As Tenchi and I reached Azusa on the control bridge, he notified that 
the rest of the Fleet had already departed through the tunnels, and 
that Sol Tunnel was the only one open now. Tenchi and I just told Azusa 
to get us the heck outta here.. just as the plasim shots SHOT through 
the tunnel. 

We exited just in time as the shots hit the planet, and thermo-atomized 
the planet in a single stroke, more than likely taking Mulhorand and 
'possibly' Tidal with them. I say that, because the plasim wave that 
followed us through the Sol Tunnel was at least TEN times larger than 
the one we witnessed at the beginning of the battle.
And the lack of Wings hopefully meant what we all wanted. Despite what 
we witnessed, evil was still their forte. 
But.. this still left the discharge from Vasier to deal with, and I 
sure didn't have a clue how to track things in subspace.

Tsunami however was way ahead of that, as she suddenly 'grabbed' 
Tenchi, me, and Tokimi into a subspace tunnel..
The next place we all ended up was in a light bubble at some point in 
the middle of space. Where ever we are, Tsunami informed that the shot 
had already begun to take effect, and would 'burn' it's appearance here 
shortly.
Tokimi caught on, and said she would start emplacing a subspace 
restricting zone for one parsec all around us, and disappeared. Tsunami 
then told us to follow her lead, and began concentrating all at once.
I felt Tsunami's currents as they shaped themselves, and started 
relaying what I was feeling with Tenchi. We both started concentrating, 
and soon realized what we were concentrating for.

The appearance of Tsunami was the first clue, followed by the 
appearance of the Ten Wings, which began glowing brightly. This in turn 
caused our Wings to appear before us, and we acted our concentration 
upon them, also making them glow fiercely. 
This started a cascade, that also began the Wings emitting a strange 
sonic tone. One that sounded like a high and low tone from an oiled 
glass, mixed with a whistling sound. This sound grew with the Wings as 
they seemed ready to breach the dam work.
It was then that the subspace rift-burn appeared, like a spatial 
version of an Earth volcano, but with black hole characteristics at the 
same time.

The burn was indeed as fast as Tidal forewarned, as the burn literally 
sucked and tore at the fabric of normal space.
Worse, was that we could also feel the literal life in the fabric also 
torn away as the burn progressed..
Tsunami then got me worried, when she announced that she wasn't certain 
this would succeed. Tenchi for once actually bolstered 'her' spirits in 
the same way he had been doing for the Alliance troops during the 
entire war. Tsunami then touched my mind for ever an instant, an 
instant in bliss.
Then we acted as one.

We emitted the Wings sonic tones, and directed them not at the normal, 
or even subspace layers; but the foundation layer.
The layer I learned later, which was the dimensional basis of all 
energies and existence, all which connected to this layer as a 
template, and also as a 'recycling' layer. This was the layer that 
Entropy came from, since all used energy had to be converted, it came 
here for that. And it also became our source in using the primal 
energies to heal the massively growing rift.
Unfortunately, even with two goddesses, and two Lighthawk bearers, the 
task was a SEVERE one to engage in, and thus the reason Tsunami was 
uncertain in the first place. The requirements of energy to 'transfer' 
from foundation into subspace threatened to turn us all into separate, 
rather short lived stars. The Wings already were enduring FAR too much 
energy, and I could already feel my body temperature rising severely. 
Tenchi was having great trouble keeping concentration, and all the 
while, the rift was barely being effected.

It was too much, and we were about to be consumed. 

It was with my believed last will of thought, that I teleported Tenchi 
out of the area, just before he tried the same thing! It was then that 
the flood overcame us and I felt the severe burn, and then I lent 
everything I had left to Tsunami and Tokimi, linking the Gem, Tree and 
Dimensional energies into a single pure source, and shunted everything 
I had into a single massive, albeit suicidal surge; just as the burn 
became lethal.
Tsunami sensed, and channeled her energy into trying to STOP me! But we 
both knew it was too late. We failed.

.
.
.
.
.
..just before everything 'WILLED" to a dead stop!!!!!

Tsunami and I began to regain our bearings as we realized that 
something had stopped the rift dead COLD!! 
A voice then floated around us. Calm and steely at the same time.

"~ My children, my eyes have witnessed the truth you both were hiding..

..that your compassion for your existence, and for each other along 
with everything existing in it..

..if fills my heart with a deep satisfaction, one that I cannot allow 
to simply be erased.

..not after so many mellennia of waiting for my charge to come to this 
point. And the reward is to no longer interfere with the cycle you both 
have already pledged to. ~"

And then.. like a bad joke and a incredible miracle at the same; the 
rift was suddenly sealed upon it's own devices.
Thus, was the sheer will that Creation displayed. One that I felt an 
immense amount of awe for all at once. I never dared try to doubt her 
intentions again.
And then, the finale was with the rift closure; and the shower of 
stellar sparkles it gave off. 

And as we four hovered in space, Tenchi a bit to the front, Tokimi 
behind me; and Tsui.. glorious Tsui glommed to me. We finally could 
relish in the knowledge..

..the Dark Jurai War was over.

//////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

*Epilogue* 

It's been three weeks since the end of the war. And it's been both a 
busy, and calming time for everyone. As well as a time to settle many 
things left as legacy.

First off, the numbers..
..when the initial estimates came back from Alliance High Command, 
though Washu's sobered eyes; we also became quite sobered.
The Alliance main Imperial Fleets had lost a staggering 46% of the 
standing vessels on average, the Fungesians the worst of course, but 
others not far behind. Jurai's SpaceTree forces had lost 37% at the 
end, including a good number of high Generation vessels, my father's 
vessel the highest Treeship lost.
Worse, at least several smaller states had lost ALL of their Fleet 
forces, their security requirements taken up by the GP, a taxing 
arrangement, but piracy fortunately was now dead for the time being. 

Speaking on the subject, the Traquis Empire, and the founding Traquis 
Collective no longer exists as an entity. A minor part the final 
battle, consisted of sixteen Fleet Groups either/both laying blockading 
minefields, and destroying the remaining shipyards and any remaining 
Fleets, which amounted to about three standing Fleet Groups, of about 
500 ships average.. or a 1 on 7 disadvantage. 
They didn't last long in the three days after the main battle ended.
In the end, all that was left of their 'leadership' was a few scraggily 
has-beens, and a bloodshot, old-style pirate archetype by the name of 
Santans. Apparently a Class One-A for decades. 
I guess all things do come to an end. I'll have to keep note.

Finally, the Dark Jurai were no longer an entity. One report placed the 
DJ had lost over 98.7% of their forces in the final battle alone. If 
anything was left, it was table scraps.
But with the planet gone, they were no longer considered anything but a 
nuisance, fit to be hunted down.
But, as suggested above; everything in the immediate aftermath of 
something as big as this war was; even the DJ had to have survivors. 
Time would tell where, and how bad. 

But there were greater losses beyond these.
As for planets effected, 714 worlds were either healing from their 
wounds, or just orbiting grave stones; with three simply fit as 
planetoid belts.
Two whole Star Systems, and a galaxy settled up the tally.
Not including Vasier. 
In the end, some 42 Billion lives had been affected by the war. Of  
those, near one billion were of those that had been in the fighting. 
After reading this one 'stat', most of us would just drop the report, 
and try to forget hard this staggering reminder. I guess we all felt 
somewhat responsible to some degree, but at times, one member of the 
family would say something to remind all of us of what we had to do. 
The price was part of the goal, and all things heal with time. 
It was still hard to fathom at times though.

But, in the end; one planet in particular held a special care for the 
lot of us, mainly the Misaki clan.

Earth.. 

Sol..

..home..

We still had to deal with the effects of the war, and had to be a bit 
more wary for undue attraction of attention. The populace was still a 
bit jittery as it was.
But this didn't stop about a thousand dignitaries from many of the 
Alliance worlds from coming to attend the funeral, for my Father and 
Mother. As of my request, I wanted the creation of two headstones, both 
to be placed next to the grave markers in the small cemetery just past 
the hills of the Shrine Gardens. Azusa honored my request, and had the 
headstones made from the remains of the Terrai hull, a pair of gleaming 
standards to what bravery to what one believed in, stood for.
Many words were spoken, and many not.. but all in such a reverence, 
that I had to keep myself from breaking down several times, finally 
letting Tsui lead me away for a bit. When I finally returned, I also 
gave my words of how I best thought of my parents.

..of compassion.

..of standard..

..of sacrifice.

..and.. of two people that never forgot why they brought me into this 
universe. 
Not as an avatar..

..but as a son.. flesh and blood.. 

..a promise that I took, and transferred unto my own charge Isarra. I 
only hoped that I would do justice to what I had been shown, if in only 
in love.

I then said my goodbye. For now..

And then, a tune I recognized as a version of a Jur Tree song serenaded 
the acceptance of truth, and of moving on with life.

A few days later, I came back to this area, and laid a single item onto 
both mom's and dad's stones. 
A pair of broaches Yosho had given me as a momento.  For the rest of 
that day, I had my own silent memorial, with a bottle of Ryoko's 
finest. It would still take forever to accept their passing. But that 
day helped in healing three spirits. And to their credit, I ate 
heartily for three that night; Sasami's cooking never tasting better.
And then there were brighter things, even despite the orbital reminder. 
Such as when Hidem and Arashi, when they came and brought Mayuka, 
Isarra, Aya, Tora, and all the other kids from Jurai where they had 
survived the war. This alone brightened everyone visibly.

Then came the party Tenchi, Ryoko, Achika and I had promised; and, BOY; 
it was a DOOZY of a party, Tenchi for most of the night, leading most 
of the drinks, as well as making up singing contests for the rest of us 
to compete in, all the while lent to the extravagance of Sasami's and 
Achika's best.
Even Kagato got into it, with a lil Naja prodding, though Ange and May 
helped out a lot (a small feud is building there.. ), and on the other 
end, Azusa leading his little troop of a drunk Misaki, a unusually 
bolsterous Funaho, and a slightly pensive Yosho, more because of the 
attentions dotted on by Ketira more and more. Apparently something was 
brewing up there as well, one Tenchi and Achika kept trying to fan more 
and more as the night wore on.
Mihoshi and Kiyone won the overall singing prize, as my voice wasn't 
completely with it this time, though the addition of Gaia and Tokimi 
almost evened things out.

It was there that Tsunami finally unveiled the anniversary gift I had 
given, and the ohhs and ahhs that came with it twirled with the flowing 
silk, I was suddenly bombarded with requests from most of the other 
girls in the household as to the nature of similar gifts in the future.
I was lucky I didn't get trampled in the commotion!!
But it was there that the surprise of the evening occurred, and one 
that brought the entire story full circle. 

Creation announced herself, dressed as a simply as the other goddesses 
for once; and with a bottle of sake` to boot. Ryoko procured the 
latter.
Creation then made her initial intentions by calling for both Tsui and 
me to step forth. Tenchi worried this was a repeat of the beginning of 
all this, and tried to stop this. Ayeka stopped Tenchi, probably on her 
own instincts. 

Before all the gathered, Creation asked for both out hands, and placed 
them both with tiny light filaments floating in them, clasping both out 
hands together.

"~ I place my faith into your love. Only you two can break this now, 
not even I.. and such an occurrence I cannot foresee, even with time as 
an ally, I cannot.

..this I most cherish for you both. ~"

Everyone then noticed that we literally glowed so serenely, that Nagi 
had to run to prevent from breaking down. Tenchi was just smothered by 
his wives, as was Azusa, and anyone else with a relationship.
A few others exhibited previously unnoticed such. A story for another 
time..
But as this settled down, Creation suddenly livened up the party with 
all KINDS of sake`, appearing everywhere.. a sight Ryoko bawled over. 
Ayeka rolled her eyes.
A fight started soon after, teardrops could be felt from everyone else.
But the singing and revelry soon took over again, as everyone got into 
it, along with a special pronouncement by Nen of his intention to marry 
Sasami and Bruinuae by the end of the cycle. Misaki suddenly smothered 
Nen heavily. 

For a good two days after, the party seemed to continue, almost like 
that Mardi Gras thing; though sleep was not in short supply. Though for 
me, I didn't need much..
It even came down to a soccer game to determine a contest between 
Sasami's and Achika's cooking.. (..don't ask how, but I blame Ryoko and 
Misaki..) Team Sasami won thanks to a game saving shot by Vycan just as 
Funaho made a BLISTERING shot, just before time expired. 
I was 'nursed' by my wives after a ball SMACKED me in the teeth. Man, I 
tell you; I'm no good at sports!

3-4 by the way..

But, again; all too soon, all had to depart for their separate realms 
of responsibility. But, Azusa promised that we all of the Misaki clan, 
and especially me; would be invited to the eventual culmination of the 
creation of the Union I had proclaimed.
The last, was a heartfelt thanks from all the gathered leaving, even 
Kagato had a few words to give; as he was returning with Naja to their 
realm to help rebuild there for awhile. Ange intended to follow with 
Maymay after Kagato, yet another story for another time.
And then, I gave a warm thanks to Ala, Prlras, Vycan, N and U, Tora, as 
well as Lonar and Aphelia. Only Brentai and San would remain behind, 
along with Ketira; the rest to assist in their own rebuilding areas.

And finally, the Misaki clan returned back to a state of normalcy, one 
that already seemed inadequate. Yosho, however the mindful, reminded us 
that this was a time to recollect, and rest above all..
No one knew when things might heat up again, and for a good month after 
that, things were quite peaceful, as the world and us managed to come 
to terms and move on.
But while this was a peaceful time, there still hanged a dome of gloom 
over the household, as a seeming shadow of our previous lives. War I 
guess does that.

But.. as this was a seemingly perpetual time of dour for the family..

..and the wounds fresh still..

..many incredible things were yet to come.

..The end of the war wasn't the end of the story, and the greatest 
stories were yet to be lived.

..we didn't know it at the time, but this was about to be the best of 
times in our lives..
..and the most incredible.

Life wins above all, as does Love.. period!

(End Part Thirty-Eight)