[The opening credits appear superimposed over a view of Trakal 
sitting in an open-top automated transport vehicle on Kazak,  to 
the tune of "Fade To Black" (Ride The Lightning, Track 4)]

                DISTANT STAR PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

             THE CHARACTERS OF TENCHI MUYO! UNIVERSE

                               IN

                     TENCHI MUYO! UNIVERSE
                         FADE TO BLACK

                           CHAPTER 3
            FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS (SOLDIERS AT REST)

               written by EWEN "SIR RYOGA" CLUNEY

	Trakal sat in the transport vehicle as it sped towards the GP 
facilities, the wind tossing his long hair about in its airy grasp. 
Somehow, it seemed strange to some back here, of all places, to the 
world where he'd received his training. The training that had set 
him on the path that had led him to...
	Sarnd's words had weighed heavily on his mind. Another, 
bigger problem. He hadn't said anything specific, but that in 
itself was the problem. If something was important enough that he 
only wished to discuss it face to face, probably with his security 
programs running...
	And then there was what happened on Earth, after Washu had 
released him from that infernal chamber. The incident with Ryo-Ohki 
in particular kept replaying itself in his mind's eye, and no 
matter how many times he thought about it, he could not think of 
why he had reacted as he did. It was as though he felt threatened, 
as though her grip would be followed by...
	He looked at his right hand and clenched it into a fist. 
Would Kain's specter haunt him forever?
	There was that, and his implants. Or rather, lack thereof. 
They'd been second nature to him for years now. He was agile and 
reasonably strong, but the integrated computer, metabolic control 
device, artificial arm, artificial eyes... all were gone, only 
crude flesh remaining.
	He'd already transmitted the report he'd written when he'd 
docked the Yagami at the spaceport. He was glad to have had a 
couple of days in which to do it, though; it had taken that long 
for him to collect his thoughs, to remember just what had happened.
	There was the horrible wrenching sensation during Kain's 
escape. Somehow, he'd been carried along as Kain headed for Earth, 
of 26 years ago. 27 now. He'd come to on the streets of Japan, one 
of a hundred tiny nations on that backwater world. He'd been quick 
to adopt a disguise, to appear as a human. His small frame and 
slender build made him look to be a teenager. After some 
reconniaisance and research, he'd begun to put it all together, and 
it turned out that his build was an advantage in that Kain's 
intended target was a teenaged girl, a student, and he was able to 
enroll in the same high school as she. And it was at the school 
that he'd discovered Ryoko, Aeka, and the others.
	The long chase, the careful searching, and in the end...
	He was only alive because Washu had decided it should be so.
	No one can withstand the power of Kain.
	The car had stopped, he hrealized.
	Trakal stepped out, onto the walk. He strode up the steps and 
through the doors.
	The receptionist looked up at him. She was obviously startled 
by his very presence. He approached the desk and waited for her to 
regain her composure.
	"Um, hello Lieutenant. H-how may--"
	"Sarnd asked me ti see him." he said simply. "Tell him Trakal 
is here."
	She hesitated momentarily, then made the call. After a brief 
pause, the said, "Take lift two up to the top floor."
	When at last he stood in Sarnd's office, the new Grand 
Marshall looked at him with a mix of relief and disbelief. "It's 
good to see you again." he said at last.
	"I trust you've read my report, sir."
	Sarnd nodded. "Good detective work, Lieutenant, I--"
	Trakal folded his arms across his chest. "You said there was 
something important?"
	He sighed, resting his massive arms across the desk. 
"Computer, security mode."
	As his command, the windows grew opaque, and the lights 
dimmed. Trakal took off his visor. Sarnd tapped at the keypad on 
his desk, and a holomonitor popped up with what appeared to be a 
forensics report, which changed as the narrated.
	"I suppose you heard about the council members."
	Trakal nodded. "All but the Prime Minister and you were 
killed." he said carefully. "The official report said that the 
culprit was unknown, believed to be a borderworlder terrorist."
	"The truth," Sarnd interjected, "is that a being which called 
itself Ix was responsible. Ix showed itself to be capable of energy 
projection, physical reconfiguration, and telepathic domination."
	Trakal watched the screen, as it flashed imaged of the being 
of which Sarnd spoke, a featureless black form, only vaguely 
female. "Is it still at large?"
	He shook his head. "It took an antimatter explosion, but I 
managed to destroy it."
	The Operative smiled faintly. "So, the 'terrorist' was just 
to cover up the cause of the explosion. But what's the concern, if 
this Ix was destroyed?"
	"Something she said to me," he said carefully, "Ix said she 
came from the same black hole as Kain."
	No one can withstand the power of Kain!
	Even as realization struck, his mind was flooded with 
memories. Kain gripped him by the neck with icy tendrils of the 
purest darkness, and began to squeeze...
	No one can withstand the power of Kain!

	When Trakal came to, he was lying on the carpeted floor of 
the office. The harsh light of the Kizakan sun stabbed into his 
eyes, and he slammed them shut, fumbling about until at last his 
visor was pushed into his hands. He put it on, and sat up. Sarnd 
and a medic were standing over him. At least, this time when he 
lost consciousness he was in the same place and time period when he 
woke up.
	"How are you feeling, Lieutenant?" asked the Medic.
	Trakal rubbed his head, and thought about it. "My arm aches." 
he said at last. He picked himself up, and then slumped down into a 
chair.
	The medic looked at his scanned. "Post-traumatic stress." he 
announce. "And possibly some minor overdimension disruption as 
well."
	Trakal grunted disapprovingly.
	"Lieutenant, the signs are very clear. In addition to a near 
death experience, you're adjusting to the removal of all those 
implant -- not that anyone's bothered to tell me how that was 
accomplished." he faced Sarnd, folding up the scanner. "My 
recommendation if that he be given a *at least* one month of leave. 
Even if he is a big shot operative and all -- _especially_ since he 
is -- he needs the time to recover from the whole mess." He turned 
to leave, then added. "And by no means is the Lieutenant to receive 
any implantation for the next six months, unless it's necessary to 
keep him alive. The system shock could very well be leathal."
	When he'd finally gone, Sarnd flopped into his chair."For the 
time being, at least, I'll go along with the doctor's orders, but 
if anything comes up, I *may* decide to put you on active duty."
	With some effort, Trakal stood up and saluted. "Yes sir."
	"Two things, though." Sarnd reached into his desk, and pulled 
out what looked to be a pistol of some sort. "While you were... 
gone, I had a new sidearm instituted."
	When it was placed in his hand, Trakal looked the thing over, 
trying to make sense of it. "Why? What is it?"
	"A multi-weapon." Sarnd said simply. "The usual laser is now 
a combined particle beam and variable energy blade. More 
importantly, though, it has stun and astral settings."
	Trakal holstered the thing, and wondered what else had been 
changed.
	"Now, if you're up to it, I want you to come with me to the 
memorial."
	He looked up from the weapon. "Memorial?"
	Sarnd nodded. "You'll see."

	They stood at the base of the memorial. It had been erected 
near the Galaxy Police Academy, and consisted of a series of walls, 
made of the same silvery-white material as the outer hull of 
headquarters. It'd probably been salvaged from whatever was left.
	Sarnd hadn't said what it was about, but determining that 
wasn't hard. On the central wall was a carving of HQ, and below 
that it said, "Seventh Headquarters Second Kain Incindent 
Memorial." Nearby, a teary-eyed Thurnian girl laid down some 
flowers and prayed silently. Trakal took a deep breath, and kept 
reading. Below that was a brief but prolific description of the 
events that had transpired, and that was followed by the words, 
"Here are the names of those slain in the incident, whose bravery 
shall be remembered for all time. Powers watch over us."
	As the girl finished, she paused, looking directly at the two 
of them. Why? Why did you live? her eyes seemed to ask. What made 
you worthy? But maybe he was only imagining meaning where there was 
little more than pain. He turned from her gaze, his eyes landing on 
one of the names.
	"Kurata." he said coldly.
	Sarnd sighed, touching the engraved letters. "I still miss 
him." A picture of the Section Chief popped up as a holomonitor, 
with information on him to one side.
	"A suck-up and a spy." Trakal said simply.
	Sarnd gritted his teeth. "*Spy?*"
	"Sorry to... tarnish your image of him, but it's true. On 
Mirani's orders, I was investigating him. Kurata was working for 
someone else, though I never found out who."
	Sarnd made one hand into a fist. He felt like punching 
Trakal, but his words had all too much of a ring of truth to them. 
Until recently, he had not been privy to the actions of the Special 
Investigation Unit, to which Trakal belonged. Not only that, but 
the more he thought about Kurata, the more reasonable it sounded. 
"At least he knew how to make good coffee." he said bitterly.
	Trakal shrugged.
	"Excuse me..."
	Trakal whirled around to see the Thurnian girl there. He had 
to stop himself from reacting combatively, but she still jumped a 
little.
	She bowed, facing Sarnd. "Are you... the Grand Marshall?"
	He nodded slowly.
	"I... I just wanted to thank you for..." Tears welled up in 
her yellow eyes. "They would've wanted us to go on..." Finally, she 
leaned against Sarnd's chest, her sobbing cries echoing against the 
tall buildings that flanked the memorial.
	Trakal watched them for a moment, then turned and walked 
around a corner.
	Why *had* he survived? The scientific implications were 
almost as uncomfortable as the philosophical ones. Religion had 
never played a big role in the Federation, and certainly not in his 
own life, but now he couldn't help but think of what it was like 
back on Ratala IV, when the universe was ruled by a dozen gods, 
whose whims had determined the fate of the Draalthi. But that was 
before Kagato came. Before he burned the underground cities and 
decimated the population, forever annihiliating what once was.
	Trakal paused, leaning against the wall. He could still hear 
the girl's cries. But, he realized, there was another sound.
[BGM: "For Whom The Bell Tolls" (Ride The Lightning, Track 3)]
	"Don't move."
	Trakal remained still, glancing towards the source of the 
voice without moving his head. Before him was an Eyrinian, dressed 
in civilian clothing, and holding what looked to be a particle 
projector rifle, pointed directly at Trakal. From what he could 
hear, there were others in the vicinity, evidently attempting to 
secure the area.
	"What could you possibly hope to get out of this?" he said 
slowly. "Other than to be executed?"
	"We want the truth. Nothing more. We know the so-called Kain 
Incident was nothing more than a fabrication. We know that the 
Federation manipulates the facts every day so that the people 
believe what they want it to."
	Trakal knew all too well of coverups and conspiracies. But he 
also knew why they happened. The truth was that if the public knew 
half of what really went on, there would be anarchy. The Federation 
would simply self-destruct. "Truth? What the hell do you know about 
truth? You weren't there when Kain escaped." He turned to face the 
terrorist. "I was there. I faced Kain by myself."
	In the moment that he went into shock at the words, Trakal 
grabbed the upper edge of the wall and vaulted over, adjusting his 
descent in mid-fall, such that one boot heel landed on the head of 
another terrorist who'd been menacing Sarnd and the girl. Once he 
was on his feet, Trakal drew the new sidearm, and switched on the 
energy blade mode. A crackling sword of energy, an angry crimson 
color, appeared out of the multi-weapon.
	"Get out of here." he said to Sarnd. "I'll handle this."
	Sarnd hesitated, then took the girl by the arm and hurried 
off.
	At the sound of a proton weapon charging up, Trakal spun 
around, and thrust out with the sword. It sliced through a Kizakan 
with lethal force, instantly cauterizing the terrible wound it 
caused.
	"Rikani!" shouted yet another. He stepped out from behind the 
opposite wall, and fired a laser weapon. Trakal held the blade in 
front of him, and its blazing length actually absorbed the laser 
blast. For a moment, the man hesitated, and that was all Trakal 
needed to fire off a quick particle blast, striking his shoulder 
and burning through flesh and bone.
	"Plan C!" called a female voice.
	Seemingly out of nowhere, five more appeared around him. They 
waited, their varied guns -- some of borderworlder manufacture, a 
few stolen GP items, and others as well -- trained on him.
	Trakal paused, deactivating the energy blade. "You want the 
truth, do you?"
	They waited.
	"Idiots. The one thing you get riled up about enough to 
actually take action is the one that really happened. Just like in 
the official reports."
	"Then how did the new Grand Marshall just happen to survive?" 
asked one.
	Trakal smiled. "Read the file on the Rage Incident, assuming 
you live long enugh to get a chance to."
	"What the hell do you mean?" demanded another.
	"I'm surprised you didn't see the sensors." he replied. "This 
place is wired to detect combative activity. I wouldn't be 
surprised if there was a whole battallion of Galaxy Police headed 
this way right now."
	"Don't worry about that." said yet another, the only woman 
among them. "We took care of it in advance. Now all that remains is 
to destroy this sham."
	One of them opened an armored briefcase to reveal a bomb. 
Trakal looked at it, and frowned. They meant bussiness. It was a 
matter/anti-matter reaction device. If its size was any indication, 
it would be able to take out the majority of the surrounding 
buildings, and do some serious damage beyond that.
	Trakal laughed. "And they say *I* have no respect for the 
dead."
	She looked at him for a long moment. "Kill hi--"
	"I've been dead once." he interrupted. "If you're trying to 
scare me, you'll have to do a lot better."
	They hesitated. These were definitely not trained soldiers. 
He flipped on his energy sword, and spun around, cutting through 
flesh and weapons alike, before once more leaping over the wall. A 
moment later, there were a series of explosions, though the wall, a 
good half-meter thick and made of solid duridium, easily shielded 
him from the comparatively feeble force they created. He waited, 
listening for whatever they might be trying next. Assuming there 
was anyone left.
	He liked this new sidearm already.
	Suddenly, a kick landed in his back. He rolled, and came up 
on his feet, just in time to see the woman who'd been leading the 
terrorists emerge from the wall. Must've been some kind of esper. 
Such people, being sensitive to a number of things "normals" 
weren't, were only rarely one hundred percent sane. She held out 
one open palm, and a blazing sphere of yellowish energy formed. She 
moved with slow deliberation, probably counting on him being 
surprised. Unfortunately for her, he was an officer of the SIU.
	He lashed out with a kick, which landed on her shoulder, 
throwing her back. She slammed against the wall, then rose up 
again, hovering a few inches above the ground. The energy ball had 
faded, but she was quick to form another. This one sprang into a 
blade. He was being uncomfortably reminded of Ryoko...
	"Now, you die!" she screamed, suddenly flashing into a 
maelstrom of furious slashing.
	Trakal fought back with everything he had, blocking, dodging, 
and so forth as best as he was able. Blades of pure energy struck 
again and again, sizzling with furious power each time they met. 
She simply would not relent, and he suspected she might be using 
some kind of psychometabolic control to keep this up -- that would, 
at least, explain why she wasn't showing any signs of fatigue while 
Trakal was running out of breath.
	Desperately, he did a backflip, putting a little bit of 
distance between them. He deactivated the sword, and flipped it to 
astral mode. There was no telling how well it would work -- before 
his... departure, this technology hadn't existed in the Federation 
-- but it was worth a shot, so to speak.
	She seemed amused that he would try to shoot, and merely 
waited. She obviously didn't know what power that gun held. Not 
that Trakal was entirely sure himself.
	He pulled the trigger.
	The blast that came out was a red, crackling wave. When it 
struck her, she was slammed against the wall once more, and fell 
unconscious on the ground. [BGM fades]
	He took a deep breath, until he remembered one thing. The 
bomb.
	Trakal jumped over the wall, and landed next to the 
briefcase. The bomb was there. And it was set to go off in ten 
minutes. He holstered the sidearm, and pulled out his comlink. But 
who to contact?
	Finally, he just punched in the number for the emergency 
hotline.
	"Please state the nature of the emergency." said the 
operator.
	"This is Lieutenant Trakal of the Galaxy Police, SIU. I'm at 
the Second Kain Incident Memorial. Terrorists have attacked. 
They're out of comission, but they left an antimatter bomb here, 
which has been armed."
	There was a pause. "T-time to detomation?"
	"Nine minutes, forty-five seconds. Mark."
	A moment later, he replied, "Okay... A demolitions team is on 
the way. Their commander will contact you momentarily, and we'll 
coordinate everything else from the emergency center."
	He nodded. "Good. The Grand Marshall is in the vicinity. Have 
him picked up. We don't need another one dead." He then cut the 
connection. The commlink beeped, and he picked it up.
	"Lieutenant. This is Lieutenant Klatch; I've been advised of 
your situation, and we're en route. What can you tell me about the 
bomb?"
	Trakal looked at the thing. He didn't have *too* much 
knowledge of demolitions, leastwise where antimatter devices were 
concerned. "It's a M/AM reaction device, about... 20 kilos in 
weight, installed in a duridium briefcase. The timer has a 
holomonitor, which has a logo... Takari Technologies."
	"Hmm... Takari is a commercial explosive manufacturer, though 
M/AM stuff is used only in space."
	"That's all very interesting, but can we disarm this thing?"
	"Right. What sort of controls do you see?"
	He looked at the device. It had only a keypad, with ten 
digits on it, plus an eleventh key maked "ENTER." "Eleven keys. Ten 
numbers plus enter."
	"Damn. Just a numeric code. Entering the wrong one could set 
it off. Can you see any way to open it?"
	"No."
	Trakal looked at the panel. Each of the ten numbers had some 
letters next to it. Maybe that was it. If these guys were as stupid 
as they'd seemed about the password...
	"Lieutenant, just wait until we get there. Or better yet, run 
for it."
	He looked at the keypad. The display said there was 7 
minutes, 30 seconds left. His hand hovered over the keypad.
	"Lieutenant, do you copy?"
	T. R. U.
	"Lieutenant? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
	T. H.
	Truth. 87884.
	The display said, "DETONATION SEQUENCE CANCELED."
	Trakal watched the demolitions hovertruck arrive.

[The end credits roll to the tune of "Harvester of Sorrow" (...And 
Justice For All, Track 6)]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
by Ewen "Sir Ryoga" Cluney                   ryoga_hibiki@hotmail.com
Ryoga's Momentos                 http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/6127/
Ryoga's Journeys            http://www.blueneptune.com/~jcluney/ewen/

Not everyone can be a saumrai warrior. Not everyone can live by the
power of the sword. Not everyone can die with honor. I, for example,
make... KAZOOS!
---------------------------------------------------------------------