This is an adult story. Please consult part one of this
archive for details and warnings. People under the age
of 21 should seriously consider not reading this!
Ataru and Megane fought to keep the Widow stable as it
coursed through the withering fusillade of anti-aircraft
fire that had locked onto them the moment they'd punched
through the atmosphere of Mylex Prime. Ataru also fought to
keep his lunch down as he tried in vain to deal with
Megane's maniacal piloting. From the grunts and occasional
screams in the other room, he guessed that Mendou and
Shinobu weren't weathering the flight all that well either.
A moment later an indicator on the center console began
flashing, and a nearby screen began spouting information.
ENEMY BASE LOCATED.
COORDINATES FED TO NAVIGATION SYSTEM
ENGAGING AUTOPILOT AND STEALTH MODE
ENCOUNTERING INTERFERENCE...
AUXILIARY SAMPLING ROUTINES ACTIVATED...
STANDBY...........
ONI PRINCESS LUM LOCATED VIA SUB-DERMAL TRANSPONDER
WITHIN THIS REGION...
...
UNABLE TO ATTAIN ACCURATE FIX ON TARGET...
PRINTING COORDINATES OF CLOSEST POSSIBLE LOCATION...
HAVE A NICE DAY
Ataru grabbed the piece of paper as it streamed out of
the printer, then strapped himself tighter into his seat and
prayed that they wouldn't crash.
Both men felt a shudder ripple through the decking of
the ship a moment later, then nothing. The ship leveled off
and assumed evasive maneuvers automatically, but without the
stomach-churning movements that Megane's piloting skills had
evoked. Ataru sighed in relief and looked at his friend.
"Well, it seems to be better at piloting than you are," he
razzed.
Megane's defensive look disappeared as quickly as it
had appeared. He caught the joking glint in Ataru's eyes,
and both men broke out in deep laughter. "You're right,"
Megane said between fits of laughter. "I was just
guessing..." he said as his laughter grew louder. He had to
put his head between his knees to catch his breath, and
hence missed the worried look Ataru shot him at hearing
about his `guesswork.'
But the nervous edge that they had been carrying with
them since they boarded the ship had disappeared in that
moment, to be replaced by a more carefree and eager
attitude. Megane's laughter died an instant later as an
alarm sounded, indicating less than thirty seconds before
the ship made landfall at the enemy base.
Both men looked at each other, then nodded and dove for
their webgear and weaponry. After helping each other into
their gear, they slammed the door to the cabin open and
walked in on an awaiting Shinobu and Mendou.
"We've got to hurry. It won't be long before our
position is discovered," Mendou shouted over the din of the
alarm.
Ataru nodded and flat-palmed the switch that opened the
inner airlock door. Seeing that all four could fit in the
airlock, he motioned them into it, then closed the inner
door behind himself after stepping inside. Pressing a
button exposed a panel in the wall and revealed six hand-
sized instruments roughly shaped like calculators with
readout screens. He reached in and grabbed four of them,
dispersing them among the group.
"The instructions Lum's dad left in the cockpit
computer told me that these are remote links for the Widow's
main computer. You should be able to find Lum and possibly
Benten with these. We should be able to speak with each
other with them too," he said, then stopped, suddenly
feeling the weight of the mission on his shoulders.
They took only a moment familiarizing themselves with
the instruments before donning facemasks and opening the
outer door of the airlock. Nowhere near familiar with
guerrilla combat techniques, the group shambled aimlessly
down the ramp, with Mendou being the only one to think of
covering their descent.
Once at the bottom of the ramp, they met with the door
that was closest to Lum's current position. Not wasting any
time with picking the lock, Mendou set a charge against the
lock to blow the door down. The charge went, taking down
the door, and a sizable portion of the surrounding wall with
it. Mendou bigsweated at the size of the hole and crater
created by the bomb. "Must've been more potent than I
thought," he said uneasily. He readied his rifle and
stepped cautiously through the former doorway.
Peeking around the edge, he saw that the blast had
taken out six guards that had been at repellent positions
near the door. Two support walls had been knocked down,
partially covering the bodies, and severely weakening the
structure of that whole side of the building. The ceiling
looked as though it wouldn't remain upright much longer, so
Mendou urged the rest to quickly join him in the corridor.
Once together at the far end of the hallway he took
Shinobu by the shoulder and spoke to them all. "I think it
best if we split up and look for Benten and Lum," he said as
he indicated the two directions that the hallway took from
their current position at the intersection. Shinobu and
Ataru nodded in agreement, but Megane remained undecided,
motionless. "Shinobu and I will take the left side of the
corridor. You and Megane take the right. Whoever finds
them will radio in, and we'll meet back here," he shouted
through the tight confines of his facemask.
He looked up at the crumbling doorway, which was
threatening to collapse at any moment and bury everyone
under tons of rubble and debris. "And we'll need to be
quick about it. Remember, our main concern is finding Lum,"
he said, eyeing Ataru critically. "And nothing else!" he
shouted, seeing the angry look in Ataru's eyes.
Ataru held his ground for a moment before relenting.
"Fine, whatever! I'll be looking for Lum, but I won't swear
that I'll leave that son of a bitch alone if I find him.
Deal?"
Mendou nodded and tugged on Shinobu's arm. "Let's go
then!" he shouted as they started heading off in their
respective directions.
<*>
A tech of the royal flagship of the Oni empire cowed in
his seat as the King bellowed again. "Can't this damn ship
go any faster?" he yelled to no-one in particular.
The tech looked at his readout screen again and turned
to look at Lum's father. "Your Majesty. The engines are at
one hundred and twenty percent of recommended capacity, and
we show only being five minutes away from Neptune.
The King eyed the tech coldly. "Did I ask you for an
UPDATE?" he yelled angrily.
The tech sank lower in his seat, trying to avoid the
withering gaze the King was leveling at him. He sighed in
relief a moment later when the Oni leader's features
softened. "Sorry for snapping like that, son. Please
report to me the moment we're within visual distance of the
landing site."
The tech turned wordlessly back to his duty station and
kept a close eye on the readouts.
The king, meanwhile, resumed his seat in the captain's
chair and nervously ticked away the minutes. Four minutes
elapsed, with each second feeling like an eternity. He
exhaled loudly when the tech announced that the ship was in
position to dock. "Have we received clearance to dock?" he
asked mechanically, knowing already that Oyuki probably had
the red carpet rolled out for their arrival.
"Yes sir, we have," the tech responded crisply.
"Give the order to land and deploy. Tell her majesty
that I will meet with her shortly," he said as he rose from
his throne and headed for the nearest hatch.
<*>
Oyuki wrung her hands nervously. Her mind fretted for
not only in anticipation of her mission with Lum's father,
but also over the safety of her newfound love, Megane.
Whenever she thought of Megane, her mind would depart for a
fleeting moment to the time where they were in the throes of
passion on his bed. She smiled to herself as she recalled
again the wondrous sensations wrought within her by his
loving touch.
"Are you alright your highness?" a scientist asked,
poking her gently on the arm.
She gasped in surprise, then blushed at being caught
unawares by one of her subordinates. She smiled to herself
though, knowing that it took a lot of effort to distract her
from something as important as this invasion. But Megane
seemed to do that all too easily. That alone proved to her
how right their sudden relationship was. She composed
herself and let her desire ebb away before speaking. "Yes,
what is it?" she asked with practiced grace.
"Your highness, The Oni King's ship has docked, and he
is enroute to the command module."
Oyuki's worry returned. She'd promised Lum's father
that they would try to get multiple gates up and running on
the renegade Prince's base, but so far it had managed to
resist all attempts at incursion. "What is the gateway
status?"
"We were able to establish a small gateway a short
distance from the compound itself. However, our lead
tactician suggests that materializing outside the compound
would do no good, since we would need the element of
surprise to be effective."
Oyuki nodded her head in understanding. She figured as
much, but had hoped that they would be able to get something
inside the compound anyway. "Just keep trying and let me
know if anything new turns up." Her head turned at that
moment as she heard a commotion behind her.
"What's the status, Oyuki?" the King asked curtly.
She felt her second bristle at the lack of honorific,
and laid a hand on his arm to quiet him before he could say
anything to Lum's father. She understood the King's
frustration, and decided to ignore his lack of formality.
"It goes poorly for the moment, your Majesty. Our
technicians haven't been able to get a lock on Graven's
compound. Some sort of interference is thwarting our
attempts to place a gateway inside the building. We have no
problem establishing a lock outside of the building, but..."
"But we need to be inside the building at the start of
the invasion," he completed for her. "Don't worry, I
understand. I guess we have no choice but to wait a few
minutes and see if something breaks on Graven's side of the
equation. If not, then we'll have to go in on the grounds
and fight our way inside," he finished darkly. He no more
wanted a protracted battle with Graven's forces than Oyuki
did. But time was running out, and so were their options.
Oyuki turned back to the readout screen and hoped that
Megane and his friends would be able to get Lum and Benten
out of there safely.
<*>
Ataru had been running on pure adrenaline since the
Widow made planetfall. Enemies had been popping up out of
the woodwork at every turn, making his and Megane's advance
troublesome at best. At the moment he was contending with a
blockade of ShadowKnights firing at them both from the end
of the hall. He squeezed off another burst, managing to
wing another of Graven's odd looking troops.
He and Megane had been making fairly steady progress
through the maze of hallways until they happened upon this
patrol of ten ShadowKnights. It had been an exhausting
battle from that point on, with each side firing from the
cover of recessed doorways in the cramped hallway corridor.
He didn't even spare any sympathy or regret for those that
he had taken down with his rifle. They were responsible for
whatever harm had come to Lum, and he cared not what
happened to them when he fought against them.
Megane watched Ataru "Rambo" Moroboshi with a certain
level of trepidation. His usually vocal but harmless friend
had been a silent, emotionless extermination machine from
the moment they encountered their first guard. Ataru had
taken that guy out at the knees with a spray of automatic
fire, and ran on unconcernedly as the wounded sentry groaned
on the floor. The other victims weren't so lucky. He began
to worry about Ataru's sanity. `At this rate he might never
make it through the fight to get to Lum,' he thought as the
enemy fire whizzed past him. A round came dangerously close
to his face, causing him to reflexively push against the
closed door. He turned to see his friend in the thick of
it, concentrating on the enemy and nothing else.
In the past five minutes Ataru had managed to take out
four ShadowKnights and didn't seem ready to stop. Megane
peeked out from his cover again and saw that Ataru had
dropped yet another knight and was already angling for his
next shot. He shrugged his shoulders and brought his weapon
to bear, hoping to cut down a few more so that they could
hopefully stand a chance. `Get here soon, Oyuki-chan,' he
prayed fervently as he added to the furious exchange of
gunfire. He only hoped that he and Ataru would survive long
enough to get the girls and get the hell out, or until help
arrived, whichever came first.
<*>
Mendou and Shinobu were pinned down at a `T'
intersection of hallways. They were taking fire from three
sides, and were only able to escape harm by crouching
against a roof support beam which extended out into the
corridor from the wall. The cover was only a foot wide, and
barely gave protection to the two. Shinobu and Mendou fired
as best they could, and managed to occasionally hit a
knight.
But after enduring five minutes of non-stop gunfire,
Mendou couldn't take it anymore. Gritting his teeth, he
yanked a grenade from his webgear and pulled the pin, then
waited two seconds before throwing it. He smiled with
satisfaction as he saw it sail towards his intended target.
But his happiness was quickly replaced with abject horror as
the grenade bounced off of the end wall of the corridor and
ricocheted back in his and Shinobu's direction.
They were about to sprint for their lives when the
grenade hit the floor and wobbled down the corridor he meant
to hit. He held Shinobu's face against his chest as they
both crouched down against the support beam and covered
their ears and opened their mouths. They were pushed to the
ground a moment later as the force of the grenade's
detonation washed through the hallways and knocked them off
of their feet.
All gunfire stopped, and the acrid scent of spent
explosives could be perceived in the air. Mendou was about
to look out from their cover when a bigger, second explosion
took out the entire corridor almost up to the end of the `T'
intersection, not ten paces from their current position.
Shinobu screamed and clung to Mendou tightly as their whole
world suddenly went dark.
<*>
"What the hell was that?" Graven barked from his
command chair. The entire room was shrouded in darkness,
and he fumbled about for his intercom switch. "Get those
Goddamned emergency lights on NOW!" he shouted to the men in
the room.
"Sir, we've lost all power from the mains. Emergency
generators are off-line, and we're running this room on
battery power only," a nearby tech shouted.
"How long will the batteries last?" he demanded.
"No more than forty minutes sir," was the reply.
Graven's mind raced. Without power, the repellers that
were set up throughout the building wouldn't be working.
That meant that the invaders would have an accurate bearing
on the location of the Princess and her friend. That also
meant that they were visible to long-range scanners. `Damn!
Looks like one hell of a ground war!' he thought to himself
in disgust.
"Get the computers working on what's damaged, and put
together an inventory of all remaining resources," he
ordered as his mind flashed through several possible
strategies.
"Yessir," the men chorused as they bent to their tasks.
`Well, I guess we'll have to work with what we've got
in the interim,' he thought, surrendering to the obvious.
"Does the intercom still work?"
"We're not sure sir," came the meek reply.
"Well, get on it immediately. I need that restored
before anything else. After that, try to find a way to get
those damned repellers back on-line," he commanded as he
stood from his seat. He swore a moment later as he tripped
on something and fell to the floor in an undignified heap.
"And get these fucking lights on NOW!" he shouted, slapping
the floor disgustedly with one of his hands.
Scurrying and stumbling were soon heard as techs
attempted to fulfill their orders.
<*>
"What the hell was that?" Ataru asked softly as he
lowered his rifle. The enemy seemed puzzled too, as they
halted their firing. He couldn't see Megane, but heard him
grunt thoughtfully at the question. Ataru unclipped his
flashlight from his webgear and shone it in the direction of
the enemy. He growled angrily as he saw that the remaining
ShadowKnights had vanished. He switched off his flashlight
and grabbed a grenade from his gear in frustration.
"Megane, stay where you are!" he shouted as he pulled
the pin and tossed the grenade down the hallway.
"Oh *shit*!" was about all Megane could say as he
realized what Ataru was going to do. He turned his face
into the doorway arch, covered his ears and opened his
mouth. A deafening blast kicked through the corridor in
that instant, knocking both men on their butts.
Ataru shook his head to clear the ringing that
dominated his hearing. Even with precautionary measures, he
still took some damage from the blast. He clawed his way on
his hands and knees across the debris strewn corridor to
Megane and shone his light in his friend's face. "Are you
okay?" he screamed as he grabbed Megane by the shoulder and
stabilized him.
Megane nodded and stood slowly, looking up and down the
ruined hallway. Seeing no-one in either direction, he
casually reached down and brushed the dust from his black
Oni-camos. "I think you took them out. Either that, or
scared them away," he declared.
The ringing in Ataru's ears had vanished, and he could
hear normally once again. A beeping from his right pants
pocket was calling his attention away from Megane.
Realizing what it was, he scrambled to find the Widow's
computer remote. He whooped for joy when he looked at the
readout screen. "Hey look, Megane! We've got a solid lead
on Lum's location. Let's go!" he shouted excitedly as he
stood up and walked in the direction indicated by his hand-
held unit.
Megane hustled to stay behind his friend. Flashlight
in one hand and rifle in the other, he advanced cautiously
down the hallway behind Ataru, expecting any minute to be
set upon by another of Graven's forces.
Ataru showed no such hesitations, however, as he boldly
strode through the winding corridors, his mind centered on
his one objective. He would find Lum and Benten, safe and
sound. He wasn't so sure about Graven's well-being, however
<*>
"What the hell was that?" Shinobu shouted from under
the protective covering of her lover's body. She and Mendou
sat up from their hiding place and looked in awe at the
ruined wing of the building. "I didn't think that a simple
grenade could be so powerful!" Shinobu exclaimed after
ripping her facemask off. She wrinkled her nose at the
smell of the smoke and the choking dust that wafted about
the hallway.
Mendou craned his neck to look at the former wall of
the corridor, and saw that their pathways had been reduced
to one. The path that he had lobbed the grenade into had
been utterly destroyed, and was now blocked by several tons
of debris. He looked back the way that they had come and
saw a similar sight there. He blanched as his eyes fell
upon several slain ShadowKnights sprawled on the floor at
the edge of the pile of debris.
He grimaced and swallowed hard, forcing himself to keep
from fouling his facemask. Finding it a burden suddenly, he
yanked it off and dropped it to the floor, and breathed
freely in the smoky air. He grew very concerned as he
realized that Shinobu had yet to witness the pile of bodies.
He turned back around and grabbed her by the arms.
"Shinobu, I want you to hold on to me and not open your eyes
until I tell you," he declared protectively.
"Shutaro! I can..." she started to protest, but went
silent at he took her face in his hands.
"Do you love me, Shinobu?" he asked tenderly.
"Of course I do, Shutaro-kun. Why ask such a
question?" she replied concernedly.
"I love you too, Shinobu-chan. And if you really love
me, you should listen to me." He tilted her head up so that
their eyes met. "Trust me please, and do what I say, okay?"
he spoke in a loving request.
Shinobu nodded. "I'd put my life in your hands,
Shutaro-kun. And my love," she amended as she wrapped her
arms around her lover and drew herself closer.
"Just close your eyes and hold onto me tightly," he
asked her as he pulled her to him, hugging her body against
his chest. With her eyes closed, she let him lead her away
from the carnage and down the abandoned hallway.
<*>
"Your Highness, we've got a breakthrough!" a white-coat
clad technician shouted excitedly from his monitoring
station.
Oyuki spun, her face expectant as she ran to the tech's
station. "Truly?" she asked, echoing his excitement.
The tech nodded quickly. "It happened just a moment
ago. Our targeting systems hadn't been able to get a lock
on Graven's building for quite some time when suddenly the
computer was able to get readings on the inside of the
compound."
The Oni King's ears perked up at the enthusiastic tones
coming from Oyuki, and rushed to their side to listen
intently as they spoke.
"Now all we have to do is find adequate places to
establish gateways and send the troops through," she said
coldly, her mind strictly on business. She turned to Lum's
father. "Your Majesty, assemble your troops with mine in
the marked areas. We'll be going in with four groups. And
don't worry about the size of each group. Just distribute
the men as evenly as possible," she commanded before turning
back to the console.
She extended a finger to the freshly-drawn schematic of
the target building. "Alright, we'll establish gates here,
here, here, and... " She let her fingers roam across the
screen for a moment as she tried to guess where Graven's
command center would be.
"HERE!" bellowed the Oni King, stabbing a thick finger
at an unremarkable-looking room in the upper-left corner of
the building. "I'd bet my life on it. He's here!"
Oyuki nodded, willing to concede the point to him.
"Alright, now that we have the men and the locations locked
down we need to get the gateways established. Give me an
estimate on how long it'll take to get them up and running."
The tech looked at her with a broad smile. "Only four
minutes, Your Highness. We had the capacitors charged the
moment you put us on alert."
Oyuki smiled at her crew's thoughtfulness. "Excellent.
All crews to battlestations!" she barked as she walked over
to Lum's father. "I'll be back in just a moment," she stage-
whispered to him before dashing out of the room and into an
adjoining dressing area. Closing the door behind her, she
exchanged her party dress for a form fitting black bodysuit
which had been modified for close quarters combat. She put
her long dark hair up and donned a black beret, then added
on her specialized complement of weaponry. She emerged from
the change room moments later and grinned at what she saw.
Lum's father had taken command in her absence, and
organized all of the soldiers into orderly groups, and all
were standing in formation in the staging areas. She wasted
no time in standing beside the King in one of the four
groups. She smiled as she looked up at him. "Which one are
we going to?" she asked with a wink.
"Guess," he replied, smiling nastily.
The hum of machinery caught the attention of both
Royals, and they steeled themselves for the impending
battle.
Gateways opened in front of each of the battle
formations, and all troops snapped to attention. "You all
have your engagement orders men, so snap to it!" the Oni
King bellowed, causing several, including Oyuki, to wince
involuntarily.
"YES SIR!" was the overwhelming reply as the troops
snapped their weapons to a ready stance.
"Move out!" the group commanders shouted in unison.
The soldiers trotted to the gateway and assumed their
assault formations. The Oni King followed the point guard
into his gateway, with Oyuki hot on his heels.
Less than a minute later the staging area was barren.
<*>
Tense moments had gone by while Graven awaited word
from his techs on their current status. Impatient, he sat
up in his chair and looked to where the situation board
should be. "Report!" he shouted.
"Sir, an explosion near the prison area took out the
primary emergency generators!" an unseen servant replied
from somewhere in the dark room.
"So? It was just an emergency generator? Why is all
of our power out?" he demanded angrily.
"Well, Sir, according to the readouts; the collateral
damage from the explosion ruptured three key links in our
station's power grid." Some flipping of switches could be
heard, then a resigned sigh. "I'm afraid that all power is
out. Also, tactical was destroyed by a power surge, so it's
useless."
"What are you trying to tell me, boy?" Graven shouted.
"Nothing other than electrical and the radio is going
to work in this room, Sir," was the empty reply. "And
that's only while the batteries last."
Graven cursed his luck. He knew that the King wouldn't
wait long to take advantage of their misfortune. "Did you
get the PA system working yet?" he shouted.
"Just a minute sir, I think we've found something!"
came the quick reply. A few more seconds of clicking, and
suddenly the room was bathed in an angry red light. Graven
and the crew of the situation room blinked their eyes, as
they adjusted to the change in the lighting.
Graven turned to the console, and saw his second nod
affirmatively. Quickly he hit the com stud on his chair and
spoke out in a clear, cold voice.
"Attention all Knights! Enemy forces have penetrated
the compound and are approaching the prisoner's location.
Use whatever means necessary to stop them! Graven out!"
`Not much of a command, really,' he thought absently as
he turned back to his second. "I want you to send four
roving patrols throughout this area of the compound. We
haven't much time before Oni-special forces will be within
striking range, so we'll need to be quick about establishing
defensive zones on the outside of the building. Move!"
The second nodded wordlessly and dashed out of the
room. Graven sat back in his chair for a moment, drumming
his fingers on the chair. He'd seen the camera footage of
the four people who blasted their way into his compound, and
snorted derisively. He had to wonder how such a motley
group of people could have caused such extensive damage to
the compound in so little time. He had worried for a
moment, right after they lost all power, that this was an
advanced assassination squad from the King's forces.
But he now dismissed that idea as preposterous. Had
they actually been assassins, he wouldn't be breathing by
now. More minutes went by at an agonizing pace, all without
any word from his troops. Having grown impatient, he
grabbed his sidearm and rushed out of the room. `I'll take
care of these wimps myself!' he swore in silence as he ran
towards Lum and Benten's cell.
<*>
Mendou and Shinobu traversed the maze of corridors
quickly and surely, their hand held indicators bringing them
ever closer to the location of their friends. Their path
had been unusually quiet, and easier to navigate once the
emergency lights came on. Mendou had allowed Shinobu to
take the point position as they walked through the compound,
with him guarding her sexy rear.
Shinobu was so intent on her remote that she screamed
as she turned a corner and found herself looking directly at
an armed patrol of five ShadowKnights.
"Shutaro-kun, LOOK OUT!" she screamed as she pushed him
back around the corner and down the corridor they had just
come through. She crouched low to the ground as the rounds
of enemy fire began ricocheting off of the walls around
them.
Spotting a door to his left, Mendou prayed fervently
that it would be empty and decided to hole up in there.
Grabbing Shinobu by the hand, he turned the doorknob and
sighed in relief as it turned in his hand. `It's unlocked!'
he thought in relief as he quickly turned around, holding
Shinobu against him, and backed his way into the room. With
the ShadowKnights hot on their trail, he wasted no time in
slamming and locking the door.
He backed away from the door, sighing in relief as he
kept his gaze on the locked doorknob, when he bumped up
against something with his rear end. Now, normally that
wouldn't have been a big deal to him, except that the object
he bumped into grunted.
Mendou's and Shinobu's eyes narrowed in disgust as they
both registered the sound.
"Shit," Shinobu swore as she turned to look around
Mendou.
She smiled a moment later as she saw the presence of
thirty Oni troops standing behind her and Mendou, crammed in
the tight confines of the room. Mendou felt Shinobu's
muscles relax and wondered what the hell was going on. He
turned around to see what was behind him, all the while
keeping Shinobu in his arms.
The lead soldier of the raiding party saluted both of
them and smiled crookedly. "Let us take care of them,
ma'am," the soldier suggested in a whisper as he brought his
weapon down and pointed it towards the door.
Mendou and Shinobu allowed the troops to pull them to
the rear of their group, just as the door started to shake
from the pounding of the Knights.
"Open up or we're gonna blow the Goddamned door off its
hinges!" commanded a rough voice on the other side of the
door. A few seconds of silence reigned before the voice
spoke again. "We're giving you twenty seconds to get your
ass out of there before we nuke the room, got it?"
The point guard looked back at Mendou and nodded.
Mendou grinned as he caught the soldier's intent. He
cleared his throat and addressed the door loudly. "Alright
Dammit! We give up. We're opening the door..."
Scurrying could be heard outside the room as the
ShadowKnights took up defensive positions around the door.
The point guard reached out and unlocked the door. Then
with lightning quickness he turned the knob and yanked the
door open.
A ShadowKnight which had been positioned in front of
the door gaped wordlessly as he stood in front of thirty Oni-
troops, all of whom had the barrels of their weapons trained
directly on him. He backed up a step, then screamed. "Oni
Troops! RUN AWAY!" He dropped his weapon and took off at
high speed for any place far away from the room. The other
ShadowKnights shrugged in confusion as they poked their
weapon muzzles through the door, then moved inside.
The point guard waited until the perfect moment before
issuing his command. "FIRE!" he shouted as all men opened
up on the remaining Knights, bringing them down in short
order.
The two lovers watched it all happen without turning
away or making a sound. The brutal efficiency with which
the Royal guard had taken down the ShadowKnights impressed
Mendou and scared Shinobu. But that didn't really matter to
either of them right at the moment. Their chances of
succeeding had just gone up astronomically, and they weren't
about to let their advantage disappear due to inaction.
With a lot more confidence, Mendou led Shinobu out of the
room as they prepared to resume their tracking of Lum's
signal.
The thirty Oni troops took defensive positions ahead
and behind the two. The point guard looked at Shinobu and
saluted again. "Ma'am! We're ready to go when you are," he
said calmly as he took his position directly behind her and
Mendou. With grim determination she began guiding them
towards Lum and Benten's location, relieved to know that
Mendou was at her side at all times.
<*>
The King and Oyuki looked at the stunned faces of the
sit-room crew with satisfaction. The King's guess about
their position in the compound had been correct. With all
of the King's armaments pointed in their direction, it took
almost no effort to persuade Graven's men to surrender
peacefully.
Her attention was grabbed by a speaker crackling to
life from what looked like the command chair. "Mayday! All
forces alert! Whatever, just listen to me!" spoke the
harried, and exhausted Knight. "Oni special forces are in
the compound, and have linked up with two of the other
raiders. Our position was overrun, and I am the only
survivor of our patrol..."
The King walked to the command chair and pressed a
button near the speaker. "You won't be surviving for long
if you don't turn Graven over and release my daughter and
her friend!" said the King smugly.
The King kept the smug look on his face as he waited
for the response. The whole room facefaulted a moment later
as the lone Knight screamed, "RUN AWAY!"
The speaker made a clattering noise, which Oyuki
guessed was the Knight dropping his communicator, then the
fading sound of running footsteps could be heard.
One of the command crew groaned in disgust. "Dammit,
Robin! You PUSSY!"
The Oni troops laughed at the outburst, then
systematically began gathering and cuffing all of the troops
in the room.
"Send them back through the gate and put them in the
holding cell. We'll deal with them once the op is
complete," Oyuki commanded. Ten troops led the prisoners
back through the gateway at gunpoint, while the remaining
group spread out through the less crowded sit-room.
"Start looking through everything!" the King shouted.
"I want to know where my daughter is, NOW!"
The soldiers hurried to do what they were ordered as
the King sat himself as best as he could in the small
command chair.
Meanwhile Oyuki stared worriedly at the blank screens
on the wall, wondering what the hell was going on with
Megane.
The speaker on the chair blared to life as another
voice began speaking. "This is squad two reporting in.
Have made contact with two raiders in sector L. Have taken
major casualties, but did manage to take out one of them.
The one ..." the voice paused as if it were listening to
something.
A faint yelling could be heard, but not too distinctly.
The King understood that his bulk was covering the speaker
and jumped off of the chair. Ataru's voice was suddenly
clearer. " ...of a bitch! You'll pay for what you did to
Megane!"
Oyuki's eyes went wild and she screamed in anguish,
drowning out the rest of Ataru's comments. She collapsed on
the floor and drowned herself in her sorrow. "Megane!
Nooo!" she yelled in despair as she hugged herself into a
tight ball. She shook a moment later as the sound of a loud
explosion blared from the speaker and echoed throughout the
situation room.
The King growled angrily at the situation and grabbed a
handgun from one of his troops. He walked over to a
wallboard showing a layout of the compound. He quickly
spotted `sector L' and traced a path to their current
position. "I need ten men to come with me!" he yelled as he
headed for the door. Ten soldiers quickly detached
themselves from the group and followed him out.
Oyuki wasted no time in standing up and dashing out of
the room, intent on following them to their destination.
`They'll die by my hands if Megane's not alright,' she
promised herself as she took a position a few yards behind
the King's troops.
<*>
"OH NO!" Megane screamed as he assessed the damage to
himself.
Ataru ran up to him, yelling loudly. "Megane, are you
alright?"
Megane turned and looked in the direction of the noise.
"NO! Those bastards!"
"Where were you hit?" he asked as he knelt down and
scanned his friend for any sign of injury.
"They hit my facemask and broke my glasses!" he shouted
in anger, pointing to a piece of mangled metal and
pulverized glass laying on the floor among shards of plastic
and scraps of rubber.
Ataru groaned, realizing that all of Megane's whining
and yelling had only been over his damned glasses. "We'll
get you another pair when we get back!" he shouted angrily,
then stood up and looked around, checking to see if the
coast was clear.
Reaching down, he picked Megane up by his arm and
helped him stand. "C'mon man. We're really close to Lum's
position! Let's go!"
Megane nodded dully and followed Ataru as he once again
led them to Lum and Benten's position.
A few paces later and they came upon a steel reinforced
door which had been blown down by the shock wave from
Ataru's grenade. He peeked inside and saw two forms slumped
against a nearby wall. He was about to run inside when
Megane's Stormtrooper instincts kicked in, and he ran inside
ahead of Ataru. Within a few steps he had reached the
bodies, and knelt down to check on them.
Ataru saw him look up in alarm, as if suddenly
realizing something, then heard him yell "SLEEPING GAS!!"
before he collapsed across the bodies in a heap.
Ataru ran to Megane's side, yelling his name
hysterically. He knelt down to check on Megane's status,
and heard his friend snoring. `Geez, he's fast asleep!'
Ataru thought in amazed relief. He shook his head absently,
then froze up as he realized what he was looking at. Lum
was sitting in Benten's lap. Actually, a very naked and
very beautiful Lum was snuggled in the arms of an equally
naked and equally beautiful Benten. A part of his mind
noted that he was drooling inside of his facemask as he
reached out to see if either girl was still alive, but he
was too spellbound by the girls' nakedness to care.
His hentai urgings were warring with a mounting despair
as he tried in vain to find a pulse on Lum. It wasn't until
he paid close attention to her breasts that he noticed their
rhythmic rise and fall, indicating that she was breathing.
He quickly pulled Megane's sleeping body off of her, and
propped him against the wall next to Benten. When he turned
back to Lum he was rewarded with a fully open view of her
pubic mound, causing him to jump back in shock. Her and
Benten's legs were sprawled outwards, with Lum's back
against Benten's chest. Ataru stood where he was,
transfixed by the beautiful sight of his fiancee's fully
exposed vagina, unable to see or do anything else.
<*>
Halfway through their trek, Oyuki and the King came
upon a split in the hallways. They agreed to split up and
half would cover each pathway.
Not far down her path, Oyuki noted a foul scent in the
air. She advanced a bit further before one of the troops
called a halt. "Stop! That's sleeping gas! Everyone put
your masks on!" he hand-signed to the troops, then whispered
to Oyuki.
The group stopped and donned their facemasks, then
continued towards the source of the gas. As they rounded a
corner, they were set upon by a couple of face-masked
ShadowKnights.
Oyuki swore angrily at the delay. She had a feeling
that she was on the right path, but hated having to wade
through all of these minuscule battles to get to him. But
her frustration turned to worry as she saw three of the Oni
soldiers go down after tripping a nearby boobytrap. She
screamed in alarm as she dove out of the way of the
explosion.
She came back up slowly, her whole body aching from the
force of the blast. She grimaced at the sight of the dead
troopers, but forced herself not to dwell on it. With only
two troops at her side, she doubted that she would make it
out alive, much less get to Megane's side. She crouched low
and back, and let the remaining troops fight it out with the
two ShadowKnights as she tried to think of a way to get
around the fight.
She winced as she heard two screams of pain, then
looked up to see what had happened. Her heart sunk as she
saw that an Oni troop and a ShadowKnight had mutually killed
each other during the battle. Fed up with the killing and
the waiting, she drew her gun and took up the felled Oni
soldier's position and fired at the remaining ShadowKnight.
Concentrating on the last Oni soldier, the ShadowKnight
was caught unawares as Oyuki took aim and caught him in the
chest, bringing him down quickly.
The Oni soldier brought his weapon down and turned to
her. "Good shot, your Highness," he said as he walked over
to verify that both ShadowKnights were dead.
Oyuki meanwhile turned whiter than usual and dropped
her gun on the floor. Sickened by what she just did, she
clawed the mask off of her face and threw up on the floor.
She'd never been in this situation before, and the toll of
battle was hitting her pretty hard. She moved herself away
from the mess that she just made and sat against a wall to
recover her senses. For her own sense of security she
pulled her gun from the floor and placed it in her lap.
Slowly she unclipped a small container from her belt, opened
it and put it to her lips. She upended it, filling her
mouth with a cool rush of water. She swished it about in
her mouth, rinsing out the disgusting taste of her own bile.
She spat the water out, away from herself and the remaining
Oni-soldier. She rinsed twice more before she was
satisfied, then took down the rest of the contents in a few
deep gulps, and discarded the empty container on the floor.
With the noise of the battle gone, her ears picked up
the sound of the Oni soldier removing items from his fallen
comrades, and the ShadowKnights. But she also detected a
faint yelling, and recognized it immediately as Ataru's
voice. Without a thought she stood and ran in the direction
of the noise, mindless of whatever lay around the next
corner.
She stopped at the doorway to the chamber to catch her
breath, and saw Ataru kneeling next to Megane's body. She
shrieked and bolted over to them. Collapsing next to
Megane's body, she looked up at Ataru and asked him what had
happened to him.
Seeing that it was okay to breathe in the room, Ataru
removed his mask and smiled slightly at her. "You must be
Oyuki. I didn't recognize you in that getup." He turned to
Megane and said, "He'll be alright. He's just overcome with
sleeping gas, just like Lum and Benten here," he said as he
pointed to the slumbering women.
Knowing that Megane was going to be alright brought a
great sense of relief to her, and allowed her to concentrate
on other things. She looked in the direction Ataru
indicated and gasped as she saw Lum and Benten lying naked
together. With uncharacteristic anger, she hauled Ataru up
by his camos with one hand and slapped him in the face with
the other.
"How DARE you do such a horrible thing to these two
women. Only someone as SICK as you would try to take
advantage of an unconscious woman!" She pulled her hand
back to slap him again, then stopped suddenly as Megane
groaned. Forgetting her anger for a moment, she turned to
Megane and knelt down so that they were face to face.
"Hello dear," she said as she caressed his face.
"How're you feeling?"
Megane sat up and held a hand against his head. He
groaned in pain as he straightened himself into a proper
sitting position. "I feel like my head's about to split..."
he stopped suddenly as the questioner's identity became
clear. "Oyuki! You're here!" Without saying anything else
he reached out and grabbed her up in a tight hug. She
wrapped her arms around him, crying softly onto his shoulder
as all of her pent up emotions broke loose and overcame her.
Megane sat in silence as he held onto the love of his
life. He stroked her hair and kissed her cheek as she cried
relentlessly. Several minutes of uncomfortable silence
passed between he and Ataru as they waited for Oyuki to calm
down.
She eventually lifted her head up from Megane's
shoulder as her tears abated. But before she sat up
completely, she put her lips to his ear. "I love you," she
whispered as she pulled back from him and stood up.
Ataru held his hand out and helped Megane to stand, and
saw the king-size blush he had on his cheeks. Guessing it
had something to do with what Oyuki whispered in his ear,
Ataru let it pass. He looked Megane in the face and pointed
at Oyuki. "Would you please tell her that I had nothing to
do with Lum's condition!" he pleaded.
Megane looked back over at Lum and Benten and tried to
keep himself from drooling all over the floor. Set out
before him was the object of his dreams. Indeed, the dreams
of all of Lum's Stormtroopers, splayed out in complete
nudity. He lost his voice, and his will to move for several
minutes, as his eyes stared intensely at the delicate
features of Lum's body. Ataru had to shake him severely to
regain his attention. "Well?" he pressed.
Megane composed himself and looked at Oyuki, who seemed
a little upset at his reaction. Quick to stem any
arguments, he held his hands up and spoke in a soothing
tone. "Oyuki-chan, Ataru's right. We found the girls like
this. Neither he nor myself had anything to do with their
lack of clothes." Seeing that there was still some
lingering doubt in her eyes he continued. :"Now Oyuki-
chan," he said in a reproachful tone. "You think that *I*
would be doing something like that to them when I have you?"
She blushed deeply, understanding his meaning. "Especially
after what we did only a few hours ago," he added, grinning
smugly.
Oyuki's crimson tone deepened, and she shuffled her
feet about uncomfortably. "Meganeee..." she complained good-
naturedly, trying to fight off her deep embarrassment.
Ataru ignored the two lovers as their conversation
disintegrated from words to laughing and minor petting. He
turned to the two girls and considered his problem
carefully. Oyuki would have her hands full with Megane, who
was too weak to carry anyone. He guessed that it was up to
him alone, so he got on his knees and faced Lum.
Megane stopped talking to Oyuki as he saw Ataru kneel
in front of Lum. Feeling a surge of Stormtrooper
protectiveness, he walked away from Oyuki and stood behind
Ataru. "What are you doing, Ataru?" he demanded.
He ignored Megane as he reached out and pulled Lum away
from Benten, tugging her body over his right shoulder.
"We've gotta get out of here!" Ataru shouted by way of
explanation.
Megane knelt down by Ataru. "Fine, I'll carry Benten,"
he offered as he reached out to take Benten's arm. He
pulled her to his shoulder, then collapsed under her weight.
Fortunately for Benten, Megane took the brunt of the damage
from the collapse as she landed on top of him.
Oyuki watched the whole spectacle with mixed emotions.
She didn't know whether to look angry or laugh her ass off.
After all, Megane had a naked girl laying over him with her
head buried in his crotch.
Ataru groaned in disgust as he watched Megane tumble to
the ground. Still on his knees, he reached down and grabbed
Benten's hand. Struggling to keep his balance with an
unconscious Lum perched on his shoulder, he assisted Megane
as they pulled Benten off of him. Scooting over, Ataru
grabbed Benten at the hip and hoisted her *one-armed* onto
his other shoulder. Then with his legs only slightly
wobbling, Ataru stood up, hoisting both girls on his
shoulders.
Megane and Oyuki stared in stunned disbelief as Ataru
handled his burden of both Lum and Benten on his slight
shoulders. "How?!" Oyuki shouted incredulously.
Ataru snorted. "You have to ask *me* how I can carry
two naked women on my shoulders without assistance? I
thought you knew me!" he said matter-of-factly, indicating
the nude rumps of both sleeping girls with a gesture of his
head.
Oyuki facefaulted, collapsing to her knees next to
Megane. "He's got to be kidding, right Megane-kun?" she
asked in wonder.
"He's not kidding, Oyuki-chan. He's unstoppable when
he's in full hentai mode," Megane deadpanned.
"Hey you two! If you're through with the color
commentary, I'd like to get back to the ship!" Ataru shot
back with mild irritation. "These two girls may be nude and
beautiful, but I won't be able to hold them like this for
too long!" he complained.
Oyuki shook off her amazement and nodded at Ataru.
Standing up, she grabbed Megane by the arm and hauled him to
his feet.
"Megane!" Ataru shouted. "Better contact Mendou and
Shinobu while we still can. They need to know that we found
the girls."
Megane nodded and pulled the Widow remote from its hip-
mount on his camos. Pressing the transmit button, he
shouted into it. "Mendou! Shinobu! You two out there?"
Loud static blared from the tiny speaker in the back of
the remote for a second before it was squelched, then
Shinobu's voice issued clearly from it.
"We're both here. Go ahead Megane," she replied.
"Where are you?" he shouted into the remote.
"We're heading away from your position, I'm afraid.
The King's forces are here, and we've linked up with one of
their groups."
"Thank goodness they're safe!" Megane heard Ataru say
in the background.
"We've got the girls, and we're going to try to get to
a gateway and ..." he started, but was interrupted by a
blare from the speaker.
"Megane, this is Lum's father. It's good to hear that
you got to the girls first. Now I want you to listen to me
carefully. Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT try to extract through
the gateways. Graven's forces are still numerous, and the
gateways are surrounded. Our forces have found and are
engaging four patrols of ShadowKnights. Our men are spread
a little thin right now, and the best we can do is pin down
Graven's troops until the Special Forces ship arrives. We
don't know how much longer you'll have before a patrol gets
to you, so I want you to go back to the Widow and extract
from there. Understood?"
Ataru nodded to Megane, who then looked to Oyuki. She
nodded as well, her lips a thin line.
"Understood. What about Mendou and Shinobu?" he asked.
"Our way back to the Widow was blocked off by an
explosion. We're going to follow this group back to their
gateway and leave from there," Shinobu's voice replied
quickly.
"Okay, we're gone!" Megane shouted. "Good luck guys!"
he added before clipping the remote on his belt again.
Ataru headed for the door, motioning with his head for
Oyuki and Megane to lead the way. "Let's get them out of
here before we're caught," he suggested quickly, his sense
of urgency heightened after listening to Lum's father.
Oyuki and Megane were quick to agree. "Megane, you'd
better walk with me... " she started.
He shook his head, and stopped her before she could
continue. "Ataru needs cover front *and* back. You walk
point, I'll walk drag," he directed as he grabbed his weapon
off of the floor where he'd dropped it.
"Are you sure?" Oyuki asked concernedly.
"Yes. And if you're worried about my glasses, don't
be. I can still distinguish the enemy from our allies," he
proclaimed, already assuming a position behind Ataru.
Oyuki accepted his motivation, and understood the logic
of his choice. "Okay, let's go!" she shouted, walking out
of the cell, followed closely by Ataru and Megane.
<*>
The sneering face of Aylan Graven watched the three
leave with the two girls. "So, the King's here, eh?" he
mumbled to himself.
He bapped an object against his hand as he considered
his next move. Reaching his decision quickly, he pressed
the transmit stud on his communicator. "Attention all group
leaders! A party of three is escorting the prisoners out of
the compound. Do not engage them! Repeat, do not engage
them. Our primary target is the Oni King. Concentrate on
locating and eliminating him. Graven out."
He smiled as another, devious idea sprung to mind. He
scurried about in the air ducts, reversing his course and
heading for the Black Widow. He knew he'd make it there
before those kids did, so he wanted to leave a little
present for the Oni-Princess on the Widow.
He smiled evilly as he increased his crawling pace,
trying to envision Lum's expression when she saw what he was
going to leave for her.
<*>
Megane and Ataru were worried. They'd made excellent
progress through the hallways leading back to the Widow, and
at the rate they were going Ataru expected to be on-board
the ship in less than a minute.
"You guys notice something?" Oyuki shouted over her
shoulder, not slowing her current pace.
"What?" Ataru shouted from behind her.
"We haven't seen or heard *anything* from the enemy
since we left the prison cell. This is starting to bother
me. It's too simple," she told him, worried about an
ambush.
"Well the King did say that his forces were engaging a
lot of Graven's troops. Maybe they're all tied up," Megane
offered from the rear.
"I'm not so sure, Megane-kun," Oyuki countered
discreetly.
"Whatever," Ataru threw in, interrupting them before it
turned into a debate. "Let's just get back to the Widow
before I fall apart," he shouted breathlessly. "I don't
know how much longer I can carry these two, divine
inspiration or not."
"We'll be there around the next corner," Oyuki shouted,
looking at the screen of the Widow remote that she'd
liberated from Ataru. She came to a halt as she rounded the
corner. "Good Lord!" she shouted in disbelief. "What the
hell caused *this* ?!"
"What is it?" Ataru asked in alarm, stopping at the
final turn before the corridor that lead to the ship.
"Something blew the hell out of the hallway. It looks
like someone got really happy with some explosives," she
observed candidly.
"That would be Mendou's doing. He used a heavy dose of
plastic explosives to take out the door, and wound up taking
*too* much out," Ataru shouted as he rounded the corner. He
groaned as he saw the damage again. More of the building
had collapsed in their absence, making the short trek to the
airlock of the Widow almost too dangerous to attempt. But
considering their other options, they had no choice but to
press on.
Scrambling over the thick sections of concrete and
steel, Ataru managed to somehow keep the girls from falling
off of his shoulders. He patted Lum and Benten on the ass
affectionately as he carried them across the rubble, more to
comfort himself than them (since they were still
unconscious).
Nearing the end of the ruined corridor, and facing a
small jump down to the Widow, Ataru looked about before
making his dive. His wandering eye caught glimpse of
something lying amidst the rubble, causing him to shift his
attention. Upon closer inspection, Ataru realized with a
start that it was the broken form of Aylan Graven stuck in
some collapsed conduit. He sneered as the foul taste of a
missed opportunity hit him. Ataru had wanted to kill the
man so badly he craved it. But he spared little time
dwelling on it, remembering that the real reason he was here
was resting on his shoulders.
Springing with all of his might, Ataru made it down to
the ground, his legs numb as he landed right next to the
airlock of the Widow beside Oyuki. They winced as Megane
tumbled to the ground a moment later, shaken but apparently
unharmed.
"Sorry about that. I tripped on something back there,"
he apologized.
Oyuki looked at the controls of the Widow for a couple
of tense moments before she found the proper command to open
the airlock. The door hissed open and a ramp extended to
the ground. Ataru wasted no time in scrambling up the ramp,
his knees and shoulders protesting greatly at the strain.
Megane and Oyuki weren't far behind, getting to the top of
the ramp and closing the outer door behind them.
Dashing inside the cabin, Ataru moved to the bed which
had recently been shared by Mendou and Shinobu, and somehow
managed to gently deposit both slumbering girls onto it. He
then sagged to the floor, with his back to the bed, his face
a picture of complete exhaustion.
"Gimme that remote, would you Oyuki?" he asked tiredly.
She nodded before handing the device to him. He looked over
to the couple, and gestured to the privy with his thumb.
"There's a bathroom and shower over there. You and Megane
can use it while I recover," Ataru suggested. "...after
we're off this damned planet," he added a moment later.
The couple nodded wordlessly as they walked past Ataru
and crowded into the cockpit.
Ataru watched them go without comment, as he hefted the
remote in his hand. "This is Ataru, calling Lum's father.
You there, father-in-law?"
"Yes!" came the quick reply. "What is your status?"
"We're on the Widow and preparing to take off. The
girls are safe, and we should be on our way in just a
moment." He let a note of disappointment creep into his
voice as he continued. "By the way. I found Graven. Or
what's left of him, anyway. Looks like he was crawling
through some ductwork when it gave out. A large section of
concrete fell on top of him, and ... well... he's very
dead."
"Yuck!" he could hear Shinobu and Mendou chorus through
the speaker, their reaction bringing a smile to his face.
He could feel the satisfied grin of the King radiating
through the remote's speaker.
"Good work, son-in-law! We'll see you back on Earth,"
the King's voice barked through the small area of the cabin.
"Us too, Ataru-kun," Shinobu said softly, breaking the
connection. He dropped the remote from his hands, and
listlessly moved his hands to unclip his webgear from his
body. As he discarded it, he felt the engines of the
stealth craft come on-line underneath him, and smiled. He
then lurched with the ship as it took off, avoiding more AA
fire, and punching through the atmosphere on a direct
heading for the solar system.
A moment later Oyuki and Megane came back from the
cockpit and joined Ataru at the edge of the bed. Megane
removed his own webgear, then clapped Ataru on the shoulder.
"We figured out how to engage the automatic program. It's
doing the driving, so Oyuki and I are going to take a shower
and clean off." He saw the glassy eyed look in Ataru's eyes
and wondered if he was being heard. "You okay in there
Ataru?"
Ataru looked up at him slowly, a stunned look on his
face. "We really did it, didn't we?" he asked in a hollow
voice.
Megane nodded, squeezing Ataru's shoulder. "Yes we
did. We're going to be okay now, so just kick back and
relax," he told his friend soothingly.
Ataru nodded and stretched his arms, yawning widely as
his exhaustion made itself known.
Oyuki knelt over the side of the bed next to Ataru,
smoothing Lum's tangled hair and stroking her cheek
worriedly. "They should've awakened by now."
Ataru looked up to her and patted her hand
comfortingly. "I wouldn't worry Oyuki-sama. I think
they'll wake up. They were just under the influence of the
gas longer." `At least, I hope so..." he added to himself,
not betraying his doubt as he held her gaze.
Oyuki looked down to Ataru and smiled wanly. She could
see the lost look in his eyes and understood that he was
more worried about Lum than she was. `Maybe he's finally
come around and realized how important he's been to Lum,'
she mused. She looked up to her lover and fiancee and had
to hide her angry glare as she quickly stood up and grabbed
Megane's hand, dragging him to the shower before he passed
out. `He could at least hide his lust for Lum!' she fumed
as she opened the door to the privy and pulled a hesitant
Megane along with her.
Ataru shrugged his shoulders as the couple passed
behind the door of the privy. He closed his eyes, which had
grown progressively heavier by the second. He figured that
now was as good a time as any to sleep, so he yielded to its
seductive call, and was sound asleep in an instant.
<*>
"Well did you get a good peek, Megane?" Oyuki asked
hotly as soon as the door was locked.
Megane's glassy-eyed look vanished as he realized that
she was angry with him. *Very* angry.
"What, now you're not even going to talk to me?" she
pressed, her hands balling angrily into fists.
"Oyuki-chan, what are you talking about?" he asked her
in confusion.
"I'm talking about Lum, you moron. I saw how you zoned
out as soon as you saw her tits. How dare you?" she hissed.
Megane looked stricken as comprehension dawned. He
stammered silently, hoping to come up with the right words
to comfort her and explain himself before he lost her.
"Oyuki-chan, listen to me for a minute please," he said
cautiously, stalling as he scrambled for his next sentence.
He put the lid down on the toilet, and sat down. He grabbed
her hand firmly and coaxed her down onto his lap.
She relented, sitting in his lap but not looking at
him. She stubbornly kept her gaze away from his as he
explained himself to her. "Oyuki-chan, I think there's a
couple of things about me that you don't really know." He
cleared his throat and put his arm around her waist. He
felt her tense up at his touch, and refrained from touching
her any further; at least for the moment.
"Ever since I and a small group of my friends first
encountered Lum, it has been our life's goal to be with her.
We formed the Stormtroopers to help us realize our dreams
with Lum, and to make sure Ataru didn't get anywhere with
her." He smiled grimly, remembering how bittersweet it was
for him to have to settle for gazing at her from afar while
Ataru spurned her constantly. "We grieved when she grieved,
and celebrated her joy whenever she was happy."
"So what you're saying is that I don't mean anything to
you, aside from cheap sex?" she spat bitterly. She debated
getting up and storming out of the privy, but managed to
contain her anger. Something told her that he would get to
a point eventually.
Megane realized he was digging himself deeper into a
hole, and scrambled to reverse course. "The point I'm
trying to make is that for awhile I devoted my entire life
to Lum. I was obsessed. And when I saw her lying naked and
defenseless, I couldn't help but look. The culmination of
all my hopes and dreams was just laying there right in front
of me." Megane's features were momentarily rhapsodic as he
remembered Lum's nude form. But his face fell a moment
later as reality crashed around him, smashing his fantasy.
"But when I was standing there, looking at her, I found
myself comparing."
Oyuki looked up at him with a critical gaze, but could
feel her anger melting away as she understood what he was
trying to say.
"Yes, Lum is beautiful. More beautiful than I had ever
imagined," he declared openly. He could feel her tense up
in his grasp, and hurried to continue. "But she's nothing
like you, Oyuki-chan." He brought his hand up to her chin
and pulled her around so that they were eye-to-eye. "I know
that Ataru and Lum are going to be together for life, and
there's nothing that I can do about that."
"So you're going to just settle for me, is that it?"
she pressed, her anger rekindling.
`Damn! I have to watch myself around her. She likes
to twist what I say against me,' he thought in exasperation.
"On the contrary. What I've been trying to say for five
minutes now is that I don't care what Ataru and Lum do
anymore." He swallowed, using the pause to calm his racing
heart. "Since I've met you Oyuki-chan, Lum's stopped being
a concern to me."
Oyuki let her breath out, realizing that she had been
holding it in while Megane was struggling to say his last
two sentences.
He tightened his embrace of Oyuki. "The more I stared
at her, the more I realized how stupid I'd been. I'd been
following her around like a lovesick idiot for months,
ignoring my own concerns." He smiled at her warmly. "And I
have you to thank for making me realize that," he whispered
in her ear. Gambling that she wasn't going to rip his head
off anymore, Megane kissed her delicately on the cheek. "If
anything, Oyuki-chan, you're *better* than Lum."
"Oh, and how's that, Megane?" she asked, unsuccessfully
trying to keep her anger kindled.
"Because I don't love her," he declared determinedly.
"I love you, Oyuki-chan!" His breathing became shallow as
his nerves overwhelmed him. Breathing deeply to overcome
his nervousness, he pushed ahead in a rush. "You're the
first one for me, Oyuki. Before you, I've never loved a
woman before, physically or emotionally." They both blushed
at those words. "And as far as I'm concerned, I don't need
to love anyone else," he finished softly.
"Oh, Megane-kun!" she squealed, wrapping her arms
around him enthusiastically and hugging him powerfully.
Megane was content to just sit there and soak in her
affection, feeling a strong burst of love for her surging
through him. He said nothing as he moved his hands about
her stomach and back, the feeling of her skin beneath his
fingers giving him a feeling of comfort he'd not felt before
meeting her.
"I love you so much, Oyuki-chan. Don't ever forget
that," he said in a voice thick with emotion. He buried his
face in her hair, showering her neck and shoulder with
kisses.
"Megane, my dear. I love you too," she replied,
bringing her arms around his neck and turning her head to
kiss him soundly on the cheek.
The two lovers sat in their embrace for a short while,
as they engaged in a lingering kiss more sensual and loving
than anything they had ever experienced before in their
lives. The passion conveyed by the kiss was firing Megane's
lust, and he found himself wanting to be inside her. His
hands squeezed Oyuki's back as he searched about for a clasp
or zipper so he could get her out of that outfit.
She broke the kiss and smiled as she understood what he
wanted. She reached behind her back and grabbed his hands
stopping their fruitless search. "I want to also, Megane-
kun. But we have an audience outside," she added, motioning
her head to the door of the privy. "Besides, that's not how
you take this thing off, anyway." She pulled his arms from
around her and placed his hands on her jumpsuit-clad
breasts. They both gasped as his hands grasped her yielding
mounds which, while being covered by the thin fabric of the
unitard jumpsuit she was wearing, were still capable of
feeling his loving touch.
Megane closed his eyes, and envisioned himself ripping
the fabric from her body with his teeth, then scaling
through all the pages of the Kama Sutra with her before
taking his next breath. Oyuki, meanwhile, was debating
reaching her hand down Megane's pants and taking him right
there on the toilet. But remembering Ataru, Lum, and Benten
just outside the door to the privy, she reluctantly stood
from Megane, breaking contact with him.
"Oyuki-chan, what's wrong?" Megane asked worriedly,
wondering if he had gone too far with her.
"Nothing, Megane-kun. I want to. Believe me, you have
no idea how badly I want to." She bit her lower lip in
frustration, her crotch trying unsuccessfully to override
her sense of propriety and modesty. "Let's just get cleaned
up and get to the cabin, okay?"
Megane sighed in disappointment, but nodded his
agreement. As far as he was concerned, Ataru could listen
in all he wanted. The thought of an audience didn't bother
him in the least. In fact, it would help to prove to others
that he wasn't lying about Oyuki.
Oyuki stood far enough away from Megane in the confined
space of the privy so she could pull the jumpsuit off of
her. She reached up and pulled the shoulder zippers of the
suit down, and pulled the suit down her arms and to her
waist. She sighed in relief as her breasts bounced free
from their tight restraint, welcoming the cool caress of the
processed air of the Widow's circulation vents as it glanced
across her pendulous mounds. She wrinkled her nose as the
scent of her stale sweat hit her suddenly, inspiring her to
move her hands down quickly to push the suit off of her hips
and down her legs, eager to shower away the smell.
She looked up to see Megane drooling at her. She
snickered and shook her head. "You're hopeless, Megane-
kun," she taunted playfully. Megane was ignoring her words,
however. Even though they'd made love less than twelve
hours ago, it had seemed like a lifetime to him since he'd
last looked at her gorgeous body. He sighed wistfully as he
looked at her sinuous form, which was clad only in a pair of
black thong panties. He wanted to tell her so much, but he
found that his usual eloquence had left him.
"Oyuki, you're so..." he said in a halting voice as he
stood up and put his hands on her shoulders. "... so
beautiful," he completed in a quiet voice. He brought a
hand down and took one of her breasts in it, fondling the
skin gently between his fingers. Oyuki moaned, and tried to
stop him, but found her longing shouting down the protests
in her mind.
"Ohh, Megane.." she cooed as she tossed her head back
and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't know if the
adrenaline from the battle was affecting her or not, but his
touch felt different this time. Not bad, just more intense
and electrifying as his fingers slid across the underside of
her breast, taking her breath away with every stroke.
However as he stroked her beloved mounds, a small,
usually ignored part of Megane's mind remembered Oyuki's
protestations from earlier. Cursing his conscience, he
dropped his hand from her breast, and wrapped both of his
arms around her back in an impassioned hug. He could see
the small look of disappointment that crossed her face as he
hugged her, but knew that she would probably be more
comfortable if he acquiesced to her judgment.
"Let's shower before we get too far, Oyuki-chan," he
said in a tight voice, hoping he didn't sound too tense.
Oyuki nodded and reached her hands up to help Megane
divest himself of his clothes. His top and pants came off
with a thump as the dense fabric collided with the
deckplate, leaving him only in his underwear.
The two young lovers swallowed loudly as they looked at
each other in muted lust. Anxious to get the shower over
with, Megane reached out and grabbed Oyuki's panties at the
waist. Then with a gentle tug he brought the lacy fabric
off of her sex, and down her legs to fall on the floor at
her feet. He shuddered in anticipation as he looked at the
wispy blue-gray hair of her vagina, knowing what a wonderful
place it was, and knowing he'd be visiting it again soon.
He stood back up, and watched as Oyuki bent slightly to
grab hold of his underwear. His heart thundered in his
throat as his hormone-choked mind anticipated her next move.
He took in a shuddering breath as her slender fingers
glanced against the skin of his hips. Megane closed his
eyes and bit his lips as he felt her pull downward on the
cotton fabric separating his manhood from the outside world.
Oyuki saw the bulge growing in his underwear, and
licked her lips. She resisted the urge to bring one of her
fingers up and trace the outline of it through the fabric.
She'd admonished him for going too far and, as badly as she
wanted to touch him, she knew that it would be unfair to
play with his beloved penis. She pulled the underwear down
to his knees to free his straining member, which popped out
to full erection in front of her face and brought a smile to
her flushed face.
Oyuki quickly pulled the underwear to the floor.
Unable to restrain herself, as Megane was stepping out of
the garment, she brought both of her hands up and grabbed
his manhood firmly. She could smell the sweat and feel the
heat emanating from it, and was an inch from taking him into
her mouth. She stroked it gently with her fingers as it
throbbed in her hands like an enraged beast. Megane's
throbbing member gave her an image of unharnessed energy run
wild, and she envisioned herself with a smirk as its tamer.
Megane was seconds from collapsing on the ground. His
knees were getting wobbly, and he was ever-so-close to
coming on Oyuki's face. All she had to do was pull once,
maybe twice, and he knew that he'd release. He grunted in
frustration a moment later as he felt her pull her blazing
hot hands from his sensitive penis and move away.
With a pout she released the source of her pleasure and
stood up. Embracing Megane tightly, she whispered in his
ear. "Come on Megane-kun. Let's shower and get out of
here, okay?"
He was too breathless to reply directly, but nodded.
Taking her hand, he followed her lead as she stepped into
the shower stall. It was about as big as the shower in
Megane's house, she'd noted. Oyuki the suppressed a rush of
lust that hit her suddenly as the sight of the shower stall
sparked a vivid memory of the marathon of sex they'd had in
his bedroom and shower not so long ago.
With that in mind, she wasn't paying attention as she
hit the wall stud in the shower to activate the water. She
and Megane both let loose a blood-curdling scream as the ice-
cold water hit them both in their chests and rushed down
their bodies to soak their steaming crotches.
"Geez!" Megane shouted as his shivering body tried to
acclimate itself to the temperature of the water. He could
feel his sexual drive leave him completely as his penis and
balls retreated as far within his body as they could. He
couldn't even derive any pleasure from the sight of Oyuki's
stiffened nipples, which were *very* erect due to their
contact with the cold water.
"Where's the hot water?" she asked in a shocked voice.
Oyuki was used to colder temperatures, so the cold water
didn't startle her as badly as it did Megane. But it was
still a sex-killer for her. She felt a slight bit of
disappointment as her desire fled, and confirmed that Megane
was similarly affected as she watched his erection turn
flaccid and begin to shrink *inside* his body a bit.
Megane tried to look sheepish as he opened a
compartment and pulled out some soap. "It doesn't look like
there is any, Oyuki-chan," he said through chattering teeth.
He offered the soap to her, which she took quickly. "Lets
hurry and get out of here!" he suggested desperately.
Oyuki nodded as she soaped her body rapidly, then
shuddered again as she stepped under the cold spray to
rinse. She then watched with some amusement as Megane
soaped himself down thoroughly, apparently trying to warm
his body with the friction, then draw in a shocked breath as
he stepped under the spray to rinse.
Wasting no time, he took a small bottle of shampoo in
his hands and lathered his hair. He smirked as an idea came
to him. Cold water or not, he was intent on enjoying some
part of this shower with her, so he grabbed Oyuki by the
shoulders, and turned her around so her back was to him.
Then he brought his hands up and massaged some shampoo into
her scalp, then washed the rest of her hair thoroughly. His
hands lingered on the back of her neck, his fingers roaming
around in small circles as he applied enough pressure to
massage her tense muscles. Oyuki appreciated the kind
gesture, and wished the water had been warm so she could
really enjoy the effort he was putting into it.
He hugged her naked body against his as he backed into
the cold stream to rinse both of their heads off. He closed
his eyes as he anticipated the water meeting with his body
again. He gasped as the cold liquid stole his breath away
again, but drew comfort from Oyuki, who's hot skin was a
stark and welcome contrast to the cold water. Instinctively
he brought his hands around to her front, covering her sex
and breasts with his hands and arms as the cold water washed
down her body.
They stayed under the jet of water for a few seconds
before assuming they had been rinsed well enough. Oyuki
then reached out and killed the flow of water, sighing
gratefully as it stopped. She placed her hands atop
Megane's, squeezing them affectionately as he continued to
cover her sex and breasts.
His hands were providing her with warmth instead of
sexual stimulation at the moment, but she wasn't complaining
anyway. She let him leave his hands there, as she pressed
her body against his to give as much warmth as she was
taking from him. It wasn't long before she could feel his
member stirring and growing into the cleavage of her ass,
and knew that her own feelings of longing were returning
with a vengeance.
Not wanting to have to take another shower so quickly,
she pulled Megane's hands off of her and rotated to face
him. "Let's get out of here, Megane-kun," she said quickly,
although she couldn't resist giving his member an
affectionate squeeze before exiting the shower stall.
Megane followed her out of the stall. He felt his cock
rising to the occasion again after her hand's feather-like
touch, and fought to dampen his arousal before it got out of
control. Stepping out of the stall, he watched as Oyuki
searched about for something. "Where are the towels, Megane-
kun?" she asked as she felt the walls for hidden panels.
Megane looked about the privy and saw, to his disgust,
that there were no towels anywhere. "I think they're in the
other room," he said, resigning himself to parading naked in
front of the others.
"No towels?" she said in a stricken voice. "Oh boy..."
Megane grabbed their clothes and opened the door. He
figured that they had nothing to lose, so he poked his head
out the door to see what was going on. The Lum and Benten
were both still asleep on the bed, and to Megane's relief,
Ataru was passed out on the floor near them.
He reached out and took Oyuki's hand in his. "Come on,
they're all asleep," he said as he tugged her dripping wet
and naked form out of the privy and into the cabin. She
gave him a withering glare as they both stood in front of a
sleeping Ataru, her arms protectively covering her privates.
Oyuki's look softened a moment later as she realized that
Ataru wasn't faking it, so she dropped her arms to her sides
in relief.
Megane dropped their clothes in a corner, and rummaged
about until he found the towels and some clothes for her to
wear. Getting his own clothes out of his bag, he gestured
for her to enter the cockpit. "C'mon Oyuki-chan. We can
dress in there."
Oyuki smiled and trotted into the cockpit, hot on
Megane's heels. Once she'd closed the door to the cabin,
she gratefully accepted a towel from him and began drying
her shivering body off. Megane followed her example and
dried himself off, happy to be ridding himself of the chilly
droplets of cold water.
Megane wrapped the towel around his waist as he sat in
one of the command chairs, cringing as the cold leather of
the seat met with the exposed skin of his back. Looking at
one of the readout screens, he squinted as he tried to make
sense of what it was saying. He started reading it aloud,
hoping that would help him make sense of it. "... Low fuel
consumption route activated. ETA ..." His eyes widened in
shock. "OVER SEVEN HOURS?!" he finished with a start.
Oyuki, who'd been toweling her hair dry while he read
out the display, dropped the towel to the floor and stood
over Megane from behind the chair. She scanned the monitor
he was reading, and confirmed what he said. "You're right,
Megane-kun. Seven and a half hours before we reach Earth.
Geez, you must've burned a lot of fuel getting to Mylex
Prime."
Megane sighed, not looking forward to seven hours of
sitting around and doing nothing. "What're we gonna do for
seven hours?" he asked glumly.
Oyuki stepped around the chair and sat in his lap.
"Oh, I believe we can come up with something, Megane-kun,"
she purred as she snuggled his head between her bare
breasts. Her smile widened as she felt Megane stirring
beneath his towel, and she ground her ass into his crotch in
response. She ran her fingers through Megane's wet hair,
eagerly anticipating what she knew was about to happen.
<*>