Disclaimer: the story's mine, the characters belong to their creators. Nuff
said?

                       TENCHI MUYO: GALAXY POLICE
                             
 
 
NOTE: The events in this story take place about five years before Ryoko's
resurrection.
 
 
                           -PROLOGUE- 
                          (17 Years Ago)
 
    Lt. Commander Sarnd gritted his teeth as he pushed his vessel to its
limit. Kagato had been spotted at Ratala IV and he'd been sent to
investigate. 
    "The Draalthi won't like it." He'd warned his superiors.
    "They don't have to like it." They'd told him. "Kagato must be apprehended
and that's all there is to it."
The Draalthi were not members of the Galactic Federation and simply wanted
to be left in peace. They had no use for technology, prefering a simple 
almost rural existence. Truth be told, if the Galactic Federation had been 
a kingdom, they would have been the peasants. Since they lived underground, 
the discovery of the Draalthi had been entirely by accident. 
 
Sarnd landed his vessel and was shocked by what he saw. The underground city
had been totally destroyed. There were signs of life but they were faint.
Still he had to do something. The Draalthi might not have been members of
the Federation, but Kagato was a Galaxy Police matter so Sarnd felt that
whatever he did, the Galaxy Police had an obligation to help his victims.
He heard a high-pitched scream end abruptly and ran toward it.
 
Kagato had a young Draalthi in a choke-hold. Another child was kicking 
frantically, on the verge of panic, trying to get the first one free. All 
the while, they kept their heads down, shielding thier eyes from the sun's 
rays. 
    "Let him go." Sarnd ordered.
Kagato fired a blast at Sarnd who dodged it, keeping Kagato in his
sights. "Where are you manners?" Kagato asked. "I didn't hear you say
'please'."
Was he kidding? 
    "Let that child go." Sarnd demanded. "He's just a little boy. He's never
done anything to you!" He inched closer.
Kagato grabbbed the kicking boy's hair and yanked his head back roughly as if
he was going to break his neck. The boy screamed in horror and pain as
sunlight struck eyes that were meant only for darkness. Then, he hurled 
the blinded child at a cliff. 
Sarnd dove for the boy and managed to stop him from going over. When he 
looked up, however, Kagato was gone.
 
The boy clung to Sarnd who tried to dislodge him. "I have to go home." He
said. 
    "I want to go with you."
    "You can't." Sarnd told him. "Your home is here on Ratala IV."
    "He blew it up." The boy protested, meaning Kagato. "I don't know why. We
never did anything to him..."
Sarnd reached down and patted the boy's hair. "Okay, you can come with me."
The boys seemed to relax at that. 
 
Since there was only one seat, Sarnd had no choice but to let the boys sit on
his lap. The journey back took five hours, during which the Draalthi 
children fell asleep on Sarnd's lap. 
 
When Sarnd arrived at Sixth Headquarters, he had to carry the child out of 
the ship. He carried the boy to sickbay.
    "Kagato deliberately exposed his eyes to sunlight." He told the doctors 
once the boy was resting comfortably in one of the beds. He looked in the
direction of the young Draalthi's room.
    "Is there any way his blindness can be reversed." He asked.
    "We can't do anything until he's past puberty. Once that's out of the way,
we can give him implants. That will give him some vision, though it will
be limited and he'll need spectacles to correct blurriness."
    "Then, I'd like him to remain with me." Sarnd decided. "I feel a sense of
responsibility for him."         
 
    "Are you awake?" Sarnd asked the boy a few hours later.
The boys nodded. 
    "I suppose there's no point in opening my eyes." The blind one asked.
    "It's polite." Sarnd told him. "Besides, its easier to tell if you're
awake if you do."
    "But I am blind. Right?"
    "Yes. For now. You'll be blind for a few years, but we'll correct the
problem as soon as your body has matured."
    "Okay." The boy replied.
    "I'm Lt. Commander Sarnd." Sarnd told the child.
    "My name's Trakal." The blind one replied "This is my brother Rikal."
 
 
                       -CHAPTER ONE- 
 
 
Commander Sarnd paced around the waiting room like an expectant father.
He looked up as the doctor emerged. 
"How are they?" He asked, referring to the new recruits. They'd passed
every test and course and had been recommended for cybernetic implantation.
"They're fine." the doctor replied. "They'll be awake in a hour."
 
It was an hour that seem to last an eternity, but the recruits woke when it
was over.
 
Sarnd stood in the middle of the room and addressed them. "Each of you is a
welcome addition to the Galaxy Police." He told them. "Once you've recovered
you'll be assigned to general duty for an evaluation period of no less than
six weeks. After that, we'll give you your permanent duty assignments."
 
The five newest members of the Galaxy Police nodded. 
 
Sarnd nodded back and smiled at them. Three were Thurnians, but it was the
Draalthi he was most proud of.
 
Trakal smiled back at the Thurnian who'd been like a father to him ever
since Kagato had raided Ratala IV and slaughtered his family. He would not
let this man down, he vowed, inwardly, he would serve him proudly until his
dying day. Though he didn't know it, that was a promise he would one day
keep.