"Is that it?" Kiyone asked Tenchi, pointing at the single
speck on the screen that made his blood chill. He nodded slowly.
With her answer, she got the commander of the fleet on the
screen.

     "Commander, prepare to fire all weapons at the target that
fits the description I am sending you." With that she punched up
the image she was barely able to capture of Omega Sword's form
and transmitted it to the fleet. 

     "Image received, all weapons are powering up."

*************************************************

     On Earth, Nodoka had finally gotten all the power she needed
from the crystals she possessed and with that, she burst through
the roof of the roof of the cavern and in a much deeper blue haze
flew towards her target. 

*************************************************

     Back in space, the battle raged on between the nightmare of
a Teknoman and the cosmic being. From time to time, one of the
Earthen Teknos would try to attack Sword, but would either result
with his or her death or severe injury. 

     "Getting a bit crowded here, isn't it?" Sword said to her
foe before suddenly increasing her size several times. "Now
little one, you feel ready to meet your end?" She sneered at her
undersized foe.

     Instead of fear, as Sword hoped, Solar replied with
indigence, "Don't you dare call me small you metal assed wench!"
She fisted her free hand and proclaimed," I, who am visited by
the likes of Bahamut, Tiamat, and Draco, will not tolerate being
called small by a pitiful freak such as yourself." With that, she
too increased her size to the exact same as Sword and before
either one could ask how; the battle resumed once more. 
     
     All the other Teknos flew for their lives as the titans tore
apart the space ring with their fight. The wall crashed through
the intense weight of both giants as Solar pushed the giant
Teknoman through. Jumping away from Sword, Solar jumped on the
side of the platform and flew back a reasonable distance as her
foe pulled herself up. 

     "Not bad. Not bad at all." Sword seethed before releasing
enough power to destroy an entire metropolis. Solar jumped above,
only to seethe approaching form of her foe. With an overhead
swipe, she knocked Sword's weapon away and used the momentum of
the attack to deliver a devastating spin kick, which sent the
teknoman back into the space ring. 

"Don't take me lightly, insolent whelp." Solar yelled with a
clenched fist.

     As Sword got up, she saw Solar coming with her trident at
the ready. She brought her right wrist as the trident would have
hit her chest and pierce her heart. The resulting scream of pain
did not deter Solar from her endeavor to kill Sword. Bringing her
left arm up to strike the teknoman in the face, she got no
further as Sword reached up with her left hand, grabbed Solar's
neck and rammed Solar's head into hers. Not just once, but three
times consecutively. "Very well... I won't." Sword hissed.

     With Solar weakened, Sword took her right hand and started
to spin the cosmic being around, only gathering a greater amount
of speed. When Solar felt like her arm was about to be torn off,
Sword let go of it and the strongest guardian of Earth flew at
breakneck speeds to the surface of the planet. After a paused of
several seconds, she brought her sword up and threw it after
Solar.

     On the surface, a large shape in a gold haze crashed into
the middle of an abandoned valley. Several tons of rock, trees,
and dirt flew everywhere as Solar's form caused quite a mess on
the ground. Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, Solar figured
Sword was really going to pay. She was about to stand up when she
saw the massive 60-foot sword tear through the clouds. She was
not able to move out of the way in time. 

*************************************************

     Sword snickered as she saw her next opponent meet its end.
She turned to see a deep blue haze flying straight at her and at
a speed she could not match. Just before it exploded against her,
she could barely make out the form of another female teknoman
with an 8-foot katana in her hand. The light collided with her
shoulder and severed the arm at the socket. 

     With her concentration lost, Sword returned to her original
size. She saw her disembodied arm float beside her, spewing forth
the black fluid that kept her alive. Acting as if the pain meant
nothing, she looked at the injury and said, "Impressive." Without
a thought, a new arm grew in its place. 

     She turned to see Teknos Katana looking on with complete
shock at the impossible display of healing, but had enough sense
of mind to start gathering power to use another attack against
her. Sword casually stretched out her new arm and knew that
something was wrong. That regeneration move had taken more
strength than she hoped. So, looking to the disembodied arm she
thought of a new plan. 

     With blue energy crackling all about her person, Nodoka
released the equivalent of several teknbolts into one powerful
blast. "TEKNO VOLT!!" The tidal wave of power she released
completely engulfed Sword until her form was lost. Seeing Sword
gone for good made Nodoka sigh with relief. 

     What none of them knew, that Sword merely transferred her
consciousness from her body to the giant arm, where a new body
changed from the present materials. Some of the black blood came
together, and as it formed a semblance of a human form, the black
exploded to reveal another, and completely fresh Omega Sword.
Faster than what Katana could see, Sword appeared behind her and
whispered, "Most impressive."

     Before Katana could even turn around, she felt a sphere
touch her back, and suddenly increase speed, pushing her back to
the planet and out of control. She looked back to the remaining
Teknos that dared try to attack her, pulled out her own Sword and
smiled. Now the massacre would begin. 

*************************************************

     On the planet, the figure of Solar writhed in pain as she
pulled out the massive sword that had pierced her side from the
front. With a loud clang, the sword came to a rest in the valley.
Solar winced as she tried to heal the wound, but found it to be
too painful to move. 

     Doing the only thing she could, she started to shrink and
several auras began to escape from her body. Several seconds
later, the Soldiers lay scattered about unconscious, save for
Moon, Venus, and Mercury. Turning to Serena, Luna stammered,
"I'm... I'm sorry. I should have not let my bravado get the
better of me."

     Serena shushed her teacher as she stroked the sweat soaked
brow of Luna's head. "At least you tried your best... that's all
you ever asked from me. So... well, you know." Luna began to
chuckle a bit, but stopped when the pain got in the way. 

     Suddenly, all of the conscious Soldiers looked to see the
form of another teknoman who had fallen against Sword. Thinking
quick, Serena ordered, "Amy, Mina, go find out what that is." Her
companions nodded and flew all in their respective colored auras. 

     Turing back to Luna, Serena said, "Well, it looks like it's
over now. It's nice that I got to know you Luna. For the past
century you've been the best teacher I've ever had. Thank you."
Luna blinked a bit when she realized that Serena was giving up,
but decided not to push the matter since they all failed. It was
no one's fault. The enemy was simply too strong for them this
time. 

     "And... I'm glad that you... were my student. You make your
teacher and your mothers proud." Luna whispered. Serena smiled
ruefully and held her close, waiting for the end to come, praying
in her heart that Darien and Reeni were alright and would be. 

*************************************************

     Up in space, Sword discovered the Teknos of Earth to be more
tenacious than she thought. With the first several heroes clearly
beaten, their resolve to kill her had only gotten stronger. She
was ready to chop the one nearest to her with a staff in half,
when several energy bolts hit her from the back. She knew for a
fact that those attacks were not Teknos based. 

     She flew out of the crowd to justify her fears. There was a
fleet, firing missiles and energy cannons at her. Taking another
look at the situation, she now realized her folly. She was going
to die. {Well, then. If I go down, I'm taking all them with me.}

     With that, she curled her body into a ball and several armor
plates grew over the parts of her that were exposed. She remained
still and waited for the correct time to strike. Hovering between
the farthest point of the O.R.S. and the moon.

     Seeing what Sword was trying to do, she turned to the small
teknos army and screamed, "KEEP FIRING!!!" With that, all the
teknos began to fire their own respective tekno bolts and energy
bows. She turned to the lead ship and communicated with their
radio. 

     "Attention alien fleet. Identify yourselves!" she said to
the lead ship. The reply came quickly. 

     "I am Tenchi Masaki of the Holy Council of Jurai. We have
come in assistance of the people of Earth. Who are you and what
exactly are we fighting?"

     "A long story, but what ever you do, don't stop firing at
what we are firing at. If you don't, we're all dead."

     "Understood." Came the last reply as the several hundred
Teknos and Juraian ships concentrated their fire on the nearly
impregnable shell that Sword hid in. 

     Sword snarled at seeing the increased pressure put on her.
Well, she was going to make them all suffer and then perish. One
by one. A Nova Wave, the same weapon that killed Darkon, would be
more than appropriate for them all. She started to develop the
power necessary for the move, but the correct timing would be
absolutely vital. 

     Blinking, Salian saw that they were not going to be able to
pierce the shell in time. If what she figured about people like
Sword and Darkon were true and were bad losers... they were all
in trouble. 
"PULL BACK! BUT DON'T STOP FIRING!" She ordered. They all did
what she said, knowing that she was in a better position to
command than any one of them. 

     "Why?" asked the Representative from Jurai.

     "Because she going to try and use a Nova Wave. An attack
powerful enough to take us all out if we're too close. Tell all
your ships to begin to pull back, but don't stop firing."

     "Very well... I hope you know what you're doing." Came the
worried reply.

     "I haven't been living for the past 450 millennia for
nothing. I know how some people behave."

     Tenchi turned the radio from the frequency the Teknos woman
used to the rest of the fleet. "Attention all ships. Pull back to
the maximum firing distance. And should the need arise, prepare
for impact, we're expecting a big explosion here."

     Sighing, he turned off the transmitter and looked to his
homeworld and saw the smoke from it. His home, the planet that he
represented, was now in turmoil. Frowning, he turned his
attention back to Sword and hopped back into his seat. His wife
looked to him from her seat and asked, "You ok."

     Looking to her, he shook his head, "No. It's just that after
all that I've been through, you think I'd be used to it by now.
But I'm not. My homeworld is in ruins and most of the population
is most likely dead and I couldn't do a thing to help protect
them."

     Walking from her seat, she walked over to him, embraced him
and said tenderly, "Don't blame yourself. Sometimes there are
things you have no control over. I should know... if I had any
say so, my mom and older sister would still be alive."

     Tenchi's eyes widened a bit and realized he should not have
brought this up and kept his calm, "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean
it like..." She interrupted him and whispered,

     "No Tenchi. Don't worry about a thing. In the meantime, we
got to help save your world. That's something worth worrying
about." She ended with a not too serious smile. 

     Tenchi reached over and hugged his wife gently, whispering,
"Thank you." Kiyone kissed his cheek in return, reassuring him
that she was there for him. When the embrace ended, she began to
smirk,

     "Now come on. Let's show this jerk what we're made of."

*************************************************

     The level of power was where she wanted it. Now the reaper
would have a great harvest like never before. She burst from her
shell, threw her arms wide and screamed, 

     "NOVA WAVE!!!"

     The size of the blast was many times greater than Salian
expected it to be. She threw her arms up to protect herself and
waited for the end. After several seconds, she brought her arms
down slowly to see that she was not dead. She looked to where the
blast began and saw that the blast was being contained in a cube.
But how?

     Every Teknos of Earth, and member of the Juraian fleet saw
the massive explosion contained, yet wondered how it happened.
Only Tenchi and Kiyone could see what exactly happened. They saw
three giant human-like apparitions holding the blast with their
hands. It was all three of the Megami! Tokimi was holding the top
and the bottom of the cube, Washu the front side, and Tsunami the
back. When the blast finally subsided, they released and
vanished, with their job done. 

     Tenchi leaned back in his seat and sighed with relief. After
moment, Kiyone turned to her husband and said with a smile, "See?
Things turn out for the better don't they?"

     Just then, the face of the commander of the fleet appeared,
"Lord Masaki. We got a problem."

*************************************************

     Salian, Scythe, Claw, Bo, Kanazuchi, Halberd, and Saber flew
as close as they could to the near motionless and horribly
injured body of Sword. Claw got the nearest first and began to
sniff at the top of her head. When she got past her neck, Atsuko
reeled back, "AHH! There's something moving!"

     Salian turned Sword over to see what she suspected. A bump
was moving downward from the base of her neck. "Oh no you don't!"
Salian growled and pierced the skin to grab the struggling little
spidercrab that she pulled out. When everyone got a good look at
the symbiote that controlled the hosts, Salian squeezed with all
her might. The miniature spider crab screeched once, then died. 

     As the spidercrab screeched its last, the wounds on Sword's
body began to heal. It sent all the Teknos nearby several feet
away and all pulled their weapons out. When Sword opened her
eyes, which were still black, and looked about with confusion. 

     "What... what? Where am I?" Then her eyes came to rest of
Saber. "Cain? Is that you?"

     The Teknos about her looked to one another, but Saber
floated forward. "Katherine? Is that you talking? I mean, not
Sword?"

     Katherine blinked, "Who's Sword?" She looked down at
herself, and she started to panic, "What the... what happened to
me?!"

     Cain floated forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "A very
long story."

     Salian floated up to Katherine, "Are you feeling ok?"

     She turned to the priestess, "Well, other than a soreness in
my back, I'm fine."

     "Well, at least you're no longer underneath the symbiote's
power. But... I can no longer find any traces of your human body
left."

     Katherine's eyes widened with horror. "What_ what do you
mean?"

     Salian remained passive as she explained the truth, "As
Sword, you implanted the power of a Teknos Warlord into your
body. At your level of experience, the corruption in the level up
was too much. So, to compensate, your human body was erased from
your genetic make-up. You can no longer turn into a human being
now."

     Cain turned to Katherine and saw the tears begin to develop.
No longer human was to be her fate. Trapped in the body of a
killer who had nearly wiped out the human race. Looking back at
the planet, she felt the thrill of Sword as she killed the good
and the innocent. There were almost dead and it was all her
fault. It was too much for her to handle as she screamed and flew
away at a speed no one would be able to catch her with. 

     Most of the Teknos that overheard what went on had nothing
to say. They could do nothing to try and ease the pain that
either side felt at the moment. 

     "Hey!" screamed Teknos Spear as he flew from the lead ship
of the Juraian fleet. As he flew to the center of all the Teknos,
they noticed the allied fleet beginning to move to the other side
of the planet. "Everyone, we got a problem."

     "What?" Scythe asked. 

     Chad pointed to the opposite side of the planet. "There's a
massive pirate fleet coming this way. Over 2000 ships in all."

     "Wha_ what for?!" Atsuko asked with surprise. 

     "From what I was told by some former pirate with green hair
that they've been thinking about doing this for a while. Now
they're moving and unless we do something about it and help the
Juraians stop them, Earth's done for." He said as quickly as he
could. 

     "Everyone move to the other side of the planet and join up
with the fleet, we're not out of this one yet!" Salian said to
everyone. Without another word, the remaining teknos army flew to
the other side of the planet to make sure the planet belonged to
its original owners. 

     "Hey Spear!" Yelled Bo as he flew up to his ally, "Do you
know the odds?"

     Chad was hesitant, "By ourselves, it's almost 3 to 1. The
Juraians alone, 5 to 1. Together, it's a little less than 2 to
1."

     "Well, at least it's better than what I thought."

     "Don't celebrate just yet... we need to win this one first."

*************************************************

     Beyond the reaches of human understanding, a trio of minds
conversed. 

     "Sisters... if I may, can I speak to that one?"

     "What do you wish to accomplish?"

     "She is in anguish and needs comforting. And possibly a way
for redemption."

     "Very well. But be not long. For we are still working on the
gift proposed by my daughter. We must complete it before this
battle is over."

     "She is right young one. Please make haste, for time is
short."

     "Thank you."

     In one of the darker corners of the Space Ring, a single
voice sobbed. In the darkness, the figure of Katherine Thompson,
at one time Teknoman Sword, was sobbing. Only until recently, she
had been under the control of the Lahdam and only when she was
free, did she learn of her cursed fate. As Sword, she had killed
hundreds of millions of innocent people for no real good reason
other than some delusion of conquest. 

     She never felt so alone before in her life. 

     A voice from nowhere said gently, "Hello." She looked up to
see a tall woman with sky blue hair, gentle pink eyes, and
dressed in a white and purple robe, smiling down at her. "You are
hurting... are you not?" Blinking, not at all understanding what
this woman meant, nodded. Her answer only made the woman smile,
"Then, may I give you comfort for your tortured heart?"

     Sniffing, Katherine wiped the tears from her eyes and
figured that she had nothing to lose. So she nodded. Like a
spring breeze, the woman floated down by her and wrapped a single
arm around her shoulders. "Calm yourself my friend_ the anguish
in your soul is not of your doing_ though the body is guilty, you
are not."

     Katherine never felt so warm before. Like being in the arms
of a goddess, she leaned into the woman whose touch seemed to
heal her broken soul. Yet, she only cried when the woman kissed
the top of her head affectionately. The pain she felt was great,
but the warmth this woman gave her was soothing. So, without
thinking, she wrapped her arms around the woman who seemed to be
the only one who could help her. The woman smiled and held
Katherine just as gently, holding her more delicately than any
puzzle or sculpture. Several minutes of much needed comfort
passed for Katherine and that was what she needed. 

     "I don't know what to do_ I have nothing. Nothing to return
to_ nothing to look forward to. Nothing." Katherine whimpered. 

     Tsunami began to rock the sobbing Katherine. What she meant
to say next would be vital to how she reacted. "There is a way_"
Katherine looked up with tear covered eyes, "but you must be the
one to decide." She pointed to the exit to space and where all
the others were. "All that they have fought for is in danger, you
can help them. Help the future of all, help the future of
mankind. But you must be the one to decide to do that."

     Katherine started to reply, "But how can I_" yet the gentle
face that Tsunami had was replaced with one more stern. 

     "Don't you ever think so lowly of yourself. You, like anyone
else, can do things that will save the good and the innocent,
even the evil and the guilty. You too can achieve the redemption
you seek in your heart." With that, the woman started to fade
away, but the same gentle smile returned, "The way is right in
front of you, just think of a different view."

     Katherine blinked at her words and tried to talk the nice
woman into staying, but found it useless. She leaned against the
wall and digested all of her words. The woman was right, she did
want to find a way to redeem herself after all she did. Then she
thought of the Juraians and the Teknos. Then it all became clear_
like a cloudless summer day of when Conrad was about to propose
to her. 

     She stepped up and began to fly to the defending fleet, her
purpose all too clear. 

*************************************************

     With a combined fleet of a little more than a thousand, the
odds for the defenders did not look too good. Even if they called
for reinforcements, they would arrive too late and the pirate
fleet would have already established a base capable of holding
off the reinforcements. So, hoping to avoid bloodshed, Tenchi got
the leader of the fleet on the radio. 

     "This is Tenchi Masaki, member of the Holy Council of Planet
Jurai. State your business. This area is restricted to the rest
of space."

     The commander's harsh reply came immediately, "And what if I
tell you that this planet is free for capture by the scavanger's
law? You Juraians haven't been doing crap here for the past
century, so that means it's up for grabs. And since I want a new
base, I might as well use this place. If you want to try and take
it from me, be my guest, but I guess you already know that you're
outnumbered. So, why don't you just go back to Jurai and screw
the trees." Just then, the transmission was cut and the fleet
continued to advance. 

     Tenchi began to frown. This monster had the unmitigated gall
to tell him to abandon his home world. He would never forgive
himself if he committed such an act. So, opening up the radio to
the fleet and to the Teknos, he announced,

     "Attention both Juraian fleet and Earth fighters. The leader
of  this pirate fleet has made it clear that he wants the
homeworld of the human race as a base and could care less for the
people. I am not going to just let him take my home without a
fight. If needs be, I'll take them all on by myself. Fleet of
Jurai, you don't have to stay for this bloodbath and I will not
order you to fight a battle which does not concern you. Fighters
of Earth, I don't know if you are behind me or not, but I highly
doubt that you would let the innocent perish because of the
pirates. So, join me and we can defeat this menace. It is up to
you."     

     With his speech complete, he leaned back in his seat and
sighed. He turned to see Kiyone walk up beside him with a big
smile on her face. "That was great. Ayeka would be proud."

     Before he could reply, the face of the fleet commander
appeared and a signal appeared, saying there was a radio message
for him.

     "Lord Masaki. Despite what you may think, we of the fleet
came to a decision that we are to fight by your side until death.
Were Jurai in the same danger, we would do no different that what
you have done. We fight together, and should this be out last
battle, may we live our last moments with honor." He said with a
determined face.

     About the same time, Salian's voice spoke, "Such inspiring
words. Despite your doubts, you have the full might of the Teknos
of Earth at your side. Though I share not the same dedication
towards my own home, it makes me wish I was born here. With you
Lord Masaki, we fight."

     Tenchi smirked back to his wife, stepped off his seat and
brought up the pirate fleet commander. "So, you guys going to get
lost?"

     "Now that you mention it, NO! This is my home and I'm not
just handing it over to scum like you. In other words: BITE ME!"
before he could comprehend the screams of the pirate commander,
he cut the line. Tenchi felt on top of the world. Even though he
might die in the next couple of hours, he struck a blow to the
enemy leader that could never be repealed. 

     That was when it hit him. He just insulted someone with a
fleet twice the size of his own. He dropped his shoulders and
whimpered, "I just had to say that..." The only thing he could
hear was Kiyone's snicker behind him. He turned and sarcastically
noted, "I feel so loved."

     Kiyone stopped snickering and just smiled. "Oh stop that.
You are, it's just that you looked funny when you did that."

*************************************************

     Within minutes, both sides charged and let loose all the
fight they could. No quarter was given and none was given in
return. 

     The Juraian ships, having been somewhat experienced when it
came to ship to ship combat held the advantage. Yet, the bombers
with as powerful weapons as they had, made the going tougher. 

     One of the Juraian dreadnoughts, firing all of its weapons
in synch with protocol, dealt several crushing blows to five of
the enemy bulk cruisers. Yet, its victory was short lived as two
heavy cruisers converged on it and made short work of its
shields. It would have met its end, had it not been for fourteen
teknos that had pierced the cruisers and went through their
reactors 

     From fighter to Teknos, the ratio was horribly unfair for
the defenders. Yet, that did not stop their resolve as with their
advanced experience and power increased the odds as the bombers
and pirate fighters were soon taken out one by one. 

     With three high speed fighters after her, Tina knew she had
to think of something quick. Not only was she dodging fire from
the fighters, but she had to weave through crossfire from both
Juraian and pirate ships alike. She turned around briefly to fire
a tekno bolt at her pursuers, but missed all three. They were
better pilots than she gave them credit for. 

     Their aim was getting slightly better, and it seemed that
she was about to meet her end, when a tekno bolt from the side
took all three fighters. She turned to see that Ranma had saved
her. She grumbled, "Well, I guess that makes us even."

     To her surprise, Ranma said, "No." With that, he turned
around and whacked her on the side of the head with his staff,
"NOW we're even." With that, he flew off. 

     Snarling, Tina screamed, "I'LL KILL YOU LATER SAOTOME!"
Powering up her thrusters, she flew the other way and into the
nearest pirate cruiser, where she tore apart armor plates and
destroyed everything in sight. Within minutes, the cruiser blew
up and she flew from the blast, wanting more targets, pretending
them all to be Ranma. 

     Elsewhere, the Yagami was flying through the crossfire of
several medium enemy cruisers with the greatest of ease. Inside
the cockpit, Kiyone's fingers raced across the control board,
sending the ship into maneuvers its creators never thought
possible. 

Just in front of the pilot's room, Tenchi was having a ball at
the gunnery chair. Doing this reminded him of the days he spent
at the local arcade, playing the day away in those shooters. The
only difference was, that they stakes were much higher. But the
adrenaline rush made him forget the stakes at the moment. 

Though the Yagami could not take out the heavy cruisers, the
medium sized ones were just as fun to mess around with and
destroy. The case in point being as the Yagami's cannons took out
the gun turrets of a giant fish shaped cruiser, flew to its
backside and attacked its blind-spot, resulting in its
destruction.

     Despite the heroic effort put into the defense, the numbers
of the enemy were just too high. The Juraian and Teknos fleets
had just gotten into the first wave of the enemy fleet and more
newer and better ships were on the way. 

     Saber looked at the approaching waves and wondered if Mina
would still be all right even after this. Then, a light to his
right caught his eye. So, breaking from the fight, he flew to the
light and as soon as he could, he immediately recognized the
light as Katherine. 

     "Katherine!" he said flying towards her. The light slowed
down and turned to him. 

     "Cain."

     "What are you doing?!" he asked floating up to her. 

     "I'm giving you guys the leverage you need. Don't worry
about me." 

     "What?! Are you crazy?!"

     "No Cain. I'm not. But I know that I have to do something or
else I'll never be able to live with myself. Also, make sure and
tell everyone to pull back."

End Section 6

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