Tenchi Muyo! Galaxy Police:
The Phoenix Project
By Trakal
----------------------------

Chapter One
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	"We can't hold them back much longer!" the desperate voice cried out as weaponsfire 
was exchanged between both sides and the owner of the voice, a middle-aged Ailurian dove 
for cover, rolled to one side, barely staying ahead of a barrage of shots which left 
burning holes in the floor just behind him, and then aimed and fired his own weapon in 
retaliation.    
	A Lacertan came running around the corner, firing his weapon
back the way he came. He caught his breath a moment, then panted.
	"This was supposed to be easy."
	"We were set up." the Ailurian told him.
	Another barrage of fire passed overhead and they both cringed involuntarily a moment 
before remembering they were trained officers and firing back.
	"But who? Why?" The Lacertan wondered.

	The enemy; a number of cold unfeeling drones, platinum blue, eight feet tall, all with 
twelve eyes set like the numbers of a clock around their faces. Each eye blinked 
individually in a random pattern that was both hideous and hypnotic. They were
robots. Their faces had no other definable features, though a scent detection filter near 
the center in the form of a small mesh-covered hole could've been considered as a type of 
nose.

	A Galaxy Police scientist studying one of the destroyed drones had concluded that each 
eye was programmed to view the surrounding area on a different wavelength; atomic, 
subatomic, infrared, and so on. But they had not been able to determine their origin. 
Were these robots automated soldiers sent to destroy before some alien species came to 
claim this galaxy as their own, or were they a race unto themselves? Without this
knowledge, all the Galaxy Police could do was try to fight off
the ever-advancing robotic battalions.

	Cybernetic weapons might have turned the tide in the earlier days of the war, but they 
had been outlawed in 3048 and all books and videos having to do with their making had
been burned. Now, in 5025, no one was left alive who knew the forbidden art. Only the 
name survived. Passed on generation after generation in hushed whispers behind closed 
doors. A phrase with no meaning behind it.

	The last ever constructed Galaxy Police Headquarters had been obliterated in 4019 when 
one of the pilots in the squadron sent to fly 'overhead' during the Headquarters' 
official opening had suddenly fired a weapon that was not of Galaxy Police origin. 
Thousands had died and the survivors had simply been transfered to the minor Galaxy 
Police station-ships throughout the various Solar Systems.

	"They're breaking through!" the Lacertan cried out unneccessarily as the enemy's lasers 
cut a hole in the armored steel door.
	"Try to hold them off!" the Ailurian shouted. "I'm going to see if there's anything here 
we can use."    
	"This place doesn't look like its been used in centuries." The Lacertan told him.
	 "I know. But they may have something here so old that these
things don't have defense against it."
	"You're looking for cyb..."
	The Ailurian shot him a warning glance and he fell silent.
	"Yes, I am." The Ailurian admitted a moment later.
	"What if you find them? No one alive knows how to implan tthem. They could fry your 
nervous system. Maybe even kill you."    
	The Ailurian looked crestfallen. "I hadn't thought of that." He muttered. He slammed his 
fist on a door and theold panel fell in. Caught by surprise, he followed soon after,
landing on top of the broken door-panel with a pained "Oof!"
	"You okay?" The Lacertan asked.
	"Fine." the Ailurian grumbled. "I always like to drop in unexpectedly."
	The Lacertan smiled at the joke, and the Ailurian soon felt better. But only for a 
moment. There was still a war going on.
	A noise returned the Lacertan's attention to the enemy.
They were almost through!
	"We're in sickbay." The Ailurian realized. "You try to hold them off. I'll see if we can 
salvage some medical supplies."	
	Another barrage of enemy fire came.

	The Ailurian gathered up all the supplies he could carry and placed them in his Galaxy 
Police hypercube. He was turning to leave when he saw a rack of cryogenically preserved 
blood samples:

        Tantei Mihoshi   Tantei Kiyone    Tantei A

	Three detectives. The Ailurian placed all three vials in his hypercube just as another 
barrage of enemy fire struck from behind. He felt a searing pain through him. He'd been 
hit! He spun and returned fire, bringing down a few robots. He stumbled toward the
door. Passing one of two desks, he saw the Lacertan lying prone on the floor, unmoving. 
He bent to check his comrade. As he did so, a volley of enemy fire passed overhead.
	"Thanks." He told his fallen friend. But it was hopeless.

	The enemy had broken though. He dove behind the second desk.

         There was another round of weaponsfire. Then another.
         Then...

         ...silence.

         The Ailurian sat behind the charred remains of the second desk and waited.

        "Hello?" The voice belonged to an organic and the Ailurian wanted to weep with 
relief.  "Is anyone there?"	
	"I'm back here." The Ailurian called back.
	"Are you alone?" the voice asked.
	"There's another officer here. But he's been killed."

	The owner of the voice walked around the desk. She looke dat his uniform, then saluted. 
"Sir." She told him. "I am Ensign Taki."    
	"At ease, Ensign." the Ailurian coughed. "I'm Colonel Seki. I'm from the Thirty-Ninth 
Squadron."    
	"I'm from the Sixty-Second Squadron. Fourth Division." the ensign informed him. "I'm 
sure my Commanding Officer will be happy to answer any questions you might have. Now if 
you'll come with me, we'll get you fixed right up."


	The Sixty-Second Squadron's Fourth Division was a well-organized fleet consisting of 
fifteen vessels. The command ship sat the vanguard while the others held formation.

	The patrol shuttle carrying Ensign Taki and his new guest headed not for the command 
ship, but for a smaller vessel alongside it.

	"Our medical ship." Taki explained. "It lessens the chance of our medical staff being 
killed should the command ship come under fire."

	It made perfect sense, Seki decided as the patrol shuttle docked alongside the 
medical ship. A ramp extended from the larger vessel and Seki followed Taki down it.


	"Dr. Hagi," Taki addressed an elderly Ailurian in a long white coat and spectacles, 
"this is Colonel Seki."    
	"You're from the Thirty-Ninth Squadron." Hagi noted.
	"Yes. That's right." Seki nodded.
	"What were you doing at the ruins of Seventh Headquarters?"
	"My squadron received a message that there was something there which might be of use 
during the war. I went to check it out with a small squadron. Most of us were killed as 
soon as we got there. My last man died moments before the Ensign here found me."
	"He was in sickbay, sir." Taki informed. Seki might have had a higher rank, but he was 
from another Galaxy Police fleet, and until he heard otherwise, there was no reason to 
treat Seki as anything more than a guest.
	"Is this true?" Dr. Hagi asked.
        "Yes." Seki replied.
        "Have you found any useful medical supplies you would be
willing to share with us?"
	"Some. The medicines are outdated so I don't think they'll be of much use There are 
bandages and other non-perishable supplies, though."
	"Excellent." Dr. Hagi told him.
	"I also found vials of preserved blood belonging to three detectives who worked at 
Seventh Headquarters."    
	"Which three detectives?" Dr. Hagi asked.
	"Detective Mihoshi...." Seki began.
	"Yes..." Dr. Hagi prompted.
	"Detective Kiyone..." Seki continued.
	"Yes..." Dr. Hagi prompted further.
         "And Tantei A." Seki concluded.
        "The legend." Dr. Hagi muttered. "Could it be..."
        "Doctor?" Seki asked.
        "We have a cloning facility on this ship." Dr. Hagi told him. "We use it to clone 
body parts in case a limb is severed in battle or too severely damaged. We've
never tried to clone a full person, but it is possible." He pressed a device against the 
wound in Seki's back and the wound sealed itself.
          "Possible." Seki agreed. "But is it feasible? I mean what will the clone be 
like? Will he possess the memories of his original?"
	"Not right away." Dr. Hagi admitted. "For the first week or two, we'll be working 
with forming a mental base."       
	"What do you mean?"
         "Tantei A existed over three thousand years ago," Dr. Hagi explained. "If we 
simply implanted his mind on a blank brain, he would be unable to cope with today's 
world. We must first imprint facts about the world around us on his mind and then slowly
reintroduce his original memories building on the new foundation we're going to give 
him."
Lt. Trakal
Operative of the Galaxy Police SIU