Blood Red Moon Eternity
     Chapter 10: Crystal Teardrop

Disclaimers: All characters belong to their various 
Copyrights; Reinhart, Rosa, Cain, and Elayne belong to me.  
Alucard, Carrie, Sheann'a, Drathar, and Dracula belong to Konami.
Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Mihoshi, Tsunami, Sasami, Yosho, Nobuyuki,
Washu, Mayuka, Ryo-Ohki, and Nobuyuki all belong to Pioneer/AIC.
Beyond my characters, I claim no rights to any of the characters,
beyond their use in this story. Comments, quips, insults, and death
threats will only be accepted at Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com
     Blood Red Moon: Eternity is set one year after the events
in Blood Red Moon: Resurrection.  Reinhart and Carrie have been 
married, and their daughter Elayne has been born.  Alucard and his
familiars have built a small cabin near the rest of the clan.  
Blood Red Moon: Eternity is the last in a three series story arc.

    "Here we belong, fighting to survive in the war with the darkest 
power!" - Queen, Princes of the Universe 

*****

     Lady Tokimi smiled as the Alliance fleet passed by her hidden 
armada, and opened a communication to her sub commanders.  She had 
given them all their orders; all that remained was to order them 
forward.  Just before she did, though, she heard a scream of pain.  
She blinked, and looked to the side, reaching out with her magic 
sense.  She recoiled in shock as she saw D3's mangled remains in 
her mind's eye.
     Shaking her head, she scowled.  He would be difficult to 
replace.  Ah, well.  She still had Cain, at the least; he had his 
uses, though she wondered if she wouldn't have to clear his 
memory...  Questioning her orders to kill the child.  Faugh!  
Tokimi looked back at the tactile display, and blinked.  The 
Alliance was turning around, and shields were going up.  She 
scowled again.
     "Begin now."  Her entire armada dropped out of pseudo-space, 
opening fire even as they did.  Tokimi smiled, as the first line of 
battleships was destroyed, caught by surprise just before their 
shields became fully active.  Clouds of star fighters swarmed out 
from the battle fleet, and small flashes began to light the battle 
field as they began to attack each other in earnest.
     There was a bright flash, and one of her five super 
destroyers was suddenly blown apart in a burst of light.  She 
blinked in surprise, and searched the Alliance fleet for the ship 
that had taken it out with so little trouble.  Quickly enough, she 
found it; the gigantic ship that had been at the head of the fleet.  
Tokimi scanned it, and scowled.  There was no mistaking Washu's 
handiwork.  
    The giant dragon like ship's maw opened; there was a 
gathering of energy, and then suddenly a sphere of destructive 
power blasted away.  It slammed into a second of her super 
destroyers.  Energy crackled over it for a moment, and then it 
exploded, the fireball engulfing several smaller ships nearby it.
     "Very wise, Tsunami.  I cannot attack your ship because you 
and Washu are both there, while your avatars can attack me."  She 
turned the Shiboo about, destroying several cruisers that were 
coming after her, and then sent a signal to her sub commanders.
     "I will draw away their flagship.  You have your orders."  
They nodded, and she opened her thoughts to her Sisters.
     "Come.  I have your rescue party on my scanners."

*****

     Tenchi frowned, and pointed to the strange looking ship at 
the far back of Tokimi's fleet.  It was turning around, and slowly 
leaving the main battle.  Shaped like a huge dolphin, Tenchi noted 
idly, it almost seemed to be waiting for something.  He looked at 
Tsunami.  
     "That's her, isn't it?  Tokimi is in that ship."  She 
frowned.
     "I... Yes.  That is her."  Tsunami's eyes widened suddenly.  
"She says that she has Ryo-Ohki on her scanners!"  Tenchi frowned.
     "Trying to draw us out of the battle," said Ryoko.  Washu, 
next to her, grinned as the third of five super destroyers was 
blown apart by the Shukuen's main cannon.
     "Of course!  We're the biggest threat to her forces."  Tenchi 
frowned again, and looked at Ryoko.
     "It might only be a bluff, but we can't take the chance it 
is.  Open up a line to Sagami."  The Juraian council member 
appeared a moment later before them.
     "Yes, Emperor?" The image shook, and he glanced to the side, 
barking orders.
     "We think that Tokimi may be going after Ayeka's rescue 
party.  Can you handle things here?"  He nodded.
     "Yes, your highness.  Good luck."  The image shook again, and 
then was cut.  Tenchi looked at Washu.
     "Take out what you can to help the fleet, but we have to 
follow Tokimi before she goes after them."  She nodded grimly, and 
the Shukuen flew after Tokimi's ship - Tsunami abruptly supplied 
the name the Shiboo.  As they barreled through the enemy lines, 
Washu laughed, and began to type at her control panel.  Weapons 
began to fire from every possible location on the ship, blasting 
away smaller craft, and the main cannon took out the second to last 
super destroyer.  They broke through the lines, and then went after 
Tokimi as fast as they could go.
     "Can we destroy her, if we catch her?" asked Tenchi.  Tsunami 
looked away.
     "I can not say, Tenchi.  Neither myself or Washu may not and 
could not deal the final blow... it is not permitted, and... she is 
our sister.  I honestly do not know if she can be killed, entirely.  
When she was defeated before, we did so by taking away her physical 
body.  She has taken a new body; destroy that, and we may defeat 
her again."
     "That's an awfully big maybe, Tsunami.  What aren't you 
telling us?" asked Ryoko.  She sighed.
     "So far, almost everything has happened as I once saw in a 
dream.  This dream was always the same, until we finally caught up 
with Tokimi.  Then, it splits into three possible paths.  In one, 
she is defeated by us.  In the second, she is killed at the same 
time that we are by something that can't be seen.  The third... was 
dark, even to my eyes."
     "Why wouldn't you be able to see it?" asked Tenchi.  She 
shook her head.
     "It could be many things.  It may not yet be written, it may 
be so unlikely that its image was never formed in the ether."  
Tenchi looked at Washu, but she shook her head.
     "Don't ask me Tenchi, she's the one with the fortune telling 
powers."  He sighed.
     "Alright.  Our main priority is to save Ayeka and the others.  
If we manage to bag Tokimi in the process, all the better.  But 
Ayeka first.  We can regroup to take down Tokimi later if we have 
to."

*****

     "How did I end up here?  The... last I remember clearly is 
that D3... person locking me into my bed chamber before shai'natoth 
took me over."  Reinhart looked aside as Ayeka groggily sat up from 
where Alucard had lay her down.  The dhampeal himself looked up 
from where he sat, bandaging his hand.  Sheann'a had healed it, but 
it had been so badly burnt that it would require some time to fully 
repair itself.  Alucard said he was not concerned about losing the 
use of it - apparently one of the bonuses of being half-vampire was 
the ability to heal just about any injury, no matter how severe.
     "Sir-doesn't-speak carried you back to Ryo-Ohki after you 
passed out," said Sheann'a.  Alucard grimaced at her, and she 
smiled innocently.  Ayeka blushed slightly, and Reinhart inwardly 
sighed.
     "My apologies if she has offended you, Ayeka.  Sheann'a does 
enjoy hearing herself talk, even when she knows that she should 
not.  At times, I believe a spider's web has caught her good sense."  
Reinhart blinked in surprise as Sheann'a blushed red as a beet, and 
apologized to Ayeka.  Ayeka chuckled in amusement; he filed it away 
to ask Alucard about later, and cleared his throat.
     "We're on our way back to Earth, Aunt.  Dad has taken your 
place until we get back."  Ayeka nodded.
     "I knew as much - 'Lady' Tokimi said that he had launched an 
attack, which means that they can not be far away from here."  
Reinhart blinked.
     "It's a distraction - no wonder we haven't been attacked yet.  
They're all after Dad," said Rosa from the control chair.  Ayeka 
nodded.  "We already signaled them that we're on our way, so 
they'll be running interference on our way back."
     "Miya?"  Reinhart looked up as Ryo-Ohki opened up a view 
screen.  At first, he thought that he was looking at a dolphin, but 
then he realized that it was a huge ship.  It wasn't much smaller 
than the Shukuen.  He frowned, and looked at Rosa.
     "Do you recognize it?"  She frowned, and shook her head.
     "It isn't registering on any of the scopes but visual."  
Reinhart frowned.
     "A ship of that size?  With a major battle less than a parsec 
away?  I got a bad feeling about this, sis.  Turn Ryo-Ohki around."  
Rosa slowly nodded.
     "Yeah, I think you may be right."  She twisted the controls, 
and Ryo-Ohki reversed her course.  Reinhart watched the monitor 
with a growing sense of dread.  The strange ship sped up, and began 
to gain ground on them.  Rosa frowned.  "It's fast."
     "Who do you think that it is?" asked Carrie.  Reinhart looked 
at her.
     "My guess?  We're about to meet Tokimi up close and 
personal."  Ryo-Ohki miyaed nervously, and Rosa nodded.
     "No kidding - hey, look behind it.  It's the Shukuen!"  
Reinhart blinked.  Sure enough, steadily catching up was the 
dragonship.  Ayeka frowned.
     "Let me guess.  One of Washu's latest hobbies?"  Reinhart 
grinned.
     "Yup."  Ayeka winced.
     "We might have been safer with just Tokimi."  Reinhart 
chuckled, though the dolphin-ship kept drawing closer.  The Shukuen 
looked like it was going as fast as it could, but it was obvious 
that Tokimi would reach them well before the Shukuen was in range.
     "-chi to Ryo-Ohki.  Tenchi to Ryo-Ohki."  A second screen 
came up with his father on it.  "Thank the gods, you're all there.  
Listen, you have to get out of there.  We'll be out of range of 
Tokimi's ship for another thirty minutes."  Rosa shook her head.
     "Ryo-Ohki is going as fast as she can, Dad."  Ryoko appeared 
next to him.
     "You're joking.  She goes faster than that getting to 
dinner!"  Ryo-Ohki's face appeared on the interface crystal.
     "Miya mi miya!"  Ryoko frowned.
     "You're going on a diet when we get home."  The cabbit 
sighed.
     "Miya..." His mother frowned again, her golden eyes flashing.
     "If you don't get moving, no carrots for an entire year!" she 
growled.
     "MIYACK!"  Ryo-Ohki burst forward so fast that he actually 
felt the acceleration even through the ships inertia dampers.
     "That's more like it."  Tenchi sighed, and shook his head.
     "Just stay as far ahead as you can.  We're almost in range."  
Rosa nodded, and the communication was cut.  They looked at each 
other, and sighed.  Even with Ryo-Ohki's speed burst, Tokimi was 
still catching up.  They could do nothing but watch as the ship 
loomed up behind them.  A screen appeared before them; Ayeka 
scowled as a young woman with green markings around her neck and on 
her cheeks appeared.
     "I see you felt the need to leave, and after I took such 
trouble to have you join me."  Ayeka shrugged.
     "I find that I prefer the company of family to yours."  
Tokimi's eyes blazed in rage.
     "Very well!  Join them in death!"  The communication was cut; 
Ryo-Ohki suddenly miyaed in alarm, and the deck was shaken 
violently.  Rosa gasped.  
    "The shields are gone!  Completely!"  They all watched as 
Tokimi's ship charged its weapons again.  Ryo-Ohki miyaed again, as 
they fired.  Carrie and Ayeka gasped, light exploding into being 
above the dome, blinding them.
     Reinhart grunted, sweat popping out on his forehead with the 
effort of projecting the ten Light Hawk Wings outside of Ryo-Ohki's 
dome to block Tokimi's attack.  Ayeka stared at him in shock.
     "But... Only Tenchi could generate ten, only Tenchi could 
generate any at all without the help of one of the trees!"  
Reinhart gritted his teeth, as the attack finally lightened.  
     "Tenchi... and Mother... and now... myself... and Rosa!  I... 
could use some help, sis!"  Rosa shook her head.
     "Right."  She stood up, and he sensed her reaching out as 
their father had taught them just a few months before.  She 
channeled them, and then suddenly gasped in shock.  Reinhart felt 
it too - the Wings started to draw more and more power through them 
by themselves.  He strained to hold onto his control of them.  
Ayeka pointed suddenly, gasping.
     "What is that?"

*****

     Tenchi watched, helplessly out of range, as Tokimi fired on 
Ryo-Ohki.  The tiny ship was rocked, the weapons slamming into her, 
and Ryoko staggered from the backwash through her link to Ryo-Ohki.  
She looked at him, fear dancing in her eyes.
     "No shields left," she breathed.
     "Washu!"
     "Ten minutes!  She's firing again!"  They all looked back at 
the screen, as Tokimi's ship launched a second volley.  The attack 
slammed into Ryo-Ohki; Tenchi caught Ryoko as she sagged down.
     "I... can feel it... No!  It can not be!" gasped Tsunami 
suddenly.  On the view screen, the explosions faded away to reveal 
Ryo-Ohki, guarded behind ten Wings of the Light Hawk.  And then, as 
they watched, ten more unfolded along with the first set.  The 
world seemed to lurch, as the wings blazed into light.  "They... 
must not do this!" she breathed in fear.  Tenchi turned, and looked 
at her, noticing that she was suddenly extremely pale.
     "What?  Do what, Tsunami?"  She looked at him.
     "When I integrated the Wings into the Juraian trees, I made 
them able only to generate three for a reason.  Even you were never 
meant to generate more than five; but the gems threw that off."  He 
frowned.
     "Why?"
     "I did not create the Wings, Tenchi - I found them.  There 
was an ancient legend: Ten wings, shall I defend.  Twenty feathers, 
shall I attack."  Tenchi frowned, and then looked back at the 
monitor.  He gasped in surprise at what was now there.  The Wings 
had changed; spread out.  He realized suddenly that they were now 
in such an arrangement that they resembled the feathers of two 
wings, ten to each.  Slowly, a shining form began to appear; the 
two huge wings, long tail feathers, talon-tipped claws, and a sharp 
beak.  Tsunami spoke, a fearful chill to her voice.
     "The true owner of the wings.  This is the Light Hawk."  They 
watched in awe, as the bird stretched out, and then looked at the 
Shiboo.  It swept a huge wing over the gigantic ship... and it 
simply fell apart.  There were no explosions; no blasts.  The 
titanic ship just came to pieces.  The hawk screeched, and then 
disappeared.  All that was left of Tokimi's ship was a floating 
waste of debris and one huge section that appeared to have survived 
intact.  They looked at each other, and then jumped as a signal 
indicator flashed.  Washu brought it up; Ayeka appeared on the 
screen.  Behind her, Reinhart and Rosa lay on the floor 
unconscious, Carrie and Alucard kneeling at their sides.
     "What just happened?" she asked, appearing shaken.  Tenchi 
shook his head.
     "We'll explain later - if we can.  I'm not too sure myself.  
Are they alright?"  Behind her, Carrie looked up and nodded.
     "Just exhausted."
     "Stay there.  We're coming to pick you up, and then we'll see 
if anything is still alive in the section that survived."  Ayeka 
nodded, and Tenchi turned to Tsunami.  "Is this what you saw 
happening?"  She looked at him, face still pale.
     "No, Tenchi.  It is as far from it as could be."

*****

     Sagami scowled, as yet another swarm of starfighters 
destroyed a Falarin cruiser.  He turned to look at the tactile 
display; at least there was some good news.  Half of the Alliance 
fleet had been destroyed, but Tokimi's fleet was starting to break 
up.  It wouldn't be long, before -
     "Sir!  New contacts!  It's the Galactic Thieves Guild!"  He 
shook his head.
     "Just in time to take credit for helping us.  That figures."  
Suddenly, he frowned, as the fleet of star thieves began to appear 
on the screen; their entire force was coming in behind them.  
Sagami's eyes widened.
     "Signal the fleet to brace for attack!  It's a double-cross!"  
Even as he spoke, the new threat opened fire.  Sagami frowned.  
With the addition of them, Tokimi now had more than enough ships to 
crush them.  He scowled again.
     "Tell the fleet to pull out.  We can't hold up to these 
odds!"  His crew quickly began to relay his orders, and the 
Alliance fleet started to pull away from the battle zone.
     "Sir!  Another group of Guild ships have entered the area!  
They've surrounded us completely!"  Sagami stared at the screen.  
Their final escape route was closed off even as he spotted it.  He 
frowned, quickly coming up with a plan.
     "Order the treeships to form up into a wedge, and open a path 
for the rest of the Alliance.  Once they have cleared a corridor, 
have them hold position until we've all gotten out."
     "Yes, sir."  On the screen, the treeship indicators formed 
up, blasted out a corridor and then held their ground as the 
Alliance fleet began to slide out.  He nodded, and then turned to 
his crew.
     "We have to buy them some time.  All remaining Juraian ships, 
start destroying the capital ships."  The few remaining Juraian 
ships started bearing down on the heavy cruisers from both Tokimi 
and the Guild fleets.  Sagami stumbled as some laser fire slid 
through his own ship's defenses.
     "Aft energizer hit!  We've lost power to the weapons and 
thrusters.  Main engines are still online!"  He scowled, and 
pointed to the Guild flagship.
     "Do you think that we could hit them?"  The navigational 
officer nodded.
     "Yes, sir."  He sighed.
     "Then cycle the engines up to full power, and evacuate the 
ship."  The crew stared at him.  "Well?  Move it!"  
     "Sir...  No, sir!  I will not abandon my post."  Sagami 
frowned, as the nav officers stood, shaking her head.  He looked 
around at the rest of his crew.
     "I suppose that the rest of you are all experiencing a burst 
of foolish heroism?"  Slowly, they nodded, and he sighed.  "Bloody 
hell...  alright, we can't steer, and we can't shoot.  Any 
suggestions?"
     "We may be able to get back a little control by using the 
port and starboard cargo bays."  He nodded, starting to get a plan 
as he looked up at the tactile display again.
     "Do what you can.  If we can't shoot, maybe we can get them 
to shoot for us."  They slowly grinned, understanding, as he 
pointed between two enemy ships.  "Think that we can make it?"
     "Yes, sir!"  The Yagami started forward.  "Decompressing 
bay... Now!"  The ship shuddered slightly, and slowly, the view 
screen showed them turning, until their nose was aimed between the 
destroyers.
     "Go!"  They shot forward, approaching the enemy ships and 
picking up speed.  The destroyers began to pelt them with fire, as 
they slipped in between them.  The Yagami shuddered, caught in the 
cross fire, but as he had hoped, they were going so fast that most 
of the blasts missed them entirely, slamming into the opposite 
ships.  As they flashed out from between them, the destroyers 
shuddered, and were blown apart.
     "Sir!  I think we've got a little magic happening here!  
Engineering reports that one of those blasts shook something, and 
it reestablished the connection to the aft energizer.  Thruster 
control back online in ten seconds, partial weapons charge half a 
minute!"  Sagami grinned.
     "Alright!  Let's see what else we can do here - how is the 
fleet evacuation going?"  His first officer looked up at him, 
grinning.
     "You're not going to believe this, but after they slide 
through the passage, they're turning around and pelting the armada 
from the outside.  We've almost got them half surrounded now!"  His 
monitor beeped, and he stared in shock.  "The Guild has been 
attacked from behind!  It's the Galaxy Police!"
     "Weapons back online sir!"  Sagami looked around.
     "Well?  What are we waiting for?  We've got a battle to 
finish!"

*****

     "Mihoshi, they've already had to rebuild me once, please try 
to be more careful!"  Mihoshi winced as a guild fighter exploded 
just in front of them, and altered course to bring her weapons to 
bear against a destroyer.
     "Well, I'm sorry that happened Yukinojo, but I really don't 
think that I could have done anything to stop that Tokimi lady from 
firing."
     "There are several fighters dropping in behind us, Mihoshi!" 
said Yukinojo, sounding alarmed.  Mihoshi just didn't understand 
why he was so worried, as she activated the battle ship's rear 
cluster bomb.  He readouts registered it as firing; a moment later, 
the ship shuddered as it exploded, destroying a small squadron of 
Guild craft, and catching two missiles that had been inbound in its 
explosion.
     "Honestly, Yukinojo, I'd think that you didn't believe I 
could pilot you into battle!"  The AI unit sighed; had he been 
human, she was certain that he would have been shaking his head.  
Ahead of them, a destroyer opened fire.  She frowned.  "Hey!  You 
don't need to do that to get my attention.  You could just call me 
on the radio!"  She thumbed the controls for her main blasters, and 
fired on the ship.  The lasers crashed into it, and it started a 
lumbering turn away.  Yukinojo shuddered as something fired on them 
from behind; she looked up to see a second destroyer bearing down 
on them weapons blazing.
     "Geeze, everybody is so pushy today!  I wonder-"
     "Mihoshi, look out!" cried the ship AI.  She looked back to 
the fore view screen to see she was just about to crash into the 
turning destroyer.
     "AAAEEEEEE!!!" she screamed, pushing the control stick down 
hard.  Yukinojo's nose turned down at a ninety degree angle, and 
they shot away as the destroyer behind her slammed into the one 
that had been in front of her.  She felt her teeth rattle as they 
exploded all but on top of her.
     "I wonder if I could file for hazard pay because of my 
pilot," sighed Yukinojo.  She giggled, partly in relief.
     "Oh relax!  I'm sure that they really don't mean to hurt you 
- or me!  They probably just don't know who we are."  Yukinojo 
sighed again, and then blinked.
     "Incoming message, Mihoshi."  A screen appeared with a 
handsome brown-haired Juraian.
     "Commander Mihoshi, I presume?"  She nodded.
     "Hi!  Can I help you?" she asked cheerfully.  He blinked, but 
nodded.
     "I am Sagami, commander of the Alliance fleet for the time 
being.  We're rounding up the last of Tokimi's forces.  Do you need 
any help with the Guild?"  She looked at her tactile monitor, and 
noticed that her fleet was just finishing off the last of the Guild 
members.
     "Uh... Nope!  Thanks for the offer though!  Say, do you know 
where Tenchi and the others went?"  He blinked again.
     "I believe that they were on heading seven-four-seven."
     "Ok, thanks!  Bye now!"  He blinked in surprise, as she cut 
the communication.  "Seven four seven, Yukinojo."  The AI sighed.
     "Yes, Mihoshi."  He paused, and then sighed again.  "I wonder 
if the Marshall would accept a request for transfer to the toaster 
division."

---
The Platinum Dragon
Dragon's Masaki Shrine of Tenchi Muyo - http://dragonsanime.com
"The rising sun will eventually set,
  A newborn's life will fade.
  From sun to moon, moon to sun,
  give peacefull rest to the living dead." - Zelda64
Proud Member of the Ryoko Forever Fan Club