And kicking off C+C again:

    I'm only _mostly_ dead. The car, on the other hand, is _completely_
dead. I'm sure the quality of this is lacking, so any C&C is appreciated.

And at last, you get to hear some from me. I know you want it. :)

    -----------------------------

    "I have heard it said that 'pride goeth before a fall', and have
found this to be true. For that, I would consider humility to be one of
the greatest wisdoms that we can learn. I find solace in the face

fact

 that I

was not the only one who had difficulty learning this lesson."

Ranma: Watchu talkin' 'bout, Herb?"

    The prince deflected the blow casually, countering with a footsweep.
"Of course," he commented, backpedaling as Ranma leapt upwards,
launching a simultaneous punch to Herb's shoulder and a kick to the
prince's thigh. Both were deflected, as Herb lifted himself off of

can drop 'of'

 the

ground to float level with Ranma. "I am royalty, Ranma. What is this
about for you? Last, it was a cure for the lock on your curse."

Heh. He neglects to mention that Herb was the one that did that to him

    The startled Musk prince smashed into the ridge hard enough to leave
a shallow crater, but bounced out of the depression only a moment later.
"Then we share a goal," he retorted, hands aglow with ki-flame. "I will
protect my pride, Ranma."

Ranma: Oh, got me there.

    Indeed, no sooner had Ranma been launched backwards by Herb's kick,
had he changed forms again, the male body taking the impact and cracking
the stone behind him. He coughed weakly, pulling himself from the rock
fragments about him. "Yeah, I did," he said, grinning cockily. "I
haven't seen you do anything new yet," he taunted.

Which is bad. You never want to tip your hand before the other guy.

    Strength that most humans envied even while fearing it

It's only feared if someone else has it. :)

    Staggered from the four punishing blows that penetrated his defense,
Herb waved an errant hand, slashing a tide of flame across Ranma. He
teleported behind Herb and launched and elbow slam towards the other
boy's back, but Herb somehow expected it, and smashed a devastating
Buddha's Palm Strike into Ranma's sternum, eliciting a sharp crack as
Ranma was thrown to the rocks below.

Hmm. So he's already able to counter teleportation. Cute.

    "Not on your life," Ranma said, sinking beneath the stone and out of
Herb's pin.

Heh

    Washuu leapt up, Yosho only barely managing to restrain her as she
shouted, "No! That's too much-- Far too much! Yosho, you idiot, I have
to stop him!"

Yosho: Yeah, right. I'll try my best to stop him from several miles away,
since I don't want to get hit in the blast.

    The old woman nodded. "Very well then, come into the meeting hall,
and let us speak." Cologne waited until Norris was near the door before
stopping him, tapping his knee with her staff, and explained quietly in
English, "Men are seldom, if ever, allowed to attend our meetings, Mr.
Norris. Please be respectful, and understand that some women are not
quite as tolerant as I."

They better learn quick since it's a desperate time and they can't be
choosy.

    Then too, the council attempted to ignore Karau and his views on
every issue, much to Tenchi's annoyance. He had finally pointed out that
unless a majority could be achieved -- and without Karau, it could not
-- that the Emperor would have the final say in every vote brought to
the Council. Mollified, somewhat, the councilmen then resorted to trying
to coerce the young Laruma.

Ah, politics are back to normal. :)

    Ayeka and Ryouko, equally exhausted, had flopped to the bed on
either side of him, joining his contemplation of the upper reaches of
the room. Supposedly, they were to be discussing matters of government
with one another. The reality was far different.

    Finally breaking the tired silence, Ayeka murmured, "That pattern of
leaves there looks rather like Yosho, don't you think?"

The leaves look like her brother?

    Tenchi blinked, scratching his head. "Anything I can do?" he asked
hopefully.

    "Marry me," Ayeka offered, jumping on the bed to kneel at his side.

Heh. A bit aggressive of her. Ryouko usually the one with lines like that.

    "But I already promised to do that!" Tenchi protested.

True. I had forgotten.

    Ayeka pouted dramatically, before her expression gave way to a grin,
and she shook her head. "Silly," she told him. "I was merely teasing
you. This isn't a problem, honestly; I'd been living with you for months
before we returned here. The rumor already persists that....

Ayeka: You're gay and won't have sex with me.

Tenchi: Am not!

Ayeka: Then have sex with me and prove it.

    Ayeka froze instantly, eyes going wide. "This isn't what it looks
like, Mother!" she protested,

Misaki: Don't give me that. I can tell you're sleeping in bed with a man and
not putting out for him. For shame that any daughter of mine would remain
chaste. Why, when I was your age, I was parting my legs for every handsome
man I met. People will think you're a lesbian if you don't start sleeping
around.

    Blinking, Tenchi motioned towards the bathing room, managing, "Um, I
don't want to be rude, but I, ah, would like some privacy...."

    "That's nice," Ryouko said, clinging to him more tightly.

Heh. Typical

    Jakugo's eyes flicked briefly to Tsunami, studying her with a cold,
calculating light, before he ducked his head, nodding. "It as is you say
it, Tsunami-sama -- I forget my place. I would not question your choice,
merely worry that if you are needed near, and are away, the empire may
suffer," he explained.

"When I try to launch my coup" he didn't add.

    The light above her wove into a field of inky blackness, a single
point of glimmering blue light floating in the massive void, slowly
intercepted by a small craft of clunky design -- the ship appeared to be
nothing more than a patchwork, truly. Tsunami's narrative began again,
as the light vanished into the ship, "I'll not say his name, for if
you've forgotten it, then shame on you, but the man was little more than
a scoundrel, a thief, and on top of that, a pirate."

Oh yes, we shouldn't ever forget pirates, theives, and scoundrels.

    She allowed herself a small smile at the memory. "For all of his
failings, however, the man bore a noble spirit, and believed that there
were rights, and there were wrongs. He believed that his piracy was
acceptable, because in his own words, 'I only attack people who've got
something to spare'."

Sort of like the old conversation:

First man: I never kill anyone that doesn't deserve it.

Second man: And who decides who deserves it?

First Man: I do.

Second Man: That's convienent.

    Turning her attention to Jakugo, Tsunami lectured, "The man had many
sons, as you should well remember. Can you name them, Jakugo?"

Jakugo: Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, and Gummo.

Tsunami: Very good. Most people forget the last two.

    Tenchi cleared his throat noisily from behind the Councilman, and
offered, "Because she can. I don't know about you, Jakugo, but it seems
to me a lot like the moral of the story is that she trusted them to do
the right thing without interfering. She didn't do anything until Jurai
was in danger, right?" He turned to look at Tsunami questioningly.

Tsunami: No. I just need a vacation

    Relaxing slightly, Ayeka suggested, "After this time, I really think
you should wait until your own tree matures, Tenchi-sama."

Heh. Unlikely as hell. That would be too easy.

    The leader of the second wave of Galaxy Police transports raised an
eyebrow at the coincidence, and flipped on the communications panel.
"Come in, task force one

I think names like that are capitalized. Should probably be 'Task Force One.

    The figure spun sharply, drifting upside down so that she was able
to see a rather handsome yet unassuming man, who blinked at her in
surprise. "Huh?" he asked intelligently.

    "This is Makibi Kiyone, leader of the secondary wave of GP
transports, and detective first class."

Someone snagged from from floating in space, eh?

    "Uh...." Kiyone shook her head, pushing away the questions that had
formed in the back of her mind. "Detective Mihoshi, do you have
instructions on where we need to begin retrieval?"

They don't know each other?

    Breaking away from her control panel, Kiyone spared a moment to
laugh aloud. "Without any training? That's a good one, Officer
Kuramitsu. Seriously, though, I thought that I was the second highest
rated officer to graduate from the Galaxy Police Academy in three years,
and I know for a fact they wouldn't let me on this mission if I hadn't
made Detective First Class."

Heh. Kintaro is the ultimate in his ability to instinctively learn anything.

    "Hey, you forgot... to turn off the communications link," Kiyone
mumbled, as Mihoshi vanished. She shook her head, and broke the link
from her end. "I guess I should just be happy that I'm not her partner,"

Nah. You'd love the unconditional friendship she'd offere.

    The woman glanced at Tenchi for a moment, then explained, "The
Galaxy Police works within Jurai to enforce certain interstellar laws,
and certain Juraian laws. The Jurian police force is completely
inadequate for dealing with this kind of problem, even though the Home
Fleet is truly very powerful. But if we allow the Home Fleet to work
independently of the Galaxy Police while they're here, it becomes a
military operation, and the Galaxy Police treaty states that they will
aid in civil issues, but not military issues."

Makes sense.

    ***

    She rubbed at her eyes, blinking as the screen before her resolved
into a targeting reticule, clearly labeled, 'Jurian forces.' The default
fire action was 'off', and Ami made no move to change that, merely
wondering how badly the relations between the Amatera and the other
Juraians must have been strained.

Heh. That could have been bad

    Kohito stared blankly, then shook himself, coughing. "Amatera, you
say? We'd heard rumors about that, but-- Er.... Sorry about that,
Ami-san. Our ship is lagging because there's an imbalance between the
fusion grafter and the power distribution, resulting in a somewhat
unreliable energy flow."

    "Is that dangerous?" she asked quietly.

    "Not usually. It could be, if we were in a combat situation,

Which means the odds are good they will end up in such. :)

    Ami's next question died in her throat, as Kohito's window vanished
in a flash of reddish white, and the ship on her screen exploded
violently, a massive gout of starfire venting from the rear of the
damaged mass into space. Her eyes widened, watching sparks -- escape
pods, likely -- explode from the still-flaming wreckage in sequence,
shooting Earthward from the tumbling wreckage.

Oops.

    More lights and warnings began lighting up in sequence, telling Ami
the likeliest path of descent for the wreckage. Unsurprisingly, the
computer illustrated a target area several hundred kilometers across,
with the village near the center. "Oh, no," she groaned, biting her lip.
"What now?"

Oh

    "Frayed fusion pathing," Kohito managed, his face coming into view,
creased with concentration. "Me and Fehdo-oh are working together." A
message popped onto the screen, informing Ami that the link between the
four was secured, even as bright meteorites -- escape pods, actually --
began to descend through the sky to the south. "Can't hold it off for
long. Weapons locked into over-charge cycle. This was sabotage. I

Ah ha. More trouble

 got

everyone else off, but if I leave, the discharge takes out me and
whoever comes close."

    "Kohito," the man said, subdued. "Who... who could do such a thing?"

    "Dunno," the man said, shaking his head. "We gotta destroy my ship,
and soon. I got my Light Haw

Hawk

"It's okay, Amatera. I thank you for it."

    And then Ami pressed the final command in, and the mutual
destruction of two infinite spheres of non-space echoed, a
twenty-kilometer sphere of reality simply ceasing to exist.

How unfortunate. Tenchi's going to be real displeased when he figures out
who did it.

    The small communicator on his wrist would alert the fleet to his
location, and he would be retrieved shortly. It was simply a matter of
setting things into motion before that happened. "Too much
interference," he declared, scowling. "This hackneyed plan has failed in
nearly every possible way _yet_."

Ah, suspected as much

    Slowly, hesitantly, the reaver approached, black glittering eyes
fixed firmly on Jakugo. He nodded again, and crouched to the ground,
setting the crystal in a small hollow of rock. "A gift from your
mistress, beast," he said, backing away. "Now get the hell out of here
before someone shows up to rescue me."

Oh, he's even badder than I though if he's aligned with Tokimi

    Tenchi stared at the screen for a long moment. The fire that had
consumed Kohito's ship echoed a fear of flame through him from the
Throne, but the chilling blackness that had eaten the flame, and
everything else near it was even more frightening, before it vanished.

Awkward. I think '...else near it before it vanished, was even more
frightening."

    The viewscreen zoomed in on a plummeting craft as it tumbled through
the atmosphere, Ryo-oh-ki's spines cracked and worn, not able to take
the force of reentry well. "Well," Tenchi muttered, "at least she made
it. Can we get someone there to help her out?"

Ouch. We know she'll be all right, though.

    Washuu glanced up, allowing Tenchi to see something of the room
behind her. Stark stone walls, with torches providing illumination,
while a bed was visible at one corner of the screen, apparently
occupied, though Tenchi couldn't tell by who. "Ran-oh-ki," Washuu
explained, turning her attention back to the screen. "He seems to try
and tell everything that falls into orbit where he is, now."

Heh.

and explained, "Ranma is the defender of Earth, for all intents and
purposes. I saved his life after he killed a reaver, and gave him what
he needed to keep fighting. In exchange, he protects me, and does
everything in his power to kill every reaver he can." Turning to
Tsunami, and smiling slightly, Washuu completed, "And he's not woken up

not awakened (would be better, I think)

    "I don't think I've seen her to be that lively in some time," Funaho
returned. "Washuu-chan, do you mind if I discuss something with you on a
private channel later?"

Heh. Once a spy, always a spy. :)

    Eyeing Funaho dubiously for a moment, Washuu permitted a small nod.
"I need to take care of things here. I'll contact you later," she
answered, terminating the connection.

    "This sure are

This sure is

or

Things sure are

    "And I still don't know if you even care about me," she sobbed
quietly, bending down to place a kiss against his forehead, while he
slumbered. "I wish you would give me some sort of sign, some answer...
oh, Ranma. This is why I stopped being grown up!"

Heh. It's pretty obvious she is grown up and only acts childish. The act
always gives way when it needs to

    "Actually," Washuu answered thoughtfully, "she used to destroy stars."

I thought it was just planets.

    Herb merely grunted, pacing out across the vast hall of his palace,
and stopping atop the massive stone staircase. He gestured into the
valley below, where Ryo-oh-ki had stopped, not quite touching the
ground. "There is the star," he stated. Indeed, unable to properly
control herself until the last moment, she still retained most of her
heat from reentry, glowing a dull red.

    Washuu frowned, narrowing her eyes slightly, as a beam of light
swept out, teleporting Ryouko and someone else to the space just before
the stairs. Ryouko drifted there, bearing the newcomer in her arms,
though he was unconscious at the moment. A Juraian starship captain,
from the looks of things. A wounded one, at that.

Oh, looks like she managed to snare him after all.

    [End, Process of Elimination, chapter 12 part A]

Will try to get to the next part soon. Still keeping the tension up, which
is good. And the reaver count remains the same for half a chapter,
remarkably enough. :)

D.B. Sommer

             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'