Chapter 59: No Need For Ambush
"I'm Lord Mori, a character made up by the fanfiction author Dragonwiles for the sake of this fanfiction," a Juraian lord in a sound room states. He adds darkly, "And if any of you are having any smart-alecky thoughts about how I'm just a puppet or don't really exist, save them. I'm trying to hunt down wanted criminals, including the former Princesses of Jurai.
"For some reason, Dragonwiles wanted me to be this chapter's DJ, though, so I guess I have to go along with it. Our song for this chapter will be 'The Fields of the Pelennor' from 'The Return of the King' film, and Dragonwiles doesn't claim to own it, or the film, got that?"
The dramatic music, recalling a pitched battle between armies and a dreadful duel, begins to play.
Lord Haruhi turned his head away from the holographic map in the center of the table and looked Lord Mori in the eye, telling him earnestly, "It's a good plan. You've reasonably guessed the fugitives' location and heading, you've considered their advantages and countered them. What still troubles you?"
Lord Mori frowned, as he had been doing steadily for the past few minutes. His chin was held in the crook between his thumb and forefinger. Lord Haruhi wasn't sure why he was thinking this hard when he had such a workable plan ready, and when they had both already refined it as much as was practical.
"I don't like sending a comrade into danger without assistance like this," he finally said in a voice half a mumble and half a grumble.
Lord Haruhi almost objected that Minagi wasn't a comrade, but a prisoner that they had temporary charge of. Both his concern for his friend and his own spirit kept him from saying that, though. He had seen that Minagi had treated them with as much - probably more- honor than they had her. She'd fought alongside them, without a hint of betrayal. His heart had come to acknowledge her as a comrade, too. He therefore reasoned aloud, "We'll be right there with her!"
"We'll be aboard our ships. It's not fast enough if anything happens," Lord Mori clarified sourly.
"We'd have more than enough time to avenge her if it came to that," Lord Haruhi noted. "Besides, it's no slight upon any of our number to say that Minagi is the only one here who could hold off Ryoko the Terrible, if it did come to that."
"I could still send the marines with her," Lord Mori started, and Lord Haruhi felt nervous, seeing his friend so uncomfortable with the plan that he would revisit the possibility that they'd already decided against, "but the whole point of this was to avoid a hostage situation." Lord Haruhi was glad he had returned to the same conclusion, but this meant that his friend disliked the plan enough to continually think in circles about it.
Lord Mori continued, "But that means Minagi's expendable, and I don't want to say that of anyone."
"We're all expendable," Lord Haruhi told him, getting a deeper scowl in response. He put up his hands appeasingly and pointed out, only slightly exasperated, "It's not wrong of you to put a warrior in reasonable danger to achieve a reasonable end!"
"Very well," Lord Mori replied. His scowl wasn't gone, but it was starting to settle into the grim look he got whenever making an official announcement. He took hold of his space tree key and asked Tetsuya to transmit the battle plan to the men.
One moment, Yagami and Yukinojo were flying through empty space, far from anyone and anything. The next, they were surrounded by Juraian space trees matching their pace. Mihoshi shouted in surprise on Yukinojo's bridge, while Kiyone flinched away from the console on Yagami's bridge. Mihoshi immediately and hysterically began telling the others of their group what was befalling them, while Kiyone found herself unable to look away from the tactical display. They were completely outmatched and outpositioned - the space trees naturally had access to military-grade storming levels that the GP did not, so they had snuck up on them completely undetected. There was no way to evade the space tree's sight since Yagami and Yukinojo did not possess such storming levels themselves.
They were going to die. Her parents, her friends at the GP, everyone would think that she was not just a criminal, but a traitor to the Juraians and the police. There'd never be any way to clear the name of Mihoshi or her brother or her grandfather, and never any defense for Kiyone's own parents whenever anyone looked at them askance for having raised a traitor. She'd lost everything.
Into the common room of Yukinojo teleported Minagi. This greatly startled Nobuyuki, who had been sitting on the couch, but had leapt to his feet when he heard Mihoshi's panicked announcement of nearby enemies. The others were rushing into the room on hearing the announcement, and drew their weapons upon seeing Minagi teleport in.
Minagi had her own weapon, her father's sword, drawn and ignited already, but instead of attacking, she said in a loud voice, "Surrender yourselves to justice, criminals. Put down your weapons and stop your villainy. This is your warning."
Ayeka strode forward and said fiercely, "I am the Princess Ayeka Masaki Jurai, and neither we nor our companions have done anything to deserve being named as criminals. We demand that we be allowed to pass this unlawful blockade of several sovereign Juraian persons immediately."
Minagi stared at them mistrustfully, and appeared more and more perplexed. "So, would you please explain this to me: you claim innocence?" she said finally and disbelievingly.
"We most certainly are innocent," Ayeka said firmly, "no matter what any other may claim."
Minagi frowned. "This is most shameful. It is obvious to all that you have committed a most horrid patricide in order to usurp the throne for your own ends. Had not there been people loyal to Jurai, the head of the Galactic Police would still be in his old position, supporting you."
Mihoshi hurried into the room from the cockpit, coming from behind Minagi, which startled Minagi. Not seeming to notice, Mihoshi exclaimed, "You've got it all backwards, how is that possible? The real usurper shoved aside King Kazuki and threw my grandfather in jail so that he could frame us for the rebellion he committed, and we wouldn't have any legal recourse!" She panted a moment and took in Minagi's shocked look. Mihoshi added, "I kinda thought that was obvious."
Lord Mori, observing Minagi's situation through surveillance equipment she had donned, grimaced. This was beginning to get out of hand. Not only that, but he definitely didn't want to be thinking about what Mihoshi had said. Not that he hadn't thought similar thoughts before, but this just simply wasn't the time for them. There was no way to know whether Mihoshi's claims were true or not. There were, however, plenty of ways to know that King Oda was the king now, and it was also possible that his claims were true.
In any event, it seemed that the group was unwilling to surrender, even though they were caught quite securely. That meant that they'd have to fight, and it was possible therefore that members of his expedition, including Minagi, would be at serious risk.
Minagi didn't reply to Mihoshi's explanation, but readied her weapon. Seeing this, Ayeka announced, "Since it seems this dispute cannot be resolved with words, let us at least practice civility when we solve it with blows. Minagi, daughter of Lord Yakage, I challenge you to single combat, to surrender or to death. We shall act as representatives of our parties, and whichever combatant loses, their party shall yield."
"Excuse me, but I must point out that a criminal has no right to challenge others," Minagi noted severely.
"I was graciously overlooking that for you," Ayeka said with a voice of steel, and Minagi's eyes narrowed. "Nevertheless, this arrangement is not without precedent, especially as you are not apparently imprisoned, but have some freedoms."
Minagi still seemed mutinous, but at this juncture Ryoko put in, "I was letting you guys talk your flowery Juraian duel stuff 'cuz it was pretty funny seeing you," she pointed at Minagi, "getting put in your place by Ayeka, of all people. Ayeka should really let her anger out a little more, give it some exercise."
Tenchi was pretty sure he didn't want that, and he was pretty sure that his house, whenever they returned to it, would suffer far more collateral damage if Ayeka were regularly this incensed during her tiffs with Ryoko.
Ryoko continued, "Still, I think I should let you and your buddies outside know that if you think you can threaten my Tenchi and not pay for it, you're dead wrong. Ryo-Ohki and I can and will destroy any ship that attacks."
Lord Mori had been about to communicate with both Minagi and the criminals before her, to inform them in no uncertain terms that no duel would be allowed. Ryoko's threat, however, had given him pause. The point of ambush and surroundment was that, if Minagi should be defeated, their Juraian space trees could easily destroy the GP cruisers, thus killing nearly all of the criminals. Though he expected high casualties facing Ryoko the Terrible, who would almost certainly not perish along with the cruisers, the expedition's combined and concentrated firepower could either destroy her, or valiantly perish trying. In any case, they would've done their duty by ridding the galaxy of nearly all of the criminals. However, Ayeka's unexpected actions had produced a stalemate that now made it possible that Ryoko could attack his expedition before they were ready to fire on the cruisers, meaning that his men would die to no cause.
He swore and tightened his grip on his space tree key, then used it to transmit to Minagi his order to accept the duel.
Minagi, upon hearing this order, pointed out aloud, to Lord Mori and those before her, "Princess Ayeka, since no nearby space tree elects to power your key blade, you have no weapon."
"I was prepared to use unarmed techniques the moment I entered this room," Ayeka declared, defiantly staring back.
"I meant no disrespect, but with my extra abilities born of the Masses," Minagi continued, "the match is unfair. The most logical match is with Lord Tenchi."
"What about me? Did you forget I have the same abilities, and even better?" Ryoko said dangerously.
"Lord Tenchi is Juraian," Minagi noted with fierce triumph, "and of the royal clans, thus has sufficient kinship to take Princess Ayeka's place, where any non-Juraian does not."
"I'll do it," Tenchi said, stepping forward. "But Minagi, Ayeka is right. We aren't the criminals here. And this isn't about your father, either. This is about something bigger than that. The king of Jurai has been betrayed, and innocent people in my home and all across the galaxy are in danger because of it. We have to get to Jurai, and I'll fight you until you let us go. You can't try for your revenge today. I won't let you."
"My lord, I think we should let the outcome of this duel determine whether my father is avenged," Minagi purred, just before she charged.
Tenchi found himself suddenly enveloped in his Light-Hawk Wing armor. Another flash later and he had the sword. He was glad of it, to be sure, but he really wished he had some idea of just how he was doing it.
He stepped forward to meet Minagi's charge and blocked her first strike, quickly moved his blade to block her second, and tried an attack of his own, only to have her dodge it. She attacked his head, and he batted it aside by slashing up with his own sword, leaving him ready to thrust at her head. He did so without hesitation - this wasn't the first person he'd killed, and she was definitely out for his head. She phased through the attack with her Mass abilities. Tenchi still had his feet planted, so he didn't lose his balance, so Minagi proceeded through him and turned, ready to deliver a vicious strike to his back. Tenchi, however, had been turning as well, so she instead dropped and levitated horizontally, parallel with the floor, and about five inches above it. She rematerialized and slashed at Tenchi's knees.
Tenchi brought his sword down too late to block, but the armor held, keeping at bay the blade Lord Yakage had made just centimeters from his right knee. He continued his attempted block and nearly cut off Minagi's sword hand. Again she dematerialized, but Tenchi was fairly sure that he'd at least nicked her, a guess backed up by her irritated expression as she buoyed herself towards the ceiling. This time, she rematerialized and kept her sword arm straight, but propelled herself forward, allowing her forward motion to power the thrust. Tenchi bent himself to avoid this, and used it as preparation for a jump. As he jumped, he keept his sword in front of him so as to strike at Minagi's floating torso. He scored, but again, before he did much damage, she dematerialized. She had shouted in alarm or pain just now, though. Tenchi realized to his chagrin that he had also damaged the ceiling of the common room.
Minagi had regained her composure and now came down from the ceiling behind Tenchi. This time he side-stepped an attack he could only guess was coming. This maneuver did indeed avoid the attack, he wasn't sure what sort, and he used the momentum from his side-step to turn towards Minagi. She was slashing at him, and he hurriedly parried, the tip of her sword glancing off of the shoulder of the Light-Hawk Wing armor. She was very strong, and he strained to keep up his block and keep her from digging further into his shoulder. He was relieved at last as Minagi withdrew her blade and tried to slash quickly at his head, while his sword was still guarding only his torso. Tenchi was meanwhile slashing at her torso - if Ryoko were his opponent, she would've punched him in the gut, and so Tenchi had developed this method to counter that. Though the situation was different with Minagi, he still forced her to dematerialize to nullify his strike, and thus cancelled out her own. Tenchi felt very weird as her insubstantial sword proceeded through his skull. At least he wasn't hurt.
She withdrew her insubstantial blade from his body, and he drew his blade out of her insubstantial body, and they faced each other again. Minagi definitely looked frustrated now. Tenchi stepped slightly to one side. She slightly circled around to the other side. They both feinted slightly, but neither took the bait.
Minagi suddenly charged him, and he struck a blow, but she had phased through it, phased through him, and she was behind him and she must've already turned because as he bent forward in an attempt to dodge, he felt a tremendous impact upon his upper back, between his shoulder blades. He stumbled forward, thankful that his armor had held, because that would've killed him! Moving his feet just like Grandpa taught him, he turned and counterattacked. Minagi parried him twice, but the third time he got her sword arm again, and this time, since she hadn't expected the maneuver Yosho had taught him, the wound was grievous. If Tenchi hadn't been caught up in the fight, he would've felt uneasy for a moment.
As it was, Minagi phased out and stumbled back, then sprang upon him. He leapt at her, and though she could've dematerialized and avoided the blow, Tenchi suddenly realized that she was accepting the blow in order to strike him. But it was too late for that - he had angled his strike to counter hers, and he struck true.
As soon as he landed, he turned about, ready for another attack, but he saw that Minagi was in no shape to fight. Trying to both counter her blow and land one of his own, while in the middle of a leap, had proven too difficult, and she was still alive, but with a terrible wound on her sword arm, and another on the opposite shoulder. Minagi knelt and gasped, "I yield." She clutched at her injured arm, eyes wide from pain.
Ayeka strode forward briskly, and without losing a moment, announced, "We accept. You may keep your weapons and vessels, and remove your wounded champion for treatment, but we demand your parole, that you will not pursue us again."
Nobuyuki almost said aloud that they could use another ship, but he realized in time that the other people needed to keep their honor.
A hologram of a Juraian lord, whom Nobuyuki guessed was the commander of the expedition, appeared in the common room, and from the hologram came a voice saying, "I, Lord Mori, do give my parole."
"As do I, Minagi," said Minagi, her breath still ragged. She might've pitched forward, but before she could, she disappeared in a shower of sparks. The common room's hologram showing the space around them displayed the Juraian vessels departing.
Mihoshi asked anxiously, "Are you okay, Tenchi?"
His armor and sword conveniently disappeared at that point, and he checked himself. "No, it looks like I'm fine," he reassured her. "Wow, if it weren't for that training Grandpa gave me, and that I've been doing with everyone, I sure wouldn't have made it! Even with that, I've got to figure out how to make this armor on demand."
"Do you not already, Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka asked. "It appears at those times which you most need it. Of late, it appeared so quickly, I thought you had summoned it."
"No, not really," Tenchi said dolefully, "and sometimes it's still slow. And I don't want it appearing when I don't need it, like when we're sparring. And I have no idea if it'll go away as suddenly as it came. I need to be able to control it." He shook his head a moment and then sighed, "I don't know. I guess I'll just have to keep training in normal ways until somebody has an idea."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ryoko suggested. "Pumping blood shouldn't go to waste. To the gym!"
Tenchi almost refused, and wanted to say that he'd done more than enough for today. He knew, however, that as little he wanted to spar now, he'd be even less enthusiastic later. Besides, it looked like this was, for some reason, how Ryoko wanted to celebrate the victory. He just hoped she wasn't planning on some sort of reenactment of the battle. Tenchi didn't find that kind of thing nearly as entertaining as she did.
Kiyone walked into Yagami's small galley, having left the vessel on autopilot. She fussed in the ship's stores a bit, trying to decide how close they were to running out of certain foodstuffs. She felt tightly wound, as though she would need to explode into action at the smallest provocation.
Yosho, who was in the ship's common room, walked to the doorway connecting the two rooms, and stood there. "Ah, Officer Kiyone. Good morning. It's not lunchtime already, is it?"
Kiyone shook her head and answered absently, "No, Mr. Masaki, I was just taking stock of the provisions."
"That was quite some excitement we had earlier," Yosho commented. "I'm certainly glad Tenchi won. I'm very proud of him."
"He is certainly quite something, Mr. Masaki," Kiyone said, finally turning to face him. "I can tell that you've trained him very well. If it weren't for him, we'd all be dead several times over. Especially just now."
Yosho nodded sharply. "Indeed. His dedication has given us all great rewards. I don't think he really liked sword training at first, but I'm glad he stuck with it." He walked back into the common room and sat down on the couch.
Kiyone nodded thoughtfully, paused, still tense, then stepped into the common room and asked, "Mr. Masaki, would you please take over the ship for a little while?"
"Me?" Yosho blinked at her.
"I'd show you everything that you'd need to do," Kiyone said quickly. "It's a lot more work than a Juraian space tree, of course, but we're on autopilot and things are calm right now. Basically you'd just need to keep an eye on things."
"It's been a long time since my spacefaring days," Yosho demurred. "I couldn't replace you, Kiyone."
Kiyone sighed and took a seat in the common room, facing him. She clasped her hands anxiously above the table and said earnestly, "Maybe I need someone to replace me, at least for a little while. I'm getting worried that I might not be good at the controls in my current state."
"Your current state?" Yosho inquired gently.
Kiyone's words were hasty, almost desperate, as she confessed, "When we were ambushed, I froze up, completely. If there had been something we could've done, if someone had needed me to do something, I couldn't have done it. I haven't done that in, in, I think I haven't ever done that before. But now I have."
Yosho listened patiently. She went on to say, "I feel pretty bad about it. I thought I'd try and do better. I was okay after the initial shock. But it's like my instructors at the GP always said, the first shock is when you need to be able to do something. I'd be so embarrassed if one of them saw me here today."
"None of them did," Yosho calmly observed.
"Maybe they should've," Kiyone laughed bitterly. "I would've been easily captured. They could've arrested me in an instant."
Yosho cupped his chin in his hands.
"I think about that a lot, how most of the GP is after me, the part of the GP that isn't already jailed," Kiyone confided further. "I think that's why I froze up today. I was sure that we were done for, and that I wouldn't be able to help the people Oda's jailed. Mihoshi's dad would stay in jail, or worse. I wouldn't be able to explain to my parents that I was wrongfully accused. They've always been proud of me, but if this conspiracy has its way, they'll be ashamed of me every day of the rest of their lives." She was surprised to find herself tearing up. She thought she had this all under control, had the thoughts locked tightly enough, and had run through them so often, that they wouldn't affect herself this much. Kiyone violently wiped her face with a single pass of the back of her hand.
"We always want those we love the most to be proud of us," Yosho agreed kindly.
"But they may never know they can be proud of me," Kiyone said. The weight of her sorrow was now such that she almost didn't care about her humiliation in front of a man she didn't know that well. "For all they know, I could be doing anything, out here on the run. I'm just another criminal now."
"You are far more than that," Yosho told her firmly. "Every one of us appreciates your support. Without you here, we would be short a very capable and dependable friend. They are always in short supply. And you care for and maintain Yagami, one of only three sanctuaries in space available to us."
"Thank you," Kiyone told him, and she meant it so much, it almost made the other times she'd said it insincere. Even if his reassurance wasn't taking away the sadness, the fact that he was even trying was so much more than she was entitled to that she couldn't help but respond. "I really thank you, Mr. Masaki."
"Thank you, Officer Kiyone," Yosho told her firmly. "I don't believe we say that often enough. Thank you, truly."
Kiyone nodded, and sensing moisture about to fall, forcefully daubed at her eyes with both hands, for good measure. "Maybe what I really need is to relax - it is my break period," Kiyone said aloud, trying to force some cheerfulness into her voice. "Would you like some tea?"
"I would enjoy that, thank you," Yosho told her.
Making the tea did eventually make her feel more calm and in control. She really didn't want to go back into the areas of her mind she had been in, still. To change the subject, as Kiyone brought in the tea, she asked, "So, Mr. Masaki, I suppose that you've been training Tenchi for some time in order to be able to someday use the Light-Hawk Wings. How do you train someone to be able to use a technique like that?"
"I'm afraid you misunderstand, Kiyone," Yosho smiled at her and sipped his tea. "This is excellent," he commented with a pleased sigh. Kiyone had a sip and had to admit it was one of her better blends. Yosho continued, "I never taught Tenchi to use the Wings. In fact, I never knew they existed in anything but the space trees."
"They aren't natural for Juraians?" Kiyone inquired, intrigued.
"No," Yosho says. "Not even in our legends about the founding of Jurai is there any reference to Juraians having such wings, only the trees."
Kiyone sighed in relief. "Excuse me, but I have to say I'm very relieved to hear that. I wasn't looking forward to taking Oda and a whole bunch of people who could do the same things!"
Yosho laughed, "Indeed." He sobered a moment to say, "Juraians are just as dangerous as you've heard, and most of the ones we will face do have impressive sword techniques. But you are right, we do not have to face anyone with the powers that Tenchi has. He is unique, and given my parents' interest in him, I think I can say that he truly is one of a kind."
Kiyone shook her head. "I'm truly amazed some days at the illustrious people I'm accompanying," she admitted, "Your Highness, to talk with you yourself, with a legend, I am truly honored."
"You're very kind," Yosho smiled. "Thank you."
After thinking a moment, she asked, "If you didn't teach Tenchi to use it, then how did he acquire that power?"
"That must be the one thing Mihoshi didn't put in her report," Yosho said with some amusement. "I inquired about it a lot, and eventually, he told us one day at dinner that he thought that Lady Tsunami had given them to him, but wasn't really sure himself. Especially since Lady Tsunami didn't mention it at all, or teach him how to use them. Tenchi uses them mostly based on instinct and feeling. He seemed a bit embarrassed about it all. He wanted a better explanation. That boy was probably also afraid that Washu would use his ignorance as an excuse for more experiments on him." Yosho chuckled.
Kiyone couldn't quite smile - she didn't blame Tenchi a bit. She wondered aloud, "I'm surprised I don't remember this."
Yosho shrugged, "I think that may have been one of the times when you were in orbit around Earth, on patrol, and Mihoshi was spending her break period with us."
Kiyone nodded and let the matter go. She knew now, in any case. Somehow or another, Tenchi had been given or had obtained an incredible power that no one else had. She wasn't ready to declare him invincible - having watched the videos of many of his battles, there were several swordstrokes that were too close for comfort. Still it was heartening to hear that they didn't need to fear anyone else using such things on them. It would make simply staying alive, which she viewed as her main job in the upcoming conflict of powerful Juraians, much easier.
Lord Haruhi asked Lord Mori concernedly, "So, how is our champion faring?"
With a frown, he answered, "The healers said that she wanted to tell us that she was sorry she wasn't strong enough. They almost seemed more worried about depression than the injury."
"It's hard not to be depressed after having something like that happen to your sword hand," Lord Haruhi stated sympathetically, "but I'm sure the healers will be able to set it to rights."
"Most likely," Lord Mori agreed. Hopefully her alien heritage wouldn't present any unforeseen obstacles to her healing, but so far the healers were unworried about that, so he should be, too. Lord Haruhi gave a brief farewell and teleported back to his ship to give some orders to the men there. Almost as soon as he had left, Tetsuya signaled to Lord Mori that there was an incoming message from their command center.
As the communication began, Lord Mori bowed to the larger-than-light holographic image of his superior, his own image being transmitted back to his superior. "My lord," Lord Mori greeted calmly.
"Lord Mori, greetings," his commander said with similar neutrality. He then said in a slightly warmer tone, "That was most unfortunate, your recent loss, but these things do happen in battle."
"I take full responsibility, my lord," Lord Mori said, remaining bowed.
"We accept that, we accept that," the lord told him, apparently making an effort to be jovial and good-natured. "After all, that Lord Tenchi is a formidable warrior. You were simply out of your league this time. At ease."
The muscles in his back relaxed at last as Lord Mori finally straightened. When he had done so, his commander continued, "Next time, of course, I expect things to be different. You had a good plan, sending the prisoner in, and she did well. Just be more prepared next time - send in overwhelming might, that's clearly the key here. You caught them once, and you're about the only one who's really had them boxed in, other than Nagi, maybe. Anyhow, change your course and set out in pursuit of them immediately, there's no time to lose."
He hadn't expected this sort of moment to come so soon, and he felt an icy spike being driven into his stomach. "My lord, I did give my parole."
"Oh, there's no need to worry about that," his commander said, dismissive. "I know how important this sort of thing is, you know, so I went ahead and had one of our most distinguished ombudsmen look into this before I called. He agreed that you're quite in the clear. So there's no need to worry now, your reputation will remain unimpeachable. Just go ahead and turn the ships about."
"Of course, my lord," Lord Mori agreed quickly. That was it, then. He'd thought that he might have at least a day or two before this order came. Short as it was, that time would've given Minagi and the space trees and the men a much-needed rest at the nearby base, and given him some time to lull his conscience to sleep.
As things were, his conscience would be fully aware of its torment. He was about to break his word of honor, which it was his duty to keep. Still, his duty to his betters was the higher duty, and he would always do the higher duty. It was the only reliable way, after all.
Next Chapter
"The next chapter is 'No Need For Cabbit Grudges'," Minagi says as she is bandaged by Juraian healers. "I am not sure how to react to the ignominy of this chapter, but I will abide it, for the time being. I am told that you can expect it on or before December 8, 2012." Her voice and face twist in emotional and physical pain.
Dragonwiles motions to the healers, and they lift her on a stretcher and hurriedly depart. He concludes, "I am planning to continue the fanfiction after the Dec. 8 chapter, but that chapter will probably be the last one that I write or post this year. Thank you all very much for reading this story, and I hope that you continue to enjoy it."
Continuity With Dragonwiles
Dragonwiles reposes in state in the library of his lair. Looking up from his book, he greets, "Welcome to this special segment, in which I give a few brief continuity notes.
"This chapter doesn't occur in the Tenchi Universe arc, and that's the clearest way that I can think to say it. Keep reading if you want to read the bizarre details of why that's the case.
"Basically, since Minagi is a creation of Hitoshi Okuda's manga based on the OVA, she doesn't exist in the Universe canon. Lord Mori and Lord Haruhi are characters I made up, so they exist in no canon. And never in Tenchi Universe did Tenchi ever have to fight anyone in Yukinojo's common area. In fact, I'm pretty sure that for some reason, only Yagami was used in the Universe arc in which they travel to defeat the king of Jurai.
"I don't know whether Tenchi liked sword training at first or not, but the OVA sometimes suggests that as useful as it turns out to be, he is ambivalent about it. I think that most people feel that way about most any kind of training, even if it is worthwhile.
"So, in summary, this chapter never happened in the Universe arc, but I hope that you like it anyways."