"Patrol 3, come in please. Patrol 3, what is your status?” the COM system crackled.

"No troubles so far, patrol 3, out", commander Kurohyou answered. “Just like yesterday, last week, and last year. Patrol duty in this system is so boring”, his wingman answered. “But, hey, I haven’t seen this fuel pocket yet” The Sigma 13 system was nice quite place to get fuel form. Thousands of pockets of valuable H-fuel created a huge nebula in the system. With 2 stars and no planets, there was absolutely no sight in the system what so ever. The Gas Miners Guild, simply called GMG first arrived into the system at 60 AS, and started mining it shortly after. Now, exactly 540 years later, the GMG was still here, mining it with a detailed plan. The goal of the current mining operation was, aside from profit, to create a suitable spot for a base. It would be the second or third base for the GMG. In another system, sigma 19, a good spot was found also, but since the system was only 50 years ago discovered and the remoteness of the system, not much was known about it. Still, plans were there to create a jumpgate from Honshu to the system, but they were far from ready.

A small dark spot caught Kurohyou’s eye: “Kurohyou to patrol, I saw something on the left, follow me to check it out, and keep you eye’s open”. Slowly they closed in on the target. “It’s a spy drone. Looks like a Rheinland design. Shall I shoot it, commander?”

“No, tractor it in, and we will bring it home. The intel guys on the Aomori station will love this gadget. Quite well hidden too. We were lucky to find it.”

“Patrol 3 to base, we have found a drone, and we will bring it home. Can you send another patrol to finish our sweep?”


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“A spy drone huh?”

“Yes Emperor, a Rheinland one” the servant replied. “The technicians from GMG were stripping it, but it seems it was booby trapped. It exploded as soon as it came on Aomori station. Luckily there were no injuries”

“Ok, thanks for the report. Let our agents keep an eye on Rheinland’s companies, and there traffic to the sigma systems. Make sure the GMG sends all their data they could gather.”

“Yes Emperor” the servant replied.

Emperor Yorukaze looked to the holoscreen, as the servant soundlessly moved out of the room. It displayed a view on ancient Tokyo, back on the old earth. No one really knew what it looked like now, but it was presumed to be destroyed. For 595 years, or at least old earth years, this planet was the new capital of the Kusari empire. Here in Sirius, this was the new Japan. 5 ships left the ravages of the sol system, searching for a better life. Upon arrival, the Liberty landed first, marking a new calendar. At 5 AS, the Kusari landed on the planet New Tokyo, marking the beginning of a new empire. It was a comfortable planet, with small islands which, though overcrowded now, were remarkably nice. Much better then the Rheinlanders choice. They saw a planet near some great riches, and landed it there at the same time Kusari was formed. Now, they paid for it. The government was unloyal to its citizens, creating a large gap between poor and rich. It was the result of acquiring wealth before the costs. As the emperor thought over this, another servant came in.

“Lord Emperor, Miss Suzaka requests an audience about the spy drone matter”

Yorukaze frowned. Miss Suzaka was, although just in her twenties, one of the top strategists of the Kusari Naval Force and somehow had an ear in the intelligence network too. Almost no event didn’t pass her desk. But for her, to request an audience about a simple spy drone was uncommon. Sigma 13 wasn’t Kusari space, and spy drones were found every once and a while.

“Let her enter” the Emperor ordered, and saw the servant leave the room silently, as ever

2 Minutes later, the servant opened the door again, but before he could speak, Suzaka pushed him aside. “Emperor Yorukaze, we..

“Bow before the Emperor, woman”, the servant shouted, as his hand moved to his kodachi, a small sword. At the moment he wanted to grasp the sword, he caught nothing but air.

“Don’t do it, Suzaka”, the Emperor said: “It is hard to find such loyal servants”.

The servant now noticed that his kodachi was in the lady’s hand, with the tip nearly touching his ear.

“Leave the Lady and me, and take your toy with you. And don’t do stupid things to yourself, she could have killed us both before you even thought of reaching the blade.”

Suzaka handed the small sword to the servant with a smile, making the servant even more uncomfortable then he already was.

As the servant left the room, the Emperor smiled. “Please Suzaka, keep little formality in front of other people. They are not used to your, hmm, style. My ancestors might have let you killed for your disrespect for protocol.”

“Yes, lord Yorukaze.”, Suzaka answered, as she bowed before the Emperor.

“Look up child, there are no others here right now, and for now I can at least be human instead of Emperor.”

As Suzaka looked up, he smiled. “Not only a great strategist, but also a skilled in combat.” He thought. “This, only surpassed by her beauty makes her a great friend, or a deadly enemy.” She went through the ranks at a great speed, something that might have killed her. Luckily the Emperor noticed her before the most people, and thus protected her from anyone that might have a problem with her.

“Still, I need the Emperors ear.”

“Always the working one, huh. Well, you shall have it. What is on your mind Lady?”

“The drone that the GMG picked up. There are more things then that. I heard that the last 4 days 37% of our agents in Rheinland are not reporting in. We also noted that there military activity has increased. Until now we believed it was to secure the Omega systems. But with the drone, it might be that they aim for something else, Sigma 13. And with their jumpgate access from the Frankfurt an invasion is not unlikely.”

“And we can’t officially do anything about it. We have never claimed the system, nor did any other house. But it is mainly controlled by the GMG, which supplies us with H-fuel. And we supply the rest of the houses.”

“It’s a smart plan. And we can’t officially do anything about it.”

“Not without going into war”, Suzaka answered.

“Inform the keiretsu, though they probably already know about most things. And gather try to get more intel on their military movements. That’s all for now.”

“Yes Emperor, she replied”

Yorukaze saw her moving across the hall to the doors. “Not the gentle step of a woman, but totally perfect movements for combat.”

“Suzaka, a moment please. The generals keep you out of the blood dragon war aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are afraid of loosing their jobs, Emperor”

“Well, how about another task?”

“Emperor?”

“I will leave you in charge of this matter. I will give word to the GMG that you will come to discuss a few things. They have great pilots, but they have virtually no intelligence agency, and no strategist of importance. Just by sending you their, Rheinland might think twice. It will send a message that we do not just sit and watch.”

“Yes, Emperor” she muttered. She moved quickly to the door now, almost running.

As the door closed behind her, the Emperor noticed her last expression. “Hmm, a genuine smile, not a deadly one, like the one that she just gave the servant. I have never seen that before.”

“It a perfect plan, Chancellor Graff. We are dealing with most of their agents at this very moment, and have removed about 71% of them. The storages are full and our military can move out of the Nebula’s in the Dresden system at any time.”

Chancellor Rudolf Graff looked at his general. General Schwanbeck was a long man. A little over 2 meter, almost dwarfing the Chancellor. “Tall, but brilliant” the Chancellor thought. “His plan to take over the sigma system had been created in 12 years, and will finish in the same number of days. After that Rheinland would have its own fuel source. No longer would they be buying it from the Kusari. And with the victory, the people will love me. Celebrations will be made to honour my name. And it will echo to the centuries that would follow. And all that with this generals plan. But, first there is work to be done.”

“How much time until it is done, Schwanbeck. When will all of their spies be removed?”

“We estimate 20 more hours, sir. Then all is set to go.”

“Then we will go in 40 hours. Let them get confused first. Are there any signs they know about this?”

“No Chancellor, everything is in order.”

“Ok, you can leave then.”

Schwanbeck closed the doors behind him. “Everything checks out fine, indeed, except for the missing drone of last week. But only I know that. And you will not know until you are blown to dust by the bomb on your little command ship. And then I will step up in your place, and capture Sigma 13 with the remaining fleet.” As he walked to his driver, he noticed a little child on the street. Probably lost his parents in this hard winter. “Well, that is the workers life”, he thought. “You know kid, take this coin, and know it is good to be in Rheinland.”


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As the GMG space station doomed out of the nebula, it became clear to Suzaka in an instant. “The GMG is far more powerful then they are given credit for and far more practical then any other corporation in Kusari.”

The station was the main base for all operations of the GMG. Not only did it process most of the raw H-fuel to the requested refinement, it was also the headquarters of the organisation. Just a little outpost when it was first established, it was growing and revisited throughout its history.

The transport landed on the station smoothly. The speed was way too high to be on autopilot, but the pilot clearly knew what he was doing. “Well, no time to lose, lets get started immediately”, Suzaka thought. As soon as the docking bay was pressurized she opened the door. Two men were waiting for her.

“Hello, Major Suzaka I presume? I am chairman Toriyoshi. This here is commander Kanwara. He will be your guide in the station, and in the GMG. Anything you need, he will help you with it. But first a tour through the station”

“Thank you, chairman. But I would like to start immediately. Commander, I will need a place to sleep, and a room to work in. It needs at least 4 chairs, and must be able to contain 20 people. I want to see the export to Rheinland over the last 20 years. I also want to see the full weapon inventory, and resources. Can you arrange that for me?”

“uh, yes Major.”

“Call me Suzaka from now on, protocol tends to get in our way when we will work in this short time. Now hurry.”

As she saw him quickly walk to follow his orders, she looked at his pace. “Fast but firm, seems like a good man.” She looked back to the chairman: “Do you have the pilot here; I want to speak to him as soon as possible. And, if it is not too much trouble, can I get something to eat?”

The chairman smiled: “I am glad that the rumours are true. They said you were more of a worker then an officer. I must check in with the latest survey of sigma-19 specimens. The gas looks very promising, but it’s an unstable jumphole that leads to there. If this checks out fine, I might convince the board to push for Jumpgate. As for you, take the elevator over there, and go to the level twenty four. That is the recreation and mess deck. I will inform commander Kurohyou to see you there.”

As she moved to the elevator, she couldn’t help but notice the eyes of the workers that followed her. “They must be suspicious about the navy. Well, can’t really blame them. The government never really accepted the GMG as a keiretsu and thus was never really important to Kusari. Strange, cause they monopolize the H-fuel mining. There must be a reason. Why doesn’t the government keep a closer eye on this large organisation? I must look into that later.”

“Miss, what level do you need?”

She looked up from her thoughts: “Sorry, I was out of it. Level 24”

“F&R level, coming up.”

20 seconds later the doors opened again. “Here is your stop. Try the fried eggs; they say it is the best in the Honshu system.”

As she entered the hall, it seemed like cantina for everyone. The pilots, workers and all the other residents were eating together at the long tables. As she walked towards one of the food displays, a large man crossed her path and stopped her.

“We don’t need Navy here. Not even when they are here to help. We manage here just fine.”

The room became a less noisy.

“If you want to work in the next few weeks, it would be wise to remove that hand.”

More faces turned to look at them.

“And what would a little girl like you do to me. Call in your precious generals?”

Just a few whispers crossed the room.

“I had something else in mind. But mostly I reserve such things for real men. Now, remove your hand.”

Total silence.

“Well, let’s dance then little girl”

The man tried to hit her with his left fist, but smacked into nothing but thin air. As he tried to recover from his initial attack, a sharp pain in his entered neck. He suddenly felt very weak and dropped on his knees.

Suzaka removed her foot from his neck. “Maybe you should try to pick some girls from you own size.”

“Or Yuji should keep his mind to his work and own wife.”, a voice went from behind her. It was the guy from the elevator. “Right, Yuji?”

Sounds were suddenly spreading though the hall again, and here and there credits exchanged from owner.

“Say that to me sooner, little brother.” The large man named Yuji stood up. “Wow, woman! Is that the new academy fashion in New Tokyo?”

“No, just some own style”, Suzaka replied.

“Meet my brother, Kurohyou Yuji. He is not that bad as he may look at first sight and he is a hell of a mechanic.”

Yuji bowed before Suzaka. “Kurohyou Yuji, at your service. And if you excuse me, that mechanic part of me should get his butt 22 decks lower.”

As Yuji walked to one of the elevators Suzaka looked at the younger brother. “And you are?”

“I am the man that you are looking for. Commander Kurohyou Ryosuke. Saviour of big brothers and finder of explosive spy drones.”


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“So, the Rheinlanders are willing to start a conflict with the Kusari.” Queen Andrade I of the Bretonian kingdom looked across the table. Colonel Graves of MI6 was sitting at the other end. “Or do they expect that the Kusari government let the GMG down.”

“All our agents within Kusari have heard of no troop movement within Kusari. That could indicate two things. It could mean that the Kusari government knows nothing, or that they indeed let the GMG loose their control of Sigma 13. The Rheinland agents must have drawn the same conclusion.”

The Queen pressed a button on her panel, and the holoscreen displayed the Sigma-13 system. “How long until they will attack”, queen Andrade asked.

“The Rheinlanders are trying to remove all Kusari agents as of last week. We estimate that they will move their fleet within the next 30 hours.”

“That fast? And we were thinking that they were building forces to secure the Omega regions against the Corsairs. Well, nothing to be done about that. What do you think will happen?”

Graves looked at hologram. “I think that the Rheinlanders will move with an overwhelming force into the system. The GMG will try to stop them, but will fail in that. The Rheinlanders seem to have this planned for at least 10 years. Even if they will not take control of the system in 48 hours, they will be able to keep it up for more then 6 months. They have been storing a lot of supplies.”

“I think you are right”, the GMG doesn’t stand a chance. “Do the lords know about the situation?”

“They are being informed by my men at this moment.”

“Good.” Queen Andrade pushed another button, and a man entered the room within seconds. “Summon all lords for a meeting. I want them all here within 6 hours. Make preparations for it too.” The man left a quickly as he came in.

“I want you at the meeting too. Go to the housemaster to get decent clothing for it, and report back her in 5 hours. I will contact the Liberty president and get there position in all of this.”

“Yes queen.” He bowed and walked to the door.”

“Colonel?” He stopped his movement and looked at the queen. “What if the Kusari knows about it, and they will lead them into a trap?”

“Then the Rheinlanders will need far more supplies then they have stored I guess.”

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Marlene Schwanbeck looked at her ship. One of the new cruisers, secretly created in the Dresden system. It had the newest guns and missile racks. And, on top of that, it had a command bridge to control a fleet. “Can you fly around it before we land on her?” she asked the pilot. As the pilot moved around the cruiser, she looked.

“A second command bridge on the fleet”, went through her head. “The Chancellor will control one and I will command the other. But at the end only I will command the fleet. With the destruction of his battleship, the fleet must still be commanded to destroy the GMG. And my dear Brother in Berlin will immediately take the seat of power.”

“Ok, you can land now”.

The pilot carefully executed the landing manoeuvre. He slowly placed the transport in a good position and contacted the cruisers flight control to take it from there.

As the ship steadily landed, Marlene moved to the door: “take my bags to my room as soon as possible, soldier.”

“Yes Sir.”

As the door opened, she heard the attention signal. All men immediately jumped into position.

“Carry on.”

A man moved toward her. “Colonel Schwanbeck, I am captain Schwarz. I hereby transfer control to you, sir. As I understood I will be your second from now on.”

“you are right, commander Schwarz. We will leave within 30 hours. I heard you have had command training?”

“Yes sir, I have attended the same class as your brother.”

“That’s why I asked you as my second. There are a few private things I want to discuss with you. I want you to come to my quarters at 2100. Understood?”

“Yes sir”.

“Ok, carry on with your duties.” Marlene looked as he walked toward the stairs. “A fine person, but with one weakness,” she thought: “He has not had a woman since he came here 4 months ago. That will be the bargain chip. At least he looks alright.”


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“An increase of 46% highly refined fuel to Rheinland in the last 9 years, and you do not think it is strange?” Suzaka looked at Toriyoshi. She was still in the mess hall. Kanwara gave all the info and stuff she wanted while she was still busy with her dinner. Now, three hours later she had not toughed it since. Commander Kurohyou was called away for another patrol, this time in the nearby crow nebula. After a while chairman Toriyoshi came to look how she was doing, and found an angry Major.

“No need to get hard, miss Suzaka. Do not forget that the Empire sent you as an advisor.” Suzaka quickly calmed herself. “I will let you in into a little secret. In the last 6 days, our agents in Rheinland are being hunted as hell. In the same time we find a spy drone in your precious sigma 13, and now we find that Rheinland has been stockpiling enough fuel to remain independent for the next year. And you do not think that is strange? My best estimation is that they will invade sigma 13 in 26 hours and with an overwhelming force. We know there military has consumed about 27% of there total income last year. Now you know what is aimed at the GMG. Luckily, the Kusari government would hate to see Rheinland so close to our borders. Sigma 13 is only 1 jump away from this system. And we also do not wish to see any other house producing H-fuel. That would ruin our economy. But we also know that Kusari cannot go to an open war with the Rheinlanders. So, there we are. If you have any idea’s, now is the time.”

Toriyoshi was silent, and looked a bit pale now. For at least ten seconds it was quite on the table. He grasped his communicator: “Ops, I want the board in 30 minutes in the conference room. I also want the leaders of Samura Industries and Kishiro on the line, before that time. Give them the following message: Tasogare. Also, scrap all flights to any other system then 13. To 13 I want only patrols, double strength. Retreat the gas miners stationed there” He looked at Suzaka: “If what you say is true, we will need all the help we can get and all ships we have, and even that might not be enough. Can you get all the data organised and ready to be presented before the board meeting starts? Kanwara, help her with that. I will set the great lobby machine in work.” He immediately walked to one of the elevators.

As Suzaka looked at the pads before her, Kanwara saw the face of her. “Miss Suzaka, please let us go to your work room. We can get the presentation ready, and in the meanwhile get you into shape for the meeting. Though the GMG is more liberal then other companies and the chairman is one of the more liberal amongst the board, there are a lot conservative minds in the higher places.”

Suzaka replied: “With old fashioned thinking about women.”


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The gas miner Sakura was one of the oldest ones in the Guilds possession. Though the ship was a larger then most miners, its cargo hold was on the smaller side. This was mainly because the first miners were not fitted with shields, and thus needed a strong armoured hull. Shields were later installed, but the armour remained, making it ideal for deeper mining in more hostile environment. And so it did, now doing its third run in sigma 13 this year, it was harvesting H-fuel the on the edge of the gravity dead zone between the two stars. It was a more dangerous place, and without strong shielding and armour the ship could be torn apart. That would also be the case if they were going too far in the dead zone or if they would come to close to one of stars. In the latter case they would sink into the star. But the rewards of this place were high. The warmth of the sun’s, in combination with the gravity of them, and the dead zone between it, created fuel pockets that were far richer then the average pocket. “Commander, we have an urgent transmission from Aomori.”

Commander Kaori Hanto walked to the screen near the processor.

“Put it through”, she replied to the voice. The screen displayed a single word:

“Karasu”

She switched off the screen, looked at the heavy mining equipment in the processing area, and shouted a few curses. “Nothing on this damn trip works properly. First the accident that killed 4 men and injured the captain, now we have to get back home with a half cargo.” She pushed a few buttons and got the medical bay on the line. “Doc, when the captain wakes up, tell him we are on our way home.”

The refining foreman walked toward her. “That wasn’t a retreat message was it?”

“It was”, Kaori replied, “Finish things up, I will go to the bridge and hope I can get this thing out of the zone.”

While she walked to the stairs to climb four decks to the bridge, she could hear the foreman shout: “Ok, maggots, we are going home. Now get that last fuel in and out of the way. It is going to be a bumpy ride.”

When she arrived on the bridge, they all looked at her. They were still not used to be commanded by a woman. But when the captain was down, she was next in line. “Aomori just called. We are to go back to the Kusari immediately. Notify all stations to secure the load. Helm, plot a course and get this ship home. We are to use the jumpgate to Honshu. The tide and currents aren’t favourable at the moment, so prepare for a hell of a ride out of here.”


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“This is what we have been waiting for!” The lord Lorean stood up from his place, and walked to the centre of the room. “Ever since we arrived here in Sirius, we had to buy our fuel from the Kusari. If that damn monopoly could be broken, we could thrive from the lower prices resulting from it. I say that we should just sit and watch.” The room mumbled with most voices positive to the idea. Queen Andrade looked in the hall and raised her hand. The room fell silent.

“Before anything is decided, I would like you to listen to our Intelligence officer. I give the word to colonel Graves.”

Graves now walked to the centre of the room. “Lords of Bretonia, for almost 600 years now we live in a relatively peaceful time of mankind. This is all due to the delicate balance of power. Each of the 4 houses that has reached Sirius has recourses to drain from there systems. This is about to be changed. With various agencies we have ran several simulations. They all came to the same conclusion. When Rheinland has a fuel supply, they will become too powerful to keep the balance. At the same time Kusari will diminish in there power. Kusari will have to expand to get more exportable resources, or they will be overrun by us and the other houses. But that is not the main problem. Rheinland will have recourses to spare, and they will most likely use it for their military. And who knows where they will aim at. There is a reasonable possibility they will try to get more recourses. Even if that means they will get into a real war with another house.”

The room kept silent as the colonel stepped back. Lord Lorean stepped up once again: “It is ridiculous to assume they will go to war with us after having taken control of some fuel. They cannot have the recourses for that. Maybe it would be time we did some controlling ourselves, after the Kusari economically broken. This can be a glorious day for our great empire! I say we vote for it.” Rumour came again though the hall.

“Let’s build more ships and weapons”, it sounded from the right.

Queen Andrade now stepped up. “Ever since we arrived in Sirius, the Kusari never used their monopoly against us. The price of fuel moves up and down with their needs. They have never done anything that threatens us.”

“And now we make sure they will never be able to do it”, Lord Lorean shouted:”We should…”

“Interrupt me again Lord Lorean, and you will never be able to do anything again!” A total silence came over the room, as if it was a presence of its own. Never had anyone ever seen the Queen this angry, but they all knew that she would warn only once.

Andrade breathed heavily. She let the silence rest for a while, while she calmed herself. After a minute she continued: “Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me finish. I suggest that we return the favour to the Kusari. We should make a deal with them. They keep a low price for us and we get mining rights for a few systems. In exchange we will not support Rheinland with any special requests and offer a lower price on ships that they will buy from us. And with this war, they will buy them. I say it is time for a vote. Time is short on this one, so we keep a 30 minutes recess.”

Most of the Lords walked toward the door to consult with their advisors, others stayed in their seats and replayed the events of the last minutes. Colonel Graves walked toward the Queen: “Queen, might I trouble you to sign this investigation form. I am concerned about one of our Lords and I need your permission for this.”


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“Stupid idiot”, Marlene shouted to the screen. She was standing in her own room at the cruiser. Commander Schwarz entered the room two hours earlier and after a short dinner Marlene trapped him as planned. The sex wasn’t great and the dinner before neither. But it was enough, it was enough to convince him. When the battle started, he would go to the Chancellors ship and give the Chancellor the package. Schwarz was told that he would give a present for the oncoming victory. Unfortunately for them both it would release a toxin and trigger the explosives on board after a few minutes. Later it would look like the engine was overloaded by GMG fire. But now she was shouting to the monitor. “Listen Lorean, we paid you for the last 10 years to keep Bretonia out of it in any way. And now you tell me that the only thing you had to do in this last 10 years has failed. We must now move ahead of schedule. What do you think we were paying you for?”

“Well, Lady Marlene, I thought that.”

“Stop it, I do not want to hear your excuses. Our agents in Liberty did their jobs. They will stay out of it and pick up te pieces. But you are just not capable of doing your job. I will give you one chance to correct things. And it would be wise to do this one right.”

Lorean received his orders and ended the transmission. “Stupid *****es. First the Queen and now this Rheinland woman. They all push me around like some doll. They will regret it someday. But for now I will play along with them.” He looked at the orders and pushed a button. “Get me an agent of Bowex on the line. They need to ship something out of Rheinland for me.”


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"Gentlemen, I would like to give the word to Major Suzaka." Suzaka walked before the table in the conference room. The GMG directors were almost all there. Also representatives of Kishiro Technologies and Samura Industries were attending.

"Gentlemen, as you have read in the report, Rheinland has built up considerable military forces in the last decade. They also increased their fuel reserves considerably. This is for one reason only: the sigma 13 system." She waited to let the words settle in on the board members: "Rheinland’s eye is fixed on the fuel recourses there and we can not allow that. The fuel mined by the GMG supplies all of Sirius. It is one of the main export products of Kusari. It is vital that Kusari holds that monopoly. This means we will have to fight. Your chairman has spoken with the other Keiretsu. They have agreed to aid as much as possible. However, these forces may not be enough."

"Can't the government do anything?" The question was asked by the representative of the dockworkers from the station.

"Officially, no. But unofficially, yes. Currently there are negotiations with the Bretonia and Liberty governments. Liberty seems to stay away from any conflict and will not aid us. However, Bretonia is willing to negotiate. They seem to be willing to pay in various manners, in trade for rights in the tau systems. Aside from that, we suggest an sudden price increase of fuel. This can also be paid with security forces. To make things short, the government is already painting GMG emblems on the ships. However, there can be no battleship support. There can also be no official support. As I understand Samura and Kishiro will dedicate some security forces also. And, important on the long run, all deals and trades with Rheinland are off. Every Rheinland ship, government or otherwise, are not wanted. Every ship flying under the Rheinland flag may be shot by GMG forces. And every jumpgate and jumphole will be monitored by Kusari naval forces, flying under GMG flag. The official documents are currently being made and they will be delivered to your desks as soon as possible. They also incorporate the transfer of personel. Kusari has also given a list of former generals and ones that are willing to join the GMG for this war. This is for a fleet commander. This person will be leading the defence fleet, if you allow it."

"That will not be necessary." It was Toriyoshi.

"You must understand, chairman" Suzaka replied. "This is not a simple pirate incursion. These are trained forces, with battleships and combat experience. With all respect to the Guild, nobody here has the qualifications to command such a force here."

"You misunderstand me. I know that we will need a commander with training and experience. But, if the board allows, I would like you as that commander, miss Suzaka." He looked at the members: "Is there anyone who has a problem with Major Suzaka?"

The room stayed silent until the dockworkers representative spoke: "Yes, I have. It should be commander Suzaka.

A laugh went through the room, until the door opened. A man walked in, went to Suzaka and said something in her ear.

"Gentlemen, one of our agents in Rheinland transmitted from the Dresden system. A fleet has moved at high speed." She typed on a console which immediately displayed a large cruiser.

"It has begun"

“Miss Hanto, could you take a look at this?”

Kaori walked to the communication and navigation desk: “What is it?”

“Well, I here Rheinland all over the place, and not only that, we have ships on an incoming vector. But they are not ours. The design doesn’t fit the profiles.”

“Have they tried to communicate?”

“No, not yet, but we are not yet out of the sun’s blind spot. There is a good possibility that they haven’t seen us yet.”

“How long before we get into their sensors?”

“At this speed and vector, I think a minute or 12.”

“Plot a chart of this area on the main screen.”

“Miss?”

“Do it, now! If those ships are not ours, they are Rheinland’s. And if they are here in great numbers, they are not here for a nice chat!”

The main screen plotted the surroundings of the ship. Kaori looked at the screen, searching for a way out.

“Nothing to hide beyond. And they are way faster”, went through her mind. If only….

“Helm, full stop”, she called: and I want a full power down in 10 minutes. Put on the environmental suits. It will be cold quickly when we are done with it.”

She ran to the elevator, and pressed the button to the refining deck. Once the elevator got there, she noticed that not all of the raw fuel was in the storage tanks yet. “Foreman, I want all the fuel you can get spilled over space in 7 minutes.”

“What is going on?”

“We are going to try to become a gas pocket. Put everyone in environmental suits, we are powering down to accomplish that. I’m betting that those Rheinland raiders haven’t seen much of the system yet, so they might be fooled. I am going to the bridge now.”

“Brains and insane, I wonder why she doesn’t have her own ship”, went through the

foreman’s head, as he saw Kaori running to the elevator. “Ok, maggots, listen….”


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


Suzaka was standing in the main hangar of Aomori. All available pilots of the GMG were gathered here to listen to new commander of the guilds protection fleet. “Let’s start”

Toriyoshi walked with Suzaka to an elevator that was normally used for getting on top of the ships. When they were lifted up, the hangar became quite. Toriyoshi began: “Pilots, we are on a turning point in the history of the GMG. About 30 minutes ago, this message was sent throughout Rheinland.”

The large display on 1 of the halls of the hangar, normally used to show the schedule of incoming and departing ships, now displayed the Rheinland insignia. Then, suddenly, the face of the Chancellor was shown. “My fellow Rheinlanders”, he began: “today we will embark on a journey to achieve greatness for our people. In the ages after we came in Sirius, we were 1 of 4 nations, all equally in power, all striving for a better humanity. Or, at least we thought that. But we could be much further if it wasn’t for the ridiculous fuel prices. Why is it that Kusari is so clean, well all nations are dealing with problems they do not have? Why is it that we are still here in Sirius, while we could be travelling to the ancient earth and back? I will tell you, my fellow Rheinlanders. It is of those GMG prices. They are so greedy that they will humanity suffer. And what does there Kusari government? Nothing! What do the other nations about this? Nothing! Therefore we will act. As of now, I dispatched a newly created fleet into the sigma 13 system. As of now, Rheinland claims sigma 13!”

The message was stopped and Toriyoshi looked at the silent hangar: “From here on he rattles on about how good they are and that they will win a swift victory. I do not plan to give them that victory! Once they get their hands on our main fuel recourse, they will only fuel up to go further and further, until they are large enough to strike at Kusari! Officially, our government can not interfere, since there is no direct attack on Kusari.”

A voice talked through the communicator in Toriyoshi’s ear. “I just had word that Rheinland ships have entered the sigma 13 system, and that 1 of their patrols is pursuing one of our scouts. We will put it the screen.”

A man came into the screen: “This is Musei 3. I am being pursuit by 4 Rheinland fighters.”

“This is Aomori command, a voice spoke. What is your status?”

“They are catching up to me. I am not going to make it. I will send the gathered data now. But it is massive, at least 4 cruisers and a battleship. Even design I don’t know. Oh god, they are catching up!”

The screen switched to the flight cams, showing the ship’s front and back view. He was flying between small gas pockets. The back cam showed 2 Rheinland ships following. The other 2 weren’t seen yet.

“GMG pilot, stand down and we will spare your live”, said a Rheinland voice.

“Aomori, tell my friends, 4 down.”

“I will stop”, the pilot said on the open channel.

The ship stopped next to a large gas pocket. The front cam now showed the other 2 ships, both closing in. The 2 pursuers from the aft were also closing.

“This is a present of the GMG!”

Musei 3 fired at the gas pocket and the screen went black. Silence remained in the rooms

After 20 seconds, Suzaka spoke.

“I am commander Suzaka. Now you know what we are facing. They have sent at least 4 cruisers and a battle ship. And who knows how many fighters. But 1 thing I know, Musei 3 is responsible that there are 4 less. Our government has sent a message through the military. All pilots that are willing may retire to do some voluntary work for the GMG, with a generous pension. 21 pilots have already signed up to this arrangement, and they got their planes with them as a farewell present. I estimate that their will be 120 additional ships arriving. That will compliment our strength to 354 fighters. Even then, my most hopeful guess is that we are outnumbered with 3 to 1, and then we don’t count in the capital ships. But, you know the system. You know what is at stake. If we do not stand here, we will fall tomorrow. Musei 3 saw this, and I intend to let that sacrifice not be in vain. I intend to get rid of the Rheinland dogs. I intend to kill every Rheinlander that sets foot in sigma 13. I will to terminate that Chancellor pathetic life. And afterwards I will have a good laugh and drink sake while looking at his dead corps.

Are you with me?” Suzaka shouted.

The hangar shouted back, everyone fired up by the speech of Suzaka.

“Now, let’s hope they are still this strong after the first battles”, she thought, while the elevator was lowering.

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



"Is this it?" Lorean asked."

"1 package, sent by Rheinland diplomatic channels,” the Bowex administrator answered. "Just so you know, it will be a lot more expensie to get anything from and to Rheinland. They have invaded Sigma 13 and are searching every ship and all cargo that passes their borders. That takes time, and will have to be calculated."

"I understand, now where is it?"

"If you sign here, plz. Ok, give me a sec." The man walked back trough a door, and came back within a minute. "Here you are. 1 briefcase. If you wish, you may check everything in a private room."

"No, that would not be needed."

"Ok, your call." The man handed over the briefcase and opened the door for Lord Lorean.

"To the manor", he said to his driver. As the pilot navigated his way to Lorean’s house, he opened the briefcase. It contained a small letter and a dagger. After preparing a drink from the ships minibar, he started reading the letter. When he arrived 25 minutes later at the manor, the drink was still untouched.


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


“Status”, Marlene said. Her ship had just made the jump into sigma 13.

“Al systems green, sir. No damage from the jump. Reports of the fleet are coming in.”

“Give me a visual of the system!”

The main screen displayed the fleet. The blue gaspockets of ozone and Hydrogen surrounded the fleet.

“Any reports of opposition?”

“1 Scout has been reported when there were 5 ships here. The Münster has sent a wing to intercept it. No further opposition reported. Several patrol wings have been sent through the system”

“Ok, alert the Vanaheim. The chancellor can jump safely”

She looked at the radar. 20 kilometres is all that it displayed. At cruise speed that would take 50 seconds. They would have been torn apart if they tried that. The explosiveness of the gas would do more damage then the shields could regenerate. Her attention was drawn by the movement of the jumpgate.

“The Vanaheim is entering the system, sir! It is sending out orders”

The main screen showed the face of the Chancellor a minute later. “Rheinland warriors, this is a time of great glory for our people. No longer will we buy ore fuel, we will take it! We will take what is rightfully ours! To do that, we will have to fly to the other jumpgate and secure it. We will not allow any ship from Honshu to enter our territory. Now, Move out!”

The screen showed the light of the twinstars again. Broken by the gas, it was refracted into a blue colour.

“You heard the chancellor. Contact the engine room. We will need full power to shields, Helm, plot a course. Do not take point. If the gas pockets are more explosive then we anticipated, someone else may get blown away. We will maintain battle status”


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


“Commander Suzaka!”

She looked up from the improvised battle screen. Kurohyou Ryosuke walked in the room. “What is it?”

“They told me I could find you here. So, this is a battle room?” He putted a pad on a desk. “When I left I thought it was called a storage room. And that was 7 hours ago. How did you manage this?”

“Aside from your brother’s terrible welcoming skills, he really is a good mechanic. The stuff I had sent for from Planet arrived 6 hours ago, and your brother had it running in this room 4 hours later. He even gave me flowers “to brighten the room”, as he called it.” Suzaka pointed to a set of flowers on a desk near the corner. “This is supposed to be a battle room to gather information and create orders.”

Ryosuke laughed. It was the first laugh she heard in hours. “I think that your, uh, counter greeting in the mess went all the way to his wife’s ears.” He walked to the flowers. “She runs the R&R shop on the station. If I know her well enough, she is behind the flowers and his hard work. Don’t be surprised if he is really friendly the next few day’s. Anyway, that was not why I came here for. Here are the reports of our scouting mission.” He pointed at the desk, where the pad had been. Without noticing it had been in Suzaka’s hand for quite some time now. When she finished reading it, 1 minute later, she went to the battle screen, on the other side of the room, and putted in the received information.

“I have another mission for you. In 3 hours, the first new pilots from our navy will arrive. I need you to pick some men, and get them familiar with the place.”

“You want me to be the navy’s babysitter?” He slammed on the desk. “I have better things to do. Pick someone of the mining squad for that! Give me something useful to do.”

Suzaka crossed the 7 meters between them in a second and without sound. “This is no debate, pilot. This is an order! I do not give useless orders when I have time for that, and certainly not while that Chancellor is knocking on our door with 12 capital ships! Do you copy that, pilot?”

The room went silent for a moment. Ryosuke said nothing and the noises directly near the room were also gone. Suzaka realised that the door was open and that it directly connected to the fighter hangar. Quickly she calmed herself.

“Sorry, that could have been said more tactful. This is not the navy and there I haven’t had a decent sleep in 36 hours.”

“I am the one that should apologise”, Ryosuke replied. “You are the commander here, and I should have listened.”

Suzaka stepped to the desk, picking up another pad: “Here are the first pilots. Remember their names and show them around for the next 6 hours. Oh, and when I said, show them around, I also mean that the must see the system itself. If you stumble upon a Rheinland scout wing, it is your call if you take it out. It will increase morale, and create a band of trust between the GMG and the navy pilots. Got that?”

“Yes, Sir”, Ryosuke replied. He walked to the hangar.

“Oh, and Kurohyou, I want every ship in one piece back. They have more then enough fighters, we don’t.


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


“Welcome gentlemen, in the sigma 13 system”, Kurohyou said to the pilots on his wing. After a quick intro through the station with the five navy pilots, they and 2 GMG pilots geared up, and flew to the sigma 13 system. “As I already told, the pockets of gas are highly explosive, don’t bump into them. You will get a full report of their curiosities when we are home.” He looked at his radar, which only displayed 7 ships, which were all on his wing. “For now, you will have to know only a few things. They are explosive and can ignite when you hit them, pass them to fast or shoot at them. Your shields should be able to handle a blast or two, but when they are gone, and you have another explosion, you are gone. Now, we do a series of manoeuvres for you to get used to them. I have selected a site that is a few kilometres away. We will take it slow until we get their. Don’t stray off, radar range is very limited until we can modify them.”

“Commander, do we need a formation?”, one of the former navy pilots asked.

“Well, you may try, but I doubt you will be able to keep it. You will have to manoeuvre trough the gas fields. We never take any form, but we keep a certain distance to each other. Now, follow me.”

Kurohyou gave his ship a burst and the 7 ships followed. “Not bad, they can keep up. Maybe it won’t be so bad after all.”

After 20 minutes they came in a clearance where the clouds were less packed together. “Ok, I will show some manoeuvres. Please look them and learn from them.”

Kurohyou flew his ship trough a cluster of smaller clouds and executed a hard turn left, followed by a spin. The clouds tightened a bit together and drifted slowly towards his initial direction. After a few manoeuvres, Kurohyou asked them to repeat his manoeuvres. Then, suddenly, 1 of the GMG pilots transmitted: “Cut engines, now!”

Kurohyou stopped his engines, and, a few second later, the other ships did too. The GMG pilot that warned them now transmitted on the laser system, a communication device that needed a direct line of sight to be used, but it ensured that only the target could pick it up. “4 ships, Rheinland design, on the radar, they will pass in 3 minutes on a distance of less then 1 kilometre. Commander, what are your orders?”

Kurohyou thought of his situation. They had more fighters in the vicinity and the element of surprise. But he also had to keep these pilots alive on their first tour.

“Sir, what are you orders?”, the pilot asked again.

“Don’t worry about us, commander”, one of the navy pilots now interfered. “We will fight and if it is our time, we will die. And I assure you that we have no intention of that last.”

Kurohyou decided: “Keep your engines down until they arrive, then blast them out of the sky. Wait for my command.”

In less then a minute the heat signatures of the Rheinland fighters appeared. Before they knew what happened, the first 2 were shot in flames. The other 2 saw the threat, and fired back. A GMG ship was hit, but his shields held the blast.

“Shields down to 16 %”

The dog fight began. 1 Rheinlander turned to fire another volley.

“I can’t shake this guy. Damn it, he has a lock. O my god.”,

The Rheinlander behind him lighted up in flames. 2 navy pilots passed him, immediately looking for the other Rheinlander.

“My first kill in 30 minutes, not a bad score”, 1 said.

The other Rheinlander saw that he was outmatched and decided to run, the GMG pilots were on his tail. Just before they were entering the dense clouds again, Kurohyou ordered to slow down.

“He is getting away, 1 pilot shouted.”

“He will not go anywhere with that speed.”

8 seconds later they saw an explosion from the clouds and the last Rheinlander disappeared from the radar.

“That wraps it up for today’s exercises. Let’s go home.”

Great, as always

Awesome Fan Fic cant wait to read more.

We are slowing down a bit again, not the most intersting part, but I felt this can't be left out:

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


“What, they lost contact with 8 ships already?” The chancellor looked at the report. The Rheinland fleet moved at a slow speed to the gate to the Honshu system. They were now at about a quarter of the total distance, travelled in 7 hours. The shields were able to stand the blasts of the exploding gas pockets, but they were having a hard time. The irregular buzzing of the generators was heard everywhere in the ship, keeping the entire crew from a good rest when their shift was up. The chancellor hoped that the fleet could arrive soon, since he had an uneasy feeling about the campaign. Something he must have overlooked, and now these missing fighters strengthened that feeling. “Does the Münster have any indication what might have happened to them?”
“None, Chancellor. One wing was following a ship that might have been a scout. They could have been ambushed, but it is more likely that they got careless and flew into a gas pocket. The Münster’s pilots are mostly rookies. The other wing was on a deep scouting mission, near the jumpgate. They should have reported back on the Münster about an hour ago, but nothing so far. So close to the jumpgate, they might have been overtaken by a GMG force.”
“Well, let them enjoy their victory, since it will be their last. Are there any other reports?”
“Our agents reported that the Kusari have sent someone to the GMG to advise them on the current situation.”
“Who is the general they sent?”
“They didn’t send a general, it is a major. She is named Suzaka. It puzzles me, since it seems like they don’t realise they will lose there main economy. It sounds like it will be an easy victory.”
“Don’t be so naïve, captain Hoff. The Kusari are not to be underestimated. I doubt that they will give Sigma 13 without a fight. I want all available intelligence on this Suzaka before we are at the jumpgate.”
“Yes, Chancellor.”
Graff walked to the port window on the bridge. He noticed that the Ran, 1 of the new cruisers, drifted of to the left. “What is wrong with the Ran?”
“She is reporting an engine malfunction. They request to take a position on the rear of the fleet, so they can ease it up a bit”
“Granted.”
As he watched the manouvre taking place, he wondered. “Was this an omen? Did I overlook something? 12 years of preperation should be enough, but still this feeling. What could be wrong?” He looked across the bridge untill his eyes rested on the command chair.”Who is this Suzak? There were not many female officers in the kusari fleet, so why sent her to the GMG? Why didn’t they send one of the experienced generals?“ Suddenly he felt more relaxed again. ”Our spies must have made a mistake”, went through his mind: “That must be it.” He walked to the elevator in the back of the bridge. “Captain Hoff, I am going to my quarters. Inform me when there is any news.

“You are cleared to proceed, but be warned. Do not stray from the navigation beacons. The recent developments in the sigma 13 system have made everyone a bit edgy, and we do not want spies roaming around. A trigger-happy pilot might shoot you before they notice the Bretonian diplomatic signal.”
“Thank you, Kusari defence. Transport knight 3 out”, Lorean’s pilot replied.”
Lorean looked out of the window while the pilot engaged the cruise engines. The asteroid field ahead was not really dense, but still deadly if you hit a piece of rock. The beacons showed a straight path to planet Aso, 1 of the 2 planets in the system. Unlike the farming planet Kyushu, this one was a gas giant. A few decades ago the Samura constructed a station in orbit of it, which processed the chemicals from the rings the purple planet. Lorean closed his eyes to get some rest, but it would not come. His mind went over the recent events. After he got to his house he did not get a chance to sleep. Right after dinner he was summoned to the capital, where he and colonel Graves received orders from queen Andrade: “The proposition is prepared. I want you and colonel Graves to go New Tokyo and present it to the emperor.”
Why he was chosen, he did not know. But it was a great opportunity to carry out his orders. “Why did she send that idiot of a Graves along? It would be much easier if he wasn’t there.” His eyes went to the sleeping colonel, sitting in the back of the vessel. “And how is he able to sleep in here.”
As if Graves noticed it, he woke up: “Are we there yet?” he asked the pilot.
“We have just entered Kusari, sir”, the pilot replied:”We are currently cruising to planet Aso; from there we will head to the New Tokyo jumpgate via planet Kyushu.”
Graves walked to the front of the ship and looked out of the window. “Would you look at that”, he said. They were just entering the asteroid field.
“At what colonel, I see only rocks”, lord Lorean replied.
“That is it, Lord. Where we and the other houses take all the resources and leave a place to be, the Kusari clean up after their selves. You will find no junk in their space at all.”
“That is indeed remarkable”, Lorean replied.
“Talking about junk”, Graves continued: “did you know that recently a new power emerged within Liberty? Someone built a base in a debris field of the New York system, from which people search through the ever expanding junk and debris for valuables. A base like that could attract all sorts of criminals and low-life’s. Maybe we should adopt the Kusari view on this, if you don’t clean up your unwanted mess, someone will make use of this and that could hurt you. That is why I believe we should eliminate all it.”
“You maybe right,” Lorean replied with a forced smile. “Anyway, I will try to catch some sleep before the next jump.” As he walked to the back, he thought about everything Graves said. “Did he know about my plans”, his mind went, as he closed his eyes to sleep. The sleep never came.

This is really good.

excellent work, as always.

Ryosuke stepped out of the cockpit and looked around. He had just returned from the training with the 4 navy pilots. His eyes noticed his brother, who walked towards his ship. As he climbed out down the ladder, his brother called: “Ryo! Our lady said you should come to her as soon as you are done with your ship. I will take those cute boys from your hand.”
As Ryosuke walked to the Navy pilots, he heard the older brother displaying his charming talent: “OK pretty boys, I am the brother of that fly boy you just had near you. I and my crew are going to help you keep your ship together. Now, first I….
“Commander, here I am. You called me?”
Suzaka turned from the table, now full with pads: “Yes. I want a report of your progress after each mission. This way we can keep track of the enemies’ movements and progress. Further more I get to know what we have.”
“Ok, that is easy enough. The navy pilots behaved well. A little bit shaky at the beginning, but while we were in combat they did fine. They helped one of my men out.”
“Hmm, sounds eventful. I expect the written report on a pad in an hour. That is all for now.”
“My what?”
“Your report, on a pad, one hour. That is all, pilot!”
“So many different ways”, went to his head, as he walked out of the command chamber. Behind him he heard the sound of an incoming call. “Hey, Yuji, can you check everything for me, I have a report to write”, he shouted to his brothers back, while the elder one talked to the pilots. Yuji didn’t stop talking; he just putted up 4 fingers in the air. “That makes the fourth time this month my brother helps me out. I wonder where I can get the tickets of next match.”

“No! I cannot come to the Palace. There are to many problems here”, Suzaka shouted to the monitor. “You may not have noticed, but we are on the edge of a little war here. Or did you think that I requested that Local command ship for my pleasure. So I have no time to talk to some Bretonian diplomat at the home planet. If they want to talk to me that badly, let them come here.”
“We can’t. They insist to talk to the Emperor and you at the same time. They seem to have some valuable gifts.”
“So, they cannot give it by mail? I have forces to prepare.”
“It seems to be related to Sigma 13”, the minister replied. “We might be able to make a good deal with them. As you know, we cannot lose 13. And we cannot win without allies.”
“And of course we cannot send the emperor to here, so I need to come to the Palace. I can’t be at 2 places at the same time, can I? “
“Well, no. Or maybe you can. Is the Kishiro board member still there?
“Well, but what he cannot split me.”
“We will see about that miss. Find him and contact me in an hour. In the mean time I will make sure the LCS is on his way.”


Edited by - handofnot on 8/22/2005 3:10:18 PM

Good work. However, you may want to add more imagery to whats happening.

After a really long time without internet and such, the continuation

"Could you come with me, gentlemen", a young lady said to Lorean and Graves.
Lorean putted his hand in his pockets, turned and walked to the lady. For almost two hours they had been waiting in the garden. When Lorean and his traveling partner arrived at the spaceport on New Tokyo they headed straight for the palace.There they were told to wait in a garden. At first glance it looked like nothing more then a couple of sandboxes with paths between them but when Lorean looked a little bit better, he noticed the patterns in the sand. While he waited, he had time to study them more, and found patterns behind the patterns. Some where repeated in various parts of the garden, while others were just seen once. He was approached once by a servant, which requested if he needed a refreshement. Graves however, was approached by another man. It seemed that they knew eachother quite well, though they seemed very formal. "Probably someone of the Kusari intelligence agency", he suspected. Now, two hours after they arrived at the garden, they were able to see the emperor and the commander of the GMG forces.
The woman guided them to a door, which the was guarded by two men. One of them opened the door and let them through. This time they entered a small garden full of flowers. In the middle there was a teahouse, desinged according ancient earth tradition. A man sta there in a comfortable chair. "Wait here", the young lady commanded.
As the lady walked to the teahouse, Graves spoke softly towards the Bretonian lord. "That must be Suzaka, the temporary GMG commander. We do not know much about her. The traditionally minded millitary doesn't really aprove her rank because of her gender and try to keep her out of all action. On the otherhand, she seems to have some ties with the intelligence agencies here and close ones with the emperor. She is only refered to as Suzaka, no last name."
They noticed that Suzaka entered the teahouse. "Well, soon you wont need to know more", Lorean's mind went.
Suzaka waved that they could come further. As they entered the teahouse, they noticed the man in the chair was not the emperor whom they expected.
"We requested to see the emperor", Lorean spoke loudly, clearly aggitated. "The plan", his thoughts raced trough his mind.
"Allow me to introduce to you, GMG chairman Toriyoshi", Suzaka spoke: "I think we can drop the act now, Lorean. GIve up, we already know about your plan"
Lorean's hands, still in his pockets, grabbed thighter to the gun he had in their. "I suppose you were one step ahead of me". He laughed: "so, I can't kill your precious emperor. He moved his hand outside his pocket and aimed the gun at Suzaka. "Come here girl. Graves, move to that cheeky fellow over there. I suppose I have to thank you about this mess."
"Don't do stupid things Lorean, you can't get out."
"Let me care about that. They can't let the Emperors Protegé get killed anyway, she will make a fine hostage."
Suddenly, the man in the chair jumped up. Lorean, aimed the gun at the man and pulled the trigger. The man did not hit the ground, but instead he vanished. Surprised by the effect of the gun, Graves jumped at the lord and hitted hard with his right hand. "The sand displays the universe", his mind went before it went blank.