Aboard Bismarck…
"'Warp-spasm?'"
"Hai," Hiromi responded from the bridge of Haida. By then, many of the rescued Avalonians from the six now-lifeless Niphentaxian destroyers were enjoying drinks fortified with necessary nutrients that could restore their bodies to better health; that had been immediately provided by Kōro's bridge crew when Takanashi Naoko had beamed the Avalonian slaves aboard. "It's a battle technique perfected by the ancient Celts. Onē-sama told me that Lord Fèngxiān actually travelled all the way to Ireland itself to learn the technique from a young warrior who lived in Ulster…"
An explosion of flame near the main viewports then heralded the return of a certain aqua-haired tōshi atop her mount, the Sky Piercer in one hand and her still-smouldering clothes now splattered with blood and gore. "SHIKUKO!" Shimei gasped as she ran up to Hōsen's side, reaching out immediately to grasp her cousin's arm.
Hōsen's free hand snapped up to catch Shimei's in an unyielding grip, which made the Nan'yō tōshi tense as she felt those burning eyes fall on her. And then, the fire seemed to fade as Hōsen's hand shifted around to allow her fingers to thread between Shimei's in a show of deep affection. At the same moment, Sekitoma glowed before he morphed out of his original horse form into his current phoenix body, and then he flew around to perch himself on his reborn master's shoulder. As Hōsen daintily landed on the deck, she blinked before letting Shimei's hand go, drawing her cousin into a one-armed embrace, leaning up to place a tender kiss on the other woman's forehead.
"I'm okay, Mō-chan," the Rakuyō tōshi whispered as she held Shimei tight.
Hearing that, Shimei shuddered as tears flowed down her cheeks, and then she moaned as she fiercely embraced her cousin. Seeing that, Kōro and the Avalonians who had been beamed aboard Bismarck could only smile at this tender moment.
It was soon to be interrupted.
"Hiromi-sama?"
Eyes turned to the view screen, now showing a view of Haida's main bridge. "Yes, Mizuho-san?" the reborn emperor asked as she looked over.
Sugiyama Mizuho, a tanned Avalonian with darker blue hair than Koizumi Hitomi's, turned from her station to gaze on her. "Long-range sensors just picked up an approaching Noukiite fast frigate. Her IFF beacon marks her as the Keat'sai."
Hiromi blinked, and then she nodded. "The hospital ship the Healer Kaechseu normally uses when he is called off Tengsei to visit other colonies in the Outmarches on special trips. Mizuho-san, send a signal to him. My sincere compliments to the good healer and inform him that we have rescued three hundred former slaves of the Niphentaxian Navy that have been badly malnourished for a considerable period of time." Her eyes then fell on the Sebone cousins. "Oh, also inform Healer Kaechseu that we have two friends with us who would also benefit greatly from his considerable expertise in non-standard afflictions."
Hōsen and Shimei both blushed. "Hai, Hiromi-sama," Mizuho said…
Meanwhile, several hundred kilometres away…
"The hospital ship of the Venerable Healer Kaechseu?"
"Yes, My Princess," the Exodus' sensory officer stated as he looked up from his station. "Currently approaching the Earth fleet from the direction of Jiyū."
Pukaze took that in, and then she hummed. "What's going on here…?"
"My Princess?"
She turned to the signals officer. "Yes?"
"Your pardon for my interruption, but I am overhearing communications between Haida and Keat'sai," the young man said. "One of Director Moroboshi's crew is passing on information about three hundred slaves she and her squadron have just rescued from the Niphentaxians. All of them are said to be currently suffering from gross malnutrition. Atop that, the director is most concerned about two friends of hers that may benefit from Healer Kaechseu's considerable expertise."
Hearing that, the commander of the Royal Neptunian Navy blinked as her mind absorbed that tsunami of information, and then she turned to gaze on the view screen, now displaying an image of the Earth squadron, which had shifted itself away from the now-derelict Niphentaxian destroyer squadron, currently filled with nothing but corpses thanks to a being — what sort of being, she utterly had NO idea! — who possessed power that was as compatible as what was often welded by the Unspeakable Ones.
Slaves…?
Three hundred of them…?
Gross malnutrition…?
Pukaze's jaw set. "Signal the other ships in the squadron," she then said. "Order them to rescue those people who ejected from the destroyers, then place them in high security detention. I wish them interrogated as soon as we return to Triton."
The bridge crew all gaped. "My Princess, if the Niphentaxian ambassador learns of what you desire, he'll no doubt try to persuade the King to…!" the captain gasped.
"Enough!"
The old star warrior fell silent. "This Moroboshi Hiromi seems quite determined to expose certain things, things that I believe we ourselves are foolishly ignorant about. And if she has the power of the Maidens of the Eternal Voyager AND the Noukiites behind her, she may actually succeed in her goal of keeping her homeworld free of any alien influence," Pukaze stated. "Much that I personally would sympathise with such a goal, I wonder how much she has learned about what goes on in this part of the galaxy."
"May I then propose something, My Princess?"
She looked at Exodus' captain. "Being?"
"Director Moroboshi appears to be heavily influenced by old school Noukiite customs and traditions," the captain explained. "I believe we simply must look at this whole incident as a sort of odd first-contact situation." As the crown princess' eyes widened on hearing that, he then smiled. "Simply send a signal to Haida asking the Director, under the traditional flag of truce rules, for some minutes of her time at her convenience. I believe she will be most positive in a response."
Pukaze blinked, and then she nodded. In her job as leader of Neptune's military, she had often dealt with Noukiite military leaders and government officials, especially the three governors of the Imperial Dominion's colonies closest to Neptune's home star system, known far and wide across known space as the "Three Princess Dragons." Remembering the times she had met with them in the past, she then nodded. "A good idea," she said before looking at the signals officer. "Do it."
He smiled. "At once, My Princess."
A polite cough. "May I suggest something, My Princess?"
Pukaze stared at the captain. "Being?"
"That under these circumstances, we do not inform your cousin of this matter until the meeting is passed," the older man stated, a pained look on his face. "If her expressed anger at the Crown Princess is any indication of her feelings towards people she now clearly sees as having tormented her brother in the past…"
The princess blinked, and then she winced. "Agreed."
Sometime later…
"So how are they, Hichkai-hi?"
Hearing Hiromi address him by his childhood name, K'u-Seu Chusu-Mu Hechnich'-Kaechseu blinked, and then he smiled as he gently inserted a long needle into the skin of one of the sixty-four Avalonians that had been beamed aboard Haida. Around them, a busy staff of healers, nurses, assistants and soldiers made their way among the patients currently in the large health station aboard the Earth starship, moving to do all they could to keep the just-freed slaves whole and hearty, plus set them on the path to a full recovery from years of starvation and exposure to quite unhealthy working conditions. "Severe radiation exposure, but the healing factors in their blood has been quite sufficient to keep them alive, if at that, Hiromi-hi," the crimson-haired, green-eyed healer from Noukiios stated as he moved to tap certain lineal points on his current patient's body to test her response to stimulus. "The nutrient drinks you gave them did much to help start their recovery, but it will be some time before they can fully live on their own. They should be fine as long as they're kept away from any potential sources of anguish to remind them of their imprisonment."
A nod. "That should be easily done. What of the others?"
A hum. "I've never encountered anyone in my life that actually has had the opportunity to have her very own life-force merged with that of one of the Sky Lords Themselves," he stated. Hearing him address the burning spirit within Ryomō Shimei's body as the equivalent to one of the Great Dragons of Noukiios, Hiromi could only smile. "Still, a little pressure point treatment should keep her in fine health for the time being. It appears that her own caregiver has taken considerable steps in helping her keep control over the Sky Lord's power within her. I will prepare a note for him so that he can see what I've done so she could enjoy life without the need of that patch over her eye."
Hiromi brightened, and then she sighed. "My thanks. And Shikuko-san?"
A sigh. "Her body may seem healthy now, but the amount of power she allowed to be unleashed today nearly overwhelmed her." Hichkai gazed on a nearby bed, where Hōsen was sleeping, watched over by a softly-trilling Sekitoma and a worried Shimei, the latter now without a patch over her left eye, the left eye as normal as her right. "I doubt any treatment short of a complete 'body swap' (as you were forced to do for Michiko-hi) will help her in the long term. The soul-wasting disease within her mind is being kept at bay by the sheer power of her spirit, but her body suffers terribly for it."
She nodded. "I'll speak to Tsukihana-san about that." Hiromi then felt a lump in her throat. "And what of Onii-san?" she pleaded.
Hearing that, the healer lowered his eyes. "There is nothing that can be done for him, I fear," he admitted as he gazed onto her face. "His soul was already split nearly asunder when the Most Venerable One was inserted into his mind when he was a child. Your presence in his mind, while not as overwhelming as hers, didn't help matters. And then given what just happened concerning his 'marriage'…"
Hiromi blinked, and then she sighed. "My thanks, Healer. I do value your honesty," she said as she squeezed his shoulder, and then she turned to walk out of the room.
Watching her go, Shimei blinked, and then she exchanged a look with Sekitoma…
"Are you okay?"
Hiromi perked on hearing that soft question, and then she turned to stare at Shimei. Both were now on Haida's bridge, the systems there on automatic given that the ship's current crew had been pressed into medical assistant duties for the time being. "Mimōko-san…" she said, shocking Shimei with her teary eyes.
"What's wrong?!" Shimei gasped as she immediately moved to comfort.
Feeling her embrace, Hiromi tensed, and then she squeezed her eyes shut as her arms quickly moved to hold the other woman close to her. "Onii-san…!"
Hearing that, Shimei blinked before she squeezed her eyes closed as she moved to hold her reborn emperor close, allowing the other woman to cry while we…
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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