Outside Colorado Springs, under Cheyenne Mountain…
"That is quite the report, Commander."
"Amazing as it sounds, General Hammond, we can do business with this woman," Maria Kennison replied from her hotel room in Tōkyō, not too far from Tomobiki. "And from what I could sense of what her friends know of these Noukiites and Yehisrites, all of us on Earth may be gaining very powerful allies in the near-future."
"That'll impress a lot of people," Jack O'Neill mused from behind George Hammond.
The air force major-general fixed his chief field officer with a warning stare, and then he turned back to gaze on the image of the Canadian navy officer. "Commander, how soon will this Imperial Chancellor arrive in our solar system?"
"Best estimates puts planet-fall at around ten o'clock local time tonight," Maria answered. "Approximately seven hours from now."
"Well, we're warned. What are Colonel Mills' intentions?"
"He's already discussing the matter with the Prime Minister as we speak," Maria replied. "A contact team from the Regiment is preparing to embark on a CY-199 to head up to Haida with an Order-in-Council from the Governor General officially commissioning her as Her Majesty's Canadian Starship Haida, a unit of Her Majesty's Armed Forces of Canada administratively under the control of Maritime Command but under the operational control of Canada Command through the Specialised Warfare Regiment of Canada." A pause. "From what the colonel told me, I do believe the Prime Minister will contact the President about this matter as soon as possible."
"Meaning we're about to get orders," Daniel Jackson concluded.
"Exactly, Professor."
"General?"
Hammond turned to see an air force technical sergeant standing near the door to the private communications room. "What is it, Sergeant?"
The sergeant handed him a printed-out sheet. "Orders from NCA, sir."
The general perked on hearing the code-phrase for "National Commander Authority" — in other words, the President of the United States of America — and then he nodded as he took the sheet and scanned over what was typed there. He then hummed. "Colonel, prepare your team for immediate deployment."
Jack blinked while his teammates all tensed. "Where to, sir?"
"Aboard the United States Starship Arizona," Hammond replied. "The President has just released an Executive Order officially commissioning USS Arizona as a combat ship in the United States Navy though under operational control of SGC and administrative control of United States Fleet Forces Command."
"But what of Hiromi Moroboshi, sir?" Samantha Carter immediately asked. "What happens to her and all of her friends who've helped create this force?"
"That, I believe, will be decided when the IOA and the SCAA get through wrangling over which group will have final and ultimate control of that fleet in orbit," Hammond mused before he scanned the note from Washington. "But as far as the President is concerned, all due courtesy is to be extended to her and all her friends."
"I'm not sure what the Japanese government plans to do about her, Sam," Maria called over the line from Tōkyō. Maria Kennison had met Samantha Carter when the former had visited the Pentagon sometime before the latter had been assigned to the SGC. And while the latter had known of the former's considerable psychic powers, Sam also knew Maria wouldn't probe her mind without very good reason. "But from what OBUNIT Tōkyō has found out about her family, the Moroboshis are VERY close to the Imperial Family. I suspect this might be a case where His Majesty may feel he has lend his assistance to help Yamato be accepted as a part of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces."
"But under whose control, Commander?" Jack asked. "The ASDF or the MSDF?"
The Canadian telepath smiled. "From what Commander Parker told me, Colonel, it's being properly figured out as we speak, sir." She then chuckled. "But at least it won't be as complicated as what might happen to Paekbŏm."
"Good point," Daniel noted.
Hammond chuckled. "Get your team ready, Colonel."
"Yes, sir!" Jack said as he salute the senior officer, then motioned the others of his team out of the room. As he went, he muttered, "Shame, though."
"What's that, sir?" Sam asked.
"Why didn't Hiromi have our ship named Enterprise?"
The major's jaw dropped, and then she shook her head. "Never mind."
Daniel tried not to laugh as one of Teal'c's eyebrows arched…
P'anmunjŏm, northwest of Sŏul (Seoul) and southeast of P'yŏng'yang…"
"So the Japanese, the Americans and the Canadians are all accepting the ships Comrade Moroboshi named in honour of the great warships of their nations into their forces, eh?" the Chairman of the National Defence Council of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea mused as he gazed on his counterpart from the south. "We've been told by our friends in Běijīng and Moskva that the governments there will gladly welcome both the Zhèng Hé and the Fyodor Ushakov into the People's Liberation Army-Navy and the Russian Navy." A sigh. "The question facing us is…"
"What do we do concerning Paekbŏm?" the President of the Republic of Korea finished for his counterpart from the north, a smile on his face.
"Ne. It would be unfortunate that due to the divided nature of our homeland, we miss out on an opportunity like this."
The President of the south nodded, keeping his own tongue still concerning how little his counterpart had done to help elevate his people from the deep morass the fall of Communism elsewhere had unleashed north of the DMZ. Now was NOT the time to discuss foolish things like that, especially with the outside world — and even worse, the outside GALAXY! — was about to come crashing down on them all. "I remember the incident concerning Kim Suyŏn-sŏnsaengnim and those soldiers who were accidentally transported back in time to the age of Yi Sunshin before he began to serve the court of Chosŏn." As the Chairman's eyes widened, the President added, "Since the survivors of both teams are currently serving in the Special Purpose Forces and the 707th Special Missions Battalion, it would be quite easy to have them come back together again."
The Chairman nodded. "A good point. Shall we have them meet here?"
"Of course. I'm sure Kim-sŏnsaengnim would be more than pleased to be there as well."
"A good thing," the leader of North Korea said. "The sooner we understand the technology Comrade Moroboshi brought us all, the sooner we can adopt it everywhere."
A nod. "Agreed."
Ellesmere Island…
Close to the national park now known as Quttinirpaaq — "top of the world" in Inuktitut — and buried under the mountains of the British Empire Range that helped formed the upper lobe of Canada's third largest island, Canadian Forces Base Ellesmere Island was the home and headquarters of the Specialised Warfare Regiment of Canada, the agency assigned to deal with ALL paranormal and metahuman threats, regardless of source, to the peace and order of the Dominion and (in special cases) the Dominion's friends and allies under the auspices of agencies such as the United Nations.
Formed originally in 1941 as 1st Canadian Specialised Warfare Unit, the Regiment was considered even blacker than the black world of military special operations dominated by the elements of the Canadian Special Operations Command like Joint Task Force Two and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment based in Ontario. And in the wake of the discovery of a remarkable cache of advanced alien technology buried under the mountains of Ellesmere, the Regiment got a stunning head start on most other such organisations — the Men in Black being the sole major exception — worldwide when it came to expanding humanity's horizons beyond the limits of Earth's atmosphere.
The central base, located within Barbeau Peak, is busier than normal today as crews prepped one of the Regiment's squadron of CY-199 Borealis trans-atmospheric transport craft for a short hop over the Pacific Ocean to where the soon-to-be-commissioned HMCS Haida was currently in orbit. Watching this from his office overlooking the main hangar, Colonel Edward Mills could only smile as he noted the extra spring in the stride of the technicians and flight staff prepping Nunavut 4 (all CY-199s were call-signed with the name of Canada's newest territory) for their mission.
"Have you read over your sister's report, Lieutenant?"
The Navy officer with the two stripes (and executive curl, of course!) of a navy lieutenant, those stripes divided by the cherry red field marking her as a nurse, looked up from the notes before her before she nodded. "Yes, Colonel." She then gazed down on the pile of notes before her. "Talk about a stroke of good luck."
"That will become better if we're swift enough to take advantage of it," Mills replied as he sat across from Lynn Kennison, Maria's twin sister. "And thankfully, given the sense of need that's now coming out of Japan in the wake of what Ataru Moroboshi did over there, we'll definitely not let this chance escape our grasp." A sigh. "You'll be assigned with Captain Melanko, Lieutenant Caldwell and Chief Petty Officer Patton to go with the team heading up to Haida. I want people who have been in battle situations before along with the crew. If what your sister just reported of what Hiromi Moroboshi just did to entice both Noukiite and Yehisrite interest in this situation…"
"We might be in for a fight," Lynn finished.
"Exactly. Don't be afraid to scream for help if it's needed."
"What about SG-1?" Lynn asked. "I heard from Major Guthrie that Nunavut 7 was assigned to transport Colonel O'Neill's team aboard Arizona. Why don't they use the ships they're developing down in Area 51 to get them into orbit?"
The commanding officer of the Regiment — Edward Mills actually wore the light blue air force uniform due to his metahuman power being the ability to absorb and project lightning bolts from his hand — smirked. "According to General Hammond, the NID took immediate interest in what was going on in orbit as soon as that fleet arrived, then began making their own plains to seize those ships. He wants to make it very clear to them that there'll be NO interference tolerated from them and their supporters in Washington when the EDF finally goes open."
A nod. "We'll make sure things don't go wrong, sir."
An intercom buzzer then sounded off. "Colonel Mills?"
Mills tapped the controls on his desk. "Yes, Major?"
"Both birds are prepped and ready for launch, sir. We're just waiting on passengers," the officer commanding of the Aerodrome Squadron called out.
"Very well. Lieutenant Kennison is coming down."
"We're waiting, sir."
The link with the hangar was cut. Lynn smile as she stood, and then she saluted him. "We'll be back before you know it, sir," she promised before heading out.
Mills nodded in return. "Good luck, Lynn. Safe flight."
Tōkyō, the Imperial Palace…
"An Imperial State Visit?"
"That is what Hiromi-sama declared it to be, Your Majesty," the agent of the Public Security Intelligence Agency said as he bowed to the Son of Heaven. "According to what our monitoring units at Tomobiki High School detected, the person now coming from Noukiios is the government officer in charge of over twenty planets of the Imperial Dominion, all of which border worlds of the Galactic Federation, including this very solar system; the Alpha Centauri system four light-years from here has a colony world of theirs."
The Emperor hummed as he took that in, and then he moved to stir his tea. "My, my, my, Ataru-kun. What on Earth did you stumble onto when you were separated from your 'wife' and all her friends all those months ago?" he mused as he gazed out the window at the manicured lawns of the Kōkyo. Taking a moment to consider that, he then sipped his tea. "And it is confirmed now that due to Negako-kun's insertion into his mind, Ataru-kun's own soul was fractured to the point where it could not be repaired after Negako-kun and Hiromi-kun were removed from his mind? You did report that earlier."
A deep bow. "It is true, Your Majesty. Furthermore, Hiromi-sama and Negako-sama were both obviously prepared for that eventuality. The name given to Ataru-sama's new sister is 'Moroboshi Tariko.' We are already preparing the necessary documentation concerning her entrance into society as soon as she is ready to begin schooling."
A nod. "Excellent. What of Hiromi-kun's attempts at making inroads with the tōshi?"
"She's made two bold steps, Your Majesty. She has completely won over Sōsō Mōtoku-sama of Kyoshō; he and his closest advisors were invited aboard Yamato earlier today. Atop that, she has won over Koshaji-sama from Yoshū, who had actually been dispatched by Enshō-sama to kill both Sōsō-sama and Hiromi-sama under the auspices of an 'imperial edict.' Our people are investigating if this was provoked by Tōtaku-sama."
The Emperor hummed as he considered that. "No, I don't think so. If what I learned of that time in China's history is true, anyone touched by the soul of Dǒng Zhuó would ultimately desire a strong and powerful ruler. Hiromi-kun certainly fits that bill now, much more than she ever did in her first life." He then hummed as he gazed on the two retainers kneeling nearby. "Where is my cell phone, by the way?"
One immediately produced a RIM BlackBerry 9700 Bold smartphone, handing that to him with both hands. As the others watching this all grinned, the Emperor sighed. "I sometime wish the American President didn't introduce me to these things," he lamented before gazing on his guest from the PSIA. "What is Hiromi-kun's number?"
The PSIA agent tried not to laugh…
Tomobiki…
"You must be pretty excited," Fujinami Ryūnosuke mused as she followed Hiromi — who was currently accompanied by many of the other girls of Class 2-4. "Your brother made it out okay, your got yourself another sister now and…"
Everyone was then quick to sense a cloud of depression fall over the tomboy. "Ryūnosuke-san, it was never your fault that your family turned out like it did."
Ryūnosuke perked, and then she chuckled. "Yeah, you're right. Still, it must be really nice, y'know. For Ataru, I mean. Three sisters…"
Shinobu reached over to gently squeeze her friend's hand. Feeling that, Ryūnosuke perked, and then she flashed Shinobu a smile in return. Hiromi was quick to sense that. "Do not be ashamed of how you feel for each other, you two," she advised them, which made both girls start to blush. "Where I come from, that's normal."
Both girl awked. "HIROMI!"
Laughter from the others. "Oh, relax, you two!" Gekasawa Kumiko scolded before she gave Ryūnosuke a knowing smile. "Given what Hiromi-chan had to do to get rid of that ghost that was haunting you, Ryūnosuke-kun, doing anything to have a 'normal' relationship will just make sure that fool father of yours will leave you alone."
The others laughed, and then everyone perked on hearing a cell phone go off. "Who is that, anyway?" Inu Chigaiko asked before she noted Hiromi reaching into her pocket to draw out her own device, a Fujitsu NTT DoCoMo Style series F-07B flip phone.
Opening it, she blinked on noting that she just received a text message. "Who is this from?" she asked herself as she tapped the command to show the message:
From: H.I.M.
Does the blue sky shine over us all?
Hiromi blinked, and then she stopped, her jaw dropping as she realised who the person messaging her actually was. With that, she then typed a reply:
To: H.I.M.
The blue sky will always shine as long as I draw breath.
"Friend of yours?" Marubeya Momoe asked.
"I've met him once," Hiromi admitted.
Shinobu gave her friend an odd look while we…
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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