Face facts, Lum. You screwed things up royally!
Sitting alone in her bedroom at the Invader home, Redet Lum could only sigh as she gazed out the window at the growing evening falling over the area around Onishuto.
You always believed that Darling would just keep on taking it…!
It had been an hour since Nassur's visit to the house. An hour since everyone inside the home got a pretty good earful from the expat Vosian bounty hunter concerning about how far Lum's ex-husband was now more than willing to go to keep his people safe.
You never suspected he was prepared to push back…!
And given how easily Ataru had been able to fool her about what he had in mind…
…that he had pulled it off showed how much she really didn't know him at all.
Especially when you forced all of Earth to turn against him…!
And now…
You drove him to the point where he felt he had no choice but to hit back…!
All she had to answer for a year of attempting to make Moroboshi Ataru love her was a shattered set of horn-buds on the streets of Tomobiki, being chased off Earth ahead of some VERY angry celestial dragons Ataru had called in to make his use of Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty from a year ago stick, the threat of planetary Armageddon at the hands of They Who Must Never Be Named…
And he hit back HARD!
…and while she couldn't see herself trying to seek any sort of justice for what just happened, the fact that the government of the United Tribes of Uru had been cowered into submission so easily — and blocked from seeking ANY restitution, which would drive the expansionist lobby in government right around the bend — by a Terran of all people would drive most of her kind totally insane.
He had all the ace chips…and he played them.
And given the peculiar circumstances that Lum had unknowingly brought onto the table — which Ataru learned of thanks to the Noukiites — the fact that Uru's nominal "most powerful ally" had been rendered militarily IMPOTENT four months before wouldn't sit well with many government officials in nearby Onishuto.
Thinking of one Ōgi ot'ndai-Zkuhsbagh, Lum could only smirk.
Well, he won't be able to seek any justice from the 'Great Evil' anymore…not that the bastard didn't deserve to have someone finally come along to put him into his place! Lum snarled to herself as she remembered what her father had forced her NOT to do six years ago when all those poor people had been killed on Vos thanks to an interplanetary ballistic missile full of bio-toxins specially designed to kill Nassur's people…all on the excuse to kill the Mikado. Which never happened.
Lum always suspected Ōgi didn't care that he had missed his stated target.
But she couldn't say anything.
Her father had been adamant about that.
The Niphentaxians — in essence, the leaders of the so-called "one true faith" of the Church of Lum — had to be kept on the side of the Galactic Federation to ensure all stayed safe.
It was blatant appeasement!
As was allowing Ōgi's idiots to SPY on the diaries of Benten, Oyuki, Ran, little Ten…and later after Lum moved to Earth, they expanded that to include the diaries of Mendō, the Stormtroopers, Shinobu, Sakura, Cherry and a few other people.
Not Ataru, of course.
He was the Great Evil, after all.
Who would care for the writings of a literal devil?
Thinking of that, Lum then sighed…before she blinked as the door to her room opened. "I want to left alone, Mom."
"Pity I'm not Mother."
Hearing that voice, Lum gaped before spinning around…
"Hensō!"
Redet Hensō — in the Noukiite style, Ei-Redet Yech'a-Hensō Hechnich'-P'engk'eseuk of Hich'aparon — had been busy over the last week or so.
An undergraduate student of the Okusei Academy studying intergalactic diplomacy since she had been welcomed into the school shortly after her awakening on Home Base five years before, Hensō had — despite her own anger issues when it came to her genetic parents and their inability to look past their fears and open their eyes when it came to the existence of the Avalonians — known all along that her templated/elder sister wasn't at fault over a lot of things. Especially when it came to one Moroboshi Ataru, whom Hensō had got the chance to know quite personally in the two months he had travelled amongst Noukiites. And while Hensō knew that Ataru did care for Lum deep down, she also knew how much his alien "wife" was holding back when it came to vital information that would — if it came out the wrong way or at the wrong time — destroy that love and turn it into a loathing that could burn worlds if it had the chance.
So she had told him things.
Urusian history and how Lum's people had come to be…at least as much as could be remembered given the Seifukusu occupation of Uru nine centuries ago.
The true nature of Oni mating rituals and how one got married to an Oni.
The Niphentaxians…and by extension, the Avalonians.
How really WEAK the Urusian Union as an intergalactic state was.
The VERY fractured nature of the Urusian government and its three main factions: The Democrat Reformists, the Unionists…and the Imperial Round.
Urusian attitudes towards aliens as a whole…and Terrans specifically. And how those attitudes varied depending on one's own political leanings.
Urusian fears as well…
…especially when it came to the one race that had come within a hair's breadth of rendering Urusians as a whole EXTINCT in the space of TWO WEEKS.
With that information, she also made him swear that he would give Lum a chance.
Ataru — who, once he got to fully understand what was going on with his "wife" — had been willing to agree to that, even in the face of the discovery of an annihilation bomb of all things buried under the Tomobiki Ginza of all places!
That had forced him — even when he wanted NOT to do this — to return back to Tomobiki.
To live in — as he saw it — a loveless family home.
To act like — even if he didn't want to do it anymore — the resident town idiot.
To not force Lum to openly admit a few things.
He had to give Negako, Tariko and Hiromi — who had their own parts to play in giving Ataru what he had always wanted: Control of his destiny as much as fate and personal circumstances could allow — time to get things set up.
So he said "yes" to Hensō…
…but he had put in a caveat.
"Hensō, much that I do like her, Lum does have this attitude that she can get away with doing whatever she wants," Ataru — whom Hensō also called "Darling" given what his name actually meant in Urusian — warned. "What's worse, everyone in town seems ready to let her do just that. But I can't forget the whole garbage with the space-taxi. Yeah, I was as much at fault there as Megane and his idiots." He sighed. "What's to stop Lum from trying it again?! Her problems are with ME! Not with everyone on Earth!"
Hearing that, Hensō had agreed.
Even if it came to hurt her sister badly — and almost drove her to suicide in the last few days — Moroboshi Ataru HAD been selected to be Earth's champion.
He had every right to demand that.
So she had agreed to his condition…
…and as stupid luck — not to mention the idiot actions of one Redet Traveller over a hundred years ago — would have it, Lum had to threaten Earth yet again…
…which gave Ataru the excuse he needed to drop the GALAXY on her head!
So now…
"So where are Otō-san and Okā-san anyway?"
Lum smirked. After they had enjoyed a tearful reunion, they had shifted to the living room to enjoy some spiced tea — the Noukiite version, which made the equivalent version made on Uru taste plain — and catch up on things. After Nassur had convinced Lum of the truth of her "robot double" a year after Hensō's birth, Lum began conversing with her via space mail; she dared not use any verbal or visual communications as such could have been tapped by the Niphentaxian embassy in Onishuto, thus provoke a possible war between Phentax Two and Noukiios. Which — given that some of Noukiios' free warriors were as powerful as some of They Who Must Never Be Named — would have led to a slaughter and most likely provoked an Ipraedies and/or Seifukusu attack on the Federation.
Sometimes, being the daughter of an Urusian warlord just sucked asteroids.
"They — and Hiijii-chan — are meeting with Lana-ojichan right now," Lum replied in Japanese. "As soon as Hiijii-chan got the explanation about Ōgi and the thing with Earth, he called Lana-ojichan up, had his commission reactivated, then went to give the whole Central Cabinet Command an earful or two." She reached up to gently wiggle her pinky in her right ear. "You can tell Hiijii-chan was a Marine, Hensō-chan; he's got the voice of one, even if he's 120 years old. Minus all the time in cryo-sleep."
Hensō laughed…and then sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Darling, Onē-san," she said. "He asked me to keep silent about everything that happened on Okusei. Especially his sisters. He was ready to walk out on his parents…but things weren't ready for him once he was out of there. He didn't want them — especially his mother — trying to bollocks it up. Especially given what Negako-san is."
Lum blinked, and then shook her head; Hensō had mind-melded with her — She's a full-fledged telepath and empath for the Maidens' Sakes! If THAT didn't tell anyone on Phentax Two her kind were more than just 'mere machines,' I don't know WHAT would! she mused — to get Lum caught up to speed. "Don't. Darling was forced by the magic of the Promise of Bunka Go-nen to see Negako-san become her own being. Even if I might have tried to use my spacialiser to go back in time and stop it from happening…!" A sigh. "I love him — at least I THINK I love him — but now…!"
"Well, you were certainly his only true friend in Tomobiki until that whole thing with Elle happened," Hensō admitted. "And once I made Darling see how much you being forced to stay silent about Ōgi was hurting you, it made him more than determined to see that lying k'uk'e put down once and for all time!" A smirk. "He did that."
A nod. "True." She sighed. "Where is Darling now?"
"The bioroid factory, which is hidden in orbit over Venus," her sister answered. "Right now, there are millions of very hurt people who need help. The resettlement issues are being dealt with now; Otako Meinyak — she's the Elder Mother of all the Avalonians as well as the acting President of New Avalon — is trying to convince the Magate Round to let go all the worlds that once belonged to that unnamed House that owned the territory close to Sol. Thirty planets, all Class M and all inhabited by AT MOST about twenty thousand people apiece. Belok is convinced of it, but he doesn't want to start a civil war over this, so he has to convince his fellow magates to go along with it." A smirk. "Possibly within the year or so."
"That's good," Lum noted. "The Terrans, too?"
"Tcha!"
A breath of relief. "That's great, then! It's win-win for everyone!"
"Hopefully, once the Ipraedies — Otako is talking to Prince Schwarzkopf as well — let go of Barsoom and four other planets close to the Slot and Gomiana…!"
Lum gaped. "That's ambitious!"
"Well, it's a win-win for everyone," Hensō noted. "The Seifukusu and the Ipraedies can use the money they're pouring into defending those worlds elsewhere. The Federation get shorter trade routes between Urusian space and Gomianite and Kōmori space. Earth will be shielded between Noukiite space and the Republic of New Avalon, plus finally break out into space itself. We know there are things going on Earth that the MIBs haven't spoken of openly." A smirk. "A stargate being one of them."
If Lum's jaw was any lower, it would be on the floor. "A STARGATE?!"
"Controlled right now by the United States military, but they're thinking of letting other nations in on the secret," Hensō stated. "So there's the technology the Avalonians seized from the Niphentaxians AND what they found in the Den'sha system that was abandoned by the factory's creators when the War of Clone Rights destroyed Sagussa. There's the technology the people in control of Earth's stargate are seizing from the Goa'uld. A few other things as well, but news of that hasn't got out anywhere in Noukiite circles. Yes, it may be too fast for Terran society…"
"But they need it, especially now that we openly exposed them to the fact that they're not alone in the universe," Lum finished for her sister, and then she sighed. She couldn't avoid asking this now. "He hates me, doesn't he?"
"Darling?" A sigh. "I know he's really mad at you right now. You turned a lover's spat into something that could have made the Mother of All Fight Scenes the Yizibajohei…" — she ignored Lum's yelp on hearing THAT name — "…unleashed here before the Union Revolution look like a garden tea party in comparison. And it happened when he had got the message from Negako-san that he was legally no longer the responsibility of his parents. That was decided by a special family court that Darling's parents had been invited to…but never attended, thus forcing the judge to declare them in contempt of court and award legal custody over to Negako-san. Who is a legal adult in Japan."
Lum hummed. "I remember a letter coming in that Darling's mother saw. She looked real upset after reading it, then ripped it up and tossed it out. It was just two days before Rupa showed up at school." A smirk. "When Darling came back from wherever he was, she was really snippy with him. He shut her up by promising she would grow old and die alone. I never understood it…" A sigh. "I should have said something about all that. But I never paid attention to it." She then sensed her eyes tearing. "I should have said something…why in the Maidens' Names didn't I do that…?"
"You like to believe the best about everyone, Onē-san. It's your greatest virtue…but you can't always be right," Hensō advised her, and then she sighed. "Part of me says to back off and let Darling cool off a bit. But the other part of me wants you safe. With you 'defeated' like this, the Imperials and the expansionists Oji-san and Otō-san have to deal with in the Central Cabinet Command are going to be screaming to do ANYTHING to strike back at Darling. And even if he's relatively safe…"
"All it needs is one chance," Lum finished.
"Tcha!" Hensō then sighed. "Atop that, I want you safe, Onē-san!"
Her sister considered that, and then she smiled. "Okay. What do I do?"
A half-hour later…
"Now, Grandpa…!"
"Boy, are you hard of hearing?!"
Invader jolted on hearing the threatening tone in his grandfather's voice. The now-restored senior general of the Urusian Union Marine Corps — he wouldn't have an active field command, but he had been made Chief of Staff for Special Planning to Grand General Hozan Lana, the President of Uru — was being wheeled into his grandson's home by his new aide-de-camp, a moderate Imperial named Major Uio Toma, a crimson-haired Seishin woman in her early twenties. Watching Traveller — who was clearly still as sharp as a whip — tear his grandson a new one, Toma tried not to smirk too much; even if she wasn't under Invader's direct chain-of-command, the older man was still a force to be reckoned with in the Urusian military…and she didn't want her career destroyed because of ill words to the right ear. "I believe your grandson wants to make sure you don't overextend yourself, sir," she diplomatically declared. "After all…"
"Yes, yes, all those damned years in cryo-sleep…eh?!"
Everyone stopped, their eyes focusing on the table in the middle of the room…and the folded letter there. "Who could this be from?" Mrs. Invader asked as she flew over to pick it up, and then she opened it to scan the letter inside. A second later, she gasped. "Dear! Hensō was here!" she said as she showed the letter to her husband.
Invader walked over to pluck the letter from his wife to scan it:
Hello, everyone!
Came to visit Lum to pull her out of the dumps. Taking her now to a nice place where she can stay away from selfish idiots — read: Rei's uncle and his cronies — who want to keep control over the 'marble lady' as she's been called over the last few years. Might try to help her reconcile with Darling, but he's no doubt ready to unleash a Mother of All Fight Scenes at the first serious provocation, so I don't have much hope.
We'll come back when people on Uru are behaving sanely.
Though I do have my doubts.
Love and kisses,
Hensō
P.S. Father, how in the name of the Maidens could you mistake a tag in a Tag Race for a marriage tag?! Yes, Rei's an idiot, but to force an innocent man to take his place as Lum's husband? Really!
A frail hand snatched the letter from Invader's hand. "Hey!"
He turned…and then winced on seeing Traveller glare at him like a VERY angry drill sergeant facing down a delinquent recruit in basic training.
"Who is Hensō?" the aged general snarled as we…
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