sysop@newberry.edu -or- SSTALKER@delphi.com ==>*Warning!*<== This story deals with many adult, emotional, and sexual situations. If you are of legal age to be reading this, and any of the aforementioned situations cause extreme mental discomfort, do not read any further (and see a shrink! Sex isn't evil. Bad people make sex seem evil. Okay, lecture mode off...). If you are NOT of age and are reading this, SHAME ON YOU! ^_^ If you continue reading, you do so at your own risk. Please remember the following: While the characters in this story engage in unsafe sex, that doesn't give you a license (or excuse) to do the same. Condom axiom: Always put one on before putting it in! "Urusei Yatsura : The Prince and the Lecher" Part Six Ataru and Megane fought to keep the Widow stable as it coursed through the withering fusillade of anti-aircraft fire that had locked onto them the moment they'd punched through the atmosphere of Mylex Prime. Ataru also fought to keep his lunch down as he tried in vain to deal with Megane's maniacal piloting. From the barely audible grunts and occasional screams in the other room, he guessed that Mendou and Shinobu weren't weathering the flight all that well either. A moment later an indicator on the center console began flashing, and a nearby screen began spouting information. ENEMY BASE LOCATED. COORDINATES FED TO NAVIGATION SYSTEM ENGAGING AUTOPILOT AND STEALTH MODE ENCOUNTERING INTERFERENCE... AUXILIARY SAMPLING ROUTINES ACTIVATED... STANDBY........... ONI PRINCESS LUM LOCATED VIA SUB-DERMAL TRANSPONDER WITHIN THIS REGION... ... UNABLE TO ATTAIN ACCURATE FIX ON TARGET... PRINTING OUT COORDINATES OF CLOSEST POSSIBLE LOCATION... HAVE A NICE DAY Ataru grabbed the piece of paper as it streamed out of the printer, then strapped himself tighter into his seat and prayed that they wouldn't crash. Both men felt a shudder ripple through the decking of the ship, then nothing. It leveled off and assumed evasive maneuvers automatically, but without the stomach-churning movements that Megane's piloting skills had evoked. Ataru sighed in relief as he looked over at his friend. "Well, it seems to be better at piloting than you are," he razzed. Megane's defensive look disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He caught the joking glint in Ataru's eyes, and both men broke out in deep laughter. "You're right," Megane said between fits of laughter. "I was just guessing..." he said as his laughter grew louder. He had to put his head between his legs to catch his breath, and missed the worried look Ataru shot him at hearing about his `guesswork.' But the nervous edge that they had been carrying with them since they boarded the ship had disappeared in that moment, to be replaced by a more carefree and eager attitude. Megane's laughter died an instant later as an alarm sounded, indicating less than thirty seconds before the ship made landfall at the coordinates of the printout. Both men looked at each other, then nodded and dove for their webgear and weaponry. After helping each other into their gear, they slammed the door to the cabin open and walked in on an awaiting Shinobu and Mendou. "We've got to hurry. It won't be long before our position is discovered," Mendou shouted over the din of the alarm. Ataru nodded and flat-palmed the switch that opened the inner airlock door. He motioned them in, then closed the inner door behind himself after stepping inside. Pressing a button exposed a panel in the wall and revealed six hand- sized instruments roughly shaped like calculators with readout screens. He reached in and grabbed four of them, dispersing them among the group. "The instructions Lum's dad left in the cockpit computer said that these are remote links for the Widow. You should be able to find Lum and possibly Benten with these. We should also be able to speak with each other with them," he said, then stopped, suddenly feeling the weight of the mission on his shoulders. During the silence, they took only a moment familiarizing themselves with the instruments before donning facemasks and opening the outer door of the airlock. Nowhere near familiar with guerrilla combat techniques, the group shambled aimlessly down the ramp, with Mendou being the only one to think of covering their descent. Once at the bottom of the ramp, they met with an outer door that was supposed to be closest to Lum's current position. Not wasting any time with picking the lock, Mendou set a charge against it to blow the door down. Setting the explosive, and fumbling with the detonator for a bit, he waved at the group, telling them to take cover. The charge went as the four were scrambling for cover. The explosion took down the door, and a sizable portion of the surrounding wall with it. Coming back up from his cover, Mendou bigsweated at the size of the hole and crater created by the bomb. "Must've been more potent than I thought," he said uneasily. He readied his rifle and stepped cautiously through the former doorway. Peeking around the edge of the ruined wall, he saw that the blast had taken out six guards that had been at repellent positions near the door. Two support walls had been knocked down, partially covering the bodies, and severely weakening the structure of the whole side of the building. The ceiling looked as though it wouldn't remain upright much longer, so Mendou urged the rest to quickly join him in the corridor. Once together at the far end of the hallway he took Shinobu by the shoulder and spoke to them all. "I think it best if we split up and look for Benten and Lum," he said as he indicated two directions that the hallway took from their current position at the intersection. Shinobu and Ataru nodded in agreement, but Megane remained undecided and motionless. "Shinobu and I will take the left side of the corridor. You and Megane take the right. Whoever finds them will radio in, and we'll meet back here," he shouted through the tight confines of his facemask. He looked up at the crumbling doorway, which was threatening to collapse at any moment and bury everyone under tons of rubble and debris. "And we'll need to be quick about it. Remember, our main concern is finding Lum," he said, eyeing Ataru critically. "And nothing else!" he shouted, seeing the angry look in Ataru's eyes. Ataru held his ground for a moment before relenting. "Fine, whatever! I'll be looking for Lum, but I won't swear that I'll leave that son of a bitch alone if I find him. Deal?" Mendou nodded and tugged on Shinobu's arm. "Let's go then!" he shouted as they started heading off in their respective directions. <*> A tech of the royal flagship of the Oni empire cowed in his seat as the King bellowed again. "Can't this damn ship go any faster?" he yelled to no-one in particular. The tech looked at his readout screen again and turned to look at Lum's father. "Your Majesty. The engines are at one hundred and twenty percent of recommended capacity, and we show only being five minutes away from Neptune. The King eyed the tech coldly. "Did I ask you for an UPDATE?" he yelled angrily. The tech sank lower in his seat, trying to avoid the withering gaze the King was leveling at him. He sighed in relief a moment later when the Oni leader's features softened. "Sorry for snapping like that, son. Please report to me the moment we're within visual distance of the landing site." The tech turned wordlessly back to his duty station and kept a close eye on the readouts. The King, meanwhile, resumed his seat in the captain's chair and nervously ticked away the minutes. Four minutes elapsed, with each second feeling like an eternity. He exhaled loudly when the tech announced that the ship was in position to dock. "Have we received clearance to dock?" he asked mechanically, knowing that Oyuki probably had the red carpet rolled out for their arrival already. "Yes sir, we have," the tech responded crisply. "Give the order to land and deploy. Tell her majesty that I will meet with her shortly," he said as he rose from his throne and headed for the nearest hatch. <*> Oyuki wrung her hands nervously. Her mind fretted for not only in anticipation of her mission with Lum's father, but also over the safety of her newfound love, Megane. Whenever she thought of Megane, her mind would depart for a fleeting moment to the time where they were in the throes of passion on his bed. She smiled to herself as she recalled again the wondrous sensations wrought within her by his loving touch. "Are you all right your highness?" a scientist asked, poking her gently on the arm. She gasped in surprise, then blushed at being caught unawares by one of her subordinates. She smiled to herself though, knowing that it took a lot of effort to distract her from something as important as this invasion. But Megane seemed to do that all too easily. That seemed to prove to her just how right their sudden relationship was. She composed herself and let her desire ebb away before speaking. "Yes, what is it?" she asked with practiced grace. "Your highness, The Oni King's ship has docked, and he is enroute to the command module." Oyuki's worry returned. She'd promised Lum's father that they would try to get multiple gates up and running on the renegade Prince's base, but so far it had managed to resist all attempts at incursion. "What is the gateway status?" "We were able to establish a small gateway a short distance from the compound itself. However, our lead tactician suggests that materializing outside the compound would do no good, since we would need the element of surprise to be effective." Oyuki nodded her head in understanding. She figured as much, but had hoped that they would be able to get something inside the compound anyway. "Just keep trying and let me know if anything new turns up." Her head turned at that moment as she heard a commotion behind her. "What's the status, Oyuki?" the King asked curtly. She felt her second bristle at the lack of honorific, and laid a hand on his arm to quiet him before he could say anything to Lum's father. She understood the King's frustration, and decided to ignore his lack of formality. "It goes poorly for the moment, your Majesty. Our technicians haven't been able to get a lock on Graven's compound. Some sort of interference is thwarting our attempts to place a gateway inside the building. We have no problem establishing a lock outside of the building, but..." "But we need to be inside the building at the start of the invasion," he completed for her. "Don't worry, I understand. I guess we have no choice but to wait a few minutes and see if something breaks on Graven's side of the equation. If not, then we'll have to go in on the grounds and fight our way inside," he finished darkly. He no more wanted a protracted battle with Graven's forces than Oyuki did. But time was running out, and so were their options. Oyuki turned back to the readout screen and hoped that Megane and his friends would be able to get Lum and Benten out of there safely. <*> Ataru had been running on pure adrenaline since the Widow made planetfall. Enemies had been popping up out of the woodwork at every turn, making his and Megane's advance troublesome at best. At the moment he was contending with a blockade of ShadowKnights firing at them both from the end of the hall. He squeezed off another burst, managing to wing another of Graven's odd looking troops. He and Megane had been making fairly steady progress through the maze of hallways until they happened upon this patrol of ten ShadowKnights. It had been an exhausting battle from that point on, with each side firing from the cover of recessed doorways in the cramped hallway corridor. He didn't even spare any sympathy or regret for those that he had taken down with his rifle. They were responsible for whatever harm had come to Lum, and he cared not what happened to them when he fought against them. Megane watched Ataru "Rambo" Moroboshi with a certain level of trepidation. His usually vocal but harmless friend had been a silent, emotionless extermination machine from the moment they encountered their first guard. Ataru had taken that guy out at the knees with a spray of automatic fire, and ran on unconcernedly as the wounded sentry groaned on the floor. The other victims weren't so lucky. He began to worry about Ataru's sanity. `At this rate he might never make it through the fight to get to Lum,' he thought as enemy fire whizzed past him. A round came dangerously close to his face, causing him to reflexively push against the frame of the closed door. He turned to see his friend in the thick of it, concentrating on the enemy and nothing else. In the past five minutes Ataru had managed to take out four ShadowKnights, and he didn't seem ready to stop. Megane peeked out from his cover again and saw that Ataru had just dropped another Knight and was already angling for his next shot. He shrugged his shoulders and brought his own weapon to bear, hoping to cut down a few more so that they could hopefully stand a chance. `Get here soon, Oyuki- chan,' he prayed fervently as he added to the furious exchange of gunfire. He only hoped that he and Ataru would survive long enough to get the girls and get the hell out of there, or at least hold out until help arrived, whichever came first. <*> Mendou and Shinobu were pinned down at a `T' intersection of hallways. They were taking fire from three sides, and were only able to escape harm by crouching against a roof support beam which extended out into the corridor from the wall. The cover was only a foot wide, and barely gave protection to the two. Shinobu and Mendou fired as best they could, and managed to occasionally hit a knight. But after enduring five minutes of non-stop gunfire, Mendou couldn't take it anymore. Gritting his teeth, he yanked a grenade from his webgear and pulled the pin, then waited two seconds before throwing it. He smiled with satisfaction as he saw it sail towards his intended target. But his happiness was quickly replaced with abject terror as the grenade bounced off of the end wall of the corridor and ricocheted back in their direction. They were about to sprint for their lives when the grenade hit the floor and wobbled back down the corridor he meant to hit. He held Shinobu's face against his chest as they both crouched down against the support beam and covered their ears and opened their mouths. They were pushed to the ground a moment later as the force of the grenade's detonation washed through the hallways and knocked them off of their feet. All gunfire stopped, and the acrid scent of spent explosives could be perceived in the air. Mendou was about to look out from their cover when a bigger, second explosion took out the entire corridor almost up to the end of the `T' intersection, not ten paces from their current position. Shinobu screamed and clung to Mendou tightly as their whole world suddenly went dark. <*> "What the hell was that?" Graven barked from his command chair. The entire room was shrouded in darkness, and he fumbled about for his intercom switch. "Get those Goddamned emergency lights on NOW!" he shouted to the men in the room. "Sir, we've lost all power from the mains. Emergency generators are off-line, and we're running this room on battery power only," a nearby tech shouted. "How long will the batteries last?" he demanded. "No more than forty minutes sir," was the reply. Graven's mind raced. Without power, the repellers set up throughout the building wouldn't be working. That meant that the invaders would have an accurate bearing on the location of the Princess and her friend. That also meant that they were visible to long-range scanners. `Damn! Looks like we're in for one hell of a ground war!' he thought to himself in disgust. "Get the computers working on what's damaged, and put together an inventory of all remaining resources," he ordered as his mind flashed through several possible strategies. "Yessir," the men chorused as they bent to their tasks. `Well, I guess we'll have to work with what we've got in the interim,' he thought, surrendering to the obvious. "Does the intercom still work?" "We're not sure sir," came the meek reply. "Well, get on it immediately. I need that restored before anything else. After that, try to find a way to get those damned repellers back on-line," he commanded as he stood from his seat. He swore a moment later as he tripped on something and fell to the floor in an undignified heap. "And get these fucking lights on NOW!" he shouted, slapping the floor disgustedly with one of his hands. Scurrying and stumbling were soon heard as techs attempted to fulfill their orders. <*> "What the hell was that?" Ataru asked softly as he lowered his rifle. The enemy seemed puzzled too, as they halted their firing. He couldn't see Megane, but heard him grunt thoughtfully at the question. Ataru unclipped his flashlight from his webgear and shone it in the direction of the enemy. He growled angrily as he saw that the remaining ShadowKnights had vanished. He switched off his flashlight and grabbed a grenade from his webgear in frustration. "Megane, stay where you are!" he shouted as he pulled the pin and tossed the grenade down the hallway. "Oh *shit*!" was about all Megane could say as he realized what Ataru was going to do. He turned his face into the doorway arch, covered his ears and opened his mouth. A deafening blast kicked through the corridor in that instant, knocking both men on their butts. Ataru shook his head to clear the ringing that dominated his hearing. Even with precautionary measures, he still took some damage from the blast. He clawed his way on his hands and knees across the debris strewn corridor to Megane and shone his light in his friend's face. "Are you okay?" he screamed as he grabbed Megane by the shoulder and stabilized him. Megane nodded and stood slowly, looking up and down the ruined hallway. Seeing no-one in either direction, he casually reached down and brushed the dust from his black Oni-camos. "I think you took them out. Either that, or scared them away," he declared. The ringing in Ataru's ears had vanished, and he could hear normally once again. A beeping from his right pants pocket was calling his attention away from Megane. Realizing what it was, he scrambled to find the Widow's computer remote. He whooped for joy when he looked at the readout screen. "Hey look, Megane! We've got a solid lead on Lum's location. Let's go!" he shouted excitedly as he stood up and walked in the direction indicated by his hand- held unit. Megane hustled to stay behind his friend. Flashlight in one hand and rifle in the other, he advanced cautiously down the hallway behind Ataru, expecting any minute to be set upon by another of Graven's forces. Ataru showed no such hesitations, however, as he boldly strode through the winding corridors, his mind centered on his one objective. He would find Lum and Benten, safe and sound. He wasn't so sure about Graven's well-being, however <*> "What the hell was that?" Shinobu shouted from under the protective covering of her lover's body. She and Mendou sat up from their hiding place and looked in awe at the ruined wing of the building. "I didn't think that a simple grenade could be so powerful!" Shinobu exclaimed after ripping her facemask off. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of the smoke and the choking dust that wafted about the hallway. Mendou craned his neck to look at the former wall of the corridor, and saw that their pathways had been reduced to one. The path that he had lobbed the grenade into had been utterly destroyed, and was now blocked by several tons of debris. He looked back the way that they had come and saw a similar sight there. He blanched as his eyes fell upon several slain ShadowKnights sprawled on the floor at the edge of the pile of debris. He grimaced and swallowed hard, forcing himself to keep from fouling his facemask. Finding it a burden suddenly, he yanked it off and dropped it to the floor, and breathed freely in the smoky air. He grew very concerned as he realized that Shinobu had yet to witness the pile of bodies. He turned back around and grabbed her by the arms. "Shinobu, I want you to hold on to me and not open your eyes until I tell you," he declared protectively. "Shutaro! I can..." she started to protest, but went silent at he took her face in his hands. "Do you love me, Shinobu?" he asked tenderly. "Of course I do, Shutaro-kun. Why ask such a question?" she replied concernedly. "I love you too, Shinobu-chan. And if you really love me, you should listen to me." He tilted her head up so that their eyes met. "Trust me, please, and do what I say. Okay?" he spoke in a loving request. Shinobu nodded. "I'd put my life in your hands, Shutaro-kun. And my love," she amended as she wrapped her arms around her lover and drew herself closer. "Just close your eyes and hold onto me tightly," he asked her as he pulled her to him, hugging her body against his chest. With her eyes closed, she let him lead her away from the carnage and down the abandoned hallway. <*> "Your Highness, we've got a breakthrough!" a white-coat clad technician shouted excitedly from his monitoring station. Oyuki spun, her face expectant as she ran to the tech's station. "Truly?" she asked, echoing his excitement. The tech nodded quickly. "It happened just a moment ago. Our targeting systems hadn't been able to get a lock on Graven's building for quite some time when suddenly the computer was able to get readings on the inside of the compound." The Oni King's ears perked up at the enthusiastic tones coming from Oyuki and one of her technicians, and rushed to their side to listen intently as they spoke. "Now all we have to do is find adequate places to establish gateways and send the troops through," she said coldly, her mind now strictly on business. She turned to Lum's father. "Your Majesty, assemble your troops with mine in the marked areas. We'll be going in four groups. And don't worry about the size of each group. Just distribute the men as evenly as possible," she commanded before turning back to the console. She extended a finger to the freshly-drawn schematic of the target building. "Alright, we'll establish gates here, here, here, and... " She let her fingers roam across the screen for a moment as she tried to guess where Graven's command center would be. "HERE!" bellowed the Oni King, stabbing a thick finger at an unremarkable-looking room in the upper-left corner of the building. "I'd bet my life on it. He's here!" Oyuki nodded, willing to concede the point to him. "Alright, now that we have the men and the locations locked down we need to get the gateways established. Give me an estimate on how long it'll take to get them up and running." The tech looked at her with a broad smile. "Only fourteen minutes, Your Highness. We had the capacitors charged the moment you put us on alert." Oyuki smiled at her crew's thoughtfulness. "Excellent. All crews to battlestations!" she barked as she walked over to Lum's father. "I'll be back in just a moment," she stage- whispered to him before dashing out of the room and into an adjoining dressing area. Closing the door behind her, she exchanged her party dress for a form fitting black bodysuit which had been modified for close quarters combat. She put her long dark hair up and donned a black beret, then added on her specialized complement of weaponry. She emerged from the change room moments later and smiled at what she saw. Lum's father had taken command in her absence, and organized all of the soldiers into orderly groups, and all were standing in formation in the staging areas. She wasted no time in standing beside the King in one of the four groups. She smiled as she looked up at him. "Which one are we going to?" she asked with a wink. "Guess," he replied, smiling nastily. The hum of machinery caught the attention of both Royals, and they steeled themselves for the impending battle. Gateways opened in front of each of the battle formations, and all troops snapped to attention. "You all have your engagement orders men, so snap to it!" the Oni King bellowed, causing several, including Oyuki, to wince involuntarily. "YES SIR!" was the overwhelming reply as the troops snapped their arms to a ready stance. "Move out!" the group commanders shouted in unison. The soldiers trotted to the gateway and assumed their assault formations. The Oni King followed the point guard into his gateway, with Oyuki hot on his heels. Less than a minute later the staging area was barren. <*> Tense moments had gone by while Graven awaited word from his techs on their status. Impatient, he sat up in his chair once more and looked to where the situation board should be. "Report!" he shouted impatiently. "Sir, an explosion near the prison area took out the primary emergency generators!" an unseen servant replied from somewhere in the dark room. "So? It was just an emergency generator! Why is all of our power out?" he demanded angrily. "Well sir, according to the readouts the collateral damage from the explosion ruptured three key links in our station's power grid." Some flipping of switches could be heard, then a resigned sigh. "I'm afraid that all power is out. Also, tactical was destroyed by a power surge, so it's useless." "What are you trying to tell me, boy?" Graven shouted. "Nothing other than electrical and the radio is going to work in this room, sir," was the empty reply. "And that's only while the batteries last." Graven cursed his luck. He knew that the King wouldn't wait long to take advantage of their misfortune. "Did you get the PA system working yet?" he shouted. "Just a minute sir, I think we've found something!" came the quick reply. A few more seconds of clicking, and suddenly the room was bathed in an angry red light. Graven and the crew of the situation room blinked their eyes, as they adjusted to the change in lighting. Graven turned to the console, and saw his second nod affirmatively. Quickly he hit the com stud on his chair and spoke out in a cold, clear voice. "Attention all Knights! Enemy forces have penetrated the compound and are approaching the prisoner's location. Use whatever means necessary to stop them! Graven out!" `Not much of a command, really,' he thought absently as he turned back to his second. "I want you to send four roving patrols throughout this area of the compound. We haven't much time before Oni-special forces will be within striking range, so we'll need to be quick about establishing defensive zones on the outside of the building. Move!" The second nodded wordlessly and dashed out of the room. Graven sat back in his chair for a moment, drumming his fingers on the chair. He'd seen the camera footage of the four people who'd blasted their way into his compound, and snorted derisively. He had to wonder how such a motley group of people could have caused such extensive damage to the compound in so little time. He had worried for a moment, right after they lost all power, that they were an advanced assassination squad from the King's forces. But he now dismissed that idea as preposterous. Had they actually been assassins, he wouldn't be breathing by now. More minutes went by at an agonizing pace, all without any word from his troops. Having grown impatient, he grabbed his sidearm and rushed out of the room. `I'll take care of these wimps myself!' he swore in silence as he ran towards Lum and Benten's cell. <*> Mendou and Shinobu traversed the maze of corridors quickly and surely, their hand held indicators bringing them ever closer to the location of their friends. Their path had been unusually quiet, and easier to navigate once the emergency lights came on. Mendou had allowed Shinobu to take the point position as they walked through the compound, with him guarding her sexy rear. Shinobu was so intent on her remote that she screamed as she turned a corner and found herself looking directly at an armed patrol of five ShadowKnights. "Shutaro-kun, LOOK OUT!" she screamed as she pushed him back around the corner and down the corridor they had just come through. She crouched low to the ground as the rounds of enemy fire began ricocheting off of the walls around them. Spotting a door to his left, Mendou prayed fervently that it would be empty and decided to hole up in there. Grabbing Shinobu by the hand, he turned the doorknob and sighed in relief as it turned in his hand. `It's unlocked!' he thought in relief as he quickly turned around, holding Shinobu against him, and backed his way into the room. With the ShadowKnights hot on their trail, he wasted no time in slamming the door shut and locking it. He backed away from the door, sighing in relief as he kept his gaze on the locked doorknob, when he bumped up against something with his rear end. Now, normally that wouldn't have been a big deal to him, except that the object he bumped into grunted. Mendou's and Shinobu's eyes narrowed in disgust as they both registered the sound. "Shit," Shinobu swore as she slowly turned to look around Mendou with her hands up in the air. She smiled in relief a moment later as she saw the presence of thirty Oni troops standing behind her and Mendou, crammed in the tight confines of the room. Mendou felt Shinobu's muscles relax and wondered what the hell was going on. He turned around to see what was behind him, all the while keeping Shinobu in his arms. The lead soldier of the raiding party saluted both of them and smiled crookedly. "Let us take care of them, ma'am," the soldier suggested in a whisper as he brought his weapon down and pointed it towards the door. Mendou and Shinobu allowed the troops to pull them to the rear of their group, just as the door started to shake from the pounding of the advancing Knights. "Open up or we're gonna blow the Goddamned door off its hinges!" commanded a rough voice on the other side of the door. A few seconds of silence reigned before the voice spoke again. "We're giving you twenty seconds to get your ass out of there before we nuke the room, got it?" The point guard looked back at Mendou and nodded. Mendou grinned as he caught the soldier's intent. He cleared his throat and addressed the door loudly. "Alright Dammit! We give up. We're opening the door..." Scurrying could be heard outside the room as the ShadowKnights took up defensive positions around the door. The point guard reached out and unlocked the door. Then with lightning quickness he turned the knob and yanked the door open. A ShadowKnight which had been positioned in front of the door gaped wordlessly as he stood in front of thirty Oni- troops, all of whom had the barrels of their weapons trained directly on him. He backed up a step, then screamed. "Oni Troops! RUN AWAY!" He dropped his weapon and took off at high speed for any place far away from the room. The other ShadowKnights shrugged in confusion as they poked their weapon muzzles through the door, then moved inside. The point guard waited until the perfect moment before issuing his command. "FIRE!" he shouted as all men opened up on the remaining Knights, bringing them down in short order. The two lovers watched it all happen without turning away or making a sound. The brutal efficiency with which the Royal guard had taken down the ShadowKnights impressed Mendou and scared Shinobu. But that didn't really matter to either of them right at the moment. Their chances of succeeding had just gone up astronomically, and they weren't about to let their advantage disappear due to inaction. With a lot more confidence, Mendou led Shinobu out of the room as they prepared to resume their tracking of Lum's signal. The thirty Oni troops took defensive positions ahead and behind the two. The point guard looked at Shinobu and saluted again. "Ma'am! We're ready to go when you are," he said calmly as he took his position directly behind her and Mendou. With grim determination she began guiding them towards Lum and Benten's location, relieved to know that Mendou was at her side at all times. <*> The King and Oyuki looked at the stunned faces of the sit-room crew with satisfaction. The King's guess about their position in the compound had been correct. With all of the King's armaments pointed in their direction, it took almost no effort to persuade Graven's men to surrender peacefully. Her attention was grabbed by a speaker crackling to life from what looked like the command chair. "Mayday! All forces alert! Whatever, just listen to me!" spoke the harried, and exhausted Knight. "Oni special forces are in the compound, and have linked up with two of the other raiders. Our position was overrun, and I am the only survivor of our patrol..." The King walked to the command chair and pressed a button near the speaker. "You won't be surviving for long if you don't turn Graven over and release my daughter and her friend!" said the King smugly. He kept the smug look on his face as he waited for the response. The whole room facefaulted a moment later as the lone Knight screamed, "RUN AWAY!" The speaker made a clattering noise, which Oyuki guessed was the Knight dropping his communicator, then the fading sound of running footsteps could be heard. One of the command crew groaned in disgust. "Dammit, Robin! You PUSSY!" The Oni troops laughed at the outburst, then systematically began gathering and cuffing all of the troops in the room. "Send them back through the gate and put them in the holding cell. We'll deal with them once the op is complete," Oyuki commanded. Ten troops led the prisoners back through the gateway at gunpoint, while the remaining group spread out through the less crowded sit-room. "Start looking through everything!" the King shouted. "I want to know where my daughter is, NOW!" The soldiers hurried to do what they were ordered as the King sat himself as best as he could in the small command chair. Meanwhile Oyuki stared worriedly at the blank screens on the wall, wondering what the hell was going on with Megane. The speaker on the chair blared to life as another voice began speaking. "This is squad two reporting in. Have made contact with two raiders in sector L. Have taken major casualties, but did manage to take out one of them. The one ..." the voice paused as if it were listening to something. A faint yelling could be heard, but not too distinctly. The King understood that his bulk was covering the speaker and jumped off of the chair. Ataru's voice was suddenly clearer. " ...of a bitch! You'll pay for what you did to Megane!" Oyuki's eyes went wild and she screamed in anguish, drowning out the rest of Ataru's comments. She collapsed on the floor and drowned herself in her sorrow. "Megane! Nooo!" she yelled in despair as she hugged herself into a tight ball. She shook a moment later as the sound of a loud explosion blared from the speaker and echoed throughout the situation room. The King growled angrily and grabbed a handgun from one of his troops. He walked over to a wallboard showing a layout of the compound. He quickly spotted `sector L' and traced a path to their current position. "I need ten men to come with me!" he yelled as he headed for the door. Ten soldiers quickly detached themselves from the group and followed him out. Oyuki wasted no time in standing up and dashing out of the room, intent on following them to their destination. `They'll die by my hands if Megane's not alright,' she promised herself as she took a position a few yards behind the King's troops. <*> "OH NO!" Megane screamed as he assessed the damage to himself. Ataru ran up to him, yelling loudly. "Megane, are you alright?" Megane turned and looked in the direction of the noise. "NO! Those bastards!" "Where were you hit?" he asked as he knelt down and scanned his friend for any sign of injury. "They hit my facemask and broke my glasses!" he shouted in anger, pointing to a piece of mangled metal and pulverized glass laying on the floor among shards of plastic and scraps of rubber. Ataru groaned. "We'll get you another pair when we get back!" he shouted angrily, then stood up and looked around, checking to see if the coast was clear. Reaching down, he picked Megane up by his arm and helped him stand. "C'mon man. We're really close to Lum's position! Let's go!" Megane nodded dully and followed Ataru as he once again led them to Lum and Benten's position. A few paces later and they came upon a steel reinforced door which had been blown down by the shock wave from Ataru's grenade. He peeked inside and saw two forms slumped against a nearby wall. He was about to run inside when Megane's Stormtrooper instincts kicked in, and he ran inside ahead of Ataru. Within a few steps he had reached the bodies, and knelt down to check on them. Ataru saw him look up in alarm, as if suddenly realizing something, then heard him yell "SLEEPING GAS!!" before he collapsed across the bodies in a heap. Ataru ran to Megane's side, yelling his name hysterically. He knelt down to check Megane's pulse, and heard his friend snoring loudly. `Geez, he's fast asleep!' Ataru thought in amazed relief. He shook his head absently, then froze up as he realized what he was looking at. Lum was sitting in Benten's lap. Actually, a very naked and very beautiful Lum was snuggled in the arms of an equally naked and equally beautiful Benten. A part of his mind noted that he was drooling inside of his facemask, but he was too spellbound by their nakedness to care. His hentai urgings were warring with a mounting despair as he tried in vain to find a pulse on Lum. It wasn't until he paid close attention to her breasts that he noticed their rhythmic rise and fall, indicating that she was breathing. He quickly pulled Megane's sleeping body off of her, and propped him against the wall next to Benten. When he turned back to Lum he was rewarded with a fully open view of her pubic mound, causing him to jump back in shock. Her and Benten's legs were sprawled outwards, with Lum's back against Benten's chest. Ataru stood where he was, transfixed by the beautiful sight of his fiancee's fully exposed vagina, unable to see or do anything else. <*> Halfway through their trek, Oyuki and the King came upon a split in the hallways. They agreed to split up and half would cover each pathway. Not far down her path, Oyuki noted a foul scent in the air. She advanced a bit further before one of the troops called a halt. "Stop! That's sleeping gas! Everyone put your masks on!" he hand-signed to the troops, then whispered to Oyuki. The group stopped and donned their facemasks, then continued towards the source of the gas. As they rounded a corner, they were set upon by a couple of face-masked ShadowKnights. Oyuki swore angrily at the delay. She had a feeling that she was on the right path, but hated having to wade through all of these minuscule battles to get to him. But her frustration turned to worry as she saw three of the Oni soldiers go down after tripping a nearby boobytrap. She screamed in alarm as she dove out of the way of the explosion. She came back up slowly, her whole body aching from the force of the blast. She grimaced at the sight of the dead troopers, but forced herself not to dwell on it. With only two troops at her side, she doubted that she would make it out alive, much less get to Megane's side. No time for regrets, she crouched low and back, and let the remaining troops fight it out with the two ShadowKnights as she tried to think of a way to get around the fight. She winced as she heard two screams of pain, then looked up to see what had happened. Her heart sunk as she saw that an Oni troop and a ShadowKnight had mutually killed each other during the battle. Fed up with the killing and the waiting, she drew her gun and took up the felled Oni soldier's position and fired at the remaining ShadowKnight. Concentrating on the last Oni soldier, the ShadowKnight was caught unawares as Oyuki took aim and caught him in the chest, bringing him down quickly. The Oni soldier brought his weapon down and turned to her. "Good shot, your Highness," he said as he stood from his cover and walked over to verify that both ShadowKnights were dead. Oyuki meanwhile turned whiter than usual and dropped her gun on the floor. Sickened by what she just did, she clawed the mask off of her face and threw up on the floor. She'd never been in this situation before, and the toll of battle was hitting her pretty hard. She moved herself away from the mess that she just made and sat against a wall to recover her senses. For her own sense of security she pulled her gun from the floor and placed it in her lap. Slowly she unclipped a small container from her belt, opened it and put it to her lips. She upended it, filling her mouth with a cool rush of water. She swished it about in her mouth, rinsing out the disgusting taste of her own bile. She spat the water out, away from herself and the remaining Oni-soldier. She rinsed twice more before she was satisfied, then took down the rest of the contents in a few deep gulps, and discarded the empty container on the floor. With the noise of the battle gone, her ears picked up the sound of the Oni soldier removing items from his fallen comrades, and the ShadowKnights. But she also detected a faint yelling, and recognized it immediately as Ataru's voice. Without a thought she stood and ran in the direction of the noise, mindless of whatever lay around the next corner. After a short run, she stopped at the doorway to the chamber to catch her breath, and saw Ataru kneeling next to Megane's body. She shrieked and bolted over to them. Collapsing next to Megane's body, she looked up at Ataru and asked him what had happened. Seeing that it was okay to breathe in the room, Ataru removed his mask and smiled slightly at her. "You must be Oyuki. I didn't recognize you in that getup." He turned to Megane and said, "He'll be alright. He's just overcome with sleeping gas, just like Lum and Benten here," he said as he pointed to the slumbering women. Knowing that Megane was going to be alright brought a great sense of relief to her, and allowed her to concentrate on other things. She looked in the direction Ataru indicated and gasped as she saw Lum and Benten lying naked together. With uncharacteristic anger, she hauled Ataru up by his camos with one hand and slapped him in the face with the other. "How DARE you do such a horrible thing to these two women. Only someone as SICK as you would try to take advantage of an unconscious woman!" She pulled her hand back to slap him again, then stopped suddenly as Megane groaned. Forgetting her anger for a moment, she released her grip on a stunned Ataru and turned to Megane, kneeling down so that they were face to face. "Hello dear," she said as she caressed his face. "How're you feeling?" Megane sat up and held a hand against his head. He groaned in pain as he straightened himself into a proper sitting position. "I feel like my head's about to split..." he stopped suddenly as the questioner's identity became clear. "Oyuki! You're here!" Without saying anything else he reached out and grabbed her up in a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him, crying softly onto his shoulder as all of her pent up emotions broke loose and overcame her. Megane sat in silence as he held onto the love of his life. He stroked her hair and kissed her cheek as she cried relentlessly. Several minutes of uncomfortable silence passed between he and Ataru as they waited for Oyuki to calm down. She eventually lifted her head up from Megane's shoulder as her tears abated. But before she sat up completely, she put her lips to his ear. "I love you," she whispered as she pulled back from him and stood up. Ataru held his hand out and helped Megane to stand, and saw the king-size blush he had on his cheeks. Guessing it had something to do with what Oyuki whispered in his ear, Ataru let it pass. He looked Megane in the face and pointed at Oyuki. "Would you please tell her that I had nothing to do with Lum's condition?" he pleaded. Megane looked back over at Lum and Benten and tried to keep himself from drooling all over the floor. Sitting unconscious before him was the object of his dreams. Indeed, the dreams of all of Lum's Stormtroopers was splayed out in complete nudity on the floor. He lost his voice, and his will to move for several minutes, as his eyes stared intensely at the delicate features of Lum's body. Everything he saw of her was as he had always imagined it during his countless fantasies about her. But to see her round breasts and green haired paradise literally in the flesh was more than his mind could bear. Ataru had to shake him severely to regain his attention. "Well?" he pressed. Megane composed himself and flashed an embarrassed look at Oyuki, who seemed a little upset at his reaction. Quick to stem any arguments, he held his hands up and spoke in a soothing tone. "Oyuki-chan, Ataru's right. We found the girls like this. Neither he nor myself had anything to do with their lack of clothes." Seeing that there was still some lingering doubt in her eyes he continued. "Now Oyuki- chan," he said in a reproachful tone. "You think that *I* would be doing something like that to them when I have you?" She blushed deeply, understanding his meaning. "Especially after what we did only a few hours ago," he added, grinning smugly. Oyuki's crimson tone deepened, and she shuffled her feet about uncomfortably. "Meganeee..." she complained, trying to fight off her deep embarrassment. Ataru ignored the two lovers as their conversation disintegrated from words to laughing and minor petting. He turned to look at the two unconscious girls and considered his problem clinically. Oyuki would have her hands full with Megane, who was too weak to carry anyone. With no-one else to help them bring the girls to safety, he guessed that it would be up to him to get them out, so he got on his knees in front of Lum. Megane stopped talking with Oyuki as he saw Ataru kneel in front of Lum. Feeling a surge of Stormtrooper protectiveness, he walked away from his lover and stood behind Ataru. "What are you doing?" he demanded of the kneeling hentai. He ignored Megane as he reached out and pulled Lum away from Benten, tugging her body over his right shoulder. "We've gotta get out of here!" he shouted by way of explanation, reaching his arms across the small of her back to stabilize her. Megane knelt down by Ataru. "Fine, I'll carry Benten," he offered as he reached out to take her arm. He pulled her to his shoulder, then collapsed under her weight with a grunt. Fortunately for her, he took the brunt of the damage from the collapse as she landed on top of him. Oyuki watched the whole spectacle with mixed emotions. She didn't know whether to look angry at him or simply laugh her ass off. After all, Megane had a naked girl laying over his legs with her head buried in his crotch. Ataru groaned in disgust as Megane tumbled to the ground in a heap. Still on his knees, he reached down and grabbed Benten's hand. Struggling to keep his balance with an unconscious Lum perched on his shoulder, he pulled up on Benten's arm as they moved her away from Megane. Scooting over, Ataru grabbed Benten at the hip and hoisted her *one- armed* onto his other shoulder. Then with his legs only slightly wobbling, he stood up and hoisted both girls on his shoulders. Megane and Oyuki stared in stunned disbelief as Ataru handled his burden of both Lum and Benten. "How?!" she shouted incredulously, her eyes wide. Ataru snorted derisively. "You have to ask *me* how I can carry two naked women on my shoulders without assistance? I thought you knew me!" he said matter-of- factly, indicating the nude rumps of both sleeping girls with a gesture of his head. Oyuki facefaulted, collapsing to her knees next to Megane. "He's got to be kidding, right Megane-kun?" she asked in disbelief. "He's not kidding, Oyuki-chan. He's unstoppable when he's in full hentai mode," Megane deadpanned. "Hey you two! If you're through with the color commentary, I'd like to get back to the ship, okay?!" Ataru shot back with mild irritation. "These two girls may be nude and beautiful, but I won't be able to hold them like this for too long!" he complained. Oyuki shook off her amazement and looked at Ataru, nodding her head in agreement. Standing up, she grabbed Megane by the arm and hauled him to his feet. "Megane!" Ataru shouted. "Better contact the others while we still can. They need to know that we found the girls." Megane nodded and pulled the Widow remote from its hip- mount on his camos. Pressing the transmit button, he shouted into it. "Mendou! Shinobu! You two out there?" Loud static blared from the tiny speaker in the back of the remote for a second before it was squelched, then Shinobu's voice issued clearly from it. "We're both here. Go ahead Megane," she replied. "Where are you?" he shouted into the remote. "We're heading away from your position, I'm afraid. The King's forces are here, and we've linked up with one of their groups." "Thank goodness they're safe!" Megane heard Ataru say in the background. "We've got the girls, and we're going to try to get to a gateway and ..." he started, but was interrupted by a blare of static from the speaker. "Megane, this is Lum's father," the Oni-King's voice bellowed from the hand-held remote. "It's good to hear that you got to the girls first. Are they okay?" They could hear the strain in the King's voice as he asked the question. "Yes, they're fine. Just unconscious for the moment," Megane shouted into the remote. Relief was obvious in the King's voice when he spoke again. "That's good! Now I want you to listen to me carefully. Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT try to extract through the gateways. Graven's forces are still numerous, and the gateways are surrounded. Our forces have found and are engaging four patrols of ShadowKnights. Our men are spread thin right now. The best we can do is pin down Graven's troops until the Special Forces ship arrives. We don't know how much longer you'll have before a patrol gets to you, so I want you to go back to the Widow and extract from there. Understood?" Ataru nodded to Megane, who then looked to Oyuki. She nodded as well, her lips a thin line. "Understood. What about Mendou and Shinobu?" he asked. "Our way back to the Widow was blocked off by an explosion. We've found one of the Oni patrols and we're going to follow them back to their gateway and leave from there," Shinobu's voice hailed from the speaker. "Okay, we're gone!" Megane shouted. "Good luck guys!" he added before clipping the remote on his belt again. Ataru headed for the door, motioning with his head for Oyuki and Megane to lead the way. "Let's get them out of here before we're caught," he suggested quickly, his sense of urgency heightened after listening to the report from Lum's father. They were quick to agree with him. "Megane, you'd better walk with me... " she started to say, reaching her hand out to grasp his. He shook his head, and stopped her before she could continue. "Ataru needs cover front *and* back. You walk in front of us, and I'll walk behind him," he said as he grabbed his weapon off of the floor from where he'd dropped it. "Are you sure?" she asked him concernedly, casting a worried glance at him. She paid particular attention to his face, which had been cut when his facemask had been blown to bits by a round of enemy fire. "Yes." He noted the look she shot him and anticipated her next question. "And if you're worried about my glasses, don't be. I can still distinguish the enemy from our allies," he proclaimed, already assuming a position behind Ataru. Oyuki understood his motivation, and was forced to accept the logic of his choice. "Okay, let's go!" she shouted, walking out of the cell, with Ataru and Megane close behind. <*> The sneering face of Aylan Graven watched the three youths leave with the two girls. "So, the King's here, eh?" he mumbled to himself. He bapped an object against his hand as he considered his next move. Reaching his decision quickly, he pressed the transmit stud on his communicator. "Attention all group leaders! A party of three is escorting the prisoners out of the compound. Do not engage them! Repeat, do not engage them. Our primary target is the Oni King. Concentrate on locating and eliminating him. Graven out." He smiled as another, devious idea sprung to mind. He scurried about in the air ducts, reversing his course and heading for the Black Widow. He had no doubt that he'd make it to the ship before those kids did, so he decided to leave a little present for the Oni-Princess on the Widow. He smiled evilly as he increased his crawling pace, envisioning Lum's expression when she saw what it was he was going to leave for her. <*> Megane and Ataru were worried. They'd made excellent progress through the hallways leading back to the Widow, and at the rate they were going Ataru expected to be on-board the ship in less than a minute. "You guys notice something?" Oyuki shouted over her shoulder, not slowing her pace any. "What?" Ataru shouted from behind her. "We haven't seen or heard *anything* from the enemy since we left the prison cell. This is starting to bother me. It's too simple," she told him, worried about an ambush. "Well the King did say that his forces were engaging a lot of Graven's troops. Maybe they're all tied up," Megane offered from the rear. "I'm not so sure, Megane-kun," Oyuki countered discreetly. "Whatever," Ataru threw in, interrupting them before it turned into a debate. "Let's just get back to the Widow before I fall apart," he shouted breathlessly. "I don't know how much longer I can carry these two, divine inspiration or not." "We'll be there around the next corner," Oyuki shouted, looking at the screen of the Widow remote that she'd liberated from Ataru. She came to an abrupt halt as she rounded the corner. "Good Lord!" she shouted in disbelief. "What the hell caused *this* ?!" "What is it?" Ataru asked in alarm, trotting around the corner and stopping behind Oyuki as she gaped at the remains of the corridor. "Something blew the hell out of the hallway," she yelled over her shoulder. "It looks like someone got really happy with some explosives..." "That would be Mendou's doing. He used a heavy dose of plastic explosives to take out the door, and wound up taking *too* much out," Ataru said as he stepped in front of her, a more difficult effort than it normally should have been given his excessive payload. He groaned as he saw the damage up close. More of the building had collapsed since they split up, making the short trek to the airlock of the Widow almost too dangerous to attempt. But considering their other options, they had no choice but to press on. Ataru managed to somehow keep the girls from falling off of his shoulders as he scrambled over the thick sections of broken concrete and warped steel. He patted Lum and Benten on the ass affectionately, more to comfort himself than them. Nearing the end of the ruined corridor he looked over the edge of the broken floor. He rolled his eyes in disgust as he readied himself to make a small jump down to the Widow, upset at how treacherous his descent would be. Ataru looked about before making his dive to make sure that everything was in the clear. His wandering eye caught glimpse of something lying amidst the rubble, causing him to shift his attention. Upon closer inspection, Ataru realized with a start that it was the broken and bleeding form of Aylan Graven partially buried under some collapsed conduit. He sneered as the foul taste of a missed opportunity hit him. Ataru had wanted to kill the man so badly he craved it. But he spared little time dwelling on it, remembering that the real reason he was here was resting on both of his shoulders. Springing with all of his might, Ataru made it down to the ground, his legs going numb and threatening to give out as he landed right next to the airlock of the Widow beside Oyuki. They winced as Megane tumbled to the ground a moment later, shaken but apparently unharmed. "Sorry about that. I tripped on something back there," he apologized. Oyuki looked at the controls of the Widow for a couple of tense moments before she found the proper command to open the airlock. The door hissed open and a ramp extended to the ground. Ataru wasted no time in scrambling up the ramp, his knees and shoulders protesting greatly at the strain. Megane and Oyuki weren't far behind, getting to the top of the ramp and closing the outer door behind them. Dashing inside the cabin, Ataru moved to the bed which had recently been shared by Mendou and Shinobu, and somehow managed to gently deposit both slumbering girls onto it. He then sagged to the floor, with his back to the bed, his face a picture of complete exhaustion. "Gimme that remote, would you Oyuki?" he asked tiredly. She nodded and handed the device over to him. He looked at the couple, and gestured to the privy with his thumb. "There's a bathroom and shower in there. You and Megane can use it while I recover," Ataru suggested. "...after we're off this damned planet," he added a moment later. The couple nodded wordlessly as they walked past Ataru and crowded into the cockpit. Ataru watched them go without comment, as he hefted the remote in his hand. "This is Ataru, calling Lum's father. You there, father-in-law?" "Yes!" came the quick reply. "What is your status?" "We're on the Widow and preparing to take off. The girls are safe, and we should be on our way in just a moment." He let a note of disappointment creep into his voice as he continued. "By the way. I found Graven. Or what's left of him, anyway. Looks like he was crawling through some ductwork when it gave out. A large section of concrete fell on top of him, and ... well... he's very dead." "Yuck!" he could hear Shinobu and Mendou chorus through the speaker, their reaction bringing a smile to his face. He could feel the satisfied grin of the King radiating through the remote's speaker. "Good work, son-in-law! We'll see you back on Earth," the King's voice barked through the small area of the cabin. "Us too, Ataru-kun," Shinobu said softly, breaking the connection. He dropped the remote from his hands, and listlessly moved his hands to unclip his webgear from his body. As he discarded it, he felt the engines of the stealth craft come on-line underneath him, and smiled. He then lurched with the ship as it took off, avoiding more AA fire, and punching through the atmosphere on a direct heading for the solar system. A moment later Oyuki and Megane came back from the cockpit and joined Ataru at the edge of the bed. Megane removed his own webgear, then clapped Ataru on the shoulder. "We figured out how to engage the automatic program. Its doing the driving, so Oyuki and I are going to take a shower and clean off." He saw the glassy eyed look in his friend's eyes and wondered if he was being heard. "You okay in there?" he asked as he waved his hands in front of Ataru's face. Ataru looked up at him slowly, a stunned look on his face. "We really did it, didn't we?" he asked in a hollow voice. Megane nodded, squeezing Ataru's shoulder. "Yes we did. We're going to be okay now, so just kick back and relax," he told his friend soothingly. Ataru nodded and stretched his arms, yawning widely as his exhaustion made itself known to his aching body. Oyuki knelt over the side of the bed next to Ataru, smoothing Lum's tangled hair and stroking her cheek worriedly. "They should've awakened by now." Ataru looked up to her and patted her hand comfortingly. "I wouldn't worry Oyuki-sama. I think they'll wake up. They were just under the influence of the gas longer." `At least, I hope so...' he added to himself, not betraying his doubt as he held her gaze. Oyuki looked down to Ataru and smiled wanly. She could see the lost look in his eyes and understood that he was more worried about Lum than she was. `Maybe he's finally come around and realized how important he is to Lum,' she mused. She looked up to her lover and fiancee and had to hide her angry glare. She quickly stood up and grabbed Megane's hand, dragging him to the shower before he passed out. `He could at least hide his lust for Lum!' she fumed as she opened the door to the privy and pulled a hesitant Megane along with her. Ataru shrugged his shoulders as the couple passed behind the door. He closed his eyes, which had grown progressively heavier by the second. He figured that now was as good a time as any to sleep, so he yielded to its seductive call, and was gone in an instant.