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Prologue: Of Empires and Heirs

150 Years Ago

Lieutenant (J.G.) Tamaki Yumiko of the Her Majesty's Galactic Survey Vessel Ten'ou looked at the specimen with interest.

Made of darkened steel, it was, for all respects and purposes, a perfectly serviceable kunai, a weapon from the dark feudal ages of Old Earth. The fascinating thing about it was that it wasn't made on Earth. It was from the planet below them.

A week ago, the Ten'ou had dropped out of lightspeed in response to the manatron detector lighting up, a sure indication of human settlement. The survey vessel's primary mission was to seek colonies lost from the Weave, the great interplanetary network of arcanotech communication devices that maintained galactic civilization since the Great Fall. The blue-green orb, ever so like Old Earth, was home to one of these.

Initial incursions onto the planet revealed a fascinating cultural mix of feudal Japan and China. The genetic composition of the local population seemed to be of East Asian descent, with a sizable sprinkling of genetic mods ranging from the cosmetic ones like outrageous hair colors to the combat-focused traits like increased strength and stamina, with the occasional special combat ability. The other interesting thing was the local arcane traditions: mana manipulation via somatic and verbal components that produced incredible results such as that gigantic frog that she had seen earlier that day. Combined with the esoteric bodily disciplines of the world's martial arts, they were a sight to watch.

There were quite a few sights to watch, since it seemed the entire planet was involved in a feudal version of the twentieth century's World War II. Landscapes being decimated by a combination of highly devastating techniques and savvy military tactics. Yumiko thanked Serenity that one of the genetic mods floating around in the planetary gene pool limited birth rates, or the world would have even been more devastated.

A knock on the lab door and Yumiko turned around to be greeted by her primary life-partner's smiling face, Kumi being extraordinarily pleased about something. The Imperial Marine had been part of the away team and had enjoyed the stay on the planet, even though they were usually in the middle of a war zone.

"The Old Lady wants us in her office. Hojo's already there."

Yumiko blinked. Their mutual life-partner was the ship's cultural anthropologist and also its leading genetics expert. The combination of a marine, a naval officer and an imperial scientist was a mind-boggling one as a life-partnership. It was even more mind-boggling to have them all summoned to the Old Lady's quarters.

She shook her head and put away the kunai.

"Let's go."

Captain Lady Mizuno Himeko of House Mercury didn't look all that old. But constant travel at near lightspeed can make you older than you look. The second daughter of one of the Nine Houses, her wanderlust had led her to a celebrated career as one of the Empire's greatest explorers. She had single-handedly regained more worlds in the name of the Empress, faced more new life forms, seen more new worlds and explored more frontiers than any other in the Imperial Survey Service.

Not bad for a washed-out Senshi candidate.

Brushing aside the distinctive azure locks of her House from her face, she smiled as Lieutenant Tamaki and Gunny Hirose entered the room. They and their husband, Hojo Kamiya, were probably one of the strangest life-pairings that she had encountered in her long life. Strange and, surprisingly enough, one of the most stable ones, beating out even some of the monogamous couples that the older woman knew of. They were a natural team, and that was why she chose them for the rather delicate work she was going to hand them.

"Lieutenant, Gunny, take a seat. Doctor Kamiya's been briefing me about his findings."

Kamiya Hojo was the best field anthropologist that she had ever worked with, and considering that she had worked with the best that the Service could offer, that was saying something. Having joined the expedition as a way to be with both of his wives, he was a civilian volunteer with a very distinguished record. A member of the Imperial Scientific Society, he had been recently knighted an Arcanist of the Realm for his work in various fields of study.

The thin, bespectacled man who somehow sat comfortably in his chair with various smartpaper-filled folders and his lunar cat, Faithful, perched on his shoulders looked more like a young university student rather than one of the Empire's brightest minds, but he had proven that beyond doubt on earlier missions.

Waiting for her subordinates to take their seats, Himeko gestured for the younger man to continue.

"Well, in summary of what I was saying, the cultural development of the planet is essentially based around a combination of Chinese and Japanese feudalism leavened with a few touches of late twentieth century political theory. Geographically, the world is composed of five continents with several island chains spread across the watermass. The main continent is divided into different countries named after particular properties of the territories. Each country is governed under a feudal system of lords, each of which has a seat at a council, which is the primary decision-making body of each nation.

"The secondary continents and most of the island chains have developed in the same manner, though the single exception has developed into a rather advanced technocratic society vaguely like early twentieth century Japan. The overall tech level of the world ranges from late twentieth century to some very advanced technology obviously retained or rediscovered after the Fall, like powered armor and energy tech, though there are rather noticeable omissions, like nuclear power.

"Currently, the world is embroiled in a very violent war. It seems to have escalated from what was originally a conflict on the main continent until it managed to drag almost every nation on the planet. Fascinatingly enough, the war is mainly fought by a warrior elite. Nominally called 'ninja', they only bear cosmetic similarities to the shinobi of Old Earth. They're more like… like…."

As her husband groped around for an analogy, Gunny Hirose sighed and interrupted with a smile. "Ever seen an episode of that old anime, Ranma ½, Captain?"

Himeko grinned in response. "Actually, I was there when the Hino Rei collection was donated to the Imperial Historical Society. They showed a full six-hour run of it."

"Imagine that, up the destructive potential by a factor of a hundred and throw out the romantic hi-jinks, and you have a normal battle in the war. For most of these 'ninja', stealth takes the backseat to raw power. Pretty much everyone else is cannon fodder when the high-level stuff comes out."

Himeko nodded, acknowledging the marine's analysis. Gunnery Sergeant Hirose Kumi was a hand-to-hand combat specialist of the first order. One of the few people to actually beat a Senshi with pure martial arts skill, she was also an expert ki-manipulator. Himeko had seen the younger woman demolish large boulders with blasts of spiritual energy.

Steepling her hands together in front of her, she asked the group in front of her their opinion. "Recommendations?"

"I say 'hands-off'. They have enough problems on their own. Have them develop space flight before contact." It was Faithful, Kamiya's lunar cat. A descendant of the original royal advisors of the First Empire, he had been with his charge since the latter's admittance to the Imperial Scientific Society.

"I agree. They seem to be doing well on their own, apart from their war. Plus, even though they have some advanced tech, their society isn't exactly set up for integration into the Empire," Lieutenant Tamaki reasoned out. "If we really have to, we can leave an automated observation sat to notify us if anything changes. I recommend that after documentation, we move on."

Her two life-partners nodded in agreement, though Hirose seemed a bit begrudging. Must have been salivating over those combat techniques she had seen.

Well, time to drop the bomb, Himeko thought sourly. "Actually, that's out of our hands now." Pressing a button on her control bracelet, two holographic images projected themselves on the table. "These two are the reason."

The holograms displayed two women: one was pink-haired and green-eyed, with a lithe, petite figure dressed in a farmer's kimono, and the other a tall, imposing beauty with a waterfall of golden hair and startling blue eyes, clad in rugged men's clothes.

Faithful's feline eyes widened. "She looks like the Neo-Empress!"

Himeko was smug as she pulled out a smartpaper printout from a hidden compartment on her desk while activating a scrambler device set for the room. Couldn't be too careful in this day and age. She pushed the smartpaper nanograph across the table. Kamiya picked it up and started looking it over.

"She should. They're related. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to point out that everything we say from now on is rated Top Secret.

"During your little sojourn, I had our Calvin do a psychic gene scan of the planet, to see if there was anything interesting down there. It seems there is.

"Two bloodlines with the Imperial genetic marker, direct descendants of Neo-Queen Serenity, are on the planet below us. I don't have to tell you the importance of securing these two. We'd all rather have not to go through another Succession War, which is what will happen if any non-acknowledged Imperial heirs were to surface. Plus, an additional heir or two to the Throne of Serenity would add a bit more stability to the mix.

"And, no, we can't just take them with us. Culture shock and all that." Himeko leaned back into her chair and smiled. "Which is why you four will be doing an uplift."

Kamiya arched an eyebrow and his two wives looked at him to explain.

"A systematic acceleration of planetary socio-cultural and technological development so as to ready them for integration into the Imperial system." The doctor shook his head and grinned ruefully at her. "The paperwork will be a bitch."

Chuckling in agreement, Himeko smiled archly. "Don't worry about the paperwork. Just make sure the plant is good and ready when the weaveship arrives in a few centuries. Your nanites and rejuv treatment should hold for far longer than half a millennium anyway."

Hirose had a pleasant smile on her face, obviously thinking about all the techniques she'd pick up. Tamaki was frowning, but that would be the natural reaction of a dyed-in-the-wool spacer being forced on to gravity well for an extended period of time. "But, ma'am, what about our duties?"

"Don't worry; I'm planning on running home directly to the Empress to report this. We'll pick someone up to replace you. Believe me, you three are the best for the job. Anyway, think of this as a chance to start a family for a while. Though they won't have the complete Sibyl treatment like yourselves, they'll still have a fairly long lifespan."

The lieutenant frowned and accepted Himeko's line of reasoning.

Time for the kicker.

"You will also be doing minor bodyguard duty on the two bloodlines. Take care of them, and make damn sure they survive until we can acknowledge them as part of the Blood Imperial. I also wouldn't mind if you took account of them in your uplift plans."

Kamiya fidgeted. "As in, somehow make their descendants the leaders of the one-world government we're going to have to set up?"

Captain Mizuno chuckled. "No need for that. The blood of Serenity always breeds true, and you won't have to arrange anything. They'll end up as leaders whatever you do. Just take into account that they can … warp the fabric of an entire society with their presence alone."

"Oh."

"Also, to help you in the job of taking care of our blissfully ignorant Imperial heirs, I'm going to give you this." Pressing another stud on her bracelet, her tabletop slid away to reveal an ornate case decorated with the Imperial seals of the crescent moon and the rose. She reached over and popped the clasp, revealing a small, carved niche. It had once contained five items, but only one remained.

It was a small, and could easily fit in a young girl's hand; a brightly-colored rod topped by a star and crescent. For every mana-conscious individual present, it radiated a sense of power and untapped potential.

"A starseed actuator. I thought the secret of making them was lost." Doctor Kamiya's eyes were filled with wonder and curiosity.

Probably wants to take it apart and see how it ticks, Himeko thought wryly.

"Heh. Haven't heard one of these called by that name for a long time. I always preferred the colloquial anyway. And you're quite correct. Crafting henshin pens is a lost art, but this was from a cache made before the fall. Specifically, a cache of unbonded henshin pens."

"You mean—" The lieutenant got it before her wife and husband did.

"Yes. Unbonded and waiting for an impression. I also had Calvin do a scan on the planetary mana wells, and they're untapped too. Meaning the first person who uses this gets to be a Senshi."

Himeko smiled as she lifted the artifact from its case, handing it to Tamaki, who gingerly received it.

"Push comes to shove and the heirs or their descendants are in danger, Lieutenant, I intend for you to give that to a person who can use it. You even have a lunar cat to make it all legendary." The captain winked at Faithful, who just wrinkled his feline whiskers. "But be very careful with whom you entrust that thing. Plus, you'll be doing the paperwork for the new Senshi when the world gets absorbed, so be damn careful. The amount of paperwork for recognizing a new Senshi is equivalent to a small mountain."

"Thank you, captain. Don't worry. You can trust in us to get the job done," the younger woman assured Himeko with a more determined look on her face.

An appeal to duty always works, Captain Mizuno thought to herself as she regarded the team she was about to send down to civilize a world.

"Excuse me, Captain." Gunny Hirose was looking at the two holograms with interest. "Can I know their names?"

The captain of the Ten'ou smiled in satisfaction as pointed at the pink-haired woman. "That is Haruno Rukia." Her finger moved to the blonde. "This is Uzumaki Aki."

Captain Lady Mizuno of Her Imperial Highness' Survey Service gave her audience a serious look. "Do everything in your power to protect them and their descendants."

The two women, the man, and the cat could only nod in response.

To be continued.

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Last revision: May 21, 2007