Attention to the grim legal reaper.  This is a fan fiction work inspired by
your masters.  It was not done for profit, just for fun and therapy.  El
Hazard and Tenchi Muyo belong to AIC.  Robotech references belong to
whoever owns Robotech, which is Harmony Gold, I think.  Gundam references
belong to whoever own Gundam.  Anywhere, here's the fic.  Hope you like it.

Prologue

"This is the Galaxy Police!  Come out with your hands up!"  An amplified
and distinctly female voice boomed across the grass field.

"Shit!" cried one of the burly criminals.  His four compatirots stood
frozen in their tracks.  He took action first as he hurriedly activated the
automatic defense grid. Turning away from his computer console, he reached
to open a case of Taurien Blaster cannons.  He began to bark out orders to
his four subordinates.  "Slain, get into one of the mobile suits and let
those damned GPs know what we think of em!"

"Right boss."  Replied the short Mandalore.  He leaped up to the open
cockpit hatch of an Executioner assault mobile suit and initiated a fast
startup.

"Krom, you Trondari, and Grrath break out some of those plasma rifles and
get ready to use them on the first GP you see!  The best shelter they have
is that other warehouse on the other side of the field.  Turn that field
into a graveyard!  The building he referred to, or rather what was left of
it sat almost two thousand meters away on this flat featureless plain.
Their current headquarters had been built on the remains of an old military
base.    It was one of the few reminders of the long forgotten war that had
sterilized this planet.

"Yes sir!" they cried in unison!

Gravenor Rezlikir had every reason to be confident.  As long as the Galaxy
police didn't come after him with more than three heavy battalions worth of
officers, his group of "merchants" had more than enough firepower to kill
them all.  The warehouse they were in was a fortress unlike the ruined one
across the wide field.  It had eight foot thick supercrete walls with
another foot of bonded armor protecting it.  Nothing short of a nuclear
weapon could even scratch it and the Galaxy Police didn't use such weapons.
To back them up and they had their ship, which had it's own set of
defenses.  Looking up at his mobile suit pilot he shouted "Slain, as soon
as you've got power to your active sensors tell me exactly how many of them
there are!"  He turned back to the computer console before him and examined
the incoming data. Silently cursing to himself, he thought, "Damn!  How the
hell did they get past the orbital sensors!?  How the hell did they find
us.  No one comes here. There is too much leftover radiation from the
Doloss war for anyone to want to come here for fun."  This system's lack of
desirability was the one of many reasons for their use of it.  To enhance
his security, he bought the very best in Juraian military sensor technology
from a business associate that had managed to "acquire" it from Jurai. As a
precaution, he made sure that they were in the passive mode so they
wouldn't give away their hiding place.  It was good that they were nearly
done loading up their ship for the next delivery.  Oh well, just another
short delay he thought.  The Bronaid would just have to wait for their new
toys, even if some of it would be slightly used.  He looked up at the
Executioner and smiled.  Too bad they don't know that I'm also selling some
to their mortal enemies for a double profit.

"Boss!"  Slain cried interrupting their leader's reverie.  "This is crazy,
but my sensors are only detecting one humanoid!  No ships or drop pods!"

Only one???  Maybe that mecha wasn't as new as he thought.  No, as old a
design as the Executioner was, General Galaxy doesn't sell junk.  Hmmm. She
was probably just some GP rookie who wanted to glorify herself by taking
down the infamous Gravenor Rezilikir and his gang of galactic arms dealers.
 How did she get down without at least a drop pod?

Grrath, who always thought with his hormones, commented "Maybe we should
capture her so we can have some GP fun."

Rezilikir only rolled his eyes back and moaned.  "No, just kill her and be
done with it.  She's delaying our schedule. 

"Right away boss!"  The Mandalore responded.  The closest bay door opened
and he jetted the Executioner out as he set his gun sights on the hiding
place of the GP officer.  "She's right next to the other warehouse.  That
GP must be pissing in her pants."  He thought as his mecha landed.  The
Galaxy Police's mechas were not nearly near as big and powerful as the
military mobile suit he piloted.  His brand new General Galaxy Executioner
was an old design, and was no longer in service with many of the larger
military organizations.  That didn't make it any less lethal for infantry
without mobile suit support.  In any case, his sensors told him that it was
just a single humanoid female inside the warehouse.  What he didn't notice
was the odd way the sensors would fuzz up as it tried to determine the
target's combat potential.  With practiced ease and a little arrogance he
brought all his weapons to bear on her position.  Smiling to himself he
gave her about 2 seconds to ponder her fate.  Actually, it was more like
two and a half seconds.   Particle beams and lasers vaporized the wall she
was behind.  The auto cannon shells chewed up the ground around her and the
missile strike blew everything to oblivion.  The communications system
crackled to life and he heard the others laughing and cheering him on.

The boss was saying something about overkill when a warning siren went off
in the cockpit.  He glared at the screen.  "I don't believe it. SHE'S STILL
THERE!!!"  Grabbing the joystick he quickly lined up another barrage when a
small blue white bolt sizzled out of the dust cloud that was supposed to
mark the GP's grave.  "She can't hurt me with that!" He thought.

"Now that was overkill."  Rezilikir said dryly into the communicator as he
observed the effects of Slain's attack on the monitor.  He was already
thinking about moving his base just in case the dead officer had gotten off
a message to GP headquarters when Slain screamed incomprehensibly.  His
mecha disappeared in a massive blast, and the whole warehouse shook like
some angry god had struck a giant hammer against it.  Grrath howled a war
scream as he started firing plasma bolts wildly into the chaos outside his
gun port.  The automatic defense systems came on line as they targeted
something that was flying towards them.  Deafening explosions announced
their destruction only moments later.  Krom disappeared as his gun port
wall exploded.  Knowing what was coming next, Rezilikir dove behind a large
crate and started firing his blaster cannon into the hole where his dead
henchman had been. 

The GP officer flew in through the gaping hole.  She expertly avoided a
cannon blast, but with three criminals firing at her she couldn't avoid
them all.  Several shots sizzled in towards her, but were deflected by some
kind of shield.  

"A personal shield!"  Rezilikir's mind screamed at him. His eyes quickly
assessed his opponent's characteristics. The only thing she wore was the
standard Galaxy Police patrol uniform.  "Impossible!"  he thought.  No
armor, no equipment pack, no flight pack, and she didn't even have a weapon
in her hands.  Glancing over, he saw that Grrath had just finished
reloading his plasma rifle.  She pirouetted in the air to avoid a flurry of
shots from Trondari and landed.  Grrath grinned wickedly as he noted that
she was not armed.  He was about to shoot her when he learned that he was
mistaken about her lack of weaponry.  As Grrath brought his weapon to bear
on her, she whipped her hand towards him, palm out. A blue-white bolt flew
out of her outstretched hand, and removed Grrath's head for him.  Trondari
charged her with his sword.  A single man shield could stop either physical
or energy attacks but not at the same time. He'd gambled that she couldn't
switch modes fast enough.  She didn't have to.  The sword swung down in a
glistening arc and stopped dead against her bare forearm.  The Simmerian
warrior could only look at her with wide disbelieving eyes a she brought
her other hand around in a vicious punch that knocked him out.  Her last
move had left her back to Rezilikir, but he wasn't even trying to shoot at
her anymore.  He just stood there with his mouth agape and his blaster was
pointed at the floor.

"Are you going to stand there and drool at the sight of my rear, or are you
going to try to use that big bad gun on me?"  She taunted.  She didn't
bother to look at him.

"You're unbelievably strong if she can do that to a Simmerian."  Rezilikir
said to her back.

"He was about to ruin my hair, and I was angry about getting blown up by
your pet Executioner.  You should have just surrendered yourself to me when
I gave you the chance.  Then none of your friends would have gotten hurt or
killed." She replied sarcastically.

"You're Ryoko aren't you?  But I thought you were a criminal like us.  Why
are you working for the Galaxy Police?"

She turned and for the first time he could make out her face. She was
beautiful in that GP uniform.   She barely looked old enough to have
graduated from the Galaxy Police Academy.   Rezilikir remembered when he
wanted to become a GP, back in his distant childhood.  He wistfully thought
that if she'd been on the recruiting posters he might never had joined the
Juraian Army.  He might never have become a criminal.  She stepped forward
into the light.  Not a single spot or stain could be seen on her uniform or
on her pale skin. She had her pale violet hair in a ponytail, the end of
which was draped over her right shoulder.  Her bangs framed the most
intense set of blue eyes her had ever seen.  There was something different
about her eyes.  They were not the eyes of the young woman she seemed to
be.  They were incredibly old, and spoke to him of seeing many battles.
The way she regarded him with those eyes turned his blood cold.

"You're not Ryoko!"  he hissed.  "You almost have the same hair color, but
you're not her!"

"That's right.  I am Detective Captain Lita of the Galaxy Police.  Oh,
where was I?  That's right! You and your comatose friend here are under
arrest, and I suggest you drop your weapons before I have to get really
nasty."


Chapter One :  It's Not Just a Job, It's an Adventure

Makoto Mizuhara was at a dead end again.  The Eye of God had given up many
of its secrets to his determined research.  And yet, the final pieces to
the puzzle eluded him.  After months of searching and some limited
experimentation, he had found that the Eye of God could act as a transport
device.  However, because of its current function as a weapon and the raw
power it commanded, the safety of anything or anyone sent through it could
not be guaranteed.  Ifurita had made the trip to discharge the accumulated
power of the Eye, but was thrown 10,000 years into the past of Earth.  Who
knows what would happen if anyone else tried it.  Exhausting all his
avenues of research aboard the Eye, he conceded to Princess Rune that it
should be sealed until he could find more information.

Even as the Eye was resealed, it continued running the many ancient
programs that regulated its mechanisms.  Power was generated and routed to
the various systems.  Self-repair and maintenance systems kept everything
working, and command directives pulsed through the miles of networked
processors.  One of these was the communications array.  Since the Eye
first came online, this system accepted and processed the various orders
sent to the Eye.  It had waited since the end of the Holy Wars for the
order to deploy.  Its final order came from the last existing command
center on El Hazard.  

"Incoming command directive: source - Stairway to Heaven - Reseal and
resume orbit."  

It passed on this order to the central artificial intelligence unit.  If it
could think on its own, it would probably wonder when it would receive
another order.  A number of days passed, but for the Eye, time was
meaningless.

"Incoming command directive: source - unknown."

The communications array queried the AI unit for permission to receive the
message.  The AI took less than a fraction of a second to return an order.

"Determine source origin and buffer directive"

A tracking program activated receivers located at various points on the
Eye's outer shell.  The information passed on to the AI unit, and it
activated another program.  Satisfied that the program's criteria had been
met, the AI sent a series of commands to one of its systems.   

A ship waited at a point 1.2 light years away from the center of El
Hazard's star system.  Floating gently in the dark blackness of space, its
lone occupant waited patiently as he watched the navigation display in
front of him.  The viewscreen was completely red with the outlines of
dangerous spacetime anomalies.  To his left, was a very old device of a
completely different design from the control panels around it.  The one
screen on its dull surface displayed a countdown that rapidly progressed to
zero.  The navigation computer beeped an alert.  On the screen before him,
a region of space designated in red slowly turned green.  He punched an
order into the computer, which responded by powering up the engines.  As
his ship sailed gracefully through the debris of a Galaxy Police satellite
he breathed to himself, "And so it begins." 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

She watched the Galaxy Police landing craft land a good distance from the
large warehouse in a textbook perfect landing.  The footpads had barely
even touched the ground before the troop bay doors along the under side
opened up.  Hundreds of uniformed SWAT team members swarmed out of the
ships to begin securing the now defunct weapons depot.  "Well, that's no
surprise" she thought to herself.  "It's a wonder that they didn't just do
a full orbital assault drop with mechs and all.  HQ must have put some kid,
who doesn't know my reputation, in command."  Two personnel carriers rolled
up to her and the restrained criminals.  SWAT team officers came out of one
and saluted her smartly before taking charge of the prisoners.  It was the
person who came out of the other personnel carrier that gave her the
biggest surprise of the day.

"Marshal!" she said as she stood at attention and saluted.

The Marshal of the Galaxy police could only smile as he remarked, "It
should be you who's the Marshal."

"But then I'd be missing all the fun!"  she smirked back.

"You always did like being in the thick of things."  He said as he gave his
old partner a big hug.

"Hey hey, you don't want these children to think that something is going on
between us!  The last thing you need is for some politician mouthing off
about an improper romance between the high and mighty Marshal of the Galaxy
Police and a lowly underling." She said jokingly.

"How are you old friend?  It seems that, with my duties as Marshal and your
adventures taking down war criminals and arms dealers, we never get too see
each other much."

"Well I never did like sitting at a desk.  It's too boring.  But enough of
this, I can tell that something's up.  After all, the busybodies at HQ
would never let you come all the way out here, even if it is to see that
monster Rezilikir and his buddies get busted."

"I need to talk to you about a mission that would be of a very personal
nature for you.   We'll need some privacy for this.  You, Lieutenant
Davion, and myself can talk about it in my cabin aboard ship."

"Logan Davion huh?"  She began to recall what she knew about the young
officer. Like herself, he was a part of the Special Investigations Branch
dealing with war crimes and the illegal arms trade.  However, they did not
deal with each other much.  Her specialty was going after the dealers of
particularly heinous weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction.  He
was part of the section that dealt with cataloging contraband weapons left
over from dead civilizations. "Well then, we should get going."

The ride back to the battlecruiser was short but lively.  They mainly
talked about the Marshal's family especially his granddaughter Mihoshi.  He
revealed that she and her partner Kiyone were both stationed in some
backwater star system whose indigenous population had only begun limited
space travel.  He somewhat regretted that he had to give them an assignment
that was considered a dead end.  At that, the Marshal thought to himself
wistfully,  "It's a good thing that Lita doesn't know that my granddaughter
and Kiyone are watching over some very important people.   Namely, the
future rulers of the planet Jurai, the former space pirate Ryoko, the
scientist Washu, and a boy who can form the Light Hawk Wings by himself.
She might refuse this mission and go to the Earth to check thing out for
herself."  Soon enough, they reached the ship.

As the Marshal opened the door to his cabin, the room's only occupant stood
up and crisply saluted them both.  He was of average height and had a
muscular build.  His green hair was cut in a military style, and it framed
his handsome face.

"Marshal, Lieutenant Logan Davion reporting as ordered."

Returning his salute, the Marshal responded "Ah Lieutenant Davion, thank
you for waiting for us.  Allow me to introduce this lovely lady next to me.
 This is the famous Captain Lita." 

"So what is this about?" The captain said as she closed the door behind her
and took a seat.

Lieutenant Davion said evenly  "This is about star system RX-18999A."

"RX-18999A."  She whispered.  "But that's."

"Yes it is. Lieutenant, why don't you give the captain a summary of the
situation." 

"Yes Marshal.  Computer, display system schematic for RX-18999A."  A
viewscreen materialized in front of them, and the diagram of a star system
appeared on it.  "As you know, one of the planets in that system was the
home of a very advanced civilization that destroyed itself about ten
thousand years ago. The Garudan explorers of that era reported that they
never developed a real space travel technology.  The reports from their
second and final expedition indicate that a war was in progress.  Their
assessment indicated that large scale weapons of mass destruction were
being used.  A reference was made to an ultimate weapon that bent space to
destroy its targets.  Other weapons included bioengineered humanoid cyborgs
with amazing abilities."

At that statement the Marshal looked over at Lita.  She also was lost in
thought at what the lieutenant had said.  He recalled a five thousand year
old secret report that he was presented with shortly after he became
Marshal.  

"The subject had been found floating in a primitive derelict spacecraft
outside of the Meltrandi system by a Galaxy Police cruiser.  An analysis of
the ship's trajectory indicates that its origin is within system RX-18999A.
She appeared to be in some sort of deep hibernation that ended when one of
the investigating officers accidentally tripped the reanimation sequence.
Medical scans indicated that she is a cyborg with many advanced
capabilities.  Further scans were unsuccessful at determining the full
extent of her abilities due to some sort of passive shielding.  Carbon 14
analysis of organic residues within the ship indicate that it started its
journey five thousand years before."  "That means that it had been launched
nearly ten thousand years ago," the Marshal thought to himself."

Lita knew the majority of what that report had contained, but she did not
know about the origin of that ship or its age.  The Marshal snapped back to
attention as Davion continued his briefing.

"Currently, the region surrounding RX-18999A is full of time-space
anomalies and energy fields that seem to be the result of this war.
Basically nothing can approach this system for a distance of 1.2 lightyears
without being torn apart.  We estimate that it would take a shield
potential greater than that of the Juraian battleship Tsunami to breach it.
We have maintained a series of surveillance satellites around this system
to watch for anyone trying to enter or leave.  We believe that much
dangerous technology still exists on this world, and this is the reason for
the."

"Just get on with the important parts.  I already know the history."  She
said impatiently.

Davion looked over to the Marshal, who nodded his assent.

The Lieutenant cleared his throat and continued.  "Two days ago a satellite
detected an unidentified ship.  It gave out the standard warning about
approaching the system at which point it was destroyed.  Five minutes later
all the other satellites detected a sudden burst of energy from the only
inhabitable world of the system, whereupon part of the navigational hazards
disappeared."

"You mean a path through the obstructions was created by this unknown ship?"

"No, we do not know the cause of this development.  The anomalies around El
Hazard have cleared in the past, though only for short periods.  The most
recent event was a few days before that massive energy surge.  That lasted
about 10 seconds.  All the governments of the major powers as well as our
own high command are very concerned about this development.  Currently only
you and those with gold level security clearances know about this."  Davion
stopped his narrative to allow that information to sink in.

The silence continued for several seconds until the Marshal broke their
reverie.  "Basically, we would like for you to go and find out what is
going on there.  I know what this means for you, so this is strictly
voluntary.  If you decide to go, the lieutenant here will be going with you. "

"It will just be the two of us?"

"Yes, we felt that minimizing the contact with any of the indigenous
population would make things simpler. Davion here is quite resourceful, and
well, we feel that you are worth at least an entire station of officers."

She looked right at her old friend and said "I thank you for your
confidence in me, but I need to think about this."

"We need to get moving on this as soon as possible, but I do understand
your need for time.  Perhaps you should retire to your cabin.  If you need
more information, all the relevant files have been cleared for your
access."  The Marshal leaned forward and touched a button.  "Ensign, please
come in and escort Captain Lita to her cabin."

After she had left, he looked over to lieutenant Davion and queried "You
have reservations about using her in this operation."

"Sir, with all due respect, I know that she is a living legend and that
there all kinds of stories about her abilities. But."

"Go on lieutenant."

"This may or may not be a very dangerous mission.  I would have preferred
to have more personnel."

"So you have doubts about her ability to complete this mission?"

"No sir.  I have doubts about our ability to carry out the mission."

"I see.  Station Commandant Grell was right about you.  You want more
firepower don't you?"

"More personnel and firepower are always good things to have sir."

"Lieutenant, by the time you come back from this mission, you'll see just
how much firepower that girl has at her command."

"Permission to speak freely sir?

The Marshal nodded his approval.

"Sir, she doesn't even look old enough to be a captain."

"She's older than me.  Just don't remind her of it."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Closing her cabin door behind her, she let out a small sigh then began to
speak to herself.  "I knew this day would come, the day when my sins would
catch up with me.  I was a fool to think that I could make amends for them
by trying to stamp out the same kind of evil."  Puzzlement knotted her pale
eyebrows.  "Why did I say that?" she thought.  For as long as I can
remember, that world has caused nothing but worry and concern for me.
Unfortunately, she didn't know why she had those feelings.  All she knew
was that something very bad had happened there and it was her fault.  

She sat at the computer terminal and logged into the ship's system.  They
would arrive at headquarters in two days time.  Two days to ponder.  Two
days to decide.  Two days to refuse to go there.  She called up the files
pertaining to her mission.  She already knew most of the post war history
of system RX-18999A.  

The events within the system itself were a mystery.  Because of the
navigational hazards no one had been able to go there in ten thousand
years.  Some of the pre-war history was known from the few Garudan
expeditions that had gone to that remote system.  The Garudans had been
very careful in their explorations.  They did not want to disturb
civilizations that had not had contact with other races.  What they had
found there had been a shock.  It had been a very advanced civilization
especially in weapons technology.  They had the created many devices that
were more advanced than many things that were available in the present day.
 Because of their politics, they never got around to exploring space save
for the area immediately around their system.  The second expedition found
them on the brink of destroying themselves.  This had come after centuries
of skirmishes and political battles.  The official history referred to
terrible weapons developed by them, culminating in a weapon that bent space
itself.  No one knew if anyone had survived to repopulate the planet.  Long
range sensors had been able to detect low power energy pulses emanating
from the planet.  Telescopes could pick out what looked like cities.  There
was no evidence of any kind of electromagnetic signals, the usual harbinger
of a growing technological civilization.  More than two years back, a
series of massive energy surges was detected.  Its source was a strange
moonlike satellite closely orbiting the planet.  The science division
believed that this was not a natural satellite because its orbital
characteristics were so strange.  They were proved right when it was
observed to change its orbit shortly before the energy surges.  

RX-18999's potential for exploitation by black market arms dealers was very
high considering what might be littering the surface of it's one
inhabitable world.  There was a truly massive amount of factual and
conjectural data to be read.  Although she could absorb the data extremely
fast, it was already early morning by the ship's chronometer.  Then she ran
into the section concerning some of the most destructive weapons that had
been observed in the centuries leading up to the war.  She stopped here.  A
small voice in her mind said that it was getting too personal.

There was a light knock at the cabin door.  Glad for the distraction she
said, "Come in."  The door slid open to reveal the Marshal standing there.  

"Couldn't sleep either eh?" he queried.  "If you don't mind, I think I'll
rest my feet here."  He walked in and took a seat.

"You forget that I don't require much sleep."

"This mission is bothering you."

She decided to change the subject.  "If you are sending little old me with
just that kid, he must be good.  Tell me about the lieutenant.  Especially
if it's stuff that isn't in his file"

"I'm surprised you haven't looked up some of his former commanders.  He's
very good.  He graduated from the academy at the top of his class and has
been steadily advancing up the ranks.  He's one of the few officers we have
who has been approved to use military mobile suits.  He can have a hot
temper, but his discipline while on duty is admirable.  He has a penchant
for using massive amounts of firepower and he loves to fight. He has a
nearly legendary reputation for his drinking ability.  His nickname at the
academy was "gravedigger".  That's because he'd still be sober enough to
dig you a grave after you'd died of alcohol poisoning."  Both of them
chuckled lightly at this.  They both had memories of their academy days.
"He was just assigned to the Kagato case until that one got killed
attempting to kidnap Princess Ayeka of Jurai."  At this, the Marshal
remembered the significance of that name to his old partner.  He looked
over to her.

"Kagato..  I wish I could have been there to arrest him myself." She said
with fire in her eyes.

"I'm sorry.  I wish I could have given you that case, but it would have
been too personal for you."

"And asking me to go there isn't too personal?"

"Ah, you've got me.  I'm just concerned about my old partner that's all.
Every time someone mentions Kagato, you get all crazy.  You spent a good
part of your career chasing him with little luck until my predecessor
removed you from the case.  You really have it in for that fiend for some
reason and you don't even know why.  I know you remember him from your past
and I also know that you don't remember what he did to you to deserve such
hate."

"I know that he had something to do with what I am, and I only know that he
deserves it!" she said.

"This won't do, she's nearly at the point of tears." he thought.  He wished
knew what it was about Kagato that made her so angry, but even she didn't
know.  Deep hypnosis wouldn't even dredge up her history before that day
when she was found.  The best teacher and best officer I have and yet her
past is a mystery even to her.  Quietly he said "It doesn't matter anymore.
 He's dead and he got what he deserved.  It was a good thing that the
Juraians were able to free Ryoko and Washu." 

"I suppose you're right."  She mumbled.  The thought of the infamous world
destroyer Kagato being dead did bring some comfort.  He couldn't hurt her
anymore.  It was rather strange to think of that monster hurting her when
she didn't even remember how he had done it.  Then the thought occurred to
her.  Kagato is dead, your destiny and your forgotten past lies there.

Slowly she stood up, faced the Marshal, and saluted.  "I'll do it sir.
I'll go to El Hazard."




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"A drink!  I NEED a drink!!"  Masamichi Fujisawa (El Hazard)

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