That day, there were countless explosions due to combat in the skies over Jurai. Acts of hostilities on the Jurai home world, the most powerful single nation in the universe, had not occurred for almost two thousand years. Jurai may have gotten inattentive, but this was a startling incident. The emergency alert echoed in the command center, where people were furiously working to verify the sudden attack.
One of the operators, a warrior, stared at the data on his display monitor and reported in disbelief, “J-Jurai’s absolute defense zone has been breached. In less than a minute, whatever this is will arrive on the surface.”
“It had to be when the Emperor is absent! What fleet is this?!” Just then, static ran on the monitors. “What happened, did we get hit?!”
“The flagship is still intact! This must be due to a distortion in space- time from the energy wave when the enemy fleet passed through.” As soon as the operator finished answering, communications recovered. “There’s a powerful energy reading… No, that’s not possible!!” The operator could not believe his own eyes but confirmed that it was real multiple times before turning to his commander. “Th-there’s only one ship!”
“What?! Even if they picked a time when the First and Second Generation ships are away, a single ship breached the defense zone? How is that possible…?” Everyone shuddered. A single Third Generation ship could annihilate a fleet of thousands under the right conditions, so a single ship coming through was not only reckless but suicidal. And yet this ship had picked a fight with Jurai by herself. She had broken through the defense zone and was getting closer.
A pillar of light flashed in the sky, and the next moment, a deafening roar was heard, along with the appearance of a black crystalline ship positioned several hundred meters above the surface. In the next moment, a tremendous impact shook Tenju.
“They’re storming the place!!”
“We have confirmation that it’s Ryo-Ohki!!”
“Ryo-Ohki?! The Black Destruction?!” the startled commander cried out. Those outside the supreme council did not know that Ryo-Ohki fought on equal terms with Emperor Azusa’s Kirito during his voyages. Still, her name was known throughout the galaxy.
“Meowwww!” The moment an animal cry could be heard from the ship, three intercepting squadrons along with a Fourth Generation Ship went up in balls of flame in rapid succession.
“A Fourth Generation ship, in one strike?!” They had no choice but to believe it now. A foe that could threaten Jurai was before them, on the attack! The coming of the Black Destroyer bathed the skies over Jurai in a crimson glow.
While Ryo-Ohki was attacking Jurai, the main members of the Imperial Family were all on tours abroad, and thus the First and Second Generation ships were on official government business away from the home world. Among them, Yosho had finished his duties quickly and already begun his return voyage. “The home world is under attack?!”
“Yes, the intruder is a known space pirate flying a single ship called Ryo-Ohki. She is currently engaged in battle with the planet’s defenses.”
“We’ll get there in about five hours. Have them hold out until then.” The reporting warrior gave a brief salute and disconnected. Yosho ordered Funaho to increase speed at once. “I can’t believe it’s a single ship. So her name is Ryo-Ohki…”
Yosho had heard of the rumors. A pirate ship that didn’t belong to any guild but acted alone. She was called Black Destruction for her sheer demolition power, but that was only rumor. Her pattern was usually to hit isolated planets far from large civilizations, so accurate accounts were not available.
“Was it a fluke? No…Jurai’s defense zone can’t be breached by luck alone.” Yosho did not know at the time that Ryo-Ohki had once surpassed the power of Kirito, his father’s ship… He knew that Ryo-Ohki had recently been involved in the thefts of important cultural assets and kidnappings of intellectuals at various locations around the galaxy. From the fact that the enemy was heading towards Tenju, it was obvious that they were after the Royal Trees.
“Ryo-Ohki… I’ll find out if all the rumors are true.” It might have been his pirate blood, but Yosho felt a little elated.
A pillar of flame lit up the sky. With a backward glance at the three sinking Fourth Generation Jurai ships, Ryo-Ohki continued to attack, winding her way hither and thither. On the bridge, a woman smiled, arms folded in front of her chest. Wearing a red and black combat suit, with spiky, pale- emerald-green hair, golden almond-shaped eyes, and crimson jewels at the nape of her neck and both wrists… Ryoko sat, completely drunk on the high of combat and destruction.
“Heh heh. Ha ha ha ha!! Come at me. Or I’ll steamroll over you!” Ryo- Ohki turned purposefully towards where several ships were clustered.
“How can this be? They may be Fourth Generation ships, but each has the power of a flagship from any other country. The whole lot of them banded together can’t stop this?” Moaning in the command chair as Ryo- Ohki trampled everything in her path was Masaki Tatsua, acting commander while the Imperial Family was away. “You still haven’t made contact with House Amaki or Shuzan-dono?”
“We keep hailing them, but communications seem to be blocked. I’m afraid Shuzan-dono is…”
“Don’t speak another word!” Tatsua gritted his teeth with chagrin.
Shuzan was supposed to arrive back on Jurai a day before Yosho, so obviously, he should have been closer than him. But he could not even be contacted, let alone located.
“The primary defense line has been breached!” the operator screamed. “We can’t even alter her flight path, let alone stall her?”
Ryo-Ohki was advancing in a zigzag pattern. Tatsua knew that this was
Ryo-Ohki enjoying herself, not because she needed to evade attacks from Jurai.
“The enemy has reached the secondary defense line!”
“Well then…” Tatsua left the lieutenant next to him in charge and exited the bridge. He was going to sally forth with his own Third Generation ship.
There were currently five Third Generation ships on Jurai. With them in front and a dozen or so Fourth Generation ships as support, he estimated that it would be possible to push out Ryo-Ohki back into space.
However, only three Third Generation ships showed up at the rendezvous point. Unbelievably, the two ships owned by the Imperial Amaki House rejected the plan under the pretext of defending Tenju.
“Defend?! What could they do with only two ships?!” Tatsua himself was reluctant to even say those words. Two Third Generation ships would absolutely trounce an ordinary enemy. But the reality he was faced with made him lose faith in that assumption. “If they pass the final defense line, we’re through. Damn you Shuzan, must you be so against House Masaki…?!”
The unmoving Amaki Jurai ships were ordered to watch and not act by Shuzan. He was clearly underestimating the severity of the situation, to give such an order. But for someone who was not personally witnessing the events, it could not be helped.
There was another factor critical to this disaster, and that was the growing fear of Ryo-Ohki. Even without Shuzan’s order, those onboard the two ships defending Tenju did not want to enter this battle. What they believed to be absolute, the power of the Royal ships, was being destroyed before their very eyes.
Ryo-Ohki headed towards Tenju, leaving only destruction in its wake.
Tatsua was determined to stop Ryo-Ohki even if it killed him. A Third Generation ship was piloted by the Imperial Family. She was outfitted with a metal combat hull unit that was almost shameful to equip, considering the raw power the ship already had.
“Now’s not the time to be concerned about that!” Tatsua was an excellent warrior trusted by Seto. He would not allow pride to take over. Adapting battle plans on the fly, he turned the two ships towards Ryo-Ohki, for the first phase.
Suddenly, a number of spheres of light danced wildly around Ryo- Ohki and momentarily neutralized her sensors, stopping her in her tracks.
“Hmph… Light Hawk Wings.” Ryoko clicked her tongue. She knew about their existence from Kagato… or rather, from the battle with Azusa’s
Kirito. On either side of the panoramic view she had from the bridge, the three Light Hawk Wings deployed by the two ships twinkled. “This is nothing!” The moment she tried to break away at full throttle, an extraordinary amount of pressure bore down on Ryo-Ohki’s hull. The other Third Generation ship and the Fourth Generation ships were attacking.
Tatsua saw from the bridge that Ryo-Ohki was being imperceptibly pushed back into the atmosphere and grew confident in their victory. “It’s working!”
“Heh heh, what’s this attack? This isn’t even close to that one other ship before. Thinking this would stop her is ridiculous.” Ryoko laughed mockingly from her bridge, glowing red from the light of the attack.
In that instant, Tatsua’s ship began to distort. “How could that be?!
Everyone fire at will, focus on Ryo-Ohki!” The Juraian ships attacked desperately, but Ryo-Ohki deflected them all. “How could they block Third and Fourth Generation ships so easily? This could only be done…with Light Hawk Wings.”
At the same moment, the two Royal Trees pinning Ryo-Ohki down let out a scream, and were thrown off, succumbing to her overwhelming power.
Ryoko smirked, her arms crossed in front of her. “They’re a waste of time. Come on, Ryo-Ohki!”
“Meoww!!” Ryo-Ohki’s high-pitched cry resounded above the Jurai skies. Perhaps overwhelmed, the three Third Generations ships hesitated and stopped attacking.
“Why aren’t you firing?!”
“We don’t know. But the units are all functional!”
“What?!” Tatsua understood that the Trees had stopped their attacks on their own. “That’s not possible. That could only be done by someone with a Third Generation Tree or higher!” An absolute denial went through his thoughts. The Royal Trees were the equivalent of gods in their minds. Jurai had become such a powerful nation through their power. “I won’t believe it!! That would be the end of this country!” He could not accept that there could be something superior to the Royal Trees. The Imperial Ships must be absolute. Ryo-Ohki must be destroyed, even if it meant his sacrifice. “We have a Third Generation Tree. If we all perish here, that would mean Ryo-
Ohki would be more powerful than the Third Generation!” “Meowww!!”
Tatsua’s ship, hearing Ryo-Ohki’s high-pitched cry, turned off its Light Hawk Wings. The ship was out of control, and the bridge shook.
“Tatsua-sama, we must abandon ship!”
“Why? Why is this happening?!” Tatsua’s ship was engulfed in flames and fell out of the sky.
Ryo-Ohki’s attack hit its target, and Tenju was illuminated in a red glow. A girl burst out of a room in House Masaki in a corner of the giant tree. Her dark purple hair was bunched in two ponytails. This elegant girl was Masaki Ayeka Jurai. She was supposed to have gone on a voyage with her father Azusa, but she had her Tree Selection Ceremony immediately beforehand and thus remained on Jurai with her little sister Sasami. As a nation that prospered because of the Trees, it was only natural that becoming a partner with a Tree would be prioritized over everything else.