Difina and Jimison appeared on opposite sides of the balcony. They both stopped as they watched three males fall unconscious before Kimon.
“So,” the last male said, “you are far better than we thought. Too bad you’ll soon be dead.”
A slight smile came to Kimon’s lips, “Oh, I think you are gravely mistaken. Though, I will show you the error of your ways.”
“You will learn the power of a second level master, these” he indicated the other three. “They were nothing.”
Kimon smiled slightly, then vanished. There were immediately the sounds of heavy hits, then a few thuds. A moment later, both appeared. The Delcron’s clothes ripped apart, plus he was slightly panting.
Kimon could only shake his head. Damn, this male was as slow as the others.
“So, I can see, like the last I faced, your upper masters aren’t well trained,” Kimon said, a slight smile on his face.
“You are no better than a pompous amateur,” the male in ragged clothing said.
Kimon only shook his head, “I shall end this, I am not even breaking a sweat.”
Kimon vanished, appearing on the other side of the second level master. Kimon stood there a moment then turned to watch the male as he crashed to the floor. Kimon held up a hand as a good number of Delcron guards came from the opening of the balcony.
Again, Kimon vanished, a moment later he reappeared, the Delcron assassin tied in a most peculiar way. Each finger was tied apart from each other. The arms were tied crossed, not touching.
“I will give him to you after I am through with him,” Kimon said as many frowned.
“I will die before I talk,” the assassin said.
“This I know, though I am not interested in talking.” The male looked into Kimon’s eyes then shuddered.
Less than an hour later, Kimon was in a room with both the third and second level masters.
“First, I will tell you that for me? Neither of you have any skill. Also, the male that you were after is my student as well as the princess. At the moment, they are well beyond your students. I have heard of your clan. If they wish to declare war upon me and my clan, I will not leave many alive,” Kimon said.
“Ha! You may have taken me. You will not fare as well against the next we send,” the second master said.
Kimon smirked, “I hope they are better than you, I felt I was against a novice.”
“Oh, you will feel the fury of those that have taught me,” the second master sneered.
Kimon walked out, heading toward the training room. A slight pressure in the air alerted him to a presence.
“No need to hide, I know you are here, show your face,” Kimon said.
A strike came from his left that he easily deflected. The second and third strikes just as easy. Kimon nodded then vanished, the sounds of a resounding hand to hand battle was heard.
A loud hit could be heard as a male Delcon was flying backwards towards the wall. Kimon appeared in front of him as soon as he hit the wall, landing another hit, it square in the chest.
“For as skilled as your clan is supposed to be? Even you, as a first master, are barely skilled,” Kimon said.
The Delcron male’s eyes were wide as he tried to strike Kimon, only to be pounded more into the wall. “Your style is familiar, much like the Grand Master’s. Your moves mirror his almost exactly,” the male said as he passed out.
Kimon ripped the male out of the wall, tying the man up. Kimon thought of what he’d said. After trussing up the first master, Kimon walked back to his room.
Kimon then knelt to activate a holo-graph machine. A few moments later, a holo-graph of Isamu Sakuta shimmered into sight.
“Exalted leader of the Jitaku council, I am afraid that I bear tragic news. I have fought the third, second and first masters of the Rilcon order, as they call themselves. Their art is far below an initiate of a few years,” Kimon said.
“Not to be unexpected,” Isamu said, then was concerned at the look on Kimon’s face. “I take it something else has you concerned?”
“It was something that the first master I defeated said. He said: Your style is familiar, much like the Grand Master’s. Your moves mirror his almost exactly. I remember reading in our history. About the banished master, who used his art to learn the dark arts,” Kimon said.
Isamu was quiet for a few moments as he himself was remembering the old legend. A moment later he nodded, “it is as you remember. This occurred over two hundred years ago. The master was re-named Jaakuna mono. As I remember, he ended many students’ lives.”
Kimon was also deep in thought, “wasn’t my great-great-great grandfather the one to defeat him?” Kimon asked.
“Both yours and mine, at that time they were only clan leaders,” Isamu said. “Both our clans have been close for even longer.” Isamu then reached over to pull a belt of Kimon’s clan. “I have, conferred with Oni, plus all have seen your battle.” Isamu touched the side of the belt it immediately changing color. “As the leader of the Jitaku council, plus advisement from your clan, you are now passed to a high clan leader.”
Kimon’s mouth hung open as the belt vanished, then appeared in his arms. Kimon immediately bowed to the floor, “I am honored to receive this, I will do all to further the honor that has been bestowed upon me.”
Isamu nodded, this should have happened years ago, though, as Kimon had said, his honor had to be restored. With that done, plus the three students he now had, it was a good thing to honor him as a master.
“It is hoped that the business at hand can conclude soon, this pending joining needs to happen. I am sure that you are as anxious to be with Oni, as I know she longs to be with you,” Isamu said.
“Yes, it has been far too long for the both of us,” Kimon said as he bowed.
“We trust that you will take care of the last shame of Jitaku. Your skill has passed far beyond what we thought it was. As we have all agreed, there are only thirty that might defeat you, myself included. Hunt well, we know you will restore the full honor of Jitaku,” Isamu said as he bowed, then the connection disconnected.
Kimon thought for a few minutes as he went through the legend. Arising he left, first he needed to advance his students before another attack occurred. He was almost to the training room when his com. went off.
“This is Colonel Kimon,” he said.
“My mate, I am almost there. I have brought your first student as well as his intended with her ship. We should be docked soon. I have missed you, my mate to be,” Oni said.
“As I have missed you, I await you,” Kimon said as he redirected his path.
Emperor Kandra watched space roll and boil as a strange sleek craft emerged from trans-warp.
“This is courier one of Jitaku asking permission to dock,” a male voice said. “We are carrying the mate to be of master Kimon and his first student.”
Kandra nodded as the crew gave the permission, then watched as the impressive little ship rapidly advanced, then docked. Even more impressive was the very large ship that exited right behind it. That ship needed no permission.
Kimon was at the hatch when it opened, “greetings my soon to be mate, Greeson,” Kimon said.
“You said they are almost to the second level. Are they still in control?” Oni asked.
“I believe they are; I need them further if they are to survive the next few weeks,” Kimon said.
Oni was about to speak further when she noticed the belt that Kimon wore. “So, the clan and the council have approved your pass to high clan leader. It is a proud day that you are recognized for what you are.”
“I just hope that I no longer bring dishonor as I did before. I do believe that these three students will further the honor of Jitaku,” Kimon said.
As the three moved off, a shadowy figure watched them. The grand master needed to be told about the potential danger. The figure could see that two of them moved with a grace that only a master had. The other one moved almost like a master, though not quite.
An hour later, the male appeared within the secret training headquarters of the Rilcon order. They were well hidden on the Delcron world.
A bow to what appeared to be a human, drew the grand masters attention. “Speak.”
“Another appeared today, she appears to move like the male. There was another, though they moved well, they appeared to be a well advanced student,” The shadowy male said.
“I have heard that the male’s moves mirror my own. It appears that I will have to take care of these new threats,” the Grand Master said. “Did you hear where they were from?”
“Yes, Grand Master, I heard the male mention a place called Jitaku,” the male said.
The slight jerking reaction the Grand Master had, was not lost on the shadowy male.
“So,” the nearly human Grand Master said, “It appears the old clan of my ancestors has finally reached us. This will take all of the clan to make it through. Gather all of the first four levels of masters’. Also, all the full masters, it will take all of us in order to survive.”
“Surely, the old clan isn’t better than our clan,” the male asked.
The Grand Master sighed, “we are just coming into our own. We have already lost several third and second level masters. We have also lost one of our first level masters. The reports I have say that they were defeated by the male. Reports also say that his skill is on par with my own. It will be I who will have to face him.”
The shadowy male was shocked at this, an unprecedented event. “If he is that dangerous, we full masters should face him.”
“No, this has to do with clan honor, plus if I am lost, the full masters must carry on,” the Grand Master said.
The shadowy male only nodded then bowed, this he thought might be the end of the clan. Leaving the room, the shadowy male made his way deeper into the clan building. He had to notify the rest of the clan of the peril that they were now facing.
He entered the largest and deepest room, seeing well over five thousand clan members. Walking to the front, he took his place beside the other two masters. When the time came, he walked to the raised dais.
The master then relayed all that the grand master had told him. He did his best not to smile as the multitude there roared in anger. Good, he thought we may go down, we will take some of them with us.
Emperor Kandra had already set about quelling the rest of the rebellion on the homeworld. He estimated that well over sixty-five percent of the rebels were imprisoned or dead.
He then turned to observe another readout from the capital. Good the Capital was now clear, giving another five percent of home world back to him.
A look out the view screen showed the impressive three imperial ships that were stationary near his fleet. The appearance of the third ship had actually help quell a lot of the unrest. Well, that and his daughter’s partial speech.
He shook his head after hearing the anger of the people at his brother’s people. The people had started to turn in a great many of the traitors, they felt, had tried to kill his daughter, the princess. Even worse, they were doublely angered that the hero of the Delcron people had been also targeted. Releasing a sigh, Kandra thought they both just needed to get better, though, they were damn fast now.
Kandra shook his head as he went through even more reports about what was left of the rebels. Opening a com. he started to direct more troops to areas that still held a great many of the rebels.
An hour later, Kimon, plus a female and another male entered the bridge. They were closely followed by his daughter and her mate to be.
There were more than a few hisses and growls from the bridge crew. Kandra immediately cleared his throat, which brought immediate silence.
A scathing look at the whole bridge crew had them lowering their eyes. “One would think that after master Kimon rendered over a hundred unconscious, you’d have learned. I need my bridge crew awake not sleeping for hours and injured,” Kandra hissed at them.
Kimon bowed to Kandra, “I have taken quite a few of the third and second masters of the Rilcon order. I know that they will not stop. I have contacted the Jitaku council outlaying what has passed. They have approved my actions so far, plus all mine, well our future actions.”
“So, I take it there will possibly a greater number of deaths to come? That you wish to have permission, and no repercussions later on for said deaths? You have it, it will greatly aid our empire to be rid of these pests,” Kandra said.
Kimon was surprised a second, then nodded as he and the others turned to head to the training room.
Kandra watched as the five left, seeing the grace that Kimon and the female had. Shaking a bit he nodded. If she was as good as Kimon, the Rilcon order didn’t stand a chance. Plus, Kandra guessed that the other male was a longer student, though he too moved with a deadly grace.
All five entered the training room, breaking into two groups. Onai took Difina and Jimison, while Kimon and Greeson went to the other side.
The next few hours were intense as all were going as fast as they could. “What have you two been doing?” Onai asked. The both of you should have advanced further than you have. Perhaps my future mate was correct when he decided to end you.”
Both Jimison and Difina were staring at Oni in disbelief. Here they thought they had advanced a lot further.
Jimison was about to speak when Kimon’s words came to him. Instead of trying to better what they had learned, they needed to forget to learn more. The improvements would come as they progressed. Was it really that easy?
A step back had Onai watching Greeson as he closed his eyes, extending his senses out. A faint smile came to Onai’s lips as she watched Greeson’s Ki start to rise. It was about time, she thought, as she attacked Greeson.
Greeson was shocked as he actually felt Oni approach, then blocked almost everything she sent.
“So, the useless one finally listened, both of you, rest. You,” she tapped on Greeson’s forehead. “Teach your mate before she is killed.”
Both stared at Oni as she bowed, then moved off.
________________________________________________
Kimison cursed again as the sentinel on the table began to tremble, then smoke. “What the hell did we do wrong this time? I completely rebuilt the nervous system with the help of the IMT.”
Rayburn was nodding his agreement, then started to go through the plans again. “As of yet, I am not seeing a problem.”
Rayburn was about to speak again when there was a shimmering behind them. Both swallowed hard as the holo-ram of Derrick appeared.
“I am almost afraid to ask how you two are doing, going this long and no disasters? So what is going on with the sentinel program? Ummmm, so having trouble with the personality circuits. You both are on the right track, though the artifical nervous system needs to mirror a living beings. That might be why they are failing as much,” Derrick said.
Both men could only stare at Derrick with their mouths open. “I swear he has us monitored. Sir? We thought you would be upset with this,” Rayburn said.
“I was a short time then thought of the alternative. Having an unfeeling sentinel is too robotic. Mary had made several thinking sentinals, though their thinking process was too simple. Here,” Derrick said as a set of plans appeared. “These were Mary’s plans. She was working on, advancing them with little success. They might help, and yes, I am monitoring you especially after the IMT accident.”
Both men nodded as they blushed at the mention of the incident. “Something that the both of us are trying to forget,” Kimison said.
“I don’t see why, as I remember the both of you learn and come up with excellent ideas afterward. Now, if you can complete this project, it will be a major asset to the Empire,” Derrick said.
Both men were in thought for a few moments, then smiled, “Thank you sir, we’ll look over them,” Kimison said as Derrick nodded, then broke communication.
They studied Mary’s plans for an hour, going through every bit of it. Kimison looked at Rayburn with a puzzled, “what in the hell is this made of?”
Rayburn looked closer at the simple nervous system Mary had installed in her sentinel. “I…,” he started, then made the area larger then larger still. It appears to be actual flesh, but how?”
Mary’s holo-gram appeared. It was grown from humanoid DNA. Everything artificial that I tried failed after several minutes,” Mary explained.
“Yeah, we’ve noticed that, I believe that ten minutes was the longest we achieved,” Kimison said.
Mary’s eyes rose, “my longest was only five, perhaps it is time to reexamine yours and mine.”
Rayburn and Kimison looked at each other, five minutes? What the hell?
“That might be a good idea, the actual growth of these nerves might take far longer than we have,” Kimison said.
“Perhaps, though I believe that the systems on Tempro are capable of rapid growth,” Mary replied.
Both men could only stare at Mary, then turned to Tempro’s holo-gram who was nodding. “Alright, though I think that this should not leave the ship. This could change the face of the Empire if it got in the wrong hands,” Rayburn said.
It was a few hours later that the large robotic body sat up from the table. “So far, it appears to be operating at optimum levels,” Kimison said, monitoring at a nearby console.
Rayburn ran a small scanner over first the body, then the upper chest, then the head region. “I concur with your assessment,” Rayburn said.
Kimison could only shake his head. He hadn’t thought that the nerves and brain cells could grow that fast. He’d been going over the scans closely for the past few hours. “Sentinel, please stand,” he said.
A moment later, the sentinel stood, then turned toward Kimison. “As you command sir,” the sentinel said.
Rayburn turned toward Kimison with a shocked look on his face. “There is not supposed to be anything within the cells. You did use the grown cells right?” Rayburn asked.
Kimison quickly turned his face away from Rayburn. “Uh, yeah I did,” Kimison said.
“Uh huh, why the hell do I have a bad feeling about this? OK, a more direct question: whose cells did you use?” Rayburn asked.
“Uh well, you see…” Kimison started.
A shimmering appeared beside the sentinel, Mary’s holo-gram looked over the sentinel. “I am detecting the brain cells and the nerve system. Strange,” Mary’s visage looked closer at the readings. “These readings seem highy active. Sentinel, self diagnostic.”
“Working,” the sentinel said.
“I need the level of sentence,” Mary asked.
“Assessing query now,” the sentinel said.
Rayburn noticed that Kimison was trying to leave without being seen. Rayburn shook his head, wasn’t going to happen. “I think you should stay Kimison, especially when HE gets here.”
Kimison shrunk more as Rayburn’s eyes seemed to burn a hole in him.
“Assessment finished, at present this unit is semi-self aware. At present, this unit is attempting to bring all organic systems online,” the sentinel said as it turned toward Kimison. “I think you did good sir.”
“Oh my god! You used your own brain cells, didn’t you? You do realize the implications of that, don’t you?” Rayburn nearly shouted.
“You WHAT!?” Derrick shouted from behind the both of them. “Damn it man! If I didn’t need you and Rayburn as bad as I do, I swear I’d have you cleaning the waste house, rooms for the next few years. I want a damn explanation now!”
Kimisoin took a deep breath as he started, “sir, I have been experimenting with this for quite some time. I knew that if we didn’t produce results soon, you were going to shut us down. All the data I have gathered indicates that the process is safe.”
“How in the hell did you keep it…” Derrick started. “Never mind, I forgot who the hell I was dealing with. I want all the data. I mean ALL of it. When I and Mary have gone through it, then I’ll decide.”
“Decide sir?” Kimison asked.
“Yes, decide if I should put you in confinement for a few years,” Derrick said, trying to control his anger.
“Sir? May I say something?” A mechanical voice said behind all of them.
They all turned to see the sentinel sitting on the end of the table. “You wish to say something? I thought you were only semi-sentient,” Derrick said.
“No sir, as I told Mary, I was trying to access all the organic systems. To bring all of them online,” the sentinel said.
Derrick nodded “If you are indeed sentient, then please speak,” Derrick said.
“Thank you sir, Mr. Kimison went into this realizing that most would react like this. While I was growing he actually asked if I wanted to do this,” the sentinel said. Everybody could only stare at Kimison.
“That… that is a major accomplishment,” both Derrick and Rayburn said.
“I also thought so, sir. I like, him, am devoted to you and the empire. I realize I am only a small part living, I wish to serve as he does,” the sentinel said.
“Well, since he does appear to be sentient, has a strong duty to the empire and you. I, as empress, commander of the scientific section of the empire, see no problem with it,” Empress Shelby said. Her holo-gram appeared beside Derrick’s, her pointing a finger at Kimison. “IF, you EVER do something like this again without checking with me? The punishment the Emperor would give you is tame compared to what I’d do, am I clear?”
Both Rayburn and Kimison, along with Derrick all shook for a moment. “We understand Mam,” Rayburn said.
“Understood fully Mam,” Kimison said.
“For now, we need to analyse all the data, see where we can go from here. Oh, also, I want to see this machine you have that you communicated with the cells with,” Shelby said sternly.
Kimison could only stare almost frozen to the spot he was on. He wasn’t being punished? A shake of his head drew the Empress’s attention, “no, you’re not being punished this time. Remember, if it happens again? I will not be responsible for what WILL happen to you.”
This broke Kimison out of his shock, “Yes, my Empress, I will remember.”
This brought a smile to Shelby’s lips, perhaps this will be a deterent to all of them.
“Now then, let’s see to the data before too much more happens,” Shelby said.
___________________________________________________________
Risen cursed as the ship started going further and further off course. “Try to stabilize the damn ship,” he yelled above the engine strain.
“Unable to comply, one of the stabilizing fins has been damaged. At the moment, control is ninety-nine percent impossible. Preset acceleration out of orbit must cycle through before control re-established,” the computer said.
Risen was pissed, those damn Xetherans, he had half a mind to destroy the rest of them. Hell, one continent was’t going to be enough, no more had to die for this offence.
A look at the readings showed that he wasn’t even near the damn planet. A growl escaped his lips as he fought to gain control. The only problem was that everything he did had no effect.
“We are now bouncing off the atmosphere. At present speed we won’t regain control for fifty-nine minutes,” the computer said.
“Damn it!” Risen growled as he watched the planet grow smaller and smaller as the ship started to gain speed.