Journeys of Time 19: Rebirth by Cybernetics
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With the planning for another wedding under way, the castle in Morgova was busy with Sas'Ha ordering everyone around to prepare for the big day of Tenchi and Peridot getting a second wife. Everyone felt stressed by the queen's constant commands, but did their best to appease her. This included Phoebe, who ran around and tried to find something to help with, but always got pushed aside since she wasn't able to do anything that was worked on.
Sighing to herself, Phoebe sat down in a chair in the throne room near a guard, who just did their job when they stood there, but gave her a concerned look, "Everything okay, your majesty?" Phoebe looked at the guard before sighing, "I am just not feeling I can contribute to this." The guard nodded, "Neither can I in the big image. I can only stand here and await orders." Phoebe decided to test the guard's word on that, "So if I would order you to pull off your helmet and blow me, you would do it?" Phoebe had not expected the guard's reply, "Of course, your majesty. I must do what I am told."
Phoebe was about to really test them, when the guard suddenly saluted Sas'Ha who had made her way over to Phoebe, "I have heard that you are trying to be of help, but are causing some bad accidents." Phoebe lowered her head, "I am sorry, mother. I just wanna help." Sas'Ha lowered herself down below Phoebe's level, allowing her to look into her eyes, "Well, you can help as I got an assignment to you. Remember Emperor Lei Feng?" Phoebe gave her a mother a nod, "Yes, he is the emperor of the realm of Bzc'Jehb. Why you bringing him up?"
Sas'Ha procured an envelope from her cleavage and handed it to Phoebe, who just from old habit sniffed it and murred, "Potent." The guard was happy they had not been told to remove their helmet as they began to blush from hearing it and Phoebe unsealed the envelope and pulled out a letter written in a wonderful font reminding of a mixture of a proper gentleman and a Chinese wiseman. Looking over it, she was rubbing her head, "Ummm, mom. I cannot read this."
Sas'Ha touched the letter before Phoebe noticed it becoming more understandable until she finally began to read, "Princess Phoebe of Gac'Ea'Ax and Angel of Ranged Death. We would like to request you to hold a speech for our entire army about what makes a good sniper and a good soldier. We also want you to pick up someone that we managed to find during a visit to your other home of Earth. We asked him to send you his file so you can have a look. We await your reply as soon as possible. Signed with honor, Emperor Lei Feng of Bzc'Jehb."
Phoebe looked at Sas'Ha, who nodded to her, "Your assignment is to go to that speech and pick up the poor guy. I also want you to pick up some Scharadon Blue, but ask for the dye or else you might be mistaken for a junkie." A soft growl came from nearby as Alexander looked over at them, "Tell me about it." The guard quickly saluted and seemed to shiver in their armor as the normally kimono-dressed male was dressed in his custom exo-armor, the helmet obscuring his face while the weapons were glimmering in the sunlight coming through the windows, "I was almost clawed out alive by a lioness."
Phoebe looked him over and laughed, "You just cannot get enough of that armor, can you?" Alexander laughed and moved the hands a bit before walking closer to hug both Sas'Ha and Phoebe tightly, "You have fun now. I got the entire new platoon of soldiers to train." With those words, Alexander ran out of the door leading to the royal balcony and took a leap of faith before landing in front of the entire platoon of newcomers, "Ready to get yourselves sweaty, men?"
Phoebe laughed before taking out the file and began to read it, "His name is Guǐ Shèjí and he is a black panther. Of American Chinese bloodline, explains his name. 35 years of age. A Lieutenant Colonel too, not a bad file so far." Phoebe's tail began to wag behind her, "Military career is two tours of duty in Afghanistan, and two tours of duty in Iraq as a United States Marine Corp sniper with 1,500 confirmed kills. Upon returning from Iraq, he led the United States Marine Corp Counter Terrorist Unit until injuries sustained during a still classified operation resulted in him being discharged. His career after being discharged is deemed classified."
Phoebe looked at the words and gulped before continuing, when her eyes suddenly widened, "Cybernetic features?! Thermo optical camouflage for enhanced stealth abilities, right eye enhanced with smart targeting for improved target tracking and acquisition for sniping, also recording features and data feed to verify targets and confirmed kills." Phoebe looked up at Sas'Ha, "Are you planning to have me assassinated?!"
Sas'Ha simply pointed down onto the file and Phoebe kept reading, "Disabilities: Inoperable nerve damage in right hand and arm requires use of a heavily modified Barret M107 rifle reduced fire rate by 80% and custom loads required by this rifle are 40% less powerful than standard .50BMG rounds. Inoperable paralysis of left arm due to shrapnel shredding the nerve clusters limits Gui to firing from prone using a bipod."
Sas'Ha wrapped her arms around Phoebe, who had begun to tear up from what she had read, "That poor man. He lost all that a sniper is. I... I can't decline this. Mother! Send your fastest messenger to Tigre, right away. Tell them to not hold on ceremony any longer. I will travel by next sunrise!" Sas'Ha smirked, "I am the qu..." She was silenced by Phoebe grabbing her throat, "Just do it or I put a bullet in your balls!"
True to her word, Phoebe had left for the journey to the south through the three realms dividing the realms apart before she finally stood in front of the giant gate to Tigre with her loyal sniper cannon Valkyria on her back as she knocked hard on the door, "Hello, anyone here?" A voice suddenly called out from the top of the gate, "Halt! Who are you?" Phoebe held up the letter, though it was a bit of an unnecessary action since the guard couldn't read on a distance and she knew it well, "I am Phoebe, princess of Gac'Ea'Ax and I have been requested by his excellence Emperor Lei Feng to come here and hold a speech for the entire army. I have a letter to confirm it."
The guard suddenly left the view and after a minute Phoebe looked down at a smaller tiger that had opened the gate, who took the letter and read it before nodding, "Okay, you are in the clear. Just make sure you are not using that weapon of yours within our beautiful capital city." Phoebe gave a smile, "The only time I will use it is if it calls for it. Otherwise this girl stays strapped to my back." The guard felt unsure, but let Phoebe through the gate.
Phoebe followed her uncle's directions to the shop where the lioness stood outside and smiled as she approached, "Good day, welcome traveller. What are you looking for?" Phoebe remembered well and lifted a hand, "Before I say it, just be calm as I heard someone had been mistaken for this. I want Scharadon Blue, the dye and not the drug." The lioness understood quickly, "So you are someone he knows. Tell him that I said hi and congratulate him on his marriage." Phoebe giggled, "Guess the voices do reach far."
After having gotten the dye and paid for it, Phoebe headed towards the temple where the emperor would be sitting, but instead she was welcomed by near a thousand soldiers of all ranks and appearances, standing in front of a big podium where the emperor was making a speech of his own, but when he saw Phoebe he was nodding, "And this wraps up our wait. And now, all the way from the realm of the dead, we have a very special guest. Give a big round of applauds and respect to Princess Phoebe, the fabled Angel of Ranged Death."
Phoebe blushed as she walked up behind the podium and watched the emperor take a seat next to her in a chair, "Thank you, your excellence. Soldiers of Tigre, defenders of Bzc'Jehb. I am here on the behalf of not only your emperor, but also of Sas'Ha, the queen of the dead herself and my mother. Let me tell you, life was never an easy one for me. Already a few days into my life, I lost one of my parents due to someone thinking that a celebratory drink and a self-controlled public transport was a good idea. And I grew up with just one parent and many sisters. I learned about the truth when I was old enough to think for myself and it taught me the first thing I had to learn to become a sniper and soldier. There is a lot of pain in this world and if there are people that want to cause this pain, then they must be dealt with. So I practiced day and night to harness my gifts and one day I could snipe even the most distant target."
The crowd listened in on it, even the black panther standing next to a tree as Phoebe continued, "Then I learned that even if my reflexes were like a flowing river, there was still a dam holding back this flow. My rounds couldn't simply pierce some of them, and this made me get into making my own ammunition." The black panther near the tree looked over at her, "Do you have an example perhaps?" Phoebe looked over at him before nodding as she dropped Valkyria on the ground before taking out a round from her pocket, showing the almost Damascus-like surface, "This is my 82nd creation and one of my most regular use of ammunition. A bullet casing made out of a brass and iron Damascus steel, and the round itself is the same material, only treated and reinforced with frozen deuterium and bathed in the blood of the queen of death herself."
The panther nodded before Phoebe loaded the bullet into the chamber, swinging the cannon into place on her shoulder before almost instantaneously firing the round, shooting a hole in a nearby mountain the size of the entire army. The display earned her applauds from everyone, but the panther looked like he was about to provide bricks for another temple.
With the show out of the way, Phoebe put Valkyria back in its holder on her back before continuing, "And that is how I reached the level of skill I got now. So if you wanna know what makes a good sniper and soldier, then I got these few words for you." Phoebe leaned forward to make her point, "Training, determination and a goal. If you lack any of those, you can never become better. That is all." The crowd applauded and the panther seemed to join, but it was apparent that he couldn't do much more than just pat the left hand with his right one.
Once the crowd had left, Phoebe noticed the panther still standing there, allowing her to walk up to him and stop just a few feet away from him, "Mister Guǐ Shèjí, I presume." The panther looked at Phoebe before nodding, "That would be me. Though, when I heard they sent a sniper, I wasn't expecting someone who could make an easier target." Phoebe smiled before nodding, "Yes, but I am so fast I won't matter. You did see that for yourself."
Guǐ was about to speak, but Phoebe took a step forward, "Listen, I wanna bring you back home so we can give you a new chance at life. A sniper of your reputation won't need to go out in a blaze of glory, you will be reborn with the help of cybernetics." Guǐ thought about the idea before he was having an idea, "I agree, on the condition that you teach me all you know. I am interested in how you learned to make such dangerous ammunition." Phoebe smiled before taking his right hand, giving it a squeeze when shaking it, "I agree to the condition. Now, lets go home. Your new home as well."
Guǐ didn't object and together with Phoebe by his side, he journeyed all the way back to Morgova, where he was brought straight to the castle and into the observation chamber where Tenchi, Sas'Ha, Azula and Azura stood dressed in nurse uniforms, making Guǐ joke a little, "If this is where the dead go, then I wanna die right here."
The procedure started when Guǐ sat down on the table, as Sas'Ha quickly stabbed the shoulders on him to cut them off from the body before Azura's precision with the scalpel had the arms removed without Guǐ feeling a thing, leaving Tenchi and Azula to craft his new arms, deciding to use Tenchi's arms as a template for his and improve them esthetically with an almost life-like look when Sas'Ha procured an organic mass that felt like actual fur and muscles when it was grafted to the arms and hands before Sas'Ha made the final details of claws made of metal until Guǐ felt a light heat on the shoulders when Sas'Ha cauterized the area and installed a connector on each side until they finally attached the arms and nodded to him as Azura spoke politely, "All done, mister Shèjí. Please try to stand up with the help of using your arms."
Guǐ looked at Azura and the others before feeling the arms moving to support him when he pushed off the table and almost fell forward, if Phoebe had not caught him, noticing Sas'Ha coming up to them before she placed Guǐ's hands against her own, "Now, press until you feel that we are equal." Guǐ began to push and noticed how he was going harder against Sas'Ha before loosening up enough for them to be just as strong, only to soon having to lower his strength even more when Sas'Ha went even lighter, only to soon force him into going as hard as he could against her hands, the pressure in his arms surprising even him before Sas'Ha nodded, "Okay, they are calibrated now." Guǐ felt himself tearing up before one by one, the nurses got a hug, but Phoebe didn't get away either as she held Guǐ close when he was hugging and she was proudly smiling where she stood, like Tarja had done with her so many times, her words coming like a flowing water, "Welcome to your new life, Guǐ Shèjí."

The End.