CHAPTER 16:

CONCERN AND CONTEMPLATIONS

Tyuule looked at her ink-covered fingers. "So…if you use this 'fingerprinting', you might be able to determine who sent the letter?"

Yanagida, who had met with her and Delilah, nodded. While she had found the glasses-wearing man a little unpleasant to deal with before, if only because she could see an avarice in his eyes she didn't like, when Delilah approached him, he was all-business. "Yes. It's one of the more reliable means of identifying people back home. It's part of what we call forensic science, scientific methods used to establish the guilt or confirm innocence of an accused criminal. And there seems to only be three major sets of fingerprints: that of the pair of you, and one other."

"That doesn't mean much. Some demi-humans either don't have fingerprints due to the structure of their fingers, or else wouldn't leave them," Tyuule said.

"Actually, rather luckily, we fingerprinted the staff of the Formal mansion not so long ago, albeit as a means of formal identification," Yanagida said. "We don't have a computer comparison program, though, so we're doing it the old-fashioned way. CSI: Alnus," he quipped, only for the two Bunny Warriors to stare at him blankly. "Anyway, I heard you helped kill the Flame Dragon and dealing with the culprit behind its awakening," Yanagida said. "Congratulations, Tyuule."

Delilah blinked, and then looked at Tyuule. "So you killed it after all? I thought it was going to be like last time, how it got driven off."

"No, we killed it, two dragon whelps, and gave Hardy's Apostle a well-deserved thrashing," Tyuule remarked. "Giselle was the one who woke the Flame Dragon early, all to try and gain an advantage over Lady Mercury. She cared little about the innocents killed by the Flame Dragon. I cannot say I actually killed the Flame Dragon myself, only that I helped. The JSDF's explosives, as well as the magic of Lelei and Tuka and the Force abilities of Anakin, were the main factors. I did kill one of the whelps using one of the rocket launchers, though."

"That's pretty impressive anyway," Delilah said with a whistle. "Even with these rocket launchers, killing a dragon whelp is no mean feat, I'm sure. Still, to think that the Apostle of Hardy would go so far as to awaken the Flame Dragon…it's true that the Apostles are somewhat detached from the affairs of mortals, but still…I presume that Dark Elf woman, Yao, she's taking it hard?"

"She actually came to me earlier to ask for an alteration to her identification papers," Yanagida said. "Her middle name, 'Ha', was meant to be a sign of her devotion to Hardy, but she's changed it to 'Ro', for Rory Mercury. I guess that's the closest thing you have to a deed poll here…" Suddenly, the office door was opened by another soldier. "Well? Have you found a match?"

"Yes sir," the man said. "Aside from the fingerprints belonging to these two, there are also fingerprints belonging to Bartholomew of the Formals' household. There's also some unidentified prints, not quite fingerprints, possibly belonging to a demi-human. The shape of the prints match those of the more porcine demi-humans."

"Bouro," Tyuule snarled quietly. "He has an uncanny knack for getting into places he shouldn't. Also, Yanagida, if this is the work of the Haryo, we'll need to stay on the lookout for the Piper."

"The Piper?" Yanagida asked.

"I've heard of them," Delilah said. "An infamous shapeshifting assassin, known to manipulate people around him or her to act as proxy assassins. Sometimes, they use gold, other times, they just make false accusations about the target or use blackmail. Nobody knows whether the Piper has even made the kills themselves."

"As it happens, I've met her," Tyuule said. On Delilah's look of shock, Tyuule nodded. "Oh yes, I've had the dubious pleasure of knowing her. Her real name is Norra, and her default appearance is of an attractive demi-human woman with wolf-like ears and tanned skin. Her hair is brown. And she has been known to go in for the kill herself and pretend to be one of her own dupes. And she is a shapeshifter."

"Do you think she would be sent here?" Yanagida asked.

"I doubt it. She may be a shapeshifter, but given the surveillance equipment you have here, infiltrating a place like this would be difficult, especially if she used her abilities to mimic someone. The Piper is a cautious one. And if Bouro or any other Haryo agents managed to infiltrate this place, they probably have a better idea of how your surveillance works."

"Would they be able to sabotage us?"

"Bouro wouldn't be able to. He's a coward at heart, no assassin. And it could be that they just used proxies to send that letter to Delilah," Tyuule said. "The Haryo's best at espionage and information gathering. Though I can't dismiss the possibility that Zorzal may order them to sabotage us anyway, hence why I mentioned them. Unfortunately, I only know a few other members of the Haryo."

"Any you know the descriptions of, we'd be grateful," Yanagida said. "We have no issues with demi-humans if they're not hostile to us. But those who try to attack us…well…that order you got means trouble. If a member of the Formal household received orders from the Countess to kill Noriko, well, it'd mean distrust between us and one of our strongest allies in this world. Zorzal and the Haryo may have not only tried to drive a wedge between us and Italica, but even get us to wage war on them. A crude ploy, and one that I'm not convinced would've worked, but still…the problem is, it shows that Zorzal and the Haryo are up to dirty tricks, using subterfuge and assassination. Don't get me wrong, a lot of that happens in warfare back home, but we weren't expecting to face that here yet."

"Because the Imperials and their vassals are generally conventional soldiers," Delilah said.

"Conventional by their standards," Yanagida said. "We haven't used many of the tactics they do for some time, if only because technology has superseded it. But yes. Most of their tactics have been relatively overt. Still, if Zorzal and the Haryo intend to resort to tactics like this, and worse, we might need to get specialists in this kind of thing in from Japan, especially anti-terrorist operatives."

"Terrorist?" Tyuule asked.

Delilah turned to her former queen. "Terrorists are small, irregular armies composed of political or religious fanatics who deliberately target civilians, or else use them to conceal their own deeds, to either fulfil a specific agenda, or just to sow chaos. The bandits who attacked Italica, composed of deserters from the Imperial army and the vassals, were not unlike them in many regards."

Yanagida nodded. "But where did you hear such things? I didn't think terrorism as we know it exists on your world."

"I'm a bartender. I listen. And a number of your troops had been involved in peacekeeping operations in troubled areas on your world," Delilah said. "Lady Mercury also helped explain it to me after she heard about it from the soldiers of the JSDF. And just because it is not as prevalent as it is on your world does not mean we don't have equivalents…"

They were soon let free, and Delilah and Tyuule walked back to the tavern together. "So, what next?" Delilah asked.

"I don't know," Tyuule said. "Ever since Anakin rescued me, I'm still trying to search for a purpose. Yes, humbling and killing Zorzal is still there…but the JSDF need little of my help, save for my knowledge, and given their leniency towards prisoners, I doubt I'd be allowed to torture that bastard over a prolonged period as he deserves, for what he did to me, and to our people. I still need a purpose beyond that, as I did not think I would live beyond Zorzal."

Delilah nodded, humming thoughtfully, before she looked up to the night sky. "You've plenty of opportunity, I'd say. All those stars out there, many of them with worlds and peoples all of their own. Anakin, Padmé, and her guards…they speak to me of many places. Naboo, Tatooine, Coruscant, Alderaan, Kashyyyk…there has to be somewhere in the galaxy for you, Tyuule."

"…Maybe. I'm not sure I had enough of a place amongst our people, at least as their queen. Pureblood Bunny Warrior or not, you reminded me that many thought me very much unsuited to be our monarch."

"They were right, but not in the way they thought. Your biggest mistake was not in sacrificing yourself to Zorzal, but in assuming he would honour the bargain," Delilah said sadly. "But…until the Empire brought their armies to us, you ruled as well as you could have. You ascended the throne too young after your mother was stolen from us, but that was hardly your fault. And as a war leader, you did fairly well. Unfortunately, Zorzal was willing to exterminate us in a war of attrition, caring as little for the lives of his men as much as he did for those of our warriors. And your attempt at saving us backfired."

"A queen must be in service to her people. A lesson my mother taught me from the day I was born," Tyuule said. "And look where it got me."

"Hey, you're alive and free now. And you can still take your revenge. You'll just have to watch it from afar. I doubt they'd let you kill Zorzal, though. The people from Earth have treaties about prisoners of war, so if he doesn't get killed in the fighting, I don't think they'll let you kill him. Then again, we can but hope that he does get killed in the fighting. Still…I think saving you was good for Anakin."

"What do you mean?"

"He was born into slavery, and his mother remains a slave, to his knowledge," Delilah said. "Saving you was probably the first thing he could do about that for some time. Saving you is a bit like saving his mother, though I'm not gonna touch the implications of that. But it felt like he could do something. The way he speaks of them…well, the Jedi sound like knights, only with a lot more rules and restrictions. Like monks wielding swords of light. And the thing is, Anakin doesn't view saving you as you incurring a debt. To him, helping people who need help is natural, especially slaves. Helping someone that he thought deserved saving helped him. That being said…I think you should be careful about him."

"Why?"

"…He's a bit on the childish side, especially where his morality is concerned. Not that much, but I think he despises change, and losing those he cares about. He takes it harder than most people, I think. I got a feel for these things, serving all sorts of people at my tavern. I think losing the wrong person might send him over the edge. I've seen his type before. And…well, Lady Mercury agrees with me. She thinks that when that day comes…well, may the gods help whoever is on his bad side then. I mean, I'm a berserker when it comes to out and out battle, I admit that…but he'd be like a force of nature that would make an Apostle look tame by comparison."

Tyuule grimaced at such a thought. Something that could make an Apostle pale in comparison? She had witnessed some of the power of the Force that Anakin could wield, as in the throne room at Sardera, and the attack on the dragons and their controller, Giselle. And she knew that Anakin was holding back somewhat, though the power to shove the massive form of the Flame Dragon and to help Lelei smash all those swords into its body…well, it was impressive. She'd certainly be eager to have that power for her tribe, and have him mate with any willing Bunny Warriors. Hell, she would have bedded him herself, had it not been for what was done to her during her years as Zorzal's plaything. It went without saying that it would be a long time, if at all, before she could enjoy any sort of intimacy ever again. Save for maybe a hug. A hug would be fine. Anything further than that, well…it would take some time.

When they got to the tavern, they found Anakin present, along with Rory. "Oh, hey," Rory said, looking up at them with a smile. "Listen, something's come up. Apparently Lelei, after all her study of the Earth science books and the like, intends to go for a Mastery at Romdel. I was just telling Anakin here about it."

"Romdel?" Tyuule asked. "The mage city? I presume Lieutenant Itami is taking Lelei there?"

"We're going with her," Anakin said. "I've just finished calling the Jedi Temple, and they wish to establish relations with Romdel as well, to share insight and learning. You're welcome to come as well, Tyuule."

Rory nodded. "You did say you needed something to occupy yourself."

"As long as the JSDF does not need me. There has been…an incident that needs investigating. We believe the Haryo to be involved, Lady Mercury," Tyuule said.

"Oh, those ingrates," Rory said, scowling. "It's one thing to desire respect and try to fight against discrimination because of one's heritage…but it's another entirely to do what they do."

"The Haryo?" Anakin asked.

"The Haryo are a group of demi-humans of mixed parentage. Many are shunned in society, many unjustly so," Delilah explained. "However, the Haryo is known for engaging in criminal activity, with a view to gaining power. Not quite a terrorist group, closer to…a larger scale criminal gang. I think one of the JSDF mentioned something called the Yakuza, and you, of course, mentioned the Hutts and their gangs, Anakin. And we think that Zorzal intends to use their services."

"Which means that perhaps coming along with you to Romdel may be a good idea," Tyuule said. "Knowing Zorzal, he may target any one of us. His spite knows no bounds, and if he had the opportunity to avenge himself on those who humiliated him, he would take it. We'll have to speak to Itami about this…"

CHAPTER 16 ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it. Another Tyuule-centric chapter where she and Delilah discuss the Haryo and the threat they could pose to the JSDF. I honestly don't know when the next chapter will be out either.

That being said, since the last update, I have posted a new Potterverse/GATE story, Another Fine Mess, so if you haven't read it, and need more GATE stuff to binge, give that a go.

Review-answering time! A number of people are asking when Anakin and Tyuule will go to another world. I don't have any plans for it to happen in this fic (which will end with Zorzal's downfall), save perhaps for an epilogue.

KnightOfZaku: Palpatine won't be making an appearance in this fic, save through perhaps a comms thing. Rory may be wary of him, but she won't know he's the future Emperor, aka Darth Sidious, offhand.

Have a Little Feith: I think the reason why they pronounce Coruscant the way they do is because they may just make the last syllable sound like a certain expletive if they're not careful.

rmarcano321: One, because hands getting chopped off is a sort of running gag in Star Wars (and something remarked upon by the makers of the webcomic Darths & Droids), and two, because I wanted to do something to Zorzal at that point.

Jemusu Hatsuokku: You're welcome. That admittedly was one of the bits of GATE I didn't like, so I decided that Dirrel just bulldozed over any objections and basically ordered the CIA to do it.

Raved Thrad: Not going to happen, unfortunately.

Blaze1992: This story will cover the events of the GATE anime. The sequel, if and when I write one, will basically be an AU of Episode II.

No numbered annotations this time.