Campfire Gossip
This scene was originally meant to be Ayeka and company explaining old pink-hair to the Earthlings. But by the end of Hawk of Jurai part one, they knew all about him. So it was scrapped.

"Seiryo Tennan?"

Ayeka stopped, staring at Tenchi in surprise. "Is that what you said? Seiryo Tennan?"

"Yes." Tenchi nodded his head. "Apparently he's a senior operative at the Galaxy Police now - although it seems like he's been doing a heck of a lot more than that of late, considering what we know."

"Do you know him, Ayeka?" Ryoko cast the princess a quizzical look. "You sound like you do - and judging by the way he fought, it wouldn't surprise me if he belonged to your lot somehow."

"He is from Jurai." Ayeka inclined her head. "Although I'm offended to think that you assume any ruffian that attacks you must be from that planet, Ryoko. You're at least half Juraian yourself, if it comes to it, and I don't see you applying those rules to your own line, even considering the lengths your father went to to grab hold of power!"

"Oh, keep your hair on." Ryoko looked impatient. "What I meant was, his fighting style reminded me of other Juraian techniques I've seen. You. Tenchi. Even Lord Katsuhito. I don't say it was the same, exactly...but there was a connection nonetheless."

"So who is he exactly?" Washu settled herself more comfortably on the ground, kicking her legs idly against a rock as she did so. "You two are both very amusing, but this is a little bit more serious than reliving your halcyon days sparring on the Earth. Ayeka? Who is Seiryo Tennan?"

"He's the eldest son of a very influential Juraian noble house." Ayeka cast Takeru a glance and her companion nodded his head in confirmation. "His father and mine studied together - in fact, they were great friends for many years. At one point, it was even mooted that I might marry him - horrible, egotistical man that he was."

"Seiryo-dono is the epitome of old school Jurai ruling elite." Takeru added in his soft, cultured voice. "The kind of attitude that gave the planet such a poor reputation for elitism and snobbery, many years ago. I confess, he is known to me also. He and I, we were of an age and we saw much of one another growing up. You might say we belonged to the same social strata - and his father was always very particular in making sure Seiryo and his sister circulated among the right people."

"Sounds archaic enough to be true." Ryoko grimaced, stretching out on her stomach and resting her chin in her hands. "I vividly remember Jurai's social stratas myself."

"So Seiryo is the son of a great Juraian lord, and yet he's involved with the Galaxy Police?" Tenchi's brow creased in confusion. "That doesn't make sense, does it? Why would he take that kind of work up, when he presumably has an estate and land and money already set by for him on Jurai? If he was potentially a suitor for you once, Ayeka - why has he suddenly decided to don uniform and take up arms against crime in the universe?"

"You misunderstand the Galaxy Police." Washu said quietly. "Tenchi, the upper echelons of authority are priveledged and sought after positions, held by some of the most influential and wealthy in the known universe. Such a commission is considered highly honourable. It's a great coup for Seiryo to have secured one, especially considering his limited experience. His family wouldn't consider it a disgrace or an abandonment. Quite the opposite, in fact. You've never heard of 'officer class'?"

"Washu-san is right." Takeru agreed. "There are many young men on Jurai who would look for power and reputation within the ranks of an organisation such as the Galaxy Police."

"You never thought of joining up yourself, Takeru-dono?" Washu looked curious. Takeru laughed, shaking his head.

"No, I must admit not." He admitted. "It never appealed to me, flying through space with a blaster in my belt, holding a job I had not earned. No, my place has always been on Jurai in any case. I'm not much of a traveller, as you've already found. This whole thing is quite new to me."

"Back on the subject of Pink Hair." Ryoko drummed her fingers on the ground. "If he's wound up in some prestigious role at Galaxy Police Headquarters, why is he suddenly and randomly launching attacks on planet Earth? Firstly, the Galaxy Police has never cared much about the Solar System in the first place. Mihoshi and Kiyone got sent here as a demotion rather than a reward in the first instance. And secondly, even if they did care, I was under the impression that hostile activity in this area was against space law. So he's breaking his own regulations...isn't he?"

"I think Seiryo Tennan has an agenda all of his own." Washu said quietly. "What it is, I don't know...but if he's the kind of man that Takeru-dono and Ayeka-kyou describe him as, well, he doesn't seem like the kind of man who'll abide by rules if they're in his way. Why he came here - well, that we've yet to find out. But I have a strong suspicion there's a bigger picture involved."

"Isn't there always." Ryoko groaned, burying her head in her hands. "Just great. So I've made myself town pariah and there's still more to come? I mean, whatever it is, we didn't deal with it the other night?"

"I agree with Washu-san." Takeru pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Seiryo never took losing a contest lightly. He was always trying to be the best, and always hoping to come out on top. He'd break rules and take shortcuts, using his family name as a pass card along the way. When you are very rich and people are afraid of you, such things are possible."

"Ayeka, you said he was once a suitor for you." Tenchi looked thoughtful. "Do you think he's nursing a grudge? I mean, if you turned him down..."

"I really had very little to do with it." Ayeka shrugged her shoulders. "Political matches aren't usually arranged that way...it was all negotiated between my Father and his. I was thirteen or fourteen, I believe -  and most of the details I only learnt after the event, from my mother. She had opposed it all down the line - she never liked his mother and couldn't bear the thought of socialising with her if we became family. But father had the deciding vote."

She pursed her lips, leaning back against her husband as she considered.

"I think he finally decided that it would be a poor match when he discovered some of the activities his father had been involved in." She added thoughtfully. "It's well covered up, and not even much spoken of at court. But Seiji Tennan has a long and chequered history of both womanising and gambling...and Father didn't think it prudent that his daughter, the future Empress of Jurai, should be aligned with that kind of a family. So it fell apart. And that was the end of that."

"And she says there's no elitism still on Jurai." Ryoko muttered. "Yeah, right."

"Either way, I suppose it's one motivation." Washu rubbed her chin. "If you were turned down by a future Empress, you'd be a bit angry too, wouldn't you?"

"Do you think Seiryo was in love with Ayeka?" Tenchi looked startled. Ayeka's eyes widened.

"Tenchi! You shouldn't say such things in front of my husband!" She protested. Takeru laughed.

"I am quite unoffended." He said with a smile. "Besides, love isn't always - or even often - a factor in political marriages. Don't be fooled by how close Ayeka-chan and I are - we have been lucky, we two. It isn't always that way, believe me. He would have seen it as a path to the throne of Jurai and limitless power over the universe...I think Washu-san makes an excellent point."

Ryoko shot Ayeka a surprised look, taking in the pinkness of the princess's cheeks at Takeru's words. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

"So all that limitless power didn't tempt you, then?" She asked slowly.

"Ryoko!" Ayeka exclaimed. Takeru sent the pirate an amused grin.

"Not at all." He assured her. "But then, my family are not like the Tennans. I saw it as honour, yes. But power? No. That belongs to Ayeka, not to me. I have none of Tsunami's magic running through my veins. In comparison, my family's magic is weak and ineffectual. When the time comes, it is Ayeka who will be installed as Empress of Jurai. I am her consort - but Ayeka is the true heir to the throne. Seiryo would have tried to change that, however. He would have hoped to use his influence to alter the rules - to return Jurai to Salic law and debar Ayeka from inheriting in her own right."

"We're speculating a whole lot here." Tenchi looked uneasy. "Maybe this Seiryo guy did act out of envy, but if he did, we're forgetting something very important. He came to the Earth, and not to Jurai. He attacked a building full of what was - he must have assumed - ordinary people. He knew Ryoko by name and addressed her as such, but he didn't seem to have come after her, exactly. If this is all about Ayeka and his suit being rejected, why is the Earth even involved?"

"As I said, a bigger picture." Washu spread her hands. "I've detected umpteen anomalies in Earth's atmosphere in the past few weeks as it is. The night Seiryo attacked Kurashiki, there was a huge power surge somewhere in the skies above the town. At first I thought it might have been a high powered spacecraft - even Ryo Ohki could produce something of that nature if she was working on top power - but when I looked at the data more closely, I realised that no ship could possibly have produced such a sequence of numbers. I haven't isolated the source of the disturbance yet - or ascertained what exactly happeneed that night. But it looks very much like Seiryo Tennan had help arriving. And, unless teleportation is a Tennan family trait, he had help leaving, also."

"You're telling me." Ryoko clenched her fists in anger. "Cowardly jerk."