Sailor Moon Z 24

	In another world, the open area might be called a park, as 
it was an open area surrounded by tall buildings.  But no plants 
grew here.  No grass, no trees, no flowers.  Instead, the soil 
was a dull gray color, holding no more life than the soil of the 
moon.

	The sky overhead was black and cold.  No stars twinkled in 
that night sky.  Instead, what little light there was reflected 
off giant facets, making the sky appear like a giant carved 
onyx.

	The dim twilight seemed to come from everywhere, a dull 
gray luminescence that held no more warmth than the "sky" above.  
A few of the taller buildings sported glowing red lights on 
their roofs, but even that color was almost lost in the 
overwhelming gloom.

	The unnatural silence was broken by the faint sound of 
running footsteps.  A man runs out of an alleyway into the open 
area.  He was a tall man, with pale skin, black hair, and a 
grim, emaciated look.  A dirty gray overall covered his body, 
almost making him vanish into the background.

	Almost.

	Suddenly, he was surrounded by four vertical glowing lines 
that crackled into existence with the sharp tang of ozone.  The 
lines widen horizontally, forming black "doors" lined with faint 
sparks of lightning.  Out of these doors stepped four giant 
figures.

	Each was over seven feet tall and humanoid in appearance, 
but they were clad in fearsome matte-black armor that emphasized 
harsh lines and angles.  A single white light glowed from a gem 
in the center of their "faces."  Each of them pointed an arm at 
their quarry, and fearsome-looking weapons extended from their 
forearms.

	"Identify," one of them said in a monotone.

	The blue light on the second one's faceplate glowed 
brighter and shot out a beam that scanned the helpless man.

	"Stanley 7W33D13," it stated.  "Droid Worker, Factory #139.  
Status:  Surplus to requirements."

	All four of the creatures raised their weapons.  "Stanley 
7W33D13, you will come with us for reclamation," the first 
stated.

	Stanley glanced around carefully, but the creatures 
surrounding him were too close and too evenly spread out for him 
to make a break for it.  He slowly raised his hands.  "Alright.  
You win," he said quietly, his voice quavering.  He could only 
hope for a miracle.

	He got one.

	The center of the "park" suddenly exploded in a burst of 
pure white light interspersed with bands of total blackness.  
The explosion swiftly filled the park, consuming it in fire and 
darkness made all the more spectacular by its utter silence.

	"Dimensional Breach."  One of the armored creatures stated.  
"Calling for backup."

	That was all it had a chance to say before the fire reached 
it.  Nimbler than his monstrous captors, Stanley managed to 
scramble away from the explosion.  While not coordinated in the 
least, his mad dash got him far enough to fall down a flight of 
stairs that led to a sublevel entrance to the nearest building.  
The explosion extended over his head, but he was shielded from 
the worst of it.

	Then, the light flickered out.

	Stanley, once he was certain that no one was shooting at 
him and none of his bones were broken, quickly tried to open the 
door at the bottom of the steps.  He only wanted to get out of 
there as soon as he could.  However, it was locked tight.

	"Awww, no..." he whined.  Then, with the look of a man on 
his way to the gallows, he slowly crept up the stairs to look 
out at the site of the explosion.

	A shallow crater now filled the open area.  Stanley had no 
idea what caused it, but even in his current predicament he 
couldn't help but leer at what he saw inside the crater.

	Eight naked women, all beautiful, filled his vision.  There 
was also a naked man, but Stanley's mind edited that out of his 
awareness.  Of the armored creatures, there was no sign.

	Stanley, looking rather like a perverted monkey, ran out 
into the crater, oohing at what he could see.  But, however 
distracting this sight was, his sense of survival soon kicked 
back in.

	"They'll be back soon," he muttered to himself.  "Can't be 
found here."  He turned to run, but stopped as something 
interesting caught his eye.  A glint of yellow metal in the hand 
of the nearest girl.  Could it be...?

	"Gold!" he crowed, then suddenly shushed himself.  The girl 
had a golden pen in her hand, with some strangely familiar 
symbol on it.  He wondered about it for a second, then shrugged.  
Gold was gold.  He pried the pen out of the girl's hand.  Then 
saw that the next girl held a pen as well.  Each of them, except 
for the blonde with the pigtails, had a pen in hand, and he 
wasted no time grabbing them all.

	He approached the man somewhat more hesitantly, distaste 
evident on his features, but the allure of more gold was too 
powerful to ignore.  But all the man had in his hand was a 
strange green and red fibrous construct.  Stanley took it 
anyway.  Who knows, it might be worth something.

	Then, seeing nothing more of value, Stanley scrambled out 
of the crater and began to run.  He could already hear the stamp 
of metal feet growing louder.  More Enforcer Droids were coming.

	In Dark Tokyo, it was every man for himself.

*****

Naru:	I'm tired of always running
		I've grown tired of the night
		I wish I had some cunning,
		Had some power, had some might.

	We see a collage of Naru running from monsters,
grabbed by monsters, trapped inside big moss balls by
monsters, etc.

Sailors:  You don't need to keep on running.
		You don't need to fear the night.
		We can save you with our cunning,
		With our power, with our might.

	We see a collage of images of Usagi and the other
Sailors saving Naru and many other people from monster
attacks.

Naru:	I don't want someone to save me;
		I'd just like to save myself
		I don't want to be a helpless doll
		That must sit upon the shelf.

	We see Naru sitting at her window, looking out on the
starry night sky of the city.  One by one, lines trace the
constellations.

Pluto:    If you want to have the power
		You must reach into your heart
		Look inside to find your strength
		For that's where power starts

	We see Pluto holding out an eight-pointed star, which
hovers just above her hand.

*****

Sailor Moon Z:

Series Concept by Jeff Hosmer and John Biles
Primary Writer this Episode: Jeff Hosmer

Based on the Series Sailor Moon, copyrighted by a whole lot
of people who aren't us.

Episode 24
"Dark Tokyo
 The Senshi Have... Lost?"

*****

	King Jadeite, Emperor of Earth, Lord of Dark Tokyo, and 
Warlord of the Youma, watched as stars burned in the air before 
him.  The three-dimensional representation glowed in bright 
greens and sullen reds, filling an area over 50-feet in 
diameter.  It showed the stars within a 1,000 light years of 
Earth.  Icons told him the disposition of his fleets and armies 
at each location.  In some places, he could watch icons slowly 
creep across the field as they convoyed from one star to 
another.

	"We've been repelled at Sufuganoff?" he asked, his voice 
carefully controlled.  The one-time General of the Dark Kingdom 
still wore his trademark uniform, though he had added a dark 
crimson cape and a thin gold circlet to his collection.

	The image of a green-skinned youma appeared inset to the 
vast panorama of stars.  "Yes, Your Majesty," the youma stated.  
He appeared mostly human, except for the short horn sticking out 
of his forehead.  An orange-and-black sash marked him as a 
member of the Office of Naval Intelligence.

	By long-standing tradition, Jadeite's subordinates were 
only allowed to report bad news through the communications 
systems.  As the war progressed, the King-Emperor was finding it 
harder and harder to find replacements. 

	"A joint Abh/Jurai taskforce destroyed our expeditionary 
fleet," the youma continued.  Initial reports claim that they 
outnumbered our forces by at least six-to-one."

	Jadeite felt his hand clenching into a fist, though he 
managed to keep his voice calm.  "They shouldn't have been able 
to get that many forces to the area that quickly... especially 
not a JOINT force.  The Khunds are supposed to savaging the 
Abh's outer frontier."

	The youma swallowed nervously.  "It appears that the Khunds 
did not actually begin their attack until AFTER we took 
Sufuganoff.  The Abh, therefore, could free up more ships to add 
to the Jurai force in the area."

	"Did the Khunds attack at all?"

	"They did, my Lord.  Unfortunately, they did not move fast 
enough to take more than three systems before the Abh fleet 
could return from destroying our forces at Suguanoff.  Khundish 
casualties were described as 'high'"

	"Send the Khundish Ambassador home," Jadeite snarled.  "And 
I want his head to arrive three days before his body, so that 
the Khunds might learn the importance of timing!"

	"Yes, Your Majesty!" the youma exclaimed before his image 
disappeared.

	Jadeite let out an inarticulate scream of rage.  He was 
surrounded by morons!  Imbeciles!

	Finally, however, he regained control of himself.  However 
good it felt, he would gain nothing by letting his rage control 
him.

	Studying the map before him, he saw that he wasn't defeated 
yet.  While many of the systems glowed bright red, marking them 
as belonging to either the Humankind Empire of Abh or the 
Kingdom of Jurai, the battle lines were mostly static.  If he 
had not been able to take and hold any enemy systems, neither 
had his enemies been able to take any of his.

	Well, almost none of his, as he looked at the dull gray 
marker that indicated the Futune system.  The system, which had 
possessed three planets (one of them 75% terraformed), now held 
three asteroid belts.

	Still, he had carefully built up his defenses in depth 
before the war began, and the Abh and Juraians still needed more 
time to produce ships of the line that he did.  He still held an 
edge, if he moved quickly.

	He was still pondering ship movements when a chime sounded.

	"Yes?"

	Hematite's image appeared in an oval floating in the middle 
of the display.  "My Lord, there has been an incursion in the 
city."

	"Juraian or Abh?" Jadeite asked, still musing over lists of 
ships and considering logistics.

	"Unknown.  They appeared to have tried to teleport directly 
into the city, but something went wrong.  There are nine of 
them, eight women and one man, and they appear to be human."

	"A teleport accident?" Jadeite asked.  "I wasn't aware that 
they had long-range teleport capability.  Did you detect a 
ship?"

	"No, my Lord.  But they appeared in the middle of a 
residential area, naked, and with enough of an energy signature 
that sensors in Australia detected them."

	"That does sound like an error," Jadeite mused.  Something 
about this bothered him.  He turned his complete attention to 
his General.  "Do you have images?"

	"Yes, my Lord."  Almost instantly, nine still shots 
appeared around the General's image.  Looking on them, Jadeite 
began to chuckle.

	"Why, Hematite, your vaunted intelligence is fading," the 
king said with a grin.  This sort of thing was just what he 
needed, Jadeite thought.  A sign that my enemies are desperate.

	"My lord?"

	"Don't you recognize them?  Come on, it's only been a 
thousand years since you saw them last."

	Hematite looked down, obviously scanning the images again, 
then gasped.  "I apologize my lord, I must be slipping."

	"This is obviously an attempt by our enemies to undermine 
our morale... and it's a pathetic attempt.  Are the Sailor 
Senshi the best they could do?"  Jadeite made no attempt to hide 
his contempt.

	"It is pretty feeble," Hematite agreed.

	"Well, they should be good for some enjoyment at least.  
Split them up among the other Generals and the Zodiac.  Maybe 
they know something of value."

	"Yes, my Lord," Hematite said.

	"Oh, and Hematite," Jadeite said, pointing to one of the 
pictures, "I would like something special done with this one."

*****

	Ami tried to make herself as comfortable as she could in 
the corner of her small cell.  It was barely ten feet square, 
and the gray, uniform padding on every surface was the only 
concession to her comfort.  The "toilet" was not comfortable in 
the least, being the high-tech equivalent of a privy.  She had 
spat into it and had been startled by the flash of light that 
disintegrated her spittle.  Obviously there was no escape 
through there.

	Suddenly, the door hissed open and two creatures in black 
armor stood there.  The gems in the middle of their faces had 
told her what she was facing.

	Droids.

	In all the time that she had been a Senshi, she had never 
seriously considered that she might be captured.  Oh, it had 
happened.  Look at Tuxedo Kamen, after all.  But she KNEW, from 
experience, that she would and could die before giving up.

	But now she had to face that reality.

	The droids said nothing, but it obvious what they wanted 
her to do.  She did not even protest her lack of clothes.  
Instead, she studied her surroundings carefully.  Every scrap of 
data would be important if she was going to escape.  In the mean 
time, she would be the perfect, obedient little prisoner.

	The walk down the gray, featureless hallways was slightly 
unnerving, mainly because she saw nothing but blank doors.  The 
only thing differentiating them was an alien script that she 
could not read.  But despite the fact that they walked for 
several minutes, she did not see another living soul, or even 
any other droids.

	Finally, they stopped before one door, which hissed open 
automatically... or in answer to some signal from the droids?  
Impossible to say.  The room was empty save for a chair that 
bore a chrome and steel resemblance to a barber's chair.

	"Sit," one of the droids said tonelessly.

	Gingerly, she sat down on the chair, wincing at how cold it 
felt on her flesh.  As she did, the metal of the arms and 
footrests morphed to capture her wrists and feet.  Within 
seconds, the metal firmed and had her bound seamlessly to the 
chair.

	She now knew that she would not have to fake being scared.

	The door opened again and a nondescript man in a brown 
uniform, a uniform that closely resembled that of the Dark 
Kingdom's Generals, she noted, stepped inside.

	"Hello there, I'm General Hematite.  Would you like to tell 
me your name?"  His tone was friendly enough, but so very odd 
under these circumstances.

	"Ami," she said.  "Please... can you tell me where I am?"  
Best to keep to the truth, she thought.  At least until I know 
more.

	"The Capital of the Terran Empire, which is also known as 
Dark Tokyo."

	"Dark... Tokyo?"

	"Nobody alive knows why it's called that, but names do tend 
to stick."

	Dark Tokyo, Ami thought.  Am I in some alternate future?  
Is this what will happen to Crystal Tokyo if we fail?

	"Why are you keeping me here?"

	Hematite began to walk slowly around her.  "Well, because 
you are a puzzle.  You appeared out of nowhere in the middle of 
our city, causing some pretty serious property damage in the 
process.  No identification, no clothes, no records in our 
database.  So, I think it's only polite that you should start 
telling me about yourself... as you are the guest."

	"I--I don't know how I got here."

	"Really?  It looked like a transport spell gone wrong... or 
perhaps your arrival was just a little too flashy for your 
purpose."

	"Purpose?  What purpose do you think I would have for 
coming here?"

	"To spy on us, of course.  So, whom do you work for?  The 
Juraians?  The Centauri?  Come on, you know that there aren't 
too many powers out there with humans in their employ.  Your 
bosses should have sent a Changeling at least."

	By now, Ami was perplexed.  She struggled to remember all 
the names that he was flinging at her.

	"No matter.  I only spoke to you because you have made so 
few attempts at spying lately.  It's been so boring."  He held 
out his hand and a clear crystalline spike about six inches long 
appeared.  He began to walk around behind her.  "I have better 
methods of getting the truth."

	[AMI!]  Athena suddenly screamed in her mind.  [Look out, 
he's going--]

	Hematite drove the spike into the back of her head.

*****

	"Get up!"

	Minako concentrated on not vomiting as she slowly climbed 
to her knees.  The chipped and pitted crystal sword helped prop 
her up as she stared at her opponent through one eye.  The other 
eye was swollen shut from the beating she had already received.

	Her opponent was a large, muscular creature possessing 
orange fur, sharp teeth and claws, and numerous battle scars.  
His sword was made of metal and was razor sharp.  The number of 
cuts she had across her body attested to that.  The only reason 
she was not dead was because he had chosen to play with her -- a 
trait he shared with the felines he resembled.  With a 
contemptuous snarl, he bashed her sword away.  She collapsed, 
falling over on her side.

	"Pathetic!" he snarled.  "To think that a warrior such as 
myself should have to combat such pitiful scum."

	His name was unpronounceable to humans.  It could be 
literally translated as Death-From-Shadows.  When the droids and 
youma had attacked his home, he had led the long -- and 
ultimately doomed -- fight against them.  Indeed, he had lasted 
the longest in that struggle... which was why he was here.

	Around him, crowds of humans, youma, and other alien races 
cheered as he stalked to his prey.  It stung his pride to see 
what he had been reduced to... a bloody spectacle for the 
amusement of slaves.  But if the choice was fight or die, his 
kind would always fight.

	Death-From-Shadows stalked over to the downed blonde.  He 
raised his sword over her and, as he had been painstakingly 
taught, looked to box holding his Master, the warrior who had 
finally defeated him in single combat and brought him here.

	Amazonite watched the felinoid with a frown on her face.

	"Something wrong, milady?" her attendant, Petalite, asked.

	The red-haired General gestured toward the blonde on the 
field.  "I just this one would do better," she said.  "Dying on 
her first outing... I was hoping for more."

	"Well, she IS a spy, not a true warrior," Petalite said 
carefully.  The yellow-skinned youma chose her words carefully.  
"Milady, perhaps you should spare this one.  We still don't know 
who she's working for."

	Amazonite scowled at her.  Petalite had to fight to keep 
still.  If she showed any fear... well, Amazonite had made her 
feelings about cowards quite well known.

	"Are you questioning my judgment, Petalite?"

	"No, milady!"  Especially not since your obsessive hatred 
toward longhaired blondes is so well known, the youma thought to 
herself.

	"Good," Amazonite said.  She then picked up her spear and 
stabbed viciously at the field before her.  The crowd roared in 
bloodthirsty appreciation.

	Death-From-Shadows raised his sword high in the air--

	Minako suddenly twisted aside, showing that her crystal 
sword was still clutched in her hand.  Before the feline warrior 
or the crowd could react, she plunged it into her opponent's 
belly and up under his ribs.

	Death-From-Shadows stared down at the blonde whose face was 
twisted into a snarling rictus of pain and anger.  As darkness 
crowded his vision, he thought he saw a spark of warrior's 
spirit in those wide blue eyes.

	Then he fell to the ground, dead.

	Slowly, before the stunned crowd, Minako slowly got to her 
feet and stared up at Amazonite.  Then, with a scream of 
defiance, she threw her sword at the General's box.  The blade 
hit a defensive screen no more than a meter from Amazonite's 
face, but the Dark Kingdom General never noticed.  Her eyes were 
locked on Minako.  A slight smile crossed her face, then she 
turned and headed out of the box, her purple cape flapping 
behind her.

	"Milady?  What should I do with the spy?" Petalite called 
anxiously after her.

	"She fights until she dies, Petalite, "Amazonite said.  
Then she stopped and looked over her should.  "Or until she 
faces me."

*****

	The landscape was one of magnificent desolation, with sharp 
peaks and gray powder everywhere.  The dull gold foil on the 
platform was the only hint of color.  For over a thousand years, 
the platform had stood there.  A monument to dreams of a better 
future.

	Now its long isolation was at an end.

	The machine rumbling over the plain towards it was over 200 
feet long.  An observer of twentieth century earth would have 
likened it to an offshore oil platform on treads, and it would 
have been an apt analogy, though this machine drilled for 
something far more precious than oil.

	Inside the machine's control room, two youma carefully 
scanned the golden platform.

	"Is that an artifact?" the first one, an orange-skinned 
humanoid with strange, quasi-mystical tattoos on his visible 
flesh.

	"No.  It's human-made," the maroon-colored one answered.  
"Worthless."

	"Okay, okay, you don't have to bite my head off."

	The other youma smiled, showing a row of very sharp teeth.  
"Trust me, you'll know when I bite your head off."

	"Quit the pillow talk, you two," came a third voice.  
Another youma came up behind them.  He was wearing a red 
extravehicular activity suit that made him appear to be a high-
tech knight.

	"Yes, Sarge!"

	"Clear that human piece of junk out of the way so we can 
take our readings," Sarge barked.

	A massive weapon emplacement extended from the side of the 
vehicle, tracking slowly until it locked onto the platform.  
Then, a brilliant beam of light fired from it, destroying the 
platform utterly.

	"Good," Sarge said.  "Put us into position.  I'll wake the 
loonies."  With that, he turned and left the control room.

	For a moment, the two youma were quietly engrossed in their 
work.

	"You wouldn't have really bitten my head off, would you?"

	"Just shut up, would you?"

*****

	Makoto barely stopped herself from bolting upright when the 
raucous alarm went off.  She had been asleep on her bunk, if 
bunk was a good term for it.  It was no more than a five-foot 
long, three-foot wide, and 18-inch high cubbyhole in the wall of 
a passageway.  She barely fit into it, but even if she had, she 
would not be comfortable.  The only items she had to pad her 
bunk with were her clothes... and they might be stolen if she 
took them off.

	Carefully, she wiggled out of the cramped confines of the 
bunk.  There were four bunks below hers, the top one, and she 
had to be careful not to kick any of her bunkmates.

	It had been two days since she had been dumped here, and 
she still had no idea where "here" was.  She was crammed inside 
some sort of vehicle, and her captors were youma.  

	Once her feet hit the floor, she looked at her fellow 
workers.  Like her, they wore gray overalls that managed to look 
ill fitting on everyone, regardless of body type.  They were all 
human, emaciated, and dirty.  The stink had appalled her at 
first, and she suspected that her nose had shut down in protest 
since then.

	She had only managed to learn the name of one of her fellow 
works, a short-haired blonde named Hippolyta 5M17H.  With the 
discerning wit of bullies everywhere, some of the other workers 
had been calling her "Hippo."  Makoto had glared them down, 
earning a small, sad smile from Hippolyta.

	"'Lyta, what's happening?" Makoto whispered.

	"We've reached our work zone," the blonde said dully.

	"Where--?" Makoto began, but shut up as a figure in red 
armor appeared at the end of the hall.

	"Alright!  Everyone into your worksuits!" Sarge bellowed.  
"New recruits, follow me!"

	Makoto followed the armored creature, uncertain whether he 
was a man, a youma, a robot or a droid.  She never saw him even 
take his helmet off.  But it didn't matter.  She was finally 
going to get out of this horrible machine.  Once she was 
outside...

	Sarge led them into a cavernous bay.  Various vehicles 
resembling caterpillar trucks and other construction vehicles 
filled most of it, but Makoto could still see the far wall... 
though it wasn't really a wall.  Instead, there was a glowing 
shield of energy that allowed her to finally see where she was.

	"I'm on the moon?" she yelped.

	Sarge wheeled on her before she could react, clubbing her 
to her knees with a savage blow.  For a moment, her vision went 
blurry from the pain.

	Satisfied that the human was down for the moment, Sarge 
ignored her and turned his attention to the other seven 
recruits.  "This is the ONLY time I'm going to explain your 
jobs, slaves, so you better listen.  Work hard, you get fed.  If 
not..."

	Without any warning, Sarge pointed at the scrawniest 
recruit.  Energy fired from his forearm mounted weapon and 
caught the poor recruit in the chest.  He flew backward to slump 
against a storage crate, his chest a blackened ruin.

	Makoto tasted bile at the back of her throat and tried to 
contain it.  Attacking Sarge would be suicide, her mind told 
her.  She needed to stay alive, find a way to escape, and get to 
her Princess.  That's what truly mattered.

	However, it seemed that her body disagreed with her mind.  
She charged the armored creature, intent on getting behind him 
while he was distracted, tripping him, and then somehow peeling 
the armor off him so she could kill him with her bare hands.

	She never got past the first step.  Sarge's gauntlet caught 
her in the middle of her face, and she felt the sickening crack 
as her nose broke.  For the second time, she fell to the floor.  
Blood dripped down her face to garishly decorate her gray 
coverall.

	"That was your second warning, human," Sarge said.  "I'm 
not going to give you a third."

	Makoto glared up at him, trying her best to kill him with 
looks alone.  It was a good effort, but somewhat spoiled by her 
flattened nose and the pain-induced tears running down her face.

	"You've got spirit," Sarge said, as if he was speaking of 
the weather.  "We'll break you of that soon enough.  There are 
many different jobs you could be doing here.  I think you just 
volunteered for the worst ones."

	Makoto reached up and defiantly straightened her nose.  
Some of the other recruits winced.  Sarge's helmet just nodded.  
"You're a Miner until further notice.  Take your place with the 
others."

	The brunette slowly got to her feet and took her place.  
She wasn't finished with him.  Not by a long shot.

	"Now, here's what you slugs need to know," Sarge said.  
Millennia ago, there was a civilization on the Moon.  We're 
looking for artifacts of that civilization.  Miners dig, Mules 
carry the rocks out of the tunnels, and Sifters do the fine work 
of extracting the artifacts without damaging them.  Sifting is 
the best work.  It's finicky, but not too dangerous... unless 
you damage an artifact."  Sarge gestured to the poor recruit he 
had killed.  "Damage an artifact and that's the best outcome you 
can hope for."

	None of the recruits said anything at that.

	"Mules," he continued, "have to do a lot of heavy lifting 
and pushing, getting the rock out of the tunnels.  It's back-
breaking, but not as dangerous as mining."

	Now Sarge turned to face Makoto.  She was sure that he was 
smiling behind his golden faceplate.

	"Mining is the most dangerous.  You're hundreds of feet 
underground, digging a tunnel, and shoring it into place.  Until 
you've got your supports in, it might collapse, burying you 
alive.  Maybe your equipment will malfunction and explode, 
killing you.  Perhaps the rock will splinter, and a shard hits 
you a supersonic speeds, severing a limb.  That's mining."

	He turned to one of the storage containers, beginning a 
lecture on the EVA suits and the mining equipment, but Makoto 
barely paid attention to his words.

	Just wait, she thought.  I will get free.  And then you'll 
pay, you monster.

*****

	First there was a burning sensation in her chest.

	Hotaru was slow to recognize it as she groped her way to 
consciousness.  When the realization came, it was leeched of any 
emotional content.  A minor statement of fact.

	I can't breathe.

	More data came in.  Something was affixed to her face, 
something that felt like a cross between raw meat and gelatin, 
something that was slowly pulsing, as if to the beat of a 
distant heart.  Even worse, something was in her mouth that 
tasted like a cross between rotten meat and gelatin.

	She tried to move, only to find that her limbs were bound 
in more of the same strange material.  She tried to open her 
eyes, but all she could see was darkness.  She was suspended, 
bound by something obscenely alive, in some sort of liquid, and 
the next thought was inevitable.

	I've been eaten alive!

	Now her struggles were fueled by raw panic.  Without a 
thought, she reached out to her birthright, the power that she 
had finally managed to bring under some form of control.

	The power fought back, twisting and snarling in her "grip" 
like a wild creature.  For one second, her control slipped....

*****

	"Report," General Magnetite said from his floating chair.

	The old youma had grown frailer as time went on.  Not even 
the prodigious amounts of energy that Jadeite had made available 
to him could change that fact.  His emaciated limbs could no 
longer support him, so he used a chair crafted by the 
artificers.  It was thought controlled and could fly over almost 
any obstacle.

	Despite his frailty, his eyes were still bright and keen as 
they stared out of his sunken face.

	"Father, the new acquisition just let loose a powerful 
burst of magical energy," said Spinel, a youma who could almost 
have passed for human.  Her skin was a bright neon pink, 
however, and her eyes were featureless pools of red, with no 
iris or white noticeable.  Her ears were pointed and her black 
hair bore a prominent white-streak.  Magnetite considered her 
one of his best creations, despite her lack of combat powers, 
for her brilliant mind.

	"What sort of energy?"

	"The computer won't answer me.  When I fed in the data our 
scanners collected, it went into security lockout."

	"Hmmm... curious."  Magnetite floated over to his own 
computer terminal.  The screen was black, except for the words 
"Security Lockout" flashing in red.  He entered his security 
code and the screen cleared to show him the data his daughter 
had entered.

	"By the bones of Atlantis..." he gasped.

	"Father?" Spinel asked, coming over to his side.  "What is 
it?"

	Magnetite quickly blanked his screen.  "Something very 
dangerous, daughter.  Move the subject to isolation lab nine, 
and prep her for special project 45."

	"But--" Spinel began, then grew quiet as Magnetite mouthed 
the words 'not now,' at her.  "I obey, father."

	"And I want to see you and your sisters after that.  We 
have much to discuss."

*****

	Hotaru's second awakening was easier than the first, but no 
quicker.  She opened her eyes and stared blankly at a bare, 
featureless ceiling that glowed with a faint white light.  It 
barely gave her enough to see by.

	Which was a good thing, she thought, as her head began to 
pound.  If it was any brighter, I think my head would split 
open.

	She slowly sat up and saw that she was in a bed, with a 
thin white sheet covering her.  After the strangeness of her 
last awakening, this felt strangely surreal.

	Ah!  The low lighting wasn't enough.  Her head DID feel 
like it was going to split open.  She reached up to rub her 
temples...

	...and stared at her hand in horror.

	A shiny black substance, like a beetle's carapace, covered 
her hand.  It flexed and moved with her motions, not hindering 
them in any way, but it made her hand look like something out of 
a sci fi movie.  The shiny carapace ended about midway up her 
forearm, where it seemed to sink under her skin.  She could feel 
bile flooding into her mouth as she looked at it.

	A quick check confirmed that similar growths covered her 
other hand and her feet, as well as portions of her torso.  
Panicking, she began to try and tear the substance off, 
screaming as she clawed deep furrows into her skin.

	Then she noticed that her cuts were healing quickly, as 
quickly as if she were using her healing powers.  However, 
instead of scabs, the cuts were covered over with more of the 
shiny black carapace.

	The door to her room slid open as she sank into a fetal 
position, sobbing hysterically.

	"Greetings, Lady Saturn," Magnetite said.  "Are you ready 
to listen to me?"

	Only sobs reached his ears.

	"I must apologize for what we've done, but I had no 
choice," he continued.  "Indeed, your power would most likely 
have soon run amuck and destroyed us."

	"What have you done to me?" Hotaru rasped, her throat raw 
from screaming.

	"I have bonded you with a youma," Magnetite said.  "Or, to 
be more precise, a youma spawn.  Consider it a... what was the 
animal... oh, yes, a tadpole.  It is a developmental phase that 
most youma go through."

	Hotaru tried to jump to her feet, intent on using her new 
hands to claw this youma, this creature who could so calmly talk 
of changing her, polluting her... but she merely fell to the 
floor, her stomach spasming uncontrollably.

	"The youmabiote, as I call it, was originally produced to 
control humans who were possessed strong magical gifts.  At this 
stage, the youma spawn is voraciously hungry.  It is consuming 
your magical energies and using it to fuel its growth, which 
keeps you from using those powers against us."

	Hotaru slowly got to her feet.  She was all right as long 
as she did not think of crushing this slimy....  She fell to the 
floor again, gasping in pain.

	"The youmabiote also lets us have some measure of control 
over you.  Youma are naturally hierarchical in nature, and while 
adult youma plot incessantly to overthrow their superiors, the 
youma spawn has a natural instinct to obey and submit to its 
elders.  Probably to prevent us from destroying them while they 
are vulnerable."

	"Why?" was all that Hotaru could ask.

	"Because I know who you are, of course.  With your power, 
carefully controlled, I can finally perfect the youma breed.  
And then, we can see about making some changes around here."

	"Won't... let you..."

	"Hush now, Lady Saturn.  Don't worry, I will take care of 
you."

	Hotaru thankfully sank back into unconsciousness.

*****

	Haruka ran.

	The ground under her feet was rough and rock-strewn, hardly 
an ideal running surface.  The sharp stones had already 
punctured the thin soles of her shoes several times.  

	Still she ran.

	The thin shift she wore was hardly any protection against 
the bitter cold.  She had been outside for hours now, and only 
the fact that she had been running almost nonstop kept her from 
noticing it.

	Behind her, she heard the howl of her pursuers.  She had 
not seen them yet, but the howl hinted that they were very large 
and possibly quite hungry.

	Her vision blurred as she gasped for breath.  She was in 
good shape, but there was only so much that her non-Senshi self 
could do.  She longed for the power of Sailor Uranus, but all 
she had was what little of the power had passed over to her 
mortal self.  She was a little stronger and faster than most 
Olympic athletes, and that was it.

	She squinted, looking for some cover.  If she could just 
take a little rest...

	She tripped over a rock and fell hard, the stones in the 
ground cutting into her palms and knees.  For a second, grayness 
filled her vision and she fought not to black out.

	She had to get up.  She had to run.  She couldn't fight, 
not without weapons or powers.  When she had awoken that... had 
it been morning?  There was no way to tell with no sun or clock.  
She had been in some sort of cell, and a woman had come to her.

	"I am Scorpio of the Zodiac, little spy," the woman had 
said.  She wore a brown and black leather catsuit that would 
have made Haruka wolf whistle if she had seen the lady on the 
streets of Tokyo.  But something about this lady told Haruka 
that she was as deadly as she was beautiful, like a poisonous 
snake.

	"I am the Director of Special Operations," Scorpio had 
continued.  "You probably already know that, of course.  What 
you probably didn't know, little spy, is that I am very grateful 
to have you here."

	"I'm not a spy!" Haruka had retorted angrily.  "Where's 
Michiru?  Where am I?"

	"Now, now... save your breath.  You'll need it."

	Haruka had tried to strike Scorpio, but she had smashed 
into an invisible wall before she had gotten within five feet of 
the Zodiac member.

	Scorpio had gestured and the wall behind Haruka had opened.  
There had been no sign of a door.  The wall had just twisted and 
spiraled like a living thing, forming a circular opening.  
Beyond it, Haruka had seen a blasted plain of gray dust and 
stone.  Some of the rocks and stones had very regular shapes.  
They may have once been buildings, but that had been long ago.  
If so, many years had passed since then.  The stone also had a 
vaguely melted look to them in places.  They sky was dark gray 
and overcast.  There was no sign of the sun or stars in the sky.

	"In a few minutes, I will release my operatives to hunt you 
down.  If you give them a challenging chase, I may let you live 
to run again."

	"What if I refuse?" Haruka had shot back.

	"Then they kill you here and now."

	Haruka ran.

	She had hoped to find an escape or at least a place to 
hide, but the devastated landscape had yielded no refuge.  Now, 
as she struggled to get to her feet, her body screamed at her to 
give up.  Maybe Scorpio would be satisfied with this.  Maybe she 
could live.

	But, as Michiru was fond of pointing out, Haruka never did 
things the easy way.

	Thoughts of the aqua-haired beauty gave Haruka a tiny surge 
of energy.  She would meet her pursuers on her feet, at least.

	The howl came again, this time much closer than before.  
Haruka just stood there, head down, shoulders hunched.  She 
tried to raise her head, to stare her death in its face.

	Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a wrenching sense 
of vertigo.  She stumbled and fell back down to her hands and 
knees.

	No! she railed at herself.  Get up!  Get up and fight!

	She was then startled to realize that the ground had 
changed beneath her bloody palms.  Instead of rough rocks and 
dust, she felt smooth metal.  It was also much brighter all of 
the sudden.  She fell over onto her side and stared up at an 
unknown face.  Unknown, yet familiar... the hair and eyes were 
so much like her own...

	"Rest, my daughter," came a sweet, long missing voice.

	"Mama..." Haruka croaked.

	Then darkness claimed her.

*****

	Inside his planetarium, Marcasite stared at the stars 
projected on the domed ceiling.  Both technology and Star magic 
combined to show an impressive display that could no longer be 
seen from the surface of the earth.  The energy draining clouds 
that allowed them to capture every erg the sun sent to the poor 
third planet saw to that.

	"Nephrite...." he muttered.  Would he never surpass his 
one-time mentor?  Time would tell.  His latest undertaking was 
but the first step.  If he succeeded...

	There would be time for that later.  The silver-haired 
General looked down at the spy he had in his custody.  She was 
lying on a black stone altar, a white cloth covering her naked 
body.  She was a perfect match for the long gone Sailor Neptune.  
That was only skin deep, of course.  He could not sense any 
connection between her and the eighth planet.

	Everything is controlled by the stars, he thought to 
himself, repeating the mantra of his mentor.  But fate is not 
immutable.  That is the paradox.  Nephrite had escaped the 
bounds of his destiny.  The Zodiac had stolen the power of the 
Star Princess.  If the power of destiny could be so radically 
altered, then anything could be achieved. 

	But before he could reach those levels of power, he would 
need to experiment.  The destinies of the drones of the Kingdom 
were too tiny, too small, to offer him the data he needed.  He 
needed someone full of energy and power.  This spy would do.

	He concentrated on her, forcing his perceptions into a 
higher level of existence.  He could now see her as a vaguely 
humanoid-shaped pool of energy.  Because she was unconscious, 
the energy was calm and smooth on the surface, but she could 
sense the currents and blockages running in channels underneath 
it.

	"Pisces, hmmm... appropriate.  Now... let's see what drives 
her... a sense of duty, yes... love, very strong... old fears... 
fear of abandonment?  Now... where is the point..."

	Delving deep, he sought that point where her energies were 
carefully balanced.  Gently, with his powers, he nudged a little 
here and there, bringing the energy flows into harmony, 
enhancing her potential.

	Nephrite had once speculated that everyone had a moment in 
their life when they reached their peak potential, and he had 
proven his theories when he was harvesting energy for Queen 
Beryl.  Now, artificially, Marcasite was bringing out that very 
same potential in Michiru.

	Then, when her energies had reached their peak, he reached 
into her... and inverted everything.  Michiru convulsed wildly 
on the table, a strange mark glowing brightly on her forehead.  
Nephrite's sigil.

	Sweat beaded on Marcasite's forehead as he held onto 
Michiru's energy flows.  He forced them to remain in their 
inverted positions as all the energy he had cultivated blasted 
new channels.  The energy tried to resume its normal paths, but 
he wouldn't let it.  Soon, it was over.

	Marcasite stepped back carefully.  It had a taken a lot out 
of him, more than he expected.  Perhaps this one had more of a 
destiny than he had thought.  He watched her closely, making 
sure that the new channels held.

	Then Michiru opened her eyes and sat up.  The white cloth 
pooled around her waist.  Noting her state of undress, she 
looked around.  Then her eyes settled on him.

	"So," Michiru said playfully, "who does a girl have to fuck 
to get some clothes?"

*****

	The two enforcement droids marched Setsuna through the gray 
featureless hallways.  Since they didn't seem to care where she 
looked as long as she kept up with them, she studied each door 
they passed carefully.  Strangely enough, they seemed to be 
numbered in Atlantean.

	When she had awoken in her cell, without her transformation 
pen or rod, she had panicked for a moment.  Now, however, she 
was fully in control.  In her civilian form, her temporal senses 
were dulled, but her special sensitivity and long practice gave 
her a limited foresight.  Something was very wrong here.

	She could puzzle that out later, however.  For now, she had 
to survive.  She was being taken to her captor .  Who knows what 
he might be planning.

	Finally, the droids led her into a large, white room.  It 
was obviously a laboratory of some sort.  Various pieces of 
esoteric equipment, some of them mystical in nature, some 
technological, covered the workbenches.  She could see several 
droid gems lying around.  Formulae and equations were scribbled 
on the walls and almost any flat surface.  Only her knowledge of 
Atlantean nomenclature and her work with Souichi-kun gave her 
any chance of deciphering them.  Even with that, many of them 
were esoteric.

	In the middle of the room, a youma with blue hair was 
carefully examining a droid gem.  He had a complicated pair of 
goggles on his head as he pored over the crystal.  Occasionally, 
he would scribble something down on the surface of the 
workbench.  In fact, as she watched, he ran out of space and 
began to write on his sleeve.

	He didn't seem to notice that the droids had brought her 
in, so she waited, looking carefully around.  This did not look 
like the type of place where prisoners would be allowed free 
reign.  Perhaps she was going to be experimented on?  If so, she 
better hope she wasn't as rusty as she feared in her martial 
arts.

	Finally, she got bored of waiting.

	"That should be theta nine, not theta four," she said, 
noting that he had made an error in his scribbling.

	"Eh?" he said, finally looking up.  Behind large lenses, 
his blue eyes blinked owlishly at her.

	"Theta nine.  You just wrote four down," she repeated.  If 
this was the type of genius who was holding her captive, she 
could escape at her leisure.

	The youma looked down at his sleeve.  "No, it's supposed to 
be..."  He paused and took off his goggles, looking more 
carefully.  "Oh... Jadeite wouldn't have liked that."

	Millennia of practice kept Setsuna from showing any 
surprise.  So, Jadeite was in charge of things around here?  
That wasn't good.  Mars... no, Aurora, must have knocked them 
out.  Now she was being held captive by this peon.

	"Well, you just saved me a lot of trouble.  I'm Sapphire, 
by the way.  General Sapphire if you want to be picky.  So, you 
must be my new assistant.  Come here and tell me what you make 
of this," he said, indicating the crystal.

	She looked at the two droids guarding her, her nondescript 
overalls, and then him in confusion.  Surely he couldn't mistake 
her status as a prisoner.  Still, she stepped over and took the 
goggles he offered her.

	"It seems like this crystal has picked up a strange 
resonance signature."

	"Yes, but when you look at the frequency... well, you can 
see for yourself."

	"That appears to be an upper-band subspace radiation 
signature."

	"Yes!  Exactly!  This droid was destroyed by a noble of 
Jurai.  I think that it captured a bit of the Jurai power in its 
crystalline lattice."

	"I can see how that would be important," she agreed.  "So, 
is this what you'd have me working on?"

	"Among other things," he said.

	"Then, can you do something about..."  She gestured at the 
two droids.

	"Oh, right.  Return to your duties," he ordered them.  The 
droids obediently turned and marched out of the room.  "Did they 
assign you quarters?"

	"No," she said, thinking that her cell could hardly be 
considered quarters.

	"I'll get that straightened out right away.  Welcome 
aboard...?"

	"Call me Garnet," she said.

*****

	Sapphire was true to his word.  By the end of the day, she 
had quarters, better clothes, and a good deal of authority in 
Dark Tokyo's R&D department.

	Best of all, she had a personal computer that was linked to 
the kingdom's secure information network.  With that, she could 
hopefully track down the others.  In the meantime, she would 
have to be careful.  If she was discovered by one of the other 
Generals...

	Using her computer, she quickly found a precis of Dark 
Tokyo's history.  It was obviously a propaganda piece, but it 
did give her an idea of what she was up against.

	According to the precis, the "evil Juraian Empire" had come 
to Earth in the 2030s, over a thousand years ago.  Secure in 
their superiority, the Juraians had removed Earth's orbital 
laser satellites.  Unfortunately, those weapons were the only 
thing preventing a nuclear war from occurring.  Someone in the 
Middle East had pushed the button first, leading to a series of 
counter-launches that escalated into a worst-case scenario that 
nearly destroyed all life on the planet.

	It was then that the Dark Kingdom appeared.  Emperor 
Jadeite and his Queen had used their own precious energy to 
protect Japan from the nuclear holocaust and then, with their 
droids and youma, led a counterattack against the Juraians.  The 
war had raged ever since.

	She frowned as she considered this.  She didn't know why 
the Juraians had messed with the orbital laser satellites, but 
it was probably not out of malice.  Ever since then, Jadeite had 
used the war with Jurai as an excuse for his totalitarian rule.  
The Dark Kingdom now spanned several worlds, and humans were no 
better than second-class citizens at best.

	This was truly the worst future she could ever have 
imagined.  In outward appearance, it might resemble Crystal 
Tokyo (the Emperor's Palace was almost identical to the Crystal 
Palace except for being black), but it was gray and soulless.

	What now? she thought to herself.  She had no idea where 
her transformation pen was.  Without it, she couldn't access 
most of her power, her Staff, or the Gates.  The precis made no 
mention of Pluto, so she didn't know what the situation was like 
there.  It was definitely possible that the Fungi were holding 
out against this revitalized Dark Kingdom.  If so, she would 
have allies there.  If they had fallen, she could only hope that 
the Gate's own defenses were holding.

	She needed to know more.  If only she could access the 
security report of their capture.  Maybe it would mention the 
pens.

	Her console beeped suddenly.  A gravelly voice came from 
its speaker and said, in Atlantean, "Read your mail."

	Had Sapphire thought of something else to talk to her 
about?  He was the only one she could think of who would be 
mailing her.  After a moment of puzzling out the interface, she 
managed to call up the letter.  The header gave no subject line 
or sender.

	If I just got the Dark Kingdom's version of spam, I think 
I'm going to cry, she thought to herself.  Morbidly, she opened 
the mail.  Then her eyes widened as she read it.

	Lady Pluto,

	I do not have much time, but I could see that thou hath 
	gained a position of freedom amongst our captors.  I with 
	that we had been so lucky.  But Ami and I are uniquely 
	placed to aid thee.  We will try to get thee the 
	information thou needest.

	I cannot locate Prince Endymion or Princess Serenity.  They 
	are kept behind firewalls beyond our ken.  Inanna is a 
	gladiator in Amazonite's arena.  She is to fight until she 
	dies.  Juno is on the Moon, helping our captors steal what 
	artifacts they can find.  Rhea's healing power is being 
	used by Magnesite to 'improve' the youma breeding vats.  
	Ishtar is being used in some sort of experiment by 
	Marcasite.  Marduk escaped from Scorpio... how, I cannot 
	say.  When I have more, I will send it to thee.

	Athena of the House of Vulcan.

	Soon after she read it, her computer quietly erased the 
letter, leaving no indication it had ever been there.  That 
troubled Pluto.  Obviously, Ami/Athena had managed to make good 
use of her hacking skills, but why was Athena sending the e-
mail?  And why hadn't they told her where they were.  It would 
make sense for the two of them to hook up and then try to free 
the others, wouldn't it?

	She didn't think she would like the answers to her 
questions.

	Meanwhile, she better start seeing what she could do to 
help her fellow Sailors.  With no information on the whereabouts 
of Tuxedo Kamen or Sailors Moon, Uranus and Neptune, and no way 
to get to the Moon to help Jupiter, she better focus on Hotaru 
or Venus... and it looked like Venus was in far more danger than 
the young Sailor of Silence.

*****

	"Please concentrate, Lady Hotaru," the pink-haired youma 
said deferentially.

	Hotaru wanted to snarl at Balas, one of Megnetite's 
seemingly endless string of "daughters."  She was hot, sweaty, 
bonded with a youma that was slowly growing over her body, and 
her arms were elbow deep in a gray-green muck whose composition 
she'd really rather not know about.

	"I am concentrating!  If you think you can do this, then 
you try," Hotaru snapped.

	Balas's light pink eyes grew large and moist at that, and 
she began to sniffle.  Hotaru repressed a sigh.  She could tell 
why Magnesite kept the pink youma here in the breeding vats.  
She was too childlike to be trusted anywhere else.  Besides, she 
was too colorful for this dark world.

	Balas was pink.  Her hair, skin, and eyes were all varying 
shades of pink.  She even wore pink clothes, for kami's sake.  
If her hair had been in rabbit-ears instead of a page-boy cut, 
she would have almost thought the diminutive youma was Chibi-
Usa.

	"I'm sorry, Balas," Hotaru said quietly.  "I'm just a 
little frustrated."

	Magnesite had put her to work in the youma breeding vats as 
quickly as he could.  She was projecting carefully measured 
amounts of Silver or Dark Power as required to push along the 
maturation of the youma spawn in the vat.  She tried to ignore 
the tingling feeling she got from her carapace whenever it 
touched the nutrient solution.  It was almost like it was 
feeding on it.

	Balphas cheered up almost immediately.  "It's alright, Lady 
Hotaru!  You're doing a great job!  Why look at this one!" 
Balphas said, picking one of the youma spawn out of the sludge.  
It appeared to be a foot-long leech with an ugly, sucker-like 
mouth.  Hotaru tried not to vomit as Balphas spoke to it with a 
sugary-sweet voice.  "Aren't you just the cutest thing?  Yes, 
you are!  Eat up, and get big and strong!"

	Hotaru rolled her eyes as the youma spawn tried to latch on 
to Balpha with its sucker, hissing angrily.

	"Would you like to hold him, Lady Hotaru?"

	Hotaru couldn't help but flinch as Balphas stuck the 
squirming spawn in her face.  "No, that's alright, Balphas.  We 
better get back to work, don't you think?"  If she gives me the 
puppy dog eyes because I won't cuddle with that homicidal slug, 
Hotaru thought, I'm going to deck her.  not for the first time, 
she wished she had her SIlence Glaive.

	"Oh, right..." Balphas put the spawn back in the tank, 
stroking it wistfully as she did.  (She had to pull her hand 
back quickly once, as it tried again to bite her.)

	"I thought youma spawn were incapable of attacking their 
elders," Hotaru said nonchalantly.

	"Oh, it's just being playful!" Balphas said cheerily.

	Or it doesn't recognize this twit as a superior, Hotaru 
thought glumly.  That might be useful.  Still, even if she 
knocked Balphas out and ran, she wouldn't get far before the 
youma spawn incapacitated her.

	Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, Setsuna-mama... please, help me!

*****

	Minako raised her crystal sword high, saluting the cheering 
crowds.  Her latest foe, a green-skinned female who seemed more 
like a feral animal than a sentient being, lay at her feet.  Her 
opponent's blood was pooling on the sands.

	Despite the cheers and adulation, Minako's face could have 
been a mask for all the life it showed.  This had been her fifth 
time in the arena.  None of her opponents had been as strong as 
the first, but that only made it worst.  Her guards had made it 
clear that she could not leave the arena until her or her 
opponent was dead.  She didn't want to kill anyone, but the 
alternative was to die herself.  Instead, she could feel her 
soul dying, slowly, inch by inch.

	It had been like this once before.  She had been the first 
Senshi to be called, even before Usagi.  Artemis had convinced 
her to take up her calling and go to England.  There she had 
fought long and hard against all sorts of youma.  Alone, except 
for oneesan and Alan... and they....

	She squelched the thought.  It was an old pain.  She had 
Steven now, and she would get back to him.  Somehow.

	The cheers were dying down, so she turned and walked over 
to the exit.  She would have some time to rest now.  That bitch 
Amazonite insisted on all fights being "fair" in that fighters 
were rested and healed before they had to enter the arena.

	The enforcement droids met her inside the tunnel that led 
away from the arena.  She turned her sword over to them 
wordlessly.  After her second match, she had attempted to use 
one of the swords against them, but it had shattered uselessly 
against their armor.  Then the droids had shocked her 
unconscious and thrown her into her cell.  She didn't need to 
repeat that lesson.

	Her cell was comfortable enough.  It was small, but it held 
a bed, a small washroom, and even a threadbare rug on the floor.  
She stripped off her blood and sweat-soaked clothes and stepped 
into the washroom.  Soon, she stood under a dribble of lukewarm 
water, trying not to collapse against the shower stall.  All she 
wanted was to get some sleep.

	She was therefore very surprised, then, to find someone 
waiting in her bed when she got back.

	Her guest was a young female with inky-blue skin and long 
ears that matched Minako's own.  She appeared to be about 14 to 
15 years old, by human terms.  The girl was wearing a thin white 
gown that hid absolutely nothing.  She lay on the bed in an 
awkward pose that was obviously supposed to be alluring but for 
the girl's lack of experience.

	Minako stood there for several seconds, naked and dripping, 
looking at the elf.  Then, with a sigh, she reached for her 
towel and said, "Who are you?"

	"I am yours, milady," the young girl said hesitantly.  "You 
won your fifth match.  Every gladiator gets a companion after 
five victories.... do... do I not please you?"

	"Go home, girl."

	The girl flinched.  "Please, milady, I have learned to 
please.  Give me a chance and I--"

	Minako held up a hand.  "Save it.  I'm not interested.  Why 
did they send you, anyway?  I don't think I ever said I was a 
lesbian pedophile."  Minako began to dry her hair.  She 
considered using one of her swords to hack it down to a 
manageable length the next time she was in the arena.  The lack 
of shampoo was making taking care of it a real chore.

	"I am the only elf they have, milady.  If my being a dark 
elf offends you... you may punish me."  The last was said in a 
quavering yet resigned voice.

	The blonde stopped and looked at her.  "I take it you've 
been punished before?"

	The dark elf sat up and tugged down her blouse.  Turning, 
she showed Minako a series of thin white scars on her back.  
"Some like it, milady."

	"Get dressed," Minako said.

	"P-please, do not make me go, milady.  I'll--"

	"You don't have to go," Minako said, tiredly.  "What's your 
name?"

	"Urdth, milady."

	"You don't have to call me 'milady.'  Minako will do."

	"Yes, Mi-Minako... may I pleasure you now?"

	"What?  No, you just don't have to go.  Stay there, Urdth.  
I'll sleep on the floor."

	"But--"

	"Just stay there, OK?"

	Minako got dressed quickly, aware of the young dark elf's 
eyes on her.  How do I get into these situations? she thought.  
I know I'm the Senshi of Love, but why am I always surrounded by 
amorous elves?  She could feel tears filling her eyes.  Steven, 
I miss you.

	Two small hands reached timidly around her, and Minako 
found herself in a tentative hug from Urdth.  Throwing caution 
to the wind, Minako returned the hug, tears falling freely.

*****

	On her viewscreen, Amazonite watched this display coldly.

	"Very good," she said to Petaline.

*****

	Stanley 7W33D13 had hit rock bottom, literally.

	The youma had been very straightforward in building the 
metropolis of Dark Tokyo.  Very little of human architecture 
appealed to them.  They prefer towering crystalline edifices or 
organically grown buildings.  The only buildings left that 
resembled the old skyscrapers were the slave dormitories, and 
those tall gray buildings where entirely utilitarian.  

	So, when the youma were building the city of Dark Tokyo, 
they merely razed the old city and built on top of the rubble.  
Over the centuries since, passageways into this undercity of 
detritus were formed, either by accident or on purpose.  Many 
displaced humans found their way there.  Jadeite and Aurora 
allowed it to exist because it would be more trouble than it was 
worth to root them out.

	Plus, some of the youma overlords liked to go down into the 
depth and hunt the remaining "free range" humans.

	But eventually, you could go no deeper.  Stanley was as 
slippery as a worm and had as much backbone, but even he was 
stopped by bedrock.  He cowered back in a deep crevice, 
bemoaning his fate.

	"Stanley 7W33D13, there is no escape," the Enforcement 
Droid that had been chasing him called out.  After the sudden 
arrival of the Senshi, it had taken a while for the authorities 
to remember what had brought four enforcement droids to that 
area to begin with.  This one droid, J24601, had been sent to 
mop up the loose ends.

	J24601 considered itself, inasmuch as it considered 
anything, a hunter.  It had a long record of success in hunting 
down hard to catch targets.  Droids owed as much to biology and 
mysticism as science in their creation, so they tended to get a 
bit quirky the longer they kept running.

	"You will answer to the law, Stanley 7W33D13.  You are only 
prolonging the inevitable."  It's light played across the rocks 
and ruined buildings.  "I promise to make it quick."  The light 
narrowed down to a slim crevice.  "Now, I wonder, where could 
you be hiding?"

	Need a weapon, need a weapon, Stanley chanted to himself.  
He patted down his jumpsuit, searching desperately for 
something, anything, that he could use.  There weren't even any 
good sized rocks in the crevice.  All he had were those golden 
pens and the red and green plant.  Even here, in the depths of a 
ruined city, cornered by a homicidal bio-mystical-mechanoid, he 
could not let himself part with the shiny gold.

	"Ah, there you are," J24601 said, peering into crevice.

	Panicked, Stanley threw the rose at the droid.

	Since all Tuxedo Kamen ever did when asked about his roses 
was smile enigmatically (because he didn't know how they worked, 
either), no one will ever know how much of what followed was 
magical and how much was pure blind luck.

	"Urk!" J24601 screeched as the rose penetrated the normally 
indestructible crystal on its chest.  Lightning crackled over 
its body as it jerked spasmodically, then it slumped to the 
ground.

	Several minutes passed, then Stanley finally mustered 
enough courage to look outside.  On seeing the enforcement droid 
lying on the ground, the rose sticking straight up from its 
faceplate, he shrank back into the crevice again.  Finally, 
however, as the droid remained motionless, he stepped out and 
began to dance a little jig.

	"Yes, yes, Stan's the man!"

	He reached down to touch the flower, but then drew back, as 
if it might burn his hand.  Finally, he managed to pluck it back 
out, all the time looking at it like it might explode in his 
hand.

	"Come on, Stan... better get out of here..." he said to 
himself.  Then he looked back at the downed droid.  "Hmmm... I 
wonder..."

*****

	Several hours later, Stan started to make his way back up 
to the upper levels with J24601 in two.

	"No, no, try Master Stan!"

	"Yes, Master Stan," J24601 said tonelessly.  The entire 
side of J24601's head was cracked and broken from where Stanley 
had pried open the casing.

	"I think, Kai... mind if I call you Kai?  I had a friend 
named called Kai once... he protected me before he was taken 
away... anyway, I think this is the begining of a profitable 
relationship.  Now, how about Stan the Man, Master of All He 
Surveys?"

	"Yes, Stan the Man, Master of All He Surveys."

	"How about..."

*****

	Makoto could feel the vibrations of her drill even through 
the bulky extravehicular activity suit she wore.  The EVA suit 
was designed for rugged conditions, which meant that it was 
armored and amplified her strength.  That was a good thing, 
because otherwise there was no way that she would be able to 
lift the huge vibrodrill.

	The bad thing was that the designers had not been overly 
concerned with the comfort of the operators.  Inside the suit 
was hot and smelly.  She could feel the sweat pooling underneath 
her skinsuit.  The skinsuit was supposed to protect her in case 
of a leak, but all it seemed to really do was make her sweat a 
lot.

	She shut her drill off and stepped back, allowing a team of 
Mules to step forward and clear out the rubble.  Her drill had a 
bit that vibrated extremely fast, causing the rock to shatter 
and break underneath it.  It was slow and cumbersome, but it had 
less of a chance of harming any artifacts than lasers or 
explosives.  Also, the drill had to physically touch something 
in order to cut it.  It was a lot harder to turn the vibrodrill 
on a youma.

	One of the Mules was Hippolyta, but Makoto had no way to 
tell her apart from the others.  Even if she could, she couldn't 
talk to her.  Their radios only worked with the youmas.

	Once the rubble was cleared away, Makoto stepped back up 
and began to drill once more.  She gritted her teeth as the 
drill's vibrations made her arms ache.  She wondered why she did 
it.  All this work for a few scraps of food and the promise of 
more work.  But dying for no reason, especially when her 
princess was in trouble somewhere, did not appeal to her.

	Suddenly, the drill broke through a layer of rock and hit 
something harder.  The bit whined for several seconds, then 
exploded into a dozen shards of fast moving metal.  Makoto 
yelped and fell over backwards.  Fortunately, none of the shards 
hit her dead on.  They deflected off her armor, leaving deep 
gouges in the material instead.

	Some of the mules weren't so lucky.  Makoto couldn't hear 
the screams, but she could imagine them as two Mules lost limbs 
to the flying metal.

	"What the hell is going on down there?" Sarge's voice 
exclaimed over her radio.

	"Hit something," she responded sullenly.  "Two mules down."

	"What did you hit?" Sarge asked, utterly unconcerned about 
the humans.  After all, he could get more.

	Makoto looked a the drill site for the first time since the 
accident.  The drill pieces had also punctured the rock, and 
some of the rock face fell away to reveal a shiny metal door.  
Upon the door was inscribed a design of interlocking crescent 
moons.

	"Miner, what did you find?" Sarge repeated, annoyance 
audible in his voice.

	Makoto ignored him, trying to think what this could be.  It 
was tough, her ruined drill attested to that, so it couldn't be 
something civilian.  It had to be some sort of Moon Kingdom 
military establishment.

	So, she couldn't let the youma get their hands on that.  
But what could she do.  She racked her mind, trying to think of 
something from her past life that could help.

	I'm a Senshi, she thought, even when I'm not transformed.  
I should be able to do something with a Silver Millennium 
military installation.

	She reached her hand up to touch the interlocking moons.  
No sooner did her hand touch the metal than the door slid 
upward.

	She didn't even think about it before forcing her EVA suit 
through the portal.

*****

	When Haruka managed to open her eyes again, she was in a 
luxurious bed.  A quick check under the covers showed that her 
wounds had been cleaned and bandaged and seemed to be healing 
well.

	Where am I? she thought to herself.  The last thing I 
remember... She frowned.  That had to be a dream, didn't it?

	She got an answer sooner than she expected.  The door to 
her suite spiraled open and a woman stepped through, pushing a 
cart full of food.  The woman wore an expensive-looking blue 
kimono.  Silver stars were beautifully woven into the fabric.  
The woman's hair was carefully coiffed into a traditional 
Japanese style despite the incongruity of her honey-blonde hair.  
She was very tall, taller even than Haruka, and thin to the 
point of gauntness.  She was not beautiful, but her face was 
strong and animated, giving lie to the plainess of her features.

	"Good morning, Haruka," she said, simply.  Her eyes seemed 
filled with sadness and something else... something that 
reminded Haruka of Setsuna.

	"Who the hell are you?" Haruka demanded.  "What sort of 
game is Scorpio playing?"

	The woman shook her head softly.  "No games.  Scorpio 
doesn't know that you're here.  I can promise that, at least, 
for as long as my Ascendancy lasts."

	The word clicked in Haruka's head.  "You're Zodiac as well, 
aren't you?"

	"Yes, one of the few remaining members of the Zodiac.  I 
saved you from the wastelands.  Zodiac never really had any 
intention of letting you live.  She's never believed in giving 
the hero a chance to survive a deathtrap."  She paused and shook 
her head.  "Here I am rambling like an old woman.  I am Virgo," 
she said, casting a hopeful look at the Senshi.

	Haruka looked at her blankly.

	"Did your lady friend tell you nothing of who she 
encountered on Mars all those years ago?" Virgo continued, 
sounding a little vexed.

	Now it was Haruka's turn to shake her head.  "Michiru on 
Mars... oh, yeah, she told me some crap about you claiming to be 
my mother.  Well, I knew my mother, lady.  She died a long time 
ago."

	"That was your adopted mother, Haruka."

	"I wasn't adopted!"

	"I wish I could prove it, but the records are long gone 
now.  But you were adopted.  I had to give you up for adoption 
when you were born."

	"Bullshit!"

	Virgo frowned at that.  "Watch your language, dear," she 
said.

	"You're not my fucking mother, so I can say whatever the 
fuck I want," Haruka shot back.

	The two sat and fumed silently for a moment, their poses 
silently mirroring each other.  Virgo was the first to crack.

	"I'm sorry, Haruka.  I know this is a lot to accept... and 
I have no way to prove anything.  But I am your biological 
mother.  Will you at least listen to my story?"

	"Hmph," Haruka grunted noncommittally.

	"If nothing else, I did save you from Scorpio's monsters.  
That earns me some trust, doesn't it?"

	"Likely you only did it so as to manipulate me in to doing 
something for you.  Scorpio told me I was a spy, so how come you 
believe I'm who I am?"

	Virgo started to say, 'Because I'm your mother," but 
decided that wouldn't work.  "I do believe that you're Tenou 
Haruka, who is also Sailor Uranus.  I knew your identity over a 
thousand years ago, when the Dark Kingdom, the Zodiac, and the 
Senshi were fighting for supremacy.  That's my job, to study 
lore and to gather knowledge."

	"Is that how the Zodiac tracked down Sailor Mars?" Haruka 
spat.  "You told them where to find her?"

	"No.  They found her because Aries had reversed her 
transformation when they fought.  Once we knew what she looked 
like, it was easy to track her down.  The rest of the Zodiac 
never took it any further than that.  I tracked down her known 
associates and found you.  But I never told anyone that."

	"So, what do you want of me now?"

	"I want to know my daughter.  I want her to know me."

	"Sounds like you think you already know everything about 
me," Haruka said.  She didn't know what to make about this 
woman's claims.  She knew who her parents were.  They had died 
when she was 13, leaving her with an Aunt that she really didn't 
care for.  The feeling was mutual, so when she turned 16, she 
had left her Aunt and gone off to live on her own, race cars, 
and finish her schooling.  Since her Aunt never complained (and 
with a little fast talking from Haruka herself) no one raised a 
fuss.

	"I know about you.  I can't say I know you."

	Haruka decided she would have to humor this woman a little 
longer.  She needed more information about this strange place, 
she was wounded and needed to heal, and she could kill for some 
ramen right about now.

	"So, IF you're my mother, how come you abandoned me so long 
ago?"

	"It was not really my choice.  I was young and unmarried, 
but that was only part of it."  Virgo looked so sad for a time 
that Haruka almost believed her story.  Then the Zodiac member 
shook her head and continued.  "I had just graduated from 
college... Tokyo University, actually.  I had my whole life 
ahead of me.  I was going to be a historian.  In celebration, 
some friends and I went out drinking, and, well... nine months 
later, you were born."

	"You're not exactly painting a rosy picture here, MOM," 
Haruka grumbled.

	"I was only 20 and very foolish," Virgo snapped back.

	"So, who was he?"

	"He was... his name isn't important after so many years.  
He was a part-time faculty advisor at the time.  He was over 
twice times my age, very distinguished looking.  He had a 
family, but he didn't see much of them because of his work.  I 
always thought he was cute in an absent-minded way.  That 
night... we made a mistake.  I never even told him I was 
pregnant.  I was too embarrassed.  Besides, he vanished soon 
after that.  Something about his family dying in an accident and 
he had to raise his granddaughter."

	Haruka tried to think of why that story sounded familiar.  
Maybe she saw it in an anime.

	"I wanted to keep you, but then I learned that I had a 
great destiny to fulfill.  The Zodiac found me, and the elder 
Virgo explained to me about the important work that we did.  I 
couldn't do that and raise a child.  It wouldn't be fair to you 
or the world.  So, I did what had to be done, no matter what the 
cost."

	Now Haruka realized that this was sounding very familiar.  
She could almost hear the Princess yammering in her ears about 
ends and means.

	"I put you up for adoption and made myself walk away."  She 
sighed.  "It was the hardest thing I ever did.  And when I see 
how it all turned out... I regret it."

	Haruka stared at Virgo for a moment.  Then she spoke.

	"What a load of crap."

	Virgo flushed.  She looked like she wanted to snap back at 
Haruka but she visibly contained her outburst.

	"Look lady, I don't know what your game is, but it's not 
going to work.  So, just toss me back into my cell and Let's see 
if I can outrun those hound things a little better."

	Virgo stood up.  "You're not a prisoner here, Haruka.  
You're a guest.  And I think that you'll find my hospitality 
better than Scorpio's.  Now, if you excuse me..."  With that, 
she turned and almost ran out the door, which then shut and 
locked with a click.

	"Not a prisoner my ass," Haruka grumbled.  Then her stomach 
reminded her that it had been a while since she'd had anything 
to eat, and there was a whole cart of food over there...

*****

	Outside Haruka's room, Virgo slid down against the wall, 
her face cradled in her hands as she sobbed.

*****

	In the void between star systems, a very important meeting 
was taking place.  Two vast fleets had rendezvoused and now 
their respective command staffs were meeting on the largest and 
perhaps most powerful ship in existence:  Tsunami.

	The Emperor of Jurai kept his face impassive as he watched 
his guests approach his throne.  His wives flanked him on either 
side, ready to assist him if needed.

	"I'm never going to get their names right," he whispered to 
the one on his right.  "Why do they need to have such long 
names?"

	"The one in front is Crown Prince Abriel Nei Ramsahl 
Dusanyu," his wife said, a little twinkle appearing in her eyes.  
"Next to him is Rear Admiral Spoor Aron Sekpado Peneju, the 
Duchess of Letopanyu."

	"Right, the one who acts like Mom used to," he said.

	His other wife now spoke.  "The third one is Crown Prince 
Abriel's Chief of Staff Keneesh Wef Stumal Kipeil.  She's 
supposed to be quite good at her job."

	The guests were now close enough to speak without shouting.  
Crown Prince Abriel bowed in a courtly manner and exclaimed to 
the crowd of nobles, "I bear the most royal greetings of the 
27th Empress of the Humankind Empire of Abh, Abriel Nei Dobrusk 
Ramaj, to Emperor Ryu I of the Kingdom of Jurai."

	Behind him, his companions knelt respectfully.  Ryu noted 
that Admiral Spoor was stifling a yawn.  Definitely like Mom 
was, he thought to himself.

	He stood, ignoring the barely vocalized murmur that swept 
through his nobles.  Technically, he should have remained 
sitting, to show his superiority, but these were allies.  Allies 
he desperately needed in order to prosecute this war.

	"I greet you, Crown Prince Abriel Nei Ramsahl Dusanyu," he 
said, "and thank you for coming.  May I present my wives, 
Empress Nene of House Romanova, Empress of all the Russias," he 
gestured to his first wife, smiling at his little joke, "and 
Empress Miyabi of House Ferule."

	Crown Prince Abriel bowed to each in turn, and then turned 
back to the Emperor.  "The Empress has agreed to your plan, in 
hopes that we will finally reach the end of this long and costly 
war.  To that end, I have brought the entirety of our Fifth and 
Ninth Fleets, as well as the 27th Logistical Fleet, and nine 
squadrons of scouting units."

	Ryu's eyes widened slightly at the news.  That was 50% more 
than the Empress had initially promised.  "That is good news," 
he said finally.  "I thank you for your Empress's generosity."

	"The alliance of the Khunds with... the Dark Kingdom is of 
concern to us all," Crown Prince Abriel said, stopping at the 
last moment before saying 'Earth.'  The Emperor's first wife was 
from Earth and disliked to be reminded of that planet's current 
state.  "If Jadeite manages to score a major victory against us, 
he may gain more allies.  There are enough powers waiting to 
attack if we show weakness."

	Ryu nodded.  "Crown Prince Abriel, we should meet with my 
military advisors and discuss how best to use the forces you 
have brought."  He lifted his face to address the assembled 
nobles.  "This audience is at an end."

	The nobles swiftly left the room, giving Ryu a chance to 
study his allies.  The Abh were a humanoid race and tended to be 
thin and beautiful, with blue hair and pointed ears that had 
earned them the nickname of "space elves."

	Like Jurai, the Abh claimed to be descended from the 
ancient Silver Millennium.  But where the Juraians had left the 
Silver Millennium as part of an organized colonization fleet, as 
a safeguard against a looming disaster, the Abh had been a 
ragtag fleet of space travelers left homeless by that same 
disaster.  They rarely set foot on the surface of a planet; 
instead, they claimed that space itself was their home.  The Abh 
had survived and prospered in the depths of space, using genetic 
engineering to alter their genotype and optimize themselves for 
their new home.  Their genetic tinkering had also given them a 
special ability to cybernetically link with their ships and fly 
them as extensions of their own bodies.

	Once they were alone, Ryu let his control slip a little in 
order to give his guests a very sincere smile.  "Once again, I 
thank you, Prince Abriel.  We will have need of your extra 
forces."

	"My mother was quite upset with the Khunds' attempt to 
seize our systems," Abriel stated.  "Some of our analysts 
suggested that she attack them in return, but others," here he 
bowed modestly, "held that if we could annihilate the Dark 
Kingdom, the Khunds would retreat back to their systems.  
Besides, none of us truly want to occupy any Khundish systems.  
The expense of holding them, in both money and lives, would not 
be worth the gain."

	"True, true... so, we are agreed to our ultimate aim?"

	"Yes, Emperor.  We are here to help you conquer Earth."  
Abriel turned to the red-haired Empress.  "My apologies, your 
majesty."

	"Do not worry, Prince Abriel," Nene said sadly.  "It has 
been a thousand years since Jadeite conquered my homeworld.  It 
is nothing like I remember, now.  My home is on Jurai now, with 
my husband and children," she said, reaching over to take her 
husband's hand in her own.

	Behind Prince Abriel, Chief of Staff Keneesh watched 
Empress Miyabi's eyes grow icy as she watched her husband and 
co-wife smile at each other.  So, it was true, she thought.  
Juraian law decreed that the Emperor had to have two wives: one 
of the nobility, the other an outworlder.  The rumors said that 
Ryu had more or less chosen Miyabi at random, seeking to cement 
his ties to the nobility.  If Keneesh had to guess, she would 
say that Miyabi found her marriage bed a cold one.

	Ryu turned back to his guests.  "I will be glad when this 
war is finally over.  There has been too much death and 
destruction, but it will not end until that murdering scum 
Jadeite is dead."

	"Of course, your majesty," Abriel murmured.  The Emperor's 
hatred of the Dark Kingdom bordered on psychosis. 

	But it was hard to fault the Emperor.  He had met Nene 
while visiting Earth.  His father Tenchi had been born on Earth 
and wanted Ryu to study there, to learn of its beauty.  
Unfortunately, Tenchi, his wives Ryouko and Ayeka, his daughter 
Manami, his grandfather Youshou, and his mother-in-law Wasyuu 
had also been on Earth when Jadeite took over.  Only Nene, Ryu, 
Ryouko, and Wasyuu had escaped on Tsunami in the chaos that 
followed.  The loss of so much royalty had not quite been enough 
to make then-Emperor Azusa declare war on the nascent Dark 
Kingdom, especially since the details of their deaths were 
unknown.  But when Emperor Azusa was assassinated years later at 
the hands of a Dark Kingdom droid, the Kingdom of Jurai had sunk 
into a war-frenzy that had scarcely abated since.  It didn't 
help that Azusa's wives, Funaho and Misaki, had also been killed 
by the droid before Ryouko stopped it.

	"If I may say, your majesty," Abriel continued after a 
slight pause, "even with the extra Abh forces, we may not be 
enough to defeat Jadeite's Home Fleet.  We are, of course, 
technologically superior, but he has numbers and the fanatical 
devotion of his youma and droids.  It will not be an easy 
fight."

	"That's why we have a trump card," another voice said.  
Admiral Priscilla S. Asagiri of House Serenity had entered the 
room.  The Abh took a moment to study this legend.  Possessed of 
viciousness in combat that impressed even Admiral Spoor, Admiral 
Asagiri was considered one of the top tacticians in the galaxy.  
Her legend greatly preceded her, claiming that she was a time-
displaced survivor of the ancient Silver Millennium's royal 
family, that she had been a vigilante on Earth, and that she 
wielded the Silver Power, a force of magic beyond all 
understanding.  It was even possible that all the legends were 
true.  Truly her battle-scarred face (complete with eyepatch) 
made her seem like someone who had stepped out of a fictional 
epic.

	Next to her stood the Queen-Mother Ryouko.  Another figure 
of legend, the black-garbed, spiky-haired figure barely seemed 
to acknowledge the world around her.  It was said that the grief 
of losing Tenchi, Ayeka, and Manami had reduced the Queen into a 
pure killing machine.  Looking into her dead golden eyes, the 
Abh could believe it.

	Admiral Asagiri pushed a button on the clipboard she 
carried, and a holographic representation of the Solar System 
appeared.  As she spoke, icons representing fleets of starships 
could be seen moving through the display.

	"Our plan is simple... a seeming all-out frontal attack 
that actually hides a feint... a feint that will end the war 
once and for all."

	"A feint?" Admiral Spoor said, eyeing the Juraian Admiral 
carefully.  "Forgive me, but that seems unlike your usual 
tactics, Admiral."

	"That's why they won't expect it.  They'll be sure that I'm 
throwing everything I've got at them.  In the meantime, however, 
Empress Ryouko and her ship Ryo-ohki will slip in under cloak 
and deliver the final blow."

	"One ship?" Keneesh said.  "What good could one ship do?"

	"One ship loaded with a nova bomb can do quite a bit," 
Emperor Ryu said softly.

	The Abh shuddered and looked again at Ryouko, seeing the 
Angel of Death standing in their midst.

*****

	King Jadeite stepped into his chambers quietly, hoping not 
to wake his wife.  He needn't have bothered, as his wife was 
both awake and not alone.

	"Good evening, Aurora-chan," he said, taking in the scene 
before him.  He quickly cast a small spell to cool the 
temperature of the air around him.  No matter what time of year, 
his queen insisted on having fires around her at all times.  
Even now, a fire blazed in the huge, anachronistic fireplace, 
and a few braziers lit the far corners of their marble and 
crystal bedchamber.  The heat could be stifling at times

	Queen Aurora, the one-time Senshi of Mars, opened her eyes 
and smiled wickedly at her husband.  She lay facedown on the 
bed, quite naked, and enjoying a luxurious massage.  "Hello, 
Jade-chan, how was your day?"

	Jadeite glanced at the girl massaging his wife.  "You are 
enjoying my gift, I see?"

	"You should have been by earlier.  I sliced her costume off 
inch by inch."

	"No problems, then?"

	"None at all."  Aurora propped herself up on one arm and 
reached over to caress her servant's cheek.  The girl, who wore 
only a thin tunic, shivered slightly at the queen's searing 
touch, but did not stop rubbing her mistress' back.  "She's 
quite responsive."

	Jadeite sat on the bed next to his queen and kissed her 
gently on the lips.  "I'm glad you like her.  But send her away 
for now."

	Aurora nodded and snapped her fingers.  The girl stood up 
and left the room quickly and without any hesitation.  "What is 
it, Jade-chan?  More problems with the war?"

	Standing up with a sigh, Jadeite strode over to their 
balcony, which looked out over what had been Tokyo Bay.  Their 
chamber was in the highest tower of the great mass of black 
crystal that made up the Palace.  From here he could see almost 
all of Dark Tokyo.  Aurora followed behind him, pausing only to 
slip on a robe.

	"We will be defeated, Aurora-chan, unless something changes 
drastically.  We need a victory.  We need a huge victory against 
Jurai and the Abh.  If we can get that, then we will gain the 
time and the allies we need.  But unless it happens in the next 
six months, our enemies will bleed us to death."

	Aurora sat down on a chaise lounge and considered her 
husband.  Taking in his dejected look, she chuckled.  The 
chuckle became a throaty laugh as he turned on her in disbelief.  
"Really, Jade-chan, you worry too much."

	"I would say that you worry too little, my dear," he 
snapped, stung by her disregard.  "Our only advantage against 
the Abh and the Juraians is numbers, and they are whittling that 
down with their damnably effective ships.  Any time we attack 
with fewer than a 5-to-1 ratio, they chew us up and spit us 
out.  Our only allies at the moment are the Khunds--who have 
proven less than useless--and all the other star kingdoms are 
circling like vultures, waiting for one side or the other to 
falter so they can pick the corpse!"

	"They shall fall before us, Jade-chan," Aurora said with a 
smile and an I-know-something-you-don't-know lilt to her voice.

	"Would you care to tell me how, then?"

	Aurora stood up and walked over to Jadeite and hugged him, 
ignoring his half-hearted attempts to escape her.  "Look out 
there, Jade-chan.  Look at our realm.  You and I have taken the 
entire human race and burned them down to the basics.  They are 
our food, our servants, and even," she said, thinking of her 
servant, "our toys.  We did this, despite everything that the 
so-called forces of Good could throw at us.  We will survive 
this."

	"How?" he asked again, though he couldn't help but be 
distracted by the heat of her body.  She embodied fire in so 
many ways, not just her powers.  She warmed his heart, which had 
once been so cold and dark.  Sure, there was always the danger 
that she would burn him to a crisp, but that only added to the 
thrill.

	Aurora took his hands in hers and pulled him back inside, 
"Look at this," she said.  "Computer on," she commanded the 
terminal at the far end of the room.

	A holographic humanoid winked into being near the monarchs.  
It resembled a shapely female human made of flames.  Jadeite had 
had Sapphire craft this AI especially for Aurora, who had been 
quite taken with it.  She had named it Ifurita.

	"Yes, my Queen?" Ifurita asked.  The hologram then focused 
on Jadeite and smiled at them both.  "Should I run holographic 
program Harem tonight?"

	Aurora shook her head.  "Not tonight, 'Frita, I'm afraid.  
I need you to show my doubting husband my special project."

	Ifurita clapped her hands at that.  "Really?  We finally 
get to tell him?"

	"Yes, yes," Aurora said indulgently.  "Now do it, before he 
gets too... frustrated."

	"Yes, my Queen."  Ifurita vanished, and in her place 
appeared a holographic representation of what appeared to be a 
wingless dragonfly.  Whatever it was, it sported a huge "head" 
with large "eyes."  Behind it was a long "tail" that appeared 
overly straight and rigid compared to the organic curves of the 
"head."

	"This, your Majesty, is the Lexx.  It is, without a doubt, 
the most destructive force in the universe.  It is a living 
starship, combining aspects of droid, youma, and Silver 
Millennium technology.  The ocular parabola," here the 'eyes' of 
the dragonfly lit up, "can emit a fusion of Dark and Silver 
Power on a scale capable of destroying an entire planet or 
destabilizing a sun."

	Jadeite stared at the Lexx in amazement.  "It actually 
exists?" he asked breathlessly.

	"Yes, my darling," Aurora whispered in his ear.  "It's 
almost fully grown now.  We've been feeding it the flesh of 
those subjects who were 'surplus to requirements.'  Soon it can 
leave this planet on its maiden voyage of destruction.  A few 
blasts of its weapon will decimate the Abh/Jurai fleet."  She 
nibbled gently on his earlobe.  "Sapphire, Magnetite, and I have 
been working on it for the last year.  I asked them to keep it a 
secret from you."

	Jadeite's felt dizzy as he imagined the destructive power 
of the Lexx at his disposal.  Its massive weapon would destroy 
his enemies, leaving blasted wrecks and broken ships in its 
path.  The entire planet of Jurai would be reduced to fragments 
of rubble floating through space.

	It was times like these that made him aware of how much he 
loved his wife.

	"I couldn't have asked for a nicer surprise, my dear," he 
finally said.  "I doubt that there's anything else you could 
have done to please me more."

	Aurora laughed at that, a deep throaty laugh that promised 
so much.  "Don't be so sure of that, Jade-chan," she said, 
dropping her robe to the floor.  She clapped her hands sharply, 
summoning her servant back into the room.  "I think that we can 
find other ways to please you."  She turned the servant.  "We're 
going to do what I taught you earlier, while my husband watches.  
Then he might," she said with a wink to Jadeite, "join in.  Do 
you understand?"

	"Yes, my Queen," Usagi Tsukino said simply.

*****