Sailor Moon V * The Dark Adventures of the Sailor Scouts Episode Seven * "Something To Remember" "Susan, what's that?" the six-year-old asked quietly as she pressed her fingertip against the glass casing. Sailor Pluto looked up from the book she was reading and cast a glance in the indicated direction. "A collection of books that belonged to your great-grandmother," she said. "They're rather old and fragile, which is why they've been put into protective storage." The child shook her head, sending her jet-black bangs flying back and forth. "Not the books, that," she said, emphasizing her meaning with a jab of her finger against the glass. Pluto blinked for a moment as her mind tried to recall what else might have been sealed in the casings. Her demonic memory drew a blank and she mentally shrugged, setting her book aside as she stood up. "Let me see," she said as she walked over to the case. "You mean that little box on the second shelf, near the very end?" "Yes," the child replied instantly. "Oh, that," Pluto chuckled as she finally remembered what it was. "That is the deck of tarot cards that your great-grandmother sometimes used in her spiritual readings." "What's tarrow?" she asked, fumbling over the unfamiliar syllables. "Tarot," Pluto corrected gently out of sheer reflex. "It's...." she said slowly as she sought the best phrasing that would make sense to the child. "One method of fortune-telling," came the soft voice of Sailor Mars as she entered the library and moved next to Sailor Pluto. "The cards are randomly drawn, and it is said that the Hand of Fate guides the teller into picking the cards that symbolize whatever it is that is being asked or sought." "Hi, Aria!" the little girl said as she darted forward to hug the new arrival. Mars chuckled quietly to herself and returned the enthusiastic embrace. "Hello, Hotaru. I see you're feeling better today." "The resilience of youth," Pluto observed with a faint smile. "Do you use tarrow cards in your medada.... met...." Hotaru fumbled. "Meditations," Pluto said slowly. Mars shook her head. "No, astrology is the domain of your House, not mine. I deal with the spiritual that comes from within." Hotaru blinked and turned her attention back to the ancient deck in the case. "But why....?" Mars coughed quickly. "I think that answer would take quite some time for even Sailor Pluto to explain," she interjected to stem off the question. She was fully aware of Hotaru's extremely high intelligence, but also knew that her ability to fully comprehend was still somewhat overshadowed by her sense of curiosity. More than a few crying fits had erupted when she got curious about something but couldn't quite grasp a solid understanding. "Most likely," Pluto agreed with only a slight pause. Hotaru frowned slightly at the interruption. She reached out to touch the glass casing again and paused. "The Hand of Fate guides you when you read the cards?" she asked slowly. Both Sailor Scouts blinked at the unexpected question. "So I've been told," Mars said slowly, "But I've never used tarot cards before. I think Sailor Pluto has before, though." "Several times, yes, but only as a hobby," Pluto replied. "Were you guided by Fate?" the six-year-old asked. "Well.... I'm not sure," Pluto replied truthfully. "I mean, the readings were somewhat accurate, but they are usually very difficult to interpret except in a very generalized sense." Hotaru paused to digest this as she continued to stare at the deck. Pluto took the opportunity to lean towards Mars and very quietly whisper, "So how's the Queen?" Mars sighed. "Lady Mercury was frustrated to the point of tears an hour ago, if that's any indication," she whispered back, equally as softly. "She doesn't think the Queen's in any mortal danger, but she's very worried about that faint rasp in her voice for some reason." "Dryness?" Mars suppressed a snort. "With as much herbal tea my mother keeps feeding her? I think not." "Can I hold the cards?" Hotaru said suddenly, startling them both. "That's probably not a good idea, Hotaru," Mars said gently. "They are very old and...." "But aren't they part of my House?" Hotaru asked tentatively. "Well, yes...." Mars said slowly. "Which means I'll have to use them soon, right?" Mars paused as she realized where this was heading. "Actually...." "So I should start practicing now so I'll be ready when I become a Sailor Scout like you and Susan, right?" "Um, maybe not right now, but...." "And didn't the Lady Mars suggest that I start learning soon?" Sailor Pluto chuckled dryly. "I think you've been out-maneuvered, Aria." Mars shot Pluto a dark glare. "She's your student," she muttered. "As you were once mine," Pluto replied gently. "You didn't raise me," Sailor Mars grumbled, almost too softly for Pluto's demonic hearing to pick up. Hotaru's jet-black eyes darted back and forth between the two of them as she tried to make sense of the fragments of speech she was hearing. She had long ago figured out that people whispered around her when they were discussing things they didn't want her to hear, such as her frail life-force and the Queen's current ill health. "Admit it, you don't like the idea of being cornered by a girl one-third your age," Sailor Pluto observed lightly with a faint smile. "Alright, alright," Mars fumed, her temper starting to fray at the edges. "I still don't think it's a good idea, but I'm not going to file a complaint with our beloved Minister Dejanna or anything," she grumbled, referring to the current Minister of Science. "And I'm not taking responsibility." "No one asked you to," Pluto said consolingly as she turned to Hotaru. "I will let you hold them, Hotaru, but you must be very careful. They are very old and could be easily damaged." Hotaru nodded solemnly. "I promise to be careful." "Spoken like a true six-year-old," Sailor Mars muttered. "Aria, go find something to do before I tell her the story about the jar of coconut oil," Sailor Pluto said lightly as she turned her attention to the storage casing and began to unlock the front panel. Sailor Mars shot her a dark look and mumbled something incoherent beneath her breath. "I'll catch you two later," she said and left the library. Hotaru blinked and cast a questioning glance at Pluto. "What jar of coconut oil?" she inquired. "It's a long story," Pluto demurred as she finished entering the cipher codes into the lock. The lock clicked open and there was a faint hiss of escaping gas as the nitrogen seal was broken. She only opened the panel as long as necessary to reach in and remove the deck of cards before she firmly shut it and triggered the resealing process. "Ick," Hotaru coughed as she pinched her nose shut. "The gas is designed to prevent oxygen from speeding up the process of decay," Pluto explained as she idly waved her free hand under her nose for a moment. "It smells terrible, but that's actually a good thing as it doesn't encourage someone to try to break into the storage cases. Here," she said as she handed the ancient tarot cards to the young girl she was essentially raising as her own daughter. Hotaru's black eyes went wide as she felt the deck's weight in her hands. "Why is it so warm?" Pluto blinked hard and reached out to touch the deck. "I don't feel any temperature difference," she said slowly. "You don't? That's funny.... maybe because you have wings?" Pluto felt her insides twinge faintly. Everyone in the kingdom knew of her half-human/half-demon heritage, but she had made a conscious effort to avoid explaining some aspects to Hotaru until she was sure she could fully understand them. "I don't think that has anything to do with it, but you never know," she said neutrally. Hotaru barely heard her. She was absolutely captivated by the deck of cards for some strange reason. With deliberate slowness, she opened the box and removed the stack of well-used cards, handing the box back to Pluto. "The cards feel strange," she said quietly. A very cold wind blew through Pluto's bones. "How so?" she asked as she fought a sudden urge to snatch the cards away from her. "I don't know," the child admitted. "They just.... feel strange." "Do you know what to do with the cards?" Pluto asked gently. "Umm.... I just draw a few, right?" Hotaru said with uncertainty. Pluto nodded and sat down on the ground. "Well, drawing is half of it. The other half is trying to determine the meaning of the cards." Hotaru paused to assimilate the information before she sat down and set the deck on the ground, slowly and carefully spreading the cards in an arc in front of her. "Usually you're supposed to shuffle the deck before you draw," Pluto said in a gentle tone. "That's to help remove any remaining influences from other readings." Hotaru blinked and looked up. "I thought the Hand of Fate was supposed to guide me when I drew the cards," she said, almost as if in protest. "Well, that's true," Pluto admitted. Hotaru studied the array of cards before her before she slowly extended a fingertip towards the first card in the stack. She paused just short of touching it and very slowly moved her hand over the rest of the cards. She paused with her finger over one card and frowned. "This one feels different than the rest," she said quietly. Pluto's breath immediately snagged in her throat. She has the gift, she thought silently to herself, a gift that her bloodline hasn't seen in three hundred years. "Well, if that's the one you want, then draw it and flip it over so we can see," she said as evenly as she could manage. Hotaru nodded and carefully withdrew the card from the stack before she laid it down face-up above the deck. The picture of a red-robed being holding the banner of a white rose looked up at them, and Pluto could feel her jaw sagging open of its own volition. "Death?" Hotaru breathed as she read the single word scrolled along the bottom of the card. "Susan, what's this mean?" It took a moment of great effort before Pluto could close her mouth. "It represents the force of Death, Hotaru, but not necessarily literally. It often can mean a major or catastrophic change instead. It is a very powerful card, but without some sort of influence to tell us if it's a good or a bad thing, the card itself is meaningless." The future Sailor Scout paused to think for a very long time. "So this means it would help to draw another card to try to explain the meaning?" she ventured after what had to be a full minute of silence and contemplation. Pluto blinked hard and thought carefully. If she does have the gift, then this really does have a meaning.... and it will happen regardless of whether or not she becomes aware of it. "Yes," she finally said slowly, "You're right, we would need another card to explain this." Hotaru nodded and studied the array of cards in front of her before she slowly reached out and withdrew another card. She flipped it face-up next to the first card and studied the picture: A man in a black cloak standing over a pool of blood spilling from five gold goblets that had been dropped at his feet. "What's this one?" she asked. It took a moment for Pluto to find her voice. "The Five of Cups," she finally managed to say with a faint tremble in her voice despite her best efforts. "The suit of Cups are generally linked to matters of the heart and material comfort. However, the Five of Cups usually represents a sense of loss or despair." Hotaru blinked. "This is a bad influence on Death, right?" she asked very slowly as her pale complexion lost most of what little color she had to begin with. Sailor Pluto couldn't lie to her. "I'm afraid so, Hotaru," she said, almost in a whisper. "Listen to me very carefully.... I dearly hope I'm wrong about this, but it seems you have a natural gift for astrology. It used to be very common in your bloodline, but the last Lady Saturn to possess it was over three hundred years ago. There has always been a strong tie between your House and astrology, just as there has been a tie between the House of Mars and the spiritual." Her bottomless black eyes went wide as she absorbed the information. "So what does this mean?" she said as she gestured to the deck. "Is that why it feels funny to me?" "Maybe," Pluto said carefully, "But I can't say for sure unless we observe your readings for some time to determine their accuracy and hence the strength of your gift." There was another protracted silence as Hotaru sought to process the new information and apply it to her present situation. "Susan, my ancist.... cest...." "Ancestor." "How accurate was she?" Pluto swallowed hard. "In retrospect? Never wrong," she said quietly. "Then.... someone is going to die, right?" Hotaru said, her skin now a sickly shade of white. "There is a good possibility of that," Sailor Pluto replied. "However, bear in mind this is just an interpretation. It might not mean a literal death." Hotaru studied the two face-up cards for a moment. "Would drawing a third card tell us more? Like who it is going to aff.... affect?" she said, adding the last word with hesitation. "You pronounced it correctly," Pluto replied as she chewed on the edge of her lips, trying to decide if she should permit the reading to continue. She was intimately familiar with death, but Hotaru was only a child. A child whose mother died giving birth to her and as a result would probably never have the strength to survive birthing her own daughter, she darkly reminded herself. She sighed quietly and made a decision. "Yes, a third card might make it clearer.... but you have to understand this now, Hotaru, that no matter what good or ill comes from the reading, you are not at fault." Hotaru blinked hard before she slowly nodded and ran her fingertips over the array of cards for a third time. She twitched slightly as she snatched her finger away from a card. "Hey, that started to tingle...." Pluto felt her throat constrict again. "Just that one card?" Hotaru quickly checked the other cards and nodded. "Yes, just this one. Is that supposed to be the Hand of Fate?" she asked as she gestured to the card that had bothered her. She chose her words carefully. "Well, if you feel as if one particular card is standing out from the rest, then perhaps it is a suggestion." Hotaru nodded and reached for the card, gently tugging it free before flipping it face-up next to the Five of Cups. The picture showed a dog and a wolf, sitting by a small pond and howling up at a massive moon. "The Moon," she said as she read the words scrolled at the bottom. Sailor Pluto was on her feet in an instant as the shock tore through her like a lightning bolt. Two bulges formed on her back and exploded outward into demonic wings, easily tearing through the specially designed strips of thin fabric on the back of her Sailor Suit. Her hand came up to her throat and began twisting the tiny star that adorned the ribbon around her neck. She turned it to the right until it clicked twice, then pressed inward and down until she felt it catch on a hook and stay in place. "Susan, what's wrong?" Hotaru said, startled by her sudden reaction. "Pluto to Mercury," she said as a small rod unfolded from the rear edge of her tiara and settled into place directly over her ear canal. She heard a click from the tiny speaker inside before she heard the throaty sound of the collar-based microphone being used at the other end. came the voice of Sailor Mercury. "Find your mother and meet me at the Queen's bedside," she snapped as she made a snatching motion in the air. Her staff seemed to materialize out of thin air as it slapped into her palm. the voice in her ear started to say. "NOW, Amelia, I'll explain later. Out," she said sharply as she flicked the star with her thumb, closing the link. "What's wrong? What did I do?" Hotaru started to cry in anguish. Pluto paused to kneel down and gently grip her shoulder. "You didn't do anything, Hotaru. In fact, you might have even warned us." "It's the Queen, isn't it?" she sniffed. "You think she's going to die." "Maybe not, but she is sick and I'm not going to take a chance with this one," she explained. "I'm coming with you," she said suddenly and scooped up the tarot cards. Pluto was about to protest when she remembered another duty of the House of Saturn, one that mirrored her own duties with disturbing closeness. "Very well, then," she said as she wrapped her arm around Hotaru's waist and lifted her up in an embrace that probably wasn't as gentle as she would have liked. Then making sure she had a firm grip on her staff, she sent them both into a temporal vortex destined to emerge only a moment later in a different spot.... And with a sharp gasp, Susan bolted upright in her bed as the dream of a memory dissolved around her like sand through an open hand. There was a squeak of protest as the kitten that had been sleeping on her bare chest was sent tumbling to the edge of the bed and almost onto the floor. "Damn," she muttered softly to herself as she fully woke up. She glanced at the window and saw that sunrise was still a couple hours away. "Myst, are you alright?" The silky gray kitten uncurled herself and gave Susan a dazed look. "You had a nightmare?" Susan shook her head. "No, I was just reliving a memory in the form of a dream, that's all," she said as she laid back down with a soft sigh. "A bad memory?" Myst asked as she carefully made her way back over to the succubus and settled herself down next to her shoulder. "Not so much bad as.... unpleasant," Susan replied quietly. "A very young Sailor Saturn warning me of the Queen's death just before it happens." The Shinma said nothing as Susan began stroking her soft fur absently. "I just find it odd that I would remember that particular memory in a dream instead of something else, or a dream itself," Susan continued. "And I'm not sure why it woke me up like it did. Did you happen to dream?" "No, I was fortunate this time," Myst replied quietly. Susan made a soft noise to herself, knowing that sometimes a dreamless sleep is preferable to being at the mercy of one's subconscious mind. But still, she continued to wonder, of all the things to remember.... why this? The question seemed to echo in her mind for very long time until the first rays of the dawning sun began to refocus her mind to other matters. * * * * Alex grunted softly to herself as something woke her up. Her subconscious mind twitched her elbow very gently and quickly assured her that, if nothing else, Michelle was still sleeping next to her. The realization didn't fully register in her brain, but it was enough to prevent a mental alarm from going off and shocking her into full consciousness. She was giving serious consideration to simply going back to sleep when the room was very briefly lit by a muted flash of light. A subvocal grunt of protest emerged from her throat as she lifted her head off of the pillow and opened her eyes, trying to see through the blur caused by still being only half-awake. Susan carefully unhooked the cargo container from the load-bearing webbing she had strapped to her back and eased it onto the floor as quietly as she could. Beside her was a second cargo container that seemed identical to the first, both of which were marked with a pair of sigils that denoted their owners. "Good morning," she said very quietly as she noticed Alex's bleary gaze in her direction. "... th' hell?" the blonde mumbled as she carefully edged her arm out from under Michelle and sat up, ignoring the sheets as they tumbled away to expose her small breasts. Michelle stirred slightly but remained fast asleep, totally oblivious to the world around her. "A few things from the Moon Kingdom, mostly clothes," Susan replied in a quiet voice. "I returned to a point in time shortly after the attack took place but before the Shield collapsed, which didn't give me much time to gather everything together." "Underwear?" Alex said as she fully woke up. She tossed the covers aside to expose the rest of her nude body and carefully eased herself out of bed, trying not to disturb Michelle. She quickly made her way over to the cargo containers and opened the first one. "Oh, crap, what is that smell?" she muttered as she sorted through the stack of clothes inside. "You don't want to know," Susan replied in a tone that made Alex shiver. "Okay. Ah, here we go," Alex said with satisfaction as she dug a pair of panties out of the container and put them on. "Oh, yeah, this is what I'm talking about.... clean, dry underwear," she cooed. "I know what you mean. I'm going to see if I have enough time to get a few more things," Susan said as she readjusted the webbing. "However, don't count on anything. I got the impression on the last trip that I was getting very close to a temporal overlap, and that's something I have to avoid at all costs." "Yeah, whatever that means," the blonde replied, only half-listening as she sorted through the rest of the container's contents. "Great, you got my good pair of sweatpants. You're a sweetheart." The succubus just shook her head. "Michelle's clothes and a few personal effects are in the other container. I suggest you both take the time to sort through them after breakfast so you have a good idea of what else you might need me to acquire. Did you sleep well?" "Like a rock," Alex said as she dug a sports bra out of the container and slipped it on. "I think we both pretty much conked out as soon as we hit the pillows." "Good," Susan replied as she made a snatching motion at the air. Her staff seemed to materialize out of nowhere as it quietly slapped into her palm. "I sense that we'll need as much of our strength as possible. This morning shouldn't be too taxing, but this afternoon is going to be quite the opposite." Alex winced slightly as Susan disappeared in a brief flash of temporal energy. "I hate it when she gets all mysterious like that," she muttered to herself as she started to open the second cargo container. She froze as she heard a sound behind her and felt a gentle touch on her arm. "Love, you need to quit sneaking up on me like that," she said quietly as she let out her breath. "Sorry," Michelle breathed softly as she slid her arms around the blonde's waist and pressed herself close. "What did she bring us?" "Mostly clothes," Alex murmured as she brought her hands up to cover Michelle's. She could feel the softness of Michelle's bare breasts pressed against her back, the hardened nipples sending an almost electric thrill down her spine as they slowly moved back and forth. "Mmmmm...." Michelle purred softly in her ear as her fingertips slowly traced a path up from Alex's stomach to the bottom edge of her bra. "Do we need them right now, or do we still have awhile before breakfast?" "I see you slept well," Alex replied almost breathlessly as she felt the sports bra slide up to expose the swells of her breasts. "Of course, I have you to sleep next to me," Michelle replied quietly as she lightly brushed her lips across lover's neck, drawing a soft sigh from the blonde. Her hands came up to gently cup Alex's small breasts, very slowly rolling the hardening nipples against her palms. Humans, Myst thought to herself from her vantage point beneath the bed as she watched the two lovers with only slight interest in their activities. I'll never understand their fascination with each other's bodies. Shaking her head to herself, she merged herself with the deep shadows under the bed and entered the demiplane of existence that she had discovered only a few hours ago. The room seemed to warp and bend slightly as the fundamental properties of light were altered. Solid objects became partially translucent and almost all the color was drained away, shifted into gauzy stains of pale reds, light blues, and sickly greens. Shadows that seemed small and faint before blossomed into massive pools of inky darkness, making the room seem smaller than before. She paused for a moment to study the spectral images that the humans had become. They were transparent enough to almost be invisible, ghostly figures with very blurry, undefined details. Faint auras surrounded them both, bright yellow for Alex and aquamarine sharply edged in black for Michelle. The colors seemed to bleed from one aura to the other as they touched and caressed in what was seen as very slow motion, moving from the corner of the room over to the fuzzy image of the bed. Shaking her head to herself again, she started moving through the strange demiplane, passing through the bedroom wall as if it were only an illusion. It had taken her several minutes before to determine that objects didn't fully exist in the demiplane. However, light waves were partially able to bleed through from the normal three-dimensional plane, thus giving the appearance of an object's existence. She paused for a moment to study the shimmering conduits that ran along the inside of the walls, appearing to her to be a glittering network of rapid pulses of light. Curious, she started to trace the conduits to their source, following the twisting trail of energy downward until she arrived in a room dominated by a massive pulsing core surrounded by a haze of radiation. This doesn't look good, Myst thought as she started to edge away from the reactor core. She briefly considered shifting back to the material plane to get a better look, then reconsidered her decision after studying the haze of radiation. It seemed to be fully contained in what appeared to be a very solid housing, but she wasn't sure she wanted to chance anything. She turned around to head back up when she saw a ghostly figure walking down the hallway towards the reactor core. The figure stopped at the doorway and started touching a small box on the outside, triggering a brief flurry of activity in the conduits lining the walls. The walls seemed to slide apart after a moment, allowing the figure to enter the small room. Interesting, she thought as she watched the walls return to their usual position. She carefully studied the new arrival, noting that he was surrounded by a fairly strong gray aura that seemed to be speckled with tiny pinpoints of yellow. The figure moved over to a set of controls mounted on a console and seemed to be looking at them carefully. Curious about what was going on, she shifted herself from the demiplane back into the material plane. The process only took a moment and then she was suddenly wincing as her senses were bombarded with both color and sound. How strange that I didn't notice sound doesn't exist there, she thought dourly as she batted at her whiskers. Tolaris glanced up as he caught motion out of the corner of his eye and almost leapt out of his skin. "And where did you come from?" he inquired as he slowly let his breath out and glanced back at the reactor control panel. "I didn't see you following me down the hallway." "I shifted dimensions," Myst explained quietly as she sat back and started to preen her whiskers. She was still getting used to her feline form and had learned that her whiskers provided a great deal of sensory information.... as long as they were kept clean. "Mmm. I know Whisper can do some sort of dimensional shifting as well, but she said it really wasn't a good idea to spend much time in that form," Tolaris replied absently. His attention was focused on a blinking green light on one of the status panels, a light that normally would have remained a steady green color. "Great, just p'tahk'enn great. Don't do it, don't do it...." The light turned a solid yellow color and a warning chime began to echo in the room. Tolaris sighed quietly as he turned the alarm off and let loose with a very long, complex string of profanity. "P'tai," he muttered to himself when he finished and began running a series of diagnostics on the reactor. Myst blinked at the sudden activity. "Is something wrong?" she asked. "Not really, just a plasma filter that's partially clogged," the Dragoon explained. "However, if we don't do something about it relatively soon, like clean it or replace it, it could start to cause problems with the rest of the reactor. And that's when we start to worry. Tolaris to Ra'vel," he said as he dug out his communicator and opened the frequency assigned to the Dragoon sigil. There was a slight pause before he saw Ra'vel's image appear on the tiny monitor and heard a slightly scratchy chirp in response. "I'm in the reactor control room and I need your help," Tolaris explained. "Level 5 advisory, got a plasma filter that is starting to clog. I want to see if you can use your telekinetic powers to pull it out so we don't have to drag out the radiation suits." Ra'vel fluffed her feathers and chittered at him for a few moments before shrugging in apology. "No problem, just thought I'd ask," Tolaris replied. "Thanks anyway." The image of Ra'vel nodded before the channel closed and fell silent. "She doesn't feel comfortable with using her telekinetic powers on the reactor from a distance," the Dragoon told Myst as he reset the communicator and opened a different frequency, this one denoted by the Star sigil. "Not that I blame her in the least. Tolaris to Maze." "Morning, boss," Maze replied as his image appeared on the screen. "Idle curiosity.... when was the last time you changed a plasma filter on a class 3A reactor unit?" Tolaris asked. Maze blinked and sighed. "Idle curiosity, my ptanka. I take it we need to have one changed now?" "Changed or cleaned, depending on what it looks like," Tolaris replied. "The computer picked up on it last night and flagged it as a possible problem. I came down here to check on it and just now got a Level 5 advisory." "Just a Level 5?" Maze said as his image heaved a sigh of relief. "Had me worried for a moment that we might have had a serious problem on our hands." Tolaris chuckled. "Yes, well it's going to get that way if we don't do something about it. Which brings me back to my first question." "Never worked on a 3A before," Maze admitted. "Helped tear apart and refurbish a class 2A-2 reactor located in the Headquarters Complex, though. It's part of the backup system so it's not being used constantly like this one here is, but at least it didn't blow up when we tested it." Tolaris grunted. "Fair enough. I'll do the hardsuit part and you can handle the console." "Deal. Umm, do I have time for a shower?" Maze inquired. Tolaris glanced at the display console for a moment. "Probably, but try to keep it short. I think we're going to have to do a replacement instead of just a cleaning, and I'd rather get that over and done with as soon as we can." "No problem, just give me ten minutes and I'll be down there," Maze replied and closed the connection. Tolaris just grunted softly as he put his communicator back in his pocket. "Probably going to take me that long just to get into the hardsuit," he said, more to the room in general than to Myst. He made his way over to a small access hatch at the far corner of the room, stripping off various articles of clothing as he went. "I will never understand you people and clothes," Myst said sourly as she watched Tolaris finish stripping down to his underwear. The Dragoon chuckled dryly. "Try it like this," he explained as he keyed open the access hatch. "We pretty much wear clothes constantly, and only take them off when they get in the way, like when you go to use the bathroom or take a shower. Or in this case, have to put on a skin-tight bodysuit and thick radiation armor. Excuse me," he added as he climbed into the access chamber and sealed the hatch behind him. "That helps," Myst muttered to herself as she walked over to the control console and carefully leapt up onto it, making quite sure she didn't touch or bump anything. She threaded her way along the rows of controls until she found a space large enough for her to sit down comfortably without being in the way of anything, yet still permitted her a good view of the reactor housing. From what she was able to see, the reactor was housed in a small metal sphere supported by two massive conduits on either side. A series of small tubes tapped into the sphere in a complex three-dimensional pattern, presumably circulating coolant inside the reactor chamber. A small airlock stood at the far end of the chamber, and through the windows Myst could make out a slightly blurry humanoid figure moving around inside. Every few seconds she could almost feel a very faint thrum of energy from the reactor core. Curious, she scanned the various display panels until she found one that showed a sine wave that peaked every time she felt a thrum. The wave rose and fell in perfect rhythm, and she took that to be a display of the actual power reaction inside the chamber. The computer panel next to the door chittered for a brief moment and the doors slid open with a pneumatic hiss. Myst raised an eyebrow as a slightly damp Dragoon Lieutenant Maze entered, wearing only a pair of sweatpants and slippers. He was still in the process of toweling his short, spiky purple hair dry and didn't notice Myst until he was almost standing right next to her. "Hey, what are you doing down here?" he said as he blinked in surprise, wrapping the towel around his shoulders. "Just observing," Myst replied quietly as she started to preen the silky gray fur on her tail. Maze grunted softly. "Just as long as you're not sitting on something of importance," he said as he studied the various displays. "Mmm, just as long as a clogged plasma filter is the only thing wrong with this thing. Low-level maintenance I can deal with. I don't know what Tolaris knows about reactors, but I'm willing to bet we'd be k'vesen if we needed something major done. Of course, if something critical happened like we lost magnetic containment, it really wouldn't matter if we were engineers or not because we'd all have our ptankas blown out the other side in an instant." Myst paused in mid-motion, her tongue still hanging out. "What do you need magnets for in a reactor?" she said slowly. "Not magnets, but magnetic containment fields," Maze explained as he began typing commands on the reactor control console. "We use them to store the reactor fuel and keep it isolated from everything else. It's very volatile stuff. Maze to Tolaris," he said as he keyed open the intercom. "Almost ready," came the muffled response from the speaker. "This is made a lot simpler because we're stocked with the same class of hardsuits we use at the Complex. I think I've put on a little extra weight, however, because this thing is a lot tighter than I remember." Maze shook his head. "For shame, Commander. You know we have exercise equipment readily available in the training room." There was a soft grunt from the speaker. "Stuff it, Lieutenant, and give me a radiation reading on the core," Tolaris grumped. Maze smirked and decided not to comment about who was trying to stuff what at the moment. "Seventeen in the core," he replied as he glanced up at the radiation sensor display. "And the reading in the airlock is four." "Amusing," Tolaris replied. There was a sharp click followed by the soft hiss of gas over the intercom. "Okay, I've sealed the suit, so you can link me into the sensor array," he said, his voice now echoing slightly from within the confines of his helmet. "Serial number 3A2LE7933." Maze keyed in the information into the panel and paused for a moment as the suit's serial number sank into his mind. "Wait a minute.... that suit is supposed to be stored at the Lex'eri storage facility, right? 7900 series?" There was a short pause from the intercom. "Looks that way." "So that's where they went," Maze said as he shook his head. "About a month after Shar-Tei was put in charge, Little Q tried to requisition a few replacement suits from Lex'eri and created quite a stir when he found a bunch of them had gone missing. And if memory serves, they were all listed under the 7900 series." Tolaris chuckled dryly at the image of the Dragoon Complex Quartermaster throwing a fit over "his" cache of supplies at Lex'eri. An avian like Ra'vel, the usually dour V'Lan was known unofficially as "Little Q" despite his rather large frame, and was renown for his seriousness over the tiniest detail when it came to supply orders and storage. "Okay, you're tapped in," Maze said as the display for Tolaris's hardsuit appeared on his monitor. "External radiation is four, internal is zero, and all your vital signs are green." "That's a relief," Tolaris replied dryly. "Reactor status?" "Still idling down," Maze replied as he watched the sine wave display that had attracted Myst's attention earlier. "Give it another thirty seconds before I can shunt the plasma into a buffer. Unless, of course, you want to play in the deuterium stream, in which case you can crack the hatch whenever you want." "I'll pass, thanks. Speaking of deuterium, what's our fuel status?" "At the current rate of consumption? Serena's grand-daughter might have to worry about it one day, but we're good for at least another fifty years at this rate. I might have to recalculate if we ramp up the reactor to start providing power for something else, but I can't imagine anything we have that would draw that much power." "Mina's laser array?" Tolaris offered. "Bah, the only reason that put a dent in the power supply was because the reactor was set not to increase power on demand," Maze replied. "Nephlyte had it set to simulate common household power levels for some reason. Okay, I'm starting the plasma diversion." There was a heavy sigh from the intercom. "Why do these things always have to itch in places where you can't scratch?" "You want me to answer that?" Maze asked with a grin at Myst as he kept a close eye on the plasma conduits. "Not that question, but I have a different one for you," Tolaris said. "If all Nephlyte wanted to do was simulate common household voltage, then why did he use a class 3A reactor? Safety alone would dictate that you don't use any of the type A's unless you need to power a platform that requires a very substantial energy source." Maze paused to consider the question. "I haven't given it much thought, to be honest with you," he said after a lengthy pause. "I mean, I suppose that Nephlyte did intend this to be the eventual base of operations for an invasion of Earth. That would mean a massive power requirement once things got set into motion, so it would make some sense to get the design right the first time instead of trying to upgrade the reactor in mid-stream." "True," Tolaris admitted, "But if you went along with that logic, then you would have designed this place as a fortress instead of a cathedral." "Hold that thought, boss," Maze replied as a series of amber lights lit up on his console. "The reactor's now idle and the plasma stream has been shunted into the buffer. We've got twenty minutes to do this before the buffer gets overloaded." "Twenty minutes?" Tolaris said in bemusement. "Usually the specs call for a fifteen minute window. I'm opening the airlock now." Maze nodded to himself as he watched a green light go red on his panel. "Usually, but keep in mind that this reactor is rated 300 and we've only been drawing maybe 45 off of it, so we don't need a large plasma flow." Myst blinked as she saw a heavily armored figure step out of the airlock and slowly make his way towards the reactor core. "Still, I'm going to try to aim for fifteen minutes," Tolaris replied. "Radiation count?" "External rising to seventeen, internal is still zero," Maze said, then paused for a moment. "Let me ask you a question that's been bugging me for some time now. Rune knows we're here in the cathedral, right?" There was a noise from the speaker that could have been either a grunt or a random burst of radiation-induced static. "She knew enough about where I was at in order to plan a very intricate trap for me, so I wouldn't be surprised in the least if she did know where we were," Tolaris replied. "East end or west end?" Maze consulted the display and frowned. "East end, and the radiation count is starting to rise slowly. At twenty-four now, and sensor web on the conduit is starting to look a bit unsteady. I think the filter is starting to disintegrate." "Wonderful. So much for a simple cleaning." "You know you wanted to do a replacement anyway," Maze replied as he began typing on the control console. "Hey, back up a few feet. You want the blue container on your left, the one with two red stripes and a yellow starburst. That should have the replacement filters." "Convenient," Tolaris said as he retrieved the small container. "Odd, this is also marked as supposedly in storage at Lex'eri. Makes you wonder if there's a manifest of issued supplies around here somewhere." Maze shook his head. "One headache at a time, Commander. Let's get this filter replaced first, then we can worry about where the towels came from." "Probably the same place the military gets all that stuff from," Tolaris observed as he carefully carried the metallic container towards the conduit. "This should have all the proper tools in it, right?" The purple-haired Dragoon shrugged. "It should...." he said slowly. The speaker replied with a word that drew a dry chuckle from Maze. "Hey, it's not like any of us has bothered to check, you know?" "Guess what we're doing tonight then, assuming we're still around to talk about it," Tolaris replied with a grunt. He carefully set the container on a nearby ledge and examined the hatch over the plasma filter housing. "Give me a reading before I open this thing." Maze glanced down at the display panels. "Radiation is at twenty-nine on the outside, and still zero on the inside. However, you're going to have to be careful with cracking it open. The sensor web has gotten very twitchy all of a sudden, and I'm guessing it'll trigger a level 4 alarm in short order." Tolaris paused for a moment. "Worst-case scenario, what happens if I totally ruin the plasma filter already in there before I take out?" "You have pieces everywhere that need to be cleaned out, and the system triggers a level 3 alarm about foreign objects inside the conduit," Maze said. "And unless you get all of the fragments out, they'll be swept up in the plasma flow once it starts up again and probably wind up in the core chamber." Tolaris got a chill just thinking about it and very carefully began to unlock the access hatch. "Let's just hope that doesn't happen. We do have a vacuum device in here, right?" Maze blinked and glanced around the console. "Uh, probably not. I think the only vacuum system we have is the emergency venting system, and that's for a coolant leak. I'll add it to tonight's list," he said quickly before Tolaris could reply. There was a heavy sigh from the speaker, followed by a series of heavy clicking noises. "Finished unlocking the panel, opening it now...." Three different alarms on the console suddenly flashed red as the conduit was opened and exposed to air. The radiation count promptly doubled and the display from the sensor web became highly unstable. "Rad warning!" Maze yelled into the microphone as he tried to assess what was happening. The sensor web display caught his eye and his heart skipped a beat. "Get down!" Tolaris didn't hesitate and threw himself on the floor, shielding his helmet with his arms. There was a sharp crack as the plasma filter, partly ionized by constant exposure to high-energy plasma, reacted with the normally stable molecules in the air and combusted, producing a miniature explosion. The air around Tolaris was immediately filled with a dense fog, a result of the automatic fire-suppression system kicking in. The vent fans kicked in a moment later, slowly drawing the fog out of the reactor room and sending it through a series of air-scrubbers before venting it out a small duct outside the cathedral. Maze scrambled to keep up with what was happening as a level 3 alarm blared around him, the loud klaxon giving him an instant headache. Beside him, Myst's gray fur was standing on end as she looked around the room, trying to figure out what was going on. "Nak'seth!" Maze yelled at the control panel, hoping that Tolaris had gotten around to setting up an audio link to the main computer. "Kurush a'vel, s'vaer il'yed ie cha'nak, men'taka Maze Aerce juun juun s'ech!" Much to his relief, the klaxon immediately fell silent and he could feel the vibrations of the reinforced blast doors locking into place outside the room. "A'vel kurush'en," the synthesized voice of the computer echoed around the room in a flat monotone. "Il'yed s'vaer'en. Il'yan: kesha senn cha'nak il'yan na'e dai'san." "What did it say?" Myst asked as she gave very serious consideration to shifting back to the demiplane and finding a place to hide. "It did what I asked it to do," Maze said curtly as he started typing away on the console as fast as his fingers would move. "Maze?" came the voice from the speaker. "Hold still a moment," Maze said as he scanned and rescanned everything he possibly could. "Okay, here's what I can figure out.... the plasma filter was clogged with something really ionized that reacted with the air when you opened the hatch." "Radiation?" Tolaris asked as he slowly stood up. "Seventy-three outside, six inside your suit, but that outside reading is starting to drop. I think it was just an ion burst." "Atmosphere?" he asked next as he noticed the fog in the air and suddenly very grateful for his suit's internal air supply. "Uh.... half-second burst of AC-73," Maze replied, referring to the fire suppression compound that inhibited combustion. The only downside was that the air was unbreathable until it was totally vented from the area. "The system is processing it now, and the scrubbers are taking most of the radiation with it. Maybe four points making it outside." Tolaris grunted and carefully peeked into the conduit. "You're going to find this amusing. The filter seems to still be in one piece." "Whisper to Maze," the speaker said with a faint crackle. "You're right, that is amusing. Just a moment, ma'am, we're working on it. Minor problem with the plasma filter, ion spark," Maze said without taking his eyes off the readings. There was a slight pause from the second connection. "The computer starts screaming a Level 3 reactor warning, and you say it's a minor problem?" Whisper replied after a moment. A hideous crunching noise followed her words as Tolaris yanked the remains of the plasma filter from the housing. "Tolaris to Whisper, I'm in the reactor room at the moment, and it appears that, ion spark aside, everything is well within control." Maze could hear someone asking about what the hell an ion spark was in the background before Whisper sighed heavily. "I really hope you do, Commander, because I have a few upset guests here and I'm not sure what to tell them." "Tell them we're working on it," Tolaris suggested. "Maze, how much time is left?" Maze glanced at a display. "Call it ten minutes by the manual, fifteen if we trust the buffer." "What happens after fifteen minutes?" Alex could be heard asking in the background. "Well, if I'm not done by then, we shut down the reactor and lose power until I can get it fixed and restarted," Tolaris explained as he opened the storage container holding the replacement plasma filters. Maze just bit his tongue, knowing full well that shutting down the reactor was a last-resort option. Then he heard his communicator start beeping at a rapid rate, a signal that someone was trying to use the Emergency frequency to contact him. He turned his attention away from the reactor console only long enough to dig his communicator out of his back pocket and glance at the tiny sigil display. Oh boy, this is going to be a fun one to explain, he thought as he saw the Mercury sigil lit up and blinking rapidly. Sighing heavily, he thumbed the connection open and turned his attention back to the console. "Maze, what's going on? Why isn't Tolaris answering me?" Ami's worried image demanded. "And what's with the reactor?" "Well...." Maze said as he composed his thoughts, "It's like this...." * * * * Ael'ien kept a wary eye over her shoulder as she knocked on the closed door to K'tal's office, watching a very upset Felinoid with beautifully soft black fur pace back and forth in front of a control console. Everyone else was giving the area a wide berth, making sure not to come too close to what was obviously a walking health-hazard. The door to the office was yanked open and Dragoon Commander K'tal stuck his head out with a very harried look on his face. "Asrial, please tell me that.... oh, morning, Captain," he said, blinking in surprise. "Trouble?" Ael'ien inquired as she gestured over her shoulder. "The uplink to a very crucial satellite is k'vesen," he replied bluntly. "It's us, not the satellite, so I've got Asrial and Ji'an working on it. What can I do for you?" Ael'ien sighed and held up a message form marked 'Eyes Only - Division'. "Rune sends her regards. You're going to love this one." The Dragoon groaned quietly and sagged against the wall for support. "I have three different tasking orders for preparations for Nop'tera's arrival, all of which are going to screw up every single field exercise I have running, plus I have a mission-critical communication problem that supercedes all of that. You're supposed to be bringing me good news, Ael," he said as he waved her into his office and closed the door behind them. The telepath gave him a wry look. "You should see what I've got to deal with," she said as she handed him the message. "I can imagine," he replied as he scanned the message. "From Commanding General, to all division-level and theater commanders, due to recent events and the planned arrival.... okay.... okay.... wait.... she wants what?" Ael'ien sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "It gets better." K'tal blinked hard as he continued to read the message. "A maximum-level defensive systems readiness test to be conducted before the arrival of General Nop'tera's fleet?" he said slowly. "That doesn't sound too bad." "Until you stop and think what you have in your basement here," Ael'ien reminded him. She blinked hard as she could almost hear a mental click in his mind, immediately followed by the color draining out of his face. "Ay'cha navidshi, the cannon!" Ael'ien nodded silently. It was widely known that deep inside each of the divisional headquarters complexes was an energy weapon capable of ripping a sizable hole in a mountain. Each weapon was uniquely designed with roughly the same firepower, but required an incredible amount of power to use and was not something that could be used casually or with any modicum of secrecy. The Dragoon Headquarters Complex housed a particle-wave cannon that was one step below a full-blown reflex cannon. The fundamental difference was that a very precise and powerful orbital mirror could be used to deflect the blast from a particle-wave cannon into another trajectory, thus allowing a shot to be placed over the visible horizon. K'tal sighed heavily. "Let me guess, this dispatch will very shortly be in the hands of Internal Review, who will probably come dangerously close to wetting themselves in excitement at the prospect of being able to throw an immediate and unannounced command-level practice exercise." "Something like that," Ael'ien said with a faint smile. "You do know where our orbital mirror is, right?" K'tal added darkly. "On the satellite with the bad uplink?" she ventured with a frown. "And they say you need to touch a person to read minds." The telepath winced. "So what's the procedure for this?" K'tal sighed and sat down at his desk. "IR is usually very good about giving me a five-minute advanced notice message so I can make emergency fixes to my schedule and take care of some critical business before it kicks off." As if on cue, the printer on his desk began beeping in alarm as it began to print out something as fast as it could. The Dragoon Commander gave a very dour look to the Psi-Corp Captain as he motioned her over to a row of chairs that sat against one wall. "Have a seat, Ael, just not near the door," he said as he grabbed the finished printout and wearily cleared off the center of his desk. "As expected, a no-notice full-scale cannon exercise, with a courtesy five-minute warning to the commander to tie up loose ends. This is going to get very interesting and very ugly in a few seconds. Plug your ears for a moment," he added as he sat down. Ael'ien gave him an odd look as she did so, then blinked hard as she could feel the force of his voice as he bellowed "ASRIAL!!!" through the door of his office. The door slammed open a few seconds later and the upset Felinoid she saw earlier stormed into the office. The Felinoid extended her claws as she leaned over and promptly buried them in the surface of the desk, her ears flat against her head and her tail lashing back and forth like a whip. "What do you want NOW?" Dragoon Lieutenant Asrial demanded furiously. Virtually everyone Ael'ien knew, herself included, would have immediately thrown the Felinoid into the nearest holding cell for gross insubordination and blatant disrespect to a superior officer. K'tal, much to her surprise, merely leaned forward and started rubbing his hand over her paw. "Asrial, ne'ana," he cooed quietly, using a term of endearment usually reserved for an intimate friend, "We have a bit of a crisis on our hands. See this?" he said as he held the dispatch up so she could read it. Asrial growled dangerously as she started to read the message. She got as far as the first sentence before she blinked hard, freezing her tail in mid-motion. After a few more moments of reading her tail abruptly coiled into a tight helix, looking very much like a corkscrew. "Yes, now you see my problem," K'tal said soothingly to her. "I don't suppose you can do anything about this?" The Felinoid growled quietly to herself as she pulled her claws free from K'tal's desk and grabbed the message from his hand, her tail still frozen in the corkscrew shape as she re-read the message. As soon as she finished the message for the second time, she turned around and let loose with a very loud and protracted screaming roar that made Ael'ien's hair stand on end. She was answered with a much quieter, almost subdued growl of protest and a few seconds later another Felinoid walked into the room. Unlike Asrial's black fur, the new arrival's fur was a deep shade of forest-green and banded with black stripes, much like a bengal tiger. "Mwwerh?" he growled softly to Asrial as he tried to towel off the pink goo that coated his arms up to his elbows. Asrial thrust the message at him, holding it a few inches away from the tip of his nose. Ji'an continued to try to clean himself as he read, halting in mid-motion after he got past the second line. Ael'ien had to literally bite the tip of her tongue to keep herself from laughing as his tail abruptly coiled into the same tight helix as Asrial's tail had done earlier. "We have three minutes before I have to call a general alert," K'tal said calmly. "It will take several minutes for each of the phase-transformations, which is about as much time as I can give you. So if we don't have the uplink restored by then, well.... I think we'll all have to find a new line of work." Ji'an turned around and left without saying a word, moving quickly back to the control console. Asrial shot K'tal a dark look and growled something profane under her breath before tossing the message on his desk. She quickly followed the other Felinoid out of the office, closing the door with her tail behind her with a sharp bang. Ael'ien cleared her throat delicately. "Commander...." she said slowly. K'tal waved his hand. "Yelling at an already agitated Felinoid is a very bad idea, especially when they're as young and as hot-headed as she is. The key to dealing with her is not to react to her temper. She's one of my best computer operators, and admittedly has been under quite a lot of pressure this past week, so I allow her temper a little leeway. Besides, she knows where the line is at," he added. "And the desk?" she inquired as she leaned over to examine the puncture marks in the center. She blinked hard as she realized that there were several sets of claw marks on the desk and that the surface wasn't made out of wood as she expected, but a very spongy material. "Corkboard," he explained as he tapped a knuckle on it. "Tolaris came up with the idea about forty years ago after she kept perforating his in fits of rage. Very easy to replace, very inexpensive, and surprisingly sturdy." Ael'ien blinked yet again and looked back up at the Dragoon. "You mean Commander Tolaris put up with her acting like that?" she said incredulously, knowing that Tolaris had a reputation for being a bit on the strict side of enforcing rules and regulations. It was common, if quiet, knowledge that the Dragoon Legion was composed of some of the most eccentric personnel in the military. The sole reason that it was overlooked by the highest ranks was due to the simple fact that their efficiency and effectiveness was unarguably the best of all the divisions. K'tal shrugged. "It was messy when she first joined the Legion, but after a few confrontations Tolaris was able to reach an understanding with her. She kept her temper to a low-volume minimum and tried not to destroy anything, and he wouldn't slam the rule-book on her tail. Like I said, she knows where the line is at," he repeated. She just shook her head and made a mental note to have a quiet discussion with General Al'vexi about personnel management styles the next time she was able to meet with the retired telepath. "Whatever works, I suppose," she said neutrally. "Precisely," K'tal said as he looked at his desk. "Captain, you have about sixty seconds to get clear of this place before I have to put everything in serious lockdown." Ael'ien thought quickly. "You mind having a neutral observer?" The Dragoon snorted quietly. "Sure, there's nothing like having a fellow division-level officer around to watch you screw things up during a command exercise to make things worthwhile." "I'll stay out of the way," the telepath said with a chuckle. "You're so kind," K'tal said dryly as he made for the door. "Things are going to get chaotic in about twenty seconds, so make sure to stay as close to me as possible." The door swung open and they stepped out into the main operations center of the Dragoon Headquarters Complex. "Status?" K'tal called out as he strode into the center of the room. He received an almost flatulent growl in reply and sighed quietly. "Just keep at it, Lieutenant. Okay, people, time for a proverbial fire drill," he said as he clapped his hands to make sure he had everyone's attention. "Any second now we're going to get...." "Sir," the communications officer interrupted, "We're receiving Priority One flash traffic from Central Command." "...authority for a test-firing of our particle-wave cannon," K'tal said smoothly as he moved next to the communication console, picked up a handset, and keyed the "all-hands" function. A three-note electronic whistle sounded throughout the entire complex and he began to speak into the handset. "This is Dragoon Commander K'tal. All hands to battle stations for a Phase Two evolution and firing of the primary cannon. This is an exercise. Chief D'Nina report to operations immediately, all other section chiefs to your Phase Two stations. K'tal out." Controlled chaos broke out two seconds later as a flood of reports began coming across the data lines. A loud klaxon started going off as the lights dimmed and took on a pulsing orange hue. "Prepare the complex for the transformation sequence," K'tal ordered as he moved over to an isolated console and powered it up. "Prepare complex for sequence, aye sir. Security, recall all perimeter personnel and activate containment fields. Engineering...." "Containment fields initializing...." "D'Nina to Operations, I'm on my way. Just don't close the Junction Seven bulkheads on me and I'll be there in four minutes." "...reactor status and prepare to release the interlocks on the primary systems. Communications, sever datalinks...." "Reactor Two is spooling up, estimating active status in five minutes, reactors One and Three are being restarted..." "...perimeter secured, all personnel accounted for...." "...all orbital uplinks, resynchronize as necessary." "Engineering to Station Seven, confirm status...." "Sir, the uplinks to Pri'va and T'Cer are active, still attempting to resync with Rasche, still no signal from Essence...." "Rrrrrrwwwwwwaaaaaaaahhhhhllllll!" "Mwwerh?" "GGGGHHHAAAAANNNNNNOOOWWWWWLLLL!!!" "Not so loud, Asrial," K'tal admonished as he confirmed to the central computer that he was who he claimed to be, that he did have the authority to change the Dragoon complex's defensive status, and that, yes, he did desire to do so at this very moment. "Station Seven, sector is clear...." "...Reactor Two output is ramping up, power level now at 45." "...External containment fields online. Bulkheads at Junctions One, Two, Five, and Eight have closed." "...Synchronization with Rasche completed, system is responding." "Engineering to Commander K'tal." "Prrrran." "WHAT? Grrrrrrrrah! Bypass it!" "Commander K'tal here." "Sir, do you want a dry-firing for this exercise, or do we have a nice spot in the sand picked out for a round?" "Prrrrkeeeeeet?" "I don't CARE how, just bypass the v'tek'ka thing!" "Sulaaaaaaacht." "Now there's a thought," K'tal mused quietly as he glanced over his left shoulder as the door hissed open to admit the stooped figure of Chief D'Nina into Operations. "Stand by for a moment." "Venta." "Somebody spike the ma'cha with le'un berries again?" D'Nina observed as she stepped next to K'tal and keyed active her own command ciphers. Although not an officer, her rank was based on her technical expertise and proficiency, thus making her a suitable counterpart for the two-person authority needed to initiate the complex's transformation sequence. The fact that she was also a very critical component of the final sequence made the selection of her as the secondary authority all the easier. "...All remaining bulkhead junctions have closed, the Complex is sealed." "...Reactor Two still ramping up, now reading 145." "Chief, have you met Psi-Corp Captain Ael'ien before?" "No, but I figure it can wait," D'Nina replied. "Due respect, ma'am," she added to the telepath with a quick nod of her head. Ael'ien almost smiled. "Perfectly understandable, Chief," she replied as she wondered just how old the chief was. She looked to be pushing seventeen hundred, but it was rather difficult to tell any given denizen's age. "Live fire, D'Nina, or we just fake it?" K'tal asked without preamble. "With Nop'tera's carrier out there somewhere? Fire that thing for real and we might have a real close look at that new tactical warhead." K'tal cringed slightly. "Good enough for me. K'tal to Engineering." "Engineering." "Dry-fire. Pull the primary back and lock the housing open." "Dry firing, understood. Engineering out." "...Reactor Two output now above 200, power systems are ready for Phase One sequence." "Asrial?" K'tal ventured. "BRRRRRAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!" K'tal sighed quietly. "What's the problem, ne'ana?" "Fused data conduit in the crypto-linker," the Felinoid growled. "It's jammed in the open position. Trying to bypass it now." "Umm, sir...?" K'tal just sighed quietly to himself as he glanced over his shoulder at the communications officer. "It always has to be something," he muttered under his breath to Ael'ien. "What is it, Lieutenant?" The lieutenant held up the priority message from Central Command. "It says in the orders that we're to use a live round for the cannon, and they've given us the targeting information." "That's convenient," K'tal said absently as he turned around to share an even look with D'Nina. "Opinion?" he asked quietly. Ael'ien blinked at the question. She rarely asked for the opinions of other senior officers about clear-cut orders from Central Command, and the idea of asking an enlisted chief, even a senior one, was almost shocking. "Bothersome, but nothing I'll lose any sleep over," D'Nina shrugged. "System status?" K'tal called out. "Communications are Phase One ready." "Engineering is Phase One ready." "Security is Phase One ready." "All stations manned, all personnel accounted for." "Tactical computer node is online and ready." "Fair enough," K'tal replied and turned to the isolated computer console he and D'Nina were keyed into. "Recognize Dragoon K'tal, commander, primary authority for phase transformation." "Voiceprint recognized," the computer responded in a flat monotone. "Initiate Phase One transformation sequence," he said loudly, so that both the computer and the rest of Operations could hear him. "Require concurrence," the computer replied. D'Nina cleared her throat. "Recognize Dragoon D'Nina, master chief, secondary authority for phase transformation." "Voiceprint recognized." "Initiate Phase One transformation sequence," she said forcefully. "Compliance," the computer responded and began to generate a series of digital signals that flowed through a special series of data conduits. * * * * Molly glanced around the crowded school hallway, trying to spot either Serena or someone who knew where she was. With a unique hairstyle like hers, she thought as she continued to search the hallways, you'd think that she would stick out like a sore thumb. And speaking of sore thumbs.... "Oh, hi, Molly!" a voice called out from in front of her. "Melvin, have you seen Serena?" Molly asked without preamble. Melvin blinked behind his oversized glasses. "No, I haven't. Why, is she in trouble again?" The redhead sighed. "No, I just need to tell her that Luna followed her to school for some reason. If the school officials find out, they'll have a fit," she explained. "Huh, Luna followed her to school?" Melvin repeated as he blinked again. I see he forgot to have his brain follow him to school, Molly thought to herself with a patient sigh. "Yes, Melvin, she's prowling around outside, so do you know where Serena is?" "No, but we can ask Ami, she might know," the school gossip replied as he pointed over Molly's shoulder. "She looks like she's heading this way, and boy does she look mad about something." Molly glanced over her shoulder and suddenly wished she hadn't. She had known Ami for quite some time now, but had rarely seen her looking as angry as she did now. If that look were on Leda's face, she thought, the hallway would have been cleared out by now. As it was, people were noticing the dark look on Ami's face and were doing their best to make a path for her. "Melvin, we need to talk," she said flatly when she reached the spot next to Molly. "Uh, sure, Ami," he stuttered as he broke out in a cold sweat. Molly suddenly wasn't feeling too good herself as she suddenly remembered the newest piece of gossip making its way around Melvin's grapevine network of rumors. This might get ugly if it's about her boyfriend.... "I don't know why you persist in spreading rumors about people and their social lives," Ami growled, "But you need to leave me and my friends out of it. It's both unbecoming and highly inaccurate...." Her tirade was interrupted as a stocky girl with dirty blonde hair walked up next to her and leaned against the lockers with a heavy thump. "Oh, look, bookworms," she cooed with a sneer. "And they're fighting, how cute...." Ami glanced at the new arrival before returning her focus to Melvin. "As I was saying," she continued, "Engaging in baseless slander is something only weak-minded individuals indulge in. I honestly expected better of someone with a modicum of intelligence like you." "Oh, my, she's pissed about something," the girl observed loudly. "Wonder what got her panties in a bunch? A boyfriend, maybe?" Both Molly and Melvin blinked hard as Ami turned back to her and the surrounding air temperature seemed to drop by about forty degrees. "Is there something I can help you with?" Ami asked in an edged tone. "Yeah, you can tell us what it's like to date someone who's old enough to be your father," the girl replied with a cruel smile. "Kinda gives new meaning to the phrase 'Who's yer daddy?'" Molly felt her breath jam in her throat as she noticed the raw tension in Ami's shoulders. Oh, lord, please don't let her go off, she thought, her mind flashing back to the scene on the bus the other day where Ami revealed she had martial arts training. She saw motion out of the corner of her eye and turned briefly to look, her eyes going wide at what she saw. Oh, no, not now.... Ami considered her options briefly before smirking. "At least I know who my father was," she shot back. "Has your mother sorted out all the trash in the trailer park yet?" The girl's eyes blazed at the insult while Melvin's jaw sagged open and Molly almost keeled over on the spot from shock. "Let me tell you something, little bookworm," the blonde hissed as she grabbed Ami's arm. The grip lasted for half a second before someone grabbed her by the shoulder and tossed her back against the lockers. "Hey, this ain't no petting zoo," a voice growled, "Hands off the bookworms." "You're in for it now, sister," the girl snarled as she lunged forward and found herself nose-to-nose with her new adversary. The shock of recognition caused her to go pale and produced a silence that stretched on for what seemed to be a minor eternity. "Well, well, well, what have we here?" her opponent said languidly as she slowly broke into a smug smile. "L-L-L-Leda!" the girl stammered as she broke out into a cold sweat. "Amanda Parkins, so good to see you again," Leda drawled with what some might have called a predatory grin as she took a firm grip on the blonde's wrist. "Let me give you a nice welcome to my school, seeing how you're still a trouble-making little tart...." "It's not what you think," Amanda replied hastily as she looked for a way out of the impending scuffle that she knew she would most likely lose. "Oh, really?" Leda said casually as she looked around at the assembled group. "Funny, it looks like you were harassing my best friend." Amanda's face turned even paler. "Your best friend?" she said weakly. "Hey, Ami, did I ever introduce you to my favorite peon punching bag from my old school?" Leda said as she continued to relish the thought of being able to intimidate her former classmate and rival. "We've just met," Ami said in a voice as dry as most desert regions. "Best friend, like Jenni?" Amanda said without thinking. Her mistake was made quite obvious by the sudden flash of pure rage in Leda's green eyes that caused everyone else to flinch in the fear of a nuclear outburst of temper. Leda grabbed the front of her rival's blouse with both hands and yanked her up almost entirely off the ground. "You have something to say about the dearly departed?" she said in a very soft tone, her whole body taut with barely contained rage as the blonde tried to keep her balance on her tip-toes. Molly felt the color draining from her face as she witnessed the events unfolding around her. She generally tried to avoid being anywhere near one of Leda's temperamental outbursts, but she knew enough to realize that the most dangerous fits was when her voice turned quiet. She glanced to her side and saw that Melvin was as white as a sheet. Hopefully he'll learn something from this, she thought to herself. "Leda," Ami said quietly as she watched Amanda struggle for air. The brunette ignored her and kept her focus on the blonde. "Well?" "Back off, cupcake," Amanda wheezed, "Just because I never snuggled up to her like you did doesn't mean I wasn't her friend as well. Remember?" Leda glared at her for a few seconds before releasing her grip. Amanda rocked back on her heels as she fought to keep her balance and breathe at the same time. "I remember," Leda replied acidly. The blonde coughed lightly and rubbed her neck. "Damn, you been lifting weights or something?" "So I take it you two know each other?" Melvin ventured carefully. Leda smirked and put her arm around Amanda's shoulder. "Oh, sure, we've known each other for years, haven't we?" she said darkly as she squeezed hard and pulled her close until their shoulders ground against one another. "Something like that," Amanda muttered through gritted teeth. "Leda," Ami said quietly again with a patient sigh. "What?" Ami sighed again. "Are you finished?" Leda raised a slender eyebrow. "Not overly glad to see me, are you?" "I can take care of myself, you know," Ami replied. "I might not have your skill at martial arts, but there are other ways to defend oneself." "Like tossing a childish insult back?" Leda observed lightly. "Just what I was thinking," Amanda muttered as she tried to pry herself free from Leda's iron grip. She grunted as Leda's foot came down hard on her toes in a quick stomp. "I don't think you realize your situation, pop-tart," Leda replied with an edge to her voice, "So let me explain this one to you. First and foremost, Ami is my best friend and you were harassing her. That alone is good enough for me to kick you into next week. Second of all, you really picked the wrong person to harass. Ami looks harmless, and I'll admit that the bookworm image of her's doesn't help much, but she can be worse than I am when she gets mad." The blonde cast a sidelong glance at the brunette. "Worse, eh?" "Yeah. Watch out for her, she bites," Leda replied evenly. "Hard." "That explain that little nibble mark on your neck?" Amanda inquired. Molly just closed her eyes as Leda became a sudden blur of motion. There was the expected impact noise, but it sounded differently enough that she very carefully opened her eyes to see what had happened. Leda's punch had been intercepted by Ami's hand about an inch in front of Amanda's face. The blonde's eyes were the size of dinner plates as her mind caught up to the events around her. Melvin's eyes were likewise wide with shock and almost visible around the edges of his glasses. But what bothered Molly the most was the look in Ami's steel-blue eyes, a sort of dark glare that she couldn't remember ever seeing in anyone's eyes before. "She's not worth it," Ami said flatly. "You my mother or something?" Leda growled as she pulled her fist back. "No, just your best friend." The brunette paused for a long moment before sighing heavily through her nose. "Fine, you deal with the little hellion," she grumbled as she leaned against the lockers with a heavy thump. Ami turned to face the suddenly leery blonde. "Yes, I am Leda's best friend, no, we're not intimately involved, yes, I have a boyfriend who is older than I am. Is that sufficient?" she asked evenly. Everyone blinked hard at the sudden confession. "Why?" Amanda asked as she tried to calm herself down from her brush with physical injury. "Pay attention, because I'm not repeating myself," Ami told Melvin in a glacial tone before turning her attention back to Amanda. "I need someone who can keep up with me. Someone who is capable of discussing things on a mature and intellectual level. Someone who knows about and keeps up with the news, both local and global. Someone who can hold a conversation about celestial mechanics or biological science or physics or some other topic that often seems complicated to those who haven't educated themselves about the higher sciences yet. Look around, do you think any mere school-boy can offer that?" Ami said in an even tone. "You don't ask for much, do you?" Leda muttered, drawing a dark look. "Would you prefer I have your standards?" Ami shot back. "Ouch," Leda sighed as she leaned back against the lockers. Amanda blinked and looked around her. "Well, seeing how you put it like that, I guess we can't blame you...." she said slowly, trying to gauge the reaction to her words. "Yet you still find it amusing?" Ami replied evenly. "I don't flaunt my social life or lack thereof, as others have put it. I'm guessing your past is as checkered as Leda's?" "Hey," Leda protested. The blonde sighed quietly. "Probably," she muttered. "Worry about tending to the flaws in yourself before you start prying into the business of others, please," Ami said calmly. "You might discover that in doing so you will find things of value that will make others seek you out for friendship instead of you having to try to find them." Amanda blinked and looked at Ami for a moment before nodding. "I'll try to keep that in mind. Just one more question." Ami raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" The blonde jerked her thumb over her slightly bruised shoulder. "How is it that a piece of work like you got to be best friends with a rabid wombat?" she asked as she gestured at Leda. That prompted a growl from the brunette that was silenced by a dark look from Ami. "It's simple," she replied after thinking carefully. "I looked past the aggressive posturing and saw what she was like inside. All she needed was to be smacked upside the head to realize that some people do care about her for who she is now instead of what she once was." Amanda blinked hard and glanced back at Leda for a moment. Leda glared at her for a moment before looking around the hallway, noticing the sizable crowd that had gathered to watch. "Somebody have something to say?" she said loudly in an edged tone. The hallway emptied in twenty seconds, leaving only Leda, Amanda, Ami, Melvin, and Molly gathered together in a small bunch. Amanda blew her breath out quietly. "I see you're still the queen of clearing a room out," she observed. "What good is a reputation if you don't make use of it?" Leda replied. "I see some things haven't changed," the blonde said with a smirk. Leda shrugged. "Why should they? Hold still, I don't think she's done with you yet," she said as she reached out to snag the back of Melvin's shirt as he tried to sneak away. "I was just heading back to class...." Melvin said in a shaky voice. "Sit. Stay. Good bookworm," Leda said with a glare before turning back to Amanda. "You, on the other hand, need to take a hike." "Yeah, whatever," Amanda replied as she turned to leave. She paused for a moment and turned back to Leda. "About that mark on your neck...." "Grease burn," Leda replied flatly as she tugged her collar down to expose the dark splotch on her throat. "Ouch," the blonde said as she studied the mark for a moment. "You should be more careful." "Look who's talking, mouth," Leda replied as she released her collar and glared at her long-time adversary. "Do us both a favor and leave my friends alone, okay? Otherwise I'd have to reintroduce my foot to your fat...." "I get the picture," Amanda interrupted with an edged tone. "So nice to see you too. Anyway, it's been a blast, but I need to go now. Have fun," she said with a wave before vanishing around a corner. "What are we going to do with you?" Ami asked wearily. Leda snorted. "Don't ask me that because you know I'll tell you exactly what you can do with me. And vice versa." Molly blinked hard as she glanced back and forth between the two of them, not entirely sure what to make of that last exchange. She glanced over at Melvin and noticed that he had a "go figure" look on his face as well. Maybe one of these days I'll have this all sorted out, she thought with a mental sigh. "Melvin," Ami said in a neutral tone. "Yes?" he replied as he started to sweat again. "It would be in everybody's best interests if nothing was ever said or repeated about this incident," Ami said very slowly. "That includes any more information about my social life. Your penchant for gossip has caused enough trouble as it is. Do you understand?" "Perfectly," Melvin squeaked in a high-pitched voice. "Good," Ami said with a small sigh of relief. "Now get out of our sight," Leda growled at the school gossip. Melvin took the overt hint and made a very rapid exit, disappearing down the same corridor that Amanda had used moments earlier. "That boy annoys me," Leda grumbled. "Was that really necessary?" Ami inquired as she leaned against the bank of lockers and rubbed her forehead. She could already feel the beginnings of a tension headache taking up residence in her frontal lobes and wondered how long it would be before it went away. "Ami, in case you hadn't noticed, he was more afraid of you than me," Leda observed with a smirk. "He about wet himself every time you glared at him." Ami ignored her and turned her attention to the still-pale Molly. "Is something wrong, Molly? You looked like you had something on your mind even before this nonsense happened." The redhead blinked. "What? Oh, yes, I was wondering if either of you knew where Serena was. Her cat followed her to school and I'm worried about school officials finding her prowling around outside." Ami and Leda exchanged discreet glances. "Luna is outside?" Leda asked carefully as Ami looked for the nearest exit to the schoolyard. "Yes, last I saw she was perched on that large oak tree," Molly explained. Leda and Ami exchanged glances again and both breathed a silent sigh of relief. It had been discussed awhile ago that in case of a situation in which their communicators couldn't be used, either Luna or Artemis would be sitting out in the open on the playground equipment. However, if they were seen around any of the large trees, it meant that the information wasn't a high priority. "We'll keep an eye out for Serena," Ami promised. Molly nodded. "Okay, thank you. Hey, we better get to class or we'll be late." Leda smirked. "You go on ahead, I've got to have a word with Ami for a moment," she said, drawing a very wary look from the blue-haired student. Molly blinked before she shrugged. "Okay, see you later," she said and quickly made her way down the nearly empty corridor. "Yes?" Ami asked warily. "All I needed was to be smacked upside the head, huh?" Leda mimicked with a lopsided smirk. "Gee, some friend you are." Ami just sighed and rubbed her temples. "Save it for later, okay? I've got a headache now, plus I'm worried about what Luna wants." Leda shrugged. "If she's on the tree, it can wait until lunchtime." "Let's hope it doesn't have anything to do with the reactor," Ami said with another quiet sigh as she gathered her books together and started walking to her next class. "Shouldn't we have felt the explosion if it did?" Leda inquired as she fell into step next to her best friend. Ami shivered. "If the reactor lost containment, we might be lucky enough to see the flash for a microsecond before the entire city gets taken off the map," she replied in a voice that quite clearly conveyed her feelings. Leda blinked hard. "Hold it, back up a second. You're saying that the reactor in the cathedral is powerful enough to wipe out the whole city if it ever blew up?" "Unfortunately, yes." The brunette fell silent as she contemplated the new information as they quickly made their way to class. "How long have you known about this?" she asked just as they were about to enter the classroom. "Long enough to be able to sleep peacefully at night now," Ami replied. "Great, now I'm worried," Leda said with a heavy sigh. Ami gave her a wry smile. "Don't be. Like I said, if the reactor ever lost containment, it would be over in an instant. We probably wouldn't even be able to feel it." "Lovely," Leda sighed as they entered the classroom moments before the tardy bell rang. "Yeah, conversation at lunch should be interesting...." * * * * The Dragoon Headquarters Complex was a fairly large building, composed of a central axis bisected by three parallel lines, much like a pair of capital E's merged together at the spine. Its size was deceptive, seeming to stand only three stories high when viewed from ground level when in fact it extended almost seven stories underground. Some speculated this was merely to reduce the exposure of the complex to above-ground attacks, although there were rumors that the lower levels housed something more than the power systems for the particle-wave cannon. The first visible change to the complex's exterior was a network of armor plates unfolding from hidden housings. The plates began to spread out like the petals of steel flowers, primarily locking into place over the windows, air vents, and external infrastructure junctions with echoing booms. Several circular panels irised open at seemingly random locations along the length of the complex, allowing a series of diamond-shaped generators to protrude into the open air. Tiny motes of energy started to flow through the delicate circuitry along their flat surfaces, giving them the appearance of glowing, glittering spiderwebs. A massive crack appeared on top of the complex, quickly becoming a deep crevice as the two halves of the roof seemed to fold inward on themselves. The opening only lasted a few seconds before a massive weapons platform rose up to take the place of the roof. The weapons themselves began to unfold and extend as power began to flow into the conduits, revealing a wide array of missile batteries, anti-aircraft weaponry, sensors, and plasma cannons. The diamond-shaped generators began to emit bubbles of electromagnetic energy as they became fully charged, slowly growing in size like translucent balloons until they started to press against each other. The energy shields quickly organized themselves into a honeycomb shape that coated the entire complex with a protective layer of crackling energy. Deep inside the complex, dozens of blast-resistant bulkheads slid into place around doorways and corridor junctions, further sealing off non-critical sections and providing an extra layer of containment from both external and internal events. The outside air vents sealed shut and a network of fans began to circulate the air supply through a series of filters, cutting off the complex from any external atmospheric threat. "Phase One transformation completed," the computer reported in the usual dry monotone. "Well, that's good to hear," K'tal replied. "Sir, we're receiving a coded signal from Essence," the Communications lieutenant reported, "You'll need to use your ciphers to authorize the system to process it." "Navidshi," Asrial spat over her shoulder from the damaged console. K'tal shot her a dark look. "That's not the usual procedure, is it?" he inquired as he turned his attention back to his own panel. "Not usually, sir," the lieutenant replied with a shake of her head, "But we're trying to establish a new encryption link instead of re-establishing an old one, and that requires command-level approval." "Nonsense, you don't have the satellite signal," Asrial growled. The Communications officer blinked hard. "No, I have the satellite," she countered. "I've already double-checked the signal algorithms and the data path. It's coming from the precise coordinates as the Essence satellite and with the exact same timing sequence," she explained as she transferred her console display to the main center screen. "See?" The Felinoid growled as she looked over the display. "And I'm telling you that what you have can't be the satellite. You must have your head up your..." "Asrial," K'tal said flatly. "It's not the satellite," she spat. "The data path is invalid." "I just verified the path ten seconds ago for the fourth time," the young Communications lieutenant shot back with an edge to her own voice, shrugging off the warning nudge from a fellow technician. "Enough, people," K'tal sighed as he re-read the display yet again. "It looks like a valid signal to me. Let's see what the computer says," he said as he typed in a command to his terminal. "I'm telling you that it's not the satellite," Asrial growled even louder. "Asrial, if you yell at me again I'll have you tossed in the brig," the Dragoon commander replied flatly with a warning glare at the Felinoid. "Now bite your tongue or it will be bitten for you. Is that clear, Lieutenant?" "Clear, sir," Asrial replied in a neutral tone. "Algorithm accepted," the computer announced in a flat monotone. "Well?" K'tal said to the Communications lieutenant. "Systems are synchronizing with Essence," she reported smugly. "Commander," D'Nina said very quietly. "Hold that thought, Chief," K'tal whispered back to her just as quietly. "Synchronization complete." "K'tal to Engineering." "Engineering, we see it, sir," the speaker replied. "The targeting lasers have acquired the mirror and are calibrating now." K'tal nodded to the microphone. "Change of plans, Chief. We're going to use a live round for this one." "Live round, aye sir. The housing will be available as soon as we make the Phase Two evolution." "Carry on, Chief. K'tal out," the Dragoon said as he flicked off the microphone. "Tactical, have we got those firing coordinates yet?" "Already in the system, sir," the Tactical officer replied. "System status?" "Communications are Phase Two ready." "Engineering is Phase Two ready, optimal firing window in ten minutes." "Tactical is Phase Two ready." "Weapons are in stand-by mode and are Phase Two ready." "Security is Phase Two ready, defensive shields fully energized." "Commander...." Asrial pleaded in an usually quiet tone. K'tal rubbed his forehead. "I haven't forgotten you, Asrial, but as you can see, that really is the satellite." "The satellite, yes, but not the on-board computer," Asrial replied. "It is a physical impossibility for us to be in contact with it." The Dragoon commander paused and exchanged a slightly concerned glance with D'Nina. "Okay, Lieutenant, tell me why," he said warily. Asrial reached into the console she was working on and picked up a loose circuit board. "Not only is the crypto-linker still off-line, but the signal wave guide and processing matrix aren't even connected." "What?" the Communications lieutenant gasped as she turned her attention to her console. "But I've verified the data path! That has to be from the satellite as there is NOTHING else around it!" "I'm not saying it's not coming from the satellite," Asrial argued, "I'm saying it's not from the satellite's computer!" "Then what am I connected to?" the lieutenant demanded. "How should I know?" the Felinoid growled back. "I just know what it's NOT coming from." "D'Nina, do you have as much of a bad feeling about this as I do?" K'tal said quietly to his second-in-command. The elder Dragoon grunted in reply. "I've been having bad feelings about everything since they exiled Tolaris," she said. "We can't stall for time to hash this out, unfortunately." "So make the evolution?" K'tal asked. Captain Ael'ien had to literally bite the tip of her tongue in an effort to keep herself from lashing out at the Dragoon. You're supposed to be the one making the decisions, K'tal, she thought angrily to herself. If this is how the command structure has degenerated, then perhaps I need to have a very long talk with both Al'vexi and General Rune. "Yes, unless you have a substantiated reason for calling off a mandated exercise and printed instructions from Central Command," the master chief said with a mild shrug. K'tal thought quietly for a moment. "Not yet," he admitted. "Computer, initiate Phase Two transformation sequence," he said loudly to his command console. "Voiceprint recognized. Require concurrence," the computer replied. D'Nina hesitated for a moment and cast a glance at K'tal. "You're right, I probably do have a worse-than-usual bad feeling about this. Computer, initiate Phase Two transformation sequence." "Voiceprint recognized. Compliance...." * * * * Her skin tingled with energy as she entered the flow of Time and began to navigate the temporal currents with practiced ease, slipping from one physical location to another in a cosmic instant. She knew of several ways to compare the flow of Time in other, more easily understood concepts when attempting to explain it to the uninitiated, but her personal favorite was that of a vast river with countless eddies and currents. A conduit opened before her and she slipped into it, her physical body reforming in normal four-dimensional space with a brief flash of light. She waited for a moment for the residual temporal energy to drain away before she opened her eyes and looked around the small chamber she relocated into. "I must say, you have excellent timing," a soft voice said from directly behind her. Susan blinked and glanced over her shoulder. "I am the Guardian of Time," she said evenly. "I'm supposed to have good timing. Why are you here?" Megan smiled and stretched her wings. "I was waiting for you." "That much is obvious," Susan observed as she set her staff aside and began to undress. "Is there something I should be made aware of before I go see Lord Hades?" The full-blooded succubus blinked and the pair of tiny bat-like wings on her head fluttered nervously. "My, you're in a testy mood about something." "This is my keep," Susan replied archly as she stepped out of her dress and slipped her panties off. "I know you're an emissary and all, but I think trespassing is a bit uncalled for." Megan raised a slender eyebrow. "This keep belongs to your father," she corrected Susan as she opened a closet and pulled out a long black ribbon that was almost identical to the one she was wearing. Susan gave the other succubus a mild look. "Your point?" "I have his full permission to use this keep as I see fit, just as you do, Setsuna," Megan replied as she gave Susan's body an appraising look before she put the black ribbon back in the closet and picked up a dark blue one. She held it against Susan's bare skin for a moment before nodding and began to wrap it around Susan's slender hips. Susan took a step back and scowled at her unexpected guest. "Just who exactly are you, and how do you know my true-name?" she demanded. Megan paused and looked up at Susan. "Your father told me." The half-breed succubus blinked hard. "What? Why?" Megan smiled softly as she reached up and ran her fingers through Susan's dark green hair. She grabbed a lock of her own hair with her free hand and held it close to Susan's hair for comparison. Susan examined both sets of hair and blinked hard as possible explanations filled her mind. She looked up and silently stared deep into Megan's red eyes for what seemed an eternity. "You have to be kidding me," she finally said softly. "Not in the least," Megan replied with a warm smile. "So do I have any other siblings?" Susan inquired as the realization that she had a sister sunk into her brain. Megan paused for a moment. "Funny you should mention that...." "How many?" Susan said with a heavy sigh. "Just one more," Megan replied with a soft chuckle. "I'm not quite sure why Lisa isn't here yet, but then again she is a bit of a wild child." Susan tugged the ribbon of fabric off of her hips and crossed the room to sit down on the edge of the bed. "He could have said something," she said quietly to the room as she studied her toenails. Maybe they could use a bit of color, she thought. Father, what about your promise to Mother? What were you thinking? Megan shrugged and sat down next to her half-sister. "Well, I wasn't conceived until about three hundred years after your supposed death, so it's not like he was keeping any secrets." Susan sighed quietly and rubbed her temples. "Where is he right now?" She heard silence in response and turned her head to study Megan's face. "He's dead, isn't he?" "Two hundred years ago," Megan replied with a soft sigh and a reluctant nod. "It's a very complicated story, but the short version is he sacrificed himself so that his wife and child could escape being burned at the stake." "So he remarried," Susan observed with yet another heavy sigh as she wondered what happened. She knew she would eventually hear about it, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know anytime soon. She knew of her father's love of women and near-constant dalliances with them, but that was entirely expected of an incubus. She had decided centuries ago that it would most likely be the death of him and had planned for that eventuality, but had never really fully prepared herself for hearing about his eternal lifespan being violently ended. A sudden thought blasted into her mind and she cast a sidelong glance at her sister. "Don't tell me that he fell in love with another human...." "The pagan leaders didn't take well to the idea that she willingly gave herself over to a demon," Megan muttered sourly. "The frenzy of burnings and executions that followed in the aftermath of that incident was called the Salem Witch Hunts." "Lovely," Susan sighed as she flopped back on the bed, a sudden tide of emotions washing over her without warning. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes as she felt the strength draining away from her, leaving her body feeling cold and unresponsive. She closed her eyes as she felt Megan's light touch on her bare thigh, gently tracing the almost invisible network of veins beneath the surface of her skin. "I don't know what to tell you, Susan," Megan said softly. "I was the result of a causal dalliance, so I don't know what it's like to grow up with a real loving father. Yes, we kept in touch, but he always seemed to either be busy having an affair or talking about you." "What?" Susan said as she blinked her tears away and sat up. Megan chuckled very quietly and started running her fingertips under the gentle swell of Susan's bare breast. "I'm told that after you vanished, he really changed. He took up smoking nahrlat weed and spending most of his time on the Beach," she said, referring to a particular region in the Lake of Fire where amorous succubi were known to gather to search for willing partners. "And during the brief periods of time when he was in full possession of all of his senses, he would tell the others how you were the best thing that had ever happened in his life." "I find that a little hard to believe," Susan said. "We were always on good terms, but we weren't that close." Megan shrugged as she shifted positions to get a closer look at Susan's breasts. "Apparently he didn't realize what he had until you were lost," she replied as she studied the ultra-soft skin. Susan raised a slender eyebrow and took a guess as to what Megan was trying to do. "Other side, an inch below the nipple," she suggested. Megan looked at the other breast and saw the tiny star-shaped freckle that she was looking for. "Ah, I was wondering where it was. Lisa's is also on her breast, but hers is above the nipple." "Should I ask about yours?" Susan wondered as she thought about the odd tendency of birthmarks to appear in the most unusual places. It could always be worse, she thought to herself as she briefly thought of Lady Mercury's heart-shaped birthmark and the rather embarrassing location. "Back of the neck," Megan replied as she straightened up and brushed her hair aside to reveal an identical star-shaped freckle on the nape of her neck at the hairline. "It took me a month to find it, and believe me when I say I was looking everywhere." "I can imagine. Tell me about Lisa," Susan asked softly. Megan chuckled quietly and the tiny wings in her hair fluttered briefly. "Eliza," she said quietly. "Lisa was the name chosen by her mother." Susan blinked at being told the true-name of another demon, even if it belonged to her half-sister. "While we're briefly on the subject of names...." "Mordakhen," the pure succubus said quietly as she leaned forward and gave Susan a soft kiss. The sensation sent tingles rippling through them both as they briefly shared one of the finer pleasures of being a succubus. "I trust you'll forgive me if it takes me awhile to adjust to going from being an only child to having two sisters," Susan murmured after their lips separated. Megan chuckled quietly. "You were presumed dead long before I was born, so I didn't have any siblings either until I learned that Father had seduced a human and she ended up bearing his child." "Alu demon?" Susan asked, knowing it was the usual result of a fruitful union between a human female and an incubus. "Actually, she's half-human like you," Megan said, then scrambled back to avoid a cranial collision as Susan bolted upright in shock. "Don't ask me how that happened, but she's not an alu demon." Susan rubbed her temples as she tried to think. "It's my understanding that the only reason I wasn't born an alu was because Mother's DNA was partly protected by the Imperium Silver Crystal's influence and thus couldn't be dominated." Megan chuckled and ran her fingers through Susan's dark green hair again. "Guess your theory was wrong. My mother's hair was platinum blonde, so you know my hair coloring had to have come from Father." "Amazing," Susan replied. "My mother also had dark green hair, so I had figured it was her influence. What color is Lisa's hair?" "Purple, would you believe?" "So much for genetic domination," Susan said with a faint chuckle. Megan sighed and cast an irritated glance over her shoulder. "She should have been here by now. I really hope she didn't let herself get side-tracked again. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy sex just as much as the next succubus, but she has me worried." Susan blushed slightly. "It's probably her human heritage. I was rather promiscuous myself when I was in my youth," she admitted. Megan blinked and gave her a curious look. "I was led to believe that you were rather conservative about your sexuality." "I am a bit more discriminatory about who I prey upon these days," Susan replied as she rolled over on her side and leaned on her elbow. "But between the ages of thirty and two hundred, I had a rather... active lifestyle." Megan chuckled and sat back, lightly rubbing the tiny pair of wings on her head. "Just how active are we talking here?" "A slow week was anything less than ten or twelve times in seven days." Her sister blinked hard and straightened up. "Are you serious?" Susan shrugged her shoulder causally. "Human blood burns far hotter than demonic blood when it's ignited by desire. So put human desires and demonic endurance together...." "And you get a really interesting combination," Megan finished for her. "Precisely." Megan just shook her head. "And I thought I tended to over-indulge." Susan smiled. "You forget that I'm able to travel back and forth through Time. I may have had countless encounters, but they're spread over about two thousand years, give or take a century." The pure-blood succubus opened her mouth to ask a question when a burst of light behind her caused her to nearly leap off the bed in shock. She quickly turned around and clenched a fist, creating a ball of seething red energy around her hand. She aimed her fist at the new arrival and waited to see what was going to happen next. "Hi, sis! I just... WHOA!" the newcomer babbled excitedly before blinking hard at the sight of a ball of lethal energy hovering two inches in front of her nose. Megan growled quietly. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that so close to a person?" she said as she let the energy dissipate into the air around her fist. The purple-haired succubus whimpered quietly. "I'm sorry...." she said as she fidgeted with the edges of her red leotard. Susan raised a slender green eyebrow. "A little edgy, aren't we?" she said to Megan as she carefully looked over the new arrival. "And you must be Lisa." Lisa's face almost exploded into a joyful grin as she lunged forward to wrap her arms around her newly-discovered eldest sister. "I am so glad to finally meet you!" she gushed as she hugged Susan hard enough to make her wince in pain. "Lisa!" Megan said sharply. Susan chuckled quietly as Lisa abruptly pulled back, allowing air to once again enter her lungs. "The exuberance of youth," she observed as she studied Lisa's somewhat petite figure, noticing that the only hint that she wasn't a full-blooded succubus was the size and coloring of her wings. They were half the size of normal succubus wings and were a very dark shade of red instead of the usual leathery brown. "You're late," Megan commented darkly to her younger sister. Lisa's face immediately puckered into a sad frown. "It's not my fault," she pleaded, "I was on my way here when I was intercepted by a messenger from Lord Hades." The other two succubi immediately sat up and blinked. "What was the message?" Susan asked. "The messenger said that Lord Hades would be coming here to meet with us privately instead of having you summoned to his chambers," Lisa replied. Megan immediately scrambled off the bed and started to yank Susan to her feet. "If he's coming here, we have to get you dressed properly," she said as she grabbed the almost-forgotten dark blue ribbon of fabric and started to wrap it around Susan's naked body. "Her boots should be in there somewhere," she said over her shoulder to Lisa. Susan sighed quietly and submitted to the whirlwind attention, holding still as the ribbon was expertly wrapped around her body in such a way as to conceal her groin and criss-cross over her breasts. For added measure, a jet- black loin cloth that hung down to her knees was looped through a gold chain wrapped around her hips like a belt. Knee-high black leather boots were put on as the ribbon was secured in a knot behind her neck and the ends allowed to trail freely down her back like a second pair of wings. "You look good in this," Megan said admiringly as she debated on trying a quick hair adjustment before settling for a quick but gentle brushing-out. Susan smiled at the compliment. "Someone once said that any succubus can look good in anything, everything, and nothing," she replied. Megan chuckled quietly as she worked the brush. "That's the truth." "You think these earrings would go well?" Lisa inquired as she held up a pair of dark sapphires that almost matched the ribbon perfectly. "I like these earrings," Susan protested as she ran her fingertips along the dark red double-chevron earrings she usually wore. "When did the messenger say Lord Hades was coming?" Megan asked. A sudden heavy knock on the chamber door sent a momentary chill through everyone. "Never mind, just get the door," Megan said hastily as she quickly gave Susan's attire a final once-over before setting the hairbrush down and smoothing out her own clothing, the tiny wings in her hair fluttering madly. The door swung open with a soft creak before Lisa could reach the handle and a young woman poked her head in. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said softly with a gentle smile. The succubi immediately fell to one knee and bowed their heads before the Queen of the Underworld. "Lady Persephone," Susan said in surprise and awe. Persephone's smile grew wider as she stepped into the room, the hem of her peach-colored skirt barely brushing the stone floor. "My husband sent me a message saying that you had returned, Susan, so of course I had to come see things for myself." Susan blinked hard, realizing that it was the wrong time of the year for the goddess to be living in the Underworld with her husband, Hades. According to the legends, the deal was struck between Hades and her mother, the goddess Demeter, so that Persephone would spend six months of every year with Hades in the Underworld and the other six months with Demeter on Mount Olympus. It was also said that when her daughter was absent, Demeter would withhold her life-giving warmth from nature until Persephone returned unharmed, thus giving rise to the turn of the seasons. "My lady, I don't know what to say," Susan said, still in awe. "Surely I am not worth risking your mother's wrath upon the mortal realm for a visit..." The goddess laughed softly as she held up her hand. "My mother knows how much I adore you like you were my own daughter," she said kindly. "She has given permission for a brief visit without any undue effects." Susan bowed her head, moved almost to the point of tears. "My lady..." she started to say before her voice failed her. Persephone drew Susan to her feet and gestured for the other succubi to rise as well. "You have been missed by many in the Underworld," she said quietly. "I have not yet heard all of the details, as my husband's message was brief and my father's was just as devoid of information, but even I felt the Portal's opening and knew it had to herald your return." There was a soft cough from behind Persephone as a dark figure entered the room. "Sorry if I only had a brief moment to send only a short message, my love," Lord Hades said with bemusement. "Oh, stop that," he said in mild irritation as the succubi fell to their knees again before him. "There is a time and place for such things, and a quiet family gathering isn't it." "My lord," Susan replied demurely as they slowly got to their feet again. "I trust you've already met your sisters?" Hades observed as he studied the three succubi. He had known Susan since her birth and recently gotten to know about Lisa when she became one of Persephone's more favored servants, but knew next to nothing about Megan. "I have, my lord, and have to admit being a bit... overwhelmed," Susan replied. "Surely that will not preclude you from your duties," Hades observed. "Of course not, my lord," his avatar replied with a bow of her head. "I am always ready to serve you." Hades nodded quietly and turned to his wife. "I know your mother only intended for you to see her and not linger, but it is still good to see you," he said softly as he gave her a gentle kiss. Persephone smiled warmly at him. "Another few months, my dark knight." Susan and Megan exchanged a momentary look, not surprised in the least to see that divinities in love could be every bit as sappy as humans. Lisa, for her part, briefly flashed a classic "you have to be kidding me" look at her elder sisters. "Lisa," Persephone said quietly, still smiling at her husband and not noticing Lisa hastily clearing her face of expression. "I must return to Mount Olympus now. I would like you to accompany me to the entrance." "As you wish, my lady," Lisa replied properly with a bow of her head. "It is good to see you've returned to us, Susan," the Queen said with a smile. "And I look forward to hearing your stories again in a few months." "A pleasure as always, my lady," Susan said with a smile of her own. "My lord," Persephone said to her husband as she took his hand and bowed her head slightly. She gave him a final loving smile before she released her hold and left the room. Lisa only paused long enough to give her master one final bow before hastily following her mistress out the door. "At least her manners seem sufficient," Susan observed with a smile as the heavy door closed with a gentle creak. "Believe me when I say that's taken some work," Megan muttered dourly. "Perhaps her training could bear some scrutiny if that is the case," Hades said evenly. He watched as Megan blinked involuntarily before quickly averting her eyes at the suggestion of his displeasure. "I don't envy you having to suffer the attentions of siblings, having a few unpleasant experiences dealing with my own." Susan ventured a smile. "With due respect, my lord, now that I've gotten a chance to come to terms with the prospect, I rather look forward to it." "Your headache," Hades muttered quietly to himself. He sighed quietly and rubbed his hands across his face. "The situation has changed drastically with the loss of the Moon Kingdom," he said evenly. "We no longer have a buffer between us and the other worlds, and there have been numerous attacks on Earth already." Susan nodded her head. "I have attempted to analyze the situation and believe I have a rudimentary understanding of current events." The god raised his eyebrow. "This should be interesting," he replied. Megan cast a sidelong glance at Susan and was grateful that she wasn't involved in things. It wasn't every day that someone essentially told a higher power that they knew as much as he did, and she was curious to find out just how far Susan would push things. "Queen Beryl is dead, and there are no other known members of their royal family," Susan said as her mind sifted through the conclusions she had drawn the day before. "Therefore, while the power of the NegaForce can be loaned to other denizens, the full potential remains sealed and would not be able to decisively counteract the full power of the Imperium Silver Crystal." Hades nodded slowly, quietly impressed by his avatar's prowess at looking at the bigger picture. "However...." he prodded. Susan sighed quietly. "However, the Princess and her court were killed during the battle and were reincarnated a thousand years later, without their memories or full training. Luna and Artemis have done an admirable job in teaching them the basics, but they are a far cry from being the Celestial Guardians they once were. Worse, Serena has almost no clue about how to use the Imperium Silver Crystal except as a means of defense. If there were to be a head-on confrontation between her and an avatar of the NegaForce tomorrow, I would probably put the odds at 5-to-4 in favor of the NegaForce." "Not exactly betting odds," Megan muttered. "Agreed," Hades sighed. "I'm changing your instructions, Setsuna. You will no longer serve the Lunar throne directly, as the Moon Kingdom lies in ruins. Your primary duty instead is to ensure the continuity of the line of succession to the Imperium Silver Crystal, even if it has to jump bloodlines." Susan's red eyes widened. "My lord?" Hades rubbed his face with his hands again. "We are extremely vulnerable right now, to a degree not seen since the first days of Creation," he said wearily. "They have attacked the Princess, repeatedly, and indeed killed the others once already. She used the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal to resurrect them, amazingly enough, but none of us believe she knew how she did it, or if she can do it again. If they succeed in killing her now, then the power will be lost to us forever. We can't risk that, not now, not with the pantheon still weakened. We must make sure that the Crystal will always have a dedicated avatar." Susan was at a total loss for words as she struggled to understand the exact nature of her new orders. She moved over to her bed and sat down on the edge of it, ignoring for the moment her sister and her master still standing by the door. "I don't understand," Megan ventured quietly. The Lord of the Underworld shot her a dark look. "You're not expected to be able to understand, as you're neither an avatar nor one who has personal experience dealing with one of the most powerful relics in Creation," he said flatly. "I'm sure Setsuna, however, is able to appreciate the magnitude of importance placed on her duties as my avatar and can fathom the ramifications of failing to protect the Crystal." Susan blinked as the connection finally clicked in her mind. "So faced with the option of protecting either the royal bloodline or protecting the possible successor...." she said slowly. "You protect the successor," Hades said succinctly. "Understood, my lord," his avatar replied as she stood up, looking as if she had just eaten a mouthful of very sour grapes. Hades sighed quietly again. "Be at ease, my child," he said softly. "I honestly do not expect you will be forced to make such a choice, but it must be understood now what you must do should the time come. This only changes your highest priority, that's all. You are still expected to do what you can to protect the life of the Moon Princess and the other avatars, of course." "Of course," Susan echoed quietly, still rather unsettled. "There is one more change to your instructions," Hades added. "You know that the soul of the Earth prince has been compromised, right?" "What?" Susan said as her jaw fell open. Hades leaned against the wall and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We only know that he was infused with a latent power from the other side during his kidnapping. We have yet to determine what sort of impact this is going to have on matters, but we do believe it will be ultimately significant. We must keep him safe until we know more. Therefore, in the unlikely event you are faced with the choice of protecting either the Princess or the Prince, you are to protect the Prince at all costs, save losing the line of succession for the Crystal." Susan sat back down on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her hands. "Are things really that bad that I must contemplate sacrificing the life of the Crown Princess for other goals?" she whispered quietly. "Is her death that likely that we must actively plan for someone else to take her place?" Hades frowned as he pushed himself off of the wall and stood up straight. "Consider this, Chancellor," he said, using her official title from the Moon Kingdom. "She was killed once, a thousand years ago. Her mother sacrificed her own life so she could be reborn. If she can be killed once, she can be killed again, only this time there wouldn't be anyone else capable of using the powers of the Imperium Silver Crystal to save this world. Think about it, Setsuna, think very long and hard about it." Megan bowed to her master as he turned around and left the room, closing the chamber door behind him. Susan said nothing as she stared at the stone floor of the keep, her thoughts a chaotic whirl inside the intricate depths of her mind. "How much of a problem is this going to present?" Megan asked as she gave Susan a curious look, trying to fathom what the problem could possibly be. "Depends on how you look at it," Susan responded quietly. "I basically have to throw away a lifetime of work to the royal family and restructure what my priorities are. That won't be easy or pleasant." "So you guard a prince instead of a princess," Megan shrugged. "That doesn't sound too difficult. You could probably even make him your sex slave, that'd keep him under real tight control," she added lightly. Susan just looked at her younger sister, realizing not for the first time that full-blooded demons had different ideas about morals and ethics. The concept of emotional bonds such as love was foreign to most of them, and it was only due to her human heritage that she herself was able to experience such strong feelings for her friends. "Lord Hades is right," she said as she stood up. "You don't understand, but then again, you aren't expected to. I will perform my duties as he has instructed, but it will take some time to adjust. Until then, I'll just have to do the best I can." Megan raised a slender green eyebrow. "This really is going to be a bit of a problem for you, isn't it?" She snorted in contempt when Susan nodded her head in response. "Imagine, an avatar with issues over whom to protect just because she knows them. I had honestly thought you had a stronger spine than this." Susan blinked hard as Megan teleported out of the room in a flash of dimensional energy, leaving her alone in the empty keep. "Apparently, Lord Hades was right about siblings being a headache," she said to the empty air. "Perhaps this won't be nearly as interesting as I had imagined." She sighed heavily and made a snatching motion in the air, her staff materializing out of the temporal flow to smack solidly into her palm. Her free hand smoothed out a wrinkle in her attire and made a minor adjustment to her loin cloth before she wrapped herself in temporal energy and slipped back into the eternal flow of Time. * * * * "You have a visitor this morning," the wall seemed to say to her as she sat down to her morning breakfast. Al'vexi raised an eyebrow as she poured herself a glass of juice. "Good morning to you too, V'Sari," the retired general told the pocket of shadows in the far corner. "Business or personal?" A shadowy figure emerged from the darkness and assumed what appeared to be a three-dimensional humanoid form. "He said it was personal," she replied, her voice a soft, sibilant whisper that often reminded others of leaves being stirred in a breeze. Al'vexi telepathed to her bodyguard as she bit into a slice of toast. V'Sari hesitated before replying, which was unusual enough to raise the hair on the back of the general's neck. "Call it a woman's intuition," V'Sari finally said. Al'vexi said nothing as she spread some le'un preserves on another slice of toast and took a sip of her juice. She was one of only a handful of people in military history to live long enough to retire as a flag-rank officer, and at present was the only one still living. The threat to her was still quite real, as it was to all senior military officials, which was why she still rated a bodyguard in retirement. "Security scan?" she said aloud before taking another bite of toast. V'Sari consulted the tiny computer pad in her hand. "He's got a symipa spear with him, appears to be a standard Dragoon model. No significant psi activity detected, no unusual energy signatures around him." Al'vexi grunted in quiet amusement. She wasn't worried about the weapon in the slightest, as any would-be assassin would first have to get past her formidable psionic defenses. She mused that if things got unruly, she could always give her opponent a psi-spike with enough energy to physically destroy the brain tissue, but that tended to give herself a migraine that persisted for days at a time. "Show him in," she said as she reached for the scrambled ertu eggs. She made significant progress in devouring most of them before a young man in a dark cloak entered the room and stood next to the chair on the opposite side of the table. "Nice to know you still prefer the simple breakfast," he said lightly as he examined the selection of v'etu toast, talan juice, scrambled ertu eggs, and slices of assorted fruits. "Mind if I sit?" Al'vexi looked up in surprise, and it was only due to many centuries of rigid mental discipline that kept her from spitting out a mouthful of egg and gasping for air. As it was, it took her several seconds before she could pull her mind together to form coherent thought. "I thought you were dead," she said after swallowing hard and taking a deep breath. Jedyt smiled coldly as he moved the chair back and sat down. "Beryl is dead," he corrected her. "I was merely hidden in the rafters." "Well, now, this is a surprise," Al'vexi said as she spooned some more scrambled ertu eggs onto her plate and fought very hard to retain her casual outside composure. "So what brings you here?" "You tell me," he replied as he grabbed a slice of s'car from the pile of fruit and started munching on it. she telepathed at him as she resumed her attack on the eggs. Jedyt chuckled. "Good guess, but you're wrong. Rune released me from my crystal for just that purpose, but to be honest I don't give a wet rakketh corpse about who's running things." The retired general glanced up at him in irritation as she refilled her glass of juice. "Revenge," he said simply. "On whom?" Al'vexi prompted after draining half the glass. "Sailor Moon," the blond general replied as he picked up a wedge of the bittersweet d'ael melon. Al'vexi smiled darkly at her unexpected guest. "You don't ask for much, do you?" "I know who she is on Earth," he replied around a mouthful of melon. "I watched her, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars transform, and know their true identities." That gave the telepath a momentary chill. "Really," she said slowly in mild disbelief. "Really," Jedyt confirmed. "Serena, Ami, and Rei. And I know exactly where Rei's temple is, too," he added with a malicious grin. "I spent some time there once, working as a temporary aide as part of a disguise. She's a feisty one...." he mused. "And the others?" Al'vexi said, curious now. She knew from the reports she had seen that they had figured out that Sailor Mercury's real name was Ami and that she had become a vampire, but virtually everything else they knew about her was very sketchy conjecture. Except, of course, for what they knew about Prince Darian, but that was a different matter entirely.... "What others?" Jedyt said flatly as he gave her a slightly wary look. Al'vexi smirked as she took a sip of juice. "Not nearly as informed as you thought you were, Jedyt? There are two other Sailor Scouts to deal with as well, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus. Plus, I'd imagine, we still have the odd problem with that Sailor V girl." "That bitch," Jedyt spat. "We haven't found her yet?" "She's apparently harder to find than Sailor Moon," Al'vexi observed with a casual shrug. "She wiped out most of our long-term agents, but we still have Agent M in place and sending back regular reports. Including sightings of our beloved Sailor V, alive and well." Jedyt grunted quietly to himself. He realized that his knowledge of the long-term operations on Earth was obviously outdated by now, but he still remembered the plans drawn up about Agent M. Jedyt thought it was a he, but didn't have much information about him, save that he was one of the most highly skilled surveillance agents ever trained by the military. His mission on Earth was to blend in as a native and report back on what he learned and observed about