in which we get some action (finally!), and another senshi pops in (reluctantly)
Ludia awoke to the feeling of some sort of creature crawling all over her."Augh..." she frowned, sitting up and blinking her eyes a few times as the world gradually became less blurry. "Is it morning already? Dangit, time flies to fast!"
"I'm sorry, but this is incredibly urgent." Ludia turned sleepily to face Alakini, her strange multicolored eyes glowing in the darkness.
"Oh, it's YOU," she muttered, falling back into the bed. Alakini sighed.
"Get up, Ludia. I'm not a dream. You have to come with me."
Ludia ignored her and dug her face back into the soft pillow.
Alakini took a deep breath, deciding that she was not going to be very kind about this. She had had it with sleepy charges.
"GET UP!!!!!!!!!"
Ludia reluctantly sat up, rolling her eyes. There was no way she'd get back to sleep with Alakini yelling at her. "All right already! I guess I'll have to go through with this... dream thing... for now. What do you want?"
"There is a minion outside at this present time and, considering what it is probably planning, I'm of the opinion you should go and fight it."
"What, using our super navy sailor-whatever powers?"
"YES. Now get up and go outside."
Ludia made a face and stood up, grumbling under her breath as she walked to the other side of the room and opened the door. Alakini smiled in triumph and jumped down to follow her out.
Lucrecia was waiting in the hallway, looking very tired and almost as annoyed as Ludia.
"All right, girls. Transform, and I'll lead you too the monster."
"Whatever. I just want to get some more sleep." Ludia yawned, then shot a glance in Lucrecia's direction. Her twin shrugged faintly and touched her pendant.
"We might as well get this over with."
"Yea," Ludia agreed. The two took deep breaths.
"Mithanos Jedi Power, Make Up!"
The same transformation sequence ensued, and soon the twins' nightgowns were replaced with colorful outfits.
"All right, the two of you, follow me!" Alakini called as she began to run further down the hallway. The twins followed, and to their surprise, they could run considerably faster than they normal. However, Alakini was surprisingly quick, and they still had a hard time keeping up with her.
"Is it just me, or did we just become super excersized Tenel Kas here?" Ludia yelled as she and Lucrecia continued.
"Your physical abilities strengthen when you're in senshi form. It's one of the the many perks."
"Oh, wonderful," Ludia rolled her eyes but tactfully refrained from complaining about the skirt being one of the said 'perks'.
Alakini led them through quite a few corridors until they reached a small door, which led to a small balcony outside. Ludia peered over the edge and dimly saw the figure of a man standing near a tall, red monster with long, dripping fangs.
"Be glad that I was required to study the layout of this temple before I came here," Alakini said, looking pleased with herself.
"Umm, Alakini, wouldn't it have been more convenient if we were actually on the same level as the monster?" Lucrecia suddenly looked nervous.
"As I said, your physical abilities are augmented. You will be able to use them to jump down quite easily, especially if you use the Force."
"THAT'S reassuring," Ludia said sarcastically. Alakini jumped up to the balcony's ledge and frowned at her.
"Just do it. Concentrate on jumping and you'll make it. Trust me."
Ludia and Lucrecia looked at each other.
"You girls must hurry. The monster will not hesitate to create chaos in the Temple if you don't engage it quickly."
"Ohh... fine."
The girls looked at each other again.
"How about on three?" Lucrecia asked.
"Sounds good."
Ludia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding tightly onto her staff.
"One...two... three!"
The twins jumped and, surprisingly, they sailed over the wall of the balcony and down into the forest below. They landed rather unsteadily, but otherwise the jump was quite smooth.
"Well, that wasn't too hard." Ludia looked down at the ground, pleased.
"Considering our clutziness, I'd go so far as to say it was a miracle," Lucrecia smiled despite herself.
Alakini sprung off the balcony herself and landed safely next to the two girls. "All right, well done. Now go confront the monster. Remember your attack- 'Zenith Supreme Phoenix'."
"Yea, yea, whatever..." Ludia rolled her eyes and began walking towards the clearing in which they'd seen the purple-haired man and the monster. Lucrecia followed.
"There's the enemy," Alakini noted in a hushed voice. as she peered between a few small trees.
"Is it just me, or does that have more teeth than the laws of science dictate is necessary?" Lucrecia quipped nervously.
"It's all show. I doubt that monster is very strong, anyway," Alakini added helpfully. "It seems very slow."
Ludia made a determined face. "Well, let's get this over with."
Lucrecia nodded, and the two made their way into the clearing, being as discreet as is possible when one is wearing high-healed knee-high boots.
"...all right, you. Now head into the temple, and be sure to mess things up a bit, but mostly, look out for the senshi. If they don't appear, come back out here and report, understood?"
The monster nodded it's massive head and turned, heading in the direction of the temple.
"Shouldn't we do something?" Lucrecia whispered to her twin.
"Um, well... we could go out there and say something heroic, and, um, fight them or something. Yea."
"Brilliant plan, Thrawn."
Alakini ahemed. "Perhaps we should face him in the temple. The general over there is bound to cause trouble."
"Are you kidding? He'll wake people up, and we're going to have to appear in front of everyone in these stupid skimpy outfits."
"Point taken." Lucrecia pulled her staff close.
"Let's just go."
The two girls walked up into the clearing.
"Umm... stop right there!" Ludia declared grandly.
Both the general and the monster turned to her.
"We're, um... um..." Ludia trailed off.
Suddenly inspiration seized them.
"Drawn by the call of dawn and the glory of dusk, we are the carriers of the Supreme Element and the meridian soldiers: the twin sailors of Mithanos!"
The two girls stared at each other.
"Where did that come from?" they asked in unison.
The purple-haired man chuckled. "You're awakened, all right. Nice to meet you both.. more or less. Zayton, get them!"
The monster reered its head and tore towards them on his minatourian legs. The girls swiftly dodged in either direction.
"OK, that wasn't fun!" Ludia yelled as she tore off in the other direction. The monster turned around and began to chase after her.
Lucrecia (who was left backing against a tree as Ludia was being chased) glanced at her sister's plight. Thinking quickly, she brought up her staff and yelled, "Zenith Supreme Phoenix!"
Nothing happened. Lucrecia reddened considerably.
"It only works when you're TOGETHER!" Alakini yelled, jumping up into another nearby tree. The monster had paid no heed to Lucrecia and was still chasing Ludia. Fortunately, it was rather slow, and Ludia managed to get a good lead over it.
"Alakini, how do we stop this thing?"
"Just get together and yell your attack!"
"Brilliant," Ludia mumbled. She tore off in Lucrecia's direction, managing to place herself beside her sister.
"All right, let's go!"
"Zenith... Supreme... PHOENIX!"
The silver crescent and the gold orb connected, and a flash of light burst from them as a huge, fiery bird flew into the monster, who screamed and disappeared.
"Great Force!" Lucrecia cried in astonishment.
The general jumped down from his perch and stared at them. "Well, it was quite nice to meet you, but I must be going now." A smile played on his lips. "I'm sorry I couldn't converse more with such pretty girls, but I'm really quite busy..." he murmured, eyeing them
Lucrecia blushed.
"Wait! Who are you, anyway?" Ludia demanded.
"If you must know, my name is Raen Renegade. I serve Sailor Nadir." he yawned. "Goodbye."
The man disappeared into the darkness.
"Well, THAT was a rush," Lucrecia shook her head.
*
Jaina worked diligently on the Rock Dragon for hours. Not that it needed any repairs or any further upgrades, she just needed to do something to get her mind off Zekk. She wondered where he was at night, what planet he had landed on now and what people he had encountered... most of all if he had found peace with himself. Only then would he come back. Jaina would just have to be patient. She bit her bottom lip nervously. Patience was not one of her strong points.
"Sooo.. what ya doin' under there now?" her brother's cheerful voice asked. How can you possibly be so calm?
Jaina walked over to the ground level opening and looked up at her brother. "Just checking the hyperdrive fluxuators and there connections to the fuel source."
"Again?" he asked skeptically, raising one eyebrow and giving a look that made him look so much like their father.
"Yes, again. Can you hand me the power flux deoxidizers?"
"The what?" Jacen asked, surprised. "You're asking the wrong guy for help. These things are your specialty. Not mine in the least."
"Oh really? Then why did you come out here?"
Jacen's comical face turned solemn. "I can't find Nicta. She's too clumsy a walker to have gotten to far and she can't exactly fly so I was hopping maybe she wandered in here."
Jaina sighed, "Oh please, I'm not that stupid. What you really came in here for was help from me to find your silly gort." Jacen was about to protest but thought better of it and nodded in reluctant acceptance. "Sorry, I can't help you. I've made a total mess down here and the starboard engine needs to be tweaked on and-"
"Alright, okay. I'll go find Tenel Ka and see if she'll help me." Jacen said with a glimmer in his eye. As he left, Jaina couldn't help but notice a extra bounce in his step.
"Ah, young love." she commented, then walked back to her spot in front of the hyperdrive engines.
"Ah smeg, i forgot to get the power flux deoxidizer." Jaina stood and walked back and was met with a resounding thump as an object of medium wieght fell on her head.
"Ouch! What the-" she looked but but didn't see anything. On the floor the tool she had been going for was laid. "Uh.. thanks.. whoever you are." Jaina said, cautiously bending down to pick up the tool.
A clash and flutter startled her.
"Who's there?" she shouted. No answer. Suddenly, she felt the outer doors close. Immediately, Jaina leapt out of the work pit and cautiously tip-toed threw the ship.
"I know your in here. Jacen? Is that you? Lowie? 'Lucia? Ludia? Cal?" no one answered. Another crash came, closer this time. It was coming from the cabin. Jaina stepped lightly towards the room then- a blur of blue feathers flew into her face, scaring the living daylights out of her. She screamed and fell on her tush, the object of her fear now sitting on her lap.
"Great Force, Nicta! What in the galaxy are you doing!" Jaina screamed angrily. "Did you close the doors.. and throw down the power flux dioxidizer?"
Jaina realized how stupid the question was and laughed at herself, "What am I saying? Jacen must have brought you in here and done all that other stuff before he left. I bet he's still here laughing at me talking to a gort!"
"What's so funny about talking to a gort? As long as they talk back you're quite sane."
Jaina laughed nervously. "You learned how to throw your voice. Very good Jacen. Now come out where ever you are."
"I can speak alright on my own."
Jaina staired at the blue gort and smiled, "Ha ha... your really talking arn't you?"
"Um.. I'm pretty sure I am. Either that or you've slipped into the twilight zone and are destined to live life with animals speaking in basic."
"I must have hit my head harder than I thought.." Jaina remarked, "Enough is enough, Jacen. Ha ha, you've had you laugh now come out!"
Nicta sighed and blinked her three sapphire eyes in unison, "Ala was right. All humans react the same way."
"Oh, you're talking?"
"Yes, I am."
"No way."
"Yes way."
"No really, no way!"
"Yes really, yes way."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"No way!"
Nicta carried on as if this was all very natural.
Jaina's brandy eyes flew wide, "You really are a sentient being, aren't you!"
"I'm not playing this game any more. Yes I am and can we please please please leave it at that?" Nicta pleaded.
"Yea, okay. I'll go along with this. Just don't start juggling juju beans while singing Corillian cantina songs."
Nicta's look was quite humorous, "Why would I do something silly like that... on the first day?"
"Oh boy.."
"Okay, I'm just gonna make this quick, is that alright with you?"
"The quicker the better." Jaina replied.
"Great. I am Nicta, you guardian as assigned by USOG."
"USOG?"
"Universal Society of Guardians. They are a large group like organization which depict who is awakened and what guardian is to guide them threw there training and performance as a senshi."
"Ya lost me, Nicta. Awakened? Senshi?"
"Yes. You are Sailor Alderaan, senshi of Restoration. To be awakened is to be regiven your senshi powers and the power to transform into a slightly revealing skirt and sailor type uniform."
Jaina shook her head, "Uh huh. Okay. Whatever."
"I'm serious!" Nicta shouted.
"I bet you are."
"Would this help prove to you that you are indeed a senshi?" Nicta asked as she twirled her right wing and produced and glass blown henshin from air. Jaina gasped and was reluctant to touch the smooth object. "Go on. It's your now. Can't you feel that?"
"Yes," Jaina said in amazement, "Yes I can." The henshin was white with small red and purple gems in it's hilt. On it's top was the sign on Alderaan which caught the rays of artificial light from within the ship and shinned like polished brass.
"Now, just hold it up and say "Alderaan Jedi Power, Make Up!"
Jaina looked around the ship with a frown, "But that's such a dorky thing to say. What if someone hears me?"
"No one will hear you. I made sure no one was around the ship except for you and me when I would awaken you."
Jaina got off the floor and rubbed her sore backside, "Next time, awaken me a little softer, okay?"
"I hope there isn't a next time." Nicta assured her.
Jaina rolled the henshin in her hand a few times then lifted it into the air. "Alright, I guess it can't hurt to try. Alderaan Jedi Power, Make Up!"
Suddenly, Jaina felt like she was lightyears away from the Rock Dragon and Nicta. All around her the world was red. Her own body seemed to shimmer an odd purple and red mix. Large purple meteors crashed around her, falling into pools of red witch splashed on her legs creating her boots and on her arms creating gloves. The meteors seemed to leave a part of her fuku as they passed by on there way into the red liquid. A final surge of red stuff flowed up into her hand and left behind a beautiful sword that arched ever so slightly. When at last it was all over, she was back on the ship, a very pleased Nicta on the ground in front of her.
"What do you think, Sailor Alderaan?"
Jaina walked into one of the passenger rooms to view herself in the mirror and about fainted at the site of herself in the deranged outfit. Her skirt, glove ends and lapels were purple and her front bow red with a pink clasp. Her back bow was pink as well and to top off the look she wore a golden tiara with a white gem in it's center.
"Oh my god I have died and come back as a circus freak in a side show."
Nicta smilled, "I think it looks very charming."
"Charming? Isn't than another word for painfully dull yet suitable?"
"Say what you like but you can't change your fuku. It's impossible. Only with time and experience can it change." Nicta saw a glimmer in Alderaan's eyes and quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, your power is 'Alderaan Memory Meteors', and your talisman is the Peace Sword."
"Peace Sword huh?" Sailor Alderaan asked, twirling the dangerous blade in her hand, "Cool. But let me get this strait, I'm the senshi of Restoration and the like but my ultimate goal is destruction of the enemy." Alderaan smirked, "I sounds more like the senshi of indecisiveness."
"We haven't gotten that creative in ways of making 'senshi of' titles." Nicta remarked halfheartedly, "Not yet anyways. USOG has yet to reach that point."
Sailor Alderaan looked gravely at her uniform, "Uh, is the pep talk over? Can I get out of this and go on thinking I have a concussion?"
"You can get out, but this is not a hallucination, and your obligation as Sailor Alderaan will remain. Welcome back."
Alderaan sighed, "I suppose this is a big secret too huh? Can't tell anyone?"
"Ludia and Lucrecia Skywalker have been awakened as well. They are the Twin senshi Sailor Solar Mithanos and Sailor Lunar Mithanos."
"Great, I'm not in this on my own!"
Nicta sighed at the thought, "Not by a long shot."
*
Zarine's penetrating amber stare met her brother's black one.
"So they defeated it?" she asked, her voice calm and calculating. Raen nodded.
"In one hit." he smiled slyly at her. "But you're the Mithanos twins' counterpart, are you not? we'll be able to defeat them easily enough. That what Aita gave you your powers for, in any case."
"Perhaps if there are only two," Zarine concurred. "But they are going to awaken the others as soon as possible, and that will present problems."
"Such as...?" Raen raised an eyebrow.
"Well, our factions in the other parts of the galaxy will be gathering a good amount of useful energy, but the fact remains that a good focus crystal is worth almost any amount of it." Zarine shook her head. "It is easy enough to check for a being with substantial Force potential, but they are rare."
"...and because the senshi are protecting the Jedi academy, we are blocked off from a very valuable supply of it, and perhaps the only steady one," Raen finished.
"Not only that, but they will awaken the Five Lights as quickly as possible, meaning more senshi to deal with. I cannot defeat them with my power alone."
"And that, of course, means that you can't work by yourself anymore." Raen grinned. "The others will have to come and assist you."
Zarine scowled. "If I must endure that, then I will. But for now, I must make the best of things." She sighed, resting her head against her heavily gloved hand.
"What if we create I diversion?" Raen questioned, cocking his head.
"How so?"
"If you give me a monster, I can release it, and the senshi will come rushing to the scene. In the meantime, I'll simply pick up a focus crystal from somebody. They're new senshi; they'll be careless and won't suspect a thing."
Zarine looked thoughtful for a few moments.
"That might just work," she said finally. "You do have your moments. Will you need a stronger one?"
"No, a medium one will do fine. Waste not."
"Well, if you are sure..." Zarine raised up her free hand, and in a small burst of light, a nearly transparent orb with a glowing bronze seed inside of it flashed into existence. She gestured towards Raen, and the object floated to him.
"I'm sure," Raen said, looking almost hungrily at the glimmering orb.
"No messing around, Raen. You said yourself that this is a diversion mission. Now go," Zarine said sternly as a parting.
Raen smirked and faded away.
*
Alakini ahemed.
"The reason I called you on this meeting today at expense of your free time is that we have new information," she announced, ignoring the malevolent stares of three very annoyed girls currently seated on Jaina's table, on which was an uncomfortable scattering of machinery. "As you know, Sailor Alderaan has been awakened, and so in the future fights will not be as difficult." She turned to Jaina. "The twins say you are good with mechanics. Will you be able to devise a method of communication for us?"
"A method of communication?" Jaina repeated, blinking.
"Yes. I was thinking along the lines of a small, circular object that could be placed on a chronometer or an earring."
"I suppose I could do that," Jaina shook her head. "It'll be pretty hard, though. First you have to find a workable power source, then I'll have to order wires small enough to fit in the-"
"We get the point, Jaina," Ludia interrupted. Jaina made a slightly indignant face.
"We need them soon. Since we do not know when the enemy will next appear, it's necessary to be well prepared."
Nicta nodded in agreement. "Yea, you have to be on the look out at all times. We aren't entirely sure who they are yet."
"Umm, I have a question." Jaina raised a hand.
"Yes?" Nicta piped up, eager to help her charge in any way.
"Why the heck do I fight with meteors? Alderaan was supposed to be a peaceful planet, filled with life." Jaina frowned.
Nicta sighed.
"I knew this was coming sooner or later," she muttered. "In any case, you senshi existed long ago, in the past.. You were chosen by the reigning High Queen at that time, and you defended the galaxy against the evils of the Dark Kingdom. You were recently reborn into your current forms, although the reasons for all this are unknown; your senshi pasts are locked away inside your memories, and you will eventually find them out, though it may take a very long time. In any case, Alderaan's power level fluctuated when it was destroyed by the Emperor. The USOG changed your power realm in order to fix this." Nicta fluffed herself up. "Does that explain things?"
"Not why I'm the senshi of peace, no."
"You're here to PRESERVE the peace, and in order to do that, you have to fight," Nicta declared reasonably.
Jaina could find no retort for this, and sat back, silent. Lucrecia and Ludia exchanged glances.
"So, why do we fight with the Supreme Element, and stuff? and what's with our powers?" Ludia asked.
Alakini frowned. "Surely as the heirs to the entire Mithanos cluster you know the legend of the sun and moon coming together to create Aethyr, or Zenith, the most pure element. the phoenix is the symbol of the cluster, the form which the Supreme Element takes."
"Oh. Yea," Ludia replied, looking a little embarrassed at her lack of knowledge of her kingdom's mythology.
"Now that that's taken care of, we can continue on," Alakini said. "There are two other senshi that we need to locate- Sailor Naboo and Sailor Ursa. We have a strong lead on Naboo- there is reason to believe she is a girl here named Nilmane Panden."
"Oh, yea, the study freak," Ludia piped up. "Dad introduced us. She's kinda stuffy, but I guess she's alright."
"Do you know her?"
"Not really. We haven't talked to her since a few months ago, when she enrolled." Lucrecia answered, pushing away one of her black bangs.
"I would like it very much if you got to know her. Lucrecia, I believe you take an afternoon art class with her. Perhaps you could be the one to approach her?"
Lucrecia cringed visibly at this. Alakini gave her a concerned glance, but continued.
"We have to be sure that she's the right one. Sailor Naboo has a very important role as a senshi. As for Sailor Ursa, we believe she has not enrolled yet. Your... relative, Alexus Maula, is from Ursa, but she's far to young to be the person we have in mind."
The felinx ahemed.
"You are dismissed."
The senshi looked at each other and carefully filed out of the room.
. back .