Lunar Base (two years ago):

The transport shuttle landed with a none too graceful thud just outside the docking bay. It was a miracle it had landed at all, the hull barely being held together. The Senshi had been on a reconnaissance mission to the outer reaches of the Martian system. Reports had come in of an alliance between a discontent Martian faction and the forces of Metaria. The Senshi had been monitoring the activity mainly located around the village of Pavonis in the western hemisphere and it had been long suspected that some of the more war like Martian tribes would abandon the cause of the Moon Kingdom and join the forces of Metaria which seemed to be growing stronger every day. The ever encroaching threat of Metaria's forces weighed heavily on the mind of the Queen and she began to fear desperately for her Kingdom's safety. The alliance with the Martians was volatile enough at the best of times and now with the added darkness the situation was becoming desperate.

Queen Serenity had sent the Senshi out to gather information in their civilian forms. She had stressed that there was no need to call attention to their presence and that it might only serve to further aggravate the situation. The mission began smoothly and it was decided that Ami and Makoto would stay behind in the transport shuttle to take long range readings while Minako and Rei ventured into the village to observe first hand how the Martian soldiers were behaving. It was unknown to Minako or the other Senshi that Rei held a particular fondness for the village of Pavonis having spent much time there working with the people when she was just a young acolyte in the Temple of Fire. Minako always stressed to her Senshi that when it came down to their duty to the Moon Kingdom and their princess that they could not let their former allegiances have too much influence on their actions. But the scene that they encountered upon arriving in Pavonis was one of pure devastation.

Most of the buildings had been reduced to rubble and the street was littered with the charred remains of what Minako could only hope were not people. The site was appalling. The survivors huddled together on the street clinging to any shelter or food they could get their hands on. Something terrible had happened here and it wasn't long before they discovered the cause of the destruction. Minako and Rei had cautiously picked their way through the village, being careful not to make too much contact with the remaining inhabitants. Minako was well aware of the emotions stirring within her fellow Senshi and she could only hope that their training would be enough to force Rei to use her good judgement and avoid any altercations.

When they came to the outskirts of the village what they found could only serve to further enrage the Martian Senshi. The soldiers that had previously been stationed to protect Pavonis where currently engaged in an extremely dubious activity that Minako could only suspect was ordered by Metaria. The two Senshi watched as the Soldiers methodically lead villagers towards a beacon of black light. After stepping foot into the beacon the villagers would let out a blood curdling cry and then crumple to the ground only to be tossed into a ever growing pile of bodies.

It was this that caused Rei to snap. With no regard for Minako's command Rei transformed in a flash of red light and charged head first into the group of soldiers letting loose volley after volley of flaming retribution. Mars made short work of the soldiers attending the beacon, but it didn't take long for reinforcements to come in from beyond the hill outside of the village. Transforming into Venus, Minako stormed over to her delinquent second in command and grabbed her by the collar roughly pulling her away from the advancing troops. Ice was in her eyes as she glared at the fire Senshi and placed a call on her communicator to Ami and Makoto requesting an emergency evacuation.

After boarding the transport ship at a dead run the four Senshi took off from the Martian surface while warding off a ground based counter strike. The Martian's had been supplied with stronger weapons as a benefit of their new partnership with Metaria and they were able to cause considerable damage to the transport ship before it was able to reach an altitude that their weapons could not fire at. The long trip back to the Moon Kingdom was spent in a deathly silence that was only shattered when the ship landed back at the palace. It was then that Minako unleashed her wrath.

"Do I even have to ask if you were thinking at all when you charged into that fray? Do you even know what you did?" The anger came off Minako in waves as she lunged at her second in command. There was a fire in her eyes that rivalled the sacred flame in the Fire Temple. "You killed men. You killed men that you couldn't even prove were truly guilty." Minako clenched and unclenched her fists at her side. She was sorely tempted to beat some sense into Rei but knowing that would accomplish nothing she instead took up an offensive stance and waited for what she was sure would be a brilliant response.

"They were killing those villagers! Who else do you think was responsible for that? You saw what they did to that village." Rei answered her commanders anger in kind. Not being one to back down from a fight, especially not one against the stubborn Venusian. "I knew some of those men. I worked alongside them to help build that village. Do you honestly think it would have been okay for me to just allow that to happen?"

"You know that what happened in your life before you became a guardian of the Princess cannot influence your decisions in these situations." Minako knew that Rei was looking for a fight. She knew that the Martian always resorted to these verbal back and forths to simply test Minako's strength as their leader. But she would not give the fire Senshi a fight today. "You can not know for certain that those soldiers were in control of their actions. We know that Metaria is capable of mind control." Minako continued to stare into Rei's eyes. She did not back down for a second, but her voice lowered to a terrifying calm. "You could have gotten us all killed. You could have ruined any chance that we had at discovering the purpose of that alliance." Minako could feel her resolve breaking. She was too tired to fight with the hot-headed Martian and she needed to see the Queen for a debriefing. Lowering her gaze from Rei's she turned to exit the transport ship. "What you did was reckless and irresponsible, I know that I have trained you to be smarter than that. I am suspending you from duty until I can discuss a proper punishment with Queen Serenity."

Rei opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by a look from Makoto. The Jovian placed a firm had on Rei's shoulder and held her back from the retreating Venusian. Before leaving the transport ship Minako turned to Ami, "I want you to compile any data you were able to collect, especially on that beacon. When you have finished you will join me in my debriefing with the queen. Make it quick" She smirked fondly at the Mercurian, knowing that the information was probably already organized with headings and footnotes. "Makoto." The Jovian tightened her hold on Rei's shoulder and nodded her head for Minako to continue. "Escort Rei to her room. Do not leave her side until I come get her." Rei's eyes sought out Minako's but the Venusian had already turned. Rei could see the pain in her aura. Minako was deeply hurt and disappointed, and Rei couldn't help but feel her stomach turn from knowing that she was the one who caused her to feel that way.

Mars Amazonis Planitia:

The wind had died down to a barely noticeable breeze. The desert was calm and so when the sound of falling rocks disturbed the still, Rei was roused from her meditations and immediately reached for a dagger. Quickly scanning her surroundings the former fire priestess noticed that her fire had seemed to burn away to embers long before she was called back to reality. Standing completely still she closed her eyes and tuned herself towards any more sounds that would break the quiet. It could simple have been a nocturnal desert animal. The rascrats are only active at this time of night and are known to be drawn to the smell of a campfire.

Clutching her dagger tightly in her fist, Rei made her way over to Artax to check on the supplies. And that's when she saw it. A family of rascrats where gathered around the feed bag she had left out for the sleeping desert horse. Rei had never seen a rascrat in person until now and she couldn't help but smile a little. When she was a child the soldiers in the palace would always tell stories of the rabid, carnivorous rascrats that only came out at night. There was a particular soldier, one of her father's favorites, who would always tell a story about how he lost three of his toes to a rascrat attack after he fell asleep with his boots removed. So it was with this memory that she watched the furry little cat-like creatures rummage in the feed back. Rei set her dagger down on a near by stone, the resulting clink alerted the mother rascrat to her presence and the entire family stood on their hind legs and stared at her with fear in their large eyes. Rei couldn't help but feel sorry for the little creatures knowing that this would probably be their best meal for a long time. And so she slowly reached down and spread a couple handfuls of the oats in front of the rascrats, picked up the feed bag and walked away.

Heaving a sigh of relief Rei returned to her spot in front of the fire, or at least what was left of the camp fire. Remembering what she had seen in her meditations before the intrusion, she shook her head lightly. It would be dawn soon, and they could not stay in one place for too long in the light of day. Now was the time for sleep and she could continue to reconcile her memories later.