The Minokichi touched down heavily onto the surface of Oniboshi for the second time. This time it was a much smoother landing than the near crash landing they had suffered before.

Oyuki looked out the window at the early morning sky. This time her beloved ship was in perfect shape, but she found herself just as grief stricken as before. Her face was expressionless as she gazed out the window at the heavily cratered landscape below. The neat little groups of shops and restaurants that had lined the streets around the spaceport were gone, wiped away in a brutal bombardment. A good number of her people had settled here amongst their new oni friends.

She did not yet know how many of her quickly dwindling race remained. Besides the few crewing the ship, she knew a good number had settled in the far northern ice caps, the frigid land reminding them of the planet they had left behind. Yet many had remained here, humbly selling and trading their wares as they had always done. She hoped that at least a few of these Neptunians had fled the area prior to the attack, but right now she had to assume that they were all gone.

"I want every available crewmember out there looking for survivors," Oyuki commanded her stunned bridge officers. "Please make sure the search is well organized until I rejoin you.

One of the officers approached timidly. "My Lady, may I ask what you intend to do now?" Usually the queen would be at the forefront of any efforts, providing both inspiration and courage to any whom got discouraged. Her calm in the face of any crisis was invaluable in such times.

"I shall require a little while by myself," Oyuki stated in the same neutral tone she always kept. "Please take care of things in the meantime."

The officer nodded. "I understand, My Lady. We will oversee things in your place." She bowed and took her leave, beckoning for the rest of the room to follow.

As soon as the last person had left the bridge, Oyuki sunk wearily into a seat, her hand over her eyes. It was hard remaining so calm in times like this, but she just couldn't bear to let her subjects see her lose her composure. They relied on her so much these days, and she knew she had to stay strong for them.

At times like this even her façade crumbled. A light layer of frost soon covered every surface of the bridge. She was glad the electronics were well waterproofed because there really wasn't anything she could do to prevent the ice from forming. Her powers were tied heavily to her moods and she was not in complete control of herself right now. The Neptunian queen quickly realized it would be a good idea to leave the bridge until she was able to calm down again.

Opening a tunnel through subspace at random, Oyuki emerged into an empty field, perhaps ten or so miles from the ship. After making sure she was alone, she finally let out her frustration. A bitter scream echoed through the air as innumerable ice spears formed from the water in the air. They wove a tight pattern around her, clustering ever more tightly until she was completely incased within.


Tsuukai was deftly crawling through the remains of yet another destroyed building when she thought she heard a faint noise. She frowned. The settling rubble was often noisy, but this had sounded more like a moan. The firefighter carefully worked her way in a bit deeper, hoping the mostly collapsed roof would hold just a bit longer.

Over her headset she could here her husband muttering worriedly about how this place wasn't safe. She growled softly. Of course it wasn't safe, but that didn't mean it didn't need to be checked out. She knew if Hinoban's shoulders hadn't been too wide to enter the partially obstructed entrance to the structure, he would have been in here himself.

She groaned as she went deeper in without finding anyone. Hundreds of rescue teams had been hard at work ever since the battle ended, hunting for people trapped in the wrecked buildings of the capitol. While at first they had a great success, as the hours went on and the night had passed, finding survivors had become more and more rare.

The muffled noise once again sounded. Tsuukai made her way into yet another room and looked around, her headlamp barely illuminating the dark chamber. It appeared that she was in some sort of office, judging by the desks and chairs scattered about. The roof had partially caved in near the back, but she could still plainly see that the room was empty. She was just about to move on when her light bounced back at her from something on the floor next to the jumble of desks that filled the rear of the chamber.

The oni made her way in carefully, curious to see what it was. As she drew closer, her brow furrowed as she realized that it was a pair of eyeglasses like the earthlings sometimes wore. Oni didn't need such, having long ago perfected corrective eye surgery. She stared sadly at the one remaining lens for a moment, knowing that only one person would have been wearing these.

A faint scraping noise sounded from behind the desks. Tsuukai's eyes widened, realizing she had found the source of the noise. She pocketed the broken glasses and gingerly tugged at one of the desks, hoping she wouldn't dislodge anything in the process. It was lodged pretty tight, but she decided to go ahead and use some more force. With a squeal it finally gave way, revealing a hollow area behind it. Thick dust spewed out and the partially collapsed ceiling groaned mightily. Luckily it was still holding up.

She winced as she caught sight of the prone body that was revealed. It was the earthling, just as she had feared, and he didn't look to be in good shape. She quickly examined him and noticed that one of his legs was caught under the rubble. It appeared the poor man had attempted to make some sort of protective shelter out of several desks, but a couple had been crushed when the ceiling caved in.

He moaned once again, and she let out a sigh of relief. The way he looked she hadn't been sure that he was still holding on.

Putting her finger on her headset, she reported in. "Hey, I've got a live one down here. It's Moroboshi, and he's not in great shape."

"Roger," her husband responded, his voice suddenly dead serious. "Are you able to extract? I don't like the look of this place."

"Negative," she replied. "His leg is buried." She sighed. "We're too deep to attempt to lift off any rubble, aren't we?"

"Yeah, there's no way," Hinoban affirmed, rechecking his scan of the building. "The remaining structure is way too unstable."

"I guess I don't have any choice then," she replied decisively. "I doubt we could have saved his leg anyways."

Tsuukai sighed. She knew it was futile, but she grabbed the earthling's thigh and pulled back as hard as she dared. Moroboshi suddenly screamed out in pain, and then lapsed back into unconsciousness. She laid him back down carefully and examined the leg more closely. There was clearly no way she was going to be able to extract it. And from the look of things, the quicker she could get him out of here the better.

Reaching into the bag strewn across her back, she quickly fumbled out the medical kit she always carried for missions like this. She didn't know how the alien's body would react to the painkillers she had, but there really wasn't much choice. Slipping a needle onto the syringe, she made sure the other devices she needed were ready and close at hand. If she was going to get him out alive, she would have to work quickly. She really wished they had a fully trained medic on hand to do this kind of thing, but there just weren't enough to go around.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Moroboshi," she said tenderly as she gave him the injection. "There's just no other way."


"You found my husband?" the distraught earthling woman demanded, her voice bordering on panic. "Is he ok?"

Hinoban looked away, his face solemn. He hated to be the one breaking the news to her, but Tsuukai still had her hands full elsewhere. He'd gotten the unpleasant task of finding Moroboshi's wife at the emergency shelters they had set up on the outskirts of the city. "Well, he's not in critical condition," he finally replied, "but his right leg was crushed. There was no choice but to amputate."

Mrs. Moroboshi's eyes grew wide as she sunk back into her seat. "This can't be happening!" she bawled.

The oni laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Mrs. Moroboshi. He was really lucky to come out of there alive."

She looked up at him, her face streaked with tears. "How bad is it?"

"We were able to amputate the leg right below the knee." He paused for a moment. "I understand that earth prosthetics are fairly primitive, but we've got much better ones here. Once he recovers, he'll be up and walking around again pretty quick."

That seemed to calm her down just a little. "Can I see him?" she asked softly, trying to regain her composure.

"We'll go see if he's ready for visitors in a second," Hinoban replied, taking a bottled drink from one of the passing volunteers. "He was unconscious for a while, but they've got him stabilized and on good pain medication, so he won't be feeling anything."

He looked down at the ground while he drank, feeling irrationally guilty. Fighting raging fires was more of his forte; he'd never been particularly good at this kind of thing. However they had both agreed that it would be better for someone that knew the couple to break the news.

"Have you heard anything at all about Ataru or Lum?" she finally asked, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

Hinoban started. With this whole ordeal, he had totally forgotten the good news they had received over the radio. "Oh, sorry," he quickly apologized, "I thought someone would have let you know already. Your son and Lum-chan were both found a little while ago. It sounds like they are both fine."

She put her hand to her heart, relieved that the two had made it through yet another ordeal. "Thank you," she replied sincerely. "That's a huge worry off my mind."

"They're good kids," Hinoban commented, listening to his headset. As soon as he was done here, it sounded like he was going to be needed further downtown. "Come on, Let's go on down to the medical tents and see if they'll let you in," he told her as he mounted his airbike. She climbed on gingerly behind him, glad that she had worn jeans.

"Hold on, this thing kicks a little," he warned her, gunning it up to top speed. She shrieked, but managed to hold on.


"Dear, how are you feeling?" Mrs. Moroboshi asked him the second they were left alone.

"I'm ok," her husband answered in a weak voice. She could tell he was heavily drugged, but he still seemed to be pretty aware of his surroundings. "Did you get hurt any?"

She wondered if he had noticed the scratches on her cheek and forehead. "It's nothing serious," she said, putting her hand hesitantly on his arm. "Our apartment got banged up a little, but I got out ok."

"I'm glad to hear that," he said, barely managing to crack a smile. "It seems like we can't have a place anywhere that doesn't get all messed up somehow."

She smiled, remembering how accident-prone their little home back in Tomobiki was. "I know," she agreed. "But that's not really important."

He squinted at her, and she realized his ever-present glasses were missing. "Oh dear, did you lose your glasses?" she fussed.

He pointed vaguely towards a nearby machine, where the lost glasses were residing. She picked them up and was disappointed to see that the frame was twisted and one lens was missing. "Now where are we going to find an optician on this planet?" she worried. "I don't think I've seen anyone else wearing glasses."

"I don't know," he answered worriedly. He swallowed heavily and looked down towards the foot of the small portable bed they had placed him in. "They told me they had to remove half my leg," he suddenly said, starting to get upset.

"Yes, dear, they told me," she replied, quickly returning to his side. "Are you in any pain?"

"I can't really feel anything," he admitted. "I mean, it feels like it's still there even, but it's just not."

She squeezed his arm carefully. "It'll be ok," she cooed. "Hinoban said they have really good prosthetic legs here. They'll get you all fixed up before you know it."

"Yeah," he mumbled, still staring down towards where his foot would have been. "They told me that too."

She smiled. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you until you're back up again," she assured him.

He smiled back gratefully. "Thank you, dear." Leaning his head back, he suddenly frowned again. "Have you heard from Ataru yet?"

"No, but I heard that he and Lum are both ok," she hastily assured him.

"That's good," he replied. "I feel really bad about their wedding."

She looked down sadly. "I know. It was in only three more days, after all." She looked back at him. "I kept expecting it to be Ataru that would ruin it, you know? I just didn't expect something like this would happen."

He nodded his head. "Being serious though, do you think Ataru will really go through with it this time?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I think he will." She'd been watching her son for years now, and after the longest childhood she'd ever seen, he was finally starting to act his age. "He's really in love with her, you know."

"Yeah, he is," her husband agreed. "Took him long enough to figure it out though."

She giggled. "He always was a bit stubborn."


Oyuki checked her reflection carefully, making sure that not a single hair was out of place. Satisfied that everything looked ok, she stepped out of her private chambers and took the lift down to the ground floor. It just wouldn't do for anyone to know what she had been up to.

Leaving the ship, she found a small but efficient command center had been set up outside. She briskly greeted the officer in charge. "I apologize for my untimely absence, but I am ready to resume command. What is the current situation?"

Her officer bowed. "My Lady, we've been in close contact with the rescue groups from both the Third Fleet and the civilian sector. It appears that most of the damage and rescue efforts are currently centered around the capitol." She paused for a moment, her face downcast. "Several groups already searched this area during the night, but no survivors were found. We have most of the crew out trying to shift through the rubble for bodies."

Oyuki nodded slightly. Judging from just looking at the extensive damage done to the entire area, she had expected this.

"However," the officer continued, "Quite a few ships did leave the area before the attack. Almost all of the Neptunian private merchant ships evacuated the site, and several civilian ships as well."

Only a glimmer in Oyuki's eyes betrayed her reaction. "That is very good news," she simply replied. "What do you estimate our casualties at?"

"The numbers are still changing, but we think around fifty-nine of our people were unable to escape in time."

Oyuki nodded slightly. "I am grateful to hear that at least some escaped." She looked away for a few seconds, torn between being thankful that the numbers weren't higher and feeling mournful for the many lives lost.

The young queen turned back, cold determination back in her eyes. "Send word, I want all of our citizens to be back here by tomorrow." She turned and looked across the barren landscape that had once been a thriving port town. "Please have the crew continue with the recovery operations. It is of the utmost importance that we locate any of our fallen kin."

She paused for a long moment, quickly planning things out in her head. "Also, inform the governor that I am going to be organizing a public wake for all those that have been lost, Oni or Neptunian. If he wants to participate, he is welcome to."

Her officer bowed low. "I shall see that your orders are known, My Lady," she promised solemnly. Oyuki bowed back slightly, appreciative of her highly competent crew. They relied heavily on her for direction at times, but even in her absence they were an impressive group.


High above the planet, the Doji drifted peacefully in orbit. Invader, furiously skimming through the last few pages of a report, suddenly looked up.

"Jirettai," he called out.

"Yeah, boss?" the Lt. Commander answered.

"What's the current status on the repairs to those two carriers?"

"The Kozuna is in really bad shape still," his subordinate replied. "Priority has been given to repairing the Lamu since the damage isn't as serious."

Invader nodded patiently, already knowing this. He decided to get right to the point. "Is the Lamu's number five engine at all salvageable?"

"No sir," Jirettai replied. "The engineers are saying that the damage to the ion drive system is too extensive.

The oni warlord quickly made his decision. "Strip that engine off the Kozuna and transfer it over. Make it a top priority."

"Sir, the Kozuna already has three engines shot," Jirettai reminded him. "Are you planning to scrap her?"

Invader waved his objection down. "That'll leave two good engines still," he replied. "That's more than enough to keep her in orbit for a few years. I'm more concerned with getting the Lamu back in fighting condition." He hated to give up on one of their precious few capital ships, but the carriers were already vulnerable enough without losing what little speed and maneuverability they had.

"Anyways, we lost enough interceptors that we can redistribute the Kozuna squadrons between our remaining two carriers and the battleships, right?"

Jirettai quickly did the calculations. "Just barely," he replied.

"Try not to break up any squadrons," Invader commented. "As soon as we get a landing base rebuilt planet side, we'll be redistributing them again anyways.

"Gotcha, boss," Jirettai confirmed, dashing off the relay the orders.

Invader sighed. They might have broken the blockade, but the fleet was in bad shape. Three battleships were good for nothing but parts; two others were severely damaged and would require months of repairs. By salvaging what they could, they had thirteen operating battlecruisers left out of their original twenty-one.

Of the thirty-three large ships that had left Oniboshi, only nineteen would be battle ready anytime soon. Under these conditions, with Oniboshi's fledgling shipyards in ruins, it could easily be years before they could muster enough force to do anything more than defend the system.

Luckily he was pretty sure that Uru had similar concerns. The First and Fourth Fleets had suffered even higher losses, and the remainder of the Second Fleet would undoubtedly be recalled soon. Uru had too many other enemies to risk leaving themselves so lightly protected. He just hoped they hadn't done any damage to Earth in the meantime. Earth's satellite network was still unreachable.

"Jirettai?" He called out once more.

"Yeah?"

"Once you get those orders put in, inform Commander Atogama that he's in charge." Invader said. "I'm going down to visit my family and attend the wake." He paused for a moment and grinned knowingly. "I'll bet you are itching to see that little lady of yours too, am I right?"

"Yes sir!" Jirettai responded cheerfully.


The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly overhead as the ceremony began. Oyuki resisted the urge to shade her eyes as she stepped out of the dark tent. If ever she needed to stay focused and calm, this was the time.

Walking up the steps of the small podium built for this occasion, Oyuki suddenly began to feel a touch of stage fright for the first time in her life. Speaking to her own people, that was something she was used to. However the audience that awaited her dwarfed the numbers she usually spoke before.

Across the fields to the north of the former spaceport, a vast crowd had assembled to mourn all those lost during the Urusein attacks. Oni, Nikusui, and Neptunians alike from across the planet were present to show their respects. As Oyuki gazed out at the immense gathering, her nervousness reached a new peak.

It was comforting to see many familiar faces besides her subjects in the crowd. Lum's various family members had been placed up front of course, as well as Ataru's by extension. An unusually subdued looking Ran was sitting a few rows back next to her mother, and Oyuki was pleased to see Rei sitting calmly beside the neurotic redhead.

Trying to push aside her fear, she stepped up to the microphone. "Thank you all for coming here on this decidedly less than pleasant occasion," she began solemnly. "We speak today not only as the sovereign queen of the Neptunian people, but as a grateful inhabitant of this very hospitable world."

She continued speaking, barely managing to keep her composure. "We have gathered here on this day to mourn the passing of many dear friends. Seven days ago a great tragedy took place on this planet, not only in this spot, but also in cities across the globe. We know few families here have gone untouched by these senseless deaths."

Oyuki paused for a few moments, gaining confidence as she panned across the multitudes. "We wish for you also to remember the many valiant soldiers who were lost protecting all of us. Their ultimate sacrifice is the only thing that allows any of us to even be here on this beautiful day."

Her neutral expression unexpectedly changed into a sad smile. "We realize that this has been a very difficult time for everyone, but We do wish for you all to also remember that while the cost was dear, none of these lives were given in vain. The planet Oniboshi remains free from unjust tyranny. The blockade that has hemmed us in and closed the trade routes to this planet has been broken. And the invasion of the planet Earth has been diverted for the present."

Oyuki paused again to take a deep breath, glancing to her nearby ladies for support. "Sadly, while these are tremendous victories, many obstacles remain in our path. The rift between our peoples and the planet Uru remains great. While they have been forced away from our systems, the danger they pose still exists. Though We dearly miss our home planet, we know the risk is too high to return at this time."

She nodded her head at the Governor. "Governor Kakari has informed me that we Neptunians are welcome to stay on this planet as long as we so desire. Though We dwell now in a land far different than the one we have departed, We enjoy the comfort of having many good friends and allies here. We want to thank all of you citizens of Oniboshi for the warm welcome we have received."

Oyuki slightly bowed her head for a moment, then stepped back, allowing the Governor to take the stage. As she settled demurely in a seat nearby, she finally attempted to relax. She had rewritten what she was going to say a dozen times and still felt that perhaps it had not been good enough. Regardless it was over, and she felt that she had at least expressed her feelings clearly.