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Seattle, the site of Saint Christina's Hospital, Tuesday, three hours after midnight (Tōkyō time: Tuesday, two hours after supper)...

"You...can't do...this...!"

Staring at the struggling elderly man as he was telekinetically lifted out of his wheelchair by one angry reborn missile cruiser — at least, Naomi Haight-Ashbury seemed to be angry in people's eyes — the reborn flagship of the Asiatic Squadron at Manila Bay over a century before moved to lean over the gasping Adrian Conrad's pale face. "Mister Conrad, I don't think you comprehend the sheer level of crimes you've committed against innocent Americans," Julia Dewey said in a voice that would frighten the hell of the nastiest Marine drill sergeants working at Quantico. "You DELIBERATELY allowed over a THOUSAND innocent people to be possessed by lar'beke of all things...and for WHAT?! Just because you believe samples of their blood would save your life?! Don't you know a damned THING about those snakes and how they can easily pass on their knowledge to their young, you selfish idiot?!"

The native of Ontario near Los Angeles who turned a computer technical firm into a diverse holding company with hands in many industries shuddered as he tried to fight the Cosmic All-Seer's powers, his eyes glowing infrequently as the symbiote within him — obtained from Russian sources as the leader of the Sweet Valley Boosters just discovered while probing into the computer located in the corner of this meeting hall in the former hospital where he had resided since he dropped out of public view a year before — tried to seize control of his body so it could confront the accursed Orak'nou directly. "You don't...understand! I'm...trying...to help...people...!" he croaked. "Please...it's not just me, Admiral...!"

A disbelieving snort escaped the reborn Olympia. "A very likely story," the silver-haired adopted native of the capital city of the Evergreen State declared before she looked over. "How are those records coming, Madame Academician?" she asked the younger woman present. "The President wishes to have as much information concerning this NID group and how much the lar'beke have infiltrated them."

"As usual, these people don't bother to code anything in their systems to guard against potential internal discovery," Elizabeth Wakefield stated as her field PAA went to work probing the computer, trying not to lift her goggles to rub her eyes; at this rate, she knew she was going to have to get used to sleepless nights for the rest of the week. Fortunately, this particular station holding her attention was directly linked to BOTH the Zeditron corporate mainframe and the secure network used by the National Intelligence Directorate. "It seems they got the same disease so many other fools in this galaxy have when it comes to 'less advanced' societies such as ours." Sensing the shipgirls in Julia's force gaze curiously at her — the cruiser had to beat back a few of those who had been Gifted over the previous day who wanted to come with her when she was ordered by Josiah Bartlet to halt Conrad's efforts in researching Goa'uld healing capabilities — the honours high school senior smirked as she looked at Julia. "They think that since normal members of the Air Force don't understand what Goa'uld can do, there's no need to take precautions," she added as her eyes flicked to the holographic screen showing the results of one scan. "Turns out, these people had working links to Athena's subordinates."

"'Thena herself is cool, Liz," Naomi reminded her. "When Ōsaka did the Infinite Wave back in August to get rid of all the squares from Phentax Two, 'Thena got exposed and that rotting stuff in her body got replaced by meson." As Elizabeth gazed on her, the Cosmic All-Seer added, "Don't know about her buds, but the grand-kid of E's old chief boats was pretty okay with having 'Thena inside her head..."

"What the hell does all THAT mean?!" Michelle Porter demanded.

"It means that Athena is practically now a Tok'ra, Michelle," the lawyer's daughter answered.

Derisive snorts escaped several of the ad-hoc destroyer squadron who accompanied Julia to the recently-closed Saint Christina's Hospital. On storming the premises and questioning those of the night shift who were there, they learned the building was bought by Zeditron two years ago to allow research to be done to save its CEO from dying of complications from Berchart's Syndrome, a more lethal version of HIV that was both rare and incurable. Amid researching many other things the National Intelligence Directorate wanted looked at, Elizabeth was now discovering. "Which means she CANNOT be eaten if we run into her anytime in the future, girls!" she added as she wagged her finger at the destroyers in the room. "She'll be given the chance to undergo a body swap with the Avalonians' help, alright."

"Don't trust them, Doc," Janey Morrison, the reborn eighty-ninth of the Fletcher-class destroyers, who was sunk by kamikazes during the Okinawa campaign in 1945, warned. She was salvaged and Gifted — as had other American warships lost in Operation: Iceberg — at the same time their fleet mates who had been scuttled in home waters returned to duty. "I dunno know about these things..." She yelped as Rose Johnston rubbed the other girl's head. "Hey! Johnny!" the adopted native of the Emerald Isle (where her namesake Coxswain John G. Morrison was born), the Big Apple (where he died) and the Emerald City (where she was built) croaked before she bashed her sister's hand away.

"She's E's admiral, Morrie! She's never steered E wrong!" Rose advised.

"Give the new ones time, Rose," Julia declared...

...before footfalls made people's heads snap over just as the double doors to Conrad's suite were kicked open by a pair of teenage girls, both of whom were dragging in a dark-haired man with glowing eyes in a business suit, they followed by a young blonde woman in civilian clothes...and armed with a Lawgiver of all things! She kept it trained on the struggling prisoner while he was forced into a chair by Luanna Young and Heather Strong. The lady with the Zephyrite particle pistol was personally being escorted by another reborn Fletcher-class destroyer, Hannah Tingey. "Ladies, report!" Julia demanded before her eyes focused on the woman accompanying some of her escorts. "Who's this?!"

As a smirking Hannah wrapped her arm around the prisoner's neck in a headlock, the pale-eyed Luanna smiled. "This is Lieutenant Claire Tobias of the Air Force, Commodore," she announced. "She was part of an NID research team based out of the basement here who were trying to study the lar'beke's gear when she found out about the snakes getting into the heads of a shit ton of her friends. The snake here..." — the adopted native of Lexington in Kentucky whose namesake was a captain during the Caribbean campaigns in the Spanish-American War jutted her jaw towards their prisoner — "...was trying to get one of its buds into her head during the first watch tonight. She stunned him with her pistol, then kept him down until we showed up before turning her prisoner over to us, ma'am."

Julia nodded. "Well done, Lieutenant," she affirmed, making the younger woman flush at such praise. "We'll deal with this one. Naomi, can you tell if this fellow's real mind is still in there?"

"Yeah, Little O, he's there..."

Frank Simmons gargled as the symbiote that had been inserted into him was yanked out of his body, making the native of Philadelphia collapse onto the meeting table gasping for air after Hannah let him go. As said creature was snared by Michelle and shoved into a special stasis bucket given to her by the Wise Sage of the Circle of Thought, a sneering Tobias shot him with a Level 12 bolt of energy, knocking him out. "You fucking traitor!" the native of Richmond in Virginia snarled as she lowered her weapon while the shipgirls in the room gave her curious looks even if Naomi nodded in understanding. "Beg your pardon, Admiral," she declared after straightening herself and saluting Julia.

"Lieutenant, would you care to explain?" the reborn protected cruiser wryly prompted.

"Yes, ma'am," the younger woman said as she held out her weapon for Luanna to take after switching on the safety. "I joined the NID straight out of security forces officer training. They told me about what the SGC was doing and how they were trying to get hold of technology from other peoples to help in the planet's defence. I was PROUD to join that sort of thing since the boys in Cheyenne Mountain seemed to be concentrating more on making friends and not guarding against any sort of infiltration by aliens." She sneered at the man she just stunned unconscious. "After the damned horn-heads showed up last fall, Colonel Simmons here asked me to join a group who would expand tech gathering operations beyond what the SGC were doing. The colonel told me that folks under General Hammond's command seemed to be pussy-footing around people in their missions off-planet, so we had to work fast to get things done and get tech on line in case things in Japan blew up in people's faces."

"The President never authorized that, Lieutenant," Elizabeth warned. "In fact, at the recommendation of both General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill, any sort of tech theft was directly FORBIDDEN!"

The Virginian blinked, then she seemed to deflate. "Then I turn myself in to your custody to await charges, Commodore," she said. "I'm prepared to give evidence concerning people like the colonel who were willing to work with the enemy to get hold of tech the general's people wouldn't touch."

Julia blinked. "You'll remain under Commander Young's custody until we get you over to General Hammond for the time being, Lieutenant," she bade. "Wake that man up please, Naomi," she asked the reborn missile cruiser, who curtly nodded before she made a gesture with her hand, that causing Simmons to gargle in shock as his eyes flew open. "I want to hear his side of the story."

More coughing escaped the Pennsylvanian pilot-turned-intelligence officer as the raven-haired Hannah prepared to get physical in case the man tried to bolt. As he sat up to gaze around the room, he then froze on seeing a VERY familiar brown-haired woman standing there in her rather colourful uniform. "Captain Haight-Ashbury..." he breathed out. "What the hell are YOU doing here...?"

"Papa J asked me and my friends to come, Frankie," the adopted native of Long Beach warned. "What the hell kinda screwed up stuff have YOU been doing, man? Talking to the damned snakes of all things to get some new toys to play with? How the hell have you been doing that, anyway? Only Stargates on the planet are in NORAD's old HQ and in P'yŏng'yang, dude. What's going down, man?"

Simmons' eyes went wide. "P'YŎNG'YANG?!" he exclaimed. "How the hell did the NORTH KOREANS get one of them?! Was that the damned Stargate that was in Antarctica?! What the hell is...?!"

"BELAY THAT, COLONEL!"

He jolted as his eyes locked on the rather aged teenager in the flowing robe-like uniform — with the single stars of a Navy rear admiral on her top, never mind she bearing the heavy amount of gold striping on her lower sleeves marking the highest rank ever awarded to a sailor — now glaring at him. Seeing the name on her ship's crest, he felt a gulp surge up his throat as what he — and the being that had been inside his head — saw the previous evening came back. "Admiral Dewey..." he hesitantly greeted.

"Commodore," Julia coldly corrected. "And if you don't want to spend the rest of your life in the brig — or face execution at Leavenworth after a court martial on TREASON charges is carried out and you're condemned — you better start talking about how many of your group have been taken over by the Goa'uld. My friend here..." — she waved to Elizabeth, who was now staring at him, turning to show off her uniform, that making Simmons' eyes go VERY wide — "...has access to people who could probe your MIND to give us the answers we need. Since you were possessed by one of the lar'beke — and I think you realize now where we got our new hulls over the last while — you know how easy that can be since Madame Academician here has quite the large squadron of people under her command."

The Pennsylvanian blinked as he considered that, then he sat back in his chair. "How long?"

"How long what?" Julia asked.

"How long have the Orak'nou..." He caught himself. "Sorry! The Yizibajohei been here?"

"Since the spring of 2001, Colonel," Elizabeth answered.

He blinked before a moan escaped him. "No wonder they're scared."

"Who exactly?" Julia demanded. "The lar'beke who was inside you? Did it have a name?"

"Arachne."

The reborn cruiser hummed as Naomi forced the still-floating Conrad back into his chair, keeping him silent with her powers. "If I recall Ovid's poem Metamorphoses correctly, Arachne was a weaver who tried to challenge Minerva — Athena as the Greeks knew her — to a contest, then was bested and beaten when she proved to be better than the goddess of wisdom." As people in the room gaped at the cruiser's knowledge, she looked over. "What do your people know, Madame Academician?"

"Arachne's a scientist who normally works with most of the known namesakes of the Greek and Roman gods, Commodore," Elizabeth answered. "Rare to see her possess a male body since she normally was female, at least at last report...but that dates back two centuries, after the last major Casting Change."

"Athena poisoned Arachne's old host body after she was cleansed by whatever the hell happened in August that turned her into a Tok'ra," Simmons added as he seemed to deflate, stunned that all his work had not been necessary thanks to the Children of the Forge being on Earth. "She was rescued by allies who've worked with her over the years: Medusa, Parthenos, Aphaea and Alea. They couldn't find a suitable woman's body, so I got chosen when I approached Medusa in hopes of getting technology we could use against the Oni and their friends once what happened in Japan was made public in April. The Goa'uld don't care for the Oni as Miss Academician knows, so they provided a Stargate they salvaged from a world named Arbella in secret for our use. It's in Utah; the south part of the Test and Training Range close to the Army's Dugway Proving Ground. Totally sealed from outside observation."

"It must have been during one of the times my friends and I were away from Earth doing things back on Yiziba," Elizabeth noted. "Discovery's sensors could pick out any Goa'uld ship even if they found a way to cloak themselves from observation by any of the surrounding powers."

Julia hummed. "Madame Academician, contact our Avalonian friends." As Simmons and Tobias both blinked in confusion, she stared at the reborn USS William D. Porter. "Michelle, we won't eat that one you just put in that box Madame Academician gave you. I want to have some discussions with this particular one about what their operations here on Earth were all about."

"Um...begging your pardon, Commodore, but who are the Avalonians?" Tobias wondered.

"The Goa'uld would call them Kal'ma Ra'kalach, Lieutenant," Elizabeth stated.

Both NID officers found their jaws now down around their ankles...

Across the Pacific on Ōmure-jima, at Welcome House...

"Gochisō-sama deshita!"

"Mas'iss'ŏss'sumnida!"

"Es hat uns sehr gut Geschmeckt!"

"Era tutto buonissimo!"

"Býlo óchen' vkúsno!"

"C'était délicieux!"

"Thank you for the meal!"

Standing by the barbecue pit which had been used to cook over two THOUSAND Goa'uld symbiotes for this gathering of shipgirls from across the planet, the blonde, blue-eyed twenty-something in the traditional uniform coloured in the red-white-blue of the Lone Star State with a newly-designed badge over her heart blushed as she bowed her head. "Shucks! Wasn't nothing at all!" Emily Austin, the reborn second of the New York-class super-dreadnoughts, called back as she waved down the cheering from the people who got the chance to experience her first-ever eastern Texas barbecue cookout.

Fukushima Fujiko got to her feet. "THREE CHEERS FOR TEXAS-SEMPAI!"

"BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!" the other Japanese destroyers all chimed as one.

"MANSE! MANSE! MANSE!" Toyama Sumie's sisters from Korea echoed.

"HIP-HIP...HOORAY! HIP-HIP...HOORAY! HIP-HIP...HOORAY!" came from the British and Canadian Tribal-class and all the American destroyers who managed to make it to this wonderful feast.

The Italians wouldn't be overshadowed. "HIP-HIP...URRÀ! HIP-HIP...URRÀ! HIP-HIP...URRÀ!"

Nor would the French or Germans. "HURRA! HURRA! HURRA!"

Or the Russians for that matter. "URÁ! URÁ! URÁ!"

By now, the adopted native of Houston (in whose physical territory she had been docked as a monument since the Second World War) and Newport News (where she had been built) was as red as a ripe jalapeño pepper! "Hey! Hey! Y'all stop that now!" Emily bade as she waved down the screaming destroyers. "I ain't the only one who deserves all your cheers, remember?!"

Here, she indicated the Great Chef of the West. "Even if Hime wouldn't cook silly lar'beke, Emily-san, she gets enough cheers from Nii-sama and her sisters and all the shipgirls living here at Welcome House!" Osamu Shirayuki objected, wagging her finger at the adopted Texan. "Until more of those silly lar'beke show up so you can have them to eat, this was a special meal for all of them!"

"Oh, I agree with Sempai, Shirayuki-san!" Aoki Anna moaned in near-orgasmic joy after enjoying some barbecue symbiotes atop three helpings of poutine. As her division mate tried to keep her steady, the once-flagship of the Kidō Butai swayed as her whole body reverberated from such luscious helpings that was far superior to anything any of her crew ever enjoyed even during the height of peace.

Nearby, the senior shipgirls present at this evening picnic smirked before they moved to enjoy either tea or coffee, all quite full after an excellent meal like nothing any of their crews had ever experienced. "At least you were able to enjoy more food than all that seafood, seaweed and cloudberries you prefer, Yoiko-san," Matsubara Suzue noted as she gazed with concern at Itō Yoiko.

The seventh carrier of Operation Z lightly smiled. "Anything richer than that still unsettles my stomach, Suzue-san," she noted before sipping her tea. "But it would be horribly rude to both Shirayuki-san and Sempai to not partake in the feast they teamed up to make." She then gazed to her right to gaze on one of the two destroyers who were seated at this table. "Randi-san, you don't need to be nervous here. You represent your noble Dominion at this meeting. Given how much Canada has given to the defence of Earth over the previous century and more, you have every right to be seated with us."

Randi Stubbs chuckled in embarrassment as her sister Gharra Cresswell — who, as first of her class, represented the British Tribals at this meeting — squeezed her shoulder in support. "Respectfully, Captain, it should be Bobbi sitting here, not me!" the adopted native of Edmonton protested. "I mean, I just got back on duty — so to speak — not so long ago. Haven't even reported in to General Raeburn yet! How can I stand in for the shipgirls of Canada at a meeting here without being briefed on anything, huh?!" She moaned. "Never mind that they built a sister with my name after I got sunk...!"

"Oh, I'm sure the general will have ideas, Randi. After all, one of her closest friends is a properly trained Navy girl," Charlene Boleyn affirmed before sipping her tea. Since there were so many Goa'uld symbiotes to eat, practically every British shipgirl who came back in the wake of the return of the Lucky Woodpecker of Battle, Rimkuti ("Warspite"), had come to the picnic on Ōmure-jima.

"Yeah! Chill, Athabee," Kathy Hyde added. "If T-Bird shows up, she can give you the what's what real quick thanks to our secure comms." Here, the adopted native of Camden pointed to the side of her head. As the others nodded, America's most decorated battleship added, "Who knows! Maybe T-Bird could give you some clues as to what sort of admiral you can get for yourself."

She looked over to a nearby table, where a certain university professor was seated with several members of their host family, including Moroboshi Ataru. Seeing that, the other shipgirls smiled. "Recruited by apple pie," Charlene then quipped. "There's something truly American about that."

"Ja, you're right, Charlene," Luisa von Bismarck noted before sipping her coffee. "So, with most of our starship-selves ready for Friday's fun, all we have to do now is wait for the results of Tariko's operation to rescue her so-called 'wife' from this Rupa fellow." The adopted native of Schönhausen snorted. "I wonder if those Yaminokuni people practised bride kidnapping in their past."

"Rupa-dono's great-grandfather is dying of a disease similar to Alzheimer's, Luisa-san," Yoiko advised. "He wishes to see his affairs properly settled before he moves on to the next life. His issue with Traveller-taishō still weighs hard on him." She shook her head. "Which is odd given the Urusians' reputation for underhandedness and double-speak that looms over them all to this day."

"Oui, it is odd that he still wishes to push this," Susanne du Plessis de Richelieu noted from her place beside Roberta Ansaldo. The first of her class that were France's penultimate battleship design to see service sipped her cup of café au lait. "But that shouldn't bother us. Retrieving Yoiko's and Mutsuko's sister is the issue. Have you any ideas how we could proceed on this matter, Reiko?"

Yamamoto Reiko shook her head as Yoiko's sister Mutsuko gave the beautiful blonde adopted native of the City of Lights a grateful look. "I'm tempted just to storm that town, locate Yasuko-san and have her Gifted, then wait for the stalebloods who most likely deceived Yurie-sama like that to come to us, Susanne-san. Since no known forms of Earth magic which require a wand can hurt us, it would be the best path. With destroyers available to ensure no attempts at taking hostages or causing distractions, it should be done quickly, then we can send some beheaded corpses back to Geneva as a warning to never do that again." She shook her head as her countrymen savagely grinned. "Arrogant fools! Don't those people understand that crossing a living KAMI is just begging for trouble?!"

"They believe themselves the highest form of humanity on the planet, Reiko," Charlene warned. "You're actually surprised that they would do something like THAT to someone who's divinely touched?" She shook a finger. "Oh, NO! NEVER! I can guess how those dolts would view it. 'She's a muggle fraudster! There's no way that a mere MUGGLE could possibly be given THAT sort of power!'"

"Feh!" Mutsuko spat. "Didn't those idiots learn from what the metahumans did in the late war?"

"Stalebloods?! Learn something?! Not bloody likely!"

Rueful laughter escaped the others. "Speaking of such fools, what of Fudge, Charlene-san?" Yoiko asked. "It's been a day since Chikage-san deprived that gamanoke Umbridge of her useless head on the main lawn here. Surely by now, the news has got to Geneva to see that money-hungry slime rush back to London to try to find some new way to impose himself on Hogwarts and her charges."

"Director Bones is sitting on that information, Yoiko," the second of the Queen Elizabeth-class fast dreadnoughts answered. "Minister Fudge..." — the others all smirked on sensing the derision in the blue-eyed blonde's voice on speaking that title — "...left specific instructions that he was NOT to be disturbed unless it was channelled through the late Senior Undersecretary. Since she is now answering to God for the many crimes she committed against innocent people thanks to Lady Chikage, there's no way to get a message to the man. Even more so, as far as the staff at Hogwarts are concerned, the woman is missing. Lady Chikage said nothing to any of her professors as to what happened here." As people grinned, Charlene shrugged. "Professor Dumbledore and the others know the truth, of course..."

"But since Hogwarts has always operated effectively incommunicado from Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic, there's no realistic way for the reports of that creature's death to get to that yōma Voldemort's allies in the Wizengamot to pass on to Fudge, thus force him to continue disrupting his government's ability to properly respond to the threat he and his allies currently present," Yoiko finished.

"Don't worry about that, Yoiko. Both Her Grace and Her Ladyship are prepared to make their move when it's right to do such," the British fast dreadnought affirmed as she mentally sent out information to those who weren't in the know to get them updated. "It'll definitely be a good show, I believe."

Incredulous looks crossed the faces of the newcomers. "They all worship a KID who supposedly put this Volde-monkey down?" Kathy demanded. "What the hell was that about, Charlene?! The kid was in DIAPERS when Volde-monkey showed up! You sure it wasn't either of his parents who did that?!"

"Truthfully, it was Rose's mother who dealt with that creature, Katharine," Charlene stated. "But since she was a 'mudblood'..." — here, she made finger quotes with her free hand — "...it was not seen as proper to give her credit for putting down 'He Who Must Never Be Named'. So the credit was switched to Rose — as Harry — which forced Professor Dumbledore to have him hidden in the normal world for his safety." She shook her head. "Such a pity he didn't listen to Professor McGonagall when she warned him about what sort of rhabdophobes Rose's relatives are. If it wasn't for Lady Tariko, I shudder to think of how the poor child would have turned out when he finally came to Hogwarts."

The others nodded. "So who will go with you to Onomichi to look in on Yasuko, Reiko?" Roberta asked. "When exactly are you going to head down there? According to Ataru, Tariko should be back on Earth late tomorrow, so we need to be ready just in case Lum's people decide to race into the system to 'see to Miss Lum's safety'." Here, the adopted native of the Eternal City made her own finger quotes.

"Tomorrow morning before dawn, Roberta-san, subject to change," the reborn flagship of the Combined Fleet answered. "A quick move in and out of the city, with Yasuko-san coming out with us no matter what. I'll order anyone who accompanies me down there to do all to protect themselves and civilians in case there's any form of opposition." She sipped her tea, then gazed on Luisa.

Instantly, the world's most famous battleship blushed. "What is it?"

"Why is it people in Germany are having so much trouble accepting the return of schiffsmädchen like yourself, Luisa-san?" the adopted native of Hagi asked. "My own admiral knew that Admiral Lütjens had a Jewish relative. Even if there were the fanatics who supported Hitler in the Kriegsmarine, that was the least Nazi service of the whole Wehrmacht. Why drive you all into orbit?"

A disgusted snort answered her. "I don't honestly know, Reiko," the adopted native of Schönhausen breathed out. "Ja, it's good that the taint of those mörderische Schlägerschweinhunde is pretty much expunged from das Mutterland." Here, she used the term that was common in Prussia to refer to their homeland in lieu of Germany as a whole. "But the fear the people in the Reichstag..." Here, she caught herself. "Sorry! The Bundestag and the Bundesrat!" As the others nodded in understanding, the blonde fast battleship sighed. "Their fear of a possible Nazi resurgence is almost blinding in places. While I do understand that — look at the rise of neo-fascist groups in the old eastern states Russia once dominated — that they would tar the veterans of the Hochseeflotte with the same brush...!"

"Yes, Charlotte told me about that," Charlene noted. "Utterly shameful, especially in the face of all the threats we have to deal with now. Yes, there were the many prejudices against non-Germans back in her day, but not even His Imperial and Royal Majesty would EVER have contemplated what Hitler ultimately unleashed after he came into power! You people deserve to be living on Earth!"

"What if we push it?"

Eyes locked on Reiko. "Reiko-nē...?" her sister Chiyoko questioned.

"What do you have in mind, Reiko-san?" Yoiko asked.

The tactical leader of Japan's shipgirls gazed on the other member of the Yamato-class who was seated at this meeting, making the adopted native of Fuchū perk in confusion. "Mutsuko-san, Yasuko-san always seemed to express a lot of admiration for Luisa-san, did she not?" she then asked.

"Hai, Sempai, she did," Mutsuko affirmed with a nod.

"Where is this going?" Susanne wondered.

Reiko gazed at Luisa. "That starship version of you? Can it fly in atmosphere?"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"Are you INSANE, Reiko?!" the German battleship exclaimed, she barely keeping hold of her coffee cup. As Galína Grígorova-Jurkévich reached over to take the cup in hand, the adopted native of Schönhausen added, "Flying something over TWO KILOMETRES in length, displacing FORTY-SEVEN MILLION TONNES if it landed on water, is a holocaust just WAITING to happen! Don't you know how much air space is crowded these days?! Trying to close down those routes alone would be an issue...!"

"Oh, that'll be easy, Luisa-san."

Everyone perked, then they looked over...

"Frau Hatoyama..." Luisa whimpered.

Hatoyama Rinrin came up to stand close to their table along with several of her sisters. "Relax, Luisa-san!" the Technological Sorceress of the East affirmed. "Liz-chan, Tánja-chan, Rumiko-chan, Isaac-kun and I helped design those ships to fly in atmosphere AND land on water if necessary! We could call Tennō and ask him to pass on to the government that we need the airspace over Chūgoku and Shikoku cleared temporarily for worldwide defence purposes. It'll get done, then you can fly Bismarck right in from the south to go into a perfectly safe hover orbit right over Onomichi!" As Luisa just gaped in stunned disbelief at such a crazy idea, the younger girl gazed on one of her sisters. "Oi! Karen-chan, you and Haruka-chan can go talk to the Chancellor about this, can't you?" she then wondered.

"We don't want to be seen as being pushy, Rinrin-chan," Tenhiro Haruka warned.

"Rinrin...!" Luisa eeped.

"Oh, relax, Haruka-chan!" Tanenobu Karen assured the current incarnation of the Quarterstaff Mistress, Kaeku ("Fauchard"). "Even if they have to be circumspect about it, the Chancellor and the government in Berlin would understand doing that sort of thing now, seeing how close to Friday it is."

"Karen...!"

The native of Düsseldorf hummed. "Well, if you're sure about that..."

"Haruka...!"

"I'm more than sure," the Herald of Fight Scenes stated before turning to head into the rotunda. "I'll call Otō-chan and tell him about what the plan is. We better get the Air Self-Defence Force alerted since they'll need to clear airspace." And with that, the native of Odawara raced off.

Luisa watched her go, wondering how the devil this conversation had got out of control so quickly...

In hyperspace midway between Sol and Hika'aki, that moment...

"Um...you okay, Tariko?"

The Trickster of the Show perked before looking over. "Huh?"

"You seemed to perk up for a moment, Lady Tariko," Oyuki noted.

Hearing that from the crown princess of Neptune, Tariko Katabarbe chuckled. "Oh, that's just my prank sense acting up, Oyuki-chan," she explained as all the girls now aboard Aruka Ran's scoutship relaxed to enjoy the field rations that had been packed in with the bag that also contained the adopted native of Kabe-koli aboard an hour earlier. "Some of my sisters just played a prank on someone."

"Hope it was a good prank, at least," Shigaten Benten noted.

Redet Lum's three oldest friends giggled as they considered that before a weak voice echoed from nearby. "Pl-pl-please...it's t-t-too cold...pl-pl-please...!"

Four pairs of eyes focused on the frozen forms of five teenage boys lying on the deck nearby, they having been put into that state by Oyuki after Tariko had stormed into the cockpit to deliver some punishment to Lum's most passionate fans; the other man who had been aboard, Sei Rei, was unconscious on the couch nearby. While Tariko could be directly blamed for allowing herself to be caught like that — she used her own powers to morph into looking exactly like her brother just as the Stormtroopers ambushed her...even if her head still rung from the bricks used to knock her out two hours before — the fact that Mendō Shūtarō and his peers were hell-bent and determined to allow aliens to remain on Earth, especially Tariko's would-be "wife", couldn't be tolerated whatsoever.

"Well, that's just too bad, 'Toshi," Tariko noted. "Winters where I live on Yiziba can get colder than a Triton summer at times. And I've had to deal with a tonne of cryokinetics in all my lifetimes. You sit tight and relax." She held up a calorie bar, winking at her would-be rival. "By the way, Shūtarō, thanks for getting this stuff with the money MY family loans you all," she added, winking.

As moans escaped the boys, the other girls laughed. "Man! If you had your head screwed on straight before we met Elle, Tariko, you could've put the hurt on Slick here long before your sisters got involved," Benten said as she thumbed the idiots who thought they could pull a fast one on Tuyuki of all people.

"Why did you hold off on being Gifted in the first place, Lady Tariko?" Oyuki then asked.

"Oh, it was a promise to my late adopted mother to not accept the Gift until I was mature enough to fully absorb it into my soul," Tariko explained, earning her understanding nods from the other girls. "Even if I grew up a girl and not a boy — with all the joys the 'revenge of the Kami' give girls like us all the time — I owed Mama so much. Especially escaping Ofukun and Ofukuro."

As the boys blinked in curiosity despite the frostbite-inducing conditions they were now enduring, the girls nodded. "Yeah! I just wish I clued into things whenever I came to Earth to visit," Benten noted. "To believe that your grandma — who had connections to Noukiios and Zephyrus! — was willing to help those two ingrates because they had you and Kaeru so young, then got turned down!" She shrugged. "What the fuck was going through Kinshō's brain, Tariko?! If you're poor and someone's giving you a hand to keep a roof over your head, you damn hell would take that hand, wouldn't you?"

Tariko sighed. "I stopped trying to figure Ofukuro out a long time ago, Benten. Don't bother worrying about it anymore. Just be happy that Lum will be free of that mess once Mark gets involved and exorcises whatever is in her head, then you'll all be safe and free while we get our mess in order."

"'Mark'?" Benten, Oyuki and Ran asked as one.

"Mark Calaway," the Trickster of the Show answered. "The Undertaker!"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"Oh, my!" Oyuki gasped.

"NO FUCKING WAY!" Benten exclaimed. "HE'S GIFTED?!"

"AS WHAT?!" Ran demanded.

"The second-oldest battle line on Yiziba, girls," Tariko affirmed, she pointing to herself. "OUR Undertaker!" As the alien girls gaped at her — they all were quite aware of Terran professional wrestling since Benten and Ran were both rabid fans — the reality warper added, "He was Gifted after his thing with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXVI in Arizona. Shawn isn't Gifted yet, though."

"Then how in Kōri's Name does Calaway-sensei still...?!" Oyuki began before her eyes went wide. "Wait! You said the second-oldest battle line?!" At Tariko's nod, the crown princess breathed out. "Oh, my! That's Ruodeuto! The Master of the Dark Gaol of the Great Crystal of Power!" While her friends both gaped on hearing that, she chuckled in amusement. "How ironic...!"

"Yeah, Mark thought that too!" Tariko noted. "He uses magic to make himself look as if he would have been were he not Gifted; you know how easily mesonium regenerates a person's body, don't you?"

"Shit! Don't look farther than your granduncle or any of his crew mates!" Benten said.

"Are there other wrestlers Gifted, Tariko-chan?!" Ran asked.

A grin answered her. "Ryū-chan's favourite for one!"

The native of Shingetsu gasped. "STEVE AUSTIN?!"

"You bet!" Tariko noted. "Not to mention the People's Champion himself!"

"DWAYNE JOHNSON?!" Lum's friends all shrieked as one.

"Hai! Steve's the Rattlesnake; he's a ki master like Ryū-chan became, complete with the claws," Tariko announced before finishing her tea, then Benten moved to give her a refill. "And, no surprise here, Dwayne became the Rock; high-end FISS-type without the ability to fly." She gazed on her host. "A local wrestler you might know of is Gifted, too, Ran-chan: Urai Kanako?"

Ran gaped. "Whoa! You mean KANA-CHAN?!"

"What is she, Lady Tariko?" Oyuki asked.

"She uses the Japanese term Unmei," Tariko answered. "On Yiziba, she gets the name Nyuomeketi. A precognitive who tends to lean towards making predictions of doom. Sort of like our version of Cherry in a way," she wryly added as she held up a finger to emphasize her point.

"Oh, please tell me CM Punk's Gifted!" Benten demanded.

A shake of the head responded. "No, Phil's been offered the chance by Steve, Dwayne and Mark, but he's turned it down every time." As the biker-babe from Fukunokami deflated on hearing that about the straight-edge superstar from Chicago, Tariko winked. "Three guys coming up from NXT right now are Gifted; they'll combine in a faction they call the 'Shield' to help Phil with some matches!"

"Who?!" Ran demanded.

"Joe Anoa'i, Jon Good and Danny Lopez."

The pink-haired teen blinked. "No...you mean...?!"

"Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins."

As Benten cackled, Oyuki asked, "As what?"

"Joe's the Grimm. He's like Mark, but specializes in exorcisms and has control of a large spirit-wolf pack," the Trickster of the Show answered. "Jon's Insanity. Think me being constantly WAY out of control, in other words. Danny's Kingslayer. Telepath, empath and can make psychokinetic kill shots."

"His first-self's the one who killed off a third of all the dictators on Yiziba," the crown princess of Neptune noted, making her friends all nod. "Oh, my! Master Phillip will have quite the force at his side in case someone from Yiziba decides to come and 'crash the scene' as you people say it."

Laughter escaped the other girls.

"How...could...y-y-you...be...HAPPY about...th-this...?!"

They gazed on Shūtarō. "What the hell is your problem, man?!" Benten demanded. "Tariko's been working her butt off for years to keep your planet safe from any jerk that might want to invade. Hell, Earth wouldn't have been invaded by the Oni if Tariko had her head on straight last year! And you guys sure as hell don't mind having starships there to protect your planet! What's the deal here?!"

"It's as simple as pie, Benten," Tariko answered. "They're scared of the fact that if more people get Gifted, they'll be shoved down to the bottom of the school social ladder. After all, before Lum came, 'Toshi and his friends were just a pack of nameless nerds in class and Shūtarō there was in private studies in his mansion. Given how easily Ataru whipped up the freshmen against them..."

Ran shook her head. "Half of them are Shōzoki...!" she hissed. "Hell, Mizuki-chan, Aya-chan and Akira-chan were Shōzoki?! I never once even suspected..." She stared at the reality warper in their midst. "And Darling got away with having SEX with them, EVEN when Lum-chan was on Earth?!"

Tariko grinned. "Lum sure tried to keep watch over Ataru. But when you have all the Circle of Thought as close friends — with one as a CLASSMATE — it was easy to deal with all the bugs she secretly sewed into his clothes." She sipped her tea. "Ataru got Chikage-chan to throw a Fidelius over the local headquarters of our family's biggest company, which is right DOWNTOWN, so he was practically hiding IN PLAIN SIGHT whenever he needed to do an 'interface date' — quoting one Mizunokōji Asuka — with any of his harem. Oh, Shūtarō, just to let you know, Asuka-chan's not scared of men anymore. Ataru cured her of that...with a PILLOW SCENE!" she leered, making the scion of Japan's richest family croak in horror. "She's even got three hot studs as her own harem of gigolo, too!"

Benten and Ran roared with laughter as Oyuki flustered in embarrassment. "Wait! You mean that girl who could chuck around those armoured land cruisers you guys use in your armies like they were Setsubun basket balls?!" the former demanded, she trying not to gape in disbelief. "She always dresses up in armour all the time?! That girl?! How the hell did Darling win her over?"

As five pairs of eyes went wide on hearing the biker-babe call Moroboshi Ataru by THAT term, Tariko smirked. "Well, while you guys were stuck in the healer's cockpit in Onishuto after that whole thing with Elle, Ataru was on Earth and out on a date with one of the freshmen boys one night. He's Endō Hajime, by the way," she added for Ran's benefit. As the pink-haired native of Shingetsu nodded, the Trickster of the Show explained, "After they saw a movie, they were heading over to the house when Hajime felt someone try to hack into his head. So Ataru had to do him in an alley...which is when Asuka-chan — who was using the alleys to get back to her house from school — saw them go at it." As Ran chortled and the frozen boys moaned in disbelief on yet again hearing that their hated rival was bisexual, Tariko added, "She got curious, then mustered enough courage to confront him at the house."

"I remember Lum-chan telling me about Asuka-san," Oyuki noted, she still flustered by all this intimate talk. "That was brave of her, meeting the man who provoked that phobia in such a manner."

"Oh, it was," Tariko agreed. "Remember that Ataru had changed big time from when Asuka-chan first met us when the big news of the engagement came down." She held up a finger. "Also, one of Ataru's other lovers was there. Chloe Griffin; she's from Down Under." As Ran nodded again, the reality warper added, "She kept Asuka-chan calm while the reveal scene went down, including a nice demonstration as to how to do a proper pillow scene." She shook her head. "I swear, that idiot that Asuka-chan has as a mother is worse than Baka Aho Ofukuro at times! How the HELL was she supposed to marry this guy..." — she thumbed the frozen Shūtarō — "...if she didn't know ANYTHING about how to live with a guy?! And if it wasn't us, it would have been some other idiot that could've provoked that phobia!"

"So these boyfriends of hers? Are they Shōzoki?" Ran asked.

"They are," Tariko affirmed before finishing her tea. "One's Gifted; the other two are working on it now. They run the Natural Café in the south end of town close to where Asuka-chan goes to school."

"So she could get away with boinking these guys anytime she wants, huh?" Benten asked.

"Yep..."

"Nē-ya."

Everyone perked, then turned...

"Otome-chan?! What are you doing here?!" Tariko demanded.

...as darkness melted away to reveal a graceful teenage girl in a floor-length hooded black cloak lined in dark gunmetal grey. As Lum's friends all blinked in confusion, the newcomer reached up to pull the hood away to reveal the face of a woman with hip-length raven black hair and slate blue-grey eyes, looking to be the same height as Tariko herself. Her uniform was in the modern style, solid black overall with dark grey belt and boots, her chest symbol being a winged sword embossed with a skull in silver. "I came as soon as I learned Koishii had been kidnapped," the current incarnation of the Endless One, Bakaro ("Azriel"), stated as she sat between Tariko and Benten. "Naturally, given how she's no doubt being treated by Ika's brother, I felt it necessary to directly intervene."

"Moving to put in your claim right away," the Trickster of the Show mused.

"Naturally."

"Um...hey, Tariko...?"

"Yeah, Benten?"

Benten pointed at the newcomer. "She just called you 'Nē-ya'," she observed. "And she sure as hell don't look like Aria whatsoever! Who the heck is this girl?!"

Tariko chuckled. "For that, we have Ran-chan here to thank, Benten."

"Me?!" Ran yelped, pointing to herself.

"The clone gun war you had with Koishii, Ran-chan," the newcomer declared as she gestured, allowing a new cup of tea to be poured for her. "Some of your 'most faithful' decided they weren't going to pass up the chance to understand what made the 'great evil' actually tick, so twelve of those clones — myself included — were kidnapped and forced into Avalonian bodies based off a video game that Nii-ya and Nē-ya despise very much." As the non-Yizibajohei gaped, Tsuchidō Otome took a sip. "Fortunately, after Ayumu-chan sent all the observers in Kantō home in late June, we were freed and Gifted."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

In a zip of rose red and dark blue, Ran was prostrating herself to the Endless One, a chattering stream of apologies escaping her. As Benten and Oyuki blinked, Tariko shook her head...

At 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, that moment (local time: A half-hour before dawn)...

"My apologies for disturbing you at this time, Mister President."

Perking on hearing the voice of the experienced Israeli academic who was in charge of Earth's original group of alien contact specialists, the former governor of New Hampshire smiled as he waved in the other man. "Come in, Professor," Josiah Bartlet declared as Zachariah Rhetor came over, hand out. "Please, sit down," he bade as he got up from behind the Resolute Desk, walking over to take his place at the end of the small sitting area in the middle of the Oval Office, with the native of Tel Aviv relaxing in one of the two couches there close to his host. "It's been a long night for all of us," he apologized. "I can get the night secretary to get you some tea or coffee if you need it..."

"I'm quite fine, Professor," Chief Zed stated, waving the other man down. "It's been a long night for us up in Manhattan as well. We've been getting signals from Kōri City concerning what just happened a couple hours ago." As Bartlet perked, the leader of the Men In Black added, "From Field Marshal Pukaze. She wants to know where we got all the starships one of her scouting destroyers spotted."

"No doubt because of two hours ago, you mean."

"Sadly so. Fortunately, when I explained to her what the position of the world governments was now concerning her cousin's friend and her continued residence here on Earth, the field marshal was quite understanding. Even after getting over the shock when she was told of Tariko's casting drive."

Bartlet grimaced. "So the cat's out of the bag finally."

"It's going to be that way in a couple hours," Zed warned. "Danu contacted me after Captain Yamamoto and her friends boarded Hekau's ship. She's moving to clear out the Ceres post to let it be 'discovered' the Shōzoki effectively took over the place to blind Uru as to what was going on. Once such is discovered by people, I'm sure a ship will be on its way here to destroy the installation."

The leader of the free world grimly nodded. Much that he had been willing to order the deaths of American troops when it was necessary — never mind what actions he had to take that resulted in the deaths of innocents in those areas which were deemed necessary to be destroyed to ensure the Union's security — he was still bothered by how bloody certain actions had to be. What Redet Lum's film replica Danu — who was Gifted as the Titaness of Recklessness, Ledo ("Epimetheús") — did to the Urusian observers on the minor planet of Ceres shortly after she was given a new body thanks to Tariko Katabarbe had been particularly quite bloody and nasty...even if such was also quite necessary.

"There are times I really envy people like yourself, much less the aurors of the DMLE," he confessed. As Zed blinked in surprise, the former governor of the Granite State sat back in his chair. "All you have to do is wave a wand or a neuralyzer, then poof!" He made an explosive wave of his hands. "People forget whatever horrible thing they saw, then move on with their lives! Some might protest what you people do to keep the secret of those aliens who sought refuge here on Earth from the rest of society — or keep the secret of the magical enclaves — but you protect innocence in your own way, Professor. But for those of us who have the duty to know what is really going on in this sad galaxy of ours..."

"It weighs down on my people, too," Zed admitted. "I've had to personally retire a tonne of people who simply couldn't take it anymore. Lost friends because of it, but I gave them their innocence back. So it balances out in a way." He took a deep breath. "We'll be monitoring any communications which may come directly from Uru concerning what just happened. Much that I do trust the field marshal in keeping this whole matter secret, there was young Ayumu's trip to Uru on Friday to look in on General Traveller." As Bartlet perked, the Israeli xeno-studies pioneer quietly warned, "Even if General Lana is busy now dealing with what the First Patriarch just did when he sent a mushroom 'dowry' to Captain Invader, there will be people in Onishuto who will be moving to 'secure' Earth."

"General Yethis and his friends, you mean."

"Sadly so."

Bartlet sighed before nodding. "Alright. I'll get people ready and put out a statement about this later this morning." He smirked as he gave his guest a knowing look. "At least, with what Ayumu will do on Thursday morning — to be followed by what Liz and her friends will have working by that evening — that will make things a lot easier for your people. You won't have to trace down illegals anymore."

Zed cackled. "That would be nice...!"

A knock echoed at the door leading to the secretary's office. "Come!" Bartlet called out.

The door opened to reveal the current White House press secretary. "Good morning, Mister President," C.J. Cregg called out before she noted her boss' guest. "Professor Rhetor, good morning."

"Did you get any sleep at all, C.J.?" Bartlet demanded.

"Just a few hours, sir," the native of Dayton admitted as Zed stood up.

"I'll be keeping in touch, Professor," the leader of the Men In Black declared.

"Please do so, Professor," the president affirmed with a nod.

As the native of Tel Aviv stepped out through the door leading into the corridor that connected directly to the Roosevelt Room — it was from there that Zed would be teleported back to the headquarters of the SCAA in lower Manhattan — Cregg gave her boss a questioning look. "Ceres is being shut down by Danu right now, C.J.," Bartlet then announced. "Marshal Pukaze saw the fight against Hekau."

"Toby is getting the speech drafted up right now, sir," Cregg announced. "We're already receiving some reports from people across the nation stating that certain experts are already guessing that Yiziba is ultimately in play concerning this. Danny's one of them. He called me a half-hour ago with what he figured out." As Bartlet nodded — he admired Danny Concannon, senior White House correspondent from the Washington Post, for both his keen observation skills and his willingness to keep quiet about things when necessary — she added, "I gave him some basic information about Tariko and her casting drive. Hard to deflect that with Hinako of all people showing up at Pearl Harbour to help Captain Owings and Captain Young come back to duty, then head straight over to Bikini to help there."

"Well, we'll try to keep Hinako out of this..."

A knock echoed from the secretary's office. "Come!"

"Good morning, Mister President," Deborah Fiderer called out as she walked inside, an amused smile on the executive secretary's face. "Miss Saeru is currently in the Cabinet Room right now, being escorted by Commander Fukushima Fujiko and Commander Hallie Lamson. She has a message from Miss Sukeyama concerning certain issues surrounding Captain Itō's still-missing sister."

"She should be getting ready for bed!" Bartlet protested.

"Hina heard that, Kōchō-sensei!" a young woman's voice shrilled from the doorway leading into Fiderer's private space, echoed by footfalls as the Spirit of Innocence marched into the Oval Office, her two beautiful shipgirl escorts following her even if they paused after stepping through to salute the chief executive. "It's not Hina's fault that Rinrin-chan's come up with a silly plan!"

"And what's Rinrin up to now, Hinako?" Bartlet moaned, making Cregg and Fiderer both snicker as the two reborn destroyers assumed at-ease positions by the doorway. Standing up, he allowed the native of Niigata to hug him before he gazed on the adopted native of Burlington in Iowa (birthplace of her namesake) and Bath in Maine (her place of construction). "Commander Lamson, welcome back."

"It's good to be back, Mister President," Hallie Lamson said after standing to attention to again salute her commander-in-chief. "Apologies for reporting to you directly instead of SECNAV or the CNO, but Miss Saeru was insistent on coming here concerning Miss Hatoyama's plan to salvage Yamato."

The former governor of New Hampshire perked. "What's happened there?"

"Oh, some silly girl who was turned into a kami took Yasuko-san's kami out of her wreck and let her 'sail' to Onomichi, Kōchō-sensei," Hinako said as people moved to take their seats, with Fukushima Fujiko moving to stand protectively behind the girl who helped salvage her and Hallie placing herself by the fireplace. "She's been there since. Reiko-san's going to go there tomorrow to get her Gifted."

The locals perked. "C.J., wasn't there a report about that...?" Bartlet asked.

Cregg nodded. "Yes! A girl named Hitotsubashi Yurie! Grade Seven student in junior high school in that town. This occurred back in the summer. When reports came in, you actually asked Tariko if she went to Onomichi to help her be Gifted. And then..." She moaned. "Oh, of course!"

"It wasn't the Chūgoku Magical Association, Sensei," Fujiko warned.

Everyone gazed at the adopted native of Maizuru. "Who was it, then?" Bartlet asked.

"Most likely, some idiot from Geneva, Daitōryō-sama," the Blizzard of Death said. "From what we learned from Konoe-kōchōsensei, Tennō used his reserve powers to declare Onomichi a 'mixed' situation concerning the Statute of Secrecy. Which meant that under NO circumstances were Obliviators to go into the area to make natives forget what's happened since Yurie-sama's ascension into becoming an arahitokami. He called the director of the Chūmagun to get confirmation and was assured no interference of that nature had been done by anyone based out of Hiroshima Castle."

A scowl answered her. "Rogues from the ICW, you mean?"

"Most likely. Possibly aided by locals who either betrayed their oaths to Tennō or were forced to comply with Geneva's wishes using coercive means, sir."

"Imperius Curse or some potions regime," Bartlet snarled as he got up, walking over to the fireplace. Reaching into a small bowl, he pulled out some powder, then tossed it into the flames that had been burning there; the fireplace had been specially masked by Elizabeth Wakefield to make visitors believe the whole setup was fake. "Professor Quahog's office!" the president called out.

The flames turned a brilliant red as the floo link was formed with the Woolworth Building in downtown Manhattan. "Good morning, Mister President," the chief of staff to the Secretary of Magic called back. "The Secretary isn't in yet. Is there something we can do for you today, sir?"

"Tell the professor that, as soon as he's available, to come down to see me in Washington," the president advised. "It's concerning the issue of that girl angel that lives in Onomichi in Japan, Miss Hitotsubashi Yurie. According to friends from Japan, it appears that people under Professor Akingbade are acting against the wishes of His Imperial Majesty concerning Miss Hitotsubashi."

The other man's eyes went wide. "What?!" he exclaimed before a moan escaped him. "Oh, Merlin, not THIS again! I'll floo call the Secretary to have him see you right away, Mister President!"

"Thank you!" Bartlet called out as the floo link was severed, then he shook his head. "It appears there's something rotten in Geneva as we speak," he muttered as he moved to sit again by his desk.

"Captain Yamamoto plans to move in on Onomichi tomorrow morning our time before dawn, sir," Fujiko said. "I've no idea of force composition, but there will be enough destroyers to ensure locals won't be hurt if rogues from the ICW cause issues to prevent our helping Captain Itō be salvaged and Gifted."

"Well, there's that at least," the president noted. "Miss Fiderer, could you have Doctor McNally and Admiral Fitzwallace come here so they can be briefed on what's going on."

"Of course, Mister President."

As Fiderer headed through her office to where the National Security Advisor was, people breathed out. "So what exactly does Rinrin have in mind now, Hinako?" Bartlet wondered. "Nothing big, I hope."

Hinako sighed. "Hina's not too sure about that, Kōchō-sensei. Rinrin-chan wants to get Luisa-san to sail her starship down to hover over Onomichi to make Yasuko-san come back and be Gifted! Karen-chan and Haruka-chan are going to Berlin to speak to Merkel-hakase about having that happen!"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"Oh, dear God...!" Bartlet moaned.

Cregg sighed. "Should I warn Toby, Mister President?"

"Do it!"

"Yes, sir!"

As the Ohioan stepped out of the Oval Office through Fiderer's office, Hallie watched her go, then she stared once more at her host, pointing to where the press secretary just went. "Um...is this kinda normal for this sort of thing, sir?" the adopted Iowan/Mainer then hesitantly asked. "I mean, civvies making that sort of decision before asking their C-in-Cs if they can do that sort of stuff?"

"When it comes to some of the sisters, you have to get used to it, Hallie-san," Fujiko advised.

That made the brown-eyed, shaggy dark-haired reborn fourth of the Mahan-class fleet destroyers moan. "Is it too late to apply for a transfer out of this outfit, Mister President?"

"I personally don't blame you for asking that, Commander Lamson," Bartlet breathed out...

Partway between Sol and Hika'aki, that moment...

"So this is a form of recognition, you mean?"

"The basic mechanics are similar," Tsuchidō Otome answered Oyuki. "However, the exact elements of an Avalonian's mind that locks in on a potential bond-mate are different than when a Vosian recognizes a potential life-mate. For them, such is based on a form of telekinesis, locking in compatible strands in a life-mate's DNA to form the recognition bond. For us, it's an empathic bond."

"But you haven't met Lum yet," Shigaten Benten noted.

"In this timeline, no," the Eternal One noted, making the three non-Yizibajohei girls perk. "However, thanks to a visitor from another dimension and several centuries in the future, that was not true." As Redet Lum's childhood friends all perked, the replica of the "mystery" character of Colourful Kiss added, "Because cross-dimensional interference demands any move to restore timelines from people such as Suzumiya Haruhi-chan, you wouldn't know of this. However, just prior to your meeting Nē-ya's half-sisters, a descendant of another dimension's version of Koishii came back in time, influenced by a very dark curse forced on her by Lady Zōju of the Oak Forest Asteroid when she was a baby. The deviation in the timeline was noted on as soon as said descendant's caregiver — a descendant of Nassur, in fact — came back in time to inform everyone of what was happening. Once Rū — that was the boy's name — was freed of Lady Zōju's curse, Haruhi-chan restored the timeline to normal and everyone save for reality warpers such as Nē-ya and myself were made to forget what happened."

"But because Otome-chan did have some time alone with Lum-chan, the marei'cha bond was formed," Tariko Katabarbe finished for the last of her twelve clone-replicas created in early March during a rather interesting spat between Aruka Ran and Redet Lum. "However, because of a tonne of other things, she couldn't really present herself as Lum-chan's new fiancée until now."

"Such as what, Otome-san?" Ran wondered.

"The fact that these bodies were genetically modified to make us sexual lovers of Nii-ya even if we were all mental replicas of him?" Otome flatly answered, a wry smile crossing her face.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"Those bastards...!" Benten snarled.

"Unbelievable!" Oyuki hissed out. "Please don't tell me that you and Darling...!"

"No, we didn't, Oyuki," Otome assured the crown princess of Neptune. "Akemi had much to say about that, as did the other members of her old destroyer division. After about a week — this was the time of the Memni invasion attempt — we realize we needed to spend time away from Nii-ya, then headed to Yiziba to engage in some fight scenes in the Battlezone while Mitsuki prepared our own starship 'home away from home'." She dryly smiled. "Along the way, we went to Phentax Two and took revenge on the fools that created these bodies for us. I dare say he'll never have to worry about children again."

"Good for you, Otome!" the biker-babe from Fukunokami affirmed.

"Indeed, they deserved much more than that," Oyuki sternly declared. "To believe we were totally blinded about the Avalonians. How in Kōri's Name did we miss something like THAT?"

"Chances are, some spooks in places like Onishuto might know the truth," the Trickster of the Show noted. "Probably some people even working under your cousin as well." She winked, holding up a finger. "And there's a way you can figure this out without anyone guessing what's happening, too."

That made the silver-haired crown princess blink. "How so, Lady Tariko?"

"Nē-ya was not the only one who had Avalonian clone replicas made of them," Otome warned.

"We know about Danu, Hiromi and the others, Otome," Benten objected.

"Do you know of your own clone twin Kamen?"

Silence.

"What...?!" Benten hissed.

"Or your twin Mienai?" the Endless One added as she gazed on Oyuki, then she looked at Ran. "I'm surprised you haven't seen pictures of your own twin Damasu on the Intergalactic News Network at times, Ran. She's actually the President of Yiziba, which she became when she was Gifted as Lider."

More silence.

"I have a SISTER...?!" Ran squawked.

"No thanks to Ōgi," Tariko explained. "He tried to pull a fast one on Nassur and Cinba when — just after that bio-bomb attack on Lecashuto — the idiot offered to create 'robot' replicas of Lum and you three to sub in just in case the Mikado's idiots tried a revenge scene play when you weren't looking."

Jaws dropped. "Why weren't we told...?!" a pale Oyuki demanded.

"Because after they clued into what was really going on, Nassur and Cinba went to Kyech to have them moved to Okusei for their own safety," Tariko answered. "I got to them later and got them Gifted." She nudged Otome. "I think you've got something similar in mind for Lum right now, don't you?"

"It is the only solution to this whole issue, Nē-ya," the dark-haired reality warper noted.

"You...can't...do that...!"

That was the still-frozen Megane. "Who's going to stop me, Satoshi? You?" the Endless One coldly demanded as she gazed over her shoulder at the frozen boys on the deck nearby. "My first-self wiped out ARMIES when she was empowered by the Great Crystal. Dealing with fools like you would be child's play to me. After all, we made sure you'll have NO support from your families from now on."

As the Stormtroopers and Mendō Shūtarō awked, Benten asked, "What did you do?!"

"It's what Fujiko-chan did, Benten," Otome noted...

...before an alarm sounded off. "Ah! Time for a course change," Oyuki stated as she got up, walking over to the helm station. "Since we don't wish to arrive right in the middle of Muzlim Madiina itself, we need to put an appearance behind one of the moons in the outer part of the Hika'aki system...!"

Tariko jolted. "OYUKI! DROP US OUT OF WARP! INCOMING!"

The crown princess looked at her before gazing out the main view ports...

"OH, MY!" she exclaimed.

...just as a large red mushroom-shaped ship appeared right in front of them!

To Be Continued...!

WRITER'S NOTES

Stargate SG-1 character notes: Adrian Conrad first appeared in "Desperate Measures" (eleventh episode of the fifth season); this is also when Zeditron Industries was introduced. Claire Tobias first appeared in "Shades of Grey" (eighteenth episode of the third season). Frank Simmons first appeared in "Ascension" (third episode of the fifth season); note that the name of the Goa'uld inserted within him in "Prometheus" (eleventh episode of the sixth season) is a different being than the one possessing him in this story. Note that Goa'uld named Arachne, Parthenos, Aphaea and Alea are my creations. Medusa was a background character noted on in the role playing game guide Living Gods: Stargate System Lords; note that her story indicated there won't affect the character appearing here.

Shipgirls introduced in this part. First, from America:

Commander Janet Heather Strong USN (United States Ship Strong [DD-467])
CDR Hannah Margaret Tingey USN (United States Ship Tingey [DD-539])
CDR Gwen Janey Morrison USN (United States Ship Morrison [DD-560])
CDR Luanna Young USN (United States Ship Young [DD-580])

Heather Strong (USS Strong), Hannah Tingey (USS Tingey) and Luanna Young (USS Young) resembles fan art done of Frederica Fletcher (USS Fletcher), Madelyn Hoel (USS Hoel) and Michelle Porter (USS William D. Porter) respectively as done by SilentMag, which can be seen on Pixiv at ID #79577662. As for Janey Morrison (USS Morrison), she resembles fan art done of Rose Johnston (USS Johnston) as done by Yorktown CV-5, which can be seen at Pixiv, ID #64408950.

And from France:

Capitaine de Vaisseau Susanne Théodora Maria du Plessis de Richelieu MN (Grand Cuirassé Richelieu [pennant 41])

Naturally, she takes after her Kantai Collection interpretation. Susanne's rank is Capitaine de Vaisseau ("Ship-of-the-Line Captain"), holding the NATO rank code OF-5. Her service is the Marine Nationale ("National Navy"), short-formed MN. As noted before, French warships have no unified ship prefix; for dreadnought battleships, they get Grand Cuirassé ("large battleship"), short-formed GC.

A reminder of the standard shipboard watch system times:

First watch: 8:00 PM — 12:00 midnight
Middle watch: 12:00 AM — 4:00 AM
Morning watch: 4:00 AM — 8:00 AM
Forenoon watch: 8:00 AM — 12:00 noon
Afternoon watch: 12:00 PM — 4:00 PM
First dog watch: 4:00 PM — 6:00 PM
Second dog watch: 6:00 PM — 8:00 PM

Translation list and source language: Kal'ma Ra'kalach — Literally "children of souls touched by the sun", the name for Avalonians as indicated above (Goa'uld); Mörderische Schlägerschweinhunde — Bloody murderous pig-dogs (German); Das Mutterland — The Motherland (German); Reichstag — Diet of the Realm, the parliament of the Second Empire from 1871-1918 (German); Bundestag — Federal Diet, the parliament of the Federal Republic since 1949 (German); Bundesrat — Federal Council, the governing body representing the states of the Federal Republic since 1949 (German); Hochseeflotte — High Seas Fleet, battle formation of the Imperial Navy from 1907-18 (German); Fauchard — A bladed polearm similar to the legendary Chinese yǎnyuèdāo ("reclining moon blade") used by Guān Yǔ (French); Unmei — Fate/Destiny (Japanese); Koishii — Darling (Japanese); SECNAV — Secretary of the Navy, the United States Navy's chief government director (English abbreviation); CNO — Chief of Naval Operations, senior-serving military officer of the USN unless assigned to the posts of Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (English abbreviation); Chūmagun — Short for Chūgoku Teimajutsu-gun ("Imperial Magical Commandery of Chūgoku"), the formal title of the Chūgoku Magical Association (as would appear in Mahō Sensei Negima) (Japanese); C-in-C — Commander-in-Chief (English abbreviation); Marei'cha — Literally "one with whom you raise a child", this is the co-parent in a normal Avalonian family, nominally being same-sex by custom (Sagussan); Lider — Leader (Turkish).

As for translating the phrases said after the end of the shipgirls' picnic starting the second scene:

Gochisō-sama deshita — It was a feast (Japanese)
Mas'iss'ŏss'sumnida — That had great flavour (Korean)
Es hat uns sehr gut Geschmeckt — It tasted very good to us (German)
Era tutto buonissimo — It was all very good (Italian)
Býlo óchen' vkúsno — It was delicious (Russian)
C'était délicieux — That was delicious (French)

Of course, the cheers given to Emily Austin (USS Texas) afterwards are standard equivalents to the English term "Hooray". The Korean term manse is actually the local way of reading the Chinese characters 萬歳, which can be read in Japan as banzai though actually written as 万歳.

The term rhabdophobe as used in my stories is meant as a catch-all word used for those who fear all magical beings even if the term itself is based on the Greek rhábdos ("wand"). The opposite term is mugalophobe, based on the Greek mýgalos (which is the local translation of "muggle").

As a reminder, note what was said in the writer's notes of Part One concerning people such as Mark Calaway (the Undertaker), Steve Austin (Rattlesnake), Dwayne Johnson (the Rock) and their peers concerning when in their personal and professional lives this story takes place. As for Urai Kanako (Unmei), this is just under three years before she would join WWE to become Asuka.

Colourful Kiss is a hentai dating simulation game produced in 2003 by the GIGA group in effective answer to Sister Princess, using the "not a sister" theme that exists in SisPri for players to use. In the universe of this story, the clone replicas of Moroboshi Ataru transformed as Tsuchidō Otome (Azriel) were (who first appeared in the Yatsura manga story "All of Me" [manga chapter #107]) first appeared in the side story Remember My Truth. And like the sisters of SisPri, the sisters of Colourful Kiss make use of special personalized terms for their elder brother figure:

Yamanobe Saki — Nii-chan (兄ちゃん)
Haruhino Shizuka — Ani-sama (兄さま)
Mishima Akira — Onii-chan (お兄ちゃん)
Misaki Yukari — Nii-nii (にぃにぃ)
Karasawa Mitsuki — Onii-san (お兄サン)
Kishiwada Fūka — Ani (あに)
Kubo Ayano — Onii (おにい)
Ototachibana Kanna — Onii-sama (お兄さま) *
Ōnishi Koharu — An-chan (あんちゃん)
Ōnishi Konatsu — Aniki (アニキ)
Hano Wakaba — Nii-san (兄さん)
Tsuchidō Otome — Nii-ya (にいや)

I made a change concerning Ototachibana Kanna, though. In the game, she refers to the player character with the term "Ano..." (which literally means "That..."). Since that didn't chime well with me, I decided to make Kanna use Sukeyama Sakuya's term for her dear brother.

Zachariah Rhetor is my name for the character of Chief Zed as he appears in the Men In Black movies.

The Senior Year character notes: Oyuki's cousin Pukaze first appeared in "Mie's Story". As for the Avalonian replicas of Lum's friends — Shigaten Kamen, Aruka Damasu and Mienai Fuyujo, along with Lum's replica Redet Hensō — first appeared in "What Price for Love?" Note that the biological warfare bombing of the city of Lecashuto on planet Vos is mentioned in "A Hectic Vacation".

Harry Potter character notes: United States Secretary of Magic Professor Samuel Quahog and ICW Supreme Mugwump Professor Babajide Akingbade were noted on in Pottermore. As said before, please read Magic and Canada to understand how American magicals govern themselves in my stories.