"Well," Haruka demanded. "I'm waiting."
For just a moment Setsuna was tempted to make a cutting aside as to the importance of patience then thought better of it. The tension in Haruka's slender frame left little doubt as to what the blonde woman would have done had her better half not been in the room. It likely involved the two of them and a great deal of physical contact of the fist to face variety.
"I will begin when I am ready." She gazed steadily at first Haruka then each of the other senshi. "But not one word of this leave this room."
"But-"
"Not one word." Setsuna's tone brooked no disobedience. "Not a single word. Not even to Hotaru." Her gaze hardened and several of the others actually flinched. "Am I understood?" Still no one spoke. "Am I understood?"
"Fine." Haruka spat. The others quickly followed, though somewhat more timidly.
"I will start with a brief history of the Moon Kingdom." Here Setsuna grinned for the reticence of several of her fellow senshi towards history was well known. "The history of the solar system can be divided up into two major historical periods: before the ascension of Serenity I, and after.
"Prior to the ascension of Serenity I, each of the planets was largely autonomous. Naturally, this caused no small amount of tension once each of the planets became space-faring."
"Let me guess," Makoto said. "They tried to kill each other."
Crimson eyes narrowed. "You could say that. There was very little dialogue between the planets and atrocities were committed that are perhaps better left forgotten. Serenity I came to power in an age of strife and war. She had at her disposal arguably the largest, most well trained space fleet in the solar system. So she decided to use it.
"By today's standards her actions would probably be considered barbaric. At the time, however, she was hailed as something of a messiah. She brought peace to the solar system – never mind the cost. In short order she brought the Inner Planets under her control, and the Outer Planets soon followed.
"But she was left with a problem: how to administrate such a vast empire. She could hardly do it herself. Nor was simply removing the monarchies from each of the planets an option. They still had too many supporters and even if she was able to remove them, what structure could she use to replace them?
"Finally she established a dual-layered monarchy with herself at the top and each of the other royal families below her. Of course, she needed some way of ensuring the loyalty of her new royal subjects. So she took a hostage from each of the royal families: the eldest daughter. These hostages were taken to the Moon and educated there. They were taught to be unswervingly loyal to Serenity and upon proving themselves they were inducted into her bodyguard."
Setsuna smiled grimly. "Naturally, that wasn't the end of things. Serenity didn't just want hostages or bodyguards, she needed symbols."
Ami looked troubled. "What do you mean by 'symbols'?"
"Symbols of cooperation," Setsuna replied. "Symbols of what could be achieved if only the planets swore fealty to the Moon and its Lunar Empire." Something unreadable flashed through her eyes. "So she used the Moon's Silver Crystal to bestow each of her new bodyguards with powers."
"The Senshi…" Usagi breathed.
"Yes." Setsuna's smile was far from pleasant. "The Senshi."
"What does this have to do with Hotaru?" From what she'd heard so far, Haruka wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know. But wanting to know, and needing to know were two very different things.
Setsuna took up the tale once again. "As I said, Serenity instituted a dual-layered monarchy. This had the effect of leaving each of the different planets' cultures largely intact. These differences were reflected in how each of the planets contributed to the Lunar Empire.
"For example, the warrior religion of Mars led to almost a quarter of the Empire's soldiers being drawn from that planet, while over a third of the Empire's scientists were from Mercury.
"But the people of Saturn were different. Saturn had fought hard for independence and even decades after Serenity's ascension, the royal family remained on very, very poor terms with the Moon. Indeed they were the only family not to send a daughter to the Moon. Serenity may well have taken a harder line against the Saturnian royal family if it wasn't for one little quirk.
"The soldiers of Mars worshipped battle. They lived, breathed, and died for the glory of combat. The soldiers of Saturn were different. They neither sought out war, nor took pleasure from it. Yet they were good, very, very good. So good in fact, that when the combined forces of Moon and Inner Planets first attacked Saturn they lost ten soldiers for every one of Saturn's.
"Thus Saturn was left largely to its own devices and so long as it continued to commit troops and resources to the Empire, all was well. That all changed during the reign of Serenity III, which was approximately three thousand years before Usagi was born.
"There had been several incidents of civil unrest and Serenity contemplated dispatching Empire troops to bring the situation under control but that offer was refused. Still, keep in mind that we can never truly know what happened next. The records kept on the Moon speak little of the event and even I would not dare go back through the Gates to see for myself what happened."
"Enough of the suspense, Setsuna." Haruka glowered at the emerald-haired woman. "What happened?"
"Saturn was completely destroyed."
Silence.
Makoto was the first to speak. "What? What do you mean destroyed?"
"The surface of Saturn was completely devastated along with all of the installations in orbit around the planet. Several ships en-route to Neptune were also destroyed. The energy backlash was so great that it rendered warp travel past Saturn impossible." Setsuna paused and let her words sink in. "The estimated death toll of the explosion was approximately three billion people."
More silence.
"It took twenty years for the energy residue of the explosion to fade enough for an exploration team to land on the surface of Saturn. They found a barren world, a dead rock utterly devoid of life without even a single building still standing. In the ruins of the royal palace they found this." Crimson light flickered around her outstretched palm before a small black cylinder appeared.
"Is that a data recorder?" Ami asked.
Setsuna smiled. "I'm glad you recognise it. I assume it's in the Mercury Computer's files." Ami nodded and Setsuna continued. "Rather than tell you what it says, I'll just let you listen to it for yourselves." She placed the data recorder on the table and stepped away. "Brace yourselves."
At first there was nothing but static. Finally a voice could be heard.
"Where's the second company?" Static. "Damn it, second company, come in!"
In the distance an explosion then what sounded like gunfire.
Another voice, different from the first. "They're gone, sir! We have to fall back to the Grand Ballroom!"
More static, broken only by the deep bass boom of what sounded like distant, but swiftly nearing explosions.
"Wait, sir. I've got something, it sounds like it's from third company!" The second voice again.
"Third company?" The first voice. "They're by the gates, right? Put it on."
There was the sound of something being switched on.
"Oh God!" The scream was filled with terror. "Oh God! She's here! She's here!"
There was an explosion then more screams and finally just static.
"They're gone." The second voice seemed shocked. "Just gone."
"Get everyone inside!" the first voice demanded. "Just get them inside. We'll try to head her off at the Ballroom."
More static.
"How long do you think we have?" It was the second voice again. "Before she gets here."
"Quiet," the first voice said. "I think she's here."
There was shriek before the sound of metal being torn apart.
"Fire! Open fire!"
Guns fired and there was a whoosh that sounded not unlike a rocket launcher followed by a tremendous explosion.
"Nothing is work!" Panic. "She's still advancing!"
Someone cried out; a wet splatter.
"What the hell was that?" it was the first voice. "She didn't even touch him!"
"The light!" someone else shouted. "That damn violet light! It's cutting through our armour! It's… aarghhhh!"
The first voice again, "All units fall back to the stairs. All units fall back to the stairs."
Another voice, this one painfully familiar to the Senshi. "Silence."
Nothing. There was no sound, not even static. Then came the roar. It filled the room, a thousand thunderbolts rolled into one. Then silence.
"Damn it…" the second voice. "What are you?"
"Death." That familiar voice again, so chilling now for it's utter lack of emotion. There was a crunch then a wet sound. Then silence.
Silence.
Setsuna reached over and turned the data recorder off. "That constitutes the only first hand account of the destruction of Saturn that survived. From the time noted by the recorder, it was taken approximately five minutes before the destruction of the planet." She closed her eyes. "I'm sure you recognise at least one of the voices." A bitter smile crossed her face. "And the violet lights and silence are the calling card of only one senshi."
"That doesn't mean a damn thing!" Haruka insisted. "Not a damn thing. Besides even if it was Saturn, there have probably been a hundred Saturns. I'm certainly not the first senshi of Uranus."
None of them noticed the slender figure by the door, her violet eyes wide with shock.
"And there lies the crux of it all." A sense of foreboding filled the room. "There has only ever been one Saturn and she was not empowered by Serenity as the others were."
"That's impossible!"
"The records are very clear about this. At no point in the Empire's history is a senshi of Saturn recorded. However on three separate occasions an entity with powers matching those that destroyed Saturn has appeared.
"On the first occasion a massive demonic incursion forced the evacuation of the Outer Planets. When the invading demonic forces attempted to land on Saturn they came under fire from the planet's surface. More than half of the demons were killed before they retreated back to Neptune. Scans of the planet's surface revealed a single life form.
"On the second occasion, a rogue Empire general initiated a planetary bombardment against Saturn to deal with what he termed the 'false senshi'. The response was devastating: the entire fleet was destroyed. As a result further attempts to make contact with Saturn were suspended and the entire area deemed a restricted zone."
"And the third occasion?"
Setsuna smiled darkly at Ami. "On the third occasion the senshi of Pluto was dispatched to try and obtain Saturn's assistance in repelling another demonic invasion." She looked pointedly at Haruka. "On all three occasions reports were made as to Saturn's appearance and all of those reports match quite closely. There is little doubt that although the incidents are separated by a span of more than one thousand five hundred years, they are all referring to the same person."
"You didn't say what happened to Pluto," Ami said. "Was she able to make contact?"
"Yes." For a moment a look of nostalgia crossed Setsuna's face. "The two were able to come to an understanding, although it was difficult at first." She shook herself. "In her report Pluto recounted several conversation with Saturn as to her origins. Saturn confirmed Pluto's suspicions."
"So you're serious." Haruka slumped down onto the couch. "The Sailor Saturn we know today, our Hotaru, is the same Sailor Saturn that took out a planet? The same one that wiped out a fleet?" She shook her head. "God, none of this makes any sense."
"It makes perfect sense." Setsuna's voice was steady though her crimson eyes were undoubtedly troubled. "The Saturn of today is the same as the Saturn of then. Saturn has not died. To be honest, I'm not sure if she even can, or rather, if there's anything strong enough to actually kill her."
For a few moments no one said anything. Then a sob drew their eyes to the door. Hotaru stood there, head bowed, cheeks wet with tears. She opened her mouth as if to speak then stopped.
"Hotaru…" Setsuna whispered as she rose to her feet.
"Don't touch me."
Setsuna stopped and took a slow step back. Hotaru was no longer crying. Silence fell over the room once more, a silence too deep, too complete to be natural. Sparks of violet light crackled in the air around Hotaru's body.
"Don't you dare touch me."
X X X X
Author's Notes and Disclaimer
As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a single cent out of this story.
I won't try and make any excuses about the long delay between chapters – I really haven't got any. All I can say is that I will try to get this story up and running again with more regular updates. So please don't lynch me.
Once again, tell me what you think. I'm always open to feedback.