Chapter Nine

Haruka stopped and stared. Setsuna was sitting at the dinner table with several empty snifters of brandy in front of her and another half empty container within easy reach. "Setsuna?"

"How is Hotaru?" Setsuna murmured, noting with almost malicious satisfaction the slight slur to her speech.

"She's sleeping." Haruka considered sitting down but then thought better of it. The absolute last thing she needed to deal with was a drunk Setsuna. "She pretty much cried herself to sleep once we got her home."

"Can you blame her?" Setsuna took a long sip of brandy and sighed. "I certainly don't."

"Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Honestly?" Setsun's face darkened. "I don't know. Saturn was… no… is a difficult person to understand. Her… upbringing was… difficult, to say the least."

"Just how much do you know?" Haruka demanded. "What aren't you telling us?"

"A lot." Setsuna watched the surprise play across Haruka's face and nearly laughed. "But I'm not the one to tell you. We all have our secrets, Haruka, and Saturn is no different. If you want to know, you're going to have to ask Hotaru."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea." Whatever doubts Haruka might have had about Saturn's prowess had been assuaged by the beating the other senshi had handed out earlier that day and frankly she didn't see any need to ask for an encore.

Setsuna shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Look…" Haruka wanted to tell the other woman not to beat herself up over the way that things had turned out but it was obvious how pointless that would be. Setsuna might not be one for tears, but she'd been damn close that afternoon. Still… she couldn't just leave her to drink herself stupid in the dining room could she? "Setsuna…" she fumbled for the words. "Just… good night."

"Good night, Haruka."

Sitting in the dark after Haruka left, Setsuna let her mind wander over the events of the past few days, turning them over in her mind. Was there something that she'd missed? Some action she could have taken that might have led to a different outcome? Perhaps it was the brandy talking, but she couldn't think of anything she could have done differently. She smiled bitterly. Who would have thought, all those years ago, that she'd get herself drunk over Saturn?

X X X X

The war room deep within the Lunar Palace was a scene of chaos as those within tried to keep up with the carnage. A huge screen devoted to the status of the various Fleet and Infantry units that had been deployed covered one entire wall of the massive chamber. It was not pleasant viewing.

A shrill alarm went off and it took a moment for the analyst in charge to overcome his shock and clamber onto his feet. "Your… Your Majesty," he stammered, scarcely able to believe what he was about to say. "We have lost the Grand Gate on Neptune."

"Impossible!" Sailor Mars spat. "As of last night we had almost one million men on Neptune, and more than five hundred ships in orbit. Are you telling me that every one of them is lost? Because that is what it would take for the Gate to fall, to say nothing of Sailor Neptune!"

The analyst trembled. "I meant no offence… I was merely…"

"Enough." Silence fell over the room as Queen Serenity rose from her chair overlooking the war room. "Have we received word from Sailor Neptune?"

One of the communications specialists in the room spoke up. "I've just received information from the Grand Lunar Gate: Neptune has arrived along with some survivors."

"And what is her condition?"

"She is badly wounded, Your Majesty." The communications specialist shivered beneath the Queen's inscrutable gaze.

"Very well." Serenity closed her eyes. "Seal the Gate and shut off all power to the hyper space tunnels."

"Your Majesty!" Shock filled Mars' voice. "You cannot be serious! Neptune has only just returned, there may yet be more survivors! And what of our troops on Uranus and Jupiter? Deactivating the gates will leave them with no means of retreat except for Fleet evacuation."

"What would you have me do, Mars?" Serenity asked, her voice eerily calm. "Leave the Gates open? To what end? We may save some of our men but rest assured the demons are not fools. They have already demonstrated their understanding of hyperspace technology. Would you have them use our very own Gates against us?"

Mars bit her lip until it bled and drove one fist into the wall beside her. The stone cracked and the advisors on either side of her took a wary step away. "As you command, Your Majesty."

"Mars." Serenity's voice lashed out like a whip and even in her anger the senshi couldn't stop herself from snapping to attention. "You are the finest warrior that I have. Do not force me to have you removed from this room. You will do no one any good if that happens."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Mars said, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down. "I apologise."

"You are forgiven, Mars." Serenity smiled softly, careful to soothe the senshi's battered pride before she turned to address the communications officers. "I have received word that the populace of Pluto has already been evacuated to Earth, but what of Sailor Pluto?"

In reply, the air beside the Queen shimmered and Sailor Pluto appeared in a flash of crimson light. Her sudden appearance had every weapon in the room trained either on her head or her chest, but if that bothered her, the green-haired woman gave no sign.

"I am here, Your Majesty."

"I have heard," Serenity began, choosing her words carefully. "That amongst the outer planets, Pluto alone has not been attacked. Explain."

Pluto nodded, well aware of the dark look that Mars was giving her. While Mars itself had not come under attack, the senshi of fire was a close friend of both Uranus and Jupiter and it enraged her to no end to be stuck in the war room while her friends fought for their lives on the battlefield. Although she was fiercely loyal and an excellent tactician Mars was also very short tempered. If the look on her face was any indication, she had no doubt already come up with some twisted view of things that had Pluto in league with the demons.

"Pluto is one of the locations most closely linked to the Gates of Time. By virtue of that link, I can, at least for a time, cloak Pluto within the higher dimensional space that houses the Gates of Time. However such a cloak can have somewhat… deleterious effects on living things other than myself."

"I see." Serenity was well versed in Pluto's gift for understatement, so she knew exactly what those 'deleterious effects' would be. The last person to try and enter the Gates of Time uninvited had ended up dead, but not before being driven completely insane. "Would you be able to do this for the other planets?"

"I regret to say that I cannot. Only Pluto is closely bound enough to the Gates to allow it."

"That still doesn't explain why you haven't reported until now!" Mars growled as she stomped up the stairs to the balcony where Serenity sat. "While the rest of us senshi have either been in here planning or out there bleeding, where have you been, Pluto?"

"Observing." Pluto met Mars' gaze squarely and it was the other woman who blinked first, turning away with a disgusted scowl. "It is foolish to fight an enemy of whom we know nothing."

"Then why aren't you with Mercury trying to work out how we can kill these damn monsters?"

"Mars," Serenity said, her brow creasing as she let a hint of her impatience show. She had little time to waste on the internecine strife between her senshi, though she would address it soon enough. Pluto had served her mother, and while Serenity ruled with absolute authority, she was wise enough to recognise and make use of the razor sharp intellect behind Pluto's crimson eyes. "Now, Pluto. Your conclusions?"

"We have encountered these things before." Pluto turned to address the main data projector at the centre of the room. "Display record FSTL-8180 from the Imperial Archives."

The projector filled to life and an image of one of the demon's appeared. Many of the people in the room visibly recoiled from the hideous sight, but Serenity merely waved one hand. "We have seen our enemy, Pluto. Make your point."

"Display Imperial Archive record HSDO-7120." Another image appeared alongside the first and the similarity was unmistakable. The coloration of the skin might be different, but the two creatures shared the same distinctive horns and bat-like wings. "This is an image of the demons that the Empire encounter approximately two thousand years ago."

"They are the same!" Mars' fist clenched. "Those damn demons have been here before! That's how they knew where to attack!" Her eyes flashed with fury. "Speak, Pluto. The Empire has defeated them once, so it must be able to do so again. How was it done? And why has Mercury not told me of this."

"Because the records concerning the demonic incursion from two thousand years ago were sealed under the strictest of orders." Serenity glanced thoughtfully at Pluto, wondering how she had managed to slip past the finest security the Empire had without anyone noticing. How interesting…

"But… but why?" Mars stammered.

"Because the Empire did not repel the demons." Serenity smiled and turned to fix her cold gaze on Pluto. "Isn't that right, Pluto?"

"What?" Mars glanced between the two other women. "What do you mean?"

"The demons made the mistake of passing a little too close to Saturn. Even worse, they were foolish enough to attack it." Serenity chuckled softly. "And in doing so they awoke something… or shall I say, someone that they did not expect."

"Sailor Saturn…" Mars whispered, only just able to stop herself from making the sign against evil, although many others in the room did.

"Yes, Your Majesty, that is correct," Pluto said. "According to the records at the time, the demons lost roughly fifty percent of their forces in the span of fifteen minutes once Sailor Saturn awakened and chose to respond. Needless to say, our forces were equally quick to seize the initiative and were able to rout the demons in the confusion."

"Still, interesting as this little history lesson may be, I trust that you have something in mind, Pluto." Serenity raised one delicate brow, just a hint of annoyance on her otherwise perfect features, letting Pluto know just how imprudent it would be to waste her time. "I intend to leave my daughter with an Empire not a ruin."

"If we could somehow lure the demons toward Saturn…"

"Not possible." Mars snorted. "Those demons have been doing their best to avoid Saturn and every time we even retreat towards it they break off and don't give chase. I wondered why… but I guess it makes a twisted sort of sense. No, they won't be lured to Saturn, they'd sooner attack the Moon, by the looks of it."

"Still…." Serenity looked thoughtfully at the screens that were, moment by moment, tracking the annihilation of her Fleet and Infantry. "The idea of using Saturn to destroy the demons is not without merit… have you any other ideas about how to accomplish that, Pluto?"

"There is one other way. If the right person could be found, then perhaps she might be persuaded to aid us. There must be something that she wants."

"The right person?" Serenity tilted her head at Pluto and smiled. "The right person, you say? Yes… I like the sound of that. Who knows just how… amenable she might prove to be… provided that we could find just the right person for the task, of course." She glanced meaningfully at Pluto.

Pluto froze. In her mind she had already compiled a list of ten highly skilled negotiators, all of them experts in the field – and all of them expendable. Still, she should have anticipated Serenity's reaction. All of the senshi, even her, were expendable, if it meant protecting the Empire. Still, she managed to keep her expression neutral, hoping that perhaps Serenity was not thinking of sending her. "Your Majesty?"

A slow smile crossed the Queen's lips. "Of all my advisors, Pluto, you are the wisest. Your measured words and keen intellect have staved off more conflicts and resolved more problems than the rest of the senshi combined." The Queen caught the flash of anger on Mars' face before the raven-haired senshi composed herself. "Take an escort of as many ships as you see fit."

"An escort?" Pluto asked, still hoping for a reprieve. "Where shall I go?"

"I think you know well enough, Pluto." Serenity smiled coldly. "To Saturn. Whatever it takes, Pluto, secure her assistance."

"Your Majesty!" Mars broke in. She might dislike Pluto but she valued the woman as both a warrior and a tactician. To send her off on a fool's errand at a time like this…

"Be silent!" For the first time, Serenity raised her voice and Mars visibly recoiled as if she'd been struck. Serenity was careful to soften her tone before she continued. Mars was too valuable to needlessly offend. "Mars… understand that I would not do this if there were any other options."

"But still…"

"Pluto, if you fail you know what the consequences will be. At the current rate, how long do you think it will be before the Moon is overrun?"

"Your Majesty," Mars interjected. "I assure you, I will not allow the Moon to fall."

Pluto glanced quickly at the screens that filled the room. "One week. At the most."

"One week? Perhaps you truly are more of an optimist than I gave you credit for." Serenity sighed. "I give it four days. So if you fail… then in four days every soul in this Empire will be lost and there will be no need to punish you, after all, you won't be long in joining us in the afterlife. But if you succeed… Pluto, do whatever it takes, offer her whatever she wants but we need Saturn to fight them and we need her to do it now." She glanced at the doors of the war room. "Now go, you have my express permission to take whatever resources you require."

"Then by your leave." Pluto turned and left the room, striding out the door with a member of the Lunar Guard on either side.

Serenity waited until Pluto was gone before she turned to Mars. The senshi of fire bristled with barely contained outrage and the Queen could barely suppress the smirk that threatened to appear on her lips. Mars might be a keen tactician and a great warrior, but in some ways she was utterly predictable.

"Mars." Mars nearly jumped when she felt Serenity's hand on her shoulder. It was one thing for the Queen to act so informally in private, quite another to do so in full view of everyone else in the war room. "Forgive me if I have shamed you."

"I… you… there is nothing to forgive."

Serenity took in the flush that stained Mars' cheeks and would have laughed. Predictable. "I have questioned your ability to defend the Moon in front of others," she began, before adding with no small amount of inward amusement, "In front of Pluto, no less."

"I…" Mars fumbled for the words. As Queen, Serenity was always so calm, so regal and almost always so aloof, and yet… when she chose to exercise her charisma, to speak less as a Queen and more as a friend, the effect was formidable.

"Prove me wrong, Mars." Serenity's voice was a silky whisper meant only for Mars' ears, and the senshi flushed even more. Serenity let a trace of a smile quirk her lips. She had Mars' complete attention now and she had managed to cool her temper as well. Mars would be altogether more effective this way. "Prove to me that you can hold this Empire together, Mars, that you can hold the Moon."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Mars felt a shiver run down her spine. She couldn't fail now, she thought as fresh resolve filled her. "I will not fail you!"

As Mars tromped down to the war room's main floor with a renewed sense of purpose, Serenity let her thoughts drift to Pluto. If only the crimson-eyed woman were so easily manipulated. Still, that was what made their little games so amusing. Oh it wasn't that she thought Pluto disloyal. She had meant every word earlier: Pluto truly was worth her weight in gold and the Empire could ill afford to lose her. Yet unlike the other senshi, Pluto regarded her with something other than blind adulation. Yes, if she had to put a word to it, she'd probably call it distaste.

Pluto was a puzzle, one that she took no small pleasure in trying to unravel. What thoughts did she hide behind those timeless eyes? Her mother had always told her to be wary of Pluto, but then her mother had been a timid woman. To rule, one needed to be strong and that meant challenging the things that worried you and crushing them underfoot. Not that she wanted to crush Pluto. That would be too boring and she did so enjoy the woman's skill in subtle wordplay and innuendo – insults and taunts hidden beneath a calm façade and courtly words. It had pleased her to no end to see Pluto's momentary loss of composure at her new mission – clearly she'd thought herself too important to be risked on what was essentially a suicide mission – a rare miscalculation on the senshi's part. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

And there was more to it than that. Mars might not think that Pluto would succeed, but Serenity knew better. She did not think that Saturn was the mindless monster everyone made her out to be. No. Saturn wanted something and it was simply a matter of finding out what. Who better than Pluto for that task? A small smile crossed her face. If only she could be there for the confrontation.

X X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off of this.

Well… talk about a change. I'm not sure how long it was between chapters seven and eight, but it was definitely longer than this. For this chapter, I thought a move back to the past would be a good idea. Little by little we're going to be finding out just what happened on Saturn all those years ago and why Pluto seems to know Saturn so well.

As always, get in touch. I appreciate your feedback.