Sailor Moon: Requiem of Silence

by Raziel12

Hotaru begins to remember the origins of Saturn as Setsuna is forced to deal with the consequences of past mistakes. The Moon Kingdom casts a long shadow, and its past is neither gone nor forgotten.

20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Requiem's master had always warned her against becoming too attached to any particular weapon. A weapon could be taken from her or even turned against her by a skilled opponent. It was far better to become skilled with all weapons, to learn to use even commonplace objects like furniture or cutlery as weapons in their own right. Still, she had become oddly attached to her glaive and there were times when she very much wished she had it with her. This was one of those times.

"Well, don't you look cute?"

With a slight furrowing of her brows, Requiem turned and frowned at Anara. The other woman's normally blonde locks had been dyed black and she was wearing brown contact lenses to hide her cerulean eyes. Seeing the displeasure on her face, the others back away from Anara, some practically tripping over themselves as her gaze cooled even further.

"Stop glaring," Anara said. "You're not scaring anyone." That wasn't exactly true – Requiem was scaring almost everyone else – but the blonde knew that despite her fearsome reputation, Requiem wasn't about to start killing everyone just because she was annoyed. Besides, if Requiem really were going to kill all of them, she definitely wouldn't warn them first. "Besides, how often is it that you wear something like that? I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen you in something that wasn't black or dark purple."

Taking one more moment to glare, Requiem turned away and tugged at her clothing in distaste. Rather than the dark colours she normally favoured, she'd been forced to wear a pair of light grey trousers with a white shirt and a dark grey jacket. She was also wearing a white hat, the front pulled down just far enough to hide her eyes.

"I look ridiculous," Requiem muttered. And it wasn't just the fact that she looked far from threatening. Her disguise left her with almost no room at all to hide weapons on her person. In fact, she'd been forced to abandon her glaive entirely and in its place all she had were two knives hidden in her jacket and a small, compact pistol. Even with the knowledge that she could turn almost anything into a weapon, she couldn't help but feel a little exposed.

"Nonsense, you look cute," Anara replied and to Requiem's horror, the older woman walked over and began to fiddle with the hat on her head. "Besides, it's important that you look the part. I can't think of too many maintenance workers who dress like assassins and carry around a glaive."

And that, unfortunately for Requiem, was the heart of the matter. The facility that they were about to infiltrate was supposed to be conducting high-level research into energy-based weaponry. Their mission was to get in, extract the research from the facility's computer databanks, and then level the facility by sabotaging the reactor cores used to power everything.

Under normal circumstances, they'd have mounted a multi-pronged attack with several teams occupying the facility's security forces while another secured the research. However, unlike most of the facilities that they had attacked so far, this one wasn't on Saturn's surface. Instead, it was on one of Saturn's smaller moons, Pandora. Based on the information that Anara had been able to gather from the government's networks, the facility had powerful scanners designed to detect incoming vessels and multiple laser and plasma batteries designed to deal with any incoming threats, which ruled out any sort of conventional attack.

However, an opportunity had arrived not long ago when the facility's computer network had begun to experience serious problems. The facility had tried to handle things without calling for outside help, but the problems had persisted leading to a request for help from Saturn. It was a request that Anara had intercepted. From there, it wasn't all that difficult for them intercept the maintenance crew en route to Pandora and replace them. It was a risky plan, but the opportunity was too good to pass up.

Thus all twenty of them, led by Anara and Requiem, had dressed the part. They had also taken modified copies of all the security clearances and other documentation that they would need to get past the facility's security. Still, despite how well things had been planned out, Requiem found herself a little uneasy. A frontal assault was straightforward with easily identified risks, all of which related to the ability of the target to defend itself from their attack. On the other hand, a ruse like this could quite easily go wrong very quickly if they somehow gave themselves away, or if their replacement of the maintenance crew was discovered.

"Ma'am, we're about to enter the restricted zone." The words came over the intercom from the pilot of their ship. "The facility should be contacting us any moment now, so I think you should probably get up here."

"I'll be up there in a moment," Anara said just before she reached over and pinched Requiem's cheek playfully. "Now stop scowling, you're going to give the others a heart attack."

Requiem watched the older woman leave and wondered when exactly it was that Anara had stopped being afraid of her. It was strange too, because during the time that she'd been fighting against the government, most people had gotten more afraid of her, not less. In a way it was understandable. She knew that it wasn't normal for someone to kill literally scores of soldiers on their own, nor was it normal for someone to feel almost nothing while doing so. But while the others seemed content to keep her at a distance, Anara seemed determined to do the opposite. It was frustrating at times to have to deal with the teasing Anara directed her way, but there was a part of her, a part that she'd thought long dead, that was glad that someone other than her master did not seem to mind her company, despite what she was capable of. It almost made her feel like she belonged.

"All right," Anara's voice came over the intercom. "I'll be up here dealing with the facility if they contact us. The rest of you need to make sure that you've got everything in order. You need to know what your identities are for this mission and what it is that you're supposed to be working on when we get there. If any of us slip up then all of us are going to end up dead."

That got a few nervous chuckles from the others, but on the whole they took it well. Requiem glanced around and as she'd suspected, all of the others were veterans with at least a few missions of experience. That was a welcome change, because on most missions there was normally at least one rookie, usually someone who had joined the organisation for ideological reasons but lacked the practical experience to match their convictions. More often than not, she ended up having to look after them, simply because she was the only one who could look after herself and someone else at the same time. Still, everyone had to start somewhere, and a few of the rookies had proven to be quite useful after a few missions of experience.

As the others took some time to look through their security clearances and tidy up their appearances, Requiem crept into the cockpit of the ship. She took a spot just behind one of the consoles where someone speaking to Anara over the communications link wouldn't be able to see her.

There was a crackle of static before the main display at the front of the cockpit lit up. The familiar emblem of the Royal Family of Saturn appeared before it was replaced by the stern face of one of the facility's security personnel. "This is Pandora Central, this is a restricted area. Please identify yourself and confirm your security clearance."

Anara smiled just enough to put the man at ease. "We're the maintenance crew from Saturn. We've heard you've been having some problems with your computer network."

"That's right," the man said, his expression softening a little. "Now have you got those security clearance codes?"

Anara nodded. "I'm sending them over now." She chuckled with what seemed like a hint of nervousness – all of which Requiem knew was faked. "You've got about a dozen heavy laser batteries pointed our way, you mind maybe easing up on that a little?"

The man glanced away for a moment. The security clearance codes must have been good, because he nodded and grinned. "Sorry about that, but it's standard operating procedure. It's just that we've been having a lot of trouble recently with our facilities on Saturn."

Anara's face took on a look of concern. "Yes, I heard about that. It's that terrorist group, isn't it?" She grimaced. "They sound like horrible people, making trouble for the rest of us."

The man laughed. "That's true, all right." He glanced down. "You've got clearance to land at Dock 2A. There should be an escort waiting for you there. If there isn't wait at the dock until they arrive."

"Will do." Anara smiled again. "See you soon."

Once Anara had closed the communications link, Requiem stepped out of her hiding place. "No matter how many times I see you in action, it is always unsettling." Although Requiem was very good at hiding her emotions, she wasn't very good at all at faking emotions.

Anara just shrugged. "Being good with computers helps a lot of the time, but more often than not, if you want to get sensitive information, you need physical access to the databanks holding it and that means being able to convince people to give you access." She chuckled and shot Requiem an amused look. "Not all of us can be as good with weapons as you are."

Requiem nodded. "Perhaps, although I wouldn't go so far as to recommend my childhood to anyone."

Anara winced. "You know that's not what I meant."

"I know." Requiem paused. She wasn't very good at dealing with other people, at least not in the way that most people her age probably were. "I'm not angry."

"Well, that's good then." Anara smirked. "Now put a smile on that cute face of yours." Requiem's lips shifted slightly and Anara grimaced. "Actually, maybe it would be better if you just tried to keep a neutral expression." She glanced down at the console. "In any case, just get ready. We should be touching down in about ten minutes. Keep your head down and follow the others. With any luck, I'll be doing all the talking."

As the ship swung around for its final approach to the facility, Requiem glanced out one of the windows. The facility was much larger than most of the facility's they'd attacked so far. Rather than the soaring towers of black stone that were so common on the surface of Saturn, this facility was spread out across a relatively large area and made up of clusters of smaller buildings, each perhaps only seven or eight stories tall. That would make destroying the entire facility quite difficult, but if their information was correct, then the reactor cores that powered everything should be enough to wipe everything out if they were rigged to overload.

The docks were on the outskirts of the facility and as they touched down, the first hint of real nervousness seeped through the group. There was no turning back now, for better or for worse, all they could do was go with the plan and hope that everything turned out alright. Still, all of them made sure to look calm as the ship landed and the doors opened. Anara was the first one off the ship and she moved out into the dock with the easy confidence of someone who was supposed to be there. As expected, there was an escort there of about twenty guards.

The leader of the guards was the one to greet them. "Welcome to Pandora Central." His coal-coloured eyes narrowed faintly. "While you're here there are several rules that you will have to follow. First, you must do as commanded by myself or any other ranking officer of this facility. Failure to comply can lead to immediate imprisonment. Second, you are to move through only the areas that have been cleared for you." He tapped several buttons on the glove that he wore on his left hand and an image of the facility appeared over his palm with some of the areas shaded green and with the rest shaded red. "Your access is restricted to these green areas, which are directly related to the computer network. You will also be supervised at all times while you are working." He dispelled the image. "Finally, any information that you may come across here is classified. Any attempt to remove information from this facility is classified as treason and is punishable by imprisonment or death. Do you understand?"

Anara nodded. Everything the leader of the guards had just said was standard procedure. "Understood, sir. We've done a couple of jobs like this before, so I know how things are." She tilted her head at the others. "We're ready to start, if that's okay with you?"

He nodded. "Of course." He turned on his heel as the guards fell into place around them. "Follow me."

As the guards led them toward the central computer hub of the facility, Requiem kept a close eye on their surroundings. She'd already memorised the entire layout of the facility, but there was no guarantee that the floor plan she'd seen was completely up to date. There were also things that a simple floor plan wouldn't show that could prove useful. For example, just knowing which way the doors opened or how long the doors took to open could mean the difference between life and death if they were forced to fight their way out.

There were a lot of cameras and other surveillance devices around, she realised, as well as a lot of guards. In fact, there seemed to be guard posts at the entrance of every building, along with roving patrols. Whatever they were working on here, it was likely to be very important if it was so well defended. As they approached the central computer hub, she turned her attention from their surroundings back onto the guards escorting them.

Most of the guards seemed to be of the standard variety, armed with rifles and pistols and the occasional melee weapon. The real danger, she thought, was their leader. He wore finely crafted black armour underneath a purple cloak, the purple so dark that it seemed almost black. The cloak itself was held closed by a clasp in the shape of a raven. Only one group wore cloaks like that: The Saturnian Royal Guard. A faint frown crossed her face. The Saturnian Royal Guard answered only to the Royal Family and served as their eyes and ears, and, when necessary, as their shield and sword. He also moved with an easy grace, each step taken with the carefully controlled precision of a seasoned warrior. Add to that the fact that the grip of the broadsword he carried slung across his back was worn and faded and it was clear that he was skilled, very skilled.

The guards at the front of the central computer hub waved them past and they were led through a series of corridors before they reached the centre of the building. Along the way they were also subjected to a number of security checks, with guards looking through their equipment and clothing. It was at times like this that Requiem was particularly grateful for the advances in technology that made it possible for her to hide her weapons from anything but the most discerning eye.

"This is the central computer hub," the Royal Guardsman said as he turned to leave, taking a moment to ensure that all of the other guards remained in position. "Unfortunately, there are other matters that require my attention, if you require anything else, you may ask one of the guards."

The hub itself was a single vast chamber at least five stories tall. At the heart of it were the huge interlocking columns of crystal-like data recorders that served as the central databank. Around the databank were the countless relays and other pieces of equipment that served to connect the rest of the facility to the databank. A host of power conduits ran along the walls and ceiling and fed into the databank and its surroundings.

Anara took a moment to take a look at everything and then nodded. "All right, let's get to work."

Requiem did her best to blend in with the others as they spread out through the hub. According to Anara, the problems that the facility was experiencing were likely the result of damage to some of the relay stations and power conduits caused by fluctuations in the output of the energy reactors that powered the facility. The output fluctuations themselves were probably caused by whatever experiments the facility was conducting.

Following a few of the others up onto one of the many catwalks that led to the upper levels of the hub, Requiem opened the box of equipment that she'd been given and began to examine the power conduit closest to her.

Down at the bottom of the hub, Anara had her computer out. "Take a look at those relays and power conduits, I think they might be the problem." She pursed her lips. "Have a look at the ones near the top, they look a little worn. If we're not getting a stable power supply in here, then it's no wonder the computers are losing their connection to the hub on a regular basis."

Glancing down from where she was, Requiem watched Anara put on her show. Beckoning one of the guards over, Anara pulled up a display of the diagnostics that she was running and started to explain. The diagnostics were all genuine and combined with the easy going way that Anara was explaining them, it wasn't long before a few more of the guards had come over to take a closer look. Of course, it didn't hurt that Anara was acting just shy of flirtatious, with a wide smile on her face as she interspersed her explanations with shouts at the others about what they needed to do.

It wasn't long before Anara asked, ever so politely, if she could connect her computer to the central databank. It would help with diagnosing what the problem was and the guards were welcome to watch the entire time to make sure that she wasn't doing anything else. Of course, what they didn't know was that Anara had designed a program that she could run in the background to crack through the protection around the central databank. It was up to the others who were doing their best to look busy to monitor the progress of the program. Once the encryption around the central databank had been breached, the program would begin streaming the information onto the special data storage units on their ship.

Taking one last look around to make sure that no one was watching her, Requiem closed her eyes and stepped back into the shadows cast by one of the relay stations. There, she loosened her hold on her power just enough to hide her from sight and muffle any sounds that she might make. Satisfied that no one could see her, she let her face take on its normal cool, almost cold expression.

Above her, and hidden from view, was a ventilation shaft used to bring in air to cool the hub. Quickly, she hopped up and pried it open before she climbed inside. She followed the ventilation shaft out onto the roof of the hub and took a moment to orient herself. It took her a few seconds to spot the tall, thick spires that served as the cooling vents for the energy reactors, but when she did, she was quick to take off across the roofs toward them. To make sure that they were able to get out safely, Anara and the others really would be completing the repairs, but that wouldn't matter so long as Requiem managed to rig the energy reactors to overload and destroy the facility.

As she leapt from roof to roof, using her Rift-born strength to easily bridge the large gaps between some of the buildings, Requiem kept a close watch on the guards below her. Over the years, she'd learned that people rarely, if ever, looked up, but in case one of them did, she needed to be ready. At the same time, she made sure to stay away from as many cameras as she could. It wasn't that her powers couldn't hide her from the cameras. On the contrary, her powers tended to either break cameras or reduce the footage to mere static, both of which could draw unwelcome attention to her if they affected too many cameras at once. One camera breaking down was possible, but if ten or twenty went down at once, there would be trouble.

A few minutes later, Requiem touched down on the roof of the building where the energy reactors were. Calling upon her powers once again, she pulled out one of her knives from her jacket and wreathed its blade in destructive violet energy. The air sang eerily for a split-second as she used her knife to cut a hole in the roof. Below her was another ventilation shaft and she dropped down and followed it till she dropped down in the middle of a deserted corridor several floors above the control room for the energy reactors. She could have tried for a different ventilation shaft, but the closer to the control room she got, the tougher the security would be and a ventilation shaft was one of the worst possible places to have to fight.

The corridor was made of drab grey stone with lights studded into the walls and ceiling. Quickly, she palmed both of her knives and made sure that her pistol was within easy reach. If she were discovered now, there would be no point trying to explain. She would have to fight and win quickly enough to prevent someone sounding an alarm. With a soft sigh, she gathered herself and slunk quickly down the corridor.

She came across the first of the guards just in front of the elevators and as she rounded the corner, she saw his eyes widen in shock. His hand flashed down to his communicator to call for help, but her knife was already in flight and a split-second before he could each his communicator, the weapon imbedded itself in his left eye. He dropped to the ground with a thud and as she went over to pull her knife free, she heard a startled cry behind her. It was another guard, most likely, he'd gone to get something like a drink and come back to find her there. Without looking, she threw her knife again. A second later, he too fell to the ground.

The elevator was password protected, but Requiem had come prepared. She reached into her jacket for the small device that Anara had given her and clipped it over the password entry unit. It took a few moments, but eventually, the unit gave a small beep and the doors opened. Good, as usual, Anara had come through for her. Glancing back down at one of the dead guards, she paused for a moment and then slung his rifle over her shoulder. After another moment's thought, she bent down and picked him up, as well. He was bigger than her, but with her greater than normal strength, he wasn't too difficult to lift.

As the elevator descended, she positioned the dead man in front of her. The doors opened with a quiet beep and she heard the gasps of shock and horror from the guards in front of the elevator as she threw the dead guard into their midst. They recoiled immediately, a completely natural reaction, but one that gave her the element of surprise as she burst out of the elevator, knives at the ready.

She reached the first guard before he could even bring his gun up. Her knife flashed across his throat, and he dropped to his knees, gurgling horribly as he clutched at the wound. A second lashed out at her with the butt of his rifle, but she simply breezed under the blow and struck as she rose, her knives blurring as she struck several times in quick succession and then kicked him into the two others behind him. A bullet shot past her, and she spun, hand extending as she flung her knife into the throat of another guard.

The two remaining guards struggled to shove their fallen comrade off, but only partially succeeded before she reached them. She stabbed one in the chest twice and then twisted to catch the arm of the second, yanking him up and forward so that she could cut his throat. Blood pooled on the floor and she took a second to go back and retrieve her other knife before she continued down the corridor.

On her back, the rifle she'd stolen remained unfired. While she could use a gun as well as anything else, rifles had a tendency to be noisy and more noise meant more trouble. If the facility's security forces realised what she was up to, Anara and the others would most likely be captured or killed. If her information was correct, then the control room was at the end of the next corridor. Unfortunately, there would probably be another score or so of guards for her to deal with.

Her lips quirked up slightly. Despite the emptiness that she so often struggled to control, there was a part of her that revelled in the fury of battle, in the moment-to-moment struggle between life and death. Footsteps came from nearby. The guards were close. Closing her eyes, she let her power expand, let the hollowness and pain that had been a part of her for so long sweep through her and out of her and into her surroundings. Silence fell over everything and she exploded into motion. With her powers casting an unearthly quiet over everything, it wouldn't matter if the guards or her opened fire. Besides, there were too many of them for her to fight without being noticed.

The guards opened fire immediately, and she threw herself to the side, drawing the rifle off her back and letting loose a hail of bullets. The first spray caught one guard in the chest and he jerked backward, slamming into the wall and leaving a florid trail of red in his wake as his eyes glazed over and he slid to the floor. More bullets slammed into the walls and floor around her as she continued her rush forward, firing back as she advanced. Another guard went down, two bullets hitting him in the chest and spinning his around, before a third struck him in the head and put him down. Two of the guards at the back of the group went for their communicators and she targeted them next, firing on them until the rifle clicked empty, even though she was fairly confident that her powers would make communication with the outside impossible.

More guards arrived, no doubt drawn by the unnatural quiet, and she tossed her rifle aside and drew her knives again. She was in their midst almost before they even registered what was happening and confusion reigned as she laid into them. Her knife caught one in the arm and she twisted, lashing out with her second knife to cut his throat. She felt the air behind her shift and leapt up just in time to avoid a stream of bullets. The wayward shots hit another guard and as she landed, she sheathed one knife and tore the gun from the guard's hands, turning it on those around her. The rifle kicked hard against her shoulder as she fired, twisting away from the guards' counter fire and emptying the rifle in several well-aimed bursts.

The guards fell to the ground and she tossed the rifle aside. The doors to the control room were right ahead and it was quite likely that they'd chosen to fortify their position rather than fight in the corridor. Placing Anara's device on the door, she waited for the doors to open and then stepped to one side.

A hail of bullets greeted her and she waited for them to stop before she took a quick look through the door. The guards had made a rough barricade out of tables and chairs and were hunkered down behind it. It was a good strategy, but one that would not succeed given what she was capable of. From where they were, they had no hope of interrupting her. With a low growl, she began to gather her energy. Violet light pooled in her palms and she felt the air around her begin to crackle with raw, uncontrolled force. The silence around her deepened, growing until it was more than just an absence of sound, but an absence of feeling or thought. The emptiness inside her howled, begging for release and for a split-second she was back in the smouldering ruins of her home with the smell of burning flesh in the air. Blinking the memory away, she stepped back in front of the door and flung her hands forward.

The energy in her hands shot forward, a coruscating sphere of purple radiance. It howled through the air with the soundless roar of dream-born thunder and there was a flash that was more than visual as it struck the barricade. The air rippled and tore as violet light spilled outward from the centre of the attack. Space warped and a soul-piercing shriek filled the air before the light began to dim and the attack subsided.

When Requiem looked back, the guards were gone along with their barricade and a fifteen feet wide section of the floor. However, the rest of the control room seemed untouched and she breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped inside. The console that controlled the energy reactors was set into one of the walls and she made her way over to it. While she wasn't particularly good with computers, Anara had made sure to teach her what to do.

However, as she reached down to begin the adjustment, a loud voice stopped her.

"That's about far enough."

She froze and then turned. Above her on the catwalks that ran alongside three of the four walls of the control room were guards and directly opposite from her was the Royal Guardsman from before. Her eyes narrowed. Every single one of them had their weapons pointed at her and she had no doubt at all that they would fire if she much as twitched.

"I didn't expect you to cut your way through my guards quite so easily," the Royal Guardsman said. His eyes flicked down to the missing section of the floor. "Still, I suppose a few losses are inevitable when the prize to be had is so great."

Requiem said nothing. Instead, she took a second to examine the area around her more closely. The Royal Guardsman and the others had the high ground and there wasn't anything nearby that she could use for cover. Worse, many of the guards were carrying what looked like neural disruption grenades, which would be enough to stagger even her. They were armed, she realised, to capture, not to kill.

"What are you talking about?" Requiem asked. She needed to stall for time if she wanted to get out of this. As her pulse began to quicken, she forced herself to stay calm. Her master had taught her better and so long as she remained calm, she still had a chance. "What prize?"

The Royal Guardsman laughed. "Isn't it obvious? You and that friend of yours are the prizes." He smiled coldly. "You've be a thorn in Her Highness' side for quite some time now, and while I'd much rather kill you, the High Princess is convinced that you might be useful for our research." He smirked. "Or rather, that power of yours might be useful. As for your friend, she knows a great deal about your organisation, enough I think, that we should be able to crush all of you."

"What have you done with my friend?" Requiem growled. The blood in her veins had turned to ice. She knew better than the most the different ways that information could be extracted from someone who was unwilling to give it. There was torture, of course, of the conventional kind, but there were other procedures, procedures that were far worse. For instance, there was neural stripping, which was banned in principle, but disturbingly common in practice. If they used that, then Anara would either die outright or be left a broken shell of her old self.

"We haven't done anything yet," the Royal Guardsman said. "Besides, the High Princess wishes to question her personally."

Requiem tensed. The High Princess' cruelty was a very carefully kept secret.

"Right now, your friend has been taken into custody, as for the others though… we didn't have any use for them, so we disposed of them." He smiled. "Quickly, I should add."

"Disposed of them? The air around Requiem quivered and she heard a dull ringing inside her ears. Those people hadn't been her friends, but they'd been comrades, people she'd fought with on a number of occasions.

"Yes," he replied. "They wouldn't have been very useful. Your friend, on the other hand, is a different story, but don't worry. You'll be seeing her soon enough." He gestured with one hand. "Take her into custody."

More guards came in through the door she'd taken into the control room. They were holding restraints and Requiem gathered her power.

"You can fight if you like," the Royal Guardsman said. "But you won't win."

He would have said more but a shaft of golden light suddenly lanced right through his chest and into the wall behind him. He looked down at the glowing beam of light in startled horror before he stumbled forward and tumbled over the railing of the catwalk. He fell to the ground not far from Requiem, his eyes already glazed in death. For a moment, there was absolute silence as everyone stared at the Royal Guardsman's prone body. What had just happened? Requiem was the first to move. As much as the sudden twist in events disturbed her, she was not going to waste this opportunity.

Quick as a flash, she darted forward at the guards that were supposed to apprehend her. Rather than try and kill all of them, she simply drove one knife into the chest of the guard closest to her and reached for the neural disruption grenades at his waist. As he gurgled and toppled to the floor, she palmed one of the grenades and activated all of the others.

Ignoring the spray of bullets from the other guards, one of which grazed her arm and another of which grazed her leg, she leapt up onto the nearest catwalk and threw the neural disruption grenade she'd taken at the guards closest to her. Beneath her, she heard a dull whoosh followed by a high-pitched wail as the four neural disruption grenades she'd activated detonated together.

A grim smile crossed her face as the guards below her began to scream and writhe in helpless agony. Neural disruption grenades were restricted on most planets and with good reason. They operated by massively overstimulating the nerves in the human body. The end result was a feeling of immense pain, which while not normally lethal, was more than enough to render those caught in the blast helpless. However, that was the effect of just one grenade. She'd used four on them.

The grenade she'd thrown landed in the middle of the guards nearest to her and went off. Immediately, most of them went down, crying out in pain. She breezed through them, cutting and thrusting quickly to either side. Bullets slammed into the walls and catwalk around her and she grabbed a screaming guard and used him for cover. His body jerked wildly under the gunfire and she grabbed a neural disruption grenade from his waist and threw it as best she could. But the other guards were finally beginning to get their act together and as she continued to try and make her way toward them, she saw four neural disruption grenades flying through the air toward her.

As the grenades arced through the air toward her, Requiem holstered her knives and reached for her pistol. Even for her the shots would be tough to make, but she simply couldn't afford to miss. Taking aim, she fired rapidly, the gun kicking back with each shot. Some of her shots went wide, but that hardly mattered, because four of them had hit. The grenades exploded in mid-air, and rather than stay on the catwalk where she would be exposed, she leapt up onto one of the support struts that stretched from wall to wall.

She sprinted across the support strut toward the other guards, sparing a moment to shoot out as many of the lights as she could before her pistol clicked empty. With her keener vision, the lack of light would trouble her far less than them. As she leapt off the support strut toward the guards, she felt a bullet catch her in the shoulder. Pain rippled through her, but she shoved it aside. As far as she could tell, the bullet had managed to miss bone and had simply shot through. It would hurt, but her arm wasn't completely useless.

She kicked one man off the catwalk and then stabbed another twice in the chest before she forced her injured shoulder to work as she brought her other knife around into the stomach of a third and then yanked upward. He gave a screech and dropped to his knees and she plucked his rifle from him, using her good arm to fire it as best she could as she jumped back up onto the support strut.

The erratic flash of the rifle as it fired lit up a grisly scene. Most of the guards were dead, and some of those still alive were trying to flee. Blood streaked the walls and floor and the low groans of those hit by the neural disruption grenades filled the air. Stopping for a second, she reached up for her shoulder. She didn't have much time so healing her shoulder completely was out of the question. However, she could probably heal it enough for it to last the battle. Purple light covered the wound and she managed to get just enough done before she was on the move again, dodging gunfire as she dropped back onto the floor of the control room.

The fall was a long one, and in the near darkness, she landed slightly awkwardly. Lightning shot up her ankle, but she pushed the pain aside. The joint wasn't broken. More likely, she'd just sprained it. Her eyes scanned the near-darkness, even though a lot of the guards were down, there were still quite a few of them and she was beginning to tire. She had to find a way to get rid of them all at once.

Her eyes shifted to the catwalk. The high ground was what gave the guards the advantage, but the catwalk wasn't actually that well supported. In fact, apart from being bolted to the wall, it was only supported by several columns. If she could sever those, the catwalk would probably break off. Gathering as much power as she could, and doing her best to stay one step ahead of the guards' gunfire, she lashed out wildly with great streams of violet effulgence.

The attacks smashed into the supporting columns and disintegrated them almost immediately. The whine of straining metal filled the air before the catwalks began to break away from the walls and fall to the ground. The guards went down with the catwalks, the room filling with dust and sound as Requiem forced her tired body into motion.

She grabbed the rifles from the guards closest to her and fired into the dust. The controls would most likely suffer some damage, but at this point, it was more important that she got out of there and got Anara. Even with her keen vision, the dust made it hard to see in the faint light, but their coughing was enough to give their positions away.

As she blazed away, emergency lights and alarms began to wail – she must have hit something vital – but she doubted it mattered. The Royal Guardsman had told her that Anara had already been captured, which meant that the base was probably under lockdown anyway. In her arms, the rifle jerked to a stop and she tossed it away. Her knives were in her palms a moment later and she strode into the cloud of dust.

By the time she'd finished, she was utterly exhausted. It didn't help that she hadn't escaped completely unscathed either. A few of the guards had managed to get off lucky shots and while she hadn't been hit cleanly, there were a few bloody gashes and scrapes that she would have to deal with. Swaying a little, she grit her teeth. Just the physical effort required to kill so many people left her drained, and she was shocked by how little it bothered her that her arms were drenched in blood up to the elbows.

Staggering, she made her way over to the control panel and frowned. The fight had damaged it quite badly, and the damage had triggered an emergency failsafe routine that made it all but impossible to rig the reactors to overload.

"Don't worry about that."

Requiem was beginning to become quite tired of people sneaking up on her, although at least on this occasion she could blame it on her exhaustion. She turned and watched as someone leapt down from the roof of the room and landed not ten feet from her. In the near darkness, it was hard to make out the person in front of her, but then they gestured and sparkling golden light swirled into existence around them before taking on the shape of a sword. The person the glowing sword revealed was quite possibly the most beautiful person that Requiem had ever seen.

The woman had long golden hair and large, shimmering, sapphire eyes. Her full lips were pulled into an almost amused smile and the tiara that framed her forehead held an orange-amber crystal. Beneath the golden cloak she wore that was trimmed with orange, the woman's figure was undeniably feminine and everything about her, from the way she stood, to the sound of her voice oozed a sort of easy sensuality.

"Sailor Venus," Requiem murmured as she took a step back. It had been more than a year since she'd encountered Sailor Mercury and during that time she'd pushed herself even harder, knowing that she'd probably run into another one of the senshi sooner or later. Currently, however, she wasn't in any conditions to fight a senshi, especially one as dangerous as Sailor Venus. Mercury might be a brilliant scientist and tactician, but Venus was arguably the most skilled swordswoman in the Solar System, to say nothing of the telepathic powers that she was supposed to have.

"Relax," Venus said, smiling softly, her voice soft and smoky with a hint of teasing. "I'm not here to fight." She put her hands on her hips and grinned. "Besides, shouldn't you be thanking me?"

"Thanking you?" Requiem's eyes widened. Of course, the attack that had killed the Royal Guardsman and given her the opening she needed. It had been a beam of light, the exact same kind of attack that Venus was famous for. Immediately, she tensed, ready for a fight. "Why did you help me?"

Rather than look offended, Venus, simply continued to look amused. She raised one fine eyebrow and then chuckled throatily. "Are you threatening me?" Requiem couldn't help but shiver, whether in fear or something else, she wasn't sure. "Perhaps if you were healthy it might be an interesting fight, but right now, you're exhausted." Her lips curved into a smile. "Still, I can see why Mercury was so impressed. You're very…" she bit one full lip in thought and then smirked. "Yes… forceful in the way that you fight. Perhaps not very elegant, but you're ruthless, and I can't really argue with your effectiveness."

"Answer the question," Requiem said. "Why are you helping me?"

Venus sighed dramatically and clutched at her chest. "Why are you being so hostile toward me? I'm only trying to do the right thing." She held her hurt expression for a moment longer and then winked. "Well, if you must know, you're not the only ones who've been keeping an eye on the Royal Family of Saturn. You see, Requiem, Saturn has been causing trouble for the Empire lately. After all, they never liked us very much, and you don't really think that all those weapons they've been building lately are just for show, do you?" Venus laughed, the sound like tinkling silver bells. "That High Princess of yours has some high aspirations for Saturn, aspirations that the Empress does not particularly like."

"Why not just kill her?" Requiem asked.

"Normally, it wouldn't be all that hard for us to do that." Venus' eyes shimmered with mirth. "However, Saturn has always been difficult to deal with. You Saturnians have always been very good at fighting so any attempt to just dispose of the High Princess using brute force would most likely fail. Those closest to her are also very loyal to her and Saturn, so we can't really rely on assassination either." She pouted. "And with the problems we've been having on Jupiter and Uranus, we really haven't got all that many resources to spare. Honestly, some people just don't know how to stay conquered, even if it is for the best." She smiled sunnily at Requiem. "And that's where you and your little group come in."

Requiem's blood ran cold. The smile on Venus' face was entirely too friendly. It was like the two of them were old friends. "So you're just using us…"

"You could look at it that way," Venus said. "But you and your group have been having quite a bit of success making life hard for the Royal Family. Now, we don't actually think you'll win, but you will slow things down enough so that by the time the High Princess is ready to make her move, we'll be ready too." Venus grinned. "That's why I'm helping you. If you and that friend of yours die here, then that's only going to make things harder for the Empire and that in turn will make the Empress unhappy, and I just can't have that." She smiled secretively. "After all, we are very, very close."

Requiem frowned. "I don't like the thought of helping the Empire."

Venus pursed her lips. "You know, Requiem, the Empress wasn't quite sure what to do with you. After Mercury's report came back, she actually considered having you killed. There aren't many who can fight a senshi and live and the thought of someone like you just wandering around wasn't exactly reassuring." She tapped her lip with one slender finger. "Then she considered behavioural modification, but I argued against that. You see, I think you'll come join us one day. The fact is that even your own comrades are scared of you and the power that you have." She stepped forward and before Requiem could move, Venus reached forward and lifted Requiem's hands up. They were covered in blood, but Venus seemed completely unfazed and she ran her fingers along the back of Requiem's palms and then up along her fingers. "Do you think your comrades would even want to be near you if they saw you like this, let alone touch you? Hmmmm… I'd wager that they'd run screaming the other way." Her voice had dropped to a whisper and she leaned in close. "But the Empress would understand and so would the senshi. Power makes you different and we're the only ones who won't be afraid."

Requiem pulled her hands back. "You don't understand a thing! I'm not going to join you."

Venus shifted backward, easily dodging the tired punch that Requiem sent her way. She caught the limb and pulled Requiem up close, the younger woman's back flush against her front. Requiem struggled to break free, but couldn't. Venus was stronger than Mercury, much stronger. At the same time though, there was a voice in her head, telling her to stop struggling. She almost listened, swaying slightly. Venus smelled like roses and she felt so very nice…

"Get out of my head!" Requiem spat as she realised what was happening.

Venus' eyes widened and then she smiled approvingly. "Good, you were able to realise what I was doing. You really are strong." She tightened her hold and her voice was a low whisper in Requiem's ears. "But remember this, Requiem, you aren't the same as the others and you never will be. No matter how much that little group of yours does, it will never be enough. Maybe you'll defeat the High Princess, maybe you won't, but even if you do, there will be no place for you there. You'll always be on the run because the Royal Family will never forgive and it will never forget." She pressed her lips to Requiem's cheek. "You'll get tired of running one day, tired of fighting for a cause that can't possibly win and when you do, you'll remember this offer and you'll come to us of your own free will." Venus ran one hand along Requiem's jaw. "And you don't have to worry about your friends. The Empress will see to that. In fact, I've no doubt at all that she'll take in all of you. After all, good help is so hard to find and all your friends are useful in their own right." She nuzzled at Requiem's cheek. "You'll be safe, you'll be powerful, and everything will be just the way it should be."

Requiem tried to pull free. "Let go of me!"

"In a moment." Venus reached around and slipped something into Requiem's tattered jacket. "Before you go, you should take that. It has some information about the Royal Family's research facilities that your group might find useful." She grinned. "And thank your friend, Anara for me, while she was busy hacking the central databank, I made sure to pull off a copy of the data."

Requiem growled and finally managed to break free. She stumbled back and immediately went for her knives.

"In case you're curious about what they were working on here – I know I was – I believe Mercury called it an 'ultra-high density photon multiplier array' or something like that. I'm not entirely sure how it all works, but it sounds a great deal like a death ray." Venus leapt up and back toward the ruined catwalk. She landed easily on the railing and there was a flash of golden light as she cut a hole in the wall. "Oh and don't worry about having to set off the energy reactors. I've already planted some explosive charges. They're set to go off in about thirty minutes." She turned.

"Wait!" Requiem shouted, hating the fact that she was about to ask for a favour. "Where is Anara?"

Venus smiled. "I was wondering if you'd ask. She's in the south-eastern holding cells. Your ship is still at the dock, so once you get her, you should take it and get out of here." She paused for a moment and then a playful look appeared on her face. "And next time we meet, try to wear something different. Grey really doesn't suit you. Purple I think, or black, would be best." And then she was gone.

As Requiem willed her tired body into motion, she couldn't help but think about everything Venus had said. Had they really done nothing more than play into the Empire's plans? The thought brought a snarl to her lips. She refused to let anyone manipulate her. She would have her revenge and she would have it on her own terms.

X X X

Later, much later, Requiem staggered back into the main area of the ship from the cockpit. She'd set a course for a deserted part of Saturn where they could meet up with Van and her master. For now, however, as much as she wanted to just collapse, she couldn't. By the time she'd gotten to Anara, the security forces had already hit her with a neural disruption grenade combined with a drug to keep her conscious. The fact that her friend was still coherent despite the agonising pain she'd been subjected to was a testament to her toughness.

"It hurts!" Anara screamed, back arched as her face tightened with pain, her voice hoarse from screaming. "It hurts so much!"

Requiem resisted the urge to hold the other woman. It was something she could remember her own mother doing when she'd been hurt, although the memory was so dim now that she wasn't even sure how much of it was real and how much it she'd simply imagined. Certainly her master had never comforted her like that, not that she held it against him. But holding Anara now, when she was still in the grips of the neural disruption grenade, would only hurt her.

"Heal me!" Anara sobbed. "Requiem, please!"

Requiem bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. She'd never paid as much attention to her healing powers as she should, content to be able to fix up the wounds she suffered on the battlefield. If only she'd worked a little harder and learned how to take away someone's pain instead of just learning how to kill people… she clenched her fists.

"I can't do that," Requiem whispered softly as she knelt down and opened the ship's medical kit. There was a sedative there that should be able to knock Anara out until the grenade's effects wore off. "This will hurt, but only for a moment."

Without further warning, she plunged the sedative filled needle into Anara's arm. The woman let loose a wild shriek and thrashed so violently that even with her strength, it took Requiem everything she had to hold her down. Finally, her body went slack and Anara fell silent.

Slumping onto the floor, Requiem consoled herself with the fact that she'd killed everyone responsible for Anara's pain and if she had missed anybody, Venus' explosives had reduced the entire facility to one gigantic crater. Still, she couldn't help but wonder. How had the Royal Family known they were coming? Looking at her friend, Requiem felt the emptiness and silence in her grow just a little more. She'd lost everything once already. She would die before she let anyone take from her what little she still had.

X X X

Venus opened the communications link and waited a few seconds. The delay was troublesome to someone accustomed to the very finest things, but it was a necessary sacrifice. It wouldn't do, after all, for her communications link to be compromised and encryption, especially to the standard that Mercury demanded, took time.

Finally, the display in front of her came to life. The Empress appeared before her, a small smile on her face.

"I trust things went well, Venus."

Venus smiled and inclined her head. Looking up, she winked. "Of course, Your Majesty. Everything went as planned."

The Empress laughed. "I must confess, Venus, that even after all these years you continue to surprise me." She laughed softly. "It would seem that you are even better at manipulating people than Pluto."

Venus made a show of bowing humbly. "I live to serve."

"Still, I do wonder what would happen if Requiem were ever to find out that you were the one who leaked the information about them to the facility's security forces." The Empress smirked. "I imagine she'd be quite upset."

Venus shrugged elegantly. "Perhaps, but she won't find out. In any case, you said you wanted her, didn't you? This way, when that group of hers is finally crushed, she'll come running right to us, we may even get a few more pawns into the bargain."

"Pawns?" The Empress' eyes glittered dangerously. "The others may be pawns, but Requiem is more than that. The time will may come that we have to sacrifice those pawns for a greater purpose." She leaned forward. "You felt it, didn't you, my Venus, the power that lies inside her?"

A bright smile lit up Venus' face. "Yes, but she's not ready yet. But when it does happen, I want to see it." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Can you imagine it, the birth of the first true Sailor Saturn?"

X X X

Author's Notes

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

Well, what do you know? There's no months long delay for this chapter. It was nice to get this out in a reasonable time frame, especially since I did say that I would. This chapter was great fun to write. It had a lot of fight scenes (always fun) as well as some good old-fashioned intrigue.

I wanted to work some of the other senshi into this and Venus seemed like the perfect fit for this chapter. The Empire may wield considerable military force, but not all battles are won with swords, and Venus is perhaps the best example of that. As you can see, Requiem now not only has to worry about the Royal Family, she has the Empire and its senshi to worry about too. Is it any wonder that she's so suspicious of Serenity in the later timeline with Pluto?

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.