Souls of Fire #13: Endgame, part 1--
Mechanical Plague

Ranma 1/2 VS Sailor Moon

Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/sm/index.html

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and characters belong to
Naoko Takeuchi. Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to
Rumiko Takahashi. Proper licenses belong to respective
properties and characters.

This file can be freely distributed so long as it
appears in its complete form and proper credit. No
part may be reproduced for monetary gain without
permission from the author.

----------------------------------------------------

Darkness

"Where am I? Who am I?"

"There is darkness all around me... I can see
nothing, even though I stretch my hand out in front of
my face. The absence of light... is this what darkness
truly is?"

"But wait... there is a light. I see it, in the
distance. It's a faint light, but it's calling to me,
to come home...."

"Home. Did I really have a home? Yes... once... but
it was destroyed... swept aside with a bygone age. I
no longer have a home. This darkness is my home, but
it is no true home."

"Then it must be the light. The light is my only
home now. I will reach that light, even if it takes a
thousand years...."

---

Office of the CEO, Peacekeeper HQ

She lowered her cup of steaming coffee, fresh from
the pot, as she read the data pad report handed to her
only minutes ago. Ayame Mishima, the Chief Executive
of the Earth's Peacekeeper Corps, lowered her head
slowly, setting the data pad on the table. She shook
her head wearily; the contents of the report only
confirmed the storm on the horizon.

It was forty years ago that the Mekani last attempted
to invade the Sol System, in a large expedition meant
to conquer Earth while its defenses were down.
Although the expeditionary force was annihilated to
the last of the spheroid, spider-legged creatures, the
Mekani were known to be holing themselves in other
solar systems in this galaxy as they expanded from
their own home galaxy.

Ayame recalled that her former terrorist
organization-- the Fenril Knights-- was split up, in
part to utilize the talents of such a crew, to met out
punishment, and to remove several dangerous threats to
the Crystal Court's power. The two kami, Sypha and
Cinder, were forcibly removed from Earth, and sent into
exile to Nemesis. Shizuka, too, was sentenced to
exile, but thanks to a legal loophole, she could have
remained on Earth if she so chose, but the priestess
of Genbu elected to "keep Sypha and Cinder out of
trouble." The Master of Hidden Weapons, Mousse, also
left out of his own free will, as he decided that he
could not remain on this bizarre world of Neo Queen
Serenity's. Lastly, the master tactician Kanna Rajura
left for Nemesis as well, primarily to join the
expedition to the Mekani footholds.

Their former benefactor, Wiseman, took Nemesis with
him to the Mekani territory, and along with him a
volunteer force residing on Nemesis-- among them two
of the Sailor Senshi, Uranus and Neptune. Although
no communication came from beyond the solar system, it
was apparent that Nemesis reached its destination when
astronomers detected a new, dark star in the heavens.

It was during the forty years of no communication
that Ayame had the chance to make the PKs her own, just
as she did the Fenril Knights. The first few months
were turbulent, as the layout left by Kanna was quite
confusing at first-- it was difficult to decipher her
plan, but once Ayame was through she had to admit it
was a brilliant plan. She wished she could have
figured it out sooner, with the help of her old friend
Shion Kagami... but he, too, would not take part in the
PKs. Instead, the mercenary hacker, amidst the
confusing period, took it upon himself to reestablish
the underworld organization Section.

Ayame knew Shion was riding on fumes, having been
left behind on Earth while the girl he was interested
in was exiled off-world. Although he wouldn't admit
it Ayame knew Shion felt something toward Shizuka, and
her sudden departure left a great wound in him. The
day he walked out of her office the last time she could
almost see the sadness behind his tinted glasses.
Perhaps it was in a lost love's memory that he turned
back toward terrorism.

The secretive organization known as Section existed
for a great long time before the change of Earth, but
it collapsed in the purge of the Black Moon Family's
ancestors. Ayame's uncle was a member of the group of
technocrats, as Section was obsessed with technology.
Shion himself was never a member, but his own group,
the Inner Circle, was often contracted by Ayame in
proxy of her uncle to perform certain tasks.

This new Section, however, resembled the Inner Circle
more than the Section of old. Shion Kagami founded
his tightly-knit group on the basis of controlling
information, as befit his "information is power"
philosophy. It did not end there, however, as Shion
fundamentally disagreed with the way Earth was run,
even though he recognizes the good in it, and in that
regard his Section is known to be behind several
terrorist actions around the world-- be they rogue
humans or kami hiding in the shadows. Faster than
Ayame could settle into her role as head of the PKs
Shion united most of the underworld factions that
worked against the Crystal Court and the World
Parliament-- what they believe to be a puppet
government to throw off critics.

In some respects, they were right, Ayame had to
admit. In the guise of allowing humans to make
decisions on their own Neo Queen Serenity still retains
control, as her ideals were forced on the populace
easily, and thus her influence strong. People were
too blinded by her innate good intention to see there
were any problems at all.

In order to maintain such an illusion, the PKs
remained a secret organization; very few outside their
number knew of its existence, or even the existence of
the terrorist Section, thanks to their hard work. It
was a secret war being waged underground while the
people of Earth carried on in their happiness, but
someone had to do it.

Unfortunately, the report that lay on her desk would
likely shatter the illusion, and it was unlikely that
anyone on Earth was oblivious to the danger by now.

Six city-sized, wedge-shaped warships appeared
from hyperspace, quickly orbiting around Earth at
strategic points around the Earthsphere-- two at the
poles, and four at equidistant points along the middle
ring called the Equator. The spacecraft could not be
identified, as they were not encountered before, but
the occupants were broadcasting signals compatible to
those used by the PKs... and likely Section as well.
So far her men deciphered very important pieces of
information-- ones that proved that they had previous
contact with humans.

The ship holding position over the North Pole was
broadcasting itself as the Scylla, and its opposite on
the South Pole was appropriately named Charybdis. On
the Equator were the Basilisk, the Griffin, the Kraken,
and the Hydra-- all of them were names of mythological
beasts. Yet, what nagged Ayame most was one myth in
particular; the adage of "between Scylla and Charybdis"
came to mind, and that meant whoever it was commanding
the fleet above was intending to sandwich Earth.

It did little good that their only functioning
warship, the Night Hammer, was far out at the Jupiter
colonies, assisting with colonization of the moons. It
would make an invaluable asset now, but without their
own gate technology the Night Hammer would not make it
to Earth in time to stop whatever beating Scylla and
Charybdis had in store for them.

And that, Ayame believed, was a calculated action.
"They knew the Night Hammer was their only threat," she
thought aloud, "and just rushed past them, just to
pound on us before we knew what hit us."

She heard a knock on her old-style, heavy oak door.
"Come in."

The woman that served as her second-in-command
entered, not looking any older than she had forty years
ago, but if Ayame glanced into a mirror, she could say
the same for herself. Her second, like the rest of the
PKs, wore no uniform, in order to easily hide
themselves among the masses. Dressing casually with a
clean white jacket and matching pants, and her long
hair tied back, Ukyo Kuonji appeared quite the
professional lady-killer-- if only she were after that
effect.

"I see you've read the report," Ukyo said, nodding
her head quickly in greeting. "I already see the worry
lines on your face."

"You'd think, after forty years," Ayame began, "that
nothing could surprise me anymore." She shook her
head. "They've got to be the Mekani."

"That's what I thought, but we've never seen them use
actual ships before. That's only something we'd use
because we'd get spaced; the Mekani don't have that
problem."

"Unless, of course, the ships also serve as their
factory satellites," Ayame pointed out. "The last we
knew they were slow as shit, but these things dropped
into orbit like that." She snapped her fingers.

"They got the others," Ukyo decided. "That's the
only explanation."

The Chief Executive nodded, knowing her second was
referring to the Nemesis expedition. "But that still
doesn't explain why they'd go through all this trouble
to make human ships. Heck, they're even broadcasting
on the same frequencies, using the same type of codes."

Ukyo shook her head. "I refuse to believe that."

Ayame nodded in understanding. It was their
unspoken understanding-- one that would imply that the
expedition betrayed Earth to the enemy. Both Ayame and
Ukyo knew the members of the expedition well, and both
refused to believe that they would sell out the world
they tried to save from Neo Queen Serenity.

The former okonomiyaki seller turned to leave. "In
any case, we can't sit here and wait for them to come
to us; I'm going to try and figure out something from
my end, and I suggest you do the same."

Wordlessly, Ukyo disappeared, shutting the door
behind her, leaving the Chief Executive to her own
thoughts. She smiled slightly. "My end, huh?"

She quickly made her way back to her desk, pushing
her chair back, and leaned over the top of the polished
wood surface. Ayame punched and held down a key on her
private phone. "Get me in touch with Section Inner
Circle."

---

Inner Circle, Secret Section Fortress

"Well, well, well," Shion Kagami stated plainly, a
slight hint of amusement in his voice. Ayame, her
face displayed on the screen, with the office as her
backdrop, reflected completely off the hacker's
reflection-tint glasses. He sat back in his captain's
chair, hands folded in his lap. "Fancy seeing your
face again."

Ayame had not aged a year, he noted, and neither had
her methods. "You know just as well as I about the six
warships."

"What about them?" he asked. The girl wouldn't go
through so much trouble to compromise her office's
security, knowing what Shion could do with a channel
connection, unless she was desperate. Unlike Shion,
Ayame did not have the know-how, nor the resources, to
quintuple-screen communications channels, and that was
only the basic layer of Section's security. Unlike the
PKs, no one got in or out of Section unless Shion
wanted them to. For that matter, most of his
operatives had no idea to his identity, much less knew
where the Inner Circle was located. Only a handful,
including Ayame, knew the whole truth.

It was a direct mirror of the original Section, save
it had Shion's touch to it. The old Section Director
would have been proud, had she remained on Earth, or
remembered being Madame Director at all.

In the same vein, the operatives knew Shion only as
Master Director.

"It's time we put aside our petty differences," Ayame
stated, getting directly to the point. "This forty-
year-old game can't possibly compare to what those...
things up there can do to us."

Shion raised his index fingers to his lips, showing
interest. "I see."

"Shion, we were allies once, in the past," the Chief
Executive continued. "We worked as a great team then,
and we can do great things together now. Our old team
may be gone, but right now... I need you."

The Director snorted in amusement. "Really, Ayame...
is that all you've got to say?" His expression
brightened at the sound of her gasp-- she knew she was
beaten before she even started. "If you break down and
confess to your love for me, then you're wasting your
time; that only works in Anime. This is real life. I
don't give a crap about fairy-tales anymore. And the
reality is this: in the forty years you've administered
the PKs, Neo Queen Serenity and her puppet government
have done nothing-- absolutely nothing-- by which to
improve their lots in life. They depend solely on you
to defend Earth, but thanks to our friends up there,
the truth is you couldn't deal with anything more
threatening than me. You couldn't do it because you're
simply an administrator; you depended way too much on
the rest of us back during the Fenril War."

"Think about it, Ayame; Kanna left your organization
because it was boring. People like her are brilliant
and all, but even brilliant people need to exercise
their minds sometimes. Imposing limits only hinders
such free thoughts. And hell, I left because, even
though we made a difference, the difference wasn't
enough. The free flow of ideas has yet to return to
this frozen world, and you know this, too. Your queen
is still back-pedaling to the Stone Age; Elysium fails
if there comes another who does not share its ideals.
Yet you ask me to join you. What you should be asking
is if you can join ME."

By this time Ayame's face reddened, flushed with
anger and frustration. "You love-sick bastard, how
could you? It doesn't matter who's ruling Earth; Earth
is still Earth, and we must protect it! If it takes
the loss of your girlfriend to shut you out, then there
isn't hope for you."

Shion chuckled to himself coldly as Ayame severed the
connection. Had he the inclination he could have sent
virii up her line, but it would prove counterproductive
to his long-term goals. Ayame was still a useful pawn
despite her gullibility.

He stared at his open hands-- hands that had not aged
in nearly forty years. Shion cursed his lot in life,
wondering when he would actually enter his sixties in
appearance-- he definitely felt the age on the inside.
It was a torture that was almost too much to bear--
almost topping the one of losing... her.

Shizuka tormented the Director's thoughts every free
chance she got, and Shion believed this was a sure sign
he was in love with her. He could see her innocent
smile, hear her confused, curious voice, could feel
her soft skin in his hand. Shion's thoughts would
never replay their harsh parting-- only the wonderful
memories shared.

It was far too easy for her to shatter his heart and
soul, and many times Shion lay prone in bed, trying to
drive the specter from his thoughts. It was in these
nostalgic attacks alone that the Director showed
weakness, and only the most senior members of his Inner
Circle knew of it.

He bitterly recalled that night of infamy. Shizuka
called him on the phone, and they met at the deserted
Shrine of the Four Gods. The place, and its people,
meant everything to her, and it was all swept away by
the new world order.

She turned toward him, with malice in her eyes, and
stated simply, "I hate you."

Although there was definitely more to the event,
Shion only cared to remember those three words that
decided the rest of his life. No manner of convincing
on his part-- or that of her siblings-- could dissuade
her from going into exile.

"I hate you."

And, despite that, Shion could do nothing but pine
over her. It was a weakness that would make him the
joke of the Section organization.

"You okay?"

He recognized Ziel Kagura's voice instantly, and
Shion snapped out of his reverie, sitting up in his
captain's chair. "What of it?"

"It looked like you were thinking of her again," Ziel
replied. He whipped open a folding fan-- one used by
dancers-- and waved air in his direction. As a martial
artist Ziel was a trusted and valued friend, a member
of Shion's original Inner Circle who did not take part
in the Fenril War. Tracking down and luring Ziel out
of seclusion was a difficult task even for Shion, as
the inheritor of the Kagura martial art was constantly
contemplating his own future in this world.

"Yeah," Shion admitted.

"Damn, it never goes away, does it?" Ziel replied,
making statement of fact rather than a question. "In
any case, the project is starting to stir again."

'The project,' Shion mused. That alone was the key
to Neo Queen Serenity's undoing, and it required
constant attention and care. "Any problems yet?"

"One of the boys was complaining about these weird
dreams, but that's it," he reported. "Nothing serious
yet, but I've upped the power on the inhibitor a notch,
just in case."

"Good. Can't have everyone yellin' and screamin'
each night."

Ziel pointed to one monitor in front of Shion. "And
how about our friends up there?"

"They've told me interesting things," the Director
said plainly. "In fact, if we play our cards right, we
can rid ourselves of Neo Queen Serenity and her Crystal
Court in one fell swoop."

---

Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace

By now the world was in a state of panic, Neo Queen
Serenity knew, as she observed the warship maintaining
high orbit directly over Japan through her magical
mirror. Although the mirror could not do the ship's
scale justice, the spacecraft was as long as the length
of Japan, and easily blocked out the light of the sun
when it passed overhead at noon. Its wedge shape
vaguely reminded her of the Night Hammer when it first
emerged from its hidden dock under the sea, but this
time there was no apparent cannon aiming at her home.

No sooner had the secretive PKs began deploying their
agents the warships orbiting at the Equator began to
spread out toward the key zones around the world--
including the World Parliament in Switzerland. As a
show of confidence the world leaders elected to remain
in their stronghold, despite warnings that attack can
come at any moment.

Although the enemy had yet to reveal themselves, much
less their intention, Ayame and the PKs, as well as the
Sailor Senshi, possessed their own opinions, and all of
them eventually lead to the Mekani. Neo Queen Serenity
sighed wearily, knowing that the day she was dreaded
had finally arrived.

Nearly forty years ago she sent Sailor Uranus and
Sailor Neptune, along with Earth exiles, on an
expedition to Tau Ceti in order to ascertain the threat
level of the Mekani foothold into this galaxy. There
could be no everlasting peace so long as threats from
the outside remained, but no communications ever came
from the expedition. This show of force was more than
enough proof that the expedition failed.

She placed a hand on the mirror. "What are you up
to, mechanical ones?"

---

Command Center, Scylla

"Those fools," stated the shadowy spheroid flatly,
"do they truly believe they can oppose us?"

The creature's large, red eye glowed softly, but at
such an intensity that its smaller eye, to the bottom
right end of the large eye that dominated the front of
the spheroid, was blotted out. The Mekani Director
stood on four insectoid, steel legs on an even balance.
It possessed a pair of mandibles just below its huge
eye, which served no purpose save for show. The
Director snapped its thick, heavy crab-like claws out
of habit, and whipped its scorpion-like tail about in
the air over its head impatiently.

The others referred to the master of the expedition
as Director Mezzat, and it was its charge to bring
swift end to the threat posed on Earth.

The humans of Earth constantly confounded him; in
his own independent study of Earth specimens Mezzat
discovered some sort of anti-aging agent in their
bodies, one that slowed the human aging process down to
a veritable crawl, and not even that. Consequently,
the average human life span far exceeded the original
projections, but on the flip side population growth was
finally confirmed to be drastically decreased, now that
the information was available below on the surface.

Bizarre creatures, these humans, Mezzat mused.
Always in fear of death, as expected. It's
unbelievable that these creatures could threaten the
Alliance, but everyone in the Hive Entire knew of a
Director's downfall at their hands. These creatures
cannot be underestimated.

Mezzat turned toward its ally, standing cloaked in
the shadow of night. The Mekani had no need of
lighting in their spacecraft, but some were required in
order to keep the ship running properly-- an artifact
of previous designs that proved useful to any guests.
They were being used as such, but only sparingly, as
most of the power was spent in the factory blocks.

"The Kraken and the Basilisk are in position, as
directed," Mezzat explained to the guest. "The
Griffin and Hydra are on course to their directed
vectors."

"Excellent," she replied, purring in delight. "I
shall relish in this moment."

"Do not take too long," warned Mezzat. "We have a
timeline to consider." The Director's small eye
rotated in place.

Nearby, a console monitor flared to life, and
communications was established with one of the other
warships. "Basilisk reporting," said the silhouetted
figure on the screen. "We're in position; it's funny
watching all these ants scurry about like this."

A second console flared to life. "Kraken reporting,"
said the new speaker, "and we're ready to go. So, are
you going to issue an attack, or am I going to have to
break regulations?"

"Wipe that smile off your face," ordered Mezzat's
guest, snapping with impatience. "There will come a
time for that later! I wish to savor this."

"Savor it all you want," replied the Kraken, "you've
got to strike sometime. If we don't act now the Sailor
Senshi may have enough time to figure out a way to beat
us; remember, that's not acceptable."

"Situation analyzed and confirmed," Director Mezzat
said. "Authorization granted to preliminary strikes.
Issue the general command to the other ships in
formation. Proceed to target areas as specified in
the briefing."

---

'80s Cafe, Hollywood

Shingo Tsukino cast a long look toward the horizon,
as the wedge-shaped warship maintained position just
off the coast. He did not need to sit in a high-rise
or a mountain restaurant to know this; the ship was
really that big, according to the news.

The man who appeared to be in his early twenties
automatically reached down and picked up his cup of
coffee, unable to tear his eyes from the hypnotic
sight of the flying wedge. The monstrous craft
appeared as if out of nowhere-- it was floating up in
the sky when he woke up that morning. It was hard
enough to get past the fact that it wasn't a dream--
heck, even a publicity stunt-- much less wonder at such
a technological marvel as the ship.

"Hey, Shingo," the voice belonging to the woman
across the circular table said, concern in her voice.
"Are you even listening?"

At an instant Shingo's attention was torn away from
the aura of awe the ship generated, and was back in the
open-air Hollywood cafe, sitting opposite his fiancé.
"Huh?"

"Can't tear your eyes from it, huh?" she decided,
smiling slightly. "I admit, I think the same thing,
but it can't get in the way of what's going on."

He nodded in agreement; there was little time to idle
when one was working post-production for major
production firms. Shingo's eyes momentarily met with
those of Chika Hisho, and he remembered much of the
events leading up to their first encounter well.

It was not long after the last of the renegades were
exiled to Nemesis, before the First Black Moon War.
Shingo had joined these rebels on a daring raid-- more
like being dragged into it, and the queen showed mercy
to him. Likewise, the close call, and the encounter
with Neo Queen Serenity, changed his life. He could
no longer look upon the world the same way again, not
after understanding the truth of his supposed sister,
Usagi.

Friends were lost that day, and not even his friend
Akiko could drag him out of it. However, it was
through Akiko that Shingo was introduced to Chika-- a
friend of Akiko's from work that suffered a similar
depression, as she lost her brother. It was in a state
of misery loves company that they got to know each
other better... but Chika would never speak of the fate
that befell her brother... step-brother, actually.

And, thanks to a job offer in the United States, and
his own intuition, Shingo mostly escaped the
devastation that befell Crystal Tokyo during the Black
Moon invasion of the first war. Certainly, the war was
world-wide, but most of the damage was concentrated on
Crystal Tokyo; places such as Hollywood were relatively
untouched.

Time after the first war came and went, the Second
Black Moon War arrived, bringing the Fenril Knights.
At this time Chika tried to bottle herself up even
further, as if the Fenril Knights disturbed her
somehow. Shingo respectfully backed off on the issue,
waiting until after the war had run its course that
he learned that her step-brother was one of the enemy.

Since he was one of the few Fenril survivors, Chika
seemed relieved, and opened up more. The past thirty-
eight years, Shingo reflected, had to have been the
best time to be alive; it seemed that with the end of
all threats this dream world was real.

And yet, he knew it was still a far cry from being
perfect; the invading warships was point enough of
that.

"Hey," Chika said, "you're STILL not listening!"

"Oh?" Shingo replied, taking a sip of coffee. "I
think we've plenty of time to finish work. I'm just
wondering when that thing up there's going to make a
move." He pointed his free hand back toward the sky.
"I mean, for all we know this is the Third Black Moon
War."

"Those days are long past us," Chika replied. "And
besides, there's not much we two can do about it, so
the only thing left is to keep living."

"Until someone makes us stop living," Shingo pointed
out dryly.

She shook her head. "Nah, it'll take care of itself;
trust me."

---

Front Steps, University of Tokyo

The world knew her as Princess Serenity. The Sailor
Senshi of the past called her Chibi Moon in her guise.
Her closest friends called her Chibi-Usa. Today, she
was none of those.

Now that her training in the past was complete, and
her mind having grown, Usagi mysteriously advanced in
her aging process. Today, forty years later, she
appeared to be in her late teens, surrounded by college
friends and acquaintances, attending class just like
any other bright student. None of them were ignorant
of her identity, but they did not hang around the
daughter of the world monarch for brownie points.

Respectfully, Usagi's guardians had all but vanished
from sight, now that she was well on her way to making
her own way in life. However, she knew she could count
on the four Asteroid Senshi, if the need should arise.

There was no argument about her attendance of a
public facility to receive a formal education; in fact,
her mother encouraged it, seeing as how Usagi could
learn her people skills better while being amongst the
people. Both knew it was a subtle, yet effective
grooming for a time in the future when the princess
would ascend the throne.

Such thoughts were furthest from her mind, as Usagi's
thoughts were consumed by the warship that darkened the
sky. Although morning had not yet come, the
premonition in her mind bothered her ever since the
warships first appeared over Earth.

No biting wind blew against her, thanks to the
weather control system, but Usagi shivered nonetheless,
her eyes fixated straight up, where the light of the
stars were blotted by the disgusting mechanical mass
that covered the visible sky above. The sun would
appear over the horizon soon enough, but it would make
no difference, as the shadow cast by the ship would
make Crystal Tokyo just as dark as night.

"I can sense a dark force," she murmured to herself.
"But it's nothing like the others from the Cauldron."

Usagi detected movement on the underside of the ship,
and light issued forth from cracks that formed three
sides of a box. She knew a hatch was opening on the
underside of the craft, as the cracks of light grew
larger as the door opened. She barely made out several
small, spherical dark specks against the light, moving
from the end of the hatch into the light, then
vanishing again entirely.

The enemy was mounting an attack.

Without thinking, without hesitating, Usagi reached
her hand into the sky, and transformed.

---

The largest of the Mekani warriors, a spheroid
resembling closely a scorpion in number of appendages,
focused its smaller eye on the shining light off the
target vector at minus 30 degrees. As an Enforcer and
commander of the Griffin attack group, it recognized
the threat instantly, given previous records of Earth's
defenders.

"Target identified as Sailor Senshi," the Griffin
Enforcer informed the warrior, crab-like drones. It
fired off a longer burn of retro rockets to lessen its
descent and allowed the warriors to pass by. "Priority
target override," it commanded. "Eliminate the Sailor
Senshi at all costs."

---

Discarding her latest identity, the new Sailor Moon
emerged. It was her responsibility as the princess to
carry on the tradition passed from her mother-- a
responsibility to protect the people of Earth from the
darkness and evil from the stars.

"Why now?" she asked herself, watching as the first
cluster of Mekani warriors landed at the foot of the
steps below her, their four insectile legs easily
bearing the weight of heavy spheres. "Why, after forty
years would you destroy everything?"

She slipped her wand into her hands as the lead
warrior issued a warning. "Surrender peacefully and
your world will be spared. Resistance will be met with
greater retaliation in kind."

"Surrender?" Moon scoffed. "You came all the way
from your galaxy just to bully people around? You
walking tin-can, you don't know who you're up against!
I'm Sailor Moon, the soldier of love and justice!"

"Registering hostile response," droned the warrior,
its large eye blinking rapidly. In succession the
warriors behind it-- seven, she counted-- replied in
the same manner. "Upgrade to Level 5 operation."

The soldiers spread out in an organized fashion,
each raising their large, heavy claws. Each of the
claws, seemingly as heavy as boulders, were held by
thin arm appendages that were just as thick as their
legs, and somehow the warriors could balance them
easily. Both halves of the claw spread up and down to
open, and a violet energy spike erupted in the space
in-between. All open claws raised upward to the top
of the steps.

Moon was ready long before she heard the telltale
power-up whine in the air, and just as all eight Mekani
fired in unison she waved her wand before her in a
circle, creating a force bubble around herself. All at
the same time the sixteen energy bolts collided with
the field, then reflected off into the sky from the
uneven surface. As the warriors continued firing Moon
refined the shape of her force bubble, transforming it
into a plane in order to reflect the energy bolts back
at the attackers.

Her plan was met with reasonable success, as three of
the warriors instantly went up in smoke, their huge
eyes shattering and the spheroid bodies exploding,
throwing bits of metal all over the place. The
remaining five, including the lead warrior, scurried
about in an ordered fashion, repositioning themselves
in order to get a better shot and to avoid the
reflecting field.

One thing was certain, they were not completely
stupid, Sailor Moon mused. Not anywhere near as stupid
as the ones she watched the other Sailor Senshi fight
during the Great Sleep period.

---

Command Center, Scylla

Mezzat's huge eye lens reflected the Griffin
Enforer's transmission on the screen, viewing the first
strike on Earth along with its guest.

"Simultaneous attack all over the world has deviated
by 2.47% off schedule," reported one of the worker
drones, off in the darkness of the command center.
"Within tolerable limits," it added.

"I never expected her to be this old," admitted the
guest. "The previous reports said she appeared twice
as young as she is now."

"Analytical data is outdated," Director Mezzat
concluded. "Enemy target Sailor Moon II poses a larger
threat than previously assessed; all operations will be
adjusted accordingly. Upgrade all units ten levels in
threat assessment."

As a matter of principle the Mekani drones operated
on as little power as possible. Mezzat, following this
tradition of the Hive Entire, refused to expend more
power than was necessary to subdue the threat presented
on Earth, as it was deemed wasteful.

On the other hand, its guest often lodged complaints
against such actions, as the enemy, she stated,
deserved to get annihilated quickly, no matter how much
the cost. It was, as she stated, a cheaper cost than
the annihilation of the Alliance.

Unfortunately, Mezzat finally understood such
reasoning. It was deemed illogical by the Hive Entire,
and Mezzat had to support it, but now that the targets
were readily-available to assess... the targets were
definitely highly-dangerous.

"Ten levels will not cover it," the guest pressed.

"We will operate on standard procedure for as long as
necessary," the Director replied. "Emotion will not
cloud judgement. However, judgement will not be
clouded by procedure. We will test the extent of this
target's limits at this time."

---

Front Steps, University of Tokyo

Not a minute after the attack began Sailor Moon
lowered her reflecting field, now that all eight of
her attackers lay in smoldering ruin at the foot of the
steps. Her eyes fixated back toward the sky, where a
much larger spheroid, possessing a tail appendage, was
making its descent, along with two more warriors that
likely served as escort. All three landed just beyond
the ruined warriors.

The leader steadily crawled forward, turning side to
side slowly, as if assessing the damage done to its
minions. The huge eye then stared upward, to the top
of the flight of steps.

"Sailor Moon," it identified. "Form and power do not
match that of the previously-identified Sailor Moon."

"You're right," she answered, "I'm not the same
Sailor Moon. I'm the first of a new generation."

The Mekani Enforcer seemed alarmed by this, its huge
eye focusing quickly. "Then it is true that there are
more Sailor Senshi...."

"What do you want?" Moon demanded.

"All threats to the Alliance and the Hive Entire will
be eliminated," demanded the Enforcer. "The Silver
Crystal of the Moon Kingdom, and the Sailor soldiers
that guard it, are priority targets. You will be swept
aside by the Aligned Peoples as we restore order to
this galaxy."

"The Mekani version of order has no room for freedom
and harmony!" Sailor Moon countered. "You're just
interested in creating a haven for drones, not people."

"Then the bargaining period has ended," the Enforcer
determined. Turning to one side it raised a claw,
waving its escorts forward. As the two warriors
skittered past, the leader added, "No mercy!"

---

'80s Cafe, Hollywood

Shouts and stunned looks were the order of the day as
one building near the coast exploded in brilliant
flame.

Both Shingo and Chika stood up from their seats,
staring out toward the source of the explosion. At the
same time, two more buildings erupted in flame,
throwing stone, wood, and crystal everywhere. Shingo
shielded Chika with his body as the sky rained of the
debris, having been thrown an incredible distance.

"What's going on?!" he shouted, even though he knew
the answer.

"The enemy... they're attacking...." Chika muttered,
her voice trembling.

---

Office of the CEO, Peacekeeper HQ

The walls and windows rattled violently as the Mekani
holding position over Geneva initiated their attack,
and Ayame was trying to remain standing as she keyed in
a communications line through her desktop computer.

The image of Ukyo appeared on the monitor. "They've
started," Ayame informed her.

"No kidding," the Vice Executive replied, and Ayame
could see smoke rising in the background. "I'm out
here at ground zero, and those buggers are trying to
force their way into the World Parliament."

Ayame punched in more keys, bringing up numerous
maps on the display. "Four ships are attacking at once
in positions over Crystal Tokyo, Los Angeles, Geneva,
and Moscow. Try to keep them busy; I'm going to try
and get word from the other cities under attack."

"What about the Sailor Senshi?"

"Don't count on it," the Chief Executive answered
quickly. "Predictably, all of them will be busy
defending Crystal Tokyo. I'm going to check in on our
other operatives."

---

Inner Circle, Secret Section Fortress

"So it's begun," Ziel noted, folding his arms as he
watched the numerous monitors in front of Shion.

The Director of Section chuckled to himself. "Look
at all of 'em, Ziel, scurrying around in a panic.
Those worms of people never dreamed that war would ever
come again. Not after thirty-eight years, five months,
two weeks, six days, thirteen hours, and four minutes
since the end of the 'Second Black Moon War.' Not
even our friends, the PKs, were prepared enough."

"What about us?" asked the second.

"I've made arrangements," he assured Ziel. "In fact,
I'm going to be meeting with the Mekani again to
discuss our futures."

---

Front Steps, University of Tokyo

The force of the twin blasts from the Enforcer's
claws was enough to throw Sailor Moon backward as they
impacted against her reflection field, as they
absorbed the energy bolts rather than reflected them.
Quickly scrambling to her feet she dropped the field,
and broke into a sprint as more of the Enforcer's bolts
hailed in her direction.

Risking a glance over her shoulder Moon saw the
Enforcer making efficient use of its mobility, using
its built-in rockets to hasten its pace. In fact, if
her eyes weren't mistaken, the beast was threatening to
overtake her.

She came to a halt just in time to note the other two
warriors block her escape route. Heavy claws raised to
bludgeon her into submission, and Sailor Moon leaped
backward to avoid the blow. She aimed her wand outward
and fired a blast toward the offending machine, but it
fired its own rockets in time to avoid the blast,
flying upward in a quick jump.

The second warrior made a high-pitched whine with
its right claw, powering up its blaster. Quickly Moon
threw up a field in front of the claw, and the next
instant later the claw weapon was a smoking wreck.
However, the momentary pause gave the Enforcer enough
time to land on top of Sailor Moon, with the first
warrior behind.

The descending weight of the spheroid knocked the
wind out of Sailor Moon, as she barely noticed the
Enforcer's scrutinizing smaller eye giving her a harsh
look.

"All too easy," the Enforcer decided, powering up its
tail weapon.

Another high-pitched whine blotted out the noise,
followed by the sound of something sparking. Sailor
Moon shook her head, and turned to look upward, where
the tail appendage used to be.

The Enforcer, obviously surprised, lowered its tail
in front of its huge eye, as if studying the sudden
damage to its person. "What the...?"

An explosion rocked behind the behemoth, as the first
warrior was cleaved cleanly in two down the middle
axis. "Leave her alone!"

Sailor Moon recognized that voice, and her eyes
widened in excitement.

"Deal with the secondary target!" the Enforcer
ordered the remaining warrior.

Moon felt the weight of the spheroid lessen, and she
realized that the leader was trying to make a quick
exit. She sat up, finding her wand was still within
reach, and snatched it up.

Another slash from her rescuer, and the remaining
Mekani warrior was cleaved in two, just like its
partner. Bits of the creature's interior sparked and
exploded, but it did not faze the young woman one bit.

"He's getting away!" hissed Sailor Saturn.

"I've got it!" Sailor Moon cried, pointing her wand
into the air where the Enforcer was retreating. A
focused blast issued forth, hitting the beast in one of
its rocket boosters. Now thrown off-balance, the
Enforcer's direction took a sharp turn and it ended up
diving straight toward the ground. The two Sailor
soldiers heard the telltale crash soon thereafter,
followed by a great plume of smoke.

Moon turned toward her longtime friend. "Thanks."

"You weren't thinking of taking them by yourself,
were you?" Saturn asked. "Come on, let's make sure
that monster's done for."

They found the crashed spheroid not far away. The
crater was very shallow, thanks to the fact that it
couldn't fly very far. The Enforcer's huge eye was
cracked, and some pieces of the lens broke off in the
crash. The creature's insectile legs were bent and
broken-- a sure sign that it wasn't going anywhere in
the near future. However, one of the claws still
functioned-- albeit with only the upper half of the
claw still attached-- using it as a means to orient its
eye upright to the airship above.

Saturn held Moon back. "Careful... we don't know
how much more dangerous it can be."

"What's it trying to do?" wondered Sailor Moon.

The Enforcer hissed as it attempted to speak. "No...
more... abandon...."

Suddenly, the creature's only functional appendage
stopped moving, and fell limp to the ground. Saturn
tensed as the spheroid's huge eye rotated counter-
clockwise, extending as it went, like a huge screw.
Sailor Moon could hear her heart beat in anticipation
as the huge lens finally ended after an arm's length,
falling to the ground uselessly against the dirt.

"Damn you, Sailor Senshi," they heard someone curse
from within the depths of the creature. "Always the
same damn thing!"

Both girls' eyes widened as a pair of hands emerged
from the rim of the hole the lens left-- human hands.
Following not far behind came a head, full of hair as
dark as night. They heard him cough from the smoke
within the beast, and he struggled to stand up. It was
a miracle his white robes, patterned in an old Chinese
style, remained clean. He turned suddenly, his glasses
glinting against whatever light was available.

"The Mekani are human...?!" muttered Sailor Moon in
surprise.

"Whoever you are," Mousse rumbled angrily, "you
haven't seen anything yet!" In an instant, three
knives appeared in his hand. Gritting his teeth,
seething with fury, the Master of Hidden Weapons,
having made his homecoming, attacked the offending
Sailor Senshi that plagued his existence.

---

World Parliament, Geneva

Ukyo struggled to catch her breath, maintaining her
grip on her combat spatula even though all the Mekani
warriors around the front gate were destroyed, in
flaming husks. She cast a glance to her right, where
Konatsu, standing on his knees, stood similarly with
his sword. Both Peacekeeper agents felt exhausted from
the onslaught, and both knew it wouldn't be the last.

"All units, check in," Ukyo ordered, issuing the
command through the microphone attached to the collar
of her jacket. She unbuttoned a couple more rows for
good measure.

The former okonomiyaki chef barely paid attention to
the success reports, now that Konatsu had her full
attention. He pointed outward toward the destroyed
enemy mass, and a silhouette appeared from the flames.

"Well, well, well," the newcomer shouted, her voice
echoing across the courtyard. "I never thought I'd see
you here."

"That voice..." Ukyo muttered, finding a ring of
familiarity in it. "But where...?"

"Still working for peace and justice, Ukyo Kuonji?
I'm surprised at you! You should've joined Section;
its goals suit you much more."

The newcomer, a young woman appearing to be in her
early twenties, dressed loosely in a pink kimono top
and hakama, the sleeves decorated with cherry blossoms
that were oddly in a spread of eight rather than
five. Her hair was kept to each side of her face, and
she wore a pony-tail in the back, tied by a red chord.
Two metallic, tentacle-like appendages appeared over
each shoulder-- the mark of one who was familiar having
changed so much.

"Shizuka Minazuki," Ukyo remembered. "You're still
alive...."

"Sadly, I won't be able to say the same for you,"
the girl warned, "nor of Neo Queen Serenity, or her
puppet government! You know nothing of how the cosmos
works, you insignificant peon!"

---

'80s Cafe, Hollywood

"Cinder," Chika whispered in recognition, as fire
rained from the heavens. The flames engulfing the
city flared of recognition. "It's his fire... no,
Suzaku's fire."

"What?" Shingo asked, obviously perplexed.

She turned toward her fiancé. "The Nemesis
expedition failed; the ones we exiled have returned on
the enemy's side!" Desperation clung to her voice.
"If we don't do something quick, there'll be nothing
left...."

---

University of Tokyo, Crystal Tokyo

Proving himself more than capable of battling while
outnumbered, Mousse rained metal weapons, tethered or
not, on his enemies, pinning down the two Sailor
Senshi with little regard to who he was aiming at.

They heard several explosions in the distance. The
leader of the attack chuckled to himself. "See? You
two girls aren't any match for us! Even now your
friends should be engaging wave after wave of my
drones, and they won't stop until you drop!" Lightning
sparked in the air a long distance away past the two
girls, and he noted flames jetting out of the corner
of his right eye. Good.

"What do you want from us?!" shouted Sailor Moon,
her back against the wall separating herself from
Mousse's deadly projectiles. "How could you side with
the Mekani?"

"That ship up there," Mousse continued, ignoring
Moon, "is not just a warship, but it's also a quick,
mobile factory satellite! All of them are! With our
vast cache of resources, it'll be a simple matter to
manufacture more drones. And heck, while we're at it,
we can scrounge up more from Earth!"

"He's mad," Saturn said, ducking next to Sailor
Moon.

"And he's also not listening to me!" the other girl
pouted.

"What'll we do? We can't kill him."

"I'm thinking!"

However, before that plan could come the section of
wall between the two Sailor Senshi exploded as a heavy
chain mace crashed through it.

"We're fighting," Saturn decided for herself,
tightening her grip on her Silence Glaive. Standing
quickly, she vaulted over the wall.

Mousse smiled in satisfaction as Sailor Saturn came
at him, and, discarding his chains, he raised a sword
quickly to parry the attack from her polearm. He gave
himself better leverage, grasping the handle with his
other hand, and shoved Saturn backward and away,
giving himself time to find a better position.

"So, this second generation likes to fight dirty,
eh?" The Master of Hidden Weapons smacked his lips.
"Just my style...."

"You'll find I'm full of surprises," warned Saturn.
"Back down now, or pay the consequences!"

"Hah! And you, too, girly, will find I'm the master
of surprise!" Mousse quickly freed a hand, and quickly
produced the twin of the sword he was wielding from
the darkness of his sleeves. "Let's dance!"

---

Inner Circle, Secret Section Fortress

"Our operative in Los Angeles informs us that it's
Cinder's handiwork," Ziel reported, flipping his cell
phone closed and turning back toward the monitors.
"It seems you were right, after all."

"Of course I'm right," Shion gloated. "I've got
help." He pointed to a silhouetted figure on one of
the monitors. "And while our friends up there are busy
playing with the Mekani, and getting wasted, we'll be
there to pick up the pieces and rebuild a new Earth."

"What about... her?" asked the second, a hint of
concern in his voice.

Shion snorted. "Shizuka... yes, she's finally come
back." He brought his index fingers to his lips, as if
contemplating. "Yes, we'll meet, very soon."

---

Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace

"Your majesty," Ayame said, as Neo Queen Serenity
waited patiently in her quarters, staring into the
communications mirror. "We've positively-identified
the leader of the attack at Geneva is in fact Shizuka
Minazuki. Konatsu tells me that Ukyo's fighting her
right now... and she's beefed-up."

"So the expedition aligned themselves with the
Mekani," Neo Queen Serenity concluded. "How many
others are confirmed?"

"An agent in the Los Angeles area has reasonable
evidence to believe that Cinder is causing the Rain of
Fire that's destroying everything," the Chief Executive
reported. On the other hand, the attacks on Moscow
and Crystal Tokyo are lead by Mekani."

"Only two are confirmed, then," the queen said with
a sigh. There was no telling what happened to the
expedition... or to Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune,
much less the others. "My Sailor Senshi are battling
the Mekani drones all across the city, but they have
yet to find my daughter yet."

"She can take care of herself," Ayame said quickly.
"What I'm more concerned about are these mass droves
of drones. I mean, we never expected them to bring
THIS many drones...."

"It is not yours to bear the blame," Neo Queen
Serenity said. "The turn of events are a shock to us
all, but we must decide how to remedy it."

"The Night Hammer won't get here in time," Ayame
stated, "and even then... the Mekani saw fit to destroy
or disable the satellites. We think they're using some
of 'em to communicate with each other across the Earth
sphere."

A global, computer-generated schematic appeared in
Ayame's place, displaying the current positions of the
Mekani warships. Scylla and Charybdis maintained their
original positions, but Kraken moved to Geneva,
Basilisk to Moscow, Griffin to Crystal Tokyo, and Hydra
to Los Angeles. Red dots appeared, indicating the
satellites that have been compromised, and these as
well as the ships were connected by dotted red lines,
with the most lines emerging from the Scylla.

"As you can see, they've got a fine network set up
here, and, judging from the number of transmissions
we've observed, the command ship is the Scylla," Ayame
presented. "My suggestion is we repel this first wave,
and, before they can mount a second wave, we board and
destroy the command ship. We believe that, if we take
out the Director, the rest should fall into chaos and
disarray... long enough for us to destroy them or force
them to flee."

"A sound idea, but we must repel the first wave," Neo
Queen Serenity replied.

"I suggest we take out the leaders first," Ayame
advised. "Without a general to control them the drones
won't be able to act, so we've got to find the control
units and disable them."

---

World Parliament, Geneva

"Easier said than done," Ukyo muttered, receiving the
same transmission through her ear piece. She struggled
to deflect the tentacles springing from over Shizuka's
shoulders, as they were too armored to be cleaved
easily, and they threatened to rip Ukyo's spatula from
her hands.

Shizuka, for her part, stood with her arms folded as
the tentacles did the work for her, extending across
the battlefield with a seemingly limitless limit to
distance. "You couldn't understand how much more
powerful I've become. You're too limited to the box to
notice... how could you choose the box, Kuonji?"

"How could you choose to side with them?!" Ukyo
countered, swatting the tentacles away with the flat of
her combat spatula.

"The Nemesis expedition was doomed to failure the
moment it started on its fool's errand!" the priestess
of Genbu cried. "Your puppet government has only to
blame itself for bringing about its own problem; all
that transpires today is rooted in that day, thirty-
eight years ago!"

"You chose exile, remember?" she reminded the enemy.

"And you chose to sell your soul!" Shizuka countered
angrily. "You stupid flake, I've been meaning to fight
you ever since you deserted us the first time! How
dare you, you stuck-up bitch, go ahead and betray us,
then show me up?!"

"Sheesh, you're still caught up on that?!" Ukyo
muttered, dodging the tentacles' flailing, matching the
turbulent mood of their master.

For a moment she wished she hadn't dismissed her men,
but it was probably destiny that she fight the
priestess of Genbu alone. The demon hunter had it in
for her since day 1, seeing how Ukyo commanded much
respect and admiration, while Shizuka was scorned and
loathed for doing similar things. It was jealousy,
plain and simple; what came at an arm and a leg for
Shizuka came easy for Ukyo.

Heck, if reports were correct, Ukyo was still winning
even in the relationships department.

It was obvious to her that Shizuka was upset, but,
strangely enough, Ukyo couldn't feel her aura
exploding. She should be able to feel it, even from
this distance.

Ukyo reached into the inner pocket of her jacket,
producing throwing spatulas that glinted against the
flames of the demolished Mekani warrior drones, and
threw them with precision toward Shizuka. Predictably,
the tentacles whipped themselves in the way, deflecting
the projectiles from their master. Seizing the
opportunity, Ukyo raised her combat spatula overhead
and charged while the tentacles were momentarily
distracted.

Letting out a battle cry, Ukyo focused her energies
into one enormous swing, and leaped at her
opponent, apparently catching Shizuka by surprise,
judging from her sudden loss of composure. However,
just as Ukyo was about to bring down her edge, the
tentacles snapped against her limbs, wrapping around
both her arms and legs quickly. The sudden hold
ground her descent to an abrupt halt, throwing off her
aim. The Vice Executive lost her hold on the spatula,
and it buried itself into the concrete below her.

"Really, Kuonji," Shizuka tsked, regaining her
smug composure, "you should know better than that. I
have the power of the gods behind me!"

"The gods are gone," Ukyo shot back in a low tone.
"Grow up, little girl."

"Heh, 'grow up?'" laughed Shizuka, obviously
amused. "Why, you haven't aged since the day we left!
None of us have! Or do you mean mentally? I've grown
up that way in spades... and hell, you haven't changed
one bit. You too scared to see what's outside
Pandora's Box. If there's anyone that needs to 'grow
up,' it's you. You pathetic creatures are but
children to the cosmos!"

Ukyo felt the wind shift from her right, and in the
next instant a vacuum cut slashed the air in front of
her. She felt herself tumble to the hard concrete
below, barely missing getting impaled on her own
spatula. The tentacles loosed their grip on her arms
and legs, and when she finally collected herself she
realized that it was Konatsu that helped her.

Shizuka was reeling backward, trying to give
herself distance between her and Konatsu's sword. The
ends of both severed tentacles sparked from broken
wires, and she cradled her right arm, as if it got
hurt.

"You fool, now look what you've done!" she cried.

"Sorry I disobeyed," Konatsu said quickly, "but I'd
rather deal with the punishment than...."

"Never mind that," Ukyo cut him off, pulling her
spatula from the ground as she got up. Standing beside
her assistant and friend, the Vice Executive readied
herself for whatever plan Shizuka was thinking next.

She detected something pulse under the skin of her
arm. "Give it up, Shizuka," she ordered.

The priestess of Genbu looked down at her arm, and
then back at her enemies, gritting her teeth as if in
pain. A second later Shizuka could no longer contain
herself, and slowly she burst into a scream.

And, along with it, her right arm burst as well.

Both Ukyo and Konatsu took an involuntary step back,
repulsed by the sight. Three bloody tentacles, each
appearing similar to the shoulder tentacles, emerged
from the stump where Shizuka's hand used to be.

The same hand that was destroyed back on the Night
Hammer by Vizier...? Ukyo recalled darkly.

The three tentacles whipped around like the head of a
flail. "You've asked for it," the priestess seethed.

---

University of Tokyo, Crystal Tokyo

Despite her best efforts Sailor Saturn could not
penetrate the superior defense offered by Mousse and
his double sword style, but on the flip side, he was
suffering the same problem. The Soldier of
Destruction pressed further, with only the thought of
protecting the princess in mind.

There was no reason to assume her guise as Sailor
Saturn-- not since they had to deal with the Mekani
during the Great Sleep. It was the last time, she
vowed, to serve her role as the Soldier of Destruction,
after systematically wiping-out entire peoples. It was
a catastrophe too great to bear in her mind, and to
end the cycle of death and destruction she resumed her
life as just plain Hotaru.

Despite the destruction raised during the First Black
Moon War Hotaru remained a distant spectator of the
events, choosing to stay out of the conflict in fear of
wiping out more peoples that deserved no genocide. The
power Death offered was too tempting to not even
consider it.... Fortunately, in the end, events worked
out in the Crystal Court's favor, in events ordained
a thousand years ago.

However, peace would not last, as it was interrupted
by the Second Black Moon War, which was essentially a
continuation of the first, akin to the two World Wars
of the past. Unresolved issues came to light in this
second war, and the enemy was far more cunning and
dangerous. In fact, Hotaru herself spent much of the
war as a hostage on the world of Nemesis, when the
Fenril Knights captured the population of Crystal
Tokyo. Again, Death tempted her, time and again, but
events transpired such that Sailor Saturn was not
needed.

Forty years passed since the time of war, and it was
during that period of time that she and Usagi started
to physically-age, because their minds, bodies, and
souls were ready to move on. They shared much time
together with friends during the era of peace, and it
seemed the era of the Sailor Senshi was drawing to a
close.

Now, however, the Mekani returned, in what amounted
to a threat larger than the two previous wars combined.
It was no simple human uprising, but a full-scale
invasion force, six-times larger than the previous
invasion attempt at the close of the second war.

Hotaru had to admit she was worried about her friend
when she slipped out into the early morning by
herself, and it was when she saw her fighting against
the Mekani that she knew what to do. Death would not
chain her in her duty to protect her friend.

Although I am the Soldier of Death and Destruction,
she thought, I will not allow it to prevent me from
protecting this world. So long as I live....

Mousse caught the Silence Glaive's shaft between his
crossed blades, then shoved Saturn backward again, then
leaped back. Unwilling to charge against the enemy
martial artist again, and Mousse seemingly sensing the
same, the two stood their ground.

"You're the first real match I've met for a long
time," Mousse admitted, between heavy breaths.

"The same for you," Saturn returned the praise.

The Master of Hidden Weapons, despite himself,
lowered his blades. "I've had fun, girl...."

"Sailor Saturn," she corrected sternly.

"Sailor Saturn," he accepted. Mousse twirled the
blades around, and sheathed them back up his sleeves.
"But, next time we meet, I won't be so easy." Without
waiting for a response, Mousse turned his back, and
walked toward the darkness.

Young Sailor Moon rushed to Saturn's side, as the
Soldier of Destruction eased her guard. "Sailor
Saturn," she cried, "you're letting him go?"

"People like him," Saturn replied, "are proud. This
Mousse is a warrior... somehow, he trusts me enough to
turn his back. Like he expects it."

"Or respects you," Moon pointed out. "It might be a
courtesy... from one warrior to another, maybe."

"Perhaps," she considered. She turned to face her
friend. "We should help the others; there's no telling
how many drones are on the loose in the city."

"Right!" Moon agreed, nodding.

---

World Parliament, Geneva

Shizuka continued to retreat and step back as she
whipped her flail arm before her, attempting to keep
her opponents at bay while making a steady retreat.
This fact was not lost upon either of the Peacekeepers,
and they pressed their advantage, intending to go as
far as they can take it.

"It's over, Shizuka," Ukyo shouted. "Not even your
Mekani enhancements can raise your skill anywhere near
our level."

"Dammit," the priestess cursed. "Should've known it
was all too good to be true." The cornered girl,
despite her situation, started to laugh.

"What's so funny?!" demanded Konatsu.

"Watch yourself," warned the Vice Executive. "Be
ready for anything!" And even then, she added quietly
to herself, why hasn't she summoned Deathclaw's power
yet?

"Idiots, how would you like to go up with me?"
Shizuka asked, her face bearing a dark expression. All
five tentacles lashed out at the two PKs, but each of
them dodged their deadly grasp. "Initiate self-
destruct sequence! Count down five seconds!"

"What the...?!" Ukyo gasped, momentarily dropping her
defenses when the words hit her.

"No time!" Konatsu cried, grabbing Ukyo's arm and
running for dear life.

The events happened far too quickly for Ukyo to take
in at once. For a moment she saw a brilliant flash of
white light, and the next moment she was being
propelled backward by a great force. The world seemed
to disappear around her, and her senses dulled.

When she came to the Vice Executive was lying flat on
her back on the hard concrete walkway leading up to the
World Parliament, staring up at the sky. Beside her,
Konatsu was slowly getting up, as he was facing down.
The warrior appeared to be fine, and Ukyo thought the
same for herself, but the moment she tried to sit up
she knew her pain receptors were still working well.

She blinked as a heavy object fell beside her with a
loud thud. The mechanical arm attached to Shizuka was
still flinching since being flung from ground zero, as
the tentacles still whipped about, but in a less-
violent manner. Ukyo watched as the Mekani device
slowly died from lack of power-- or the end of the
rigor mortise.

"God dammit," she cursed, staring up toward the sky
at the Kraken. "What the hell is going on?"

---

Command Center, Kraken

"Dammit!" Shizuka cursed, the door to her control
chamber hissing open violently. Steam-- or likely
smoke-- issued from the open door, as if something
overloaded while she was inside. "Mezzat, you bastard,
your stupid replicant droid almost killed me!"

The Director she was addressing appeared on the main
viewscreen of the command center, with its guest
standing in the background and to the left, still
concealed by darkness. The cold stare of the huge eye
reflected the monitor the Director was viewing.

"You pushed it too hard," the woman behind Mezzat
pointed out. "It's no wonder it stopped being
effective."

"Such an advantage is lost to our cause," Director
Mezzat added coldly.

"Who gives a crap?!" wondered Shizuka, flaring in
anger. "They're going to put the pieces together and
they'll still know I didn't blow myself up. Heck, even
that stuck-up bitch knew it wasn't me-- I could tell!"

"Withdraw your forces from the target zone at once,"
Mezzat ordered. "Maintain siege positions and hold.
The Earth defenders were stronger than anticipated on
most fronts. Two of the targets have been neutralized,
but your target and Crystal Tokyo still stand with
strong defenses."

"And those are the ones that matter!" Shizuka pointed
out. "They didn't go for the bait like you said they
would! How could they, if they weren't prepared for
this? They saved all the good stuff for that which
they HAVE to defend."

"We are presently re-evaluating our tactics," the
Director added. "Stand-by for further instructions."
With that, the Mekani commander terminated the link.

Shizuka flipped the birdie to the blank screen.
"You bastard, you screwed up!"

"Don't let it bother you too much," Mousse
suggested, his image appearing on a console near the
angry priestess. "We've got them holed-in pretty good
now; we can take 'em out whenever we want."

"In any situation," Cinder added, appearing on a
second monitor, "I will have the opportunity to exact
vengeance on the Sailor Senshi myself."

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Shizuka warned.
"We've been in this position before, remember?"

"And this time we're not going to screw up," Mousse
promised. "They heard us before, but this time,
they're going to listen...."

---

'80s Cafe, Hollywood

Slowly people made their way out of the woodwork of
the devastated city, each turning to the sky where the
Mekani warship hung overhead, serenely amidst the
smoke and destruction.

Shingo worked his way to the bar, where Chika was
seated, presently watching the news on a monitor
reserved for the cafe patrons. There was very little
being said that he didn't know, and for the most part
the reporter was making things up as he went along.

However, the camera changed to an aerial shot, from
one of the few news copters still braving the skies
since the Rain of Fire, as they coined it. Shingo's
eyes widened, noting that, when the camera zoomed out
for a panoramic shot of the destruction, there was a
pattern....

"Chika," he whispered.

However, she saw it as well. "Yeah, I know."

The destruction was drawn out with a series of
strokes not unlike kanji. If one distanced themselves
far enough they would know that it was specifically
two characters: "Suzaku."

"He's sending a message," Chika knew. "It really IS
Cinder, and it's a challenge."

"For who?" asked Shingo.

His fiancé shook her head. "I don't know... I only
know OF Cinder, but haven't really met him. Just a few
good looks, is all. He's supposed to be possessed by
the spirit of the god Suzaku."

"But the gods...."

"Cinder himself is one of the gods," she interrupted
quickly. "His kind was wiped out by the Sailor
Senshi, and now he demands restitution for his loss of
honor. I'm sure the other surviving kami will see
this, and it'll inspire them to side with the enemy."

"I see. Then there's nothing much we can do."

Chika shook her head. "Not really." Glancing at her
watch, she stood up from her seat. "I'm sorry to have
to break off like this, but...."

"Don't worry, just go," Shingo said, understanding
completely. He, too, had family and friends to be
concerned about, and it was time for him to figure out
what to do next.

---

Office of the CEO, Peacekeeper HQ

Ayame sighed, trying to bury herself into her chair.
Her monitor displayed the current tactical overview
of the Mekani invaders-- two locations fell to their
onslaught, and the other two remain hanging on a thread
as the Mekani, although pushed back for now, were still
in a position to siege Geneva and Crystal Tokyo. It
was only desperation that kept those two key cities
free, while Moscow and Los Angeles seemed to be merely
random targets of destruction. The Mekani literally
had no reason to raze them.

Everyone knew if they kept up with it, Earth was
doomed to fall.

Ayame tapped her fingers together, slumping in her
seat. The destruction was confirmed by her remote
operatives working in both Moscow and Los Angeles
areas, and the casualty tolls weren't through yet.
Heck, they wouldn't be through until after someone got
the Mekani to stop hailing the structures with fire
and electrical bursts.

"At least we got them to stop," she said half-
heartedly. "And we've still got the robots in reserve,
even."

Not that the Mishima-made robots, which hadn't been
upgraded in forty years, could keep up with the Mekani
drones, much less could she deploy them in places other
than Geneva or Crystal Tokyo.

The image of Ayame's assistant appeared on the
monitor, interrupting her thoughts. The Chief
Executive was instantly sitting-up, unwilling to show
any sign of slacking from her duties.

"Sir," he said, "Neo Queen Serenity is on the line
now. Your meeting is about to begin."

"Put me through," Ayame ordered.

In a second the assistant was replaced with a view of
the interior of the Crystal Palace, half a world away.
From the position her monitor was set Ayame could see
the long side of a rectangular table, and gathered
around it were the members of the Crystal Court-- Neo
Queen Serenity, her husband, the princess, and four of
the Sailor Senshi, with Sailor Pluto and the Asteroid
Senshi absent, as usual. For a moment Ayame wished she
knew where those people went, as they weren't attached
to the palace, but her speculation was interrupted as
she realized there was an extra body present.

"Greetings, Ayame," Neo Queen Serenity began. She
gestured a hand in the newbie's direction. "This is
Sailor Saturn. Sailor Saturn, Ayame Mishima, the Chief
Executive Officer of the Peacekeepers."

Ayame nodded, subconsciously accepting the new
addition. "Well, like you wanted... the attacks have
stopped for now. Not that we know why, since we've
only actually routed one of their leaders."

"I see. Then they are planning something much larger
than a simple invasion."

"According to the information we've gathered, and
from reports made by my vice executive, the leaders are
in fact the remnants of the Fenril Knights, exiled to
Nemesis after the last war. They've definitely sided
with the Mekani, and they're apparently cooperating
fully."

"I agree," Saturn said. "The one we fought here was
using a Mekani Enforcer as a vehicle of some sort."

"Well, we got some kind of sophisticated robot that
looked like Shizuka," the PK Director stated. "My guys
are studying the remains even as we speak, looking for
any way we can take advantage of the Mekani tech."

"Or disable them," suggested King Endymion. "It
seems to me that, if these Mekani hold a similar
philosophy as before, they will have innumerable
hordes at their disposal. Deactivating them at the
source will be desirable."

"We theorize that the head is working at the Scylla
warship," Ayame added.

"But why there?" asked Sailor Mercury. "Certainly,
it is where most of the transmission signals originate,
but the Mekani are clever. Who's to say that they
would not have multiple command centers on each ship?"

"Or even the Charybdis," Mars said. "So far that's
the only ship that hasn't actually done anything yet."

"None of the warships have shown any signs of
activity since the attacks ceased, but...."

Ayame's voice trailed off as the communications link
was showing static-- something that shouldn't be
possible with the level of communication she was
working at. Replacing her view of the palace was what
amounted to a pirate transmission-- one that the
Crystal Court was likely also experiencing.

"Greetings, Neo Queen Serenity," came the instigator,
his form silhouetted by a large captain's chair, and
his glasses reflecting the screen. "And to you, too,
Ayame... seems our chats are becoming more frequent."

"Shion," Ayame said. "What game are you playing this
time?"

"Oh, nothing much," he said in mock modesty. "I
just wanted to congratulate you on your successful
defense of Los Angeles and Moscow. My agents tell me
that it was quite a success."

"All sarcasm aside," she heard Mercury say, "the
human race is being threatened by an outside force,
with such strength that many more lives will be lost if
we don't work together."

Shion laughed, darkly amused by the obscured plea.
"And to boost my ego even further... no."

"'No?'" cried Jupiter. "Are you crazy?"

"I assure you, I'm quite sane. For the most part."

"You sold us out to the Mekani, is that it?" Mars
accused. "That's why you're talking to us now, to
laugh and point fingers? Grow up."

"'Grow up?' Nah." The Section Director paused to
laugh at his own joke. "Section will survive once your
Crystal Court is wiped-out. They're only interested in
you, after all. They don't care about humans; they
want to get rid of you."

"Why us?" asked Neo Queen Serenity. "What could we
possibly do to threaten the Mekani?"

"Two words: disco ball."

With that, Shion terminated the link, and Ayame was
offered full view of the Crystal Court once again.

"What's that guy thinking, selling us out?" wondered
Venus.

"Don't you get it?" Mars said. "As long as their
goals coincide with the Mekani, they'll side with
them."

"On the other hand," Ayame interrupted, "Shion did
mention we had a chance of winning."

And apparently, Neo Queen Serenity was thinking the
same. "I will not resort to the Silver Crystal. We
cannot depend on its power to save us every time a new
enemy threatens us from the stars."

"We don't have a choice," the Chief Executive pointed
out. "Any minute now the Mekani are going to mass-gang
us, and take out everyone in the way."

"There has to be another way," the world monarch
insisted. "If we rely on the crystal's power once
more, then all that we worked to reach this point since
the last war will be for naught. I restructured this
world to give it back to the people, and live in peace
and prosperity at the same time. I will not allow an
intergalactic bully to push us around."

"Then we'll just have to take out the Scylla," Sailor
Mercury decided. "However, if the enemy learned from
their previous mistakes, then even severing the head
will not end this conflict."

---

Inner Circle, Secret Section Fortress

"How ironic," Shion mused, "that after all this time
the fate of the planet Earth lies in the hands of the
rebels of the past. In the same vein that Section is
made up of those who resisted Neo Queen Serenity's rule
so did the PKs. Both drew upon the same pool, and both
approached the renegades on a one-on-one basis to
convert to their cause. No one who was not a rebel
wouldn't dream of joining either faction, and thus
they live ignorantly in bliss... until both of their
existences were forcibly made known."

He spun in his captain's chair, facing Ziel. "Don't
you think?"

"That's all fine and dandy," Ziel said, "but there's
been a problem. The project subject... she's emitting
a great deal of psionic waves. If I'm not mistaken,
her mind has gone completely active again."

"You're kidding," the Director wanted to believe.
"This isn't a good time."

Ziel leaned over Shion's desk, and punched in a few
keys on the keyboard. Shion turned back around to
face the monitors, and the bottom center monitor
displayed a watcher's view of the darkest room in the
Inner Circle complex. Lying flat on her back in a
clean hospital bed, connected to life support and
monitoring stations, was Hokuto Takemasa, a serene,
peaceful look on her face. However, the brainwave
analyzer to her left was indicating otherwise.

"Dammit, not now!" Shion hissed. "Don't wake up
now!"

"Want me to terminate her?" asked the second.

Shion shook his head. "It's too late; we can't help
it any longer. It seems we're going to have to pull
out our ace card a bit earlier than expected."

---

Darkness

"The light... it's like a baseball now... I can feel
its warm brilliance...."

"I hear them... I hear the sound of my name, called
over and over. I can see them, the ones that call my
name. How do they speak of me? Does it really
matter? I am remembered...."

"What is the meaning of this darkness? Is it here,
defined so that we may seek the light? Is this the
reason why we must reach for the light?"

"I feel warm inside... a warmness lost since I was
banished to this cold darkness. I will achieve my
homecoming, by touching the light."

"The voices... they wait for me. I can hear them
calling my name... those that bathe in the light. All
should bathe the light."

"All should share in its brilliance."


----------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes

After a time I decided to pick up on the loose end I
left for myself after I finished 'Ragnarok;' I
purposefully meant for this to have an ending point
there, but still have ideas that elaborate further on
the Mekani themselves, and some other consequences
that were dropped in the last few chapters. Enjoy.

This chapter mainly focuses on characters I neglected
in the past-- Chibi-Usa, Hotaru, and Shingo. They are
all somewhat integral to what's going on in this day
and age, and this is their story, basically. It also
adds more info on the unknown enemy, the Mekani, who
have not been detailed before. Back in the original
Geometry story Shingo was a key player, and in Souls
he disappeared into the woodwork, so I decided to bring
him back. I really didn't want to deal with little
kids, either, so I aged Chibi-Usa and Hotaru to
respectable ages-- within reason. It also works out a
system by which one could age in this weird world,
too.


--Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOhotmailSPAM.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/index.html

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