"Come in!"

"You wanted to see me?"

Henra looks up, then smiles. "Come in! Sit down, Lufy," the
commander of the Fourth Fleet waves the flightmistress to a chair. Seen
through the window behind the fleet shipmistress, a Second Squadron Gladiator
takes off, banking over Defence Base Ly'sha for a check flight. "So, with the
'Hasei'cha' crew decommissioned, you're free of all assignments."

Lufy numbly nods. Not three days before, the "Hasei'cha" had been
destroyed over Earth. Without a ship...no replacement was planned anytime
soon...it was illogical to permit the crew to remain together. With that, the
informal family of thirteen women who had endured so much over the last decade
and more was breaking up. "Yeah, you can say that. Catty and Pony've already
put in for their release from the Navy."

"They'll be working at Tere'na City Hospital?"

"Yeah. Mizuho wants Catty to join the EMRU and Pony's being eyed as
Deputy Chief of Surgery."

"That's good," Henra sighs. "Well, what happens to the rest of the
crew really isn't my concern. It's what happens to you, Rabby and Mie that
bothers me now."

Lufy nods. Technically, the three Gladiator pilots had been on loan
to the "Hasei'cha" from the reserve pilot pool now being consolidated into
Fifth Defence Squadron. Once the ship had no need of them anymore, back to
the squadrons they'd go. "Okay, I have Mie in First Squadron; she'll be
taking over Tinanokakyuu's old post. Rabby wants to be in Third Squadron
since Shildy's been assigned as advisor to the Fleet Defence Systems
Engineering Unit in Kyre'sha. That leaves you. So, where to?"

"Nowhere."

"I...beg your pardon?"

"Nowhere," Lufy draws a folded note from her jersey. "I've applied
for an indefinite sabbatical from the Navy. Here's the approval from the
I.G."

Henra blinks, then opens the note, recognizing Oryuu's very neat
writing. The fleet shipmistress shakes her head. She had hoped to talk Lufy
into becoming the Fifth's squadronmistress, thus making the reserve unit
equal to the active squadrons, even if she had to relocate the headquarters
flight in Tere'na to allow Lufy to remain close to Catty. "May I ask why you
put in for this?"

"It's personal," Lufy stares at her.

"I see," Henra folds up the sheet, then sets it aside. "Very well
then, Flightmistress. I do expect to see you back here one of these days.
Someone with your piloting skills is wasted doing other things. Have a nice
vacation."

Lufy ignores the blatant expression of disapproval as she rises,
salutes, then marches out...

* * *

Urusei Yatsura - Tales of the Daishi'cha: "Lufy's Quest"
by Fred Herriot
fherriot@hotmail.com
**** **** ****
Edited by E.B. Kushnir
kush1@iaw.on.ca
**** **** ****
A story based on "Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year," in turn based on "Urusei
Yatsura," created by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****

WRITER'S NOTES:

1) This story is a continuation of Robert Geiger's "Final Hymn,"
starting shortly after that story ended.

2) The Order of Lyna is the only bravery decoration on Sagussa, open to
both civilian and military personnel. The criteria for its award demands
that the person in question demonstrate uncommon valour or concern for
bystanders in a life-threatening situation.

3) The children (read sex, age, education status, twin to...): LUFY -
Yolchong Moroboshi (F, 10, 5th year To-Tere'na G.E.I.); Mihagh Paama (F, 9,
4th year To-Tere'na G.E.I.); Shinsan Mendou (M, 3, To-Tere'na Daycare
Nursery, twin to Tangko); Tangko Mendou (F, 3, To-Tere'na D.N., twin to
Shinsan). CATTY - Kiboi Moroboshi (M, 10, 5th year To-Tere'na G.E.I.); Ura
Ryooki (M, 9, 4th year To-Tere'na G.E.I.); Taghme Mendou (M, 8, 3rd year
To-Tere'na G.E.I.); Koui Budou (F, 3, To-Tere'na D.N.). MIE & MAKOTO - Kum
Seikou (F, 10, 5th year To- Tere'na G.E.I.); Unmyon Seikou (F, 10, 5th year
To-Tere'na G.E.I.). PRISS - Shunran Renning (F, 11, 6th year To-Tere'na
G.E.I.); Hanyagh Moroboshi (F, 10, 5th year To-Tere'na G.E.I.); Tenghdo Budou
(F, 9, 4th year To-Tere'na G.E.I.); Sunagh Megane (F, 8, 3rd year To-Tere'na
G.E.I., twin to Neghsu); Neghsu Megane (F, 8, 3rd year To-Tere'na G.E.I.,
twin to Sunagh); Ganba Makisur (F, 5, To- Tere'na Kindergarten); Sekida Chibi
(F, 4, To-Tere'na D.N.); Sughdo Makisur (M, 2). NENE - Chianne Moroboshi (F,
10, 5th year To-Tere'na G.E.I.), Yalsimgh Shinowataru (M, 8, 3rd year
To-Tere'na G.E.I.), Pigoan Ozuno (M, 6, 1st year To- Tere'na G.E.I.), Toljan
Mendou (M, 4, To-Tere'na D.N.).

4) AL - After Lecasur. Another way of saying it is AU (After
Unification). The marker by which Vosians tell modern years. It matches the
Terran AD/CE standard.

5) A bos'n (boatswain) call is a flute used by naval forces as a shrill
whistle; it can be deafening at close range. "Pipe the still" is to make a
long even blast, calling people to attention. "Pipe the carry-on" is to make
a two-tone blast, calling people at east to continue what they were doing.
"Last Post" is a British tune played in honour of the dead; the American
version is "Taps."

6) The *pirpirsiw'r's* real names (read number, modern name, cheek
symbol, old name, home principality):

29363...Lufy...red star...Hivpira...Falcros
22860...Priss...note and dagger...Gilpizra...Falcros
61558...Makoto...heart and thunderbolt...Izripra...Varakos
28362...Score...gold star...Primpina...Falcros
22861A...Sylvie...note and dagger...Givpizra...Falcros
53631...Aminobishoojo...wave and hearts...Finripra...Kyotos
22240...Maya...mace and dagger...Hibligna...Varakos
46057...Angel...mace and knife...Hibpilra...Kyotos
26207...Tinanokakyuu...shield and spears...Bizira...Dysos

**** **** ****

"Lufy, help!!!"

Lufy turns, then rolls her eyes as Sugoi collapses on a chair, her
breathing increasing as contractions began. "*De'ne!* Didn't you bother to
have a nurse look you over every week to make sure you knew when to get to a
hospital?!"

"Sorry!" the pregnant child services nurse laughs, then moans as
another sharp pain lances through her hips. "Oh, gods!!!"

Passers-by stop, smiling understandingly as the Gladiator pilot lifts
Sugoi in her arms, then carries her down the East Tere'na Market central mall
to the mag-lev station. "Hospital Emergency, stat!!" she barks to the driver
as they settle in the handicapped seats by the front door.

"*En!*" the driver guides the vehicle onto the road, then opens a
channel to Tere'na Traffic Control. "Childbirth emergency, clear traffic from
East Tere'na Market to Tere'na City Hospital."

"Acknowledged, all traffic clear ETM to TCH," the dispatch controller
replies. "Hospital emergency staff advised."

Lufy relaxes, empathically calming Sugoi, as the mag-lev picks up
speed, racing past intersections now cordoned off by drop-barriers, computer
voices telling pedestrians that a medical emergency had temporarily closed off
traffic along the route to Tere'na City Hospital and thanking them for their
patience. Lufy quietly thanked Lyna that people on Sagussa were always ready
to acknowledge medical emergencies, then gazes at the panting Oni-Avalonian
beside her. Sugoi had a slaphappy grin on her face despite her understandable
pain; her child, fathered by Aisuru Megane through the genetic samples he
donated before the Battle of Uru, was a wish-fulfilment of sorts. "He'll be
beautiful."

"Arigato," Sugoi bites her lip, then sighs. "Pumpkin'll be there at
least."

"That's good," Lufy kisses her forehead.

The mag-lev pulls up to the emergency doors of Tere'na City Hospital,
a geometrically pleasing structure spread out over six hectares. Nurses and
nursing assistants help the panting Sugoi onto an antigrav gurney, then race
off to a birthing theatre. Lufy steps off, nods thanks to the driver, then
takes her time following her expecting friend.

By the time she reaches the Natal Care Unit, Kurama's and Catty's
voices echo through the hallways, barking orders to nurses as Priss' soothing
words calm her bond-mate. Lufy sits by a table, then turns to the public-
access computer beside her. "Computer, tap into foreign information
database," she orders. "Locate all files pertaining to the Vosian practice
called recognition."

"*Acknowledged,*" the computer replies.

Information scrolls down the page, a commentary...Lufy smiles on
recognizing Hunba's voice narrating the story...softly echoing in her ears,
the sound vectored so as to not disturb patients. The pilot sighs, then
shudders. Damn, how could Vosians tolerate some of this?! *De'ne!* she snaps
at herself then. *Everyone inside the Barrier wonders why we bond to one of
the same sex before going to the opposite sex to have kids! What're YOU
complaining about?! * Sighing, she relaxes. "Computer, explain what happens
when a Vosian loses her mate under unexpected circumstances."

Images play of a barren desert world not so different from the
Sagussa of a decade before. "This is Sabaku," Hunba narrates. "Official
designation Vos Colony Sixty-four-A; it is the other Class M-type planet in
Colony Sixty-four's home solar system. This world was discovered by Lecasur
and the 'Unification' in AL 22. Those who suffer the loss of a mate under
tragic or unexpected circumstances migrate to Sabaku to endure the *nicha*
ritual. Here, one proceeds on a pilgrimage, usually of six weeks' duration,
where one attempts through self-introspection and self-hypnosis to expunge
one's grief towards her lost mate. If one succeeds, then she is considered
free of widowhood and permitted to seek a new mate."

"Thank you," Lufy nods, then turns to gaze at the ceiling.
"Cassur..." she closes her eyes, drawing forth the image of a man her age and
height, built like a fireplug. At his death, his brown hair was shoulder-
length, a neatly trimmed beard and moustache covering his face. Pretty
cute...and if things hadn't gone so tragically wrong six days ago, he'd be
Lufy's *surei'cha.*

"Hey, you in there?!"

"Eh?!" Lufy jolts, then blinks on seeing Mie staring concernedly at
her. "Oh, hi, Mie."

"You WERE out of it!" Mie relaxes beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit, Lufy. You can pull that on most other people, but not
your wingmate. You've been in a funk since we lost the ship. You want to
know how pissed Henra was when you put yourself on leave. It'd be like Tita
and Satomi quitting on her."

"Too bad for her," Lufy shrugs.

Mie sighs. "Is it this guy you fought?"

"Cassur."

"Eh?"

"He has a name. It's Cassur. And yes, it's about him."

"So what's the damn problem?" Mie wonders. "Lufy, why are you
tearing yourself up over this asshole? Shit, he was just another goon, just
like all the other's we've iced over the last decade!"

Lufy sighs. "You wanna know something, Seikou? You can be a real
bitch at times!"

"Well, excuse me for caring!" Mie snaps, bolting to her feet, then
marches off.

Lufy winces, then races after her. "Mie, wait!!"

"What?!" she spins on her.

"I'm sorry," Lufy deflates. "Look, I didn't mean to razz you, but
I...I just can't put him out of my head."

Mie relaxes. "Apology accepted. And please put him out of your
head, Luf! He's not worth it one bit! Besides, you have any idea how bad
this creep was?!"

"I don't care!" Lufy snaps, then sighs. "Mie...he recognized me! ME
of all people!! And then he kills himself!!! How in Eternity's name should I
feel after THAT?!?!"

Mie blinks; Lufy hadn't once really delved into what happened over
the Moon. "He...recognized you?!"

"Yes!!"

"That's impossible!!"

"That's what I thought!" Lufy shakes her head, looking away. "Oh,
Lyna, why?! Why me, for cryin' out loud?!!"

Mie sighs, hugging herself. Crisis of conscience. All those who
killed in Sagussa's name had them sooner or later. Reinoevan became a doctor
when being Pathfinder Troop Six's sniper became too much for her.
Tinanokakyuu offered her services to the EMRU when she lost combat status.
Mie herself had one dozy of a conscience attack when she reunited with
Makoto, trying to balance her life on Earth with what was expected of her
here. Now Lufy was stuck asking "what if?" Not good at all. "Then maybe
it's time you found out his whole story."

"Eh?" Lufy stares at her.

"Go find out who Cassur was," Mie urges. "Nassur had to do something
when he lost his wife and son. Who says that because you're Sagussan and it's
normally seen as impossible for Vosians to recognize Sagussans, you don't have
the right to mourn, to know the truth? Hell, I'll help. We all will, Luf!
You're our friend and we're hurting because you're hurting."

Lufy blinks, then smiles. "Thanks, Mie..."

A shrill wail echoes from the operating room next door. Lufy and Mie
spin around, then laughing, race over to share in Sugoi's happy day, the
former pilot's problems momentarily forgotten...

* * *

Vos Colony Fourteen.

Nene sips her large mug of ale, relaxing at the bar as her eyes
continuously scan the crowd for her contact. Clad in relaxed civilians, she
knows that she can still stick out like a sore thumb in this place; her
masked brainwaves, rounded ears and fair-toned skin automatically mark her as
a Sagussan. Beside her, Chianne, a beautifully maturing brown-haired version
of her mother, sips her soda, her eyes likewise scanning the crowd. Even
though she was just a fifth-year general studies student, Nene's eldest had
been picking up her mother's many tricks since before she could walk.
Besides, this was a family restaurant and there were some cute boys and girls
now tugging the sexually-maturing Chianne's attention.

Nene stiffens, then smiles. "About time."

"Excuse me for being a little late!" a beautiful fiftyish woman
swings into the room. "You wouldn't believe the traffic out there." She then
stops on seeing Chianne. "Oh, my, is this your first?!"

"Hai!" Nene beams. "Chianne-chan, this is Konba, Vos's oldest and
best Visionary. Ko-chan, this is my eldest, Chianne Ainene Moroboshi,
Visionary in training."

"Hi!" Chianne gushes, then her eyes spot a pretty girl by the
flowers. "Oh, 'scuse me, Mom!" she races off.

Nene rolls her eyes as Konba takes her place. "Oh, getting to that
time, isn't she?" the latter smirks.

"You wouldn't believe it!" Nene snorts, inwardly grinning at her
daughter's escapades. "I caught her three days ago with Kum Seikou pawing
each other. She'll be a handful and a half after the Awakening. I pity
whoever becomes her bondmate." She then looks serious. "So what's the
problem?"

"You owe me big-time, Maratok!" Konba wags her finger, calling Nene
by her pre-Sagussan name, Chianne du Maratok. "You want to know how much I
hated it when you killed yourself and got shipped to Sagussa?!"

"So excuse me if I didn't know you had a crush on me!" Nene snorts.
"Shit, so did Kaizoku, remember?!"

"One has to admire Corsair's taste," Konba laughs. "Anyhow, I need
someone smuggled out of the Confederation. Sagussa seems the best place for
him."

"Has he been a naughty boy?"

"According to the *an'san-Mikado,* he's about the naughtiest thing
you've ever laid eyes on," Konba sighs. "I know better since I personally've
dealt with him over the last couple decades. You know me; I was totally
neutral on the Civil War. I gave everyone a fair shake. This guy treated me
the same way in return. Problem is, someone whitewashed him with their own
shit and he's been on the run ever since."

"That's bad. What's his name?"

"Gilsur. He ranched here after your people did Colony Four."

Nene perks up. "Gilsur? Yeah, the *an'san-Mikado* warned us about
him sometime prior to that shit over Earth. I never thought anyone could be
THAT awful. Care to lay me the real deal?"

"He's a Visionary-class hacker, but he's never been called one
because he was the Mikado's pet hacker," Konba sighs. "His handle's Steel
Breeze, by the way."

"I know him!" Nene laughs. "He's the one who designed that real neat
graphics program that caused the billboards on Colony Nine to show the
governor doing his mistress some years ago?"

"The very same!" Konba snorts.

Both howl with delight; being first-class hackers, they could admire
another's deft handiwork especially when someone politically important got
embarrassed along the way. "Anyhow, he skimmed off some money from the
Mikado's till when Colony Four was deleted, but not the amount the *an'san-
Mikado* quoted," Konba continued. "Most of that money was extorted from poor
people, but most of them got deleted during the Civil War."

"Wonderful things, civil wars," Nene sighs. "But there is a big
problem, Ko-chan. If I brought him to Sagussa, my superiors might demand I
send him back here for trial."

Konba sighs. "Ne-chan, he'll be dead before he ever sees a
courtroom. Couldn't you let him come in as a refugee? At least try to help
him get a fair trial? People want him gone."

"Who wants him deleted?!"

"Well, the primary suspect himself bought it over Earth," Konba
sighs. "He was the one kidnapped from the Vosian embassy: Tarsur. Believe
me, Nene, if anyone deserves to be deleted, he was it! This kiss-ass
trenchwave always was ready to stab anyone in the back just to please the
Mikado."

"Can anyone verify it?"

"I'm sure Mujanba and Varena could," Konba muses. "Tarsur gave
people like them and Grisur a WIDE amount of space. You never could trust a
jerk like that! He was the one who sang to the *an'san-Mikado* about Gilsur
and the two hunters who were deleted over Earth with Tarsur. And I happen to
know that Tarsur himself was a pretty fair hacker."

"Pretty fair" meaning that he was nowhere close to Visionary class
but still skilled enough to make lives hell. "Did Gilsur leave back-up files
somewhere?"

"He has them with him all the time," Konba nods. "In fact, he's in
the bar two doors down. Want to meet him now?"

"Might as well," Nene rises to pay the tab.

After dragging Chianne away from her latest girl-hunt, Nene follows
Konba into the bar in question. It's a beach-bar, a Vosian institution where
everyone could unwind and bathe under UV lamps, not to mention enjoy a swim
in a heated pool. The three disrobe, then walk in. "Excuse me, miss, but
are you sure you want to bring her here?" a waitress walks up to Nene,
indicating Chianne.

"Mom, does everyone here think Sagussans're as prudish as Terrans?!"
Chianne stares bemusedly at her mother.

The waitress blinks, then her eyes flash, her powers detecting the
psionic silence from Nene's mind. "Oh, I thought you were Ellsians! I'm
sorry! Please, come in!" she waves them inside.

"She'll be alright, just don't give her something strong," Nene
smiles, allowing the waitress to direct Chianne to the bar.

The master hacker then follows Konba to one of the sauna rooms. She
quickly notices the presence of a guard-droid by the door to one room, its
scanners actively scoping the room. Wise precaution; an organic bodyguard
could be psi-tracked by a potential bounty-hunter. The price on Gilsur's
noggin was a handsome five million uniCredits now. At the door, Konba knocks.
"C'mon in, Konba!" a voice yells from inside.

Konba walks in. Gilsur now lays on a bench, allowing the heat to
sweat out his body before a dip in the pool. He nods on seeing his fellow
Vosian, then looks surprised on seeing the Sagussan. "I just got your ticket
out of here," Konba sits beside him. "Steel Breeze, meet Velvet Rose."

Gilsur gapes, then smiles. "A pleasure, Miss Maratok...or whatever
your real name might be now."

"Nene," she sits down. "So, Ko-chan here tells me someone's been
flaming you. Any idea who it is?"

"Who it was," Gilsur sighs. "Courtesy of your friends, that little
sleezeball is no longer among the living. But what he's said to Gomasur's
brigade of crusaders is bad enough. There's no way in Purgatory that I can
have a safe day again for the rest of my life thanks to Tarsur. Even if I
skipped off to Sagussa, I'd still be in danger. I need the chance to clear my
name, but I can't do it when I'm looking over my shoulder."

"Okay, I can understand that," Nene nods. "I can admit you into
Sagussa, then get the authorities to offer you asylum because of overt
persecution. The Vosian government'd have to apply to have you extradited,
which will give you a trial to say your side of the story. If you prove it to
the judge...even better, submit to a mind-meld interrogation...then you can
stay indefinitely."

"Sounds like a deal!" Gilsur nods.

"But I need one more thing."

"That being?"

"Any information on your friends Orinsur and Cassur."

"Why?"

"You may not believe this," Nene sighs, "...but Cassur recognized a
friend of mine before he died over Earth."

Gilsur blinks, eyes widening. "But...that's impossible! Vosians
can't recognize Sagussans!"

"Tell Lufy that," Nene shrugs. "She wants to know as much as she can
before she can put this behind her. You see...Cassur killed himself believing
he was caught between his loyalty to Orinsur and what just happened with Lufy.
He took the third way."

Gilsur sighs. "Okay, I'll help. Believe me, Cassur and Orinsur
weren't anywhere CLOSE to what Tarsur said about them to the *an'san-Mikado.*
Damn, all Tarsur was doing was saving his own hide; there were enough reasons
to have him deleted already."

"Copped a deal with the cops!" Nene snorts. "I thought Gomasur and
his boys knew better than that...!"

Suddenly, shots ring out, echoed by electronic squeals and shrieks
from frightened patrons! Everyone spins around as the guard-droid is blasted
down, then a dark figure appears at the doorway. "There you are!!"

"Chiusur!!!" Gilsur gasps on recognizing the bounty hunter.

The tall, black-robed hunter raises his weapon. "Sorry, Gilsur.
Nothing personal..."

Particle bolts lance into his head and side, blasting the hunter away
to collapse on the floor, his eyes lifelessly gazing at the ceiling. Nene
bolts out, then spins left to see Chianne standing nearby, pistol lowering,
panting after running to where their clothes were to get the firearm. "No one
hurts my mom," the young girl sighs, walking into her mother's comforting
embrace.

"Nice shooting," Gilsur whistles on seeing what is left of his
current nemesis.

"Pathfinder in training," Nene sighs...

* * *

A day later...

"Who's this?!" Lufy wonders.

Gilsur shudders on feeling the pilot's raking gaze. He now sat in
the living room of Lufy's and Catty's beautiful home in To-Tere'na. Priss
stands by the door, hand on her holster, her eyes locked on the VIQ. Lufy,
Catty, Mie and Makoto sit across the way. Nene does the introductions. "So
you were Cassur's friend, huh?" Lufy pops open a bottle of ru-jugh, then
stares at him. "So what's his story?"

"I didn't...know much before I bumped into him and Orinsur on Colony
Four," Gilsur shudders. "He was your typical Special Hunter Corps grunt.
Picked up when he was a baby, put through the hunter's school, then allowed to
go out onto the street. They really didn't do much; most of the time, they
were headquarters paper-pushers. Good pilots...but you know that part..."

"Keep talking."

"Well...when you guys came calling at Colony Four, Cassur and Orinsur
saw what your pal Moroboshi was doing to Osur's hunters in Tomobiki, then
decided it was time to get out. They were...at the base camp on the east
continent; it wasn't touched by the Warsuits until near the end. Well, that's
where I was, clearing out files and getting things ready to get out. I asked
them to fly me out and they took me to Colony 14 before you slammed the lid
shut."

"There was that problem with stragglers that bugged out before we
closed it all down," Makoto muses.

"So what happened?" Lufy asks.

"Well, we decided to delete ourselves from records," Gilsur sighs.
"We lived pretty peaceful lives until two years ago. I got into legal
computing. Cassur and Orinsur became partners in a reconstruction firm;
Colony Fourteen was pretty badly wrecked by the end of the war. That's how
they got the stuff when they decided to go after Tarsur." A pause, then
Gilsur's voice hardens as his anger races forth. "Then, everything goes to
pot. We had hunters up the wazoo, prices on our head, the works! I couldn't
do shit until I got some protection; Nene can tell you that part. So I dug
around and I found out about Tarsur."

Silence. "If we're to prove Tarsur's ultimate culpability in
slandering you, who do we ask?" Mie wonders.

"Mujanba and Varena're the primary ones, but ask any hunter who
defected when the amnesty was declared," he sighs. "Actually, Tarsur was
really tight with Bujosur when he became head of the Hunter Corps; he's the
one who got Bujosur his little sex dolls who now work for Dakejinzou Shogai.
Um...why are you asking me this?"

"If we're to build a credible defence for you, we need to get
witnesses in here," Mie sighs. "The Vosian ambassador was told of your
presence here when you came in. He'll see Marcia and Noa tomorrow about
extradition. Your trial will come up pretty quick since crime's still not
much an issue here on Sagussa, so you need people to take your side of the
story. Atop that, we can sense you were friends with Orinsur and Cassur.
Wouldn't you want people to know the truth about them one of these days?"

"I..." Gilsur sighs, then shakes his head. "Why?"

"Why what?!"

"Why help me?! Why do you want to rehabilitate them?! Jeez, you
guys just lost your ship, nearly lost your lives..."

His voice trails off, seeing that the Sagussans were seriously
thinking about what he said. A shudder of fear races up his spine; he may
have just screwed his chances of having a peaceful life here on Sagussa with
his own words.

"Aren't governments peculiar?" Catty muses.

"Eh?!"

"Gilsur, how many people served in the Special Hunter Corps?"

The hacker blinks, then shrugs. "I dunno...say about 30,000
altogether from the time Osur's school first opened."

"Thirty thousand men and women," Catty sighs. "Kidnapped at birth,
never knowing about their parents or relatives, raised in conditions that
would make the death camps from Earth's Nazi Germany and Russia's Gulag look
like a picnic, brainwashed into believing that their sole purpose was to be
agents of the Mikado's will. How many were still alive by the time it was
all over?"

"Excluding the ones still fighting for the neo-Mikadoites?" Gilsur
hums. "Maybe three thousand..."

"Ninety percent fatalities," Catty translates. "And what of the
survivors? They can never be trusted again, never will be looked on with
respect by their fellow citizens. Most of them probably don't know if they
have any relatives living now...and they don't know how to find out because no
one can track down the computer records because they were erased, altered or
just taken away by people who only cared for themselves. Atop that, would the
local governments want to help them? They're the orphans of the Civil War.
Don't you think you owe Cassur and Orinsur...and all those of the Hunter
Corps...something of your own knowledge to help them, help their relatives,
finally obtain closure?"

Gilsur blinks, then sighs. "I got a lot in my computers and
datadisks," he stares at the doctor. "It'd take me a while to dig it all up.
I can also point out the other hackers and mid-level bureaucrats who'd know
about hunters...those who can be trusted and those you'd have to stick a gun
at to make them tell the truth."

"Well, consider that your first deed on your way to becoming a
Sagussan," Catty smiles. "I'm sure Nene and the Mobius Five can be of
assistance to you. We could consider this a social aid project for the
Vosian people. What better way to help them finally put closure to the Civil
War than helping families unite?"

The others nod...

* * *

"I don't fully trust this guy," Priss warns.

After Nene took Gilsur to Kyonggh-Tere'na and the apartment serving
as his secure quarters until his extradition hearing, everyone filed into the
kitchen to consider what he said. "I could sense that he was unsure what to
think of us," Makoto muses, sipping her ale. "After all, considering how
rough we were on the Mikado's troops a decade ago, they'd never fully trust
us."

"They have the right to be wary," Catty muses. "Where does one draw
the line between simply following orders and being responsible for war crimes?
They never were taught the difference between them, you know. We've been
spoiled too much by Nassur's and Mujanba's example to see the full picture."

"That's true," Lufy sighs. "I...I wonder. Did he ever know of his
relatives? Does he have any relatives alive now? Do they know about their
son? Do they WANT to know about him after what Tarsur did...or would they
want to know the truth?"

Sighing, the pilot saunters back to her bedroom. The others watch
her go, then Priss looks at Catty. "Go with her. Make love to her, comfort
her. She's hurting bad, you know."

"I know," Catty rises...

* * *

"Mom, are you okay?"

Lufy blinks, then smiles as Yolchong sits on the bed beside her.
Shinsan, Tangko and Koui now dozed in their shared nursery cot beside their
mothers' bed, both near a large picture window offering a view of the
Esanta'cha and the cliff housing the Chamber of Eternity. "What's wrong, Yol-
chan?"

"What's wrong with you?" Yolchong asks. "You've been mopy ever since
you lost the ship."

Lufy sighs. Her daughter was pretty perceptive in her own right even
at that age; her teachers were advising Lufy to persuade her eldest to pursue
a career in psychology when it came time for her to choose her advanced
education route next year. Wrapping an arm around her, Lufy kisses
Yolchong's forehead. "Yeah, I have," she sighs. "Yol-chan, there
was...someone I had to go fight when we lost the 'Hasei'cha.'"

"He was just a Mikado goon, Mom!"

Lufy pauses. Ever since Colony Four, the Mikado and those who fought
for him were looked at very disparagingly by all Sagussans, especially when
what he almost did to Ataru and Lum became known. "Not...necessarily, you
know," she sighs. "Yol-chan, you could've once said the same thing about
Hunba's son Nassur. He was raised in one of those schools. He killed for the
Mikado once."

"But he ran away and Lord Varanko trained him."

"Yeah. Nassur was lucky, though. Not all of them were. A lot, like
Shinobu's bondmate, were pretty nice people deep down. They just never had
the chance to get out and express it; their boss wouldn't let them express
it. Cassur...was like that."

"Did he really recognize you?"

"Yeah, supposedly."

"But Auntie Pony said he had drugs in him."

Lufy sighs. After it ended, the "Kiboo'cha" recovered the bodies,
Pony and Reinoevan teaming to do the post-mortems. "Well, he had to do that
or else he felt he couldn't beat us. Yol-chan, I don't know Cassur's story.
But when he recognized me, he felt trapped. He...was *marei'cha* with
Orinsur...and then could've become my *surei'cha.* He believed he couldn't
be with me without betraying Orinsur. And because of that...he killed
himself."

Yolchong shudders, then embraces Lufy. "Oh, Mom!"

Lufy smiles at her daughter's comforting embrace, then sighs. "So
I'm left with questions. And I want to put all that behind me, Yol-chan. And
if...I could help Cassur, I could probably help all the other hunters. Don't
you think it's worth it?"

"Un..." Yolchong nods, then pensively stares at Lufy. "Mom...are you
and Mashi gonna break up?"

"What?!" Lufy gapes, then laughs. "No, sweetie, we're not going to
break up!! Why would you think that?!"

"Well, you know what people're like inside the Barrier!" Yolchong
rolls her eyes, then stares at the sleeping three-year olds in the nursery
cot. "If you brought this guy home, would he've loved Mashi or Kiboi or Ura
or Taghme-chan or Koui-chan?"

Lufy nods understandingly. "Well, they're comfortable with their way
of mating. We're comfortable with our way. What's wrong with that?"

"So what're you going to do?"

Lufy sighs. "I'm going to Sabaku. I want to find out all I can
about recognition and how it affects people."

"Can I come with you?"

"Why?!"

"Well, it's the first-term break and I don't want to spend it all
cooped up here if you and Mashi're running around!" Yolchong shrugs. "Maybe
you could ask Aunt Nene or Aunt Sugoi to watch over the others while we go
together?"

Lufy hums. She wouldn't mind taking the family out on a tour of the
worlds inside the Barrier. None of them had been anywhere else outside
Crossroads. Still, doing some fact-finding while shepherding ALL of hers and
Catty's kids would be quite the headache. "Well, since Sugoi's recovering
from giving birth to Manju-chan, we'll get her to do it. You think Mi-chan's
mature enough to watch over her brothers?"

"She'll be jealous!" Yolchong warns.

"Jealous of what?!"

They turn to see Mihagh standing there. While Yolchong had shaggy
brown hair down to her waist, her younger sister's curly blonde hair was cut
really short, usually wrapped with a stylish headband which she wore under
her helmet when training on the Minisuits, the small-scale mobile suits
brought out in third year of general studies to judge future Warsuit and
Gladiator pilots. Hopping on the bed, Mihagh scrambles over to snuggle
against her mother's other side. "Mom's going off someplace!" Yolchong hums.

"And you got her to say I'll watch over the boys, right?!" Mihagh
crosses her arms. "Forget it! If you go, I go!"

Lufy sighs. "Okay, okay, you both can come!!" she grabs her
daughters and pulls them in. "Satisfied?!"

The girls laugh, then embrace their mother...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Sabaku...

"Lovely world you have here."

Olnba gazes surprisingly at the diminutive doctor walking beside her
near the Shrine of Sabaku. Unlike those who came here to cleanse their souls
of grief, the priests who administered this place of healing were permitted
clothing. "I'm surprised you would make a comment like that," the elder
priest of Sabaku muses.

"Sagussa was like this some years ago," Catty smiles. "True, it was
because of a holocaust, but still, there are times I miss looking at the
dunes, wondering how the winds would mould them. Most of those dunes now are
under a couple kilometres of water."

Olnba hums. "Yes, that would be a bit disorientating, wouldn't it?"
she sighs. "So, can you...explain to me what brings you and your bondmate
here?"

"Quite simple, really," Catty sighs. "A week ago, a fellow named
Cassur, a former Special Hunter Corps officer, was involved in that attack on
the Vosian embassy in New York City. Incredible as this will probably sound,
he injected himself with White Noise during the fight, then engaged Lufy...and
recognized her. But because he had adopted his fellow hunter Orinsur as a
brother and both were intent on killing their target...and Cassur felt he
didn't want to betray Orinsur OR Lufy...he took his own life."

Silence. "I see," Olnba muses. "You're right, Sensei, it does
surprise me quite a bit. I'd never think that our power could latch us onto
one of you. Your race's...distaste for involuntary genetic bondings is quite
well known."

"You seem unbothered."

"Not really. Lecasur once warned that encountering other races would
bring forth a conflict of opinions as physiological, cultural and social
differences became known. We had to learn that lesson when we fought our
brief war with the Yehisrites before the founding of the Royal Kingdoms. You
should note that many Vosians were looking forward to meeting your people."

"And you found it within yourselves to accept us?"

"Quite so, as you readily accept us. While we find your cousins on
Zephyrus too theologically narrow-minded for our taste and your other cousins
on Kurakoa too accepting of moral authority to permit their lives to evolve
beyond the limits such authority imposes, we find your people...refreshing as
alien races come."

"Let's hope what we start today doesn't change that for the worse,
then," Catty muses as she slips off her tunic. "If we succeed, a couple
thousand people will finally know their history and families. If we
fail...then your Civil War will never end until all those who lived through
with it die."

"Sadly true," Olnba nods, then notices Yolchong and Mihagh stretching
themselves alongside their mother. As per Vosian custom, the bereaved was
nude when she engaged in the *nicha* quest. Olnba is surprised to see her
eldest daughters also preparing themselves. "May I ask why they're here?"

"If Cassur had came to Sagussa, he would be *monmoei'cha* to Yol-chan
and Mi-chan," Catty slips off her trousers. "The male who elects to live with
a female but isn't directly related by blood."

"Ah! And what of your eldest son, Sensei?"

"Cassur did recognize Lufy, Elder, not me. I go as Lufy's bondmate,
but could we predict how Cassur would've treated me?"

"Good point," the high priest nods.

Once the four are prepared, they form a line before Olnba, who is
attended by two underpriests. "Welcome to Sabaku," she intones as they bow
their heads. "You who have come to this world to expunge your grief at the
brief but tragic bonding between your family and Cassur shall now go forth.
Given the remarkable set of circumstances surrounding this event, plus your
profound lack of understanding considering recognition...to be truthful, even
we don't understand all its nuances...we have permitted you to set some of
your own conditions to your quest.

"Under normal circumstances, a *nicha* takes between four and six
weeks to complete. Since you have more questions than grief before you, you
can certainly end your quest at any time. Even so, you still may seek some
inner understanding as you go forth among the dunes of this world. Your own
mental powers give you a unique capacity to understand one part of Creation.
We only but ask you not to interfere in those others now among the dunes
seeking the end of their own grief, but if accidents occur...they occur."

"Thank you very much," Lufy nods. "All set, girls?"

"Hai!!" Yolchong and Mihagh nod.

"You set?" Lufy stares at Catty.

"For you? Always," the doctor smiles.

They rise. "Then we take our leave of you for a time, Elder Olnba,"
Lufy bows. "Peace, logic and harmony to you all."

"May you find your path to peace and truth," Olnba nods. "And may
the spirits of Lecasur and Lyna watch over you."

"May you find your path to peace and truth," the underpriests
ritually intone. "May you find *nicha.*"

With that, the quartet of Sagussans depart. The underpriests gaze at
their leader. "What will they find out there?" one asks.

"That is for them and Fate to discover," Olnba sighs...

* * *

"Mom?"

"What is it, honey?"

"Was it like this back home before Stage Two?" Mihagh asks.

Lufy hums. They had been walking for several hours, locating several
scrubfruit bushes which would sustain them over the next while. Initially,
they planned to endure the full six weeks a *nicha* quest normally took, but
given the brevity of Lufy's and Cassur's "relationship" and the wide genetic
differences between them, they soon realized this could be a short excursion.

Still, despite its ill-reputation as a luxury world, Sabaku wasn't
totally barren. The scrubfruit was compatible with many types of fruit across
the cluster and the spring water to be found in the oases was as good as what
came out of the deep bedrock near Tere'na-korgh. "Yeah, pretty much like
this," Lufy muses. "At least Sabaku's natural. I'm glad the Vosians kept her
pristine."

"Mashi, did Nassur ever tell you about when he recognized his wife?"
Yolchong stares at Catty.

The doctor sighs. "No, I never thought to ask him to be honest. I
do recall Lum once telling me that it happened when they took an unscheduled
time-trip."

"Oh, that's right!" Lufy snorts. "It was to some way far distant
time in the future where Lum was worshipped as a god!"

The children groan. "You mean the Niphentaxians'll take over the
galaxy?!" Mihagh mutters. "I'm gonna be sick!"

"Not really, or so Lum recalls," Catty muses. "As a matter of fact,
I recall Lum saying someone told Koosei that Sagussa finally destroyed
Phentax Two sometime before then...and that we were the only planet in the
whole galaxy which rejected the Church of Lum."

"Yeah, but Lum also said that the woman who brought her to that time
was a thoughtmistress from Sagussa trying to destroy the Church of Lum before
it got serious," Lufy adds. "And that Ataru and the others were helped by
someone from our intelligence agency, a descendant of Nassur through Tenba."

"Enough, Lufyvayae!" Catty smiles. "You're giving ME a headache with
all this talk about time-travel."

The others laugh. "There's a spring," Mihagh points.

"Mi-chan, concentrate!" Lufy smirks.

Mihagh blinks, then closes her eyes. Opening them, she alters her
vision to the purity of the *te'a,* then blinks. "Wow! Is that a real
mirage?!"

"Yep," Lufy nods. "Keep practicing your powers, Mi-chan."

"Hai."

"There's a spring," Yolchong points the other way.

Everyone looks, concentrating. "Yep, it's real," Lufy nods. "Let's
get something to drink before we go on."

"Hai!"

* * *

After their stop for water, the quartet make their way up a ridge
overlooking a vast plain that stretched to the horizon. Overhead, Sabaku's
sun beats mercilessly down as they reach the summit, where they drop into
lotus position to meditate for the rest of the afternoon. During this time,
Catty draws Yolchong and Mihagh away to give Lufy time to herself, then
begins to instruct the youngsters in using their powers to detect minds at a
distance, preparing them for the Awakening to come in a couple of years.
Sabaku's barrenness and the unique mental intensity of a Vosian's mind made
such practice here more than ideal than back on Sagussa.

Alone, Lufy allows her *mei'na* the chance to partially slip into the
*te'a,* Its Warmth as invigorating as Sabaku's heat is energy-sapping.
Opening her eyes, she blinks on seeing a bright beacon of light before her.
"Who...?"

"Why have you come Here, Lufy?"

"Who are you...?"

"A friend...or so you think of me even if we only met once so long
ago..."

Lufy's eyes widen as the form assumes shape. "Cinba!!"

"Hi," the hunter smiles. "It's been a while."

"So it has," Lufy nods. "We couldn't've come to the funeral; we
didn't want to reveal ourselves that soon."

"I understand. Lyna's come to me many times telling me how many of
your friends've prayed for me over the years. Your bondmate was mentioned a
lot, you know."

"Well, that's Catty for you," Lufy smiles.

"Lufy, why are you on Sabaku?"

Silence for a moment. "Have you met Cassur? He died about a week
ago over Earth."

"No, not yet, but I might get around to it. What happened? The way
your people chased after the Mikado's forces when he tried to hurt Lum-chan's
husband, I'd think you really wouldn't've cared much for someone like him."

"Well, someone would've said the same thing about our attitude
towards clones before we found out what the Kagamasei like to do to those they
create of their children," Lufy sighs, then explains.

At the end, Cinba nods understandingly. "That would hurt, wouldn't
it?" she muses. "I wish I could really help you, Lufy. But in the end, this
is the one true lesson of the *nicha*...you have to heal yourself."

"I know," Lufy muses, then tenses.

"Hello, Lufy. You look well."

"Cherry?!" the pilot blinks on recognizing the monk. "Geez, what is
this? Old home week? How are you?"

"I am well, as one would expect of This Place," Cherry nods.
"Actually, it's been quite nice coming Here and meeting Cinba. I've also made
the acquaintance of Nassur's father Ninsur. Charming fellow, that one. So,
you've come to settle a little disquiet in your own heart, have you."

"News gets around Here fast," Lufy muses.

"So it does, especially when one is in my position," Cherry nods.
"What you and your beloved seek to do in the end is noble in and of itself,
Lufy. Cinba and I've...met many of the Hunter Corps in our time in This
Place. Believe me, when they learn of what you and Catty seek to do, they'll
gladly cheer you on."

"That's the hope," Lufy nods, "...but as Negako Moroboshi once told
the Sailor Senshi before they fought the Fushin, all plans tend to fall apart
on first contact with the enemy."

"Wise words, Lufy," Cherry's eyes narrow. "Take heed of them, child.
That Which Is Above even us in This Place has granted us this chance to warn
you before you proceed. There are those who would deny justice to Cassur and
the others in the Hunter Corps. They will do anything to further their own
dark ends. Be careful."

"Always am," Lufy winks...

...then opens her eyes to learn night has fallen. Taking a deep
breath...at least the air was pristine even if it could have loads of dust
flowing through it when the winds were up...she looks around, then finds Catty
dozing nearby. A further look reveals Yolchong and Mihagh asleep under an
overhang. Stretching herself, she rises, then gently nudges her bondmate.
"Hey, you in there?"

"Where'd you go?" Catty stifles a yawn.

"Spent some time talking to Cinba and Cherry in the *te'a,*" Lufy
smiles. "C'mon, let's get under cover just in case."

"Hai..."

* * *

The afternoon after Lufy had his chat with Cinba and Cherry, Catty
meditates as Lufy continues her daughters' mental training. She too receives
a warning from those now within the *te'a* concerning their general mission.
After that, they decide it was time to actually "watch" a native undergoing
the *nicha* ritual, albeit discreetly.

Luck is with them the next morning. Shortly after their impromptu
breakfast, Yolchong senses someone wandering the dunes about a couple
kilometres away. Enhancing their own mind-shields to mask Yolchong's and
Mihagh's pre-Awakening mental patterns, Catty and Lufy put their Pathfinder
training to use and slowly approach their would-be target.

The VIQ is a young man, barely past his second Age Day, which
surprises and saddens both of them. "Hearing" his mental pleas for his mate
to return, the four Sagussans feel tears in their eyes. Poor man, Catty
sighs. These people emotionally attach so much to recognition. It's no
wonder he's hurt.

And we're different? Lufy wonders.

Eh?

Cattyvayae, if I lost you, I'd be suicidal.

Catty pales at the concept of Lufy killing herself, then flushes deep
crimson as the strength of Lufy's love for her flows through their bond, then
is reinforced by Yolchong's and Mihagh's love. So would we, Mashi, the
former pecks Catty's cheek.

Ditto, the latter pecks the other cheek.

They return their attention to the young man some distance away. His
wild gyrations then turn sexual, miming making love to his lost mate. I
wonder what happened, Lufy muses.

If she was his age, it could've been because of a premature
childbirth, Catty muses. That's common with Vosian women below their
fourth Age Day; their reproductive organs are a little slow in developing when
the rest of them starts growing out.

You mean...? Lufy gazes at her.

She might've become pregnant...and the complications killed both
her and her child, Catty frowns.

Lufy grimaces. Infant mortality and the death of a mother in
childbirth was still an unknown on Sagussa, thank Lyna! But Aunt Krinba and
the other female Vosian hunters who moved to Sagussa had no problems!
Yolchong objects. Her daughter Chienba's my classmate; Aunt Krinba was
fourteen...

Not true, Yol-chan, Catty objects. Even after they submitted
to regeneration, their bodies still were underdeveloped; there was no way
Krinba could've carried Chienba to term. She had to be removed to a gestation
matrix like you and Mi-chan were.

Oh, Yolchong hums, then relaxes.

Lufy gazes again at the young man, who was now hugging empty air as
he softly coos his beloved. Her eyes narrow as her *te'a*-enhanced vision
blows up a close detail of his face. Lyna!!

What?! Catty blinks.

That...he...get your tricorder!!

Catty psi-flashes the orbiting "Shinowataru'cha" to have Makoto beam
down her medical tricorder, then does a cursory pass. What's the matter?
she gazes quizzically at Lufy.

Do a DNA scan! Compare it with Cassur's!

Catty's eyes widen, then she programs her machine. A moment later,
the reading appears in the viewscreen. Oh, Lyna...!

Well?!

He...this boy's...he's Cassur's brother...

Silence as Lufy allows that to sink in. It was utterly incredible
how Fate worked at times. They had come here to better understand Cassur's
suicide...and wound up encountering Cassur's very own brother. Well, at least
finding Cassur's family would be much easier now. Okay, we shadow this guy
for a while.

Wait! Catty warns. Problem.

What?

He's drugged up! Catty sighs. Diluted White Noise and some
other things I've never seen before. I might have to tap into the Internal
Security database to find the chemical compounds for most known street drugs.
Something tells me there's much more to this fellow than meets the eye. We
better pass it on to Olnba.

Lufy nods...

* * *

"Yes, I know about Kilsur," Olnba has tea with Mie and Makoto at the
shrine later. "His wife died when she miscarried her child and the damage to
her womb caused a fatal infection to set in."

"Where's he from exactly?" Mie wonders.

"Colony Twenty-six, but we have no fixed address," the high priest
muses. "Kilsur's lived on the streets almost all his life. He has no idea
where his parents are or anything else."

"That'd explain the drugs in his system," Makoto grimaces. "He could
be a drug dealer or just some street junkie."

"That has been a problem in certain places," Olnba sighs. "As we've
recovered from the Civil War, many more orphans than just the Hunter Corps
survivors were made. Homeless children abound in all the poorer colonies,
those who don't have much of an economic support base. Still, our duty to
help people heal remains and its open to everyone, even those without
families."

"Then there's a problem," Mie warns. "Catty, as a doctor, has an
oath to protect and enhance life, shield it from disease and other problems.
She would be...honour-bound to help Kilsur heal, help him overcome his
addiction."

"But Olnba specifically told them not to interfere in another's
quest," Makoto muses.

"Mako-chan, we know how headstrong Catty can be."

"True," the shipmistress sighs...

* * *

After some psionic wrangling on Mie's and Makoto's part, Catty was
persuaded to back off from going down and cleansing Kilsur of the physical
effects of his addiction while he was still undergoing his quest. However,
given who and what he is, the Sagussans keep him in sight as they observe his
quest.

Some things become very clear as time passes. Kilsur was himself
kidnapped from his parents at birth, his tracking powers marking him a
potential hunter. But given that he is twenty-four years old now, he
would've just passed Stop Time...the average time hunters were permitted to
graduate from school and enter the Hunter Corps...when the Mikado fell from
power. He had been on Vos at the time. His school, located a distance from
Lecashuto, was overrun by the rebels prior to the final battle for the
capital city. Once they were free and "deprogrammed" by rebel psychologists,
they were let go, virtually without any social support.

With that, he and many of his classmates migrated to Colony Twenty-
six, staying together to this day. Most, like Kilsur and his late wife
Rinba, had drifted into crime, though several had found it within themselves
to press on, advance their education and work skills to give them a semblance
of a normal life. Still, even living in poverty and without any assistance
from the government, Kilsur and Rinba had decided on one good thing: to
start a family of their own. They tragically started too early.

Okay, so what can we conclude from this? Lufy faces her daughters
sometime later in a rocky grove a kilometre from where Kilsur was now
sleeping, taking the chance to give Yolchong and Mihagh an impromptu
immigration administration lesson; the impact of the influx of new citizens
was a part of the social and cultural studies class in general education
starting in third year.

Well, he hasn't committed any crime which might disqualify him from
migrating, Yolchong nibbles on a scrubfruit. He's male; at present, we
still need lots of males to balance the genetic pool. He seems like a good
person deep down. Like you said back home, Mom, many of them are good people
but just haven't had the chance to show their inner goodness.

He's economically disadvantaged and receives no support from local
authorities even though laws were passed that demanded welfare support for
ex- Hunter Corps members who couldn't make their own way, Mihagh adds.
He also comes with a lot of friends in the same position, all of whom would
also qualify. But we can't force him until we finally rip away the veil of
secrecy over the Hunter Corps and the histories of its members. What happens
if they still want to contact their families?

That's good, Catty nods. Now, all we have to do is wait for
him to expunge his grief over Rinba, then we'll approach him.

The others nod...

* * *

Sometimes, Fate has other ideas.

A day later, Lufy wanders to an oasis for a quick drink. The heat
was getting even to her, a woman from a planet once almost as parched as
Sabaku, once boasting equatorial mid-summer temperatures of over sixty degrees
Celsius. It was starting to affect her, preventing her from keeping her psi-
guards and psi-senses at full strength. Catty was the lucky one; born as a
Tritonian, her body could absorb outside heat and convert it to waves of cold.
It had now come to the point where the doctor had suggested they sleep during
the day and move at night, when things were cooler.

Kneeling before the pond, she gazes at her image in the water. "Why
are you doing this, Lufy...?" she mutters. "You can't bring him back. You
couldn't ask him to betray his *marei'cha.* Even if you could bring him
back, you don't have the right to bring JUST him and not Orinsur. He
couldn't choose between two families; that's why he killed himself. Oh, damn
it all, Cassur, why...?"

The tears slowly flow as her confusion surges into sorrow. Five
brief moments over the Moon had destroyed so much. Before that, Lufy's life
was quite simple. Find the enemy. Destroy the enemy. Anyone who attacked
Earth or Sagussa for any reason was the enemy. No mercy. Yet in those five
minutes, she discovered that the enemy had a human face. The enemy wasn't
some fanatic still fighting for a dictator Ataru blasted to stardust ten
years ago. The enemy in this case was a person much like herself, raised and
trained in the ways of the warrior. He was with a family, both of them
cornered by the manipulations of others who cared only for themselves, denied
any chance to obtain justice for themselves.

The enemy...that could've become Lufy's *surei'cha.*

As she covers her eyes, Lufy jolts as a hand falls on her shoulder.
"Why are you so sad...?"

She spins around, fist cocked, then her eyes widen on seeing Kilsur
gazing at her. His eyes were glazed, the effects of the narcotics in his
bloodstream adding to Sabaku's ferocious heat to fling him into the
uncharitable world of hallucination. "Hey, hey, I'm sorry..." he waves his
hands peacefully, then gently places them on her shoulders. "Why are you sad,
Ri-chan?"

Lufy blinks, then sighs. She was trapped. If she fell into playing
Rinba, who knew what would happen to her. If she fought it, who knew what
sort of damage it would unleash in Kilsur. She then smiles. "I was just
mourning someone."

"Oh," he kneels beside her, slipping a supportive arm around her.
"It's okay to mourn, Ri-chan. We've been mourning since we left Vos,
remember? No home, no family, nothing..."

He draws her close. Lufy shudders as their lips brush, then relaxes.
*Do...do I WANT this?!* she wonders. *He thinks I'm Rinba; he doesn't
realize that she's dead and he's on another planet trying to get rid of his
grief for her! What do I do...?*

"Why...?"

"Why what?" Lufy gazes at him.

"I killed you..." Kilsur shudders. "I wanted a baby so much, try to
do something to give us a family...and I killed you..."

Lufy bites her lip, grateful for the chance to put some control over
this, hoping she didn't botch it. "Sh-...I wanted that too," she admits,
modulating her voice to match Kilsur's memories of Rinba. "We made the
mistake together, Kil-chan."

"Why can't I persuade myself of that...?" he gazes at the sky.

"Hey, if it was you who died and I who remained, I would be asking
the same thing," Lufy turns his face to gaze again at her. "Everyone
who...loses someone thinks that. You're not alone."

"I know," his eyes flutter as the delusion overwhelms him. "Sorry,
Ri-chan...I'm so sleepy..."

"Rest, now," she helps him down, then snuggles in the crook of his
arm, reaching to close his eyes. "Rest..."

Sleep then overwhelms her...

* * *

Some hours later...

"Mashi, where's Mom?" Mihagh looks around.

Catty blinks, then concentrates. "I think she fell asleep," she
rises. "You two stay here. I'll find her."

"We're coming, too!" Yolchong rises.

"Yol-chan!!"

"We're...coming!!" Yolchong hisses.

Catty blinks, then smiles. *Just like their mother,* she chuckles,
then waves them with her.

An hour later, she walks to the edge of a cliff overlooking the oasis
Lufy had travelled to earlier, then balks on seeing her bondmate in Kilsur's
arms, both asleep. "What in...?!!" she gasps.

"What's Mom doing?!" Mihagh demands.

"*De'ne!* She's sleeping with a guy! What does it look like?!"
Yolchong shrugs.

"But she shouldn't be sleeping with HIM, for Lyna's sake!!" Catty
snarls as the three make their way down the cliff.

Some minutes later, the three kneel beside the dozing Lufy. ARE
YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF?!?!?! Catty psi-screams.

Lufy yelps as she bolts up, then spins on Catty. "***DO YOU MIND NOT
YELLING AT ME WHEN I'M ASLEEP?!?!?!***" she bellows.

"Hey, what's going on...?"

Lufy jerks, paling as Kilsur sits up. Both then look at each other,
then scream as they stumble away. "WHO ARE YOU?!?!?!" Kilsur bellows as he
slams against a tree, then jolts again as a fruit like a coconut slams into
his head! "Ite...!"

"Sorry...!!" Lufy winces.

Yolchong and Mihagh are rolling on the ground laughing. Catty shakes
her head, stifling her own mirth. Lufy coughs, then walks over to help him
up. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to surprise you like that but you're
the one who sneaked up on me."

"I did...?" he blinks, then remembers. "I was thinking of Rinba...I
thought I was actually seeing her...?"

"That was me," Lufy points to herself. "I didn't want to break you
out of your illusion; I'd no idea what'd happen."

"Um...th-thanks...urk!!!" his eyes widen on seeing her cheek tattoo,
then he stumbles back. "Y-y-you're a-a-a...!"

*CRASH!!!!* Into the tree again, another fruit making music on his
forehead. "Oh, Lyna...!" Lufy shakes her head.

"Let's get him somewhere where he won't kill himself," Catty orders.
"I'll get to work on him now."

* * *

"Wh-where am I...?"

Kilsur's eyes open to gaze into Yolchong's cherubic face. "Hi!!
Still got a headache?!"

"Somewhat..." he moans, then blinks as the odd feel of certain parts
of his body comes to him. "What happened to me?"

"Mashi cleaned up all that gunk in your body while you were passed
out," the younger girl explains. "The stuff was slowly destroying your mind,
you know that?"

"You mean...I'm not addicted...?"

"Well, only you can figure that out now," Yolchong hums. "Physical
addiction's okay, but up here..." she points to her head. "White Noise isn't
really addictive, or so Mashi told me. But when you mix it with the other
stuff, who knows..." she shrugs.

"Um...thanks, I think," he muses, then looks right to see Lufy and
Catty washing the dust off their bodies in the oasis' pond. "Um...what are
you doing here, anyway? Since when do Sagussans have cause to come here to
Sabaku?"

"Well...I better let Mom explain it...Monmoei," Yolchong winks as she
heads off to get some scrubfruit.

"'Monmoei?'" he blinks confusedly.

"'Father's brother' as it directly translates," Catty explains as she
and Lufy emerge from the pond. "It's the title bestowed by children to any
male adult living in their mother's house that they're not directly related
to. How do you feel?"

"I dunno," he shrugs. "Um...so why'd she call me that?"

"First, answer us something," Lufy sits beside him. "Do you know of
any of your relatives? You're ex-Hunter Corps, right?"

"That's not gonna get me killed, is it?!" he stammers.

"No, we're gonna help you this time, hard as it might be for you to
believe. Answer the question."

"Well...no, I don't," he shakes his head.

Lufy sighs. "Then...I have the sad duty to tell you of the death of
your older brother Cassur."

"Cassur...you mean Captain Cassur?!" Kilsur blinks, the shock
stealing his voice. "He's my...?"

"Yeah," Lufy nods, then launches into an explanation.

At the end of it, Kilsur shakes his head, clearly stunned. "I
just...I don't believe it!" he stammers. "I never thought anyone else in my
family'd be in the Corps...God, what do you say...?"

"Well, because of what happened between Cassur and I, I came here to
find some answers," Lufy sighs. "Finding you means at least one part of
Cassur's family will live on. As we speak, someone else, a hacker who worked
for the Mikado, is trying to dredge up all your records so we can link you to
parents and other relatives. We link that with the birth records here and you
all will...at least have some answers about who and what you are."

"We hope," Catty adds.

Kilsur blinks, then smiles. "Thanks. Crazy, isn't it? I...our
government hasn't really done much for us, even after all the promises made at
the end of the war. Every time we apply to the local welfare office to get
something, the instant they hear we're ex-Corps, they stonewall us. So...what
do you do?"

"That's a problem your government'll have to deal with sooner or
later," Catty hums. "In the meantime, for humanitarian reasons, whatever
hunters we encounter in our mission who need help will be offered a chance to
start anew on Sagussa...starting with you."

Kilsur shudders as the implications hit home. A safe place, a clean
home, food, a new purpose. Even if the Sagussans had been one of the factors
that tipped the scales against the Mikado so long ago, did it matter now? He
then smiles. "Thanks, Sensei."

"In the meantime, what say we find some cover, get some rest, then
head back to the Shrine?" Lufy hums, gazing at the bright sun overhead. "I
don't know how this'll affect your quest, but you've got other pressing
problems right now."

"Yeah, that's true, isn't it?"

With that, the five rise, heading toward some distant caves. Lufy
hangs back, reaching over to gently grasp Kilsur's hand. He pauses, then
stares at her. She smiles, then gently kisses his cheek. "You're not leaving
my sight," she muses.

He gulps. "What does that mean?"

"Wait for it," she winks...

* * *

Tere'na Compudata Centre...

"Okay, we got it all in!!" Katsumi grins as she stares at her
readouts. "You sure this is all of it, Gilsur?!"

"Yeah, it is," the Vosian nods, staring over Nene's shoulder at her
screen. "Can you decode it?"

"With the systems we have?!" Lebia snickers from her station beside
her fellow Visionary. "Count on it!"

"Running omniversal decoder!" Nami calls out.

Everyone relaxes as they gaze at their readouts, letting the program
do its work. Gilsur sighs. Here he was in Hacker Heaven, as those like him
called the headquarters of the famous Mobius Five, helping his late friends
and the Hunter Corps get some justice for their sufferings. The Vosian
ambassador had been surprisingly understanding when Noa explained to him
everyone's questions over Tarsur's allegations, then nodded his tacit
approval for the Sagussans to run an extradition hearing, which would include
a mind-probe of Gilsur. Evidence from mind-probes was admissible in both
Sagussan and Vosian courts of law, so once the truth was revealed, he'd be
off the hook, the price on his head wiped out and if he so chose, he could go
back to his old life.

"Wait, we got a problem...!" Nene tenses as a red icon appears in the
corner of her screen.

"Confirmed!!" Kiddy barks, then gapes. "Oh, shit!! It's a virus in
the compression program!! It's deleting all the data from the files!!"

"Shut it down!" Lebia orders.

"It's down!!" Katsumi hits the power cut-off switch.

"Checking my machine!" Gilsur sits by his portocomp and stabbing
buttons.

The screen clicks on, then his face pales on seeing a laughing skull
icon mocking him. "It's in his machine, too!!" Katsumi warns as everyone
gathers around the Vosian hacker.

"Oh, my God..." Gilsur stammers.

The skull stops laughing, then its hollow eye sockets flash as a
stream of characters appears under it:

YOU CAN'T HELP THEM ANYMORE, GILSUR...TARSUR

Silence falls over the room. "I hate to say this," Lebia pats their
guest's shoulder. "But you just got seriously fucked!"

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Somewhere...

"Brothers, sisters!" the warrior raises his weapons, crossing them
over his head. "The time has finally come to rid our race of the weak, the
useless, all those who would drag Vos and her children into the sewers! The
time has come to cleanse Vos of those who degrade us by their very
existence!! The time has come for us to take our rightful place at the
galaxy's pinnacle!!!"

A bloodthirsty, inhuman roar responds. "Years ago, there came among
us one who many believed a prophet and visionary, one who would raise us from
stagnation, one who would cleanse us of the filth that had weighed us down
while unworthy races passed us by!" He points. "He was given his chance!
He failed!! The Mikado was weak, easily brought down by others! We were
amongst those who sat in judgement on the Mikado and those who followed him
in hopes of progressing Vos to the glorious destiny that awaits us all!!

"You knew what happened next! After the Chosen One of the Eternal
Voyager punished the Mikado for his crimes against Vos and the other races,
the weak seized control in Lecashuto and allowed Vos to stumble into
darkness!!" he points up. "And because of that, Vos is not given the respect
she has long deserved. We are weak in the eyes of the outside galaxy!!
ARE...WE...WEAK?!?!"

"NO!!!!!!"

"Then it is time!!!" the leader pumps his fist as the crowd cheers.
"First, we rid Vos of those who served the weakling Mikado, then we rid Vos of
those who would keep us weak!! We will be strong once again!!!
ARE...WE...STRONG?!?!"

"YES!!!!!! YES!!!!!! YES!!!!!!"

The crowd chants, pumping their fists as the leader retires from the
balcony, returning to his spartan quarters. A woman awaits him there. "We
have a problem."

"What?" he kneels before the shrine he forged to symbolize his quest
for a perfect Vos.

"Gilsur won't be coming back from Sagussa."

"What?" he glares at her.

"Tarsur left a virus in Gilsur's computers which wiped out the data
he had on the Hunter Corps. It activated when he was with their hacker
group, the Mobius Five. The Sagussans won't release him from their custody
until they get an explanation."

"Tarsur was a fool," he sneers. "Always willing to sell his soul to
the strongest one around, always willing to stab the backs of those whose
deaths could advance his status. It doesn't matter; his usefulness ended when
he was captured. Because of their Silent One training, the Hunter Corps
survivors can be turned by the *an'san-Mikado* into a force that will oppose
us. Osur was a lunatic, Hisur weak-hearted and Furusur a snivelling fool, but
their warriors were still well-trained. They will be done away with sooner or
later."

"The group targeting that one group on Colony 26 is ready to go at
any time," she announces.

"Send them," he nods...

* * *

Sabaku...

"He has achieved *nicha.*"

As the underpriest draws back after psi-linking with the latest
*nicha* quester, Olnba drapes the necklace marking Kilsur's success in
expunging his grief over Rinba around his neck. "So he has," the high priest
smiles. "Yet I sense new grief...and many questions...arising in your heart
because of your brother."

"Yes, Olnba-sama," Kilsur nods.

"It's my fault," Lufy sighs, kneeling beside him. Catty, Yolchong
and Mihagh relax behind them. "I should've kept a closer eye on where I was
vis-a-vis him..."

"Be at peace, Lufy," Olnba smiles. "What happens in the dunes is as
much the work of Fate as it is the work of one's desires. Some might
actually give you credit for helping Kilsur overcome his loss. His questions
about his brother might force him to return here for another quest, but that
is for the future to decide. Tell me, have you achieved that which you came
here to seek?"

"I have achieved some things," the flightmistress admits. "In
finding Kilsur, I know now that one part of Cassur's family lives on. I also
discovered a remarkable similarity between the feelings Vosians bestow to
those they recognize and those feelings Sagussans give to their mates.
Further, as we speak, my friends on Sagussa are retrieving information
concerning the Hunter Corps survivors. Once armed with that, we
can...finally go to the Vosian government and help people reunite with their
families."

"Then we pray for your success," Olnba nods, then blinks as a
transporter is heard. "Eh?"

"What is it, Mie?" Lufy rises as the pilot materializes.

"We have a big problem," Mie announces. "Someone threw a virus into
Gilsur's computers. All the information was lost."

"What?!" Lufy gasps.

"It turns out Tarsur screwed Gilsur, Cassur and Orinsur even more
thoroughly than anyone believed," Mie crosses her arms. "He rigged it so that
even if Gilsur tried to reveal the truth, he could never give the proof to the
*an'san-Mikado.*"

"I don't believe that!" Catty hisses.

"Can't anything be done?" Olnba wonders.

"Well, Gilsur told Nene that each of the hunter schools had special
computer caches buried way deep in the ground at each site," Mie then gazes at
Kilsur. "Where was your school?"

"At Mensohn, about 40 kilometres north of Lecashuto," the hunter
replies, then blinks. "Hey, wait a minute. Did you say it was stuff buried
really deep down?" At Mie's nod, he whistles. "Oh, so that explains why it
was set up at an abandoned coal mine."

"Are all the schools like this?" Lufy muses.

"Yep," Mie nods. "Abandoned mines across Vos and two dozen colonies.
Get this: Gilsur said that whenever someone pissed off the school
commandant, they sometimes were thrown into the mines and buried alive.
That's why all of the sites are shrines."

"Which means that the mines are considered burial places," Catty
muses. "Good and bad news for our mission. The good news is that the
chances are there the information stored in those caches might still be there
and could be retrieved. The bad news is actually retrieving it. How do we
convince the shrine keepers to go down and get them?"

"I think we can help there," Olnba smiles. "The hunter school
memorials are administered by a friend of mine in Lecashuto. I'll give him a
call and have him tell the shrine keepers to allow you the chance to probe the
mines in question."

"Good," Lufy nods. "In the meantime, let's get to Colony Twenty-
six," she gazes at Kilsur. "We'll pick up your friends and head on from there
to Lecashuto."

He nods...

* * *

Later, as everyone cleaned up from their desert excursion, the
"Shinowataru'cha" pulls out of Sabaku's orbit, heading deeper into Vosian
territory. Since the ship wasn't carrying anyone of great importance, there
was no Vosian ship dispatched to accompany the four-kilometre long destroyer,
though as per the Sagussa-Vos Treaty, Makoto had to keep local military
commanders appraised of their location and intentions at all time. The
incident in Tere'na City had Lufy's combat alarms ringing loudly, though many
back on Sagussa passed it off as Tarsur covering his ass. Fortunately, Nene
and the Mobius Five weren't among that group; they were now taking apart every
datafile and computer Gilsur had to trace down any information the virus may
have missed.

Kilsur relaxes in the forward observation gallery, watching the stars
flash past. The destroyer was going at Warp Seven, quite fast for him. Here
he was on a Sagussan warship of all places! If he had been here ten years
ago, he might've been shot on sight given the viciousness the *daishi'cha*
demonstrated to the Mikado's troops at Lecashuto and Colony Four. Now those
same *daishi'cha* were bent on helping him and the other Hunter Corps
survivors reclaim their lost families, the histories and lives they were
denied when they were kidnapped to serve the Mikado. And that had been
motivated because of his very own brother!

"Who were you...?" he muses as Cassur's image replays in his mind.
Just another soldier, an officer who spent more time doing paperwork than
fieldcraft. A born survivor, one who knew when it was going against them,
then got out when he could. Strove to live his own life until some jerk
ruined him. And when he sought to destroy that jerk, his path crossed that
of a pilot from Sagussa...which doomed him and forever changed her.

He blinks as a hand falls on his shoulder. "You're really rusty, you
know that," a voice warns.

He looks up as Makoto sits beside him. "Well, there was not much
cause for me to use my skills on Colony Twenty-six, ma'am."

"Please...Makoto," the shipmistress smiles. "Relax, you are among
friends despite what happened a decade ago. Though," a dangerous smile
crosses her face, "...if your brother had hurt my bondmate, not even Lufy
could've saved him from me."

"Oh, that's right, she served on the 'Hasei'cha,'" Kilsur remembers
the news broadcasts. "Well, given what this Tarsur did to Onii-san and
Orinsur, I'm glad he's gone."

"It might not be over yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Why would Tarsur want to wipe out the Hunter Corps records?" Makoto
muses. "All they did was point the hunters to parents and relatives, gives
them something of their history back. It wasn't vital information at all!
That makes no sense!"

"Search me. Um...Makoto, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Lufy said something to me before we went back to the shrine," he
muses. "She said she wouldn't let me out of her sight. What did she mean by
that?"

"Well, she does blame herself for Cassur's suicide," Makoto muses.
"Chances are good that you may be all that's left of your family, Kilsur. If
your parents came from a colony that suffered a lot of damage during the Civil
War, their chances at surviving could've been less than fifty-fifty.
Regardless, if you die for whatever reason...she won't forgive herself."

"B-but, w-we just met!" he stammers. "I mean, she's beautiful and
all that, but I can't recognize her..."

"Your brother did," she muses.

"Well, Catty-sensei said that was because of drugs..."

"Oh?" Makoto smiles. "Kilsur, most Sagussans find the idea of one's
body locking them onto someone without any influence from one's mind quite
scary. We're comfortable with the concept of freedom of choice when it comes
to choosing one's mates. I love Mie-chan very much...but I acknowledge that
the chance might come that we could decide to separate. And if that occurs,
neither of us can stop the other from doing it. That's us.

"Your people evolved with that ability to bond with another without
your conscious mind influencing that choice. Vosians built a culture around
that, a culture that's stood the test of time for over four millennia. You
have deep-set customs around recognition, how mates should behave with each
other, customs that influenced how you've evolved. We have no right to judge
you just as much as you don't have a right to judge us. At the start, things
were quite rough, but they smoothed over and we get along fine now.

"During that time, NO Vosian has recognized a Sagussan...until your
brother encountered my friend Lufy. Whether it was under the influence of
narcotics or not is irrelevant. He did it. And because he did it and found
himself caught in a situation between his loyalty to his *marei'cha* and what
your culture demanded of him concerning Lufy, he chose to take his own life."

"Why do you call Orinsur *marei'cha?* Isn't that what you call the
bond between parents raising kids?" he wonders.

"Yes, it is. But the feelings that drive *marei'cha*...which are in
many respects the same as the recognition bond you had with Rinba...are the
closest equivalent to the bond Cassur formed with Orinsur," Makoto holds up a
finger. "*Marei'cha* covers both recognition and *pe'cha* in that respect.
And believe it or not, if one of us was caught in a position to choose between
two separate bondmates, I think we wouldn't really know what to do. I'm safe
because I have just one bondmate, but what would've happened if Lufy had to
choose between Catty and Cassur?"

"That would be a mess," Kilsur muses.

"You better keep it in mind," Makoto muses. "Kilsur, because you are
Cassur's brother, Lufy could...deep in her heart want to see you take
Cassur's place. The chances are good you would want to reciprocate, help
build a family with her. If you do that, all the world to you, of course,
but you better know now that even if you do, you can never have Lufy
emotionally all to yourself. Catty has first claims on her heart."

"Yeah, that would create some problems," Kilsur muses. "You can't
recognize two people at the same time, so what would be normal on Sagussa
would be pretty alien to us. What about the hunters you found on Colony
Four? How did they adjust?"

"We gave them the choice to either become Sagussans or remain as
Vosians. They all chose to become Sagussans within a year of coming...given
the power of our minds, a Vosian can't survive on Sagussa, especially when
you have to deal with *mavan'shagh* and the Awakening...but for those who had
bonds before then, they just reformed them as *marei'cha/surei'cha* bonds and
went from there. Other than that, they're considered part of our society, no
different than anyone else deep down. It's really no big deal."

"So we could fit if we wanted to," Kilsur muses. "Well, being with
two women and helping them parent a bunch of kids would be quite strange,
but...compared to the streets, not knowing if the person who passes you by is
friend or enemy, it's an improvement."

"Good," Makoto nods. "Look, there's only one really good way to
approach Lufy and Catty...any of us for that matter. Treat them as if you did
recognize them...or better, if you became *pe'cha* with them both and decided
you wanted to add forming a family, sexual intercourse and parenting children
to the way you treat your *pe'cha.* If you become a Sagussan, you can form
bonds with them. When it comes to respecting the various members of a family,
there's no difference between Vos and Sagussa."

"Okay. Thanks, Makoto."

She rises, then heads back to the bridge as Lufy walks in. "There
you are!" the flightmistress sits beside him. "What were you talking to
Makoto about?"

"You," he stares at her.

She blinks, then smiles. "Thanks. Nothing bad, I hope."

"No...just how we could...come together if we decide to do that," he
grimaces. Boy, it was hot here!

"I'd like that," she gazes appreciatively at him.

"Part of me'd like that, too," he smiles. "But I'm not sure if I can
care for you and Catty-sensei at the same time."

"Let me tell you something," she gently squeezes his hand. "When we
get back to Sagussa, I'll introduce you to a friend of mine. His name's Toren
Smith; he's a teacher in Kyre'sha. He lives with two girls named Noriko and
Kasua. Noriko and Kasua are bondmates. Guess what Toren is?"

"What?"

"Noriko's husband."

A blink. "They actually got married?!!"

"Hai, the first Terran-type marriage on Sagussa," Lufy nods. "And
Kasua came after; in fact, she convinced Noriko to marry Toren. Would you
believe that? But they don't mind that fact and Toren doesn't mind caring for
Noriko and Kasua at the same time. Love is what matters the most on Sagussa.
It drives all sorts of bonding combinations there. Believe me, what goes on
between Toren, Noriko and Kasua is quite plain compared to what's possible.

"But...and this might be your problem with living with Catty and
I...your people associate the love of mates to recognition. That is what
Sagussans find so tragic about recognition. Just because you don't recognize
me, does that mean we can't love each other, have children and live as a
family? Everyone on Sagussa would say 'yes, go for it'...but most Vosians
would say 'no, it's wrong' since your cultural experience weighs against it."

"Well, we're not racially bisexual like you are," Kilsur hums. "You
can either recognize cross-gender or same-gender. The only bis in the
Confederation are hybrids with races where that's normal like Zeiwan...and
when one's bi, one often can't recognize so they do have freedom of choice.
And there are people who look on that and consider it awful because
recognition's so ingrained into us, a relationship without recognition is
seen as...perverse."

"My point. The only way you can leap over that is to change your
genetics," Lufy nods. "And even then, you're not guaranteed to change so
completely. Makoto must've told you about the hunters from Colony Four who
work on Sagussa now. Believe it or not, they still prefer the one
cross-gender bondmate/childmate approach they had before they became
Sagussans. But we don't mind that since as Sagussans, they now have the
right to choose their fates and will have that right for the rest of their
lives.

"Cassur didn't have that chance. In fact, his cultural bias forced
him into choosing suicide over surrendering to me (which could've led to his
betraying Orinsur) or killing me in battle (which could've destroyed his
heart). And that is why I'm trying to help him and you. What happened to him
was a crime in my eyes and I can't rest until I can get justice for him. And
protecting you, ensuring you have a good future, does just that."

He blinks, feeling tears in his eyes, then gazes at her. The first
person to show him real kindness in all his life outside Rinba. "I only wish
we could become *pe'cha,*" he muses...

...then feels her fingertips touch his skull, his mind bathed in the
light of the *te'a* as Lufy's thoughts gently intermingle with his. She
quickly dulls the part of his mind which controls his psi-tracking skills;
were they to activate, he could die from the up-close exposure to her
intensive brainwaves, which reflect the infinite power of the *te'a* all
Sagussans could sense. After a moment, the bond is formed, a filter placed
over it at Lufy's end to prevent the bombardment of the *te'a* from
overwhelming him.

Her fingers then pull away. "How's that?"

"Weird," he blinks, then gazes at her. "But...it's not the full bond
you'd want, right?"

"Yeah," she nods. "If you become a Sagussan, you have to learn how
to...accept your ability to sense the *te'a* every moment of your life.
Believe me, learning that skill is very important; if you lose yourself in
the *te'a,* you can die. That's why we shield ourselves all the time; I
could kill you by dropping my shields and letting you have a taste of how the
*te'a* affects our minds. I don't want that, so I did it in such a way that
allows you to feel comfortable and keeps you safe at the same time."

"Yeah, it does feel like a *pe'cha* bond," he muses. "Your love for
Catty is really intense."

"Thank you."

"And all that came from her saying you had sexy muscles?"

"Well, that's what we were like then."

"And you adore your children."

"Who wouldn't?"

"And you really love Priss, her teammates and your shipmates."

"Best fighting partners you could ever ask for."

"And you still care for Ataru Moroboshi and Lum."

"Naturally."

He then blushes. "And...you really find me attractive."

"Yep," she smiles. "We may not have recognition, but as we explore
our emotions, better understand ourselves, we...discovered an interesting
fact. How, by our empathy and sensing a person's impact on the *te'a,* we
subconsciously judge if they're 'good' or 'bad' to be with, then base our
future behaviour around that person on that initial opinion. I heard that
some psychologists from Vos now say that sort of snap-judgement is a part of
recognition."

"It is," he nods. "Recognition's a big mix of factors. The genetic
factors involved, we're still trying to understand. How that influences our
outlook on our surroundings, that's still up for debate. But...when I
recognized Rinba, that was after we had been raised together, trained together
and survived together on the streets after we left Vos. It would be expected,
people from other races'd say. But how does that explain the spontaneous
nature of some bonds, the 'recognition on first sight' idea?"

"Yeah, that's a point," Lufy nods. "It's so funny, isn't it? When
you look at recognition that way, it's really random. Chance in a million
long- shot."

"Sort of like deciding you wanted to bond with Catty," Kilsur points
at her. "Yeah, you two interacted with each other over the years you were
cryofrozen. She was attracted to you even when you didn't understand why,
even when Catty was also interested in Noa. But your decision to pursue her
in the end factored down to one thing: what she said to you at the Forge
that day."

Silence falls. "Yeah. Just like my wanting to care for you stems
from what happened between your brother and I over the Moon," Lufy bites her
lip, then leans into him. "Well, no matter what, we're going to see this
through...and now, I can make sure you won't leave my sight ever again."

He cups her chin, then elevates her face to gaze into his. "Nor will
you leave my sight ever again."

She smiles as they kiss...

* * *

"Arriving over Colony Twenty-six, ma'am."

Makoto relaxes in her command chair as the greenish planet looms
before the "Shinowataru'cha's" bow, the bright light of her home sun in the
far distance. "Are there any military bases on this world?" the shipmistress
wonders as Mie, Lufy, Catty, Priss and Kilsur step onto the bridge.

"Negative," the combat officer, Shizuna, reports. "Nearest military
installation is on Colony Twenty. They are aware of our presence in this
system. Shall we contact civilian authorities?"

"Well, I don't see why not..."

"Wait!!"

Eyes lock on Kilsur as his eyes glow. "What?!" Catty tenses.

"Where?" Lufy wonders.

"That way!" he points starboard forward. "Faint, but there's a whole
bunch of people out there..."

"Scan the area!" Makoto orders.

"Scanning," Shizuna reports. "Sensors don't detect anything that
could be a ship or a space station, but there are some odd radiation readings
from the sector indicated."

"Localize and track in. Tell me what it is."

"Localizing now."

* * *

"What is it?"

"A vessel entering orbit over the planet, Mistress. It's a Sagussan
warship!"

"What?! What's a Sagussan warship doing here?! Identify!"

The sensory officer presses controls as the larger ship's schematics
appear. "Type Sixteen destroyer. Her beacon makes her NDS-109, R.S.S.
'Shinowataru'cha.' Makoto Seikou commanding."

The woman standing on the bridge frowns. "She's the bondmate and
life-mate to Mie Seikou, formerly of the 'Hasei'cha,' right?"

"The same, ma'am."

The woman scowls. "So, what brings them here?"

"Perhaps just a port visit before deploying for Earth sovereignty
patrol?" the helmsman proposes.

"Doubtful," she snorts, her mind rolling over the information she
knew of these beings. "The Sagussans are quite a cliquish lot. If the Mobius
Five are working on Gilsur's information, then the Visionary named Velvet Rose
may be involved. She's said to be part of Pathfinder Troop Six...and they've
worked with the 'Hasei'cha' crew on several missions, including defeating the
neo-Mikadoites who wanted to stop the Vos-Sagussa Treaty. Run up the lists of
Hunter Corps members living here and see if any are related to those who died
when the 'Hasei'cha' was destroyed!"

The computer officer taps controls, then grins. "Confirmed,
Mistress. Hunter Kilsur was Captain Cassur's younger brother."

"Is that a fact...?"

* * *

"I think I've got something."

"Talk to me, Shizuna."

"It's an omicron-type energy curve," the combat officer points to the
readouts. "Not a cloaking device we're familiar with, but there's got to be a
cloaked ship out there."

"Vosians don't have cloaked ships," Mie warns. "They wouldn't need
them because of their powers. It's outlawed here."

"Action stations!!" Makoto snaps. "All power to shields!"

* * *

"They've raised shields, Mistress!"

"They must've detected us, then!" the woman grimaces. "Are the
boarding teams back?!"

"Last team just came aboard!"

* * *

"More people just came aboard that ship!" Kilsur warns, his eyes
glowing. "Something weird's going on here!!"

"Hailing frequencies," Makoto sighs, then begins. "Unknown ship in
orbit over Colony Twenty-six, this is the Republic of Sagussa Starship
'Shinowataru'cha.' You're being cloaked in orbit over a Vosian colony world
is in violation of Vosian transportation and defence codes. De-cloak your
ship and identify yourselves or you will be considered hostile. We are
authorized to take whatever action necessary in defence of Vosian citizens
according to Clause Ten of the Vos-Sagussa Treaty. Respond now!"

* * *

"They can't do that!!" the helmsman snaps.

"They can!" the woman snarls. "Lock weapons on that ship. Prepare a
communications probe to send back to Vos."

"Mistress, we can't challenge that ship, even if we have the right
sort of weapons!!" the sensory officer warns.

"Maybe, but we can warn the others about the Sagussans taking
interest in the Hunter Corps!" the woman snarls. "Stand by to de-cloak and
raise shields!!"

"Hai!"

* * *

"No response," Shizuna sighs.

"Can we shoot first...?" Lufy wonders.

"Vessel de-cloaking!!" Shizuna cuts in. "Her shields are up and
weapons are armed, locking on us!!!"

"Stand by for evasive manoeuvres!" Makoto snaps. "Identify!"

"Type unknown, but definitely Vosian construction," the combat
officer reports as the sleek bird-shaped craft, strangely more Sagussan in
looks than the whale-cigar shape Vosian military ships were often modelled on,
swoops down on the destroyer like some hunting falcon eyeing a juicy rabbit.
"It's not in any warbook. Armament is the same as the Mark Seven star
destroyer class!"

"Must be a Mikado 'special project' unaccounted for when the Civil
War ended," Priss snarls. "The *an'san-Mikado've* been running into things
like this all the time."

"Ready anti-missile defences!" Makoto orders.

"Ready!!" Shizuna nods. "She's firing!"

The bolts of plasma energy slam into the "Shinowataru'cha's" shields,
then photon torpedoes launch. Given that the latter weapons could pass
through Sagussan shield systems with ease, the destroyer's point-defence
systems light up, blasting them down before they got close. Unnoticed, a
small probe is launched from the aft end of the alien craft, rocketing into
deep space, toward the inner worlds of the Confederation.

"Damage?!" Makoto wonders.

"Negative! Shields are holding!!" Shizuna reports.

"Return fire!"

"Aye-aye!!" she presses the red toggle.

Particle long guns and plasma cannons open up as a storm of
concussion missiles race towards the attacking ship. Mirroring the other
ship's attack, the long guns and cannons soften the shields, allowing the
concussion missiles through to slam into the hull, ripping giant holes as each
warhead...in truth, a nest of mini-explosives designed to explode in multiple
concussive waves, each wave burning deeper and deeper holes in
succession...detonates. The multiple breeches vent the ship's atmosphere into
the vacuum as conduits explode, causing the reactor to overload, the resulting
explosion bursting what is left like an overripe balloon!!

"Good shot!!!" Lufy nods.

"Wait!!" Kilsur's eyes glow. "Survivor!!"

"Confirmed," Shizuna presses controls. "Life pod ejected from the
ship just as she went! Beaming survivor into sick bay, holding her in
transporter stasis until the prisoner is declared secure."

"Going down!" Catty states as she runs off the bridge.

"Very well," Makoto nods. "Shizuna, get Yuu, Yurika and Kaede to
draw in the wreckage and what bodies survived the blast so we can do an
intelligence analysis. Then signal the colony governor and the V.D.F. on
Colony Twenty, tell them what's happened."

"Aye-aye," the combat officer nods.

Below, Catty walks into the destroyer's sick bay. Awaiting her is a
Vosian woman with very short-cut blonde hair, dressed in a black bodysuit,
currently surrounded by a secure energy field. "We've detected a mini-
explosive in her throat and suicide capsules in various parts of her body,"
the destroyer's nurse, Ayu, sighs. "I've disposed of them, but there's also
a lot of narcotics in her. Mostly mind-control elements, but there was also
White Noise in her. I've initiated cleansing protocols; they should be done
in a couple of minutes."

"Have you done a mind-probe?"

"Negative, I'sagh."

"Alright, then," Catty sighs, then puts on a pair of anti-stasis
gloves, which allows her to reach in the stasis field to do a psi-probe.
"Let's see what's going on..."

Kilsur and Lufy walk in as the doctor begins her examination. You
recognize her? the latter wonders as the former stands beside Catty, keeping
her mental "voice" down so as to not disturb her bondmate's examination.

Not really, he shakes his head.

Lufy walks over to the intercom. "Lufy to Yuu," she softly calls
out. "Come down to sickbay when you can; we need you to tap into Vosian
records to I.D. the survivor."

"On my way," the destroyer's science officer replies.

Lufy jolts as the pain of Catty's mind-probe echoes through their
bond. She walks over to place her hands on the doctor's shoulder, add her
mental strength to Catty's. "Lyna's Soul..." Catty bites her lip. "Her mind
could've been destroyed..."

"What did she do?" Lufy wonders.

"She...she...!" Catty gasps, then pulls her hands away from the
woman's face, staggering to a chair as Ayu walks over with a general
stimulant. "Oh, Lyna..."

"What?!" Lufy gently prods.

Catty shudders, then gazes sadly at Kilsur. "She...she was part of a
group from that ship," she takes a deep breath, then accepts a glass of water
from Ayu. "They beamed down...actually went to the part of the capital city
where your friends were living...and killed them!" she blanches. "Killed
them..."

Kilsur pales, then gazes at the woman as a hot flash rips through his
heart. His friends...all his friends...! "Damn you!!!" he roars, leaping at
her...

...then is grabbed by Lufy in a full nelson. "Hey!!!" she barks,
reinforcing it with a mental yell. "Knock it off!!! You didn't hear what Ayu
said about her!!!"

"She killed them...!!" he bellows, then blinks as words pour into his
mind from Lufy. "Mind-control...?"

"Yes," Ayu nods. "And there's a lot in her, too. If her mind
survives being cleansed, it'll be a miracle."

By then, Yuunoranna arrives, tricorder in hand. Taking a scan of the
woman's face and DNA pattern, she taps into a wall unit, then begins a general
query. She then smiles. "Found her!"

"Who is she?!" Lufy wonders.

"She's ex-Hunter Corps, defected to the Provisional Government when
the amnesty was called after Colony Four," Yuu replies. "Her name's Kuinba.
Lieutenant, formerly of the Ninth Ops Unit."

"That's bad," Kilsur shudders.

"I've heard of them," Lufy muses, placing a calming hand on Kilsur's
shoulder. "The 'black widows,' people called them. The ones who were called
in to do the internal dissent jobs, right?"

"Yeah," he grimaces. "Most of the people in Ninth Unit were
genetically upgraded, the only attempt by the Corps to create a team of
'hunter's hunters' based on the experiments done on your friend Koosei
Ryooki. People like her were trained to mask their brainwaves so she could
take out the other side's more successful hunters. Most of them survived,
then turned themselves in at the end. No one's heard from them since..."

"Well, someone decided the lieutenant here would be quite useful to
eliminate other hunters," Catty grimaces. "Yuu, can you find out how many
others are accounted for?"

"I'll get on it now," Yuu nods, then heads off.

Ayu checks her monitors on the side of the diagnostic bed.
"Cleansing protocols complete, I'sagh. The effects of the White Noise will
still be felt, however; the effects should fade as time goes on. Lowering
stasis field."

"Okay," Catty rises.

The field fades, followed immediately by a surprised cough. Kuinba's
eyes snap open, then she looks around. "Where...?" she slurs, then her eyes
lock on Catty...and glow for a brief moment! "Kirei...!" she then whispers.

Catty jolts, then hangs her head. "Why me...?!"

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)