"Are you sure the vessel was Vosian-built?"

"Affirmative," Makoto nods, now in her cabin. "From what we could
salvage from the engineering logs, she was built at a yard on Colony Six ten
years before the V.D.F. captured it, then used as a special operations craft
until she was seized by its last crew."

"Did you find anything else?" Admiral Shermansur queries from his
office in Lecashuto.

"We lucked out this time," Makoto smiles. "The main computer was
relatively intact when we brought it aboard. Keeping in mind what happened in
Tere'na City, I had my science officer cleanse the data of viruses before we
scanned the information." She shrugs. "It doesn't give us what we'd really
want, but at least now we can trace everyone of the Hunter Corps to their
training schools. Now all we have to do is convince the people administering
the shrines there to allow us to excavate the mines and retrieve the other
data. Elder Priest Olnba is already making arrangements."

Shermansur sits back, clasping his hands under his chin as he
considers Makoto's words. Never before in Vosian history had the
Confederation sought the assistance of other races in solving what was
technically an internal social matter. True, there was only one other race
close to Vos with the technology that could help, but if they asked the
Zephyrites, the Holy Republic would be more concerned with pressing their own
agenda than offering humanitarian assistance. Given their need to have
friendly, honest relations with other races as they strove to rebuild their
shattered world, the Sagussans just didn't behave that way.

Honesty was a virtue on many worlds.

On Sagussa, it was holy covenant.

"What are your intensions?"

"Well, once Kilsur returns from identifying his friends, we'd like to
come right away to Vos," Makoto muses. "Given what just happened in Tere'na
City and Colony Twenty-six, many of us conclude that SOMEONE is leading a
campaign to eliminate the Hunter Corps survivors. It doesn't take much to
consider what might happen when those within the Confederation are
eliminated. There are ex-Hunter Corps officers now living on a dozen other
planets, Earth and Sagussa included. What happens if these people decide
they want to make it a total clean sweep?"

"Good point," Shermansur nods. "If you get the information about the
survivor's relatives, the chances are there that those relatives could press
the government for more protection. At the same time, however, the chance is
there..."

"...that the relatives could be targeted next," Makoto nods. "I
don't think the Confederation would want that, would it?"

"No, not really," Shermansur sighs. "Get here as soon as you can.
I'll have someone waiting for you when you arrive to act as liaison while I
try to sell this off to the Defence Minister."

"Aye-aye, sir," Makoto nods, then cuts the link.

With that, the admiral sighs. "Damn, just what we needed," he
mutters under his breath...

* * *

Elsewhere...

"There's a problem."

"What?" the leader wonders.

"The Sagussans stopped us at Colony Twenty-six," the woman reports.
"They now know that someone is planning to destroy the Hunter Corps, but they
haven't identified us."

A subtle tremor runs through his body. "And?"

"They're coming to Vos," the woman hisses. "With them is a hunter
from Colony Twenty-six, Kilsur. He's the younger brother of one of the
hunters who died over Earth. They know about the computer caches and are
obtaining permission to dig for them. The Vosian Defence Force is pledging
to assist."

"That can't be allowed," he growls, taking a knife and running its
edge on the palm of his hand, ignoring the blood and pain from the
laceration. "Once we do away with the hunters, then we have to do away with
their relatives to ensure they can't pressure the authorities to stop us when
the time comes. With the information in the Sagussans' hands, they're as good
as safe."

"Then we must destroy the caches," the woman warns.

"See to it."

"Hai."

* * *

Tere'na Compudata Centre...

"Well, the information Makoto salvaged from that ship over Colony 26
matches with what we could salvage from your computers, Gilsur," Rally sighs
as the computer sciences chief gazes at the report Lebia and Nene generated
after their latest all-nighter. "Still, it doesn't give us what we
ultimately want."

"Rally, if we are up against someone who wants to destroy the Hunter
Corps and all those related to it, we have to assume that the computer caches
might be the next things targeted," Nene warns, then gazes at Gilsur. "Right
now, we have over a thousand ex-Corps members living here. What happens if
they're targeted? Do we have to close down all trade between Sagussa and Vos
to keep our citizens safe from these monsters?"

"No, that is something the government certainly wouldn't want," Rally
grimaces, then smiles. "But there is a way around it, however...a way that,
while it can take some time to produce some decent results, could help in the
end."

"What sort of way?" Gilsur wonders.

"Before we signed the treaty with Vos and withdrew most of our
TECHINT assets from Vosian space, we had at any one time over 400 rover units
posted across the Confederation," Rally smiles. "All of them had UHD CD
recording devices which were maintained and upgraded constantly, replenished
by service rovers without a break in coverage in over 99 percent of the
cases. The information that was gathered was, after Intelligence and External
Affairs was finished with it, put into a storage vault in the Chamber of
Eternity. It could be theoretically possible to trace someone's movements
just by their DNA pattern alone, right from birth."

"All that has to be done now is to write up a search program," Nene
muses. "A person's basic DNA pattern doesn't change throughout their
lifetime."

"How soon?" Rally wonders.

"Already working on it up here," Nene points to her head. "As for
real-time on a machine, I'd say a day or so with help."

"Get on it," Rally orders. "Tell the others to pitch in. I don't
want to see you burn out, Nene. We've no idea what could happen when Makoto
and the others get to Vos."

"Hai!" Nene nods...

* * *

Lufy relaxes in the forward observation lounge, gazing at the passing
starfield. The "Shinowataru'cha" was now heading to Vos, the work over Colony
26 done. Yuu and the ship's chief engineer, Kaorinokanojo, were now going
through the mystery ship's wreckage, trying to learn more about who they were
up against. Only a couple bodies were recovered, both still awaiting
identification in the ship's morgue. What trace DNA they could recover of the
other crew was now being tracked down by Catty and Ayu.

She shudders as the gristly scenes from the back alleys of Colony 26
come back to her. Lufy had seen many forms of death in her two lifetimes, but
had never seen the aftermath of a massacre. Over a hundred people, none of
them armed with anything truly lethal, had been killed, shot in the back in
most accounts before they could defend themselves. The empathic trails of the
killers had stunned her. They had shown no emotion whatsoever, acting as if
Kilsur's friends were roaches, only worthy of being squashed.

Why? Who had such a grudge against the Hunter Corps that total
extermination was the only answer? Yeah, they were the Mikado's personal
goons, the special soldiers that made sure that any dissent against the
dictator was squashed before it led into open rebellion. But for the most
part, they were average people who wanted the chance to live normal lives
under their control after such an abnormal upbringing. Why? It made no
sense at all.

She blinks as the back door opens, revealing Kilsur. "Hi," he sits
beside her. "I've seen you here before, haven't I?"

She grins as they share a kiss. "Hi, yourself. How are you?"

"What would you say?" he shudders, tears still in his eyes. "I
thought I'd seen it all."

"So did I," she admits, leaning into him. "Do you have any idea who
or what these people are?"

"No, not a bit," he shakes his head. "All I do know is that whoever
they are, they're pretty well-trained...and they don't like us one bit. Then
again, you could say the same thing about most people in the Confederation
when you talk about the Corps."

"Yeah, that's true. Whoever's planning this must be banking on the
idea that because those targeted are ex-Hunter Corps, the normal citizen
wouldn't give a shit about them. 'They're just re-fighting the Civil War,'
some shrink'd say."

"You don't believe that."

"No," she shakes her head. "It was the same on Yehisril when the
*pirpirsiw'r* began making waves. Even if most of you haven't had cause to
use your skills in the last decade, you still are an asset to those willing
to use it. And someone doesn't want someone to make full use of that asset.
The trick of this exercise is to find out the 'who' on both sides and stop
those who want to destroy the Corps."

Silence as Kilsur considers that point. "It doesn't end, does it?"
he wonders. "Our lives were ripped away from us right from birth. Now, no
one wants us to live on our own. Why? Why...?"

She wraps an arm around him as he closes his eyes...

* * *

"Well, we've identified seven people so far from their DNA," Ayu
sighs as she files the last recording. "Sending it out to the Central Medical
Database in Lecashuto for cross-check."

"Good," Catty stretches herself.

"Care to wager what they find?" the nurse muses.

"No, thanks," the doctor shakes her head. "Personally, after what
Kilsur just went through, I wouldn't want to know what sort of sleeze we're up
against."

"What are you going to do?"

"Eh?!"

"I mean, about Kuinba?" Ayu nods towards the recovery ward, a bemused
grin crossing her face. "Can you believe it? She actually recognized you!"

"I don't WANT to believe it!" Catty hisses, then sighs. "I'm a
happily bonded woman, for Lyna's sake!! I'm comfortable with the way my life
is! I don't need someone to disrupt it."

"What about Lufy's new boyfriend?! You don't consider Kilsur a
disruption?"

Catty blinks, then smiles. "Would you?"

Ayu shrugs. "Well, he'd be welcome in any family back home. Still,
even when the White Noise's effects vanish, Kuinba will feel some sort of bond
to you."

"I wonder why," Catty muses. "I mean, I am bonded. I'd never
believe that a Vosian would recognize someone who was bonded."

"Maybe that depends on the type of bond involved," Ayu muses. "Our
bonds are mental in nature. I don't know the actual dynamics of recognition,
but everyone says it involves some sort of physical process. A psychokinetic
link of some sort? Maybe it's time to try to trace that process down and
quantify it."

"Maybe," Catty rises, then stretches herself. "Well, I'm going to
look in on the patient."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Ayu smirks.

Catty sticks her tongue out. "*De'ne!*"

The nurse chuckles as Catty steps into the recovery ward. Kuinba was
now in bed, glancing over news reports via the ship's datalink. The latter
blinks as the doctor approaches, then warmly smiles as she stares at her.
"Kya- chan..."

"How are you?" Catty traces her fingertips over the hunter's
forehead, gentle psi-probes reaching into Kuinba's mind.

"Okay, I guess," she sighs. "If you feel you just woke up from a
nightmare that you can't forget."

"What was the last thing you positively remember before waking up
here?" Catty muses as she checks the stats.

"I was living by myself on Colony Two," Kuinba sighs. "I was a
waitress at a bar. Nothing really important. Anyone who knew what I did
during the war didn't seem to care. Anyone who didn't know never thought to
ask. I had no relations, no girlfriend, nothing at all. Little contact with
my old workmates in the Ninth Unit. Then...a blur...until I'm here...with
you."

Catty blushes on feeling Kuinba's desiring gaze, then sighs.
"Kuinba, I am a bonded woman. Could you care for both me and my bondmate?"

The hunter blinks. "I...I don't know," she admits, reaching over to
gently grasp the doctor's hand. "All I do know is that I've recognized you.
Where I come from, that's all that matters."

"Well, your life just became worlds more complex...and for that, I am
very sorry," Catty warns. "I just can't give everything of me emotionally to
you and ignore my bondmate; it wouldn't be fair, especially since you have to
factor our children into that equation. This could...change when you decide
to go in for genetic upgrade; you won't be able to live long on Sagussa
without it given our powers. But please try not to do anything which could
provoke Lufy; she...has an ugly tendency to shoot first and ask questions
later, especially when it comes to me."

"You're lucky, Kya-chan," Kuinba smiles.

"Who's lucky?"

Both turn as Lufy steps inside. "Your bondmate is...oh, my..."
Kuinba breathes in as her eyes flash, now locked on the pilot instead of the
doctor.

"What the...?!!" Catty and Lufy exclaim.

"I...I...how can I choose...?" Kuinba wonders, her voice hushed with
shyness, her emotions threatening to overwhelm her.

"What's going on?!" Ayu demands as she walks in, then stops on seeing
Kuinba's flushed face, her eyes vainly darting from Lufy to Catty and back.
"Oh, my, don't tell me..."

"First ever recognition to two people at once," Lufy muses.

The destroyer's nurse hums. "Well, that really makes things
interesting...even if it does save your relationship," she hums. "But how?
Once recognition occurs, a person's body is geared to be the mate to the one
so recognized and ONLY that one; that's the reason Vosians can't recognize
two people at the same time."

"The process has a physiological aspect to it?" Lufy wonders.

"It's quite obvious," Ayu nods. "If you may recall what the
*daimon'cha* did for Nassur-san at the Spirit War. He forged a life-link
between Nassur and Benten to save his life after the *saikoo jinseijitsu*
nearly killed him. That life-link had an immediate effect; once Nassur
cleansed himself of his wounds over losing Cinba, his recognition of Benten
immediately followed."

"That might provide an avenue of study for this," Catty blinks.
"Ayu, do a comparison scan of Kui-chan before and after she...recognized us.
See what changes there are in her physiological structure, then postulate how
that could help her recognize us both."

"*En,*" the nurse bows, then departs.

"In the meantime, we should schedule genetic upgrading for you as
soon as we can," Catty gazes at Kuinba.

"Will it hurt, Kya-chan?" Kuinba blinks.

"No, but you'll have the choice of Lufy or I to hold your *mei'na*
while your body undergoes regeneration," Catty smiles.

Kuinba shudders, dizzy at the IDEA of having her mind come in such
close contact with either of theirs, then she sinks into her sheets. "How can
I choose between Lu-chan and you, Kya-chan?"

Lufy and Catty exchange surprised looks. 'Lu-chan?!' 'Kya-
chan?!' I take it we're her first, the former hums, a bemused grin cutting
across her face.

I don't mind our relationship having a little spice in it, but how
will the kids take this? the latter muses.

Much less, how will Kui-chan take them? Lufy nods...

* * *

"Another Mashi?!" Yolchong blinks.

"Yeah, another Mashi," Lufy nods as she relaxes with her daughters in
their guest bedroom just as the "Shinowataru'cha" decelerates from warp on
final approach to Vos. "She's that hunter we picked up from that ship."

"The one who killed Kilsur-monmoei's friends?" Mihagh wonders. "Is
he going to like the idea of living in close quarters with someone like her?"

"She was under mind-control," Yolchong shrugs. "Once he thinks it
through, it should be cool."

"Yep," Lufy sighs, rubbing her skull. "Lyna's Soul, this is really
getting complicated..."

"You're not giving up, are you?" Mihagh blinks.

"No, of course not," Lufy shakes her head, then sighs. "But believe
me, I never planned on any of THIS happening to me when we set out on this
little excursion."

"So what's the matter?" Mihagh inquires. "With you and Mashi gone a
lot of the time, someone has to be around to take care of Shinsan-chan,
Tangko- chan and Koui-chan. Kuinba-mashi and Kilsur-monmoei can take care of
that until they finally settle down; they'll have to spend time in special
social studies classes before they could get a job on Sagussa."

"Yeah, that's true," Lufy bites her lip, then scratches her hair.
"'Planet of Working Moms,' that's what someone on Earth actually called us
one day. Sometimes, I wonder if having a whole bunch of kids at the start is
actually worth it...!" She then blanches. "Oh, jeez, now I sound like
Ataru's stupid mother!!"

"We don't mind," Yolchong shrugs. "We know you still love us, we can
keep in contact through the Dreamscape if we're physically separated and you
do everything to spend time with us every day. And even if you and
Catty-mashi can't, there's still your companion android doubles; we could use
them."

"But some people're getting worried about making sure you have the
right parental supervision," Lufy stares at her eldest child. "Lots of other
planets whose societies swing to having both parents out working and away from
the hearth face the same questions..."

"But other planets aren't us!" Yolchong smiles, holding up an
objecting finger. "Like I said, you can contact us through the Dreamscape if
you're worried about us or your android doubles sub in for you if you're
really busy. Great advantage of being part of a race of telepaths, Mom. The
Vosians are the same way. Some planets're toying with the idea with using
visual datalinks so parents can look in on their kids; it's been standard
practice on Yehisril for a millennia. Some parents still consider it right
for one parent to remain at home. Earth's like that in places."

"Yeah, but the supporting economy has to make the conditions right
for just one breadwinner and one homemaker...and then you tack on the gender
rights issues," Lufy muses. "It's a darned good thing that we aren't as
socially dependent on economic conditions these days as most other races and
we resolved the gender rights questions before we began this whole thing."

"So why are you so worried about how we're coming out?" Mihagh asks.
"Mom, unlike some of my penpals and e-mail pals on Earth, you ALWAYS make
time for us, as much as you can. You've always told us the difference
between right and wrong and helped us accept it. Some of my pen-friends from
the States and Europe hardly see EITHER of their parents these days given how
they's so emotionally dependent on improving their economic situation, even
if it means less time observing their responsibilities to their families. At
times, they don't understand what's good and bad for them; their parents
aren't there to explain things and most school teachers don't see themselves
as surrogate parents..."

"Especially since kids on Earth know to 'protect' themselves from
teachers trying to discipline them," Yolchong sneers. "Friend of mine from
Canada told me this one. Most kids these days are so smart, the instant the
teacher starts coming down on them, they scream to their parents and get the
teacher disciplined or fired. Many teachers're afraid to do a thing to their
students these days and they're losing control of their classes!"

Lufy smiles. It awed her how intelligent her children were, even at
such an early age. Given that the distance separating Sagussa
technologically from other races meant an automatic shift to an earlier age
concerning the introduction of certain topics, it still took her by surprise
when Yolchong and Mihagh, ten and nine respectively, debated her and everyone
that crossed their path about topics that on Earth wouldn't concern their
peers until they were high school or university students.

*Parental jitters, Luf?* she smiles, allowing her daughters to
snuggle up. It was a damned good thing that the Grand Design, even before
Ataru's first visit opened their eyes to an emotionally vast universe, was
geared to protect their children both physically and psychologically as they
trudged to maturity. It would be left to Yolchong's and Mihagh's generation
to take the rough canvas that was Sagussa now and put on the touches that
best suited them; in something like this, Sagussa would never be a "finished"
work. It was a good thing they were debating the matter now, when they had
the time, the energy and the proper social environment to settle the
questions before some future tragedy forced choices on them.

But she, like the majority of *daishi'cha,* was still worried about
content, exactly WHAT her children were being exposed to and at what time.
This was the ultimate minefield when it came to raising a child: making sure
they got the information they would need when they were finally making their
own way, but at the same time not overwhelming them or confusing them with
conflicting signals. On Sagussa, it wasn't just a question of "do as I say
for your own good." That didn't make sense when the general rules were still
being written. Look what happened when Mio was believed to have died and her
bondmate Yuu charged with negligent homicide?

She then tenses as the door opens, revealing Kuinba and Catty. The
former hunter is now in a Pathfinder's duty jumpsuit with blank rank insignia.
"Hi, Lu-chan," she smiles as they relax.

"Wow, she is SO pretty!" Yolchong gapes, gazing appreciatively at the
tall blonde who was the newest member of their family. "Mom, Mashi, you know
how to pick them!"

Catty and Lufy blush. "Is that something you should speak to your
mother about, young lady?" Kuinba glares at Yolchong.

Mihagh reaches over and grasps her hand. "That soon, Mashi?" she
then stares at Catty on sensing a Sagussan's psionic signature.

"Well, it didn't take long to coax her into the regen chamber;
besides, Ayu had some mind-shield devices aboard so *tre'cha* wasn't
necessary," Catty smiles. "How do you feel, Kui-chan?"

"Strange," Kuinba admits. "I...it's nice that my tracking powers're
gone. I don't know what other hunters who've moved to Sagussa've said when
they do this, but I've always wanted to be rid of this power. Look how much
my having them destroyed my life?"

"And everything else?" Lufy muses.

"Well...my feelings for you are still there, even if there is
no...physical base for them," Kuinba stares at her. "That's how strong this
drive is in us, how much it impacts our lives, I guess. I don't mind; even
now, I can tell how decent you are. I...still want to be part of it...if you
and your children want me, of course, but...honestly, this freedom of choice
really scares me! On Vos, once you recognize someone, that's it. There's no
debate. Accept your life and go on. It's not the same on Sagussa."

"Well, we won't...solidify things until you've adjusted and undergone
the Awakening," Catty smiles.

"We might need her when we go to the camp," Lufy warns.

"I'd be against that," Catty sighs.

"But it's the same camp I went to, Kya-chan," Kuinba states.

The doctor blinks, then sighs. "Well, let's hope there's no real
problem, then..."

* * *

"Welcome to Camp Mensohn," the elder priest bows as the small group
of Sagussans appears after being cleared through customs and immigration. "I
am Vasur, the chief cleric of this memorial."

"Thank you for hosting us, Elder Vasur," Catty bows, then does the
introductions for the others.

"Peace, logic and harmony to you all," Vasur smiles. "In the
meantime, let's take you to the mine pit. Please follow me."

The group proceeds into the rectangular space, marked out by earthen
berms and lines of barbed wire, which housed one of the dozen schools whose
graduates filled the ranks of the Hunter Corps over seventy years. Most of
the land was bulldozed, eradicating traces of its previous use, though one of
the residence blocks and the training halls were intact, transformed into
museums for those wanting to understand this emotionally horrid time in Vos'
history.

As they proceed, the Sagussans close their eyes as their powers
gently flow out, touching the psionic echoes still haunting this place. An
innocent child's laughter, the scream of someone being beaten for breaking the
rules, the laughter of the teachers, the haughty snorts of the elder students,
the cowered whimpers of the younger students...the silence of death.

"How many came through here?" Mie wonders.

"According to what records we have, six thousand students came to
this school over a period of 70 years," Vasur sighs. "They say that...your
kind can hear the ghosts of the past; the echoes of their presence. Can you
hear them...can you hear them now?"

"Hai," she nods, pausing as her eyes fall on a break in the fence
line. Stopping, she walks over, then kneels, her eyes closing as images from
decades before flash through.

"What do you see?" Makoto kneels beside her.

"Nassur..."

"Eh?!" the shipmistress gapes.

"This was the school he went through," Mie bites her lip as she
watches a young Nassur lead a small group through the break in the fence to
freedom and the vast city kilometres to the south.

Makoto closes her eyes, then frowns. "We know his story. Now it's
everyone else's turn," she pats Mie's shoulder, then helps her up as they race
over to join the others.

They now gather around a closed pagoda at one end of the camp. "When
the school was open, the old metal framework was still intact, a lift used to
lower people into the shaft," Vasur explains. "After the school was closed
down, we sealed the shaft and tore down the tower; it had been...used in the
torture of some students, tying them on the beams without any clothing and
letting them welt under the sun in mid-summer or freeze in winter."

"Cute," Lufy muses, then steps into the pagoda. Her eyes fall onto
the simple memorial plaque in the middle of the concrete circle, dedicating
this place as a memorial to the nameless victims of the Vosian Civil War.
Kneeling, she closes her eyes as she mutters a silent prayer to the departed
spirits below, then reaches over to lift the plaque from the concrete. "This
is to be restored to the way it was when we found it," she stares at the
others. "Mi-chan, you bring your Minisuit?"

"Hai!" Mihagh nods.

"Get it beamed down. We'll use the winch up front to lower me down.
Try not to wreck everything in sight when you drive that thing around here;
your special skills teacher's been griping to me about how many things you
wreck during phys ed classes."

"MOM!!!!" Mihagh wails over everyone's laughter.

Once the plaque is clear, Lufy pulls out a tricorder to scan the
circumference of the mine shaft below. Nodding, she takes a cutting laser in
hand, then begins to make her incision. "She has a surgeon's skill," Vasur
muses.

"Look who she's mated to," Makoto thumbs Catty.

The Vosian priest nods as the doctor flushes. A transporter beam
heralds the arrival of Mihagh's Minisuit, then as the pilot steps aboard,
Yolchong draws out the towing winch and cable from the machine's groin,
leading the line into the pagoda. As Lufy makes incisions to allow someone
to grab the cut concrete and lift it away without letting it fall into the
shaft, Yolchong sets up a pulley to stop friction from the cable going around
a corner.

With the cuts made, Makoto and Priss raise the concrete seal and
stand it to one side. Very little in the way of a stench escapes the shaft.
Lufy slips on a pair of night-vision glasses, then looks down. "About thirty
metres to the main shaft," she muses, then rises to put the rappelling harness
on.

"I would insist on no weapons," Vasur interrupts.

Lufy stares at him, then nods, unstrapping her pistol belt and
handing it to Catty. "I'll stand outside and watch," Priss draws her own
weapon, then steps outside.

"Please forgive the troop commander, Elder," Catty gazes at Vasur.
"Her team's operational rules state she must be armed and ready for combat at
any time."

"Do you really believe there's a threat?" another priest asks.

"After our experience with the information the hacker Gilsur had with
him on defecting to Sagussa, yes," she nods. "Whoever wants to destroy the
Hunter Corps has already killed over a hundred of Kilsur's friends on Colony
Twenty-six; in fact, they brainwashed Kuinba into helping. We have no idea
what might happen if the survivors' relatives might be the next ones targeted;
you can never tell with lunatics like this. As far as we're concerned, the
best thing is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I doubt your place
in society will shield you for long from people like this."

The priests exchange looks, then nod. By then, Lufy has strapped
herself onto the line. "Okay, going down!!"

"*En!*" Mihagh taps a finger control.

The winch unwinds slowly, allowing Lufy the chance to descend into
the dark pit. The shaft, having once served as an air vent when Vos was
dependent on coal to fuel its pre-space industrial age, is wide. "How is
it?!" Catty yells from above.

"Not bad," Lufy looks around, her night-vision goggles making the
rock around her as bright as day. She then switches on the DNA scanner
attached to the glasses, one of her bondmate's ideas. "Little trace DNA on
the walls. Going down."

The shaft begins to widen as she approaches the bottom of the pit.
Lufy looks around, all her senses active as she keeps a watch for any
possible attack. "Is there another entrance to this place?!" she calls back
up. "Where was the main entrance?!"

"Records for that were lost a long time ago!" Vasur reports.

"Pass me a tricorder!!"

"Heads up!" Mie tosses it down.

Lufy catches it one-handed, then slings it over her shoulder.
"Almost there...another four metres!" she reports.

A minute later, her feet touch hard rock. Standing herself, the
flightmistress looks around. "Trace DNA!!" she reports...then stops on seeing
quasi-humanoid forms laying near the walls. "Found some bodies!!"

"How many?!!" Catty yells down.

"Switch to wrist-comm units," Lufy taps her left bracelet, then makes
a count. "About a dozen. They're just tossed around here. Want to come down
and made a post-mortem on them?"

"It would be prudent," Catty sighs, then stares questioningly at
Vasur. "A DNA scan would go far in case parents want to know what happened to
their children."

He sighs, then nods. "As long as they're aren't disturbed."

Catty nods. "Hoist the line up!" she yells at Mihagh.

"*En!*" the would-be Warsuit pilot presses controls.

Lufy unstraps herself, then allows the harness to be boosted back up
before taking her tricorder and scanning down the main shaft. "I got an
entrance!" she reports. "Range about two kilometres. I don't think it was
the main entrance to this mine; this route leads towards an underground
stream!" She then scans the other direction. "The pit goes in about a
kilometre further. No other entrances detected."

"We'll have to mark where the other entrance is," Vasur's voice
echoes through her wrist-comm. "If prudent, I would like to see it sealed to
prevent others from getting in there."

"Understood," Lufy nods, then looks up.

Catty descends, night vision goggles over her face and her medical
kit over her back. She unstraps herself, then taps her wrist-comm. "Pull
back the harness. We'll call when we need it."

"*En!*" Mihagh replies as the line is withdrawn.

"Where to?" Catty wonders...

...just as the distant thunderclap of explosions echoes from above.
"What the...?!!" Lufy looks up...

...as a direct hit on the pagoda covering the shaft makes dust fall,
echoed by the rumble of larger things on their way down!! "MOVE!!!!" Lufy
grabs Catty and sends her deeper into the pit.

They get clear just in time; a storm of shattered masonry and rock
smashes into the ground where they stood. Lufy and Catty duck behind a corner
as the dust settles, coughing. After a moment, they look back...to see that
while the way to the other entrance is unblocked, the way up the air shaft is.
"Oh, swell...!" Lufy mutters, then taps her wrist-comm. "Lufy to Priss!
Sitrep?!"

Static. "Heavy interference from the surrounding rock and weapons
discharges," Catty scans up with her tricorder.

Pri!! Mako!! Mie!! What's going on?!! Lufy psi-flashes.

Little busy up here, Luf! Priss' voice responds. We got tangos
coming out the wazoo trying to make us Swiss cheese! We're all okay!!
Kilsur, Kuinba and the kids're alright; instant shots started going off,
training kicked in with the hunters right away. Mako's trying to get the
ship to fire down on them from orbit but we gotta play 'may I' with the
V.D.F. first!

Burn 'em down, love!

Always do, gorgeous, the Pathfinder mentally winks. Get the
cache while you're down there!! Let's get that done!

Got it, Lufy nods, then stares at Catty. "Shall we?"

Catty nods, handing Lufy a welcome present. "Managed to sneak this
down for you!" she winks.

"Oh, bless your evil heart, Cattyvayae," Lufy takes the photon
shotgun in hand, then loads up. "Let's go!"

They walk into the cave. Minutes pass as they close in on the end of
the pit. "It's a circular chamber," Catty scans ahead. "Some power source
there, plus lifesigns..."

"Lifesigns?!!" Lufy blinks, then stops. "Lyna!!"

Catty gapes as they turn a corner...to find a small bank of computers
still humming away a decade and more after being placed here thanks to the
fusion generator by one wall...and that doesn't mention the five hibernation
capsules, each containing someone...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

"They're being fired on?!!"

Shermansur blinks as images of the destruction of Camp Mensohn play
before him and his guest on the viewscreen. Hessur stands beside the admiral,
stunned that a simple, humane investigation of the histories of 30,000 people
had led to THIS! "Affirmative, Admiral," the "Shinowataru'cha's" first
officer, Shigeno, nods. "We scan approximately 100 attackers involved; they
just came up in tour trams, unloaded, then attacked!"

"Status of your people?!" Hessur wonders.

"We're alright, ditto with the priests, but unless they get
reinforcements there soon..."

The ominous warning hangs in the air. Shermansur and Hessur exchange
looks. Part of them naturally wanted to handle the matter themselves. Aside
from the fact that it WAS technically their ultimate responsibility to
protect those visiting the Confederation (especially since the visitors were
happily trying to help resolve a long-standing social problem), some groups
would be really upset that the government had AGAIN turned to the Sagussans
to solve that problem. The accusations about the current regime's
legitimacy, which was partially secured with alien help, hadn't quieted down
in the years after the Battle of Lecashuto. "What's the nearest response
time for our people?" Hessur sighs.

"Three hours," Shermansur grimaces.

The chief minister closes his eyes. There were times when he wished
the Alliance Army hadn't taken the decision to practically exile Hunba from
Vos, transform a good leader into a martyr because she wasn't a capable
civilian administrator. Good administrator that he was, Hessur knew he
wasn't fit to make such snap calls in crises like this. Shermansur glares
urgently at him. As a military officer, duty and pride was on the line,
which demanded the Vosian Defence Force respond...but the admiral was also a
realist when it came to these things. Hessur nods.

"Watchmistress?"

"Yes, Admiral?" Shigeno braces herself.

"Defend your people," Shermansur orders. "Try to get some of these
bastards alive; we'll want them as bad as you do."

"*En!*" Shigeno nods, then looks at Shizuna. "Open fire!!"

* * *

Camp Mensohn...

*Hope help comes soon!* Priss grits her teeth as she peeks around the
corner to confirm where the tangos were. How is everyone? she mentally
calls out, keeping her "voice" down to prevent the Vosians from getting a very
ugly headache.

Okay here, Mie reports. Who are these guys?!

I can't recognize them, Vasur shudders. Monsters! Have they
no respect for what happened here?!

I think that what happened here is what brought them here! Makoto
grimaces. Hey, Pri, let's try to outflank these assholes and slice 'em down
in a crossfire!

We want prisoners, Mie warns.

Okay, Priss sighs. Kuinba, Kilsur, on my count, give us cover
fire. Vasur, you and your friends get the kids under cover. Mie, you stay in
the centre. Keep your heads down!

Affirmation comes from everyone else. Priss loads a grenade into her
FAPR's launcher, then fires it before sprinting out to the next berm. The
attackers automatically duck their heads as the Pathfinder pours it on, then
some cry out as they see her move, weapons rising to take her down. Makoto's
FAPR sends a grenade out, echoed by Mie's as the shipmistress breaks for her
jumpoff point, allowing Priss to get under cover. The *crumps!* of the
grenades detonating sends geysers of soil, dust and broken bodies flying
around. I'm set! Makoto calls out.

Ditto, Priss smiles. Ready, on three. Ai...ei...

INCOMING!!!!!! Kuinba screams out.

Priss spins around as flashes of light appear in the southern sky,
flashes that transform into tiny darts as anti-personnel missiles race down,
their warheads detonating over the attackers as grapeshot and shrapnel buzzes
down to slice them down where they stand. Bless you, Shermansur! Makoto
laughs.

Fire!!! Priss bolts up, her weapon chattering.

Makoto and Mie pour it on, followed two seconds later by Kuinba and
Kilsur. In a minute, it's over. "ALRIGHT!!!!" Yolchong cheers as everyone
cautiously emerges from cover and sees the carnage they wrought.

"Stay put!!!" Makoto barks as she, Mie and Priss move in, Kuinba and
Kilsur behind them.

Pained moans and the gurgling of lungs and windpipes filling with
blood answers them from the small mass of people who had come today. Many
were past help, their bodies hacked apart by flying missile parts. The comic
surprise on many faces indicates they weren't expecting such easy cooperation
between the Vosian Defence Force and the Sagussan Navy. *Idiots never
learned from Lecashuto and Colony Four!* Priss muses to herself, then hears a
harsh cough from nearby. "Survivor!" she calls out.

Makoto calls the "Shinowataru'cha" to get Ayu down to help as Priss
kneels beside the wounded attacker. She had taken hits in the legs and one
shoulder, but her vital organs were intact. Ayu appears, then scans her.
"Watch it," she warns. "Same shape Kuinba was in when she was brought aboard.
Stand back."

Priss backs off as Kuinba walks up. "Oh, God!!" the hunter cries out
as she kneels beside the woman. "Tulnba..."

"Friend?" Priss wonders.

"My former company commander," Kuinba shakes her head.

Priss shakes her head just as Ayu injects Tulnba with a painkiller,
then the cleansing agent to get the drugs out of her system. At that moment,
the eyes flutter open. "Where...?"

"Hold still," Ayu advises.

Tulnba turns towards her, then her brown eyes glow suddenly as they
lock on Ayu. "Oh, no, not again!!!" Priss moans.

"Kirei..." Tulnba feels her cheeks flush.

"Welcome to the club, Tul-chan," Kuinba stifles her laughter.

Ayu sighs, then gets back to work. "Now I know how Catty-i'sagh
feels..." she mutters.

By then, the priests have come out of hiding with Mie, Makoto and
Kilsur completing their sweep of the other attackers. "Just one other
survivor over there," the young hunter points to a man laying near the edge
of the strike zone.

"I have medical training," a priest, Palnsur, reports.

"Beam the extra medical kit down," Makoto calls to the ship.

Palnsur walks over to the man, Mie staying close in case he tried to
do anything stupid. Palnsur kneels beside him, then as the medical kit
appears, begins treatment. "He doesn't look like a hunter," the chief petty
officer hums.

"He isn't," Palnsur shakes his head. "Common street thug, more
like...Lecasur's Soul!!!"

Mie blinks, then kneels as Palnsur turns the man's head away to
reveal a curious sigil tattooed into his skin under his earlobe. It was a
globe of Vos immersed in flame. "You recognize that?" Mie stares at Palnsur.

"Yes, I do," he shudders. "Vasur!!"

"What...?" the elder priest walks over, then pales on seeing the
sigil. "Oh, God..."

"So who are they?!" Mie urges.

Vasur and Palnsur exchange looks. "The Fire of Heaven."

* * *

"Hold still..."

The brown-haired girl with the ponytail and the very kawaii brown
eyes smiles as Catty injects the hibernation sickness medication, then begins
to stretch herself. "Thank you," she sighs, then stares at her friends. "You
alright?"

"We're fine," one of the others nods, then stares at Lufy. "Who are
you people?"

"I'm Flightmistress Lufy of the Republic of Sagussa Navy," the pilot
introduces herself. "This is my bondmate, Healer-prime Catty, Personal
Physician of the Sagussan Head-of-State. How long have you girls been in
suspension?"

"What year is this?" the ponytailed girl inquires.

"Nineteen-ninety-four," Catty reports.

"We were put under in nineteen-eighty," the girl frowns. "So who are
you people and why are you here?"

"We're two of the Maidens of the Eternal Voyager as you people like
to call us," Lufy sighs. "We've been allies to the government formed when
the Rebel Alliance Army toppled the Mikado four years after you girls went
under; in fact, we helped them get rid of the Mikado when that idiot tried to
hurt the Chosen One and his chosen life-mate. We're here today to...why are
you crying?!"

All the girls are weeping. "We're dead!!!" one wails. "We died and
we became Maidens...!!!"

Lufy and Catty faint! "KNOCK IT OFF!!!!" the former bellows, causing
the girls to cower from her burning stare. "What's with you people?!! You
haven't died and were remade into Sagussans; if you did, you wouldn't be stuck
in this damn cave!!!"

They blink. "Oh, we forgot..." the ponytailed girl hums.

"Go easy on them, Lufyvayae," Catty play-punches Lufy in the
shoulder. "They're not much older than Yolchong...just past Stop Time if I
miss my guess."

"H-hai!" the girls nod.

"So what in Lyna's name are you doing here?" Lufy wonders.

The ponytailed girl sighs. "Well, when they did the initial tests
for tracking potential, we checked out and were taken here to train," she
explains. "But as we grew up, it was later discovered that our test readings
were...false. We have little tracking sense whatsoever. So...it was decided
to convert us from hunters into couriers to keep the Mikado forces in contact
with each other."

"Yes, I see the cybernetic augmentation you received," Catty notes
the cyberjacks barely hidden by their ears. "Well, you'll be relieved to know
the war's over and you can go finally back to your families once we get the
information from these computers here..."

"That won't be necessary," the girl smiles, pointing to her head.
"It's all in our minds. We downloaded it before we went into cryosuspension."

Lufy blinks, then crosses her arms. "Now, what made you girls do
that?"

"Hey, we didn't want to lose track of our relatives!" another girl
cries out. "Especially if some of the real bad rebel sects got hold of it;
they'd destroy it and kill everyone involved just to get rid of any trace of
the Corps!!"

Lufy and Catty exchange looks, then sigh. "Well, we got them alive
and well; we better get them somewhere safe, then," the former muses, then
looks up. Yo, Pri, you guys okay?!!

We're cool, Luf! Got the cache?! Priss replies.

Even better; it was downloaded into five cyber-couriers who flunked
hunter's school, Lufy smiles. Interested in another child to adopt,
Pri?

Thanks but no, you and Cats can have them, Priss laughs, then
sighs. But we've got a bigger problem now.

What?

We've ID'd the tangos, Mie cuts in. They call themselves the
Fire of Heaven.

"'Fire of Heaven?!'" Lufy and Catty wonder.

"FIRE OF HEAVEN?!?!?!" the girls scream out.

"Bad?" Lufy stares at them.

"You...could say that..." the ponytailed girl nods...

* * *

Two hours later, the Vosian Defence Force and the *an'san-Mikado*
make their appearance. As awed mutters echo from the young troopers on
seeing the enormous damage the Sagussans could do on short notice (eliciting
comments from the veterans like "this was NOTHING like what they did at
Lecashuto"), everyone relaxes by the old gym. A Gladiator was flown down so
Mie could clear out the debris blocking the air shaft, then Lufy, Catty and
their five new friends were hoisted up by a very relieved Mihagh and
Yolchong. Tulnba was transported to the "Shinowataru'cha" for regeneration
while the five young hunters were taken by Yuunoranna to have their
information downloaded into the destroyer's computer in case a transmitted
virus was pumped into their cybernetics.

"Thanks again," Shermansur comes up, Gomasur behind him. "Damn, we
always keep saying that to you people."

"Relax, you'll get the chance one of these days," Lufy nods, then
stares at the commander of the *an'san-Mikado.* "Much that I hate to say
this, you guys really gotta work on your interrogation methods if you let
that asshole Tarsur blindside you like that."

"We know," the rumpled colonel shakes his head. "Damn, who'd believe
that Tarsur was a plant to turn our attention away from the Fire destroying
the Corps survivors?!"

"Why would they do that?" Catty demands.

"That's how ruthless these bastards are," Shermansur sighs. "Look,
can we move this discussion to your ship?! I can't trust myself to say
ANYTHING to you people from any place on Vos."

"Okay," Lufy rises, then turns to Makoto. "When's Shayla supposed to
be here?!"

A flash. "Someone call my name?"

"Yo, Shayla!" Lufy waves as the scientist walks up, ignoring the
stunned looks from the Vosians; they were used to teleporters and
transporters, not instantaneous movement over 10,000 parsecs between Sagussa
and Vos. "Care to do the honours."

"*En,*" the *te'a* expert raises her *haijo-ju.* "Everyone cover
your eyes!!"

Eyes squeeze shut as the ruby-like crystal blazes to life, causing an
Akira wave of energy to encompass the whole camp. As the soldiers watch in
awe, buildings are restored, the ground returned to its pristine beauty and
the pagoda over the airshaft rebuilt. As the energy fades, Mie draws a bos'n
call to her mouth and pipes the still as Makoto barks out, "Attention on
deck!!!"

Right hands snap up to the eyebrows in salute (for military personnel
not under arms) or fall over the heart (for civilians) as the soldiers
present arms. Mie pipes "Last Post" as the priests intone prayers, begging
the souls of the deceased to forgive the disturbance of their eternal rest.
Shayla remains still, her *haijo-ju* glowing, tendrils of energy pumping new
life into this place which only knew misery and death. Flowers suddenly
bloom in the fields, filling the fields with their blossoms as a wind picks
up. The pedals part, showering the area with their leaves.

Mie then pipes the carry-on as hands lower and the soldiers order
arms. "Let's go!" Lufy sighs...

* * *

Elsewhere...

"The attackers were killed?"

"Yes," the woman grimaces. "The Defence Force called in the
Sagussans to fire at them from orbit. We've no idea what happened to the team
that went in...or the cache."

"That is not acceptable."

"I'll find out more."

"Do so," the leader's eyes narrow...

* * *

In the "Shinowataru'cha's" spacious conference lounge an hour later,
everyone relaxes around the circular table. Holoscreens are active at one
end of the room: one showing Sakura, Noa and Marcia in the prime
councillor's office; one showing Hunba, Yedris and Anri in Eternal Affairs'
main work room; the last showing Rally, Nene and Gilsur in the computer
services chief's workroom. Attending the meeting from Vos are Hessur,
Shermansur and Gomasur. All the Sagussans who were involved in the Mensohn
incident sit with them, accompanied by the five young couriers, Kilsur,
Kuinba and a healed Tulnba. "I never thought I would ever hear the name
'Fire of Heaven' again in concern with Vos," Hunba sighs.

"Who ARE these monsters, anyway?!" Makoto demands.

"Fundamentalists," Hessur sighs. "We espouse total religious freedom
and non-interference between the various faiths. For over two thousand years,
that has been the norm on Vos. But even now, years after Unification, there
are still those...who believe their particular faith is the ONLY one that
should be accepted on Vos."

"And these people are like that?" Noa muses.

"Quite correct, Elder Mother," Hessur grimaces. "There are ten main
religious groups in the Confederation. One of them is the belief in Dali'la,
the ancient Vosian god of war and physical prowess. In fact, the Dali'lans
were the group that gave birth to the Dali'lama Silent Ones that produced the
Mikado and Osur."

"Wonderful," Marcia frowns.

"The Mikado originally trained as a priest in the Dali'la Temple
before he joined the Defence Force as I recall," Noa muses.

"You know that?!" Gomasur blinks.

"You'd be amazed at how much I know about that lunatic," Noa mutters.
"Right after we obtained our last *daishi'cha*...a trainee hunter from Camp
Mensohn, Tenba, to be exact...I had ten rover units assigned to research
EVERYTHING about him, from birth to death. Since he was head-of-state at the
time we began our search for a *daimon'cha* candidate, especially after I
bonded Lum-chan and Ataru, then we unanimously chose him as *daimon'cha,* I
knew that sooner or later we'd have to deal with the Mikado, especially given
Lum-chan's friendship to Nassur."

The Vosians nod. "He was your typical Dali'la follower," Hessur
muses. "Believed that Vos was supreme in the galaxy and that we shouldn't bow
to anyone, the Zephyrites included. That changed the day he first ran across
Sheko."

"Sheko?!" Yedris blinks.

"Sheko, despite his faults as *laqu'r,* was a superb fighter in his
own right," Anri muses. "Granted, I never had the honour to meet the Prince
in battle (I was still in suspension in Chemlos), but he was believed to have
discovered lost *pirpirsiw'r* combat tomes buried in Kyotos. Self-taught
warrior; a pity all his secrets went with him to the grave. The day he
encountered the Mikado...in AL 1709, I believe...he was then working as a
knight for the earl of Tizros. The Mikado was on a quest to prove himself as
a 'proper' Dali'la priest, which demands physical prowess in battle. They
encountered the other, then as would be expected, they fought. Sheko beat
him with ease."

"That nearly destroyed the man," Hessur hums. "But Sheko saw
something in the Mikado that impressed him. According to all the legends
around that, he took the Mikado under his wing, then taught him a lot about
being a real warrior. He then sent the Mikado back to Vos to find the
Dali'lama Silent Ones to finish his training."

"As I recall, Osur was training as a Silent One at the time the
Mikado came home," Noa muses. "The Mikado was bullied by his fellow trainees
because of him being taught by an alien. Osur was the worst of the whole
lot...but none of them ever took into account that the Mikado and Sheko were
*pe'cha.* When Sheko sensed what was happening, he personally went to Vos,
found Osur and the other bullies and pounded the fools into a near-coma!"

Everyone grins. "The bastard had some use after all!" Lufy snorts.
"Pity he didn't kill the jerk then and there!!"

"Sheko probably was the one who made Osur go nuts," Gomasur
grimaces. "Thank God I trained as a Pashansho Silent One."

The others nod. "Still, the Mikado's experience with Sheko may have
started this whole mess," Hessur sighs. "Because he learned a lot about
respecting other races, he was seen as a heretic in the eyes of most of the
Dali'la. He still became a Silent One, then joined the Defence Force shortly
after."

"But when he assumed power, the Dali'la fell over themselves
accepting him back to the fold," Shermansur sneers. "He was of some help in
pressing their cause: the Hunter Corps came about because the Dali'la didn't
like the law in the old Constitution forbidding psi-hunter military
formations. But when they tried to press him to expand Vosian territory into
other peoples' domains, he resisted all the way."

"That was when the first Colony Four massacre occurred, right?"
Sakura wonders. "Around AL 1925, right?"

"Exactly, Prime Councillor," Shermansur muses. "And that's when the
seed for the Civil War was planted. When things between us and the Yehisrites
were about to plunge all the way to war, Sheko undertook a personal mission to
Lecashuto. He came unarmed, unarmored, unescorted. As Advisor Anri can
attest, for a *laqu'r* to do that meant they were VERY serious about keeping
the peace."

"The details get a bit fuzzy then, but shortly after, we discovered
that the guard duty watch at Camp Mensohn was dismissed one night after a
graduating training exercise that involved some street kids...in AL 1931 to be
exact," Hessur muses, staring at Mie. "On the secret orders of the Mikado
himself."

"Nassur..." Mie gapes.

"Mie?!" Sakura stares at the pilot.

"Nineteen-thirty-one was the year Nassur escaped Mensohn with his
friends to Lecashuto; that was the year Tenba came to Sagussa and we began the
preparation for Stage Two," Mie muses.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Lufy whistles. "This whole thing was a big set-up
from the start."

"With disastrous results for everyone involved," Hessur sighs.
"Nassur never knew about this; we discovered it when we finally took
Lecashuto and discovered the Mikado's hidden file cache in the State House,
his residence. When Sheko came on his initiative, he privately convinced the
Mikado to set up an incident where Osur (then also a high priest of Dali'la
as well as Corps Commandant) would be blamed for failure and could then be
removed legitimately and executed. The Corps at that time was rife with
Dali'lama Silent Ones; there was no representation from Pashansho and little
from the other main groups. Once Osur was gone, the Mikado could then clean
out the Dali'la influence on the Corps, then use them against the Dali'la in
case they rebelled."

"What they didn't count on was Osur and Dosur exceeding their orders
and killing almost everyone on Colony Seventy-one," Hunba pales, the truth
behind the attack that started the Civil War making her nauseous.

"That's right," Shermansur nods. "There were to be some people
killed. Mostly the high officials who resisted the Mikado's efforts to have
Nassur extradited back to Vos. Namasur and Shuba, plus their daughter Cinba.
Your husband was under direct orders to kill Osur. Once he was dead, Hisur,
who was Pashansho, would take over the Corps, then do the cleaning out of the
other Dali'la priests running the Corps, then retire. Ninsur, who wasn't even
a Silent One, would've taken Hisur's place. And as a special reward, Nassur
would've been reunited with you and your husband."

Silence falls. "That got blown out of the water when Osur and Dosur
went crazy on Colony Seventy-one," Lufy muses. "Osur must've sensed something
was going to happen to him..."

"Doubtful he expected it coming from his own boss," Priss stares
bemusedly at her friend.

"So now we have a possible reason behind the Corps survivors being
hunted down," Catty sighs. "When they became members of the Corps, they
must've been seen as special members of the Dali'la faith. When they either
willingly defected from the Corps like Nassur or just gave up at the end of
the war like Kilsur, Kuinba and Tulnba...they became 'heretics'..."

"The Fire of Heaven was first formed to punish the Mikado and those
who followed him," Gomasur sighs. "Many of the founders of the
*an'san-Mikado* were Dali'lama Silent Ones and members of the Fire of Heaven
group. Why do you think our team name means 'death to the Mikado?'"

"That's not the exact translation, is it?" Rally muses.

"What do you mean?" Lufy wonders.

"'An'san' is a term that doesn't just imply one's physical death,
Lufy," Hunba sighs. "It implies the complete destruction, the obliteration of
everything about that person, including all works initiated by that
person...until there is nothing left of the person or what he did. To
literally become a nobody, an historical mystery."

"Nasty," Lufy sneers. "So where does one find members of the Fire of
Heaven these days?"

"The Dali'la sect have their main temple on an island in the Central
Sea, Daltos," Hessur muses. "If the Fire of Heaven is based anywhere, it
could be there. We can't be exactly sure; we never really took the time to
keep track of them over the years."

The former Corps members attending the meeting are white-faced at
those words. "'Never took the time to keep track of them?!!'" Kuinba bolts to
her feet. "How could you?!! You know what those animals are like; it stunned
everyone when you welcomed them into the Rebel Alliance!! Believe me, when I
did missions, hunting those monsters down was the one thing I enjoyed doing!!"

"When you finally disbanded the Alliance Army, you just let those
animals go do whatever they pleased!!" Tulnba adds. "Didn't you ONCE consider
what they'd do once they didn't have to worry about helping you overthrow the
Mikado?!!"

"Yes, they did help us," Hessur objects. "War makes some very
strange bedfellows. Believe me, they were needed if we were to defeat the
Corps since even after Furusur took over, there was too much of a Dali'lama
influence on training! Yes, there were a lot of things objectionable about
the Fire of Heaven..."

"We're SO glad you finally noticed!!" Tulnba snarls, pointing
accusingly at the three government representatives. "If you have one IOTA of
true decency, if you really believed in all the propaganda about social
justice you promised the people all those years ago, where in Lecasur's name
was all the social support, all the psychological help and labour re-training
you promised us when we stood down after Colony Four?!!"

"We tried!" Hessur sighs. "Believe me, Major Tulnba, we tried! But
like it or not, Vos is a democracy which runs on majority rule. When we
tried to pass legislation that would've helped all of you recover, it was
voted down. That wasn't JUST because of the Dali'la factions in Parliament.
Survivor's groups also had a say in that! I'm sorry, Major, but I can't do a
thing when my own government won't support me. If I attempted to do that,
rule by fiat, I'd be no better than the Mikado himself."

Tulnba shakes her head. "It's not good enough anymore. Over a
hundred of us were butchered because of those animals on Colony Twenty-six
not a day ago! Kuinba and I'll have to live with what those animals made us
do for the rest of our lives!! Doesn't it say SOMETHING to you people when
ALIENS show more understanding, compassion and simple decency towards us,
people they would've gladly killed a decade ago over what some of us nearly
did to Ataru Moroboshi and his wife, than the Vosian national government?!!"

With that, she turns and marches out of the room, Kuinba in her
wake. "Tul-chan, wait!" Ayu runs after her.

"Maybe we should break this up now," Makoto sighs. "What you people
decide to do, that's your business. Right now, we're going to make sure
people can be reunited, then get names out so your internal security forces
can protect them."

* * *

"Tul-chan, you can't press for change if you start accusing your own
government of something like that," Ayu sighs.

"What was I supposed to say to him, Ayu-chan?" Tulnba wonders as
everyone relaxes in the lounge, gently playing with the nurse's hair as they
gaze at the stars. "Just let them think they can get away with it until we
were all dead?!"

The others sigh. "Well, this is quite the twist," Lufy smirks. "I
set out to find out about a man who killed himself because he had to choose
between me and his foster brother. I then find his real brother, run into a
massacre, stop another one from happening...then discover that a pack of
fanatic zealots and grave robbers were responsible for nearly bringing a four
thousand-year old civilization right to its knees."

"'Grave robbers,' Lu-chan?!" Kuinba wonders.

"How do you think the Dali'lama got their skills, Kui-chan?" Lufy
stares at the former hunter.

Silence falls, then Kilsur points at Lufy. "You guys?"

"*En,*" Lufy nods.

"You mean Sagussa, Mom?!" Yolchong gapes.

"No, what I was before Sagussa, Yol-chan."

Silence falls as that sinks in. "I don't understand," Tulnba shakes
her head. "What do the Dali'lama have to do with the *pirpirsiw'r?!* They
could NEVER touch you!"

"Wanna bet?!" Lufy rises. "Come here. First spar stance."

Tulnba nods, surprised that the pilot knew the basic hand-to-hand
combat drills, then faces Lufy at close quarters, making a forward stance.
Lufy raises her right arm at angle, matched by Tulnba. "Take me off my feet,"
Lufy orders. "Begin."

Tulnba yells, grabbing Lufy's arm, then grabs air as Lufy bats it
away using wrist and forearm. She parries with her own, then the two launch
into a series of jabs and blocks using just the forearms, dancing around the
room. Priss and Makoto stare, shocked as the two continue their dance, then
Lufy pulls back, arms to her side. "Understand now?" she stares at Tulnba.

"My God..." Kuinba gapes.

"Nine centuries ago," Lufy explains. "Think of the period. Vos and
Yehisril were still picking and feeling their way around each other. It was
socially too soon after the Vos-Yehisril War prior to Yehisril's Unification.
Many Vosians couldn't understand the whole idea behind the Prime Directive.
And there are the Dali'la, seeing for the first time that their worldview
can't be really substantiated. It scares them. That's when the Sisterhood
of Steel...the *pirpirsiw'r*...appeared. Put yourself in the shoes of
someone like Osur. What would you do?"

"They stole their knowledge from you guys?!" Kilsur blinks.

"That's right," Lufy nods. "The Ancient Mothers, the first
generation of *pirpirsiw'r,* were the BEST!! We're just very good warriors
in comparison! But they didn't understand the depths people would dig to be
the best! Each of the Ancient Ones had their personal journal, which
recorded everything about tactics, training, all the strong and weak points
on the body, EVERYTHING about warfare, about LIFE in total. And it doesn't
take too much effort to dig up a grave, you know."

Horror crosses the face of the Sagussans as her implications sink
in. "This was all caused because of grave-robbing, Mom?" Mihagh gapes. "The
Dali'lama, the whole Vosian Civil War...?"

"Yep," Lufy nods. "As soon as we realized what was going on, the
journals stopped...but it was too late; that's when the Dali'lama began
appearing on Vos. Then, we noticed that they only got some of what we knew.
We were pretty safe, but we had to make sure it didn't happen again. Hence,
when I was just Princess Hivpira of Falcros, I pressed the Emperor to issue an
edict that sealed Yehisril from any Dali'la worshipper on threat of death."

"That really confused people," Kilsur muses. "That edict's still in
effect, though it's not strictly enforced these days."

"Because they've probably forgotten what was the cause of that edict
in the first place," Kuinba muses. "So what now?"

Lufy sighs. "Pri, Mako?"

"Yeah, Luf?" Priss rises.

"Get some of the others. Score, Syl, Ami, Maya, Angel...Tina if she
isn't busy with the EMRU. Get them here. We go to settle this mess with the
Dali'la."

"*En,*" Priss nods, then heads out.

"We're coming, too," Tulnba rises.

"No," Lufy shakes her head. "You have your own duty. Your final
duty to the Corps. To your families, to your brothers and sisters in the
Corps and to all their relatives. Go help those kids we found to get the
information transmitted out. Make it as widespread as you can. In a sense
of the term, we laid the seeds for the Civil War. It's not just a debt of
honour we owe you people...it's just the right thing to do."

Tulnba nods...

* * *

"I can't fully approve of this, Flightmistress," Hessur sighs as he
follows Lufy to the transporter room two hours later. The pilot was now
dressed in woodland camouflage. "Even if the Fire of Heaven are terrorists
and murderers, the Dali'la have the undisputed right to worship as they
please. Knowing how much damage you girls can do in just one foray, the
backlash from this can be disastrous for Vosian-Sagussan relations."

Lufy sighs. "Minister, do you really want to prove Tulnba and the
other Corps survivors right?" she stares at him.

"No, of course not. Believe me, I'd want to do everything to help
those people...but..." he throws up his hands.

"Yeah, I know. Ain't democracy wonderful?"

"Why are you doing this, then?" he stares at her. "This has gone way
beyond you finding out about Captain Cassur."

"Why?" Lufy stops at the door to the transporter room. "Part of it's
because of him and his *marei'cha.* Kilsur and Kuinba, too...then you tag
the girls we found and Tulnba, who recognized my friend's shipmate. Then I
think of people like Nassur, Junba and even Mujanba and Varena. Thirty
thousand hunters, Minister. For the most part, I'll bet they were all nice
people...but because they had a certain skill that could be exploited...they
were targeted when they were babies...their whole lives were wrecked. And
even if we didn't do it conscientiously, the Sisterhood provided the
knowledge that made them what they are now...and how that eventually turned
out on Vos."

She opens the door, then stares at him. "When all's said and
done...I really have no choice."

He nods. She walks in, then sees eight people waiting for her, all
armed with both edged weapons and firearms...but most of all, what they had in
their minds. "Ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be, Luf!" Tinanokakyuu winks, twirling her
favourite quarterstaff.

"You sure you can fight with that bad eye of yours, Tee?"

"I can still whip your butt," the Emergency Medical Response Unit's
pilot daringly smiles.

The others grin. "Angel?" Lufy looks over.

"Bring 'em on, Luf, " the Internal Security special investigations
officer grins.

"Maya?"

"Let's party. I haven't heard my baby speak all day!" the Hostage
Rescue Team sniper cocks her favourite toy.

"Ami?"

"I'm set," the inspector general of weapons nods, palming her
favourite stun grenades.

"Syl?"

"Let's rock and roll," Priss' former partner cocks her sniper rifle.
"Anri's cooking my favourite stew tonight and I don't want to have it cold!"

More laughter. "Mako?"

"All ready."

"Pri?"

"Let's do it."

Lufy then stares at her elder twin sister, someone she tried to make
time for as often as she could given their vastly different workplaces and
relationships. "How about it, Ashoi'cha?"

"Haven't done this for a while," the gold-star tattooed Score winks
at her kid sister.

"Ya, eight hundred years is a bit too long."

"Let's make up for it," the engineer from the Vehicle Construction
Unit nods.

Lufy nods, then draws her photon shotgun and loads up before facing
Mie. "Okay, Mie...energize."

"Come back in one piece," Mie slides the controls.

They disappear. Hessur watches them from the corridor. "Lecasur and
Lyna go with you, girls..."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

The waiting.

Catty sighs as she works in the "Shinowataru'cha's" sick bay,
preparing medical supplies and the trauma ward in case the worst happened and
she got body parts back instead of whole bodies. The regeneration tank was
ready just in case. Emergency transporter procedures were reviewed by
Shigeno. Atop that, a partial *tre'cha* was done between the warriors having
beamed down and their bondmates and friends now anxiously awaiting their
return. With the depth of the bonds between eight of the nine women now
planetside and their lovers aboard, it was possible to fire what was still
capable of remaining in the mortal realm without the need for close physical
contact.

On the bridge, Mie relaxes in the shipmistress' chair (despite her
being just a chief petty officer, she was given the place due to her
relationship), gazing at the beautiful arc of Vos rotating below the
destroyer's keel. Her hands were itching for action, to get a Gladiator's
joystick in her hand, then pilot the 200-tonne machine planetside to support
Makoto in her drive to avenge the spilling of so much blood, not just during
the Mikado's reign, but during the years before that, when the Dali'la had
lived on stolen information from warriors better and far more honourable than
they.

Rio relaxes in the wardroom, gently sipping her snifter of ran-jugh.
This was so weird. The HRT's sniper was plunging into battle and her
teammates were either on the supporting ship above or back on Sagussa. She
was just as anxious to do something to help Maya as Mie was concerning
Makoto. Maya could be damned reckless at time, especially when she lost
control of her temper (that was quite frequent) and went all out. But the
HRT's master chief warrant officer also knew how good Maya really was, with a
weapon and without. She wasn't too worried.

Sugoi nurses her son nearby, gazing out the window as one of the five
cyber-hackers from Mensohn, the ponytailed Libina, braids her hair. Every
once in a while, Libina would ask her if she needed anything. Sugoi refuses;
she needed to keep her mind and body awake over the next few hours. Why was
Priss plunging into an unknown situation without any decent reconnaissance
before hand?

Score's bondmate, Rabby's twin sister Sandy, sits nearby, another of
the cyber-hackers, purple-haired Winba, asleep in the crook of her arm. Why
did Score agree to go with her sister on this damned thing in the first
place?! Sandy was more than happy that Score had chosen engineering than
follow her sister into the Navy; it meant that the only life-threatening
situation she faced these days was engineering accidents. But here she was
being what she was first born to be. Sandy sighs, then gently kisses Winba's
hair, eliciting a curious stare from the young girl. Sandy smiles, her eyes
glistening. Winba nods understandingly, then embraces her. She was afraid
for them, too.

Mizuho relaxes in the cafeteria, eating her breakfast. Tina had no
bondmate, so the EMRU chief volunteered to be there in case she was the one
who needed *tre'cha* to be done. Mizuho sighs. Tina was still weak in her
left eye; even if she wasn't in the maddening world of Gladiator combat, that
could be exploited if someone was quick enough to notice it. Sighing, she
sips her shake. Hopefully when this was finally over, Tina could go back to
pursuing the person she wanted as her permanent mate.

Anri lays in bed, gazing at the deckhead. The gentle hum of the
ship's reactors and the engines flows into her ears, but she pays it no heed.
She wasn't in the mood to cook dinner anyway; when Sylvie got back, she'll
probably be bone-tired and want to crawl into bed as soon as she could.

Minako relaxes on the flight deck, watching the pilots and flight
crews work over their Gladiators. She wanted so much to be in her Warsuit
right now, her squadron right behind her, blazing a path for Ami and her
friends to go in and settle business. But there was no way the Vosians would
ever accept Sagussans overtly attacking a major religious enclave, even if
some of their members had gone too far in espousing their beliefs...way too
far.

Ayaka relaxes in the ship's computer room, pouring through the files
she downloaded from the cyber-couriers, the third of them, green-haired
Imonba, sitting beside her. It was all here. Names, dates when they were
"removed" from parental custody for the good of the state, names of immediate
relatives and place of residence at time of the "removal," school they went
sent to. Not just for Camp Mensohn, but for ALL the hunter schools! With a
flick of her finger, she sends it to a dozen locations, including the Vosian
Central News Service and Tere'na Compudata (you never could tell if there was
an agent for the Fire of Heaven in the receiving rooms ready to delete the
data on recognizing it). She leans back. Good to keep busy; it kept her
from worrying too much about Angel.

Kilsur sits in his bedroom staring at the letter he had prepared for
his parents. His parents! They had been living on Colony Eight all this
time, never knowing what happened to either of their sons. A quick
cross-check had revealed no other siblings; chances are if there were any,
they'd've had the right stuff to be forced into becoming hunters, too. He
sighs. How do you introduce yourself, much less a brother who was now dead
and a total stranger to you, to parents you never knew you had?

Kuinba sleeps nearby, electing not to panic too much. She had
suspected that her parents were long gone and had verified it not an hour
before; they, from Colony Forty, had been killed in the last battle for that
world, which was the prequel to the invasion of Vos itself. Besides, Catty
was safe aboard the ship and Lufy was too well-skilled and stubborn to die.
She still would love to go down and deliver some personal justice of her own.

Tulnba and Ayu work busily in sick bay helping Catty prepare.
Already, they had gone right to the bondmate stage, the nurse's knowledge
pouring into the hunter's mind. The happy smiles on their faces belied their
own nervousness; even though they weren't related to the people planetside,
they were friends and would need support in case the worst happened.

Yolchong lays blissfully in the crook of the fourth cyber-courier, a
reddish brown-haired girl named Terunba. She would be unofficially "adopted"
by Lufy when they got back to Sagussa. That was okay to Yolchong; it was love
at first sight when she saw her emerge from her mineshaft prison. Terunba
didn't know what to do; there was a four-year age difference between her and
Lufy's eldest and with Yolchong discovering all the nice things about being a
woman, Terunba wondered if she wasn't going to get it more ways than one from
her mother in case an indiscretion or two occurs.

Mihagh also had sought the comforting arms of another: the last of
the group pulled from that mineshaft, hazel-haired Nokanba. While she was
quite pretty and certainly would catch her interest in a few years, Mihagh
wasn't interested in exploring such things just yet. She was now trying not
to cry. Warsuit pilots didn't cry! Warsuit pilots were brave and strong!!
Warsuit pilots always showed a face of granite when facing trouble!!!

Tell it to her eyes and heart.

"Cry, Mi-chan."

"Can't."

"Cry, Mi-chan," Nokanba stares at her. "It's okay to cry."

"Can't."

"Why? Aren't you scared about your mother?"

"Mom's just doing her usual thing."

"If she was my mom, I'd be very scared."

Mihagh stares at her. "R-really?" she sniffs.

"Hai," Nokanba nods. "It's okay to cry. I bet even the best Warsuit
pilots cry when they're worried about someone they love."

Mihagh's lips tremble, then her control breaks as she buries her face
in the older woman's chest. "M-m-mommy..."

* * *

Daltos Island.

"Mi-chan...?"

"Luf, you okay?"

Lufy smiles at Maya. "Nah. My baby's learning that it's okay to be
human even for Warsuit pilots."

"I wouldn't be caught dead inside one of those things," the sniper
shoulders her modified FAPR. "One missile or grenade in the right joint and
you're landshark bait."

"True," Lufy nods, then scans around. They had beamed down some
distance from the small island's largest city and cultural centre for an
initial reconnaissance before penetration. Once they were spotted, their
most visible attribute...the tattoos on their right cheeks...would spread the
alarm. The presence of nine of Yehisril's dreaded Most Dangerous Soldiers on
a Vosian island where the local faith espoused that the natives were the
strongest beings in Creation would not be a peaceful one.

Makes for interesting living.

"What's the plan, Princess?" Priss looks at her.

Lufy smiles. Her party. "Pri, go ahead. Maya, left flank. Syl,
right flank. Tee, you're tail-end Charlie. Let's go."

Tina, Maya and Sylvie fade into the forest as Priss leads the
advance. Wordlessly, the rest fall into line, Lufy finding herself in the
middle. That annoyed her. Then again, the traditions of their ancestral
world were playing a role in today's action. Lufy was the only *pirpirsiw'r*
in history to have been a princess. Score was lucky; being related to a
chief-of- state, she served as Grand Duchess Royal during Lufy's term. Priss
and Sylvie were bards. Ami was a farmer. Makoto a sage. Angel a courtesan.
Tina a shepherd. Maya a guard commander. Ordinary people, save for the
special circumstances of their birth and upbringing.

Within minutes, a psi-flash from Priss warns of civilization ahead.
The great advantage of being Sagussan...Vosians couldn't track a
Yehisrite...was their telepathy; were this back in the old days, they'd have
to stay closer to ensure each was in the other's line-of-sight to receive
hand signals. This way, they could keep thirty metres between them. The
others freeze, melting into the forest as they wait for Priss to confirm what
lay ahead of them.

Kids, Priss reports. Sixteen, young pups. Looks like some
sort of training for primary school. Around?

Left way clear, Maya reports.

Right side all rocks, Sylvie adds.

Oblique left, Lufy orders. We go around.

They fade into the forest...

* * *

The Shrine of Dali'la.

Elder Seisur grunts as he continues his hard exercise on the nautilus
machine, imported from Earth. Amazing that the Terrans made such an industry
on keeping in good physical shape; a fad said to be catching worldwide, much
to his approval. Good thing they were turning away from steroids, something
Dali'la frowned heavily on. One's natural attributes were a gift from
Dali'la; to debase them THAT way was a grave sin before their heavenly Lord.
After his three hundredth rep, he relaxes, then engages in a warm-down kata.
Even if he wasn't an active Silent One, he maintained the same morning drill
he had for three hundred years.

"Elder."

He pauses, then stares neutrally at one of the underpriests. "What
is it?" he demands.

"The attack on Camp Mensohn launched by your brother failed
miserably," the underpriest reports.

"I believed it would," Seisur shakes his head. "Dali'la will punish
Yasur and his fools soon enough."

"There is more, Elder."

"Which is?"

"The Sagussans uncovered information pertaining to all the Hunter
Corps survivors, including family relations. It's now out on all the news
services, transmitted from their ship. Yasur's agents were unable to stop it
from reaching the authorities; the outpouring was too sudden, too fast."

"Indeed?" Seisur hums, then purses his lips. "Now, what can be done
about that...eh?"

He tenses, feeling...something. Not his tracking powers detecting
the mental emanations of another...but a subtle shift in the life energy
patterns around him. One of the most wonderful things the Dali'lans obtained
from the pagan Yehisrite warrior-women all those years ago was the knowledge
to sense the life energy around them. It took years of hard work to master
such a necessary survival skill...you had to be a priest to understand the
gift well...but when you did, the barest movement of anyone at a distance was
child's play to detect.

You hardly needed tracking skills with that.

"Elder?"

"Visitors."

"Who?!" the underpriest tenses.

"Nine altogether," he closes his eyes, reaching out with his more
active senses and finding nothing. "Masked brainwaves."

The underpriest pales at the implications. Yehisrites were forbidden
to come to Daltos in reprisal for that old edict and they were too
honour-bound to disobey it. That spelt one thing. "The Sagussans wouldn't
dare...!" he sputters.

"Wouldn't they?" Seisur muses. "Think about it, son. One of their
number has just engaged in a thorough quest that led them from Sabaku to
Colony Twenty-six to Mensohn...to here."

"Who told you that, sir?"

"Elder Olnba did," Seisur smiles. "We may be of different faiths,
but she sees no threat in passing on information. Would you care to know why
this quest came about?"

The priest nods eagerly. The elder tells him. The younger man then
crosses his arms as he contemplates Seisur's words. "That makes no sense,
Elder. Why engage in such a thing when not more than a decade ago, the
Sagussans went out of their way to hunt the Mikado's forces down...?" he then
blinks as realization dawns. "The woman in question was formerly Yehisrite."

"Exactly. Her name...is Lufy. Or as she was known in her first
life...Hivpira of Falcros."

"PRINCESS Hivpira?!!"

"Yes. With her came Makoto...or Sage Izripra of Varakos, one of the
last generations of *pirpirsiw'r*...and Priscilla...Gilpizra of Falcros in
her first life, a wandering bard...and two of their bondmates, Doctor Catty
and Mie Seikou."

"This is an honour-quest, then," the underpriest muses.

"As the Yehisrites themselves would say it; even if they are now
Sagussan, much of their previous lives influences them."

"What should we do?"

"Let them find my brother's base...and stay clear of them," Seisur
muses. "They are here to deal with murderers, not peaceful parishioners. The
Fire of Heaven has brought too much shame on those who follow Dali'la's ways.
It is time for He to judge them."

"It shall be done."

* * *

We've been marked.

Not bad, Lufy smiles admiringly. Who, Syl?

I figure he's the high priest of this place, Sylvie muses as they
relax outside town. Nice of him to oblige us by pointing us right to the
slimebags. We do his dirty work for him.

What say we make them all suffer? Maya growls.

Cool it, Maya, Lufy frowns. We're here for the Fire of Heaven,
not the normal Dali'la folks...even if they do allow this to happen right in
plain sight.

We'll just have to drop a hint about it to Hessur when it's all
done with, Ami chuckles.

Door's open, Score muses. Rude not to go in.

*En,* Lufy muses as they move out...

* * *

The Shrine of Fire.

Yasur, priest of Dali'la and Champion of Heaven's Fire (the title
bestowed to the leader of the Fire of Heaven) prays before his personal
shrine. It was an exquisite bronze masterpiece, one that took him years to
sculpt, showing a well-honed couple holding the torch of victory over broken
aliens underfoot. Vos' victory over all the lesser races. Closing his eyes,
he allows the heat from the many torches to warm his body, burn away what
impurities may still be within his soul so that he can be a shining example of
perfection to those around him.

He knew his brother Seisur didn't particularly care too much for some
of the things the Fire of Heaven did in Dali'la's name. Were it up to him,
the heretics of the Hunter Corps would just be left to languish in obscurity,
forever separated from their families and relatives with an impenetrable veil
of secrecy. Dali'la's punishment for them not destroying the heretic Mikado
in the first place when he strayed too far from His Teachings, actually
allowing it to go so far that an ALIEN named Ataru Moroboshi had to be the
Mikado's judge, jury and executioner. It wasn't enough in Yasur's eyes. To
allow such beings to run loose would guarantee that their heresy would spread
like a cancer throughout society, poison the Vosian people against Dali'la.

Cancers were destroyed.

"Elder?"

He blinks, then turns to see his chief underpriest, Sarinba, kneeling
behind him. "What is it?"

"We have a problem."

"Explain."

"The information on the Hunter Corps' survivors; their relatives and
all...has been released to the public."

Yasur pales. "HOW?!?!"

"The Sagussans discovered that the cache at Mensohn contained
information on all the hunter schools. They extracted it, then transmitted it
out to all the news services, plus kept copies for themselves in case we
intercepted it."

A guttural snarl escapes Yasur's lips. "How dare they...?!" he
hisses. "And they claim they respect the right of other races to settle their
own affairs?! What arrogance! It is time for Dali'la to punish these
creatures!!"

"What will you have us do?!" Sarinba wonders.

"Prepare a force! You will lead it! We shall see how strong the
Sagussans really are!" he orders.

"As you command," Sarinba bows, then withdraws...

* * *

Sneaking into town was quite easy; just get to the roofs and stay
there, crouching low to duck anyone from the ground who could be looking up
as they pass. Not that many people were out this morning, though. Curious,
but if most living here were Dali'lans, Seisur must've told them to stay
indoors and not proceed outside. Someone might accidentally shout the alarm
to ears that would pass it on to the Fire of Heaven. Lufy grimaces. They
had been dragged into some warped game of ultimate control between Seisur and
his brother Yasur (oh, yes, they sensed him now, in an underground complex
near the Shrine of Dali'la) over Dali'la's parishioners. Okay, fair enough.
Their primary task, the one tacitly approved of by Vos' Chief Minister, was
to eliminate the Fire of Heaven.

Their secondary task, one the Chief Minister wasn't even aware of,
was to avenge the crimes committed against the Ancient Mothers.

Against their own flesh and blood.

Found it, Angel reports.

Lufy concentrates, an image of a simple home appearing in her mind's
eye. Angel now looked inside to see an open trap door leading underground,
right into the Shrine of Fire. That the only entrance to the place? she
muses.

Found the second one, Ami calls from across town.

Another house appears in the pilot's mind. Same deal. Into two
teams, people, she smiles. Let's go.

The nine warriors move in...

* * *

Sarinba stares at the small group with her. About sixty, most
partially trained, all in good condition. What else remained of the Fire of
Heaven, about fifty or so priests-in-training plus what families they had,
were in the next chamber undergoing their daily devotions. She hands the
members of her group vials of a milky-white substance, allowing them to
inject themselves. Against the Sagussans, you needed the ultimate edge.
This was a proven mixture of Red Veil and White Noise, which would dull their
senses and heighten their awareness to levels that were beyond Vosians. The
same mixture they had used to take down the best of Osur's fallen disciples
of the Hunter Corps during the Civil War.

Dali'la would approve because they now had to deal with the
Sagussans. These were beings said to be raised from the dead using an alien
genetic regenerative matrix found on their moon Sagurei, then genetically
transformed. They weren't natural, weren't worthy of life. That nearly a
fifth of them were born of Vosian women was an extra affront to Dali'la. That
they happily permitted members of the Hunter Corps to live with them in peace,
away from their just vengeance, was an even worse affront to Dali'la.

Time to even the scales...

"Good morning."

Sarinba spins around to see nine female shadows standing on the
rafters, their faces and clothing somewhat obscured thanks to the many torches
illuminating the main hall. "Who are you?!!" she snarls, hand reaching to her
knife.

"You took something from our ancestors nine centuries ago," the voice
coldly replies. "The Sisterhood of Steel has come to take it back...and rid
Vos of the likes of you."

A weapon barks, a grenade landing in the middle of the crowd. It
explodes, filling the room with dense smoke as the Vosians gag. Before they
could brace themselves, their attackers are all over them. Screams fill the
hall as combat knifes leap out of their scabbards; in close-quarters hand-to-
hand combat in the middle of a fogbank, firearms were definitely NOT advised
even if you could sense where all your companions were.

Sarinba tries to get clear, then finds herself grabbed from behind,
her mind being ripped into by invisible knives as her very soul is torn apart,
her memories laid bare like an opened book. A scream escapes her as her mind
disintegrates, her body collapsing to the ground as Lufy looks up to the
balcony at one end of the hall. Grinning savagely, she sends a telepathic
signal to her sister, then races to pay Yasur an unfriendly social call.

At the other end, Score drops the hapless fool that was now caught in
the throes of the garbage in her system with a nose jab that slices into her
brain, then nodding at her sister, races out to the tunnel connecting the
Shrine of Fire with the Shrine of Dali'la on the surface. Nearby, Angel
notices Score taking off, then sensing the engineer's purpose, drills two
warriors in the head with her pistol before following...

* * *

Above, Seisur smiles as he senses the wild battle going on
underground. This was good. Very good. His brother was trapped in his
supposedly "invulnerable" sanctuary, both entrances now probably
booby-trapped to prevent any of them from escaping to cause trouble
anew...and in a matter of moments, the Fire of Heaven would all face
Dali'la's judgement for their betrayal...

Eh?!

He pales as he detects two of the pagan warrior-women storming up the
third exit from the Shrine of Fire, the one that led into the Shrine of
Dali'la. What were they coming HERE for?! He then shudders as he senses them
stop before a room...

No!!! Not THERE!!

Bolting up, he runs for the stairs to the basement...

* * *

Yasur smiles as he hears the sound of combat echo from the main
hall. How nice of the Sagussans to bring themselves here to face their
punishment, be dragged before Dali'la for their many crimes against Him.
Raising his personal combat knife, he concentrates as he injects the mixture
into his bloodstream.

Lufy turns the corner, then sees the man kneeling before a curious
shrine. Two possible outcomes could arise from this. She could challenge
Yasur to a hand-to-hand fight, pit her skills against his and settle it
honourably. Warrior to warrior. It would be a good way to judge how much
knowledge the Dali'la had stolen from the Ancient Mothers all those years ago.

She then remembers Kilsur's friends on Colony Twenty-six.

Orinsur.

Cassur.

Her pistol comes up, one bolt lashing out to punch through the back
of Yasur's head, sending him flying into the shrine! Lufy then draws out a
bauximite flash-bomb, arms it, then drops it by the priest's feet before
withdrawing...

* * *

"This is it!"

Score grins as she tenderly pulls the small book from its pedestal.
While this was a reproduction that had been specially prepared for the Dali'la
and their warriors, it was still a good sample of the knowledge the Ancient
Mothers had devised over their time in this life. The knowledge that would be
Yehisril's by right of its birthplace...but was now Sagussa's by right of
Yehisril's desire not to deal with such knowledge anymore.

"Lyna..." Angel stares over her friend's shoulder, her hand feeling
the page as if trying to sense the aura of the wise women who had written such
words down in the first place.

"I can't believe they got this much," Score shudders, flipping
through the book. "This is way worse than anyone believed."

"They were too busy fighting for their place here," Angel muses, then
hums. "Why don't you come in?"

They turn to see Seisur standing at the doorway, a neutral look on
the priest's face. A touch of uncertainty lurks deep in his eyes. Maybe a
one- on-one confrontation could go his way; he was in damned good shape and
was well- experienced. He probably knew of the Sagussan trick of dropping
their mind- shields to overload a Vosian's tracking powers, thus may have
devised a way to dull that part of his brain. But not a two-on-one.

Score and Angel exchange looks, then stare at the book in the
former's hand. She then gazes at Seisur. "The originals."

"Eh?" the priest blinks.

"The stuff your ancestors stole from the graves of ours."

He blinks, then his eyes dart to gaze on the vault to one side of the
room. Angel looks at it, then smiles. "Thank you."

"You can't take it!" he snarls.

"Oh?!" Score muses. "Look. One of three things can happen here
right now. If you haven't sensed it, your brother's dead; my sister polished
him off just now. You can try to fight us, you'll lose that fight and
probably your life, we take what we want and leave. We'll be prepared to pay
what political and diplomatic price that could extract from us; our people on
Sagussa trust our judgement and there are many on Vos who remember what our
leader did to the Mikado ten years ago."

Seisur trembles. "Or we can obey the exact letter of the Non-
Interference Directive, you can keep what you have," Score then icily smiles,
"...and, seeing as we do believe in honesty, we would then feel it right to
tell the Chief Minister how you and your clerics actually ALLOWED the Fire of
Heaven to operate from here, go out to murder innocent people when it was your
responsibility as a Vosian citizen to report a possible crime. As to how that
affect's your influence in Parliament...I'll let you decide."

He blinks. "Or we take the third way," Score smiles, holding up the
book, then handing it to him. "You keep this. We take what it was all based
on, ALL of it, back to Sagussa. You have our silence at your benign
complicity towards your brother's actions with the Fire of Heaven. You also
keep that which kept you going all these years. The crime you did to our
ancestors is resolved."

Seisur blinks, then takes the book. "You drive an interesting
bargain, Duchess," he muses. "Agreed."

He walks over, then opens the safe. Angel looks inside, then draws
out the tray of rolled parchments, aged by time but lovingly preserved over
the centuries. She gazes at Seisur, then nods. It was all there. "Angel to
'Shinowataru'cha,'" she taps her wrist-comm. "Prepare to beam some documents
in front of me into the special isolation unit in sick bay. Maximum security
around it; I'll fill you in on it when I get there."

"Acknowledged, Inspector. Energizing now."

The documents vanish. "Oh, one more thing," Score stares at him.
"Leave the Hunter Corps survivors alone; ALL of them. Let them have their
lives and families back; that's all they want. The one GOOD thing you people
espouse is that Dali'la frowns on people FORCED to obey His ways. Wouldn't
you agree?"

"And if we refuse?" he stares at her.

"Then we'll be watching you," Score's eyes narrow. "Every moment of
every day. Every step you make, we'll know about it. If there is one false
step, one person that is hurt and we trace it back to you or any
Dali'lan...then you will learn the price one pays for betraying the
Sisterhood. Let's go, Angel. We're done."

The two leave. Seisur watches them, then restores the book to its
proper place...

* * *

Days later, Tere'na City, the Hall of the Republic...

"Flightmistress Lufy, come forward, please."

Lufy rises, then bows before the Prime Councillor of Sagussa and the
Chief Minister of Vos. Sakura drapes the first ribbon over her shoulders,
gold- trimmed black holding a medallion etched with a replica of Lyna's
Ascension. "For your gallant action over Earth in defence of our Terran
friends, for your brave and gallant action at Camp Mensohn and on Daltos
Island in defence of our Vosian friends as they recover from their tragic
civil war, the Republic bestows you her highest award for gallantry, the
Order of Lyna, so that you may serve as an example for others."

The crowd cheers as Lufy salutes her, then allows Hessur to drape the
red ribbon bearing Lecasur's portrait over her shoulders. "Flightmistress,
you came to Sabaku shortly after that incident over Earth to seek answers, to
attempt to bring justice for someone who chose death over betraying the woman
he recognized or betraying his own kin," Hessur sighs. "That quest
eventually turned into a quest to bring justice to many of Vos' orphaned
children, a quest that reminded us that ALL victims of our civil war, even
those who gave the Mikado their loyalty, must be tended to if we are ever to
finally heal from that terrible time. To that end, by special order of
Parliament, I bestow onto you the title of Commander of the Order of Lecasur,
in thanks for all you've done for us."

"Thank you," Lufy salutes them both over the applause...

* * *

"So, what's happening back home?"

"It's strange, to be honest with you," Hessur muses as he and Hunba
walk through the crowd. "A day after that thing on Daltos Island, Seisur
calls me up and pledges the Dali'lans' complete and willing support for
legislation concerning the Hunter Corps getting what they need to fully
recover. Once Parliament goes back into session, I think I can ram it
through the House of Commons and get it signed before next month."

"About time," Hunba muses. "Something tells me that when they were
there, Lufy and her friends stuck a gun to Seisur's back and made him agree.
I always knew there was too much collusion between the Dali'lans and the Fire
of Heaven."

"Can't be proven in a court of law; just a lot of hearsay," Hessur
hums. "I wonder if I should ask..."

"Don't," Hunba shakes her head. "The *pirpirsiw'r* living here can
be very tight-lipped when it comes to matters of honour. They must've made a
deal with Seisur that allows him to keep his hide and pride, but makes him
leave the Corps survivors alone."

"That's good," Hessur sighs. "It's funny, isn't it?"

"What is?"

Both turn as Lufy and Score come up. "How much our planets have
influenced each other even as we try to keep our cultures and societies
intact," Hessur sighs. "The Dali'la taking all those things from your
ancestors, allowing it to transform them and leading to so much misery.
Sometimes, I wonder if in the end, there can be a Prime Directive or a Non-
Interference Directive."

"Laws are made by human beings, Chief Minister," Score hums.
"They're good guidelines for leading a decent life, but sometimes, they're as
imperfect as we are. You can't make laws for every occasion. Sometimes, you
just have to go by what your heart says is right and what experience teaches
you is the better way."

"True," Hessur muses. "So, what's happened to everyone that came
with you here, Lufy?"

"Well, Gilsur's shacking up with the Mobius Five," Lufy muses,
looking over to see the hacker with Kiddy and Lebia. "Tulnba's starting
nursing school so she can be with Ayu. Kuinba's going to be working with
Catty in the EMRU for the next while. Kilsur's joining Internal Security;
that seems to be the place most ex-Corps hunters go to. As for the kids we
found in that cave under Mensohn, they're just being adopted in...especially
since my elder daughters have their eyes on two of them."

"Aren't they too young for that?" Hessur blinks.

"You'd be amazed at how fast people mature here," Lufy stares at him,
then shudders. "Damn scary at times!"

Score and Hunba laugh. "What about you, Oshoi'cha?" the former then
gazes at her younger sister. "I saw Henra weeping into her brandy across the
room. What's going on?"

"I'm staying on sabbatical for another year, then I might turn my
wings in and go into general defence or join the Pathfinders," Lufy winks.
"There've been times I've wanted so much to hang up the flight suit and forget
about space dogfights and hand-to-hand combat in weird places. I just want to
go out, be with the people I love, care for my kids and stop living on the
damned edge, even if it's just for a little while. You're the lucky one,
Ashoi'cha; you stayed clear of it altogether."

"Well, it's nice to flex the old muscles every once in a while; I
train as much as you do," Score smiles. "But believe me, I like building
maglev trains and ground cars more. It's nice to mould metal for other things
than a sword."

"Lufy!"

"Yo, Eluza," Lufy turns to greet her former commanding officer and
her bondmate, then blinks on seeing the fleet shipmistress' rank on Eluza's
collars. "What in Lyna's name happened to you, boss?! What's with that extra
bar?!"

"Well, you may be looking at the future Inspector-General of the
Sagussan Navy," Pony smiles.

"After all, Elle might consider retiring one day soon and Oryuu is
pretty well seen as the best to take her place; Feb avoids office work like
the plague," Eluza adds. "Besides, like you, I'm a little tired of putting
my life on the line in remote corners of the galaxy putting out fires. Being
closer to home with the mate and kids does have its own rewards."

"Never thought I'd ever see you push paper!" Lufy snorts.

"Who says I'm going to?!" Eluza muses as the three shipmates and
Score part from Hunba and Hessur, walking over to where the other "Hasei'cha"
crewmembers were waiting. "If there's one thing that's going to happen in
this navy of ours, we're going to get field commanders to take some more
responsibility instead of bucking it up the line to the desk-drivers."

"Oh, if it could only happen," Lufy rolls her eyes, then sees the
people who, until her children were born, had mattered the most in her life.
Eluza and Pony, Shildy and Rabby, Spea and Amy, Patty and Rumy, Mie. Catty.
"So...this is the end, huh?"

"Not really," Patty smiles. "Nothing ever truly ends."

"True," Amy smiles. "A toast."

Glasses are raised. "To R.S.S. 'Hasei'cha,'" the coxswain smiles.
"She went before her time."

"Hear, hear!" the others raise their glasses...

* * *

Tere'na-korgh...

"How far do we have to go?"

"Not far," Lufy smiles as she and Kilsur walk over the rocky shores
of the Sogh'haeng near the entrance to the great dome over Lyna's grave.
"It's forbidden to bury anyone inside the dome itself, so we laid them to
rest nearby."

"What did you do to the other bodies?"

"Buried the Lannarkites on the planet where they were born," Lufy
sighs. "As for Tarsur, we ground his corpse up and used it for fertilizer;
waste not, want not on this planet."

"Hope it doesn't poison the plants."

They laugh, then enter a memory tree grove north of the dome. Kilsur
had learned that according to legend, the memory tree won its name from Ram
and Atar after They destroyed Toghmoghbiki. They placed the *mei'na* of the
innocent victims of Entropy from the Master's keep within the tree, thus
ensuring that even if the trees died, they would live on through their
offspring.

Cassur and Orinsur are buried in the heart of the grove, under the
shadow of a large memory tree grown from saplings taken from the area before
the Clone Rights War; the species was nearly wiped out in the apocalypse that
followed. Both graves were simple, as befitting the lonely soldier killed far
from home and loved ones. A memorial flame burns between the grave markers,
the only thing separating the two blood-brothers in their eternal rest.

Lufy and Kilsur kneel on the prayer platform at the graves' feet,
then close their eyes. A quiet chant escapes his lips, a classic Vosian
lament to a fallen comrade, a brother-in-arms. He then places small bouquets
of fire blossoms on their graves, a joint present from Cassur's parents
(Orinsur's were killed in one of the battles leading up to the final battle
for Lecashuto), the crew of the "Hasei'cha"...and the Special Hunter Corps
Veterans' League, an intergalactic organization with members on Vos, Sagussa,
Earth (Mujanba McTavish was the League's president though it was
headquartered in Lecashuto) and other worlds. A final salute to two comrades
who's death had brought them such needed healing.

Rising, Lufy then raises her voice in "Book of Days"...then blinks as
more voices join in from behind her. She smiles as she senses the presence of
Catty, their children, Score, Kuinba and the "Hasei'cha" crew standing behind
them...

Her family.

* * *

A year later...

"So why are they calling us together for?!" Lufy wonders as she walks
into the travel pod.

"Who knows!" Catty shrugs as they, Kilsur (now a detective sergeant
in Tere'na City) and Kuinba (a child services doctor at T.C.H.'s Natal Wing)
step aboard. "Hey, everyone!"

"'Bout time you slowpokes show up!" Shildy grins as she pilots the
pod away from the central work terminal over Sen'sha Seven towards the
construction yard hovering some kilometres away. "What were you guys doing?!
A little four-way?!"

"What's this about, Eluza?!" Lufy wonders, ignoring the newly
promoted shipmistress' barb.

"Search me," the fleet shipmistress shrugs. "All I was told from
Oryuu and Nagisa was to get everyone together, then take them to Bay Ten at
the yard. They said it was a surprise."

"Oh, that must be the new interdimensional explorer the Third Fleet
wanted tested," Rumy nods.

"'Interdimensional explorer?!'" Kuinba blinks.

"Seeing as how there have been occasions when people travel from
dimension to dimension...our *daimon'cha* has been through that a few times in
his reckless youth...it was decided that to expand our study of transwarp
space, we needed a ship that could phase from dimension to dimension if need
be," Rumy muses. "They've been working on it for five years already."

"Wow!! You think of everything on this planet!" Kuinba hums.

"We do try," Eluza muses. "Ah, here we are!"

The pod steers into Bay Ten, a slip large enough to take on a ship
the Gatherer's size if necessary. Awaiting them is a sleek destroyer-sized
craft with extra-large engine blisters and an X-wing configuration ending in
large sensory pods. She was well armed despite her stated role as an
explorer; you never knew what you'd run into out there. The crewmates
whistle in awe on seeing the beautiful design...then a hush falls as they see
the name.

R.S.S. "Hasei'cha," NDS-707-A.

"We've come home," Lufy smiles.

Minutes later, the "Hasei'cha" slips out of the construction slip
into the void beyond. On the bridge, everyone relaxes, years of working
together once again turning them into a team.

Eluza looks around the bridge that was (according to the orders
awaiting her when they got aboard) hers for the time of the new ship's trials,
then nods to Amy. "Let's see what she's got!"

"Aye, ma'am!" Amy thrusts the accelerator.

The "Hasei'cha" vanishes into warp...

*** Never The End ***