by Johinsa
Jena stepped off the teleport platform, her younger sister Ani clinging to her hand. Everything was so big! The receiving area, the Academy complex, the giant transport ships hulking on the airstrip in the distance--Jena had never seen anything like it. This was certainly the heart of the negaverse.
Ani tugged at her hand excitedly, pointing. "Look, Jena! Soldiers!" She gestured at a squad of people in army grey. Most of them were human, but there were quite a few mutants and nonhumans among them.
"That's right, Ani. Good for you." Jena smiled at her sister. Ani was always enthusiastic about everything, taking a childlike delight in the world around her. Childlike was the right word; she had been an experimental subject, and the tests had damaged her mind to the point that although Ani was nearly fourteen, her mind would never advance past six. Their parents had decided, after much thought, to send Ani away to the Academy with Jena, where she would no longer be their concern.
"Hey!" A young man, a human with blond hair and blue eyes, waved at them from several meters away. "Hey, you! Cadets!"
"That's us!" Jena called back.
He walked toward them, and the rank insignia on his shoulder was visible. Belatedly, Jena remembered to salute, nudging Ani sharply to make her do the same. "My name is Jeddite. I'm a lieutenant in the Queen's forces. They've assigned me as your guide for the next few days."
"Just us?" Jena asked, surprised. "I'd have thought a lieutenant would have more important--"
He shook his head ruefully, smiling. "Normally, yes. But I'm sort of out of Queen Beryl's favor at the moment, so I'm working as cadet instructor for now." Jeddite stiffened abruptly. "Uh-oh. Here comes trouble. Just stand at attention and pretend you're not listening."
Jena and Ani watched another man come storming toward the lieutenant. "Jeddite! Can I talk to you?" His green eyes were flashing, and his long white hair and blue cape flapped behind him, even in the absence of any noticeable wind. Weather-sensitive, probably, Jena thought. This was confirmed when he came closer and she could see tiny lightning-bolts shooting from his fingertips.
"What is it, Malachite?" Jeddite asked tiredly.
"Jeddite, you left your exercise shorts on the floor again." Ani giggled, then quickly clapped her hands over her mouth. Malachite glared at her a moment before speaking again. "If I have to share a room with you, you could at least keep your side clean."
"It is clean," Jeddite countered calmly. "I left my shorts on your side."
"That's even worse!" exclaimed Malachite. "Don't you know anything? My side is my side, and you can't touch it."
"So? Go bunk with that slut Zoisite if you hate me so much."
"You're one to talk, Jeddite." He leered at the two cadets who still stood at attention. "I thought you usually like your women older, but--"
"They're cadets, Malachite. See, this is my job. Maybe you should get one; it might improve your temper."
Malachite snorted. "As a matter of fact, I came to tell you I've been promoted. I've already moved out of our quarters. I'm a commander now."
Jeddite stared at him, confused. "If you've moved out already, why the hell are you bugging me about my shorts?"
Malachite smirked. "So I can put you on report for insulting a superior officer. Bye, lieutenant." He turned and left.
"I hate him," Jeddite muttered once Malachite was out of earshot.
"Sir?" Jena asked tentatively. "Umm--should we leave?"
"What? Oh, no, it's all right. Look, I'll show you to the barracks right now and you can get settled in."
They followed him to a long rectangular building and into a room filled with rows of beds. Several female cadets in uniform snapped to attention as Jeddite entered. He waved them off. "No need for that, I'm here informally. Who's in charge?"
A tall blonde girl raised her hand. "Me. Uh, Cadet Mayri. What've you got?" She spied Jena and Ani standing behind him. "Oh. Fresh meat."
"I'll leave you to get acquainted, then," Jeddite said. "I've got some more new arrivals to check in." He saluted informally and left.
"All right, maggots, tell me your names," Mayri ordered. "Why aren't you at attention? Don't you know the right way to report to your commanding officer?"
Jena saluted. "Sir, Cadet Jena reporting, sir!" she shouted. Then, in a lower tone, "Ani, tell her your name."
"Hi!" Ani said. "I'm Ani. Who're you?"
Mayri stared at her, then at Jena. "She some kind of retard or something?"
"It's not her fault!" Jena protested.
"No-one said it was, kid. Answer the question."
"Yes, she's--damaged," Jena said slowly. "There was an accident when we were little."
"Okay." Mayri paused for a moment, just long enough to let Jena think that Mayri had bought her explanation. "Two demerits for lying to your CO. I know about the experiments; it's in her permanent record."
Ani tugged on Jena's sleeve. "Are you talking about me? Did I do something bad?"
"No, Ani, you didn't do anything," Jena answered.
One of the other cadets stepped up beside Mayri. "Sir, lights out in ten minutes."
"Right. Get lost." Mayri turned back to Jena. "Uniforms are in the closet. New kids sleep by the door. Wake-up call's at six. Sweet dreams."
A dark-haired male cadet stood. "Four soldiers, sir. One to engage her and draw her to the other two, and one in reserve."
Jeddite nodded. "Not bad. But you're forgetting that Sailor V might well be able to kill the first soldier before he was able to lure her into a trap. Any other suggestions? Jena?"
"Two to attack, and two in ambush," Jena said. "As soon as she injures or kills the first one, the second one runs. She'd pursue it, and it would be very difficult for her to hit it until she's where they want her."
"Not bad," Jeddite said admiringly. "However, it calls for the sacrifice of a soldier. This is something we don't want to do unless absolutely necessary."
"He could pretend he's injured," another girl pointed out. "Then not only would he not be lost, he'd be able to surprise Sailor V on her way out in case she beats the others."
A bell rang. "That's it for today, cadets," Jeddite said. "Get to your next class." The room emptied quickly.
Jena stayed behind until the rest of them had left. "Yes, Jena? Is something wrong?" Jeddite asked.
"Umm--yes, sir. I'm--" She tried to gather her thoughts. "I'm worried about Ani. She isn't doing very well."
"Yes, I know," Jeddite said. "I've been keeping tabs on all the new cadets, and her progress is much slower than we would have expected, even allowing for her problems." He smiled reassuringly. "But don't worry, Jena. We're taking care of her, you know that. I'm sure that once she adjusts, she'll do fine."
Jeddite, reinstated in favor with the Queen, rose swiftly to the rank of General. He began a series of attacks against a new enemy that had arisen. Then, one day, something terrible happened.
"I wonder what's going on?" Jena commented as she and Ani walked back to barracks from their personal-combat class. "It's never this quiet."
"Maybe everyone's sleeping," Ani suggested brightly. Jena laughed.
They opened the barracks door and saw Mayri lying on her bed, eyes red from crying. "What's wrong, sir?" Jena asked.
"You didn't hear?" Mayri said, surprised. She took a deep breath, steeling herself. "Jeddite's dead."
Jena's mind reeled. Jeddite--dead? It couldn't be. This had to be some kind of horrible mistake. Jeddite was a good guy. He wasn't supposed to die. "How--how did it happen?" Jena whispered.
Mayri shook her head. "We don't know. Word from up top says he was fatally injured fighting the Sailor Scouts." She spat the name derisively. "Our Queen tried to save him, but it was too late."
"That's too bad," Ani said. "Jeddite was nice. He's not coming back?"
"Yeah, but listen--" Mayri looked around, then continued in a lower tone. "We're going to get revenge. Yorah and me are going to attack tonight, see if we can lure those Sailor Scouts out and destroy them."
Jena grinned fiercely. "I'm in. I'd love to pay them back."
Ani nodded. "Me too. What do we do?"
A few hours later, four cadets arrived at the teleport station. The attendant stood at his post, back turned and eyes closed. "He'll tell them he saw nothing," Yorah explained. "Less questions, you know. This isn't exactly an authorized mission."
"Right. Let's go."
The cadets materialized on a street in downtown Tokyo. It was unusually deserted. "All right," Mayri said. "Yorah, start destroying things. Make lots of noise; we want the Sailor Scouts to find us. Try not to hit any civilians, though, we're only after the Scouts."
Yorah raised his hands and began shooting blue energy blasts at the nearby buildings. Walls crumbled and collapsed, and several small fires started. "Good!" Mayri shouted over the noise. "Keep going!" She led Jena and Ani to a hiding place behind a parked car, and they waited.
"Mars--Fire--Ignite!" A burst of flame came out of nowhere, striking Yorah. He tried to dive out of the way, but the flame followed him, burning him to a charred corpse.
"By the Queen," Mayri whispered, sickened. "How could anyone do that? That girl is mine. Yaaaaaiiii!" She leapt from her hiding place, firing lightning bolts at the red-suited Scout. Jena followed, Ani trailing behind her.
Jena concentrated on her energy, aiming her attacks with precision. Detachedly she watched Mars stagger back, wounded; a few seconds later, Mayri fell to the ground, dead.
"Moon--Tiara--Magic!" A glowing disk flew toward them.
"Ani! Run! Get out of the way!" Jena warned her. Ani only stood, transfixed by the light. The disk sliced through the air, golden light burning closer, closer--
Ani's body hit the pavement. "Nooo!" Jena screamed. "You killed my sister!" She channeled all her energy into herself, preparing for one final attack that would destroy the murdering monsters who had killed Jeddite and Ani.
But even as she released it, she knew it was too late. Jena felt the searing pain of Mars' fireball striking her. Through a red haze, she tried feebly to attack again, to move limbs that somehow no longer responded to her commands.
"I think it's dead," Mars said. "That was a hard one. Is it my imagination, or are these nega-creeps attacking more often than before? I mean, last night Jeddite and now this?"
"Nevertheless, you handled it well," Luna said admiringly. "Especially you, Mars."
"Whaddya mean, especially Mars?" Sailor Moon demanded. "I was just as good as her. Didn't you see how I dusted that little nega-jerk?"
"Ani," Jena whispered through cracked and bleeding lips. "Her name was Ani. Why did you have to kill her? She was just a kid. She didn't do anything."
Sailor Mars looked around. "Guys, did you hear something? I think this one's still alive."
"Maybe we should try to help it," Mercury suggested. "Maybe we could get it to tell us why they're attacking again."
"You'll never get anything for me," Jena rasped. She drew her life-energy sharply inwards, then released it. I'm coming, Ani, was her last thought.
Mars shook her head. "No, I think it's dead."
"All this fighting makes me hungry," Sailor Moon commented. "How about we all go and get some ice cream sundaes? With hot fudge. And sprinkles. And--"
"You're a pig," Mars said, grinning. "But for once you've come up with a good idea. Let's go." Laughing, the three Sailor Scouts headed off down the street.
Behind them, Jena's body crumbled into dust, and vanished.