If anybody is still reading this fic...I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!!!!!!! It had been 4 months since Ami's death and Serenity was lost. Time was moving and events were passing but she was standing still. When Ami had left, Serenity had felt that just maybe she'd be ok, but then her friend had fallen. Adrian had requested troops be sent to Mercury, but she couldn't. Not yet, the enemy still had one planet left to go through, she'd be a fool to send her military to a planet already overtaken, instead she sent them to Venus. That was 3 1/2 months ago, and even though Venus was beginning to look like a wasteland, the people were still alive. And that was the important thing. Venus's civilian population had only suffered about 250 deaths, and that was after a month and a half of attacks. This was excellent news and progress! However, Mina had sent a transmission 3 months ago. There had been a messenger... "Alexander!" Mina shouted across the room to her minister of foreign policy, "There's something on the radar here, its coming in from outer space very slowly and all of our ships are receiving the same message. It reads,(she scanned a finger over her computer screen, as an explosion somewhere in the air above frazzled it briefly.) "Citizens of Venus and residents of the Earth Alliance, I am the Emperor of the People of the Star, and I wish to initiate peace talks. I will tell my subjects to cease fire, if you too will halt yours and allow me to land, and enter your palace, please respond." What do you think?" Alexander walked over to her screen. "That is in fact from an enemy ship your Highness, but I don't know if it is genuine or not." Alexander was very handsome. He had dark brown eyes, and brown hair. He was naturally a bit tan and tall, but not as tall as Darien or Adrian. Mina had hired him for his skills as he was very intelligent and proved to be more than loyal, but had secretly been interested in him in another way ever since. "M'lady only you (CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES!) can decide whether or not to trust this proposal, you are the Queen." Then her warfare specialist approached her. "Dana, what do you think?" "Your Highness, I can't tell you whether or not to accept, but do NOT attack this ship. If this proposition is genuine, you do not wish to anger these "People of the Star" by killing their Emperor. But even if it is a trap, there is probably something of worth aboard that ship, don't shoot it down." Lucky for Venus, the Earth was still in contact with them, and Mina made a good decision, she would tell the "Emperor" she had to speak with the higher powers,(Serenity and Endymion) before giving them her answer. The "Emperor" accepted this and told his forces not to attack until he received an answer. An hour later, Mina sent Earth a transmission... "Mina!" The queen was quite surprised to see her, and feared this was another goodbye. "Mina is everything alright??" "Yes Serenity, everything is fine, for now.." And so Mina explained about the Emperor and that she and her supporters agreed. This was a trap, but they had to play into it, what else could they lose? The Queen looked around the table at the "skeletons" of her friends. Endymion was now a dark, serious individual, and the couple was no longer as close as they were before, and Serenity could feel the love leaking out of their marriage. Lenora..she was Serenity's daughter, in the minds of all, but she was a mystery. She had been the one to tell the court that Mina had left, she had spoken, but never again after that. She now looked like a 4 year old, though she wasn't even a year old. Her black hair reached her waist, so Serenity kept it braided, but Lenora was still a happy child. Marcus obviously missed Lita. Though his sidekick, Eric, was still hopeful since Mina survived, neither of them were the wisecracking "life of the party", as they used to be. Luna was ever-rounding, and requesting stranger and stranger foods, she was now 3 months pregnant, she too seemed lonely, but Artemis was always there for her, always smiling. Chad was always quiet, but now he never spoke a word other than of his soldiers. He always wanted harder training from them, hardly ever allowing them time with their families. And then there was Adrian. He would always bear the weight of a broken heart. He barely ate or slept these days. All he did was work on a plan to defeat the enemy, it was all that kept him going, the rest of the time he walked the castle grounds, thinking, or do he claimed. The Queen herself spent many hours, any time of day, just walking as well. She often ran into Adrian, and the two would ignore one another, they didn't care anymore. Those on Earth agreed that it was a trap, so they told Mina not to do anything, but Mina didn't seem to care what the Earth had to say, she was willing to take the chance... Serenity had lost all hope 2 months ago when it had been a whole month since speaking with Mina, when at a morning meeting, a message came through. "YOUR HIGNNESSES!" She was practically glowing with happiness. "Serenity! Endymion! The Emperor! It WAS a trap! But not for us, for "The People of the Star". "What? I don't understand?" Endymion stared at the leader of Venus in awe. "I couldn't contact you because all of my lines were devoted to sending transmissions to the enemy ships here, attacking me. We made them believe they were talking to a leader of there race and from simple conversations learned a great deal about the real enemy. Allow me to introduce you to the person behind all of this." Onto the screen stepped a tall, pale woman. She had deep purple eyes like Lenora's, a deep purple dress matching them, and long black hair. This was the woman that Serenity had met before..this was Lenora's mother. No one else in the room seemed to notice though. Of course, Lenora's mother was very young; this woman on screen looked much older, but still, it was her. Now she spoke. "Hello your Highnesses. My name is Anika, and I am also a queen, of the planet Veolitia (vee-o-LEE-sha). We are age old enemies of The People of the Star, and their star is called Amasul (ah-mah-SOOL), so they are Amasulians, and we are Veolitians. On the other side of the sun, there is a black hole, it is the first to be navigated through and stabilized. Through this black hole, you will enter a warp, and be transported to another galaxy. There, are our home planets. There are many smaller planets surrounding Amasul and Veolitia, and the inhabitants of these planets are inferior to us, but they are peaceful. Amasul always conquers planets for slaves, or out of blood lust, so naturally, Veolitia cannot stand by and do nothing. For centuries Amasul and Veolitia have been traversing the gaps between galaxies by locating black holes, or wormholes, or whatever else is found, to find and make contact with other galaxies. Amasul has made alliances with many planets for the sole purpose of finding and either destroying or enslaving inferior races. However, Veolitia is part of an Intergalactic Federation. With the help of other planets, we possess technology superior to that of the Amasulians. Only we can locate and stabilize black holes that are warps. With this technology we basically control the comings and goings of the universe. Do you understand?" Serenity stared open mouthed at the screen. "Im sorry, I followed all of that, and I understand, but..but.!" "Why the hell are you here!" Adrian finished the thought. The woman on screen smiled warmly. "We're here.to help you. Veolitia has been trying to keep the Amasulians confined to certain parts of the universe. Unfortunately, we needed to bring back some of our own from your galaxy. You were determined to be a peaceful race and almost equivalent to our level of intelligence, so our research was finished and we opened the black hole to allow our spies back in. However, a comet zipped through the black hole right when it opened. It was an Amasulian base with transforming abilities, and Mina has told me that this was the comet you detected because it kept changing. Also, I recognize the race, and they are definitely here. In any case, we can no longer control the portal completely. Somehow, the Amasulians found the code that will keep it open. We believe they want to take over your solar system and make it their own, so they are trying to destroy your lands, as well as your hearts." She seemed to stare right at Adrian when she said that, and then at Serenity, both shifted nervously. "Queen Anika," Endymion began, "What can we do, and why can't you close the portal?" "Well, I will need your help in decision making, so I would suggest you send your best minds here, to Venus. This sounds suspicious, I understand that, but you must trust me. The Amasulians are too dangerous to attack on your own. As to the portal," A shadow came over the woman's eyes. "Well if I were to close it, it would only stay closed until the Amasulians opened it again, it would be fruitless." "Well, I mean no disrespect to you, but isn't that a rather useless piece of technology if it can slip through your fingers and had no unbreakable safety precautions?" Eric commented. Anika eyed him coldly. "Your highness, may I be introduced to your company?" "Oh! Yes Im sorry where were my manners. This Is my husband, King Endymion, my close friend and personal advisor, Luna and her husband Artemis, my Minister of Defense and Warfare, Lord Adrian, Minister of Foreign policy, Lord Marcus, and my Minister of Intelligence, Lord Eric." She did not mention Lenora, and Anika didn't notice. "Lord Eric," Queen Anika began, "I see. You are the Minister of Intelligence; however, I suggest you not question my operation methods. This is a rather touchy subject," She was almost yelling, her voice raised. "and YOU seem to need MY help!" Her face was red, but so was Eric's. "Im sorry your highness, as I said, I meant no harm." He blushed and swallowed hard. Endymion stepped in. "In any case, Your Highness, this does seem suspicious. I really don't know if it would be wise to trust you." "I understand completely. Let me suggest something to you, research my people, you will find information on us if you go back in the history books, this will provide a code you can enter into your computers and read up to date information on our race. We have nothing to hide, please get back to us. Oh, and the reason Mina hasn't contacted you for a month, is because we've not only been sending transmissions to the Amasulians to keep them from firing, but also...we've made contact with another planet. Last night we sent a transmission to Pluto," Serenity's eyes widened hopefully. "We did receive a response, but it was only fuzz." She smiled and stepped off the screen. After that, Mina spoke with the Earth and convinced them this was a good idea. However, it was decided that Serenity should stay back with Lenora, just in case it was a trap. Of course Luna and Artemis would remain as well, but everyone else would go, Eric, Marcus, Chad, Adrian, Endymion... And if this failed, what else could they do? And so it was with the heaviest heart that Serenity said goodbye to those she loved..