It was an ordinary spring day in Tokyo, far above the meeting place of the League. Usagi and Minako had finals coming up, so they had to study, study, and study some more. Ami Mizuno, as usual, had prepared for the highly difficult Tokyo U finals a long time in advance, so she was relaxing for once in her life. Makoto Kino and Haruka Ten'oh went through yet another tiresome day of training in the Japanese Self-Defense Force, while Michiru Kai'oh practiced intensely for her violin solo at the Tokyo Conservatory. Rei Hino ran a fire reading and felt vague premonitions of some trouble, some new evil, but the readings were so weak that she was confident that this was nothing that her loyal allies, the Sailor Senshi, could not handle. Unbeknownst to any of them, a small, secretive cabal watched all this through the spycam network that they had put up.

Far above the underground fortress that had served as the headquarters of the League ever since the disastrous 23rd Battle of Dalton, the newly established Revolutionary Knights of Azabu Juuban, the League's cell in that area, observed their targets' every move, collecting data at a breakneck pace for their leadership. At the moment, its leader, C.R. Rhodes, watched all this with a hawk's eye. Rhodes was a veritable pale scarecrow of a man, with a wild, ill-kempt mane and unruly beard, and did not seem to be a very impressive man in his tie-dye shirt, ripped jeans, and leather sandals. However, behind that unruly appearance hid McAllister's most trusted agent and probable heir to the League leadership- and when one received the endorsement of the likes of McAllister, the chair of state was yours for the asking. As Rhodes watched the screens intensely, a Japanese woman in a silver-and-gold kimono, slight even by her culture's standards, entered the room.

Oh, shit!!!, Rhodes thought to himself. He recognized the woman on sight as Suki, a League agent rumored to be an experienced assassin/courier in the employ of SpecOps-which, Rhodes knew, probably meant trouble for him, since he was an army regular. Nevertheless, Rhodes did his best to remain calm, speaking in his cool, controlled Cockney accent: "Good day, Suki. What is it that you were sent to report to me???"

"I arrive with orders directly from Vladimir," Suki stated coolly, as if she were simply reporting some insignificant piece of gossip instead of orders that could lead to massive death and destruction.

"I.see, Suki, I see. Would these orders concern the Sailor Scouts??" Rhodes inquired; though he already knew the answer, he still quivered at the thought of how SpecOps might want those orders carried out.

"Of course, you blithering imbecile!! Here is the document that SpecOps has prepared concerning the methods that you shall deal with the Sailor Scouts," Suki continued, noting Rhodes's discomfort as he perused the report. He shuddered suddenly, probably at the thought of one of SpecOps's "suggestions" on how to deal with the Sailor Scouts-not that it would have shaken her. Suddenly, Rhodes put down the papers and made quite clear his feelings about his orders: "I don't like this.not one bit."

Suki felt a wave of disgust wash over her at the notion of a soldier factoring in his own emotions into his battle plan and walked out in a huff. I'll tell Daddy about this one for sure, Suki thought to herself. And after he hears about this, there'll not be enough of Rhodes for what few friends he has to bury!!

Meanwhile, Rhodes had grown fearful over that fit of pique, knowing that he'd be in trouble with SpecOps if she told. He had tried time and again to tell McAllister that his authority would begin slipping away because of the powers Vladimir had convinced him to give to SpecOps. McAllister, however, because of Vladimir and his lies, would not listen, and SpecOps had come to dominate the League, much to Rhodes's chagrin. Thanks to that bastard of a second-in-command, SpecOps now had the authority to keep most of its operations totally secret, to execute any individual they deemed a threat, and to ignore all rules of war and ethics without expecting any sort of punishment. The only thing that had kept them from executing McAllister and his allies was McAllister's massive popularity among the army regulars, who would be out of Vladimir's control if anything happened to Jim and SpecOps could be linked to it. Rhodes, however, rested assured that Vladimir had some sort of plan to ruin Jim in the eyes of his compatriots. But that was far off; right now, the priority was to undermine SpecOps's power on the ground.

Rhodes perused the orders he had been given again. Once again, he was appalled at the twisted imagination that someone at SpecOps had to have. How else could someone have thought to have Sailor Uranus killed in a hit- and-run which had been made to look accidental, then rebuilt as a robot à la The Stepford Wives and programmed to kill her former lover, Sailor Neptune, and then have the same process done to Neptune with her and Uranus sent after Sailor Saturn, whom they had helped care for when she was but a wee one? This was the final straw; SpecOps would be stopped!! Luckily for those who, like Rhodes, resented SpecOps's growing might, there was a path of recourse.as the man who knocked at the door that instant knew quite well.

The man was fairly tall and wore a three-piece suit, which made Rhodes a bit uncomfortable. He peered around the room from behind his glasses with those suspicious ocean-blue eyes, and then found that candlestick. He pulled it and a hidden door emerged, which led to the hiding place/HQ of the conspiracy. Just then, a group of conspirators entered the open door; the last one, a young woman who appeared to be around 20, closed the door behind her.

They all proceeded down the hallway and all sat down in the hidden room. Rhodes began the discussion: "G'day to all of you!!! I am C.R. Rhodes, the man who brought you all here today. Sorry for all the secrecy, but what with SpecOps practically runnin' the joint, it was a necessary precaution. We all know that we're here to do something about Vladimir, I know all of you, and all of you know me-but you don't all know each other, so why don't we introduce ourselves??"

Just then, the man in the three-piece suit rose and introduced himself in a calm London accent: "I am Alan Evan Fairfield V, myself a former SpecOps agent and currently a major in the Gaean Cavaliers. I fight for honor, and find myself completely disgusted by that swine Vladimir. Here's to a freer tomorrow!!!"

Then the others introduced themselves, but only one name stuck in Rhodes's mind: Naru Osaka. If Rhodes wasn't beginning to lose it, he could have sworn that that name had played a very important role in the League's past.and he had a feeling that it would do so again. He discreetly sized her up; she was attractive enough, if dressed a bit conservatively for his tastes in her gray sweater and black knee-length skirt. Her short, wavy brown hair looked slightly unkempt, and her ice-blue eyes glazed over from exhaustion, but she would be a nice catch even by Rhodes's high standards of women. Concentrate, man!!!, Rhodes thought to himself, snapping back to reality.

"Vladimir has driven us to the wall with his damned influence over McAllister!! Because of him, SpecOps answers to nobody and we all live in fear!! But we all came here knowing that, so why don't you spring that surprise on us now, Mr. Rhodes?" Fairfield smirked, right hand running through his beard.

"Of course, Fairfield, now is the perfect time. As Fairfield told us, Vladimir has been playing our leader for a fool and engendering an atmosphere of fear. He is, in short, a mealy-mouthed creep! But we have evidence here indicating that he is merely a front for an even bigger creep!! As of yet, we don't know who, but our sources indicate that the real target luxuriates somewhere in the confines of Nemesis. This confirms our worst fears, for we assumed that we had at least 50 years before Nemesis became a threat to he sovereignty of Earth, so activity not even 15 years after the death of Wiseman and the Doom Phantom forces us to speed up our timetable significantly. The worst-case scenario is a full-scale invasion of Earth.but I know that there are no hands that I would more readily entrust the fate of Earth to than yours." At this, the assembly cheered appreciatively, for Rhodes obviously spoke the truth in spite of doubts he had had about some members earlier.

As the cheering came to a halt, Fairfield started to mention one very contentious issue: "Before we adjourn, we must settle once and for all the issue of cooperation with the forces of the Future Moon Kingdom. Thus far, we have maintained a policy of noninterference, as they engaged threats to Earth that would have killed scores of talented agents if we had had to handle them. On the other hand, the prophesied time of the Moon Kingdom's arrival grows no farther, and they will become a threat to Terran sovereignty sooner or later. We can no longer beat about the bush concerning this: are we their allies or their enemies?? All who favor a state of alliance with the Moon Kingdom, say aye!" "Aye!!!" came back the response of Naru Osaka and 14 other delegates.

"All opposed, say nay!!"

"Nay!!!" rang the voices of Fairfield and 14 other delegates.

"My word, Rhodes, we've got ourselves a tie!! You know what that means: you must cast the deciding vote!!"

Bloody 'ell!!, Rhodes mused. This is exactly what I didn't want to see happen!! We're going to lose a lot of allies by taking a clear stand on this issue. Is it worth it?? I could call a recess and avoid the issue yet again, but that's not what people expect from a bold leader!!

OK, Rhodes, you've settled that you're going to decide this.but which way do I go?? I stand to gain allies in the Knights of Terra Antiqua and the Noble Defenders of the Planet if I vote aye, but I also risk upsetting the Alliance for Terran Sovereignty and the World Seekers of Enlightenment, and vice versa!! Fairfield, my mentor, voted nay, but that interesting Naru girl voted aye!

Slow down, Rhodes!! You're even daring to mention your mentor's opinion and that of some random chick in the same breath?? Shame on you!! Well, I guess it's decided!!

"Hurry up and decide already, Rhodes!! And for God's sake, don't call recess until after this issue is decided!!" Fairfield implored, hands clasped together as if in prayer.

"I've come to a decision: the Alliance fully rejects any relation with the Moon Kingdom, excepting that of bitter enemies. Terran sovereignty now, Terran sovereignty tomorrow, Terran sovereignty forever!!!" Rhodes shrieked, going into a 21-gun salute on the last syllable of "forever." Fairfield smiled beatifically, while Naru glared at him with pure hatred in her eyes. That hurt Rhodes, but not as badly as Fairfield's disapproval would have.

"This meeting is adjourned!! I see y'all within a month's time in this very same room!!" Rhodes concluded, wiping the sweat of stress off his brow.

Fairfield walked away, a knowing smile on his face. Everything is going according to plan, Fairfield noted. The Cleansing of Humankind will not wait long!! The chain of events that I helped push along today will lead to a great deal of the Nemesians and Senshi gathering on Earth for a climactic battle of dark and light-making it quite convenient for wholesale eradication of their tainted legacy!! The Union for Terran Sovereignty is the perfect instrument through which to act-they will seek to establish themselves amongst the other factions, allowing me to justify anything to them through the fame gained from it!! If they fail, however, I'll have a few thermonuclear weapons to finish the job!! Then the Terran strain will be purified, and Humanity's true potential can be unlocked!!!