"Well it's all coming together now. We are off to the Third Battle of the Moon, and I am sure we're going to have to fight fiercely to survive. However, not all of the drama is happening outside the walls of the Samayahita. Not only is Victor acting up as usual, but we also have a new crewmember, one who I am not too comfortable with, and yet at the same time I seem to have a history with. You'll just have to keep reading to find out what happens next."

Lieutenant Hitoshi Tsumiyagi, Science Officer of the Samayahita

A Destiny Star

Chapter 6: Past, Present, Future

Hitoshi turned and opened the door. "I've got to go now. I'll see you around."

"Wait! I wanted to talk to you," Sasha said quietly. "It's been so long, so I thought…"

"I'm sorry," Hitoshi said as he closed the door behind him. "After all this time, I still can't…" He quickly walked away, making sure that girl didn't follow him. "How did all of this begin, anyway?"

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"It's going to be six hours before the battle begins," Dan said "You might as well all get some rest or something. I thought we were going to need everyone, but apparently it's all taken care of. I am giving everyone free run of the ship for the next four hours." He looked down at Hitoshi and Sasha, the two sitting directly in front of him. "Why don't you show her around, Hitoshi? You could also take her to her quarters and help her unpack if you want."

Sasha smiled. "I think we'll go ahead and take the grand tour right now." She grabbed his arm once again and Sosuke politely got up and allowed the two of them out. On the way past, he noticed Hitoshi's mildly unhappy expression. They quickly ran through the door and were gone.

"Did you notice that?" Sosuke asked Hana.

"Notice what?"

"They walked in and left with her holding on to his arm," he pointed out. "Therefore, they must have known each other, unless one of them moves really fast."

"Maybe she's just friendly," Hana suggested.

"But when she was talking to the captain, she was very solemn, and though she smiled, she did so out of courtesy. No, that's not necessarily true. Maybe the prospect of being with her old friend Tsumiyagi made her happy. Maybe they were more than friends at one time."

Hana leaned back and crossed her arms. "I think you're making more out of this than you should"

Sosuke sighed and stretched his legs. "Don't forget, Hana, that he ran off to get to the hangar when he heard the Aestivalis arrived. I think that also says something."

Hana stood up and walked over to Sosuke. "Maybe you're right, but we've got four hours to do whatever we want…" She tapped Sosuke on the shoulder and he slowly rose. They walked out the door hand in hand leaving only Kato and Dan on the bridge. Everyone else had left when dismissed.

"So, do you know what the big strategy is for this battle?" Kato asked quietly.

Dan gestured out the starboard window towards the Cosmos. "They've got a multi-barreled gravity blast cannon, so I assume they'll be on point. However, we are going to need to help them since they don't have as many Aestivalis as we do. For some reason, they did not yet receive all of their pilots, so our Aestivalis will cover them while they wipe out the larger battleships. Other than that, they haven't said anything to me at all yet."

"I see…" Kato said. "Well, let's just hope this goes as well as they think it will."

Dan sighed. "They don't think it's going to go well at all. They're guessing we're going take 60 losses throughout the fleet, and that's best case scenario. I don't even want to know what their worst case scenario is."

Meanwhile…

Sasha was clutching on to Hitoshi's arm as he led her down the corridor that led to the crew quarters. "Hitoshi-Chan, what have you been doing all of these years? Did they educate you on how to be a crewmember like they did with me?"

Hitoshi seemed distant continued looking straight ahead. "Yeah, that's it."

Sasha giggled. "Same old Hitoshi. Never could look me in the eye. You were always so shy around me. On the other hand, I was always shy around everyone except for you. Isn't that interesting? I guess that's why…"

"This is it," Hitoshi said, cutting her off. He pressed the button on the door and it opened, revealing a standard room with the same furniture that was in every other room. "You can unpack your bags now and change into something else. I'll go wait outside."

Sasha threw her bag on the floor and grabbed his arm again. "Help me unpack, please!" Hitoshi reluctantly walked over and helped her put her bag on the bed. The bag was not large, just big enough to hold the essentials and a few changes of clothes. "Could you put those shirts on hangars and stick them in the closet?" she asked. Hitoshi just nodded and slid the closet door open. He then pulled the shirts out and unfolded them, and he was about to begin his task when a letter fell out of the bundle and landed at his feet. His friend did not notice, so he picked it up and checked it out.

"That's my old home address at the Nergal facility apartment complex," Hitoshi thought to himself. He slipped the letter into his pocket and continued to put her clothes away. Once he finished, he said, "Do you mind if I run over to my room for a second? I've got to…yeah." He walked out the door quickly and she just stood there and stared at the open door.

Once Hitoshi arrived back to his room, he quickly locked the door and jumped onto his bed. "Now then, what could it be that she was going to send me? It couldn't hurt to have a little peak inside, seeing as how it isn't sealed." He slowly began to slip the flap of the envelope up and pull out the contents.

"So that's what you were doing!"

Hitoshi jumped up and landed on the floor quite painfully. In the doorway, Sasha stood with her right hand held in front of her. The nano-implants began to glow. "I have these too, you know, and that means it's a trivial matter to open a locked door." Hitoshi sighed and stood up, rubbing his backside. Her hand stretched out demandingly. "My letter, please." He slowly retrieved the letter from the floor and handed it to her. "There's a reason I never sent it."

"Then why do you keep it with you?" he asked, feeling somewhat ashamed of himself.

"I just want to, that's all," she replied. She slipped the letter into her back pocket and walked back out the door. Hitoshi quickly followed her.

"I'm sorry that I did that, I was just curious since it had my name and former address on it. Actually, no one besides those I had worked with should have been able to access that address, so the fact that you had it means…"

"Help me move the bed, please," she said, cutting him off. It was obvious she did not want to talk about it, so Hitoshi shut up once and for all and did not press any farther.

"If you don't mind, I think I will take a nap now," Sasha said wearily. She collapsed on the bed and shut her eyes. "Could you turn the light off on the way out?" Hitoshi nodded and flipped the switch before closing her door.

Meanwhile…

Kadin Ara, the scientist on board the Samayahita, was busy studying some of the work he had brought with him for the trip. He made sure to keep his door locked at all times to avoid interruptions, and to make sure no one "accidentally" read the entire briefcase full of papers. Presently, there was a knock at his door.

"Who is it?" he asked loudly.

"It's Victor."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh sh…Fine, I'll let you in you jackass." As he got up, he snickered at his currently baseless disgust and liberal use of expletives. The door slid open and Victor walked in quickly before shutting the door behind him and locking it.

"So, tell me about Mars," the Nergal employee said quietly but sternly. He was obviously serious about getting information from Kadin.

"I'm sorry, but I need clearance to talk about things like that. And you're certainly not the clear type." Victor couldn't decide whether to be confused or to punch him in the stomach. Regardless, he slapped down a folder full of papers in front of Kadin.

"Here is all the authorization I need. It's from the Chairman. See for yourself!" Kadin fumbled through the folder and pulled out a paper. "What are you doing?" Victor asked. The scientist held the paper up to the light. Sure enough, the Nergal logo watermark was present behind the signature of Nagare Akatsuki.

Kadin sighed. "Okay, fine. What do you want to know?"

Victor smiled and sat down. "At the pole, in the chamber that collapsed, you found something. Only three people in the solar system know what it was. Tell me." Kadin squirmed and shuffled some papers.

"Only if I can get together with your mama," Kadin replied. Victor growled and Kadin laughed. "I'm just kidding, just kidding. Once was enough for me." Victor stood up and slammed his fist on the table. 1

"Damn it, I've got to know! What the hell was in that room!"

Kadin laughed. "Chill out, man. I'm getting to that, just like your mom." Victor growled once again and sat down. "At any rate, that room is something of a mystery to us even today. We do not know why it was there, and it does not seem to be of any vital importance. I imagine you already know what was in there, right?"

Victor closed his eyes, as if remembering something long forgotten. "That's right, there were petrified potted plants and things that looked like paintings of landscapes. Don't tell me that was everything."

Kadin tapped his finger against his nose. "Ah, that's what everyone thinks. Only Dr. Inez Fressange, Nagare Akatsuki, and myself know what else was in there. If you are prepared to know, then tell me so right now. I've got to warn you, however, it will be a paradigm shift for you in more ways than one."

"Get to the point. I haven't got all day."

"Well, obviously someone had to build that city in Mars's polar ice cap, right?" Kadin asked rhetorically. "Well, we found out who did. However, no one is going to like this answer."

Victor was growing impatient. "Stop beating around the bush and tell me or God help me, I'll…"

Kadin slapped him, effectively shutting him up. "I'll tell you what. You seem like a man who likes to overcompensate. You come back to me after the battle starts and I'll give you the rundown. After all, during the battle there won't be anything for either of us to do. On the other hand, I'm bloody busy right now and you're just being a pain in the ass, so I'll ask you to get out before I rip out your jugular vein," he said cheerfully. He smiled and stood up. He then proceeded to pick Victor up by the collar and drag him to the door. Before Victor could protest, he had been thrown into the hallway and had the door locked on him.

Meanwhile…

Hitoshi was heading back up to the bridge. "I'm so bored," he thought to himself. "Not only that, but I'm dying to know what's in that letter." When he opened the door, he found the captain sitting in his chair, reading as usual. This time, he was reading what appeared to be a very old book. The cover had been weathered away, and the title was no longer legible. "Sir, what book is that?"

Dan looked up. "Oh, sorry Hitoshi I didn't hear you come in. This book is called Immortal Beloved, and it's somewhat interesting." He turned the page. "You know, you're welcome to any of the books I have in my room. I know you can read anything you want just by using the computer, but there's nothing like reading an actual book."

Hitoshi walked down the three steps to the second tier of the bridge and took his seat. "Thank you, Captain. I may take you up on that someday. For now, I've…" He drifted off in mid sentence and began thinking about that letter again. Dan did not mind, but he was curious. In the end, he decided to just return to his book and not ask about it at present.

"Stupid woman," Hitoshi thought to himself. "I wish she had never come back into my life. It took me long enough to get her out of my mind, but now she is sharing the ship." He opened a comm window displaying the observation deck. He was delighted to see it empty. "Captain, I am going out again. How long until the battle begins?"

Dan looked at the small window hovering to his left. "Looks like about four hours until the estimated start," he said, "but I would like everyone back on the bridge in two." Hitoshi began to walk up to the door. "Hitoshi," the captain said, "I hope you find an answer."

"An answer?" he asked. "To what?"

Dan raised his book up again. "To your problems." Hitoshi nodded and quickly walked out the door.

Meanwhile…

"This is it!" Shin Hiradeki said as he fired his Aestivalis's thrusters and flew into the air. Neji Kaminayo, one of the other Aestivalis pilots, took careful aim. Shin fired his machine gun at Neji's green Aestivalis, and by all appearances it seemed as though it would hit. Neji, however, was ready, and the treads on the Aestivalis drove him to safety, but just barely. As he was moving forward, he fired his right hand at Shin's airborne Aestivalis. The arm went right through the chest and the entire mecha exploded.

Shin flung open the door on the simulator. "Damn it directly to hell without passing Go and collecting $200!" he shouted loudly. The other pilots were staring at him. Neji climbed out slowly and smiled. He was not being conceited, he was just happy to beat the one who killed all five of the other pilots.

"Nice work, Neji," Saito said.

"You completely outdid that showoff," Nicole said.

"That was awesome!" Eri commented.

"Excellent work," Jon said quietly.

"Cool!" was all Theo said.

"Thank you guys," Neji said modestly. Shin was just fuming. Just as they were about to prepare for another round, a comm window opened up with the captain's face.

"Excuse me for interrupting your practice, but I have a special mission for you," Dan said quickly. "I want you to track down Kato."

"What are we, his caretakers?" Shin snapped. "We've got better things to do."

"Yes, but this is important," he replied, ignoring the tone of Shin's reply. "I need to speak with him right away, but unfortunately he has turned off his communicator watch. Could you search for him?"

Shin was about to speak, but Nicole elbowed him in the side and cut him off. "We'd be happy to find him for you. Just leave everything to us." Dan nodded and the window closed.

Shin growled. "I don't want to have to find Fat. I've got more important things to do."

Jon tilted his head. "Fat?"

"Yeah. His last name is Fatomiyo, and he's pretty dang fat, so I call him Fat." Everyone rolled their eyes and sighed.

"Whatever, let's just go," Eri urged. The group of pilots quickly left the simulator and went out on their mission.

Meanwhile…

Hitoshi was lying down in the observation deck, just being charmed by aqua space. He had been hoping to avoid all human contact, so he locked the door and turned off his communicator watch. "Why is it that she came back to me? A long time ago, I wondered if things would turn out this way, but I never believed they would," he thought to himself. "However," he said out loud, "just because she's here, that doesn't mean anything. Who knows how she feels about me? Maybe God's trying to tell me something, if there's even a God." The door slid open and he turned around. "Well, I was wondering when you were going to show up." Sasha stood in the door just looking at him.

"I think we need to have a conversation," she said quietly.

"You're right," he replied. "However, what is there to be said?" She sat down on the artificial grass next to him.

"Ever since we were born, we were good friends," she began. "However, while you were open with everyone except for me, I was only able to talk to you." While she was speaking, she was pulling on the grass beneath her. "You were the only one I was able to open up to until I was forced to associate with other people after you had left. But you, you were never able to talk to me. Is it because you didn't like me? Or is it because you're shy?"

"The truth…" Hitoshi just said quietly. "There is no single truth."

"And what does that mean?" she asked angrily. "I came here to talk about our friendship. After all, we haven't seen each other in so long."

Hitoshi turned and opened the door. "I've got to go now. I'll see you around."

"Wait! I wanted to talk to you," Sasha said quietly. "It's been so long, so I thought…"

"I'm sorry," Hitoshi said as he closed the door behind him. "After all this time, I still can't…" He quickly walked away, making sure that girl didn't follow him.

Meanwhile…

Kato walked onto the bridge and found Dan expecting him. "The pilots told me you wanted to see me," he explained, "so I hurried up here. What is it?"

Dan reached over and touched the control panel. The sound of the door locking shut behind Kato echoed throughout the bridge. "Unfortunately, it's worse than either of us could have imagined." The window closed and a new one opened in its place. "This is a fragment of information that Lieutenant Tsumiyagi retrieved from the UEAF database when we were breaking through the Big Barrier. If you recall, he commented that they thought there was a spy on board, and that's why they wouldn't let us leave."

Kato nodded. "That's right, I do recall that." He paused for a second. "Wait a minute, you're not saying that…"

"Yes, I am," Dan said gravely. "Someone has been stealing data from Unmeihoshi. I do not know where they've been sending it, and we would probably need Hitoshi to do the actual trace, but nevertheless, it is a serious problem, and it gets worse."

"What could be worse than that?"

"Remember when it was brought to our attention that something was wrong with our stabilizers?" Kato nodded slowly. "It was sabotage. I downloaded the security footage and it seems someone was in there. Unfortunately there is not a clear view of their face, but it is apparent that it was definitely deliberate."

"Okay, well, we need to alert the security staff, but we don't want to let the bastard find out," Kato said. "We need to stop him before he strikes again."

"There's only one hour until we all need to get back here on the bridge," Dan informed him. "In the meantime, could you see what you can dig up? You are the executive officer, after all." Kato nodded and motioned towards the door. Dan apologized and unlocked it from his console, allowing him to leave.

Meanwhile…

"It's time to stop running from my past," Hitoshi thought to himself. He jogged down the corridor towards the crew quarters, ready for anything. Just as he arrived, he saw her waiting in the hallway. "How did you know I was coming?" he asked.

"I didn't," she replied, "I just guessed." They both started running towards each other.

As the door closed behind Kato, a window with the words VOICE ONLY written across the front popped up in front of Dan. "What's this?" he asked no one in particular. The bridge was empty and he was not expecting a window to randomly appear in front of him.

"This is the Cosmos. The battle has come----us! --e Jovians a-----unching a surprise a---ck!" The message began to break up at the end, but it was obvious to Dan what it meant. He slammed his fist down on the control panel just in the nick of time. The distortion field rose and a volley of gravity blasts bounced off of it."

The pair ran down the hall and were about to meet each other when the entire ship rocked and instead they collapsed into each other face first. "Ouch…" Sasha said, rubbing her cheek. "Are you okay?"

Hitoshi rolled over and sat up. "Yeah, more or less. What the hell was that?" As if Dan had heard him, a window popped up out of nowhere with the captain's face in it.

"This is Captain Shroads. We are now going to Combat Status One. Please get to your stations immediately!" The window disappeared and Hitoshi hopped to his feet.

"You're going?" she asked.

"I have to, but we aren't done here yet," he replied. "I'm sorry about earlier. You know how I am." He gave her one of his rare smiles and ran away towards the bridge. She half-smiled and tilted her head.

"Baka. Kimi o ai shiteru."

"Sorry I wasn't able to finish fixing the stabilizers before the first blast hit us," Phil Behr, the ship's more-than-capable mechanic told the captain through a comm window. "I think we'll be finished before the actual battle begins, though."

"I hate to tell you, but this is the actual battle," Dan replied. "There's a vicious cloud of Jovians from here to the Sea of Tranquility, so you'd better hope we don't get hit very often before you have that fixed." The window closed and Dan turned back to the front of the bridge. Behind him, the door opened quickly. "Welcome back, everyone," he said without turning around. "I'm glad you could make it."

"I imagine this is a lot like the beginning of Nadesico's war was. The only difference is that they were on Mars," Hitoshi stated as he climbed into his seat. Before long, everyone was in position and battle-ready.

"Please have all Aestivalis and Delphinium launch immediately," the captain ordered. He looked to his left and saw the admiral take his seat. "Are you ready too, sir?"

"Oh yes, go ahead and commence the attack," he replied.

Dan smiled and nodded. "Okay everyone, let's get ready to take back our Moon!"

TO BE CONTINUED…