Shattered Ice: Super Sailor Mercury

Chapter 61

"Chibi!" the little redhead smiled.

"Does anyone else wonder what is going on with this kid?" Seiya Kou wondered aloud as the Three Lights were visiting with their Princess.

"Yup," Yaten and Taiki agreed.

"Though I understand she helped the Princess when she was injured," Yaten added.

"It's not like we can tell Kakyuu to get rid of the child," Taiki pointed out reasonably.

All three young men deflated a bit at that.

"HOW did you three sneak out to come here, anyway?" Nicole Mizuno asked as the doctor brought them all refreshments.

"We begged our manager for a break," Yaten admitted.

"She works us too damn hard," Seiya muttered resentfully.

"She isn't secretly a villain or something?" Nicole checked.

"They would be able to tell," Kakyuu pointed out to her lover mildly.

"We DID actually check, because we thought she was overworking us as part of some evil plot," Yaten said wryly.

"No, she's just a relentless businesswoman," Taiki sighed.

Seiya coughed slightly, "Well, our weekly report..." he started.

"Yes," Kakyuu smiled brightly.

"There's not much to report," Taiki offered with a sigh. "No progress on finding Galaxia or her base on Earth."

"We've stopped several attacks by the Sailor Animates," Seiya defended them.

"And rescued a lot of teens," Yaten added. He added thoughtfully, "Not sure why they're still targeting them."

"Probably they're hunting you three, Mercury and the Outers, still," Nicole suggested.

"Probably," Taiki agreed.

"Chibi!" the weird little girl added.

Everyone decided just to ignore that...

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

News reporter Hikari Littner felt nervous as she met with her boss. The woman had swept in several years ago and bought up the struggling station, and with a infusion of cash made it a major player in Tokyo's market. But little was known about her personal life or history... And there was just SOMETHING about her that terrifiied her.

"Miss Littner, hello," the gorgeous blonde smiled as she entered.

"President Horie," Hikari said nervously, "you wanted to see me?"

Miyuki Horie, really Galaxia in disguise, smiled at the younger woman, "I wanted to congradulate you on the Sailor Soldiers story, first of all. The ratings are impressive."

"Thank you, ma'am," Hikari bowed nervously.

"I'd like to suggest a follow up piece," Miyuki added smoothly.

"Yes?" she squeaked.

Miyuki continued, "A expose on the Sailor Soldiers. Who are they? What are their actual INTENTIONS? And so on."

Hikari had no idea how they would find that out, and froze for a moment.

"We will, of course, provide you with whatever resources you need," Miyuki added. She casually left as she added, "I look forward to your success."

"Thank you, ma'am," Hikari managed.

A few minutes later she rushed to consult with a coworker.

"You are SO fucked," Jiro Tendo noted.

"Oh god don't SAY that," Hikari whimpered.

The 'mystery' of the Sailor Soldiers identity had been something that multiple news reporters had tackled, and apparently no one had solved. The idea that her whole career might crash and burn on this terrified her.

"Why not tell the President it can't be solves?" Jiro asked her reasonably.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Hikari yelped.

"Okay, admittedly I wouldn't do it," Jiro admitted.

The IDEA of back talking the President nearly made her wet herself in fear. She certainly would never DO it. Which left her... where, exactly?

"Didn't Yamada Kawahara do a story on them?" Jiro suggested. "He made some progress, right?" he asked.

"Huh, yeah," Hikari mused. "Is it in the files?" she asked.

"I'll call down to the records room," Jiro agreed, "and see what else is in the files. Maybe we can find some burried gems..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Yo," Haruka waved as they met at the part to begin their patrol.

Once again, Ami noted with some amusement how many passing ladies looked like they wanted to rip Haruka's clothes off. It was surprising... she just had this super androgenous style that appealed to almost all women.

(Ami was alsio unaware of how many women noticed her. The moody, dark haired young woman drew interested looks quite a lot, but seemed entirely oblivious to it.)

"Afternoon," Michiru added, with Hotaru and Usagi training behind them.

Setsuna smiled at them, as she said, "It'll be just us today. The Starlights are visiting with their Princess today."

"And my Mom," Ami added wryly.

"So what's the plan?" Hotaru asked, hovering protectively near Usagi.

"The enemy still seems to be focusing on young people," Setsuna said, "so we'll focus on the schools and such."

"Wew could go undercover to teen hangouts," Usagi suggested.

"You just want a excuse to go play videogames at the arcade," Ami teased.

Usagi shrugged, "Well, yes."

Everyone laughed. "Should swe split up?" Haruka asked.

"Go in groups," Ami shook her head, "we still don't know how powerful these enemy Sailors actually are."

With that, the group went to work.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"AGAIN no Star Seed?!" Lead Crow complained.

Aluminum Siren pouted, "At least the Phage is cute. Sort of."

"Only you could find that cute," Lead Crow sighed as the transformed human looked around angrily. It clearly wanted a fight.

"I guess targeting the boxing club was a bad idea?" Sitren asked, the two surrounded by fallen muscle heads.

"Ugh, sweat akll over," Crow shuddered.

"Yeah, sweaty guys just do NOT do it for me," a familiar voice noted.

"Tin Nyanko," Siren beamed, "Hello! What are we doing today?"

Tin Nyanko gave her a disgusted look, "Still playing around, I see?"

"I don't see YOU finding Star Seeds," Crow shot back.

Nyanko scowled.

"Ladies, please," Jadite said, the blond man following Tin Nyanko. He felt a odd pang... they reminded him of the Generals he had fought beside.

"Shut up," Nyanko barked.

'Which, considering we lost and nearly all died, that's not a good thing,' Jadite thought with a sigh. "May I ask something?" he said.

"You just did," Siren teased.

Jadite sighed and continued, "Instead of chasing Jewel Seeds, why not target the Sailors instead? Eliminating them might please Galaxia, and who knows? They might have Jewel Seeds too."

"And how would you do that?" Crow asked dubiously.

Jadite shrugged, "Lure them out. I'm certain we can figure out something."

Crow, Siren and Nyanko exchanged glances. "Maybe," Nyanko conceded, looking thoughtful.

To be continued...

Notes: I can't seem to find if Galaxia has an actual, 'human' name in the anime, so I made it up. If there is one, let me know and I'll edit it in.