Whoever said that war was hell must have mistaken hell for heaven. Because the war taking place throughout the whole galaxy had to be worse than the fire and brimstone version of hell people so often imagine. Many had often said that war is worse than hell because only sinners go there, but in war innocent civilians are killed as well. That was the world of the 26th century.

Humans of the Terra District were born in the middle of a war. Fortunately, Earth wasn't considered a tactical target for the various sides of the war. The various sides include the Centaurs, Star Witches and the Xenilon, among many other various races. Since being introduced to the war, Earth had tried to stay out it, but humans did have to adapt quickly to the hostile universe and the millennia long war among the races of the galaxy. Earth and its colonies and research stations had been attacked by various smaller factions among almost all of the races involved into what humans had dubbed the Verilex Civil War, since the entire galaxy used to be under one government called the Verilex. Of course, humans didn't know much about it anyway, as they were trying to live their lives as normally as possible, which was hard considering the ongoing hostility between the many races among the galaxy.

The only race that hadn't attacked Terra District was the Star Witches. That is, until one day…

"Agent Smith to the lab, please. Agent Smith, to the lab."

Agent John Smith of the Terra District's Interplanetary Security Branch closed the letter from his sister and placed the tablet down. He stood, straightened his tie and suit and walked out. He had been assigned to Bernard's Star Research Station to oversee a very secret project involving time travel. Scientists had chosen this star to place a research station at because it wasn't a very important star. There were no planets and no mineral asteroids that anyone of the former Verilex's many warring races would want.

Agent Smith strolled down the snug hallways of the small research station towards the much larger lab. He had been living here for three months and he was slowly getting bored. He would give nearly anything to be back with his family. To be back on Earth for that matter. The dim red light of Bernard's Star was also getting to him. He missed the brighter light of his home world's star.

Ha strode into the lab and was instantly relieved of his slight claustrophobia "Yes, what is it, Dr. Jenkins?"

Doctor Robert Jenkins, the man Smith was talking to, turned and flashed a smile at him, which was odd, considering the fact that most scientists didn't trust members of the Security Branch. But Dr. Jenkins was a patriot to the Terra District and was putting his knowledge and creativity to good use. He trusted the TerraDistrict to use his research to be used to defend Earth and its colonies, as did Smith.

"I think we've done it!" he said with excitement in his voice. He held up a small object that looked like a standard wristwatch.

"You've made a new wristwatch?" Smith said with sarcasm.

Dr. Jenkins laughed at that and shook his head. "No, no, no. It's my prototype time machine."

Smith took it from Dr. Jenkins and looked it over. It did indeed look like a normal wristwatch. When he compared it t his own, he didn't see any difference whatsoever.

"This little thing is a time machine?" Smith asked incredulously.

"Yes!" the doctor said. "I call it a Temporal Plane Destruction Device or T.P.D.D."

Smith raised an eyebrow. Jenkins laughed and continued with an explanation but Smith interrupted him.

"No no no, I'll take your word for it. How does it work?"

"Here, I'll show you." he walked up and, taking his T.P.D.D., proceeded to wrap it around Smith's arm. Smith's eyes widened in fear.

"Wait, are you sure it won't splatter me across the wall like it did to that egg you tried sending forward in time last week?"

Dr. Jenkins's smiled. "Don't worry, it's completely safe. Trust me."

Smith nodded, but still was unsure. Dr. Jenkins then proceeded to explain how the various buttons had been retrofitted to do something other than their original purpose.

"Okay, I'm going to send you thirty minutes into the future. You won't experience anything it will just be a second for you, but will be thirty minutes for us. Ready?"

Smith gulped. "Not really…"

"Great! Well, here goes nothing!" and Dr. Jenkins hit the button re-marked Activation. Instantly everyone in the room disappeared. A few seconds later Dr. Jenkins entered the room, holding a half eaten sandwich. He saw Smith and smiled.

"Perfect timing! Agent Smith, congratulations! You have become the first human time traveler."

"Wait, you mean you didn't try this out on yourselves first!" Smith asked in disbelief and shock. Jenkins just smiled with that grin of his and shook his head.

"You were never in any danger," he said with a wave of his hand. "Now, we're going to send you back in time about five minutes. When you arrive, you need to hide until your past self disappears." He then walked up and, after setting a new destination in time pressed the Activation button. The room was instantly empty again. Smith looked around for a good hiding place. He saw a stack of metal cylinders and hid behind them.

Five minutes later, he saw his past self appear. After the short conversation between him and Dr. Jenkins, he vanished.

"Okay, you can come out now, Smith."

Smith stood up, took the T.P.D.D. off and placed it in his pocket.

"Well, congratulations, Doctor. I think you and your staff here are going to get some well deserved vacation time one any planet of your choosing after I report back to my superiors. In the meantime, however, I would like you to forward me a copy of all your research so that I may forward it to my superiors."

Jenkins was practically aglow with happiness and excitement. "Of course I will."

"In the meantime, I will be keeping this with me. Who knows who may want to use it for their own purposes? It's not that I don't trust you or your staff; it's just that this is too sensitive to be kept in civilian hands. I hope you understand."

"Hey, don't worry about it, Smith. I was expecting my research to be taken and used by the government. Why else do you think I let you on the station without a fight? I want this to be used for the good of all mankind."

Smith smiled and shook Jenkins hand "Thank you for understanding." He then turned and walked out. Neither he nor Dr. Jenkins saw the smaller younger man who had been hiding behind the canisters in the lab.

As soon as Jenkins left the room a few minutes later, the other man crept out and walked to the communications room. After pushing a few buttons, a holographic display of some sort of humanoid female appeared.

"Well? Did you do it?" she asked in a threatening yet somehow sexy voice.

"Yes, yes we did," the man nodded nervously as he whispered a reply. "Unfortunately the actual device is in possession of an Agent of the Security Branch and I can't get my hands on it."

The female, who was a member of the Star Witch race scowled. "In that case, can you steal the research and send a copy to us?"

The man looked incredibly nervous as he replied, "I don't think I can. It's very well protected. I'm only an assistant and I don't have the access codes to Dr. Jenkins computer files."

The scowl on the Star Witch's face deepened. "Very well. it seems we're going to have to resort to our backup plan."

The man became instantly scared. "A-are you sure."

The Witch smiled, showing a formidable set of canines. "Don't worry. We had a deal. You won't be killed. Just be ready. We will be raiding your station in about one of your hours."

"In conclusion, the device called the T.P.D.D. works flawlessly. After experiencing time travel firsthand and after seeing the amount of work put into this device, I highly recommend that the staff of the Bernard's Star Research Station be given at least a month of shore leave, if not more. They are really dedicated to advancing the Terra District's safety and well being. Agent John Smith out."

Smith hit the End Recording button on his tablet. It had been at least an hour since he had become the first human in history to time travel and he was just wrapping up his report to the Director of Interplanetary Security. Dr. Jenkins had already forwarded him a copy of his entire work.

Smith was just about to go to the communications room and send this off to Earth when he heard a huge explosion come from the lab. Without thinking, Smith grabbed his tablet, placed it in his pocked, drew his laser pistol and ran to the lab.

"What's going on? Dr. Jenkins, where are you!" Smith shouted. The lab was in shambles. Everything was mangled and twisted. The fire suppression system was spraying the room with the fire suppressant chemical.

"Over here!" Smith ran over to where Dr. Jenkins was struggling to get up.

"What happened?" Smith asked.

"I don't know. It just exploded."

Smith took out a scanner and swept the room for any foreign substance.

"There are traces of an unknown element in the room. The database can't seem to identify it."

"Here, let me see." Dr. Jenkins took the scanner and looked at the screen. His face became one of fury, something Smith hadn't seen before. But the next two words that Jenkins said would throw the unusual anger of Jenkins into perspective

"Star Witches…"

Agent Smith's expression become one of fear.

"Oh, we are so screwed…"

"It's okay, dear," the trainer, Betty Styles, said with a smile. It was Mikuru Asahina's second day of training at a local restaurant on the Second International Space Station as a battle waitress. "Battle waitress" was code for disguised security officers placed in restaurants. All battle waitresses were female to arouse less suspicion.

"B-b-b-but–"

"No buts honey. Time to get out there," the older woman interrupted as she gently pushed her toward the door. Mikuru was holding a tray of food at the time and nearly dropped it. She whimpered as she walked out the door. She walked up to the table whose food was on her tray and began serving the three burly men who were seated there.

"Here you go," Mikuru said sweetly as she placed the tray of food down at the table.

"Thank you, pretty lady," one of the three men replied with a smile that creeped her out. She laughed nervously as she walked backwards towards the kitchen, nearly tripping over the table behind her.

"Sorry!" Mikuru said, blushing furiously as she ran back to the kitchen. She slid against the wall and was nearly in tears.

"You did fine," Ms. Styles said with a smile as she sat beside Mikuru.

Mikuru sniffled. "Why was I picked for this job? I can't be a waitress, let alone a battle waitress."

"Hey, don't be so down on yourself." She leaned closer to MIkuru's ear and whispered, "Okay, I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but you were handpicked by both Vice Presidents' specifically."

Mikuru was shocked at that realization. "Really? But…why?"

"They didn't say. They did tell me that you were very special."

Mikuru blushed, embarrassed and guilt ridden. She knew exactly what special meant, but it wasn't a good type of special.

She was unable to continue her train of thought as a chair flew through the kitchen door. Betty looked up as it slid to a stop not three feet from them. Outside, they heard scuffling and grunting.

"Stay here," Betty said. She stood and walked out. Mikuru's curiosity overcame her fear as she walked up to the door. She peered out the small window and saw Betty talking with one of the burly guys Mikuru had just served.

"...none of your business, lady!" he was saying.

"Calm down or I will call security," Betty replied. Mikuru saw the man clench his fists harder, but eventually he complied. Or so it seemed.

As soon as her back was turned, the man grabbed a bottle of beer and, with a loud roar, began to bring it down on her head. With speed that seemed impossible for someone her age, Betty jumped to the side. The bottle hit air. Betty by this time was behind the man. She gave him a swift kick in the seat of his pants and we went sprawling on the floor.

The other two were now standing. Both had drawn their hand held laser weapons and were pointing it at Betty. She did a forwards flip and landed in between them. While they were still trying to figure out what was going on, the jumped up and kicked them both simultaneously. They flew back.

By this time the first man had gotten back up and was in a fighting stance. Betty and the man faced off. He had by this time drawn a knife. It was one that wasn't human made. In fact, Mikuru recognized it as being made by the Mijr'Ghro, a minor race among the former Verilex. The poison on the blade was deadly to every race in the galaxy.

Mikuru had to do something. She got a kitchen knife and walked out; holding it up towards the man.

"Y-you better g-get out of here at once!" she stuttered in what she hoped was a threatening tone. The man glanced towards her. When he saw the beautiful, well endowed girl, he laughed. By this time, the other two were standing and closing in on Betty, who had drawn a security stick.

"What are you going to do to stop us, pretty lady? It's three on one. How do you plan on stopping us?"

She closed her eyes and, with the knife still raised in front of her, charged the man, screaming. She never made it because the man struck her across the face and she found herself sprawled on the floor.

"MIKURU!" Betty shouted. She started to move toward her, but the man with the Mijr'Ghro dagger sliced her stomach. Blood flowed onto the floor as she collapsed. At that, Mikuru screamed in horror and absolute terror.

"That's right. Scream for me," the man said menacingly as he approached. "She only had minutes to live."

The man grabbed her by the neck and pulled her to her feet. "We're gonna have some fun now, ain't that right, boys?" The other two nodded, lust filled their eyes.

"M…M…" Mikuru tried to say something, but the hand around her throat made it almost impossible.

"What is it?" the man asked with an amused voice. His amusement was gone the next instant as Mikuru's normally brown left eye changed color to blue. Surprised, the man let go of Mikuru. After the man let her go Mikuru found her voice as she shouted the two words she was never supposed to say except in emergencies. "MIKURU BEAM!"

A bright flash of light emanated from Mikuru's left eye as she closed it and then reopened it. The man grabbed at his arm and screamed in pain. A large chunk of it looked like it had just been singed right through with some sort of old Earth blowtorch. He collapsed, writhing in pain. Everyone in the restaurant froze. Then, slowly, they all turned and looked at Mikuru. The other two thugs looked at their wounded friend, then back at Mikuru.

"That's it, girly! You're gonna pay for that!" one of them growled and charged. Mikuru closed her eye and opened it again. The man stopped dead in his tracks and fell right where he was. She turned to the third man and put her hand up to her eye, making a threatening face. He backed up, a panicked look on his face and ran out.

"Betty!" Mikuru looked at the collapsed older woman. She was surrounded by the other waitresses and another lady who appeared to be a nurse. Mikuru started to run up to her when one of the waitresses held up her hand to stop her, hatred in her eyes.

"Stand back!" she said with venom in her voice. Mikuru whimpered as she stopped. Tears began to form in her eyes.

"B…but…"

"Get away, freak!" the same person repeated. Mikuru stepped back. A few minutes later security came rushing in with some other medical personnel. The same waitress told them exactly what happened, including Mikuru's hidden optical laser. By the time they grabbed her, she had gone into a state of complete and utter shock. She didn't remember anything as she was dragged to the car and escorted off to the Space Station's detention center. She was placed in a cell and told to wait. At that point, exhaustion got the better of her and she lay on the bed, falling asleep the instant her head hit the pillow.

I looked over the document before me, making edits here and there, adding stuff here, subtracting bits there. I leaned back in my chair and smiled. It's pretty good, if I do say so myself. I thought. Of course, I'm not the person whose praise this story deserves.

Anyway, when I looked at the computer clock, I saw that it was now ten o'clock. I rubbed my eyes which were tired, and then began to print out the first chapter four times. On each of the copies I had the name of each of the members of the Brigade. I wasn't exactly sure why, I mean, I'm not much of a planner. I was just curious.

I took the pages, stapled them together and placed them in an empty folder, which I then placed in my backpack. I then climbed into bed. The tiring events of the day finally caught up with me and I was out like a light.

Hold on, am I imitating my own story?

Pretty self explanatory. The rest of the story is just going to be Kyon's interpretation of Haruhi's movie.

morbiusgreen