Hello and thanks for all the reviews, hits, and favorites. Being my first story in this fandom, I am please to see you all enjoying this so far. Especially since the beginning is kind of a slow burn.
Now, onward to the chapter.
Chapter 3: A Step Too Far
"Are you certain?" Endymion asked as he leaned forward on his desk.
Michiru nodded as she stood before her king. "Haruka has confirmed that the leadership of the rebelling will all be meeting in Crystal Tokyo tonight. Apparently, this is a big meeting and everyone within the inner circle will be attending."
"I can't believe they would be meeting like this in such short notice," Endymion stated in disbelief.
"This meeting has been planned for several months, my king. Only the highest members of the rebellion knew about it. Haruka, despite her rank, only learned of it about two weeks ago. The reason why she took so long to report about this meeting is because everyone is being watch," Michiru explained.
Endymion tapped his fingers against his desk. "Do we finally have enough evidence to arrest them? This could be our chance take them out."
"Between the reconnaissance of both Minako and Haruka, and the detective work of your terrorist unit, we have more than enough evidence to arrest all the leaders. Including the rebelling public speaker Triten Saitama," Michiru said.
Endymion was surprise to hear this. "There is evidence against Triten?"
"Triten was able to keep his nose clean by not being directly connected to the terrorist activities of the rebellion. As long as he acted only as the rebellion's public speaking, no one could legally touched him," Michiru said. "However, thanks to voice mails and tape recordings by Minako, we have proof that Triten not only knew, but supervised several terrorist attacks here in Crystal Tokyo. Including the recent suicide bombing on the Crystal Palace."
Endymion nodded. Finding evidence to link Triten to the rebellion's seedier activities had proven to be the most difficult task. Although Triten was not technically one of the ringleaders of the rebellion, Endymion considered him to be the most dangerous. With his talents, he could easily revived the rebelling once their leaders were brought to justice.
"So, it's time," Endymion said as he folded his hands over his mouth. "After over two years of information gathering, we can finally end this."
"It does seems hard to believe," Michiru said.
"I know these past two years had to be hard on Hotaru and you," Endymion said sympathetically.
Michiru gave a sad smile. "We both miss Haruka, but we understood that she had a mission. It is something that we've accepted the moment we became senshi."
Endymion gave an understanding smile. "I will rally all the senshi. We will all meet at the hall."
Michiru looked at her king in surprise. "You're coming?"
"Of course. As king of Crystal Tokyo, it is my duty to return the peace," Endymion said as he stood up.
"It's too dangerous," Michiru said firmly. "If anything happens to you..."
"Michiru-san, I understand your concern," Endymion interrupted. "However, this is something I must do. For over five years I have watched my city being drowned in terror and blood by those who call my wife a monster. I could do nothing except eased Serenity's pain when she felt another person die. Now, I have the power to finally act and I won't let it pass by."
Michiru was silent for a moment. "How do you think Serenity will take your plan?"
Endymion gave a small smile. "She doesn't have to know."
Minako could feel her heart hum in her chest as the door to her car was opened. It has been over two years since she had stepped foot in Tokyo, but she couldn't bring herself to being happy. Instead, she was a nervous wreck as Triten helped her out of the car.
"You look wonderful as always this evening," Triten said as he took Minako's arm. She wore a revealing sleeveless orange dress that went down to her knees.
Minako forced a smile on her face. "You're too kind Triten, but your charm don't work on me anymore."
Triten chuckled as he closed the car door. "Then I just have to try hard, Mina-chan."
Minako had to keep herself from blushing from the term of endearment. He has been calling her 'Mina-chan' for over a year now and she still wasn't use to the nickname. Part of it was because she did not return Triten's feeling for her. Most of the discomfort, however, came because she was a mole sent to destroy everything he had worked for. She knew that last one would be a relationship killer.
"I still wonder if it was wise for the leadership to meet here," Minako said as Triten walked her inside the building.
"This is the perfect place to meet," Triten assured. "We are right in the heart of the witch queen's domain. This is the perfect place to let our voices be heard. Besides, what better place to hide than under your enemy's nose?"
Minako still looked uncomfortable.
"If you're worried about us being spied on by the witch queen's minions, do not fear," Triten said. "We have powerful friends within the government even here. The witch queen is blind to us."
Minako bit her lips as she listened to Triten talked. The Sailor Senshi caught his 'powerful friends' months ago. It was thanks to Endymion's information network that their capture didn't reached the ears of anyone within the rebellion. She didn't even know until she got an one-worded letter from Haruka yesterday. Apparently, she kept in touched with the other senshi over these last couple of years.
Once inside the building, they took an elevator to the top floor. When they exited the elevator half a dozen people greeted them. Minako recognized some of them from the different meetings and get-to-together she has been to over the years, but most of the people were strangers to her.
There was one face, however, that she immediately recognized.
"Haruka!" Minako exclaimed as she ran to greet her friend.
Haruka turned away from his current conversation and smiled when she saw his fellow senshi. "Minako, it has been too long."
Minako gave Haruka a tight hug. "We haven't seen each other since Germany. How have you been?"
"Busy," Haruka answered.
"I guess you would," Triten said. "I've heard things in India got a little rough."
Haruka shrugged. "It was tough, but we got through it without too much trouble. Planning to overthrow a government isn't exactly public speaking."
"Haruka," Minako hissed.
Triten smiled at the backhanded insult. "We all do our part. I gather new soldiers to fight for our cause, which I think is just as important as fighting on the front lines."
"Perhaps," Haruka stated coldly.
"Triten, do you need to meet with the other leaders before the meeting starts," Minako said quickly.
"Yes, yes, of course," Triten said as he kissed Minako's hand. "I'll see you in a few." He then walked off to the back of the room.
"What a piece of work," Haruka muttered.
"Are you trying to give us away?" Minako whispered in annoyance.
"Sorry, but I really don't like people like Triten," Haruka said coldly. "They try to pretend to keep their hands clean, when they're just as dirty as anyone else."
"Triten is no soldier and he knows that. Which is why he deals in the public forum," Minako said. "He is very dedicated to this cause, unlike most here who just see it as a chance to dethrone Serenity."
Haruka raised an eyebrow at the younger girl. "It sounds like you've fallen in love with him."
Minako blushed. "Of course not. But you can't help but admire a man with a strong conviction. Even when you do disagree with it."
"I suggests you be careful," Haruka warned. "We don't need you to hesitate, especially tonight."
Minako gave Haruka an annoyed glare. "I know where my duties lies."
Haruka nodded before she moved closer to whisper in Minako's ear. "They will attack on my signal. Be ready."
Minako nodded in understanding.
"Also, your recording tonight will be key," Haruka continued to whisper. "The leadership is going to reveal their big plan."
Minako's eyes widened. "You what is it, don't you?"
"I have a very good idea," Haruka said darkly. "Let's say after tonight, you may not look at your dear Triten the same way."
Haruka then left Minako alone.
Within the next hour, everyone was seated in the large ballroom as the leadership of the rebellion was led through the door.
Almost all of them were old Japanese men who looked to be as old as Crystal Tokyo, which was possible thanks to Serenity and modern technology extending the life of normal humans. The average citizen of Crystal Tokyo could easily live to be one-hundred and fifty years old.
The younger men of the leadership looked to be around their late forties and were from a mixed descent much like Triten. They took their seats at the front of the congregation and waited until all was silent.
"The time has come to strike Crystal Tokyo," one of the leadership said bluntly. "Their defensives are weakened and the morality of the people are at its lowest. We just now need to break the back of the government to complete our victory."
"And how do we do that?" someone from the crowd asked.
"By destroy the Crystal Palace," another person from the leadership said.
This caused a loud uproar from everyone in the room. Minako grasped in shock, unconsciously gripping Triten's arm.
"Destroy the Crystal Palace, is such a thing possible?" someone questioned. "We've already bombed the palace once a couple of weeks ago and the explosives didn't even leave a crack."
"Conventional weapons cannot damage the palace, especially if the rumors are true about it being made from the witch queen's devil stone. But we're not attacking about a conventional attack," the oldest in the leadership said as he tapped his fingers together. He then looked over everyone in the room and Minako felt her heart beat faster. "We plan to hit the Crystal Palace with nuclear weapons."
There was a long silence in the room as everyone took in what they just heard.
"What!?" several people exclaimed when they finally found their voices.
"Is he serious?" Minako whispered in disbelief. This couldn't be real
"You plan to use nukes?" someone else asked with equal disbelief. "Are you crazy? That would make Tokyo inhabitable to everyone. I mean, doesn't anyone here remember the stories of Hiroshima andNagasaki?"
Several people muttered in agreement. Even if the last days of World War II were beyond their generation, they remembered the stories of devastation from their families and the history logs.
"It is a regrettable, but necessary sacrifice," the man assured. "As long as Serenity stays in power, our country and capital can never be return to us. So, it is no big lost that Tokyo and the surrounding area will be unlivable for next couple of decades."
"Where would even get the nukes?" someone asked.
"China," Haruka answered before the members of the leadership could talk. "During the chaos of one of the riots, we were able to sneak several nukes out of China. No one in the world knows about it because China was too prideful to reported the theft."
"Yes, and we have been using the cover of our current attacks to sneak the nukes into the country," the other leader explained. "Which is why we even bothered to attack the Crystal Palace with the suicide bomb."
Haruka fought to keep a neutral face as she continued to listen to the man talked. His complete disregard for human life disgusted her. She understood all too well the need for sacrifices, but she never treated those lives like dirt.
"The next phase to our plan is to set up the nukes around the premises of the Crystal Palace. The best location for those nukes would be the crystal points," the man said.
Minako turned towards Triten, tuning out the rest of the conversation. "You're really planning to destroy the Crystal Palace with nukes?"
"That's the plan," Triten answered. "Since we can't seem to convict the stronger nations to take action against Serenity and it's taken too long to overthrow China and India, it was decided to take the alternate plan."
"But all those people..." Minako started to say.
"Will be properly sacrifice," Triten finished for her. "This is the only way left to put an end Serenity. It is best for those people to die then to live in her enslavement."
"Who are you to judge who should live and die?" Minako whispered harshly.
"Do you think I want people to die?" Triten whispered back just as harshly. "If we can win this war without bloodshed, I would, but we must be realistic. Sacrifices must be made before the witch queen becomes too powerful. What is a couple thousand people in the end? We're talking about the survival of humanity."
Minako stared at Triten, unable to contemplate what she had heard. She knew Triten was ruthless, but not to the point that he thought nothing in killing thousands of people. Not to mention the thousands more who would become sick off of the radiation poisoning. How could a man who claimed to believe in freewill and justice even consider such a thing?
The meeting kept going, but she turned a deaf to everything they said. This rebelling was truly nothing more than a group of terrorists.
Haruka glanced over at Minako and saw the distressed look in her eyes. She truly felt sorry for the younger girl. Minako for the past couple of years has been given a rose color look at the rebelling through the pretty words of Triten and those around him. She never saw the truly gruesome stuff they did behind the scenes. The murder, the rape, the self-indulgence he saw in China was enough to make her physically sick.
They fear the monster that Serenity may someday become without even realizing that they have already become that monster themselves. Well, this all ends today. With a slight movement on her hand, she pushed a button on her communicator.
Mars had to keep herself from breaking her cover early as she listened to the plans of the rebellion's leaders. Minako had used her communicator as recording device and was currently taping the entire meeting. This one meeting alone was enough to put everyone in that room away.
"Those bastards, they plan to nuke the city just to get to Serenity," Mars growled as she paced back and forward.
"I thought you said the entire nuclear threat was a scare tactic?" Jupiter asked.
"It was, at least it was a couple of years ago," Saturn said, also disturbed by what she had heard. "It appears that they changed their minds after several years of fighting in China and India. We should have suspected that this could happened after Crystal Tokyo directly intervened in those conflicts."
"It doesn't matter now," Neptune said. "They plan to kill thousands with this reckless attack."
Endymion said nothing as he impatiently paced tapped his foot, waiting for Haruka's signal. Those monsters in that room had to be stop. No more blood would be shred to further those selfish men's ends.
As he was thinking this, he felt Serenity pulling on the link that they shared trying to find him. He felt badly about not telling her about the raid, but he knew that she would have wanted to come with them. He maybe acting paranoid, but he didn't want these men anyway near Usako. These people have dedicated their lives to destroying her and even if she could easily subdue them with her powers, he wasn't going to take any chances. These people were willing to use nukes for goodness sake.
"How are we're going to do this?" Saturn suddenly asked.
"Simply, we go in and kick all their butts," Jupiter said, ready to go.
"What I mean is do we take them alive?" Saturn asked.
There was a long pause. Other than Neptune and Endymion, the other senshi didn't consider whether or not they were going in for the kill.
"Serenity would not be happy with the lost of any life," Endymion said steadily. That was the other reason why he didn't want to bring her. "Take as many as you can alive. However, if you see any rebel as a threat to your life or others, take them out by any mean necessary. I will take responsible for any lost of life."
"Understood," all the senshi said.
A large beep suddenly echoed across the room. They all knew that was the signal.
"You all have your missions," one of the men in the leadership said. "Operation Revolution shall commence by this time next week."
A loud rumble suddenly shook the entire room. Several people fell out of their seats by the sheer force of the shaking.
"What is that!?" one of the leaders yelled.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" several people yelled as they ran into the meeting room.
"What!?" Triten exclaimed as he stood up from his seat.
The man attempted to catch his breath. "The...the Sailor Senshi...they're here!"
Just as he said that a blue orb of energy crashed into the room, blowing down the wall. When the smoke cleared King Endymion and six women in sailor suits stood over the rubble.
"By the power invested in me as the King of Crystal Tokyo, you are all under arrest!" Endymion said firmly as he pointed his sword. "Surrender peacefully and no one will be harm."
"No chance, you traitor!" a man yelled as he pulled out a gun and aimed it at the king's heart.
Saturn immediately charged in and held her glaive up high. "Silence Glaive Surprise!" A purple orb of energy slammed into the man and sent him flying across the room. The man did not stop until he smashed into a wall with enough force to leave several deep cracks behind.
The moment that happened, the entire room came alive. It appeared that everyone inside the room was carrying a weapon and shots were fired in every direction.
Saturn quickly brought up her Silent Wall to protect her friends.
"Bubble Spray!" Mercury yelled as a cold mist covered the room. With everyone blinded the senshi broke rank and scattered across the room.
"Don't let them surround us!" someone yelled.
"Protect the leaders!" some else exclaimed.
Before another shot could be fire a bolt of lightning struck several of the rebels knocked them out.
Haruka chose this moment to duck out of sight and take out her transformation stick. "Uranus Crystal Power, Make Up!" In a swirl of yellow light, Sailor Uranus joined the battle.
Those who did see her jumped back in surprise and shock.
"A Sailor Senshi were among us the entire time!" a man exclaimed.
"Damn them all!" a woman yelled.
Minako was ready to transform as well, but Triten suddenly grabbed her wrist.
"That girl that transformed was Haruka-san, wasn't it?" Triten asked, although it came across as more as a statement.
Minako responded by trying to pull her arm free of his grip.
"You're one of them, aren't you!?" Triten continued to demand.
Minako looked away. There was not point hiding it now. "Yes."
"You...you traitor!" Triten roared. "You used me. You used me this entire time to get close to us."
"This had to stop. The violence, the deaths...I could never allow you to nuke Crystal Tokyo just so you could kill Serenity!" Minako said as she looked Triten straight in the eye.
Triten returned her glare. "I thought you senshi were all mystical beings like Serenity. I never considered that you were...human." His eyes began to mist. "So human that I've grown to love one of them."
"Triten..." Minako whispered.
"I should have known such beauty and strength would have been corrupted by Serenity, just as she corrupted Endymion to turn against his own people." Triten pulled Minako closer. "I won't stop...I won't stop until that witch is dead. I will free this planet from her corruption!"
"No one is corrupted by Serenity!" Minako yelled over the firefight. "She has given us all free choice. I fight for her not because she is my queen, but because she is my friend."
Triten suddenly pulled a gun on Minako. "Then die with your 'friend'."
Before he could pull the trigger, an orb of yellow energy struck Triten from the back, causing him to scream in pain.
"Sailor Uranus!" Minako exclaimed as she turned towards the senshi of Uranus.
"He'll live," Uranus said in a deadpan voice as Triten slumped to the floor.
Minako looked down at the unconscious man and shook her head. "Why...why can't you see we're not evil?" She cleared her head and brought out her transformation pin. "Venus Crystal Power, Make Up!"
Within seconds, the senshi of Venus made her appearance. She then raised her arms and took aim at several rebels. "Venus Love Me Chain!" A chain of energy shot out and knocked several of the weapons out of the rebels' hands.
The battle did not last too much longer after that. Even with their high-powered weapons, the rebel forces were no matched for the well-trained sailor soldiers. Those who did managed to escape to the grand floor were greeted by several arm police units that surrounded the building. In a span of an hour, the rebel forces and their leaders were detained.
Several prison vans were needed to transfer all the capture rebels to the detention cell within the Crystal Palace. However, since the palace's detention cell was already overcrowded, some of the rebels were taken to a holding area just outside the palace's grounds.
"There were no deaths from our side and none of the senshi were harm. There were, however, several rebels that were injured and five deaths. Notices are being sent to their families detailing what happened," Endymion reported to his wife. They were currently sitting alone in the main conference room
Serenity said nothing as she continued to glare at her husband. Endymion knew by her quiet demeanor that his wife was mad. No, she was outright pissed. Unlike most people, Usako was at her angriest when she became silent. It was only her duty as sovereign of Crystal Tokyo that she did not release her rage upon him the moment Endymion returned to the palace.
"From the reports given to us by Uranus and Venus, we captured all the rebels leaders and most of their second-in-commands. There were also a few of the lower ranking officers that were not at the meeting. We have a unit looking for these individuals," Endymion finished.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Serenity asked in a soft voice.
Endymion sighed. He knew this was coming. "I did it for your safety."
"That's bull!" Serenity exclaimed. "Those rebels couldn't hurt me. Not with guns or knives. The Silver Crystal would have protected me. I could have tried to reason with those people before it escalated into violence."
"There was no way you could had resolved this peacefully," Endymion said in a calm voice. "Those people hate you, Usako. To them, you are everything that is wrong in the world."
"But you didn't even let me try!" Serenity yelled in tears. "You never even let my try to talk to them, to see if we could get some kind of an understanding. These people aren't evil, Mamo-chan. They fear me because they don't know me. If they see that I was once like them, that I was once a normal human, then they could see that we're not different and we have the same goals."
"Usako, they were going to nuke the palace," Endymion stated bluntly.
Serenity grasped in surprise. "What!?"
"They stole nuclear weapons from China," Endymion explained further. "They were going to sat them off around the crystal points."
Serenity shook her head in disbelief. "That...that's crazy. Those weapons would not only destroy the surrounding area, but poison the entire land for decades."
"They didn't care," Endymion said coldly. "They didn't care thousands, maybe even millions would die. They didn't care that they would be killing their own people. They only cared about getting to you. Those kinds of people can't be reason with."
Serenity leaned back into her seat as she took in all of this information. "Oh, how did things get to bad? To think, they were going to use nukes." The thought of the lost of life were enough to make her break into tears.
Endymion immediately ran towards his beloved and hugged her tightly. He didn't like go as he felt her tears stained his suit.
"This is all my fault," Serenity whispered. "If I..."
"Don't say that," Endymion whispered harshly. "This is not your fault. None of this is your fault. The ones responsible are the people in the palace's prison. Those are the people who needless murdered innocence for power and greed."
Serenity began to calm slowly as she took in her soul mate's words. Still, she was shaking with grief. "Oh Mamo-chan, what I'm going to do? Am I to lock those people up for the rest of their lives? Am I to kill them for treason? What do I do?"
Endymion stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. "We're get through this like every other time. You have to believe that, Usako."
They stayed cuddled like that for most of the night.
The head of the rebellion has been caught, now what?
A.G., thanks for your review and feedback. I am aware of my grammar issues and did have a beta before she became ill. I try my best to catch my mistakes, but I did make several careless typos in the last couple of chapter. I tried to be more careful.
Until next chapter.