SILVER SUN

A SailorRanko fanfic
by Jason Heinrich

Based on the SailorRanko story and webcomic by Duncan Zillman and Rebecca Heineman.


CHAPTER 5: NEW EVIDENCE

The youma known as Kel raced frantically down the back streets of the Earth capital's industrial district, clawed toes scraping the paving stones as she wound a circuitous route back towards the supposedly abandoned warehouse that had hidden the youma's lair for the past ten months. She had given up any pretense of appearing human, reverting to her natural form with its superior strength and speed in a desperate effort to elude the human security forces that were now pursuing her. While as a harvester she couldn't match the warrior or worker youma in strength and durability, she was still physically far superior to any of the humans behind her, and if she had faced even three or four of them in hand-to-hand combat they would have been no match for her. But these security officers carried projectile weapons that could inflict damage far faster than she could regenerate, and if just one of them got off a lucky shot and hit the crystal in her chest...

She hid around the corner of an alley and stopped to catch her breath. She had gotten greedy, she knew. Rather than absorbing small amounts of energy from individuals on the street, she had taken the time to indulge herself, draining all of the life from a homeless man who had camped in an alleyway very similar to the one in which she now hid. Her reasoning – that he was an unknown who would not be missed – turned out to be dead wrong. Just as she was finishing, a woman had arrived to drop off a meal for the man who, it turned out, had been a well-known and well-loved member of the community for many years. Upon spotting Kel standing over the man's corpse, the woman had ran and called for help, attracting far too much attention for the youma to have a chance to silence her. Within moments Kel was fleeing for her life.

Now that she had a chance to stop and think, the gravity of her mistake was beginning to seep in. About a month previous, another youma had been killed by capital security. It had been one of the infiltrators, on assignment to monitor the security forces for any hint that they were aware of the growing youma population in the city. Inexplicably, it had suddenly gone insane, killing an officer and destroying the very ignorance that it had been tasked with protecting. It fled back toward the warehouse, finally succumbing to a hail of bullets as it tried to cross the creek about a kilometer upstream from its destination. Fortunately for the rest of the youma, the security officers were denied any solid evidence when the youma dissolved into dust on the spot, the water washing its remains away.

Lady Beryl had been furious when she arrived at the youma lair that evening. For nearly an hour straight she had berated her assembled minions, colorfully reiterating the importance of absolute secrecy and graphically explaining the horrific fate of any youma that would risk exposing her secret operation. The message was clear: mess up and you won't live to regret it.

Kel leaned against the alley wall in despair as she realized that she could never go back to the cool, inviting caverns that had been her home since her creation six months ago. Not only did she risk giving away their location, but even if she did make it back undetected, she would likely not survive Beryl's rage. And with all the security forces on alert, her chances on the street didn't look much better. It seemed that her choices were death at Beryl's hand, or death at the hands of...

"Don't move, monster," a low, rough voice growled as something cold and hard pressed against the left side of her head. Kel froze. How on earth had a human managed to sneak up on her in the limited space of the alley? Then a feral grin curled her lips. While such a close-range shot would definitely hurt and slow her down until the wound had regenerated, the human didn't realize that apart from her crystal she had no centralized, critical organs. Even a hole in her head wouldn't kill her, and against her superior strength, he wouldn't stand a chance.

Almost faster than sight, Kel whirled and swung her forearm up, smashing the man's arm into the alley wall, his weapon discharging harmlessly past her head and down the alley. A small part of her mind noted with surprise that the weapon had fired some sort of energy bolt rather than a bullet, but she didn't take the time to dwell on it. A vicious backhand from her other arm sent the man flying, slamming hard into the opposite wall and sliding senseless to the ground.

Another gunshot very effectively grabbed her attention as a second energy bolt burned into her left shoulder, shooting pain down her arm and across her chest. Spinning around to face the entrance to the alley, she saw another human standing partially silhouetted against the light of the street beyond. Kel noted with interest that neither of the men wore security uniforms, though it made little difference. Whether they were working with the officers that had been pursuing her or not, she would finish them off and use their energy to heal her injuries. Blurring into motion, she leapt at the gunman, claws outstretched with the intent to rip out his throat.

She never made it. Dropping his weapon, the man stretched out his hand and Kel's forward motion suddenly stopped. She struggled futilely, an invisible power holding her suspended.

"Interesting," he commented as he made a gesture, and she floated nearer to him, but still maddeningly out of reach. At this close range she could see that he had long silver hair and eyes like cold steel. Those eyes narrowed as they bore into hers. "Where are you from? What is your purpose here?"

Kel only snarled in reply. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a half dozen security officers running up the street towards them, weapons drawn. Behind her, a shuffling sound indicated that the silver-haired man's partner was coming to his senses. She had only one chance, and little time to pull it off. With a roar, Kel threw both of her hands forward and began to drain her captor's life energy as quickly as she could.

The man gasped and stumbled as he suddenly lost his strength, and Kel dropped roughly to the ground as his concentration and hold on her were broken. She scrambled to her feet, intent on finishing off the infuriating human, but was stopped as an energy bolt struck her in the back. She cried out in pain and whirled around, but multiple gun shots rang out and she found herself futilely trying to shield herself from the approaching security forces' bullets. The silver-haired man scrambled out of the line of fire, gasping for breath. Kel attempted to do the same, but she was stopped as another energy bolt from the human in the alley momentarily rendered her leg useless.

Kel cried out as pain and death rained in from two directions. Moments before the gunfire completely overwhelmed her, she bitterly considered that even this was less painful than what she would have endured had she returned to the youma's hideout and faced Lady Beryl.

Then her crystal cracked under the strain, and her body crumbled to dust.

The man from the alley hurried out to his companion. Though still not very steady on his feet himself, he reached down to help the silver-haired man up. "Are you alright Captain Kunzite?"

Kunzite accepted the proffered arm and stood with a little difficulty. "I think I'm fine, thank you Titus," he answered. "I wasn't ready for that energy-draining attack, though." He rolled his shoulders experimentally. "I'm already starting to feel better, so it apparently isn't a permanent effect." He turned as the security officers arrived. One of them immediately pulled some small bags out of a pouch and began collecting some of the youma's rapidly dissipating dust. Another, the ranking officer judging from the stripes on his collar, stepped around to the two men.

"Are you gentlemen alright? Do you need any medical assistance?"

"No, thank you, sir," Kunzite responded. He pulled his ID from his pocket and displayed it to the officer. "Captain Kunzite of His Majesty's Armed Forces." He gestured to his companion. "This is Lieutenant Titus."

The officer extended his hand to Kunzite, who took it. "Captain Albite, Capital Security." He glanced down at the youma's remains, which had almost completely blown away. "Thanks for the help in stopping this monster. It murdered a man about twenty minutes ago before running off. This is the second time one of these things has killed someone; we need to find out where they're coming from and put a stop to it before someone else dies."

"That disintegration when they die is a neat trick," Titus grumbled. "Doesn't leave much evidence."

Albite shook his head. "At least we got something this time." He looked down at the officer who was collecting the dust. "How much, Anorthite?"

"Three bags, sir," Anorthite answered, holding up the small evidence bags. "The rest blew away too quickly. It's extremely fine: the slightest breeze picks it up."

"Well, it's better than nothing," Albite responded.

"Excuse me," Kunzite interjected. "Would you mind if I brought one of those back with us? I'd like to have our people take a look at it."

"Certainly," Albite said. Anorthite passed one of the evidence bags to Kunzite.

"Thank you. Let's get going, Titus." Kunzite retrieved his weapon from the sidewalk where he had dropped it, and they began walking away from the scene.

"Wait a second," Albite called after them. He glanced longingly at Kunzite's military-issue pistol before returning his attention to its owner. "May I ask what the military is doing out here in the slums? And in street clothes no less?"

"No," Kunzite answered flatly. Albite scowled. "Don't worry, Captain," Kunzite reassured him, "If we find anything, we'll let your people know."

Albite sighed. "I guess that's all I can ask."

Kunzite nodded in farewell, and he and Titus returned to their vehicle, which was parked a couple of blocks away. As they drove away Titus pondered, "Two monsters, both killed in this warehouse district. You think that thing's nest is what Zoicite sensed when he flew over this area the other day?"

"I'm not sure," Kunzite replied. "I could barely sense that one when it was right on top of me. While I admit that Zoicite's magic sensitivity is higher than my own, there would still have to be hundreds of those things for him to sense them from the air, especially if he wasn't looking for them." They sat unspeaking for a moment, the silence pregnant with the implication of that realization. Finally Kunzite added, "Endymion will want to know about this."

"I can take the sample to the labs if you want to report to the prince right away," Titus offered.

Kunzite nodded, and increased their speed slightly as they hurried back towards the palace.


Jens Maltheson of the Royal Emergency Services forensics team leaned back in his chair and stretched, resting his eyes after cataloging evidence samples for an hour strait. Even being the lead technician on the evening shift didn't rescue him from the mind-numbing work. Of course, being one of only two people working that shift may have had something to do with that.

Jens rose and walked across the lab toward the coffee maker. He supposed he should be glad that they had the work, he reflected, though it seemed somehow ironic that in the near-utopian society of the Moon Kingdom, his career depended on people committing crimes. While it was true that violent crime was extremely rare – he could think of only three cases in his two years on the team – petty crime was almost as much of a problem on the Moon as it was on Earth.

He had just lifted the carafe out of the coffee maker when the buzzer sounded from the lab's delivery door. "More samples," he groaned. "Hey, Silas!" he called back into the lab.

"Yeah?" his partner answered.

"Could you get that?"

"Sure."

Jens finished pouring his coffee and took a sip. He made a face. "Ugh, time for a new brew." It was actually a pretty good quality brand, grown on an Eastern Tranquility plantation, but even the best coffee could only sit in the pot for so long before going rancid. Adding a second scoop of sugar to hide the bitterness, he walked back to his desk. Silas returned from the delivery door a few seconds later with a small sealed case and handed it to Jens.

"Check this out."

Jens eyed the delivery label, and his eyebrows went up. "Wow, a sample from Earth? Why would they be sending something to us?"

Silas made a hurrying gesture with his hand. "Well, open it up and let's find out!"

With a nod, Jens broke the seal on the case and twisted the latch. With a click the lid came loose, and he flipped it open. Inside was a small plastic bag filled with a fine greyish-purple powder, a couple of security photographs, a lab report, and a letter. He eyed the bag of powder for a second – something about it seemed familiar – before setting it aside and picking up the photographs. Keeping those for himself, he handed the letter to Silas.

"Let's see," Silas muttered as scanned the letter. "According to this, there have been two instances of monster attacks in Adalandis... one fatality in each instance... the most recent was a couple of weeks ago. When killed, the monsters dissolved into dust." They both glanced at the bag before Silas continued, "The pictures are from the first attack, which was in the lobby of one of their security stations, and the dust sample is from the second monster."

"So they weren't able to get a picture and a sample from the same creature?" Jens asked. "Figures."

Silas shrugged. "According to this, both security and military technicians have examined the sample. They detected an unusual faint magical signature; it says here that its waveform was similar to human ki. There were also some unknown organic compounds, but for the most part it was just common minerals, such as could be found in the soil around the Earth capital. They'd like to know if we've seen anything like it, or if we know of... Jens?"

At the mention of "unknown organic compounds," Jens's eyes had lost focus. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet. "I'll be right back!" he called over his shoulder as he practically ran into the back room where old evidence was archived. A few minutes later he returned carrying a large envelope, a victorious grin on his face. "I knew I'd seen that dust before," he said, pulling a small bag out of the envelope and dropping it on the desk next to the sample from Earth. Apart from their color, the dust in the two bags was identical.

Silas stared at the bags in astonishment. "Where did you find that?"

"A year ago the RES responded to an explosion at a farmhouse out in the Haemus Highlands. Completely destroyed the place and killed the owners; only the daughter survived. I was on the forensics team, and I found this dust under the man's body. Sailor Mercury identified it as having come from Earth, which led some people to suspect a terrorist attack. I personally thought it was just an accident." His smile faltered. "I guess I was wrong." He looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "We never were able to determine exactly what happened."

Silas was digging through the envelope, and pulled out the analysis of Jens' sample. He compared it to the lab report from Earth. "Magic signatures are slightly different, but the biological and mineralogical components are almost a perfect match." He looked up at Jens. "Looks like you've got your first new lead on a cold case."

The gleam returned to Jens' eye, and he started returning the material from Earth to its case. "I'm headed to the palace. Sailor Mercury and the Queen are going to want to know about this right away."

"What do you want me to do?" Silas asked.

"You," Jens answered, pointing to the tray of samples they had been cataloging before the case from Earth had arrived, "get to finish those."

Silas groaned.


"Aren't you just the cutest thing!" Angwyn cooed to the baby in her lap. "Who's my widdle baby Theresa? That's you; yes it is!" She tickled the infant's ribs, causing her to squirm and burble in the three-month-old equivalent of a laugh.

Sandrine sat across Angwyn's small dining table, smiling at the joy in the young woman's face as she played with the servant's daughter. Angwyn's amusement was reflected by Juno and Cytheria, who were making faces at the baby girl over Angwyn's shoulder.

"Thank you so much for bringing your baby over," Cytheria said. "She's absolutely adorable!" Juno and Angwyn nodded their agreement.

"You're very welcome," answered Sandrine, who had grown much more comfortable around the senshi over the past year thanks to their frequent presence at Angwyn's apartment. "Today was her first day in the palace nursery, so I thought I might stop in before I headed home for the evening. Are you sure I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Not at all," Juno spoke up. "We just came back with Angwyn from her martial arts class. Athena's in town this week and is helping Angwyn with her magic, so we figured we'd hang around and keep her company till she shows up."

Sandrine nodded. As the princess of the one other significantly populated world in the Moon Kingdom, Sailor Mars was the only senshi who actually fulfilled the leadership role that her title of "princess" entailed. As such, she was generally considered the informal leader of the Inner Senshi. Ironically, it also meant that because she split her time between Mars and the Moon, she was around the palace and the other Inners much less frequently. Angwyn had already mentioned to Sandrine that as a fellow fire adept, Athena had been helping her on those rare opportunities that their schedules coincided, and with some success.

Angwyn leaned over and rubbed noses with Theresa. In response, the baby blew her a raspberry.

Juno laughed. "I think she's tired of you." Directing her attention to Theresa she said, "Do you want to come to Auntie Juno? Yes? I knew you did!"

"Auntie Juno?" Cytheria asked with a raised eyebrow. "More like Great-Great-Great-Great Grandma Juno!"

Juno smacked her friend in the back of the head. "Shut up, you."

Chuckling, Sandrine rose to her feet. "Actually, I need to get home. Alexander's going to start wondering what happened to me if I don't get going soon." She leaned over and retrieved her baby girl.

"Aww," Angwyn complained as Theresa left her lap. "You'll bring her back again, right?"

"Of course!" Sandrine replied. "And maybe when she gets older you could even do some babysitting. How does that sound?"

Angwyn looked a little less certain about that. "Um, maybe. But I don't really know anything about taking care of kids."

Sandrine waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, I'm sure you would do great!" She retrieved her bag from the kitchenette counter and stopped before the apartment door. "Goodnight, princesses, Angwyn. I'm working up here again on Wednesday: I'll see you then, okay?"

Angwyn and the senshi waved their goodbyes as Sandrine opened the door and stepped through. "Oh, excuse me," was heard from the hallway a second later, and a hand stopped the door before it could close. "Hello?" called a voice as a woman with long black hair poked her head in.

"Athena!" Angwyn greeted her. "Come in!"

"Look who I found wandering the halls," Athena said, opening the door fully. Sailor Mercury, in full senshi uniform, followed her in and waved at the assembled group.

"I wasn't wandering," Mercury objected. "I knew exactly where I was going. I know the palace like the back of my hand."

"Minerva?" Cytheria asked. "Aren't you on guard duty this week?"

"I am," the Senshi of Mercury confirmed, "but the Queen and Princess turned in early tonight. And since Angwyn's apartment is here in the palace, I figured it would be okay to stop by and see how the lesson went."

"Wow, I have an audience," Angwyn noted. "That's alright. Hey, Mercury, check out what me and Athena were working on yesterday..."


Jens stepped into the atrium of the throne room and paused, his face falling when he saw two regular palace guards standing watch before the throne room door, rather than Sailor Mercury. "Oh, great," he muttered under his breath. "Where could she be?"

The guards subtly shifted their pikes across their bodies into a two-handed ready position as Jens approached. "State your business," one of them challenged.

Jens fished into his pocket and pulled out his RES ID. "I'm Jens Maltheson from the RES. I have important evidence regarding a case in which the Queen was personally involved." He held up the case from Earth.

"Her Majesty is not available," the same guard said. "May I see that?" It wasn't really a question.

"Please be careful," Jens pleaded as the guard opened the case and peered at its contents. "As I said, that is evidence in an investigation. Besides, it was already scanned and cleared when I entered the palace."

For the first time, the other guard spoke up. "Hey, I think I recognize that case. Isn't that the one the courier from Earth had with him when he dropped off those roses?"

The first guard glanced at the label on the top of the case. "It sure is." Satisfied, he closed the lid and handed it back to Jens. "If you want to present this to the Queen, you'll have to return tomorrow."

"What about Sailor Mercury?" Jens asked. "She was involved in the investigation as well."

"When we relieved her she said she was headed to the residential wing," the second guard answered. "You could try there."

"Thank you, I will. Good evening." With a nod of acknowledgment, Jens turned and headed for the south side of the palace complex in search of the genius senshi.


Brow creased in concentration, Angwyn held her hand over the four unlit candles that were arranged on her dining table. The memory of her mother performing this trick when she had revealed her magic to Angwyn last year had never faded from the girl's mind. She had thought it would be a fitting way to honor her mother's memory to do the same trick herself on her 17th birthday, but with only a couple days to go, she was beginning to wonder if she could learn it in time.

The problem wasn't one of ability – she had finally regained a small amount of access to her magic a few months ago – but one of precision and control. Angwyn still couldn't draw enough power to create a fireball like she had once been able to, but she could produce enough heat to melt the candles if she wasn't careful. And whereas throwing a fireball was a relatively simple matter of projecting the energy in the desired direction, lighting the candles required focusing just the right amount of heat precisely on the tiny wicks. She had learned from Athena how to light a single candle without too much trouble the day before, but focusing her power on multiple points simultaneously was turning out to be a much greater challenge.

Having four of the most accomplished magic users in the solar system watching her every attempt – and failure – wasn't helping matters, either.

As she focused on the candles, one finally lit with a small puff. A second candle grew shiny as its wax grew soft in the heat, but it didn't light. The other two candles sat untouched. Angwyn sat back in frustration.

"Oh, that was close!" Cytheria encouraged her.

Athena nodded in agreement. "Another couple of millimeters and you'll have it! Try it again, while it's still fresh in your mind."

Angwyn sighed and leaned forward again. Her enthusiasm for the magic lesson had vanished about half an hour ago. What she really wanted to do was grab a snack and lose herself in a good book. But one thing she had learned growing up on a farm was that nothing would be gained by laziness, so she tried to focus on the candles once again.

Angwyn was really beginning to to appreciate the skill her mother had shown that evening a year ago when she had revealed her ability. Not only was lighting candles much harder than it looked, but the fire juggling trick she had demonstrated must have required an incredible amount of control to direct the flame's path around and back down into her hand rather than letting it fly off into the ceiling. Angwyn couldn't help a chuckle as she recalled her father's concern over the possibility of them burning down the house.

"Something funny?" Athena asked.

"Sorry," Angwyn answered, shaking her head. "It's nothing."

"Maybe we should call it a night," Athena suggested. "You've been at it for almost an hour. We can come back to this tomorrow when you're fresh."

"No, I'm really close," Angwyn replied. "I think I can do this. I know I can do this. One more try – I'll focus, I promise."

"All right," Athena said, leaning back in her seat. "Go ahead."

Angwyn thought about the problem that faced her. Thinking of her parents, she recalled her father's knowledge and understanding of how magic worked. How would he have figured this out? It occurred to her that one of Aiden's strengths – what allowed him grasp the intricacies of how magic and technology interacted when few other people could – was his ability to approach a problem from multiple angles that others hadn't considered...

Wait a second. Multiple angles? Angwyn dared to hope as she lifted her other hand over the candles. Could it really be that simple?

With a small bit of concentration, two candles popped into flame.

"Yay!" Cytheria and Juno both cheered, while Mercury smiled and clapped.

"Wait!" Angwyn said, holding up a hand before Athena or the others could say anything else. "I think I've got this figured out!"

She quickly extinguished the two candles, then held her hands up again. This time she used four of her fingertips to focus her power, rather than her palms. Obediently, all four candles lit up. "Ha!" she exclaimed with a smirk. "Got it!"

Athena shook her head in disbelief. "You've been working on this for the better part of an hour without success, and suddenly you're able to light all four candles with hardly any trouble? How?"

Angwyn couldn't stop a giggle. "Magic fingers!" she exclaimed, wagging them in the air. Cytheria chuckled behind her, but Athena didn't seem all that amused. Angwyn relented. "I just had to think different about the problem. Though my solution," she wiggled her fingers again, "still won't let me light more than ten at once. Guess I'll have to keep practicing."

"You could use your toes," Cytheria suggested.

Athena ignored her teammate and smiled at Angwyn. "Well, that was still pretty creative thinking. Good job. Do you want to try something else tomorrow?"

"Sure, though could you leave the candles? I'd like to keep practicing this."

"Absolutely." Athena stood and pushed her chair in, then stretched. "This would seem to be a good place to stop. Same time tomorrow, then?"

Angwyn nodded. Just then, a knock sounded on the door.

"Wow, you're popular today," Cytheria observed.

Angwyn got up and crossed the room to the door. Opening it, she looked up to see a thin, nervous-looking blond man holding a small case. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, sorry to intrude," the man said. "My name is Jens. Um, Jens Maltheson. I'm looking for Sailor Mercury, and was told that I might find her here?"

"Yeah, she's here. Come on in." Jens looked extremely relieved as Angwyn opened the door wider to allow him entrance.

Having heard her name, Mercury stepped forward. "Hello, Mr. Maltheson," she greeted him. Her eyes flicked toward Angwyn before returning to the technician. "It has been some time since our paths last crossed. How may I help you?"

Jens gave her a small bow. "It's been a year, m'lady. And that's actually kind of why I'm here." He held out the case. "We have new evidence regarding the attack on that farm last year."

Four pairs of eyes turned as one toward Angwyn, who had gone rigid.

Oblivious to the sudden tension in the apartment, Jens plowed on, determined to present his evidence to the senshi before he lost his nerve. He opened the case and pulled out the pictures, holding both out for Mercury to take. "The queen was right, it was an attack from Earth. Some new kind of monster that they've been having trouble with lately in Adalandis. See, they caught one on camera. They turn into dust when they die: that's what we found under the farmer's body!" Mercury took the items from Jens' hands, painfully aware of the anguish in Angwyn's eyes as the girl stared at them.

"YOU BLOODY INCONSIDERATE BASTARD!" Mercury nearly dropped the evidence and Jens took a startled step backwards as Juno erupted in righteous fury. Even Angwyn was startled out of her stupor by the force of Juno's anger as the Senshi of Thunder rounded on the hapless technician. "How DARE you come in here and speak so callously about her parents' murder? Right in front of her!"

Mercury interposed herself between Juno and the object of her ire. "Wait a second, Juno. I don't think he knew who she was."

Jens looked around in confusion, frantically wondering what he had done to so thoroughly provoke one of the most powerful women in the solar system. His eyes finally settled on the redheaded teenager that had let him in the door. He went pale as 2 and 2 finally clicked together to make 4. "You're the daughter?" he whispered.

Angwyn nodded mutely.

"By Serenity, I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, bowing low. "I had no idea! Please forgive my insensitivity!"

Angwyn said nothing for a moment, then turned to Mercury. "I want to see those pictures," she said quietly.

"Um..." Mercury hesitated.

With surprising speed, Angwyn strode over and snatched the pictures out of Mercury's hand. "I need to know what killed my parents," she growled. Mercury, who had never known Angwyn to be so assertive, was too stunned by the girl's sudden intensity to object.

Cytheria, who had been silently watching the whole episode, decided it was time to speak up. "I think this is worth disturbing the queen over."

Mercury nodded in agreement, Athena looked thoughtful, and Juno was still too busy glaring at Jens to respond. "Come on, Mr. Maltheson," Mercury said, taking his arm and leading him back toward the door. "Let's go show your evidence to Serenity."

Angwyn looked up from the surveillance photos. "I'm coming too," she declared.

"Just a moment," Athena interrupted, prompting both Mercury and Angwyn to turn to face her. Jens kept quiet, not wanting to get in the middle of a disagreement between these women, and quite content to leave Mercury's arm looped through his.

"What?" Angwyn demanded, her face clouded with a mixture of anger, grief, and determination.

"When was the most recent attack?"

All eyes turned back to Jens, who unconsciously pulled Mercury slightly closer. Mercury's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly as she realized that her arm was still linked with his, but didn't move to extricate herself. Yet.

"J-just two weeks ago," Jens replied.

Athena looked back to Mercury. "So do you really think this is so urgent that it can't wait until the morning?"

As Mercury considered the question, Angwyn took a step forward. "I have a right to know what happened to my parents!"

Athena held up a hand. "Yes, you do, and I think you should be allowed to come," she stated. "But not tonight."

Mercury spoke up before Angwyn could argue. "Okay, I'll concede that this isn't such an immediate threat that we need to interrupt the queen this evening. I'll schedule a meeting with her first thing in the morning. But are you sure that bringing Angwyn is wise? She's the victim of this attack. She's too close to it all; too emotionally involved."

"My parents were the victims," Angwyn corrected hotly, "I'm the orphan."

Athena put her hand on Angwyn's shoulder to calm her down. To Mercury she answered, "Don't forget that we've all lost loved ones over the years. My own parents were killed, like Angwyn's, so I have some idea of what she is going through."

Angwyn stared up at the Senshi of Fire. "Really? You... you're an orphan too?"

Athena nodded. "I was an adult when it happened, so I wouldn't exactly call myself an orphan. But yes, I lost my parents when I was younger. My father was the governor of the Mars colony during the Rebellion. He and my mother were at a meeting with some of the largest land owners when the Asterans launched an attack on the colony. The hall in which they were meeting was destroyed." She sighed. "It wasn't the first attack Mars faced, and it wouldn't be the last. But to me, it was the most significant one of the entire rebellion, and I wasn't even there." She nodded toward the other senshi. "We were busy repelling the Asteran forces from the mining operations in Jupiter's asteroid swarms." She looked at Angwyn pointedly. "I wanted so badly to rush back to Mars, to punish those who had hurt me so badly. But I had a duty to my queen, and a responsibility to my fellow senshi to finish the mission at hand. I had to learn the hard way to let go of the pain and hurt; to be patient and draw strength from their memory. I had to accept that I couldn't change what happened. I think that that acceptance has helped me to be a better leader for my people, and a better senshi for my queen."

Angwyn considered Athena's words for a moment before answering quietly, "Okay." Then a glint came into her eye, and she looked around at all of the people in her room. Her gaze grew determined once again as it came to rest on Mercury and Jens. "Just don't forget to come get me in the morning."

Mercury sighed and nodded. Finally removing her arm from Jens's, she opened the door. "Let's go, everyone. We'll see you in the morning, Angwyn." Jens held the door open as everyone else filed out, then quickly shut it and hurried after.

For a few moments, Angwyn just stood there staring at the door, alone with her emotions as they ran circles around her heart. Then the tears finally came and she fell onto her bed, eventually crying herself to sleep.


Author's Notes

Somewhere in this chapter someone used an Apple Computer slogan from the late 1990's, without realizing it.

This chapter and the next were originally intended to be a single chapter, but it got to be a bit longer than I was expecting so I split it here. That's good though, because it gives us a little more time in this time frame before we skip to the next major turning point in Angwyn's life. So hopefully it won't feel like we're jumping around too fast. It also gives me a chance to introduce another character that I wanted to include in the storyline, but was wondering how to fit in. Stay tuned!

Athena's testimony brings up one final note, regarding asteroids. This story uses the popular sci-fi meme that the asteroid belt was created by the destruction of a planet: in this case, Astera. However, there are also considerable swarms of asteroids that both follow and precede Jupiter in its orbit around the Sun, at its L4 and L5 Lagrange points. (Look up the "Trojan asteroids" if you want to learn more.) I figure it would make sense that even if Astera existed and there was no asteroid belt as we know it today, asteroids would still exist in the solar system, though in fewer numbers. These would make an excellent source of raw materials for the expanding Moon Kingdom and a strategic asset during wartime, and thus something the senshi and navy would want to defend.


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The characters and stories of Sailor Moon and Ranma ½ are Copyright © Naoko Takeuchi and Rumiko Takahashi, respectively, and are used here without permission or license.

No claims to the above copyrights are made by the author of this work.

This work is for non-commercial use ONLY, and is produced for the enjoyment of fans only.

This work is the expression of the author and the depiction of the Sailor Moon and Ranma ½ characters herein are in no way represented to be a part of Sailor Moon or Ranma ½ as depicted by the original authors and copyright holders.