SMST5B: Journey to Adventure! – By DS Wynne

Disclaimer: None of the principle characters and situations belongs to me.

Note: This is a multi-genre story.

Special note: The assassination mission by the Terminator takes place before the "death" of Mamoru (Prince Darien/Tuxedo Mask) Chiba. Afterwards, it will cover events post "Hero Initiative".

Author's note: In an effort to catch up, my stories will be 1000+ words each (for now). C&C are welcomed.

Part 13

Meanwhile…

"Why do I feel that I'm in the middle of the movie 'Heavy Metal'?" Daniel says, as he, Jack, Teal'c, Cerena, Samantha, Cameron and Vala sat in the audience.

Cameron looks about the area. For some strange reason, the architecture of the Tamaranians reminded him of "boobs"…lots and lots of "boobs".

"You have me," Cameron says.

"It is an honor that you came to watch the Empress duel Queen Komand'r," Cerena says. Cerena was a member of the Imperium, a galactic-wide empire that exists in a "mirrored" universe. Essentially, she and everyone else from her home universe were clones of the Empress, clones of the Empress' consort, or clones of the female form of the Empress' consort…or variations, taken into consideration of the varied physiologies of different species. This was made so out of revenge against the betrayal by the Galactic Alliance, after a peace agreement that was suppose to grant amnesty for all parties during the Galactic Civil War. Instead, the former rebels bid their time for when they were strong enough to punish the ruler of the Imperium for her role during the Galactic Civil War. So when they attacked her palace on Byth, the Empress was taken by surprise, resulting in the death of HER Ranma. In revenge, the Empress released a sophisticated retrovirus that was highly contagious. She also created the means to deliver the virus using "sub-space" as the means. Thus, the virus can be "beamed" from vast distances in space. Unfortunately, in her anger and grief, the Empress went overboard, resulting in the infection of an entire Universe, since she used herself as the energy source that disperse the virus in all directions. Now, even on the Earth of that Universe, there is no man, woman or child that do not look like the Empress, the Empress' consort or the female form of the Empress' consort. And some, only a few noticed how wrong that situation was…

Nevertheless, the Empress, along with her royal guard and personal troops and fleet, fled that Universe. She placed her minions to stand watch over her personal armory, located in a pocket dimension, called "The Inventium" (also known as "The Technomancer's Toybox"). The dimension was discovered while the Empress attempted to locate her doppelganger's whereabouts, and found a wealth of technological treasures and wonders (which is how the Empress was able to develop the means to devastate an entire Universe. The Empress learned that her counterpart's minions had claimed it for themselves, even though other factions—mystic and hyper-scientific alike—have made raids on it from time-to-time. After establish a place of her own in the Inventium, which appears as a giant, wooden chest, the Empress waited for the day to strike back at her counterpart. She would eventually succeed, when the Empress weakened her counterpart just enough to merge with her. As a result, at least for a while, the Empress was in control over the situation. That is, until her counterpart's allies convinced the Empress of the error of her ways. Now, the Empress and her counterpart were of one mind and body…once again.

At any rate, Cerena, a clone of her Empress, was assigned to the United States' "Homeworld Security" agency as a liaison of sorts. She would be the contact person if Homeworld Security needed assistance from the Imperium Remnant, which was what was left of the original Galactic Imperium. But, for the most part, Cerena merely participated on exploration missions with her team, SG-1, which serves as the front-line for Stargate Command in matters of "first contact". And whenever she is off duty, she gets to spend her free time with her boyfriend Mamoru.

"I have faith in the Empress' abilities," Cerena says proudly.

Vala turns to the naive Imperium officer.

"How would you like to bet on the spread?" Vala says, as the raven-haired beauty grinned.

"'Spread'?"

"Don't take it," Samantha cautioned. "It's a sucker's bet."

"Why do you have to spoil my fun?"

"General O'Neill," Teal'c begins to say. "I am surprised that you would come to this event."

"Well…I want to make sure that the negotiations do not go awry," Jack says. "If we can secure the Tamaranians support, we can be that much closer to opening greater trading exchanges."

"I see…"

"Plus…I like seeing Usagi kick butt."

"Of course."

Down in the arena floor itself, the System Lord "Osiris", a Gao'uld, hands her beloved Usagi her equipment.

"Thanks," Usagi says, as she placed her battle helm on her head. Essentially, Usagi's armor was a metal bikini set with helmet, shoulder armament, and shin and knee armament.

"Thanks," Usagi replied, as she puts on her war helm. "What I don't understand is that she can sleep with Ranma all she wants."

"It's not about her just sleeping with Ranma. It's about being a significant person in Ranma's life."

"Humph. Well, wish US luck."

Usagi gave Osiris a kisss on the lips, and steps out into the open field. Osiris sighs. To think that she has to deal with two loves in her life…

"Sir," Cameron says, as he turns to Jack. "Don't we have regulations about…well, you know…this sort of thing?"

Jack turns towards Cameron.

"Colonel, as long as you don't ask, I won't tell."

"Ah, I got it."

Meanwhile, Redfire was putting the finishing touches of her mother's battle armor…such as it was.

"Mother, this is unnecessary," Redfire says, as she hands Blackfire her helmet.

Blackfire turns towards her daughter.

"You've been intermingling with these humans way too much, daughter. I want your father to myself, or, at the very least, his lovers will have to come to ME for permission."

Wildfire sighs. She enjoys the thrill of the battle like a Tamaranian should. But she also knows not to waste resources for needless pursuits. Maybe that's what draws her to her fiancé, Doctor William Robinson. In spite of being an intellectual, her father saw something in the human that gave him his blessing. And…William was once a student of his father's at one point in time, so that was something to consider when choosing a potential mate. Certainly, her cousin Mari chose well when she chose Damian Wayne, also known as Ibn al-Xuffash ("Son of the Bat"), to be her mate…

"Will you stand by my decision, daughter?" Blackfire says.

"Of course, Mother," says Redfire with a sigh. "I am of the Royal House, am I not?"

"Good girl."

And with that, Blackfire steps unto the field of battle.

Meanwhile, the T-X manages to position itself to where it can aim her weapon at the Moon Princess. The weapon itself was a standard long-range sniper rifle. However, the ammo itself was specially made to kill its target permanently.

The T-X examines one of the rounds, ten in all. The casing was made from premium, which is a standard metal alloy within the hyper-tech industry. The round itself was specially made. Made from "promethium", this rare alloy can pierce ANY paranormal flesh that could normally withstand even high-tech armament. But icing of the proverbial was the tiny gel capsule was within the hollow point of the round itself: Lunarium. Lunarium was an extremely lethal to anyone who was of Lunarian descent…including the Moon Princess. Once the Lunarium enters the bloodstream, rapid necroptosis will commence, as every cell in the Lunarian's body will begin to decay…

Satisfied, the T-X begins loading the special rounds into its rifle. With the Moon Princess too busy to notice, it is only a matter of time before the Terminator succeeds in its primary objective.

CHK!

"Terminated," the cyborg says to itself, as it takes aim at its intended target: Sailor Moon!

Tbc.