you and me
we're in this together now
none of them can stop us now
we will make it through somehow
-Nine Inch Nails, "We're In This Together"

You can not succeed, your cause is hopeless.

She wasn't quite sure that she could do this. Not one to doubt herself, she still had to acknowledge that the logical outlook to this situation did not look favorable in the least. There were thirty men on foot; they hadn't attacked yet and instead were content to just continue shouting in their Terran language that sounded twisted in her ears. Thirty men on foot. Thirty men with different sorts of weapons. Thirty men that wanted to see them dead.

Five men on horseback. They were more than just decorated cavalry soldiers. These were men of importance; their very bearing gave that way, as if their clothing wouldn't have done the same.

Thirty-five against two. Maybe three, perhaps four but no, it would be just three.

Ami was going to get the shuttle going and take them from here, the mess that it was spiralling out of control. That meant she wasn't involved in this. There wasn't a point to count on her outside of her being the only one that could get them out of here.

Makoto would be appearing after detaining the Princess somewhere inside the shuttle, safe from possible harm. There would be the Jovian.

Herself, full of treperdation that they could win. Or maybe it was more like they could get out alive. Alive and with hopefully minimal injuries. Training was one thing, but it had been so brief really. Far too brief like everything else had been since she arrived on the Lunar surface.

Then there was Minako.

Minako would fight to the bitter end, just like she had every other time in the past. Since that day she had set foot on Mars' red surface, the woman just would not give up. It was irritating and admirable to say the least, a point of contention that made her want to scream yet allowed her to be continually awed. She never stopped to rest unless forced to and then not for long. She constantly pushed herself beyond any concept of healthy and for what?

For what indeed.

Respect? Fuck that. No one respected her for it or much of anything that was her if you got right down to it. Everyone just expected her to continue to be unfaltering, unwavering in the face of everything that the Cosmos; oh wasn't that just poetic justice that Minako's damn words were infiltrating her vocabulary? kept throwing shit at her. It wanted her to fail, just like everyone else. Everyone wanted to see the perfection tarnished, the mighty topple, and the over-achieving and overreaching blonde burn in the fire of reaching for the stars.

Minako would stand to the end because that was all she could do. Because everyone expected her to do that. Gods forbid she not live up to it.

And how she positively despised her for it. Her for doing it and everyone with such expectations for her.

"Come now, why must you keep me from my love? Such a force is her guard of honor, my Generals will make sure she is unharmed." She didn't like this man in the least, this one with black hair and a breastplate. The one that the Princess had identified as the Prince. He was far too smug, far too … far too just everything right now. This wasn't right, none of this was right. It was a trap, as plain as any that the Warlords of her home had tried to spring on her time and time again. She prided herself on always being one step ahead, one step ahead with Phobos and Deimos.

Everything had been fine until the day that damned blonde had stepped onto the surface of Mars.

Everything had been fine.

Fine.

Fine and full of absolute shit.

Minako hadn't said a word, but she was poised. Too poised, looking from one person to the next, her hands in their pristine white gloves had a hold on both falchion and that fine golden chain. That chain that would have saved her from the man in the throne room with the spear. That chain that she used to spar against her with, disarming her or distracting her as centuries of martial warfare imparted itself to muscle memory. Brought to life by what … her home? The Fires of Mars?

Or perhaps that same Cosmic force that caused a golden symbol to appear briefly on Minako's forehead for the flash of a second before she fought her battle that was not hers to win.

"The Prince should not be kept waiting. You five," one of men gestured, the white haired one, to five of the henchmen at random. "See what the two of them can do."

They are coming for you...

To so blatantly throw the lives of men away. Frivolously. It was egotistical to think in such a way but she felt confident. Minako looked confident. It was infectious really. The five were going to die because of it.

"Are you ready?" The blonde's voice was soft, her gaze not on her though as the five men who were to test them approached. Two with spears, two with longswords, and the last with an axe. That was what they were going to face first.

"I-." I what? Nothing mattered at this point. Plenty did but right now…It did. It wasn't worth talking about though. She was both ready and not ready at the same time, a lovely paradox that. "Yes."

"No one gets in." Minako spared her a brief glance, her words like hardened steel, completely unwavering. Just like her gaze. Just like her resolve to continually reach beyond what she should.

That thinly disguised hatred was doing everything for welling inside of her.

With a curt nod she flexed her hands in the gauntlets that the blonde had given her, holding both of the swords at the ready. This was it, for real. She had killed before, that man after all, so that wasn't the issue. What then? What was the cause? Why was she so on edge, so boiling with bile and disgust?

It wasn't Minako, no it couldn't be her. Not as she stepped forward as the men charged, her chain knocking aside a sword, her falchion following through to take the life. Four.

Four. The other sword came at her, raised high. She didn't think and just acted instead. Her right parried the blow, her left thrusted cleanly through his chest. And he fell back, just like that. Three.

Three.

The axe was hacking away like a lumberjack. It wasn't wood though that he sought to hew, it was flesh and blood and bone, Minako little match for him in that of strength, but she was nimble and kept that whirling axe away from her. Three. What was it?

This wasn't right, she knew that. This … should not be happening. The Queen said the Prince had invited the Princess, them all, to Earth. It meant they would not see the Terran Chancellor turned Queen. They would not find out the answers to the secrets. Why was it so important that they be on the Moon? What had happened to her mother? Why had her planet been so ransacked and controlled by a man with a spear and eyes of false gold? Why was Ami trying to start the shuttle? Why was Makoto trying to get the Princess to safety?

Why was Minako-?

The crux. There was more going on, and she had a sudden feeling that she was a pawn in the game. That was it. It wasn't her, it wasn't Terra. It was the situation they found themselves all in.

You are a pawn of forces unseen.

A grunt that sounded painful broke the short lived epiphany.

Minako knelt, an arrow protruding from her thigh. It took a moment but then she looked up, pure rage coloring her features in such a way that, well, she was partially ashamed to say she found attractive. That raw determination of before had been tempered in the forge of desperation and left a battle-hardened will. The man with the axe yelped suddenly, clutching what remained of his arm. He turned, struggling to get away with what he still could only to have his leg cut out from under him in the completing slash of her falchion.

She snapped out of it at once, controlled rage filling her arms to turn each blow to a massacre. The man with the spear was a hacked mass of pieces. Angry was putting it mildly; she didn't know how the last one died just that he did.

There was laughter from the Terrans. Apparently this was funny, far too funny. Maybe the one crawling away clutching what remained of his arm didn't join in, but the others did. Maybe they were even laughing at him.

Eight came at them now, this was easy right? Five had managed to injure so eight should do more. The Terrans had a shitty grasp on math. None of them on foot had so much as left a mark. It was that damn archer that had been lucky, not them. It was that damn archer that she wanted to kill.

From the shuttle the Jovian hurried to join them. Makoto stood, her spear at the ready like she was going to accept a charge. It gave Minako the break she needed to push back to her feet, pointedly and stupidly ignoring the arrow that protruded from her thigh. It was staining her pant leg a hue of red that she was equally as ashamed to admit to anyone, much less herself; the blonde looked good in red.

She hurriedly looked away, feeling her features flush for sure. At the start of a question she answered it anyway, as it didn't matter really what the question was. She had a good idea in mind already. It was logical to ask it anyway. "The blond on horseback has the bow, I can't tell how many arrows."

"Sittin' targets then." Makoto answered; no she wasn't stopping a charge, she was the charge. The spear whirled like a storm, both ends striking bodies without discrimination. Those that survived or avoided the onslaught were met by her or their leader, finishing them off before they could get much further.

"Ami! What the hell is the hold up!" As three of the men fell Minako turned her head, yelling in the direction of the shuttle before engaging back into the fight.

The sound of boot falls followed, amplified by the flooring of the shuttle, along with the Princess' cry and what sounded like a body hitting something. The Mercurian's head poked out, "There's a block on it, I can't get the shuttle started!"

The blonde instantly flared to life with curse words; she had to assume as it was a language she hadn't heard save for when she fought in front of her fath-the King. Artemis was there. Minako had muttered something in that lyrical voice. This was the same, far more impassioned though than that time.

"Oh, are you looking for this?" That man, that Prince of Earth, held up a device in his hand. Some sort of black box with switches and buttons. "Hand over the Princess, relics of paranoia, and you can leave."

Minako answered in a way that, looking back at it, would be the catalyst to change. That was the single point in which everything changed and nothing would ever be the same again.

With rage filling her features and coloring her actions, her falchion stabbed cleanly through the fourth man. She left it there as the body fell back, passing the chain from her left to right hand, before she whipped it forward as though it would reach the Prince.

That chain was only two or three feet in length. The Prince was naturally, much, much further away than that.

It seemed a foolish act as this all was.

As it sprang forward it took on a glow of golden light, growing in size until it wrapped around the surprised Prince. With a grit of her teeth the blonde wrenched and pulled, yanking the man from his horse and partially through the air. His body landed with what had to be a painful thud on the ground, only to be pulled the rest of the way to stop at the blonde's booted feet.

"My Prince!" Four different voices called out in alarm, followed by the sounds of horse hooves against the earth. It was met with the clamor of weapons raising and feet charging forward from the remaining foot army.

Minako wrenched hard on the chain, pulling the device from the hands of her captive. She turned, tossing it to Ami who awaited her. Caught the blue haired woman began punching at things seemingly random on it, colliding with the Princess standing in the doorway who cried at the notion of the scene before her. Not them though, that Makoto was bracing for the wave, that she was moving to provide cover, not that Minako was hurt. It was that damned Prince that had her concern.

They were expendable.

Positively growling the Venusian barked, "Get inside now or so help me Goddess-" Whatever else she had to say was lost as her breath left her. Pitching forward, her arm caught herself before she could collide with the shuttle. One of the seven from the second group brought his sword up again, ready to likely kill her. Stained red from where it had struck her exposed shoulder, it wavered for a moment before it was dropped. His hands rose, going to try and protect his face as Minako's gloved fist connected again and again until all that was left could be considered a mess of red flesh.

On his feet, the Prince stumbled to regain his balance, arms still bound by the gleaming, golden chain. He had a look that could not be so easily described, trying to recoup to either run away or perhaps attack by some means possible.

They had three, now two; one was ran through by Makoto's deft spear. Both of her swords took another. So one. One and the rest of his forces were still approaching. The men on horseback seconds away. The singular one that seemed to debate a moment before turning to flee.

Kill them all... before they kill you...

The anger that welled within her burned, turning into a raging inferno of power. Without conscious awareness she raised her hand in a sweeping motion, somehow both amazed that it happened and yet not, like it was expected, as a wake of fire followed her motions. The screams instantly followed suit, no matter the language pain, agony, and death always sounded the same.

That, and the stench.

A crack of thunder and the resulting flash of lightning snapped her back to reality, quickly pulling up on her sword and reclaiming the one she had dropped. The man that had opted to run for what remained of his life was caught right in the pathway, a blackened husk that lingered for a moment before toppling over, smoking. The lightning arced, bouncing forward in erratic waves to be lost in the tree line.

Lightning always looked different than fires, remembering those few, rare storms that would sweep across her home. Sandstorms were a rather common occurrence, sending dust and dirt everywhere without much care. Sometimes the storms managed to cover the entire surface, blotting out the light from both sun and distant stars. Lasting for days, it was always a relief when they finally ceased, signalling the beginning of uncovering all that had been entombed in red.

On occasion though they were serious, more so if they could collect material, sending it whirling around like a dervish. Woe to any caught in its path, often causing injury if not outright death. Lightning though was different. It bounced and danced in the clouds, a graceful and jerky movement. The roar of thunder heralded it, occasionally leaving its haven of clouds to touch the ground in a jagged display of raw energy.

This though. It had its own scent, its own feel. The horsemen stopped, horses rearing in protest, and reins firmly in hand as those around them screamed their last moments of existence out. Behind them the densely packed forest sprung to life in a roar of flames as the bouncing electricity found a willing host for the fuel it offered.

Who were the lucky ones trapped now?

"Minako we're ready!" Ami's voice called from the interior.

Where had the time gone? She hadn't even heard the shuttle roar to life yet there it was. An energy all of its own to add to the mix.

Makoto turned, red spear in one hand, her other arm bodily carrying the Princess inside with a look that all three of them had perfected in one form or another. Sheathing either sword she rushed to help Minako to stable footing, her quarry rather stunned by the display.

"Tell whoever to fuck off." The blonde bit out, the chain vanishing. She reached, mindful of her assistance but ignoring it all the same, retrieving her falchion with a yank from the body that held it.

"You really have no idea do you?"

"I know you're a fucking piece of shit ready to kill us."

"Minako, now!" Makoto's head poked out, ready to pull them both in if she had to. She took that cue, pulling Minako back and to their escape even as she didn't want to move or go yet.

"You're a fool, the lot of you. Your precious Queen is using you and you can't be assed to see it."

This would carry on for ages if given the chance. A flame burst to life in her gauntleted hand, held in warning. Her other guided the blonde behind her until Minako finally relented to be hobbled back inside. "This isn't over fuckface." Came her closing remark, her hand still holding her falchion like she expected them to levy an attack regardless of the unspoken truce currently existing.

It hardly seemed to phase him, surrounded now by his generals. They had slipped from their horses but had their arms at the ready. "Let them go. The truth'll hurt more." The Prince looked at them all, smirking with his words while his guards surrounded him. "Do protect my love; I will be seeing you all soon enough."

Makoto pulled the hatch closed behind them, telling Ami to go, if punch it meant that. The Princess looked distraught, huddled in her seat. Fearfully her gaze bounced from one guard to the next, completely at a loss with all that happened.

"Buckle up, we're leaving." She heard herself say, helping the blonde into her seat. Her leg needed attention, along with that cut to her shoulder. Without the adrenaline of battle blocking it out, she didn't realize that it wasn't just Minako who took hits. Makoto was nursing what was sure to be a growing bruise on her cheek. Her knuckles were torn open as well, bleeding lightly. Secured in her seat she met her gaze before it shifted to the blonde and back to her.

The implication was clear. There just wasn't much that could be done right now. They needed to be in space without the constraints of taking off to hold them back before they could do anything.

The shuttle rose a with a jerk to the air, no where near as smooth as their deceased pilot had been. As that realization struck she looked around with a bit of alarm; had they left his body behind? It seemed wrong, leaving a Lunarian on Terra's surface. Her gaze met Makoto's; a nod had it moving to the back. There, rather unceremoniously he had been dumped, covered hastily by the Jovian's cloak. At the silence the Princess looked as well, gasping and covering her mouth.

"Stop looking at him, Gods." Her voice came out harsher than she wanted but her hands hurt something awful, along with her arms. Her concern was more Minako who looked pale in her seat. Blue eyes, that shade she could never hope to describe met with her gaze. There was a slight smile there but not much of one, much more concern instead. Concern and anger and degrees of pain.

"Here." Gods only knew if there was water on board, taking her cloak that had been left behind. Drawing a sword she sliced through the material to jagged strips, eyeing the arrow.

"It doesn't seem poisoned if that's what you're trying to deduct. It just fucking hurts. Goddess what a shitstorm this turned out to be." Minako leaned back, gripping the seat as a way to deal with everything. The takeoff, her leg, the situation. Everything.

Shitstorm was an understatement.