The Pirate's Soldier

by operation meteor

Heero's career as a Preventers operative takes a strange turn when he gets caught up in a fight between a Juraian royal and a notorious space pirate. As the two alien beauties settle in with him on Earth and more soon follow, the former Gundam pilot soon finds himself to be the target of their affections, with a certain lovely outlaw at the front of the pack! M for some language.

24. Chapter 24

Author's Notes: Hello there! So, I decided to split up the battle for the second repository into multiple chapters, with this one primarily focusing on the space section of it. Next one will be the ground fighting. If I did it all in one go, it'd be huge, and my chapters are big enough already!

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Four: No Need For A Chaotic Battle!

March 12th, A.C. 199

Holding the black hilt of her 'Key' across her body, Ryoko looked past her unignited weapon at her sparring partner. "Hey, you ready?"

Heero didn't answer. Instead, his gaze was focused on what was held in his right hand. It wasn't the sword he'd used in past training matches with Ryoko or Yosho, or even Tenchi-ken for that matter. It looked similar to the Master Key wielded by Yosho, but it was very much its own distinct device. Crafted from a slightly darker wood than Tenchi-ken, the slender shaft in Heero's hand had a very slight but noticeable curve to it, giving it a rather elegant look in Ryoko's eyes. Two black prongs at one end served as the emitters, while a graceful pattern of interlocking tree branches was carved into the hilt.

The weapon's name was Achika, and it was the newly-forged Master Key from the First Generation Royal Tree that Heero had bonded with and personally named just two days ago.

I guess he's still getting used to having it, the pirate mused as she patiently waited for the young soldier, I can't really blame him there. Him bonding with the tree… that whole ceremony seemed to take a lot out of him.

Ryoko wasn't really a huge fan of pomp and circumstance, but she'd felt obligated to attend the ceremonial bonding between Heero and his own Royal Tree. True to her word, Funaho had found a First Generation specimen in the Royal Arboretum, and once she and Yosho had determined that Heero was ready, everyone had gathered there. Even the Emperor had been present, looking on with cool detachment as his great-grandson meditated before his chosen empowered plant. Ryoko had been worried as she'd watched Heero sit in front of the Royal Tree; although outwardly he'd appeared calm, the pirate had sensed his Juraian energy oscillating wildly as he'd attempted to synch with the tree. The whole process had played out over the span of an hour, and several times Ryoko had been tempted to interrupt the ceremony and pull Heero out of it. She could feel the strain within him as the Royal Tree exerted an ominous pull while the young man tried to understand just what was happening and what he was supposed to do. The only thing that had stopped her from intervening had been both Yosho and Washu keeping her under watch, and while the latter was hardly a fighter, Ryoko didn't like her chances when it came to tangling with the former.

Despite her fears, though, the ceremony proved to be a success. Eventually, Ryoko had felt Heero's energy stabilize and actually begin to rise in tandem with that of the tree. That was when the Emperor had begun to clap, and soon the entire Arboretum had been echoing with applause and the stunned murmurs of many of the gathered nobles. Ryoko was sure that they'd been secretly hoping for Heero to fail, so she derived at least a small measure of satisfaction in knowing that he'd proven them wrong. Unfortunately, that satisfaction had been quickly overridden by worry when she saw just how worn out Heero truly was. He kept it together in front of the crowd, but once the onlookers had retreated the young man all but collapsed into Ryoko's arms. He had remained conscious, but it was clear that the ordeal had drained him.

While the process of actually turning Achika into the core of a Royal Treeship for Heero would be a long one and impossible to complete before the raid on the second repository, that hadn't really been the point of the ceremony. With Heero now bonded to Achika, a Master Key could be forged, and Heero had done just that after being given a chance to rest. The forging process had proven to be just as concerning for Ryoko as the bonding ceremony, for while Heero himself hadn't done much of the physical crafting beyond laying out the design he wanted, he had been required to meditate again in order to properly establish the connection between Achika herself and the Master Key. Yes, herself; Heero had insisted on referring to his Royal Tree as 'she' following the ceremony, though he hadn't told anyone yet the reason why.

Maybe it's got something to do with how all Royal Trees are supposed to be connected to Tsunami, Ryoko thought, I mean, it's as good a guess as any. Then again, he gave it the same name as his mother, so I suppose that's a pretty big clue.

Ultimately, the name itself really didn't matter. All Ryoko cared about was making sure that Heero both had a powerful new weapon and didn't kill himself in the process of creating it. Luckily, everything had gone okay, although Heero had come out of the forging just as worn out as he had been after the bonding ceremony. Although he'd wanted a chance to practice with his Master Key, both Ryoko and Ayeka had adamantly insisted that he rest first, a rare point of agreement for the two women. Perhaps the simple shock at seeing princess and pirate on the same page had done the trick, because Heero hadn't argued with them.

He'd had time to sleep and recover since then, and in the following days had devoted himself to training just as much with his new Master Key as he had to practicing with the fighter Washu had built for him. His training both as a pilot and swordsman had taken on new urgency; preparations for the coming assault on the second repository were in full swing now, and the clock was ticking. With the entire Second Fleet and its supporting infrastructure mobilized, it was only a matter of time before word got back to Kagato through his various spies, assuming it hadn't already. Washu hadn't minced words; they would likely arrive on site first, but Kagato and his allies wouldn't be far behind. They would almost certainly be clashing with both the drones defending the second repository and the cadet branch royal's retinue again, and there was every possibility that the latter would up his game for round two.

Which meant that the sooner Ryoko snapped Heero out of whatever clouds his mind was in now, the better. "Heero, you still with me over there? You doing okay?"

The young man blinked a few times before shaking his head and meeting Ryoko's gaze. "Sorry about that. I was… distracted. It's no excuse, I know. Shall we?"

"Only if you're feeling up to it," Ryoko replied, giving him what she hoped was an understanding smile, "If you need a few minutes or want to talk for a bit, that's fine too."

"No," said Heero, "I'm good. You ready?"

Ryoko smirked as twin shafts of scarlet blazed forth from the ends of her Key. "Are you?"

For his answer, Heero held up Achika in front of him. With a 'snap-hiss', a brilliant azure blade sprang to life. The young prince made a quick X-flourish before angling his weapon towards the floor. He only held it in his right hand, while his left was empty and in front of him, palm facing the ceiling. Heero crooked his fingers towards him, a message that was all too clear to Ryoko.

Come and get me.

Ryoko was more than happy to oblige. She lunged forward, spinning her double-bladed Key in an effort to disorient Heero before her opening strike, but of course he didn't fall for it. Instead, the Preventer operative calmly stepped back, deflecting her leading slash while bleeding off a considerable portion of the force behind it. Whirling her weapon, Ryoko brought the second blade to bear, yet Heero simply parried that strike before countering with a swift thrust that disrupted the pirate's momentum and put her on the backfoot.

Should've known it wouldn't be that easy, Ryoko mused as she fell back under the former Gundam pilot's counteroffensive, Heero might have a lot on his mind right now, but when it comes to a fight, he's not easily distracted.

His advance was calm and deliberate, with his sapphire blade probing her defenses and testing the limits of her weapon's reach and flexibility. A series of precise thrusts and cuts alternating between her chest and legs kept Ryoko on her toes, and she found it difficult to find an opening for a counterattack. This was no surprise; in her initial sparring matches using her new weapon, Ryoko had believed that the two blades would give her an advantage, but Heero had quickly disabused her of that notion.

"Your Key allows for broad coverage, and the two blades can be confusing to inexperienced fighters," he'd once told her during a match, "but it's not nearly as adaptable or precise as a single-bladed weapon. Also, the two blades can be tracked quite easily since they're both connected to the same hilt. If I know the location of one, then I automatically know where the other is and can anticipate it."

All that was certainly true, but it didn't mean that Ryoko was about to let Heero have easy wins against her. Her weapon had limitations, sure, but so did his. She had the reach advantage on him, and she could control a wider section of the arena if she gained the upper hand than he could. She just had to wait for the right moment to turn the tables on her sparring partner.

Of course, that wasn't easy for Ryoko. She'd always been impatient and impulsive, and that went double when she was in a fight and the adrenaline was pumping. She had to fight her instincts here as she focused mainly on defense while studying Heero's patterns and looking for the chance to catch him off guard. As he continued to drive her back, she realized that she'd have to make her own opening, and she had an idea as to how to do that.

Taking a few quick steps back as she deflected his thrusts, she suddenly leapt over him, her blade spinning as she did so. Heero deflected the whirling slashes with casual grace, but as Ryoko came down behind him she immediately sprang forward, with her foe only barely able to adjust his stance and meet her charge. A series of wide swings forced Heero to backpedal, and Ryoko pounced. Now it was her driving him back across the training ring, her whirling scarlet blades hammering against his azure one in rapid succession.

As his sapphire shaft danced before him and deflected her blows, Heero gave her a respectful nod. "Nicely done. You're definitely improving."

Behind her flashing crimson blades, Ryoko smiled. "Glad you noticed!"

For his part, Heero's face remained completely calm and focused as he steadily retreated under her assault. With another foe, Ryoko would've assumed the ensuing silence meant that she had them on the ropes, but making that assumption with Heero would've been a serious mistake. If Ryoko had learned anything in the time she'd spent with him, it was that silent Heero was the most dangerous version of him.

And this duel proved to be no exception. Swinging her double-bladed Key around her, as Ryoko initiated another series of whirlwind swings in an attempt to drive her sparring partner to the edge of the ring, Heero countered with a mid-level thrust that caught one of her blades in the middle of the strike. Ryoko immediately flipped her weapon around to bring the second blade to bear, but in doing so she had to loosen her grip, and that was what Heero had been waiting for. A quick flick of his wrist was all he needed to send the weapon flying from Ryoko's hands, and the blades extinguished before the Key hit the ground. Before she could attempt to reach for it, Heero's sapphire shaft of energy was at her neck.

"Sorry," said the young prince, "but this match is mine."

Ryoko held up her hands in surrender, smiling again despite her defeat. "Yeah, it is. I'd be mad if you didn't beat me fair and square each time. Guess I've still got a long way to go."

Heero deactivated Achika and clipped the Master Key to his belt before kneeling down to pick up Ryoko's weapon and hand it to her. "We both do. You have the wisdom and self-awareness to recognize that, which is a good step in the right direction. Be more careful when you're transitioning between strikes with this thing. You're vulnerable during the spin when you bring the back blade around, and if I could catch that, then so can our enemies."

Ryoko nodded. "I'll remember that. Thanks for the tip."

"Anytime," said Heero as he gestured at a nearby bench where two water bottles sat, "Want to take a break?"

"Sure," she replied.

The two of them headed over and took a seat, and Ryoko savored the feeling of the water running down her throat. She could've gone quite a few more rounds before really needing to rest, and she knew that Heero could as well. He wasn't tired by any stretch of the imagination. Him asking for a break was his way of saying he wanted to talk, and Ryoko had a good idea as to what that might be about.

"You're really getting the hang of that thing," said the pirate, nodding at the hilt of Achika, "Actually, I think you're better with that than you were with the sword Washu made for you."

Heero was quiet for a moment, and she saw him look down at his Master Key. "I suppose I am. I don't quite understand why, but wielding that… it's strange. I've only had Achika for barely more than a day, yet she feels… natural. Her power, her grip… it's like I've had her all my life, even though I know for a fact that that's not the case. I don't understand it."

"Sounds like some more weird Juraian crap," Ryoko commented, "Whole bunch of mysticism, connecting with trees, one that you insist on calling a 'she', and you do the same with the damn sword you got from her… it's all pretty ridiculous, you do know that, right?"

Heero chuckled. "I won't argue with that. Believe it or not, I still can't entirely figure out why I've extended that to the Master Key. I mean, the tree itself would at least make sense, but the Key? Yosho only refers to Tenchi-ken as 'it' when he's not calling it by its name, and Achika really shouldn't be any different. Even so… I don't know why, but calling her 'it' just feels wrong, and that extends to the Key."

Ryoko shrugged. "Look, I'm not going to pretend to understand any of this stuff, but if calling Achika's Mastery Key 'her' feels right to you, then go for it. I mean, you named her after the mother you never really got to know, right? If that's your way of honoring her memory, who am I to stop you? I'm not going to judge you over something like that. None of us will. We've got bigger fish to fry."

Heero looked over at her and gave her a small smile. "We do. Thanks, by the way. For being so understanding about this."

Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "Uhm, weren't you listening just now? Pretty sure I said that I don't understand any of this."

"That's not what I meant, and I think you know that," Heero replied, "The bonding ceremony, creating the Key, my training; you've been there for all of it, and you never once complained. I'm sure there were other things you'd rather have been doing, places that you'd be more comfortable in… but you're still here… with me. Thank you. That's helped… a lot more than I could put into words."

Ryoko smiled as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I figured you could use the support. I might be out of my comfort zone in a place like this, but at least I've got experience in traveling the galaxy and have dealt with the Empire before. This whole mess is your first time ever being outside of your own star system. If anyone's a fish out of water here, it's definitely you and your old friends."

Heero reached over and put his hand over hers. "We really are. I know the others have gone along with all this without complaining, but I'm sure they've got their own doubts and fears about being so far from our old stomping grounds. Focusing on the mission is probably what's keeping them sane right now."

"I don't know," said Ryoko, knowing she had to approach this delicately, "If this were a peaceful trip, they'd probably be excited tourists. The one who's really focusing on the mission to keep his sanity intact is… well, you, Heero."

There was a brief but tense moment of silence before Heero responded. "You're… not wrong. Concentrating on the task at hand helps take my mind off of… well, everything else. I know it's not healthy to put off reckoning with what this all means for me, but there are bigger things at stake than me coming to grips with my new family situation."

Ryoko sighed. "Family drama… and here I thought I had it weird with Washu. I'll take that over being royalty any day."

"She does care about you, you know," Heero pointed out, "Washu, I mean. I know she doesn't really show it openly, but whenever I've talked with her in private, it's clear that your happiness and well-being is important to her."

Ryoko felt a slight surge of heat rush to her face. "Yeah… I know. I mean, she wasn't there in the beginning, and our first meeting was definitely less than pleasant with the whole frog thing, but since then… I think she's trying to make up for lost time in her own way. Still a pretty dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship, but I guess I wouldn't know what a normal one was if it smacked me in the face."

"Give her a chance," Heero requested, "Family's more of a luxury than many people realize. You and I know that all too well."

Ryoko nodded. "We do. I at least had Ryo-Ohki with me from the start, though. You… you were alone, weren't you? Yosho said the old government of Earth murdered your parents, right?"

"My mother and her husband, according to Yosho," Heero corrected her, "I did stay with Odin Lowe for a time. Had no idea he was my biological father, of course. Wish he would've said something before the Alliance killed him. After that, I suppose I was alone… well, almost. There was someone I fell in with for a while; Doctor J. He was the man who designed the Gundam I used during our war against the Earth Alliance and OZ."

"What was he like?" asked Ryoko, trying not to sound too eager; it was rare for Heero to divulge any details on his past like this, and she didn't want to spook him.

"Eccentric, to put it mildly," Heero answered, "Never could completely figure him out. Brilliant technical mind, of course, and he ran a grueling training program for me during the runup to Operation Meteor. I suppose I could've done worse for mentor figures. For better or worse, he helped me become who I am today."

Ryoko smiled. "I'd say it's definitely for the better."

Heero closed his eyes for a moment, and the pirate could tell that his mind had gone to a time and place far from where the two of them were now. "Maybe… I wonder what his judgement would be if he could see me now. Well… it's just another 'what-if' at this point. Impossible to get the opinion of the dead, after all."

Ryoko winced. "I'm sorry."

Heero shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You didn't know about him until a few seconds ago. We weren't particularly close, but we had an understanding of sorts. A level of mutual respect, I guess. He went out on his own terms, and helped save countless lives in the process. I think he wanted it that way, as a form of atonement for past misdeeds."

Ryoko smiled. "Well, as long as you're at peace with it, that's good enough for me. Just don't go following his example there, okay? You're the only Juraian prince in the galaxy that I actually like, and it'd be a shame to lose you."

Heero actually chuckled at that. "What, you don't like my grandfather? He'll be shattered to hear that."

Ryoko laughed. "Hah, yeah right! Ah, the old man's not bad, I guess. Pretty good in a fight, at least. He might kick our asses every time we spar with him, but I can respect him for that. Got less respect for him keeping you in the dark about your family for so long, though."

Heero shrugged. "Can't say I'm happy with how he and Washu handled that matter, but I can understand their concerns. Had Kagato never sent Nagi out our way, maybe he and Washu would've brought the matter up in due time. Well, the issue got forced, and here we are."

Ryoko sighed. "Yeah, you got that right. Here we are, about to jump into another fight… and pretty soon, by the sound of things. Are we really shooting for a week from now? Seems a bit rushed."

"We're walking a fine line," Heero reminded her, "Speed is of the essence, but we also need to make sure we're properly prepared. Mobilizing an armada the size of the Second Fleet for an operation like this isn't easy, and the Admiral wants to make sure her subordinates are ready for the challenge. Same goes for us; any training time we can get is valuable. Still, we can't take too long, otherwise the chances will increase of word leaking to Kagato as to our intended destination."

"You really think he's going to arrive there while we're still in the area?" asked Ryoko, "I mean, we're the ones with the data, not him. He's just reacting to our moves now. We might get in and out before he even figures out where we've gone."

Heero's eyes narrowed. "You don't really think we'll be that lucky, do you?"

Ryoko gave him a weak smile; he had her there. "No, guess I don't. Still, a girl can dream, right?"

Heero gave her a small and understanding smile in return. "She can, and she wouldn't be the only one."

The two of them were quiet for a moment before Ryoko spoke again. "Well, whether we get lucky or not, you know I've got your back. Kagato and his sister better watch out; we're going to be ready to take them on this time!"

Heero nodded, although Ryoko couldn't help but note the somber look in his eyes. "I hope you're right."

….

March 16th, A.C. 199

"You're making a mistake," came Tsunami's voice from behind her.

Washu damn near dropped her cup of tea, which would've been a major pain in the ass considering that it would have spilled all over her console, and she fixed her fellow primordial goddess with a scowl as she spun her chair around to face Tsunami. "Crap, don't sneak up on me like that! Jeez, do I need to put a bell around your neck or something?"

"Given that this form is essentially an astral projection, I doubt that would work," Tsunami pointed out.

Washu sighed as she set her tea down before wearily rubbing her brow. "Right… damn it, I need to get some sleep soon. Been pulling too many all-nighters lately."

"Understandable, given the circumstances," Tsunami replied with a sympathetic look, "and yes, you really do need some sleep. If you don't mind me saying so, you're not looking well."

Looking at her reflection on the gleaming surface of the console, Washu found it hard to argue with that assessment. The shadows under her eyes were impossible to miss, her hair was rather disheveled, and she swore she could spot a wrinkle or two.

That should be impossible, she mused, I mean, this body doesn't age… I guess I really have been burning the candle at both ends, as it were.

She had good reason for it, though. Between monitoring Heero's progress with both his new Master Key and Light Hawk Wing training, constantly studying the combat data from her new toys once the boys completed their daily practice sessions with the 232nd Fighter Wing and making the appropriate adjustments, discussions with both Empresses and Lady Seto regarding their next moves after they got the data from the second repository, observing Ryoko's efforts to more efficiently wield her own powers… suffice to say that Washu had been busy over the course of the past several days.

Turning back to her friend and fellow cosmic entity, Washu nodded. "I'll rest up before the big day arrives, so don't worry about that. Besides, I get the feeling that sleep deprivation wasn't the mistake that you were referring to earlier."

Tsunami shook her head. "No, but it is one more to address. Seriously, at least take a nap after you and I are done here. I'm worried about you."

Washu smiled, and there was a slight warmth in her chest. "I know… you always were the most compassionate and empathetic out of the three of us. How did you put it to me that one time… wisdom of the heart versus the knowledge of the mind, right? You always did have me beat in the former… and I was always grateful for it. I still am."

Tsunami returned her smile. "You and I had our disagreements in the past, but I always knew that you sought to apply your great knowledge for what you ultimately believed to be the greater good. Even when I frowned upon some of your inventions, I could at least understand why you felt the need to create them in the first place. Your ego grew with your mind, but you still had your heart, even if you did not heed it at times."

Washu leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling, her mind wandering back to days long past. "If I had, maybe we wouldn't be in this damn mess. You always were good at balancing me out. When we went our separate ways, I lost that, and by the time I realized just how badly I needed you to serve as a counterweight… it was far too late."

"I wouldn't say so," Tsunami countered, "If Kagato seizes full control of the Array, then it will be too late. There is still time, Washu. Time for both of us to make up for our mistakes."

Washu nodded. "I hope you're right. Speaking of mistakes, what's the one you think I'm making here? Apart from not getting enough sleep, apparently."

"The mistake I was referring to earlier was the decision to leave Sasami behind," Tsunami replied, "and by extension, leaving me behind."

Washu groaned. "We're launching in less than three days and you pick now to tell me that? Your timing sucks, Tsunami."

"Remember that my ability to communicate under current circumstances is quite limited," Tsunami pointed out, "As it is, reaching out so soon after our last chat will be rather strenuous on Sasami. She'll be sleeping in extra late tomorrow, and I imagine Misaki and Ayeka will be worried. I had hoped to refrain from putting such stress upon her until I needed to speak to Heero, but this present situation has forced my hand."

Washu sighed. "Right, right… even so, you should already know why we're leaving you two behind. Sasami's not a fighter, nor does she have any defensive or supporting powers like Ayeka. I know she's your host, not to mention hundreds of years old, but by the standards of Juraian Royals she's still a child. We all agreed that we wouldn't put her at risk by bringing her to the front. Nobody has changed their minds on that, and good luck trying to persuade the Second Empress."

"I do not require persuasion when I know that you could smuggle her out quite easily," Tsunami argued, "and don't pretend for a moment that you haven't considered multiple methods to do just that should the need arise. Remember that I know you better than anyone else in the galaxy, save perhaps for one other being."

"Guilty as charged," Washu confessed, "Even so, just because I've thought up of ways to get her out of the palace if we have to leave in a hurry doesn't mean that I'm prepared to enact any of them, nor do I see a reason as to why I should. I agree that Sasami has a larger role to play in all of this simply by virtue of being your host, but I do not believe that we're required to bring her along for this specific battle. She has no meaningful skills or powers to contribute. More to the point, this won't be like the incursion at the first repository. This will be a full-scale space and ground battle against both my defenses and whatever forces Kagato decides to bring along for the party. We need a fleet just to punch through my drone swarms and secure our landing zone, for crying out loud! The Second Fleet is formidable, but let's not kid ourselves here; there will be Juraian casualties in this fight. Sasami doesn't need to be near any of that."

"That is where you're wrong," Tsunami shot back, "She does need to be near it. Heero Yuy is not the only one with a fateful destiny in store for him; as both my current vessel and eventual reincarnation once we fully merge, Sasami needs to understand the harsh true nature of this galaxy. I do not intend for her to fight, but I do still require her presence there. More importantly, you will require mine."

Washu raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure? You're powerful, sure, but it's not like you'll be any good in a fight as things currently stand. Just talking to me like this is a burden on your host; you trying to use any real measure of your true power could kill her, and we both know you won't risk that."

"I never said that I intended to wield my powers in a combative role," said Tsunami, "You and I both know that they're mostly ill-suited for direct confrontation, with a few notable exceptions."

"Which only reinforces the notion that you and your host coming along with us in the first place is a bad idea," Washu argued, "Any of your powers that might be directly useful in combat would put far too much strain on Sasami, perhaps fatally so. You care for her out of more than just self-interest, which means you won't let yourself endanger her by seriously using your powers. Following that line of logic, your desire to keep her from harm should mean that you'd agree with the rest of us in keeping her as far away from the battlefield as possible!"

"And I would normally be inclined to agree with you on that point," Tsunami conceded with that serene grace of hers that occasionally drove Washu nuts with frustration, "but this is a risk that cannot be avoided. Sooner or later, we will have to take it."

Washu folded her arms. "Why? You still haven't laid out your real reason for this."

"My reason is simple," Tsunami replied, her eyes narrowing as she held Washu's gaze, "We need to find out for certain if Kagato is acting entirely on his own accord… or if there is a guiding hand behind him."

The missing piece instantly fell into place, and Washu didn't like it. "You want to use yourself as bait for Tokimi."

"Use both of us, actually," Tsunami admitted, "If she is indeed at play here, I believe the two of us will be required to lure her out."

"That hasn't exactly worked so far," Washu contested, "You and I have been together for quite some time now, and we haven't caught so much as a whiff of her coming over to check things out. If she's involved in this affair, then she's staying behind the scenes. Fits her playbook, after all."

"Not entirely," Tsunami replied, "Her 'playbook' is remaining in the higher dimension that the three of us came from and continuing to experiment through causing spatial anomalies and distortions. It's rare for her to make meaningful contact with individuals on this plane of reality, yet with Kagato's actions it's possible she's done just that. We need to confirm if she's involved here, and the best way for us to do that is to convince her to reach out to us. The coming battle provides an opportunity for just that."

Washu was skeptical. "How exactly does having you and your host tag along with us accomplish that?"

"As you well know, Tokimi considers herself above the affairs of this plane unless they show signs of benefiting our original project," Tsunami answered, "Given the sheer scale of the Judgment Array and the effect it had on the galaxy long ago, I highly doubt she'd turn a blind eye towards events that could lead to its reactivation. Having both of us present at the battle to seize the second repository will serve as a beacon that she cannot ignore."

Washu immediately saw the hole in that particular bit of logic. "Aren't you ignoring the skirmish at the first repository? You and I were both present there, and if she took notice, she didn't make any efforts to reach out to us. What makes you think round two would be any different?"

"For starters, the size of our operation," Tsunami argued, "The clash at the first repository will be a mere dustup compared to the battle that we're about to fly into. Second, at the time of that first engagement I was almost completely dormant. I only decided to reveal myself to you after we were far away from the first repository. This time, I intend to not only be awake, but allow my power room to breathe, as it were."

Washu's eyes narrowed. "You're going to deliberately flare up? Do you have any idea what the consequences of that could be? Forget the fact that you could kill Sasami outright; a slipup with your power could utterly wreck whatever ship she's on and annihilate anyone in the vicinity. You know the true scope of our abilities just as well as I do. It's why we placed such massive limiters on ourselves to begin with. One wrong move, one casual outburst, could destroy an entire star system!"

"You needn't lecture me on the dangers that our powers present to the galaxy," Tsunami calmly retorted, "I can assure you that I remain just as cognizant to the risks as you. This would be a very limited and controlled exertion of my energy. Barely more than a pulse, if you will. Just enough to give someone who knows what to look for a reason to check in. There would be no risk to Sasami beyond perhaps a bit of weariness, and no danger whatsoever to whatever ship she might be aboard or the people around her. I'd say bringing her to the front so we can do this is a very small price to pay in order to finally gain confirmation of Tokimi's involvement in this affair."

"That assumes Tokimi really is watching things unfold with the same level of interest as the two of us," said Washu, "We know her, yes, but are we really willing to gamble with Sasami's life on this?"

"Sasami's life is already at risk, along with every other life in the galaxy," Tsunami argued, "Washu, we need to know for certain what we're really dealing with here. Kagato and his sister are a severe threat by themselves, but if Tokimi truly is backing them, then it's a true worst-case scenario. The sooner we can confirm that, the sooner we can adequately prepare our countermeasures."

Washu found it hard to protest, but she still wasn't completely sold on the idea. "Perhaps, but even so… does it really have to be on the battlefield? There's got to be a way that you and I can verify her involvement in this mess that doesn't involve placing Sasami in danger. If you and I together acted here, in the safety of Jurai…"

"It wouldn't work," Tsunami cut her off, "My power's highly concentrated here thanks to the Royal Trees, something that both you and Tokimi are well aware of. In order for my energy to stand out from that of all the Trees, I would have to let out a significant amount of power, as would you. You were afraid of me potentially killing Sasami and destroying whatever ship we happened to be on with just a minute pulse of my power; what do you think the kind of energy expenditure required here would do?"

Washu begrudgingly conceded the point. "Right… damn it. I don't like this."

"Neither do I," Tsunami replied, "I'm not thrilled about putting Sasami in danger, but I do feel it's a risk worth taking. We might even be able to make contact with Tokimi, and in doing so there's the potential for us to convince her to change course. For the sake of the galaxy, we must at least try."

Washu had her doubts. "I don't know. Once Tokimi makes up her mind on something, she tends to be set on seeing her decision through. Besides, she doesn't have the same level of attachment to the beings of this galaxy as we do. If she sees us as making our arguments from a position of simple sentimentality for the people we've grown close to here, she's not likely to respect our wishes."

"I know it'd be an uphill struggle," Tsunami admitted, "but don't we owe it to those we care for to make an attempt to open dialogue with her? Countless lives could be saved if it works, and our friends could be spared further danger."

Washu sighed. "When you put it that way… given that so much of this mess is my fault, I have an obligation to clean it up. I still don't think that we'll be able to swing Tokimi around to our way of thinking with mere words… but we should still give it a shot. Assuming she is involved in all of this, of course."

"For better or worse, we'll find out together in this next battle," said Tsunami.

She then looked at floor for a moment, and Washu could tell that her fellow goddess was gathering her thoughts. "There is… one other reason why I wish to be present for this operation."

Washu raised an eyebrow. "An ulterior motive? That's not like you."

"It's not an ulterior motive if I'm telling you about it," Tsunami countered.

Washu shrugged. "No matter. So, what is it?"

Tsunami smiled, although to Washu she almost looked embarrassed, like a schoolgirl caught looking at a boy she liked… which turned out to be not too far from the truth. "I wish to keep an eye on our young prince and his friends. Setting aside Heero's role in our grand design, he's proven to be a rather fascinating young man… and his comrades from his old war are no less intriguing."

Washu smirked. "Would one of those comrades you're interested in happen to be a certain former colonial revolutionary turned circus stuntman?"

Tsunami actually giggled at that. "Can't get anything past you, can I? He's been so kind to my host, and she's clearly quite fond of him. I must say, Sasami could definitely have worse taste in men!"

Washu chuckled. "She certainly could."

Tsunami sighed. "Truth be told, I share her concerns for his safety… for all of them, really. Those five boys, and Hilde… they've already suffered through a horrible war, and now they're getting involved in another on our behalf. It just feels so cruel to drag them into this."

"I wouldn't call this a war just yet," Washu argued, "In fact, we're launching this operation in part to prevent a new war from breaking out. Also, Heero's friends volunteered for this mission, remember? None of them were pulled into this against their will."

"Heero was," Tsunami countered, "simply by virtue of his bloodline. As for the others, they might be here of their own will, but the circumstances surrounding this whole mess are not of their making. They are here to clean up our mess, and they're putting their lives on the line to do it. Also, given the force being marshalled for this operation, I'd say this is a war in all but name. You said it yourself; there will be casualties. It's unavoidable. I simply pray that our new friends are not among the dead or wounded."

Washu closed her eyes in somber contemplation. "That makes two of us."

When she opened them again and looked at Tsunami, she saw that her old friend looked more than a little worried. "Setting aside personal fondness, I fear what will happen when our friends face Kagato and his entourage again. He will not have spent this time idly; you know that just as well as I do. The resources at his disposal as a prominent cadet branch royal are extensive, and I would not be surprised in the least if he has used some of those assets to dig up information on Heero and the others. Given the significant gap in technology between the Empire and Earth, it would not be difficult for Kagato to slip in an infiltrator or two."

Washu nodded. "You're right about that. Hacking the Preventer database and extracting Heero's file was child's play for me. A sufficiently skilled operative working for Kagato would likely have little difficulty in doing the same. Hell, it would surprise me if he hasn't dispatched someone to do that already."

"Precisely," said Tsunami, "and once he learns of his background, he will almost certainly try to use that. Heero and his friends once fought a war against an oppressive government. With Kagato's charisma, it wouldn't be hard for him to spin his campaign against the Empire of Jurai in a similar light. What's worse, depending on how he frames his pitch, he wouldn't exactly be wrong. Jurai might make efforts to treat its citizens well, but it has a dark side, just like all governments do."

Washu's eyes narrowed. "You don't seriously think that he'd be able to sway Heero and the others over to his side, do you?"

"I would like to hope not," Tsunami replied, looking rather unsettled, "but we would be fools to discount that possibility entirely."

"Is that another reason why you want to tag along?" asked Washu, "You want to keep an eye on Heero in case he proves vulnerable to Kagato's silver tongue? You won't be on the ground with him, which means you won't be able to intervene if Heero defects."

Tsunami shook her head. "I don't expect Heero to defect after a single speech, no matter how well Kagato crafts it. However, if our foe manages to plant a seed, then it could bear some most unripe fruit for our cause. I wish to be on hand so that in the aftermath of the battle, I may provide counsel to our young prince. Regardless of how Kagato treats this second encounter with us, I think you and I can both agree that Heero is long overdue for a chat with me."

Washu nodded. "He is, but you've had plenty of time to do that while we've been here. Why wait until the aftermath of a battle?"

Tsunami sighed heavily, a rare sign of frustration from her. "I told you; I'm limited in how often I can manifest myself like this. I had hoped to refrain from projecting myself in this manner ever since our last conversation for a significantly longer period of time than what has gone by, but events have forced my hand. I weighed my options and determined it was imperative to speak to you now. This will still give me and Sasami a bit of time to recover so that we will both be ready for when I must contact Heero, a conversation that I imagine will be significantly longer than the one you and I are having at this moment."

As if on cue, her form began to flicker, and the light emanating from her projection started to dim. "Oh dear… seems I've overstayed my welcome as it is. Washu, I can't force you to bring Sasami along for this mission, but please… please promise me you will. It will be dangerous, and her parents will be furious when they discover whatever deceptions you must put in place, but her presence is more important than they realize."

Washu inclined her head. "I will. You have my word."

Tsunami smiled just before her projection disappeared. "Thank you."

Then she was gone, leaving Washu with a headache and fresh set of problems. Reaching for one of the drawers beneath her desk, she pulled out a bottle of expensive Juraian wine along with a gleaming glass. Without fanfare, she popped the cork and immediately started pouring. With the work her fellow goddess had set before her, she was definitely going to need the liquid encouragement.

….

March 17th, A.C. 199

"Mother, for the third time, I'm… I'm fine," Sasami protested as she tried and failed to stifle a yawn, "I was just a little sleepier than usual, I guess."

Standing next to her on the garden pathway, Misaki shook her head. "A little sleepier? You completely missed breakfast, tea, and nearly lunch as well! I know your time on Earth was something of an unofficial vacation, but I'm starting to worry that you became downright lazy while you were there."

"That's not true!" Sasami argued as she struggled to keep up with the surprisingly brisk pace her mother was setting, "I helped out around the house all the time!"

"That, she did," came a familiar female voice from just up ahead, "Sasami was always helping with the house work, and she even became a pretty good cook. She definitely pulled her weight, Misaki."

Sasami's face brightened up when she saw a certain red-headed scientist heading towards her and the Second Empress. "Washu! Good morning… or afternoon, I guess."

Washu smiled, although the look in her eyes didn't seem to match the expression. It was subtle, but to Sasami her friend seemed worried, or at least apprehensive.

Misaki smiled as Washu drew near. "Ah, you're right on schedule! Thank you for being so punctual. I know you're in the middle of some very important work right now."

"Don't mention it," Washu replied, "I needed a break anyway. Besides, I'm always free whenever Sasami needs my help."

Sasami looked back and forth between the two women. "What's going on? Sorry, Washu, but I don't need your help. At least, not with anything that I can think of."

"Your mother's worried about you," Washu explained, "She and Ayeka tried to wake you several times this morning, but nothing they did worked. The palace doctor actually examined you while you were asleep and told them that you were fine, just in an unusually deep sleep. You seem to be okay from where I'm sitting, but your mother insisted that I take you back to the lab for a quick checkup."

Sasami turned to Misaki, utterly mortified. "Mom!"

The Second Empress leaned down and patted the princess on the head. "Sasami, I know you keep saying that you're fine, and I believe you, but I just want to be safe. Since you were away from Jurai for so long, who knows what kind of exotic viruses or bugs you might have picked up on Earth? I know Heero took good care of you, but really, you are overdue for a proper medical examination. Do it for me, please?"

Washu put her hand on Sasami's shoulder. "Don't worry, this won't take long. If you're a good girl and make this easy, I'll even give you a treat when we're done. Sound like a deal?"

While Sasami liked to insist that she wasn't a child, old habits died hard, and the prospect of a treat as a reward was more than enough to perk her up. "Really? What kind of treat?"

"Something sweet that I cooked up just for you!" Washu teased, "You only get it if you come with me for the checkup, though. What do you say?"

Sasami sighed, but she couldn't keep herself from smiling. "Oh, okay."

Misaki clapped her hands together. "Excellent! Well, don't let me keep you. Washu, I expect a thorough report from you once you're done."

"Don't worry," Washu answered, "You'll have it. Sasami, let's go."

The two of them left her mother behind in the garden, and once they were out of earshot Washu put her arm around the princess and whispered in her ear. "I know you're fine, but your mother insisted on this. Besides, the treat I have for you is really good. I promise."

There was a mischievous look in Washu's eyes, and Sasami wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Still, she trusted Washu, even though she knew that Ayeka was wary of her.

It only took them a few minutes to get to Washu's lab. Following the red-headed scientist to one of the back corners, Sasami saw that it had been converted into a makeshift doctor's office. There was a cushioned bench that she was clearly meant to lay or sit on as Washu ordered, and Sasami did the latter as she waited for her companion to give her further instructions.

Instead, Washu simply looked at her for a moment, her expression inscrutable. "Sasami… how do you feel about the mission that's coming up?"

Sasami blinked; she hadn't been expecting that. "The mission… you don't mean the second repository, do you?"

Washu gave her a knowing smile. "Sasami, playing dumb doesn't suit you. You know that's exactly what I mean."

Sasami sighed heavily before looking at the floor, trying and failing to resist the urge to mope. "Why do my feelings matter? It's not like I'll be going with you. I know you're all just trying to protect me, and I appreciate that, but… it's not fair. Aren't I a part of the team?"

Washu chuckled. "I don't know if I'd call us an official 'team' per se. We might be a bit too dysfunctional for that. We're… well, we're some kind of odd group, that's for sure. And yes, it's one that you're definitely part of."

"I don't feel like it right now," Sasami mumbled under her breath.

Washu sat down on the bench next to her and put her arm around the princess. "I get that… and that's actually the real reason why I agreed to Misaki's little request. I'll give you a checkup, sure, but what I actually want to do here is see if you'd be up for something special."

Sasami tilted her head quizzically. "Something special? What are you talking about?"

"What if I told you that I'd been doing some thinking… and came to the conclusion that I was wrong about leaving you out of the mission?" Washu asked, "What if I offered to bring you with us when we leave Jurai and head off for the second repository? What would you say?"

It took Sasami a moment to process that. "Wait… what? I thought you wanted me to stay behind! Everyone else said the same thing!"

Washu nodded. "Yes, we did. Our thinking's always been to keep you out of the line of fire, and that's still everyone's preference. That being said, I think we made a mistake. You're young, and I'd still rather you be protected… but you're not a child. Not really. You're a princess of Jurai, and this mission will play no small part in determining its future. You deserve to be part of it."

Sasami was beaming now, all but jumping for joy. "You're going to let me come, then? Please, please, please say you're taking me with you!"

Washu held up her hand. "Hold up there a second! It's not going to be as simple as you just boarding the Yagami with me when we take off. Like I said, everyone else is still firmly against you coming along, and that goes double for your mother and father. If they find out I'm talking to you about this, I think you know just as well as I do how they'll react."

Sasami nodded, her smile fading as she imagined her parents' dismay. "They'd be pretty upset."

"I'd call that the understatement of the century," Washu deadpanned, "They'd be absolutely livid if they found out… just as they will be when they do realize what we've done. Sasami, I'm going to be honest with you here. I can sneak you out, but your departure won't go unnoticed forever. Eventually, your parents are going to figure out what happened, and they will be very mad when we return. If you go along with this, you need to be prepared for that. I'll do what I can to cushion the blow and take the heat for you, but even after that, they're going to be watching you like hawks for quite some time afterwards."

Sasami's brow furrowed in determination. "I know, but if it means I can go with you, then I can deal with that. I want to go with you guys and help however I can!"

The look Washu gave her next was startlingly somber. "Sasami… this is going to be much more dangerous than the first repository. There are very good reasons why I didn't want you to come along before, and while I've changed my mind, the threats are still very real. This is going to be a battle, and a big one at that. Things tend to go wrong in battles, no matter how thoroughly we prepare for them. The Yagami could get damaged… or even destroyed. Everyone aboard, including you, could die. This isn't a game, Sasami. Far from it. If you come with us… then you need to accept that there's a chance you might never come back. It's the risk we all take in situations like this. Can you do it?"

The room was quiet for a good long moment as Sasami considered Washu's words… and why she'd been brought here to begin with. "I can… but I need to know something first."

Washu nodded. "Sure. What is it?"

"Why do you really want me to come with you all of a sudden?" Sasami asked pointedly.

Washu actually chuckled at that. "You know, I'm so used to seeing you as an innocent girl… you're much sharper than the rest of us give you credit for."

"You still haven't answered my question," Sasami pressed.

Washu took a deep breath. "No, I haven't… and I can't. Not the whole thing, at least. Not yet. You've grown quite a bit since arriving on Earth, but… I don't know if you're ready for the whole truth of it."

"If I'm ready to risk my life, then I think I'm ready for the truth," Sasami shot back.

Washu sighed. "Normally, I wouldn't argue with that kind of logic. With you, though… you're a very special case, Sasami. That's actually why I can't tell you the whole truth, at least not yet. For now, think of it this way; you're like Heero."

Sasami blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Washu smiled. "What I mean is that you're so much more than you think you are. I can't say anything more than that right now. I know I'm asking a lot, Sasami, but please, trust me. You'll find out the truth in time."

Sasami thought it over for a moment. "Well… as long as I still get to come with you and the others, I can accept that."

Washu nodded. "Thank you."

Sasami folded her arms. "You have to promise me that you're not lying about wanting me to come along, though."

Washu chuckled. "Fair enough. I promise that I'm being serious about this, Sasami. If you really are willing to join us, then I'll make it happen. You have my word. That being said, I'm going to need your help if we're to pull this off."

Sasami felt a shiver of excitement run down her spine; now things were getting good. "What do you need me to do?"

Washu smirked. "Well, in order for this to work, I need you to do something that's going to be rather hard for you."

Sasami was more than to the challenge. "If it means I can go with you, then I can do anything."

Washu leaned over to whisper in her ear, despite the fact that the two of them were completely alone. "Well, then what I'm going to need here…"

"… is for you to act like a petulant brat for the next two days."

….

March 19th, A.C. 199

This is it, thought Heero as he went through one last check of his fighter's systems, I knew this day would come, but even so… feels like it got here all too quickly.

Flying in formation at the head of the Second Fleet's First Battle Group, Eve Squadron's fighters were arrayed and ready for the jump. Just behind them were Ryo-Ohki and the Yagami, and both had already reported their status. Heero doubted any of them had slept well last night; he certainly hadn't. It was fortunate that their journey to the system where the second repository was located would take the better part of the day; it would give them time to at least attempt to catch a nap or two before the action began. He was grateful that Washu had designed his personal craft with long-range operations in mind. The tiny cabin behind the cockpit was no countryside safehouse or Brussels apartment, but it was a hell of a lot better than riding out the entire trip in a mobile suit would have been.

Eve Squadron could have ridden out the trip within the comfort of the carrier Ōtaka, but Heero had ruled against it. He wanted his team to be ready for action the second they arrived in the target system; even if they were at the head of the fighter queue, deploying from the carrier would still take precious seconds. Coming out of lightspeed already in the field and able to react immediately to whatever conditions awaited them on the battlefield was a crucial advantage provided by the unique craft Washa had built for them, and Heero wanted to exploit that to the fullest possible extent.

"Final diagnostics run complete," Eva reported, the azure holographic fairy doing a little spin as she materialized in the air over Heero's console, "Course has been plotted and triple checked. I've also scheduled timers for two rest periods and two meals, because I know you didn't eat this morning."

"I appreciate the thought," said Heero, "I'll make sure to prepare something before our arrival."

"See that you do," Eva replied, "I know you are no stranger to battle, but even so, are you prepared for this?"

"I have no choice but to be," Heero noted, "Too much rides upon it."

"Your biometric data says otherwise," Eva argued, "Elevated pulse, slightly quickened breathing, mild tension… you're afraid."

"Of course," Heero casually admitted, "Any soldier who doesn't feel fear in the leadup to or during a battle is an idiot. Washu should have programmed you to account for that."

Eva nodded and smiled. "She did. Even understanding that, I still worry, programming or otherwise. I'm constantly simulating possible outcomes of today's clash, both positive and negative. I cannot promise that everything will be okay. You know as well as I do the effects that combat tends to have on the best laid plans. That being said, know that I am proud to be serving as your support AI, and confident that both this ship and Eve Squadron are in capable hands. I believe in you, Heero, and I know your friends do as well."

Heero closed his eyes for a moment. "I hope I don't let you all down."

"You won't," Eva reassured him.

He took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts. "I try not to be the superstitious type, but… I've got a bad feeling about this."

Eva sighed. "I suppose that the princess's notable absence from the sendoff in the palace hangar was an ill-omen. What has gotten into Sasami? The behavior she's exhibited over the past two days does not match the profile established by Washu. I do not know what to make of it."

"She's upset," Heero replied, "It's only natural, given that we're leaving her behind."

"With all due respect, I think 'upset' is understating the matter," Eva argued, "Her complete refusal to so much as even bid you farewell and good luck, not to mention how she shut herself in her room and refused to let anyone drag her out, even her own mother and father… none of my memory banks or the data provided by Washu showed any hint that Sasami was capable of such horrific behavior. This was downright childish of her!"

"Sasami is a child," Heero reminded her, "At least, she is one by the standards of Juraian royals."

Eva shook her head. "The fact that she is a Juraian royal and has the upbringing of one makes the sheer brattishness she displayed over the past two days all the more inexcusable."

"I thought you were a combat and flight support AI, not an etiquette coach," Heero quipped, "What's her behavior even matter to you?"

Eva folded her arms. "It matters to me because of its impact on you. You can ill-afford any distractions right now, and I know that you're worried about her. Don't even try to deny it."

Heero would not. Truth be told, he'd been worried about Sasami ever since Nagi's attack on the countryside estate. The younger Juraian princess had proven to be remarkably resilient in the light of that chaotic event and everything that had transpired since then, but Heero wasn't fooled. Sasami's education and experience as a young royal had no doubt taught her to take even traumatic events with a degree of calm and grace, but Heero was certain that underneath her perpetual wide-eyed optimism was a very scared girl. Knowing that her older sister and dear friends were going to leave her behind and fly off into grave danger had to be ripping her apart inside with worry. As the day for departure had gotten closer, it was really only natural for her to act out.

Even so, Eva might be right, Heero mused, I expected her to be angry and afraid; I'm pretty sure we all did. Still, I didn't anticipate her reaction to our impending departure to be so extreme. Shutting everyone out, not even coming to the sendoff… I just hope she was listening behind that bedroom door when I tried to speak to her last night.

It was too late to reach out for a last-minute goodbye now. Although the main battle group of the Second Fleet had yet to make the jump to lightspeed, the operation was already under way. The Second and Third Battle Groups had already jumped and were on their way to designated star systems neighboring the one that housed the second repository. Those would be Admiral Fukunaga's reserves, ready to jump into the main fight the moment backup was required. The First Battle Group would be making their jump quite soon; the countdown timer on Heero's display had entered its final minute, with the remaining seconds paradoxically passing both painfully slowly and all too quickly. After the final jump order was issued, the fleet would be travelling under strict communications silence.

Would that be enough to keep Kagato's spies in the dark? Heero had his doubts. Admiral Fukunaga might have had complete faith in her officers, and to her credit knowledge of the full scope of the operation had been kept to just a handful of her senior subordinates. Jump coordinates had only been issued out from the flagship during the last legs of the countdown, just enough time to give both navigational computers and support AIs the needed window to calculate the jumps for their individual ships. If anyone tried to send out a transmission now, they would be found out quite quickly… and the consequences would be fatal.

Every possible security precaution had been taken, but Heero was still uneasy. The joint flight training with the 232nd Fighter Wing had helped build a sense of both comradery and friendly rivalry between them and Eve Squadron, but the Second Fleet as a whole was another matter. How well would Heero and his friends be able to coordinate with them? Theoretically, his status as a Juraian prince gave him considerable command authority, but in practice it would very much be the Admiral calling the shots. Heero had no qualms with that arrangement; for all his martial prowess, he didn't consider himself cut out for fleet command. Still, jumping into combat with a force that he'd barely had sufficient time to familiarize himself with only further increased his apprehension regarding the operation.

"Thirty seconds left," Eva announced, "Heero, are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath, Heero nodded. "I am."

Eve Squadron was in position. The Second Fleet's First Battle Group was arrayed and ready. They'd done all they could to prepare. Now there was nothing left but to make the leap into the fire.

As the timer wound down its last seconds, the order for that leap came from the flagship. "This is Admiral Fukunaga to all vessels of the First Battle Group; it's time. Initiate lightspeed jump now!"

"Once more unto the breach," Heero muttered as he activated his fighter's FTL drive.

The view outside the cockpit became almost unbearably bright, and the previously black void dotted with stars was replaced by a swirling tunnel of light.

….

Once the Yagami made the jump to lightspeed, Washu politely excused herself from the cockpit. Heading back to the lab, she went straight for a cargo container that she'd brought aboard the patrol cruiser prior to takeoff this morning. Popping the latch, she then poked her head inside.

"Okay, we're good," she said, "You can come on out now, Sasami."

The princess crawled out of the crate a moment later, her hair somewhat of a mess and her face glistening with sweat. "Phew, I don't know how much longer I could've handled that. It was getting hot in there!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Washu replied as she helped Sasami to her feet, "I've got a change of clothes for you, and the lab's got a shower too. Go get yourself cleaned up. We've got a long flight ahead of us."

Sasami bowed, smiling before heading off. "Thanks again, Washu. I promise I'll find a way to repay you."

"You can repay me by staying in the lab until we get back to Jurai," said Washu, "and then calming your mother and father down when we return."

"Deal!" Sasami chirped before she disappeared around the corner.

Washu headed back over to her console, plopped down in her chair, leaned back and let out a heavy sigh. If her guess was right, they probably only had another hour or so at the most before someone in the palace put the pieces together. By that time, it would be far too late; the Second Fleet wouldn't be able to receive any transmissions while transiting at lightspeed.

If Seto were here, Washu mused, I'd be placing bets with her on which of the dirty little tricks I used in this scheme get found out first. My money would be on the program I slipped into the palace security systems. Those recordings of Sasami in her room were good, but they won't work forever.

Whether it was the audio and visual recordings that ultimately gave way or another aspect of the scheme, Washu supposed it didn't really matter now. She could add 'smuggler of royals' to her already impressive and somewhat bizarre list of accomplishments, and it hadn't been quite as hard as she'd initially feared.

"Not bad for a rush job," Washu muttered, "if I do say so myself."

Credit where it was due; Sasami had played her part to perfection. Washu had honestly been worried that she wouldn't be able to sell her sudden downward spiral into petty childish whining that she was being forced to stay behind, but the princess had pleasantly surprised her. Sasami had put her all into the role of petulant royal, alternating between screaming her bloody head off in impotent fury and sobbing inconsolably. The entire palace had been taken aback by the display seeing just how jarring a departure it was from Sasami's usual demeanor. Everyone had chalked it up to her being afraid for her older sister and friends, and what helped sell the deception was that there was more than a hint of truth to it. Sasami had been genuinely scared, and when Washu had offered her a lifeline in the form of this scheme, she'd seized upon it with frantic desperation.

For her part, Washu couldn't decide what she was prouder of. Subverting the palace's security systems and implanting false images and recordings to conceal Sasami's true movements would almost certainly have been the magnum opus of any typical criminal hacker, but Washu had almost been disappointed by how easy she'd found it. Creating the light-bending and sound-muffling shroud that she'd snuck into Sasami's room for the girl to use to sneak to the container that Washu had then loaded on Yagami prior to launch had been a more challenging task, although that was really due to the time crunch she'd been under. The device, while certainly useful, had its flaws. The most glaring of which had been an incredibly short duration; it had burned out mere seconds after Sasami had gotten herself sealed inside the container.

If I'd had more time, I could've built a more resilient cooling system in it, Washu thought, I doubt it would last for more than a few hours, but even that would be an improvement over the performance it gave today. Still, I suppose beggars can't be choosers. It did the job I built it for, and that's all I really care about.

Dealing with the fallout from this little stunt wasn't going to be pleasant, but Washu forced such concerns out of her mind for the time being. Once Sasami finished cleaning up, the scientist would need to go over the next stage of the plan with her. Washu knew that Sasami would find it confusing, especially since a large part of it involved her trying to meditate during the middle of a battle while Washu refused to elaborate as to why that was so important, but the princess had played along so far. Washu could only hope that she'd continue to be cooperative.

"I really hope this is going to be worth all the trouble we're going to get in later," she whispered, "Tsunami, you owe me one."

There was no answer from her fellow goddess, of course, but Washu suspected that within her host, Tsunami was smiling.

….

Aboard Ken-Ohki, Nagi paced restlessly. Her gaze constantly flickered towards the main screen, which showed hundreds of ships surrounding her living vessel. Unlike the pristine craft operating by great powers such as the Empire of Jurai or the Galaxy Police, almost ever vessel around Ken-Ohki bore various pockmarks, scorches and recently patched sections of hull plating. Many were warships, some secondhand models that had been rescued from the scrapyard or fished out of debris fields while others were products of independent or outlaw shipyards hidden beyond what were considered to be the bounds of civilized space. Many more were retrofitted freighters, bulk transports, couriers and other such civilian craft. Nagi even caught glimpses of a few pleasure liners and smaller yachts, stolen from their wealthy owners and subsequently equipped with plasma cannons and missile launchers haphazardly bolted onto their hulls.

What bothered the bounty hunter, though, wasn't the ships themselves or their armaments. Rather, it was the various emblems painted onto their hulls. Some bore the four blood-leaking gashes of the Crimson Talons, others a black canine silhouetted by an exploding sun that was the hallmark of the Nova Hounds, and still more the crossed obsidian blades that heralded the Black Knives. Those three were only the most prominent of the gathered pirate fleets. Smaller bands of marauders and raiders had clustered together in their own ad hoc battle groups, while independent buccaneers were scattered about the criminal armada. Nagi recognized many of them; after all, she'd put plenty of their crew members in either prison or an early grave.

Behind her came the creepily calm voice of Kagato. "I understand your apprehension, hunter, but there is no need for concern. All of these raiders now answer to me, and they will not jeopardize their promised funds by firing on the ship holding their new employer."

Nagi folded her arms and glared at the cadet branch royal. "You're awfully confident about that. I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly a fan of being surrounded by people who would be more than happy to kill me at the drop of a hat."

Next to Kagato, Ragyō smirked. "What's life without danger? Nothing gets the blood flowing quite like the prospect of potential death at the slightest mistake."

I'm beginning to think accepting this contract was a mistake, Nagi silently fumed, I know the money's good, but if I'd known just what I was really getting myself into here… damn it all. I'm in too deep now.

Not helping her mood in the slightest was the presence of the two assassin twins that had accompanied her during the attack on the countryside estate on Earth and the subsequent clash at the first repository. Both of the assassins and cultists were silently inspecting their blades and pistols, only returning Nagi's wary stares with eerily stoic looks before returning their attention to their weapons. The sooner this job was completed and the two of them were far away from Nagi, the better.

Kagato's gleaming and well-armed yacht was nowhere to be found amongst the assembled ships. Instead, the cadet branch royal, his sister and the assassin twins had all ridden out in Ken-Ohki to rendezvous with the pirate fleet. Nagi almost pitied the multitude of outlaws surrounding her. Driven by their greed and hatred for the Empire of Jurai, they had no idea that they were being deployed as a purely expendable fighting force. Nagi could sympathize with the profit motive, but unlike the rogue's gallery floating around her, she had been given a much better view of the bigger picture. Kagato hadn't just paid her in mere funds, but in information. It was to secure her loyalty, of course, although that was hardly needed. For all her misgivings, Nagi knew that she'd come too far to back out of her employer's scheme.

A chime rang from the console, and Nagi checked the timer. "Looks like this is it. Waiting on you… my lord."

Kagato stepped forward, with Nagi moving to the side so that he could command the fleet. "All ships, you have your jump coordinates. It's time. Engage FTL drives now."

No big speech, Nagi mused, I was expecting something grandiose. Well, credit to him for getting straight to the point.

Kagato then inclined his head and stepped aside, allowing Nagi to resume control. "Let's go, Ken-Ohki!"

"Meow!" her trusty steed replied.

Nagi's brow furrowed as the main screen became consumed by a brilliant swirl of light. She was being paid a truly staggering sum for her part in this mission.

She could only hope that she'd live long enough to spend it.

….

Checking over his armor one last time and making sure his helmet and weapons were secure, Heero went back up to the fighter's cockpit and settled into the pilot's seat. "How are we looking, Eva?"

"Five minutes until reversion to real space," the support AI replied as her holographic form fluttered into existence over the console, "Care for one last system check? I've already run through them repeatedly while you slept, but I understand if you wish to run through things for yourself."

"I trust you," Heero replied, "If you say we're good, that's enough for me."

He had the satisfaction of seeing the fairy's eyes widen momentarily before she smiled. "Oh… thank you. Your trust is appreciated. In that case, yes; we're green across the board."

Heero nodded. "Good."

He closed his eyes for a moment, his breathing slowing as he centered himself. Battle was close at hand, and it wouldn't just be the drones defending the second repository that they would have to watch out for. Somewhere out there, waiting in the wings, was Kagato. The Admiral had done what she could to prepare for an attack from the rear; it was why she'd split the Second Fleet into multiple battle groups and had assigned two to act as reserves, after all. Heero approved of her plan, but he was still uneasy.

Washu gave us everything she had on the second repository's defenses, he thought, I know she said that she might not have all the relevant data, but it was at least enough for us to have a rough idea of what we're flying into. Kagato's the wild card here. No matter what we do, we can't cover for every possible contingency. When he makes his play, things could get messy in a hurry.

His eyes opened as a chime rang out from his console; the timer had entered the final minute of the countdown. Settling his hands on the controls, Heero braced himself for the coming reversion.

Eva announced it all too soon. "Dropping back to real space… now!"

The swirling tunnel of light was quickly replaced by the familiar black backdrop speckled with stars… and a good deal more. Although system RP-X249815 was considered pretty much the middle of nowhere, Heero had to admit upon finally seeing it in person that it had its own sort of beauty to it. The three gas giants orbiting the sun gleamed prominently in its light; one the dark blue of the sea, one a whirling maelstrom of yellow, ashen-gray and pitch-black clouds, and the third a brilliant mix of orange and red. The space around them twinkled as their various moons caught the light of the sun, and as Heero checked his display he saw that one of those orbiting the dark blue gas giant was the one that housed the second repository. Filling the space between the three massive planets was an ocean of asteroids, so numerous that Heero's sensors couldn't hope to map all of them.

Checking the reversion point, Heero saw that Eve Squadron and the Second Fleet's First Battle Group had come out of light-speed at the edge of the system. That was an unfortunate necessity given the density of the debris, and it meant that they'd have a considerable flight towards their actual target. This was what they had drilled for, though.

Getting on the tactical channel, Heero contacted his squadron. "Eve Squadron, report in."

"Eve Two, standing by," said Duo.

"Eve Three, ready to go," said Trowa.

"Eve Four, prepared to engage," said Quatre.

"Eve Five, green across the board," said Wufei.

"Eve Six, right behind you, One," said Ryoko.

"Eve Seven, ready for action," said Kiyone.

As the Second Fleet's First Battle Group arrayed itself for combat, Heero wasted no time in giving orders to his team. "Eve Two, cloak and move ahead. Scout out the path to the repository and report back on whatever hostile contacts you find along the way."

"Copy that!" Duo replied, and his black fighter vanished a moment later.

"Eve Four, take Eves Three, Five and Seven," Heero continued, "Let Two get in there deep before following. Once he spots targets, light them up. Four, try to save your torpedoes for the surface guns defending the repository. You'll be on bombing run duty once we're in range. Six, you're with me."

While Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and the Yagami proceeded straight ahead, Heero took his fighter to the right and into a gradual climb with Ryoko off his left wing. The massive field of floating rocks filled the system, meaning it was impossible to actually get 'above' it, but that wasn't Heero's objective. He simply wanted to make his approach from a different elevation so he could direct his and Ryoko's fire to support his friends once they made contact with the enemy. With luck, they'd catch whatever drones comprised the initial wave of defenders in a withering crossfire.

On his sensors, he saw a massive swarm of azure dots spread out behind them as the First Battle Group launched its fighters. Most were the nimble tuning-fork-shaped JI-45 Whirlwind Interceptors, and they quickly raced out to join Eve Squadron in entering the field. Mixed in with them were a few squadrons of the newer bulbous ovoid JF-159 Tempest space superiority fighters, and it wasn't hard for Heero to spot the craft belonging to the 232nd Fighter Wing surging forward to catch up to Eve Squadron.

Trailing behind both interceptors and space superiority fighters were squadrons of slightly larger craft. Wedge shaped with a slight but noticeable bulge beneath the central fuselage, the JB-131 Deluge was the Empire of Jurai's primary fighter-bomber. Heero had observed the craft in exercises with the Second Fleet, and he'd seen their twin banks of three plasma cannons, one bank mounted in each wing, shred target drones with brutal efficiency. The craft's true punching power, though, came in the form of its ordinance bay. Designed with potentially having to engage either surface targets or warships in mind, the craft could carry a wide variety of munitions. For this mission, Heero knew that they were carrying no less than fourteen plasma torpedoes, capable of utterly decimating both surface gun emplacements and any larger drones that Washu might not have been aware of.

That's the problem with her damn memory erasure, Heero mused, I know she did it to prevent knowledge of her weapon from falling into the wrong hands, but it means that we still don't know if the picture we have regarding the defenses of the repositories is complete. She gave us as much information as she could regarding what should be in store here, but there's still the chance that we're missing something.

Behind the fighters and bombers, the warships of the First Battle Group were moving into position. Corvettes, destroyers and light cruisers had formed up into various screening flotillas, and azure bolts of plasma were already flying from their main guns. No hostiles had been sighted yet, but these shots weren't meant for the enemy. Instead, they were concentrated on blowing apart or at least diverting some of the asteroids, clearing out room for the larger capital ships to safely operate in the system. Larger and more powerful volleys quickly followed as the heavy cruisers, battlecruisers and battleships joined in on the action. To Heero's eyes, it looked like nothing less than sheets of blue energy were ripping forth from the lumbering leviathans' main batteries, an awe-inspiring display of firepower that would've discouraged all but the most determined of foes. With any luck, some of those barrages would also destroy a few of the camouflaged asteroid hangars that housed Washu's drone swarms.

All of the fleet's carriers, including the flagship, were naturally at the rear of the formation. Hanging back, most of their fighters and bombers had already been disgorged, with the remaining squadrons being assigned to combat air patrol around their motherships. Flotillas of smaller vessels along with some battleships and battlecruisers remained with them to act as a screening force… and to buy time for reinforcements to arrive should the Second Fleet find itself under attack from the rear. As far as Heero was concerned, it was simply a matter of when rather than if that scenario played out.

His console chimed as Duo made the inevitable call. "I've got baddies out here! Drones, and a metric shitload of them!"

Checking his sensors, Heero saw that Duo was by no means exaggerating. Thousands of Washu's S/D-01 Combat Drones were pouring forth from hangars hidden in the countless asteroids along with those on the surface of the moon where the second repository lay waiting. The display in Heero's fighter was having trouble tracking them all, with the multitude of tiny red dots representing them looking more like amorphous blobs writhing all over his sensors.

Angling for his opening shot, Heero powered up his heavy cannons. "Duo, pull back and link up with Quatre's group. Eve Squadron, engage. Six, you with me?"

"You got it!" Ryoko eagerly replied, "Ready to light these suckers up?"

Heero resisted the urge to smirk before pulling the trigger. "Absolutely."

Twin rivers of raw destructive power ripped forth from the weapons slung beneath Heero's craft, tearing a gash through the closest swarm of drones before impacting an asteroid behind them. The combination of the beams themselves and the ensuing shrapnel from the space rock's subsequent detonation reduced scores of the mechanical guardians to bits of superheated debris, yet even that hardly counted as a dent in the opposition. More drones were billowing forth from hangars concealed in asteroids and on the various moons orbiting the three gas giants with each passing second, and Heero only half-jokingly wondered if there would be more drones than rocks in this star system before too long.

Diving into the fray, he switched over to his fighter's lighter but rapid-firing plasma cannons and unleashed withering bursts of sapphire beams, shredding any drone in his path. He was joined by lances of crimson fire from Ryo-Ohki as Ryoko unleashed her fury upon the opposition. Half a dozen spears of scarlet light flew forth in a single salvo, reducing just as many drones to brief orange pinpricks as they detonated, and another barrage immediately followed. The crystalline starship spun and twirled as it zipped between the various asteroids, reaping a fearsome toll on the drones, particularly any that were bold enough to move against Heero himself.

The rest of Eve Squadron wasn't standing idly by, either. Two clusters of drones suddenly went dead in space as a pair of ionic pulse missiles detonated in their midst. The source of those missiles was Duo, and his black fighter reappeared a moment later as he deactivated his cloak before opening up with his plasma cannons. The two disabled groups of automatons were reduced to shards of metal and sparking wires within moments. Duo followed that up with a pair of brilliant blue-white blasts from his fighter's arc disruptors, disabling more drones before he switched back to his plasma cannons and finished them off.

Coming in behind the God of Death, Eves Three, Four, Five and Seven made their presence known in force. A swarm of cluster missiles launched from Trowa's craft, splitting up into multiple smaller munitions mid-flight and spreading out to encompass what had to be at least two full wings worth of drones. Scores of the combat automata were blown apart by the barrage, with the few survivors still sporting scorch marks from nearby detonations. Still more drones flew in to make up the numbers, and Trowa switched over to his plasma cannons and the rotary guns slung beneath his craft. The combination of azure beams and hard slugs was devastating, with most of the drones going up in flames before they could so much as draw a bead on their attacker.

Quatre and Wufei quickly joined in. The former let fly with his plasma cannons while the latter momentarily climbed before diving in, shredding drones with the cannons mounted both atop and underneath his fighter. Lances of orange energy from the Yagami supplemented their efforts, destroying targets well before they could come within range of the patrol cruiser. Checking his sensors, Heero saw that additional drone squadrons were redeploying to intercept him and his friends; apparently, they were deadly enough for the enemy to consider them high-priority targets.

Across the system, similar dogfights were breaking out on a far larger scale. Interceptors and the newer space superiority fighters weaved through the asteroids and shredded drones with their plasma cannons, while bombers cautiously moved in behind them to provide supporting fire. Corvettes and destroyers laid down covering barrages, breaking up large clusters of hostile contacts so that the fighters would have an easier time picking off the stragglers. More powerful salvoes from the light and heavy cruisers performed a similar function when they weren't targeting more space rocks to transform into impromptu stony grenades with their withering fire. Occasional blasts from the battlecruisers and battleships took out larger obstructions, gradually opening up a path for the battlegroup, while the carriers and their escorts continued to trail from a considerable distance behind.

The drones might have been far weaker individually than even the older interceptors in the Second Fleet, but they weren't about to take such punishment lying down. They were already adapting, ganging up on individual fighters that strayed too far from their brethren to receive support, while much larger formations swarmed around Juraian squadrons like hordes of locusts. Fighters were ripped apart under concentrated fire from the drones' plasma cannons, while others were taken down by stricken drones actually ramming them in final acts of defiance and spite, assuming the mechanical foes were programmed for such a sentiment. While the Juraians still had the momentum and the clear advantage in firepower, continuous rivers of drones were still billowing forth from concealed hangars across the system.

A prolonged engagement is not in our best interest, Heero thought as he cut loose with another salvo from his fighter's heavy cannons, sending twin rivers of golden-yellow hellfire forth to rip apart no less than a score of drones and clear the next leg of Eve Squadron's path to the repository, and these drones won't be our only opposition.

Checking his sensors, he saw no sign of any additional forces having entered the system just yet. For the moment, the clash was just between the Second Fleet's First Battle Group and Washu's seemingly infinite swarm of drones.

Heero could only wonder just how long that dynamic would last.

….

As much as Quatre despised automated opponents, he had to give credit where it was due; Washu had more than put her work in when it came to the drones they were now facing. While they didn't amount to much as single combatants, it was their group coordination that made them a threat. They acted with the eerie synchronization that Quatre had come to associate with the Mobile Dolls of Romefeller and White Fang, and their distinct lack of a sense of self-preservation meant that suicide attacks weren't just to be expected, but dished out with complete abandon. More than once already, Quatre had been forced to wildly bank his fighter to avoid getting rammed by drones, and he'd seen multiple Juraian fighters in the distance whose pilots hadn't reacted in nearly as timely a manner to similar kamikaze runs.

Washu did her job well with these things, he thought ruefully as orange bolts peppered his fighter's shields, I'm sure she'd appreciate the praise, but I don't appreciate the fact that her creations are trying to kill us!

Returning fire with his plasma cannons and reducing three of his attackers to smoldering bits of metal, he saw the rest quickly shredded by a burst from Trowa's rotary guns. Checking his sensors, he saw a fresh pack of drones massing beyond the asteroids immediately before them, and he had an idea as to how best to deal with them.

"Trowa, go high," he ordered as he accelerated and got out ahead of the others, "Wufei, you and Duo go low! I'm going to draw that cluster of contacts out. You'll know when to make your moves. Yagami, stand by for fire support."

"Copy that!" came Mihoshi's voice over the cockpit speaker, sounding surprisingly clipped and professional.

When the chips are down, she tries her best, Quatre mused with an appreciative smile as the others moved into position while he did his best to dangle his own fighter before the enemy, I hope word of her actions gets back to her superiors. She deserves to have her improvements recognized.

Taking his fighter into a broad turn, he angled the craft to present the widest possible target profile. Almost any human pilot, even a highly skilled one, would've taken the bait, and Quatre was willing to bet that the drones would as well. Sure enough, they did. Like a buzzing horde of angry bees, they billowed out, coming around the asteroids and unleashing a withering barrage with their cannons. Twisting and turning his fighter with wild abandon, Quatre led them on a merry chase amongst the rocks…

…straight into a kill zone.

He dropped a single mine behind him just before going into a steep climb, and he had the satisfaction of seeing it detonate a few seconds earlier. The sphere of blue fire washed over a dozen drones and reduced them to cinders, yet there were far more than that trying to swarm Quatre. Luckily for the L4 native, said swarm quickly found itself beset from above and below as his friends made their moves. Trowa struck first, letting loose with a combination of bolts from his plasma cannons and shells from the rotary guns. The rain of energy and kinetic slugs pulverized anything it hit, transforming several drones into Swiss-cheesed chunks of metal. Down below, Duo and Wufei lurked like sharks, and now they smelled blood. Gunning their engines, L2 and L5 native like opened up with their plasma cannons as they darted through the confused horde, with the top and bottom turrets on Wufei's fighter in particular decimating the hostiles with lethal precision.

"Yagami, now!" Quatre ordered.

Lances of orange death shot forth from the crimson patrol cruiser, punching through the disorganized drones like javelins. The Yagami was no battleship, but individually its guns were still more powerful than the plasma cannons of either the drones or the fighters that Washu had designed. Her salvos completely melted any drone unfortunate enough to suffer a direct hit, and even glancing blows were usually still enough to slag a good chunk of their target and leave the rest of it drifting helplessly in space.

Crossfire from the patrol cruiser and four fighters were more than sufficient to mop up the survivors. Checking his sensors, Quatre winced as he saw what that clever little ploy had really accomplished; nothing more than convincing Washu's vast drone swarms that these four unique fighters and the cruiser supporting them needed to be eliminated ASAP. Entire fighter wings worth of combat automata were converging on their position, and there was no time to spring another trap.

That was when the voice of the 232nd Fighter Wing's leader came over the cockpit speakers. "Eve Squadron, care for a hand?"

Three dozen blue contacts appeared on Quatre's sensors, and a hail of plasma bolts tore into the oncoming drones just a second later. Usagi and her subordinates had timed their entrance perfectly; with the drones focused on attempting to encircle and overwhelm Eve Squadron, they were completely unprepared for a flanking strike. The formidable Tempest space superiority fighters drove into the swarm of drones as a concentrated wedge, with their massed firepower blasting clean through their ranks and opening up an avenue for Quatre and the others to continue on towards their destination.

Quatre smiled as he added two more drones to his kill count. "Thanks for the save, Major Morimoto! To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"The prince asked us to come bail you guys out," Usagi replied as she blew apart a trio of drones with casual ease, "Who are we to turn down a royal request?"

Checking his display, Quatre saw that Heero and Ryoko had gotten well out ahead of not just the rest of Eve Squadron, but the entire First Battle Group. Twin flashes of golden-yellow light in the distance, followed by a string of explosions, illustrated Heero's current position and trajectory. A series of tiny crimson lines appeared just a split second later as Ryo-Ohki opened up as well, and still more drones went up like strings of firecrackers.

"We need to catch up with Eve One and Six," said Quatre as he adjusted his course and accelerated, "They'll need our help when they reach the target!"

Usagi actually laughed as she blasted another two drones. "Always wanted to play the part of knight for a dashing prince! Looks like I get to make my dreams come true today."

"You'll have to pardon the Major," came the teasing voice of one of the squadron leaders, a female Captain Quatre recognized from their joint training exercises named Momoko Onishi, "She's a hopeless romantic at heart."

"Can it, Onishi!" Usagi snapped, though her tone carried little bite.

For his part, Quatre simply chuckled. "Well, as long as your dream involves helping us reach our objective, we'll play along!"

Gunning the throttle as the rest of Eve Squadron along with the 232nd Fighter Wing formed up around him, Quatre raced after Heero and Ryoko. As drones exploded around him, his thoughts harkened back to the final grand battle that had ended the war his squadron had been named for.

The clash at the Libra was as high-stakes as I'd ever imagined a fight being, he mused grimly, but the stakes here make that look like a petty skirmish.

Quatre could only hope that he and his friends had what it took to rise to the occasion. He sure as hell didn't want to think about what would happen if they couldn't.

….

I knew it'd be bad, Washu thought as she watched the battle play out from her station behind Kiyone, I knew that I'd left a real hornet's nest for us to kick here, but even so…

The Yagami rattled under an impact, and Kiyone looked over her shoulder at Washu. "How's it look?"

Washu checked the damage control display and shook her head. "Shields are still holding at 85%. Looks like a flight of drones rammed us on the top side."

"More are lining up for a run!" Mihoshi called.

"I'm rolling us to port!" Kiyone announced, already enacting the maneuver, "Hilde, fire as soon as you've got an angle!"

Her eyes narrowing as she adjusted her console so that the monitor synched up with the starboard side sensors, Washu watched as the ship rolled and the charging drones came into view. Orange beams ripped forth from the starboard weapons a moment later, and Hilde's expert marksmanship ensured that the shots were on target. The drones were ripped apart well before they got close to the patrol cruiser, with only bits of debris peppering the ship's shields.

"Got them!" Hilde announced.

"Good shooting," Kiyone complemented as she rolled the ship back to its previous orientation, "Keep it up."

"Yes, by all means," Ayeka encouraged from the seat behind Mihoshi, "It wouldn't do for us to be neutralized before we reach our destination."

"If only we could shield this ship," Azaka lamented, hovering near the cockpit doorway with his perpetual companion.

"Perhaps Miss Washu can modify us so we can achieve such a feat?' Kamidake asked hopefully.

Washu raised an eyebrow. "I thought you two didn't want me messing around with your components. Fear bringing about a change of heart?"

"Fear? As if!" Azaka haughtily and unconvincingly shot back.

"Royal Guardians like us do not know fear!" Kamidake boasted.

Washu rolled her eyes before turning her gaze back to the battle. "Sure. Whatever you two say."

As intrigued as she might find the notion of experimenting on two Royal Guardians, Washu had much more important matters to concern herself with. The battle for the second repository was now in full swing, and she'd wanted to be on the patrol cruiser's bridge to see the opening shots. She'd expected a tough fight, and her defenses were certainly delivering. Although the Second Fleet's First Battle Group was obliterating entire squadrons of drones with each passing second, the sheer weight of numbers meant that the clash had only just begun. The kill ratios were by far in Jurai's favor, but friendly fighters were still succumbing to attacks from her deadly automated guardians.

It wasn't just the small craft who were taking losses, either. On the display, Washu saw a corvette getting swarmed by nearly a hundred drones. Lances of azure plasma reduced some of its attackers to slag, and escorting fighters were doing what they could to relieve the pressure, but there were simply too many hostiles for them to contend with, and the drones' lack of self-preservation programming combined with the explosives they carried for suicide runs made them a threat to vessels far larger than interceptors and bombers. Dozens of them slammed themselves into the corvette, with the initial wave of detonations punching a hole in the vessel's shields and clearing the way for a cluster immediately behind them to plow right into the ship's upper hull. There was a ripple of sparks flowing across the ship as key systems damaged and the shields surrounding the rest of the vessel failed, and another wave of suicide strikes from a follow-up drone squadron resulted in a spectacular detonation that ripped the corvette in half.

Similar scenes were playing out across the system as the First Battle Group inexorably pressed on. Admiral Fukunaga had arrayed her screening forces to provide mutually supportive fields of fire, and waves of azure energy were ripping through drone clusters like hot knives through butter, but clever tactics and raw firepower could only do so much to blunt the gigantic swarm Washu had constructed to defend her prize. Interceptors and space superiority fighters worked in concert with corvettes and destroyers to keep the mechanical hordes at bay, but they also had to look out for the countless rocks scattered across the system, not to mention avoid collisions and fire from allies. The drones were unburdened by such concerns; Washu had programmed them only to protect the repository at all costs. That single-minded purpose translated into a fanatical sense of ruthlessness that petty dictators across the galaxy would kill for their own forces to possess.

Washu could tell herself that the Juraians had known what they'd signed up for with this operation, that she'd given them all the intel she could to prepare them for this battle. It would be the truth, but to her it still felt completely inadequate. More Juraian blood would be on her hands before the day was out, and she feared that even that might end up being a drop in the bucket when compared to how much death would be meted out before this whole ghastly affair was brought to a close.

My Array hasn't been fired since the Imperial Civil War, she thought ruefully, and yet people are dying because of it once again.

Getting up from her station, she turned to Kiyone. "I need to check on a few things back in the lab before we reach the repository. I'll return before we make our final approach."

Focused on the task of guiding the Yagami through the maelstrom of drones and space rocks, Kiyone simply nodded, not even sparing a look over her shoulder. "Ayeka, I'm transferring damage control monitoring over to your console. Can you manage that?"

Ayeka shot a curious look at Washu before nodded. "Of course."

Confident that matters were well in hand here, Washu left the cockpit and hurried back to the lab. She felt more than a little guilty for deceiving Kiyone and the others. Technically, she hadn't lied; there was something she needed to check on. What her friends didn't know was that that 'something' included a princess that the rest of them thought was safely back on Jurai. More than enough time had passed for Misaki and the rest of the royal household to uncover her deception, and Washu was sure that messages had been received by the flagship since they'd emerged in the system. Unfortunately for the Royal Family, the Second Fleet's First Battle Group was now firmly engaged with the enemy, and Washu had gotten to know Admiral Fukunaga well enough since meeting her to be confident that she wouldn't pull her forces out just to make sure Sasami was returned home immediately. Battle was joined, for better and for worse, and Jurai's forces would not withdraw until their objective had been achieved.

Upon entering the lab, she headed for the small room that she'd set Sasami up in. It was a sparse chamber, consisting of little more than a bed, a small washroom off to one side, and a holographic projector. It was the latter that Sasami was focused on now, sitting as she was on the edge of the bed and observing the unfolding battle. Washu had made sure to link the projector to both the sensors of the Yagami and those of the five fighters she'd designed for Heero and the other former Gundam pilots. Just now, she saw that Sasami had it focused on the feed from Trowa's craft, and Washu fought to suppress a knowing smile.

She really has grown quite attached to him, she thought, I wonder if that's just Sasami, or if Tsunami's personal tastes are playing a role there as well. Something to ponder another time, perhaps.

"Not easy to sit and back and watch, is it?" Washu asked, not failing to notice the tension in the girl's frame and the fear in her eyes.

Sasami jumped; she'd been so intently concentrating on the images of the unfolding battle that she'd completely missed Washu's entrance. "Washu! Sorry, I didn't see you there. Is it time for… for that thing we were practicing earlier?"

"I suspect it will be quite soon," Washu grimly answered as she sat on the bed next to the princess, "I have no doubt that Kagato's on his way here as we speak. The Admiral did what she could to ensure operational security, but with so many officers involved in planning this mission… well, it's just a matter of which one is serving as a mole for our enemy. Perhaps more than one, if I know Kagato; he's always appreciated the value of having contingencies and backups in place."

Sasami shuddered. "When he gets here… will we be okay? Some of you got hurt the last time you faced him."

Washu took a deep breath and put her arm around the princess in an effort to comfort her. "I won't make any promises, Sasami. Battles can be unpredictable, and our enemy is very dangerous. However, so are we. After all, we haven't just been sitting back relaxing at the palace this whole time, remember? Heero, Ryoko, Ayeka, the others; everyone's been training and preparing for this fight. If Kagato and his sister think that they're going to fight the same group that they faced at the first repository, then they're going to be in for a very rude awakening."

Sasami nodded nervously. "I hope you're right. So, my part in this… when you tell me to, I just lay back on the bed, close my eyes, and try to empty my mind, right?"

"That's right," Washu replied, "You don't have to get it perfectly right; I know something like this can be difficult for someone with as much youthful energy as you. Just remember the breathing exercises that I had you practicing on the way here, do your best, and the rest will take care of itself."

Sasami's brow furrowed. "You still haven't really told me how laying down and emptying my mind is supposed to help the others."

Washu gave her an understanding smile. "I know, and I still can't do that. Not yet, at least. After we return to Jurai and survive the scolding your parents give us, though… well, I think I'll owe you a bit of an explanation to make up for them grounding you."

Sasami's return smile was surprisingly mischievous. "They won't ground me. They'll just say that they're very disappointed in me, threaten to ground me, and then I'll beg for their forgiveness. They'll be madder at you than at me, Washu!"

The eccentric scientist couldn't resist a chuckle at that. "Rather devious… I think spending so much time with Heero and his friends is starting to rub off on you!"

"Not just them," Sasami pointed out, "You and Ryoko are to blame, too!"

Washu waved a finger at her in chastisement, though her smirk took any real bite out of it. "Is that any way to speak to the woman who went through so much trouble to smuggle you out of the palace? I usually play nice with you, Sasami, but you'd better be careful."

Sasami folded her arms. "Or what? You'll have Kiyone turn the ship around and take me back to Jurai? She doesn't even know I'm here, and you don't want anyone to find out until after the battle's done!"

Washu gave a theatrical sigh. "Guess you got me there."

She puts on a good front, Washu thought as Sasami's gaze returned to the holographic projector and the battle raging around them, but I know she's scared. Coming out here might have been what she wanted, but she's not the innocent child that we all keep making her out to be; she's smart enough to understand that the danger is all too real. I just hope we can keep her from the worst of it.

I'll never forgive myself if something happens to her.

….

Ryoko braced herself against the console as Ryo-Ohki shook around her. "You okay, girl?"

"Meow!" her living starship replied in defiant fury.

Ryoko smirked as she sighted in on the cluster of drones that had taken the offending shots. "Good. Let 'em have it!"

A volley of crimson beams flew forth from the crystalline starship, cutting through the ranks of the attacking drones and reducing a dozen of them to molten slag. Swinging Ryo-Ohki behind an asteroid to confuse her remaining pursuers, Ryoko then popped her vessel up over the top of the rock and rained down another salvo, destroying more of the drones and causing the rest to scatter.

"Nicely done," Yosho complimented from behind her, "but you should get yourself back on course. My grandson seems to have gotten himself into a patch of trouble."

Checking her display, Ryoko swore under her breath. While she'd been playing rearguard, Heero had moved up ahead. The rest of Eve Squadron hadn't caught up to the two of them yet, nor had any other elements of the First Battle Group, which meant that the pirate and her handsome soldier only had each other to rely upon. In his determination to blaze a path towards the second repository, Heero had gotten himself entangled in a chaotic dogfight, and Washu's drones had clearly designated him a high priority target. A pair of blasts from the heavy cannons slung beneath his fighter tore through the swarm assaulting him, taking out a score of drones and causing others to momentarily scatter, but Heero was still surrounded and taking fire from multiple attackers. The orange bolts of plasma splashed against his fighter's shields, and a quick adjustment to her monitor showed Ryoko that those barriers were still holding at greater than half strength, but a continued concentrated barrage would change that if she didn't do something about it.

"Damn it, Heero," she hissed as she accelerated Ryo-Ohki, crimson beams flying in all directions as she blasted her way through the drones around her like a bull in a China shop, "You're too reckless!"

Yosho chuckled. "Pot meet kettle, much?"

"Shut up, old man!" Ryoko snapped, "Trying to focus on saving your grandson's hide here!"

Ryo-Ohki twisted and twirled like a thing possessed as she rushed through the asteroid field, picking off some drones with her fearsome array of beams while outright plowing straight through others. The ship rocked around her, but Ryoko knew it would take far more than a few drones exploding against her hull to truly threaten Ryo-Ohki. Washu hadn't made her to be fragile, after all.

"Meow!" Ryo-Ohki whined as she shuddered under another impact.

Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! You've taken worse than this. Suck it up, Ryo-Ohki! When we get out of here, I'll let Sasami treat you to an all-you-can-eat carrot buffet. How's that sound?"

"Meow!" Ryo-Ohki cheered with renewed enthusiasm.

Ryoko grinned as she charged towards Heero's fighter. "Now that's what I like to hear! Let's go save Heero's ass!"

There was a brilliant flash of yellow light up ahead as Heero cut loose with his heavy cannons again. Several drones were obliterated by the beams themselves, while scores more were destroyed by the rocky shrapnel that was produced when his shots impacted a nearby asteroid. Even with those losses, though, the swarm surrounding him still seemed as thick as ever, and Ryoko could see even more drones quickly moving in to replace the most recent casualties.

Washu did her job too damn well here, the pirate thought bitterly as she mowed down any automata unfortunate enough to be in her path, I know she said there'd be a lot of these bastards, but it feels like she undersold things here…

Ryoko had gotten into more than her fair share of space battles in the past, but the vast majority of those had been quick affairs. Blitzing a convoy's escorts, taking out fighters and disabling freighters before they could react; all the classic raider moves. Taking part in a full-scale fleet engagement was decidedly outside of her comfort zone. After all, it was typically in a pirate's best interest to avoid that kind of heat. Now, here she was at the forefront of just such a battle, with the added irony of it being the fleet of Jurai that she was fighting alongside. All the times she'd attacked their shipments, and now she was helping blaze a trail for their fighters and warships. It felt as though the entire galaxy had been flipped on its head.

Then again, she supposed that her entire world had turned upside down the moment she and Ayeka had gone to Earth. Now, the rest of the galaxy was simply playing catchup.

Her screen lit up as Ryoko began selecting fresh targets, with the drones attacking Heero finally in range. As soon as she had a decent angle, she opened up with everything Ryo-Ohki had, not even waiting for a confirmed target lock. The wild barrage of crimson beams carved through the drones surrounding Heero, leaving strings of explosions in their wakes as multiple hostiles were blown to bits. Many more scattered, seemingly spooked by the haphazard nature of her shots.

Blowing apart two of the suddenly isolated and confused drones with his plasma cannons, Heero's fighter looped around and angled towards Ryoko. "Good timing. Thanks."

Ryoko sighed with relief as she formed up behind him, additional shots from Ryo-Ohki keeping the drones on their toes. "Next time, try not to get so damn far ahead! I know you like to lead from the front, Heero, but you're overdoing it here. Let me watch your back like I did during the training exercises, okay?"

Much to her surprise, Heero actually sounded chastised. "You're right. I wanted to get to the repository as quickly as possible, but I was getting careless there. Let's do this right, shall we?"

Ryoko smiled as the two of them began blasting their way through the next wave of drones. "Copy that!"

It wasn't just her backing him up now, either; the rest of Eve Squadron had arrived on the scene, and the 232nd Fighter Wing was with them. With Heero and Ryoko taking point, they formed up into a wedge formation that proceeded to drive a knife into the swarm of drones trying to halt their progress. A pair of ionic pulse missiles flew forth from Duo's black fighter, with their ensuing detonations leaving scores of drones drifting helplessly in space and easy pickings for massed fire from the Juraians. A wave of warheads launched from Trowa's craft, breaking up the next wave of hostile contacts while Quatre and Wufei swooped in to sow further confusion amongst their ranks. Supporting fire from the Yagami helped to further thin out the teeming swarm of combat automata, and a fresh salvo from Heero's heavy cannons only amplified the carnage.

We've got this, thought Ryoko as she checked their progress on the display, We're over halfway to the target already, and the rest of the Juraians are catching up. As long as we stick together and watch each other's backs, we can do this.

That was when Ryo-Ohki wailed in alarm, and her sensors flashed red. Far behind them, to the rear of the First Battle Group, new contacts were dropping out of lightspeed. Ryoko's heart sank as she recognized many of them; battle-scarred raiders, warships pieced together by outlaw shipyards tucked away in the furthest corners of the galaxy, jerry-rigged freighters and transports with wild assortments of weapons fused to their hulls, and much more besides. Emblems of notorious pirate bands plastered many of the vessels, all symbols that Ryoko had fervently hoped not to see here. Taking it all in at a glance while continuing to battle the oncoming drones, Ryoko had a difficult time getting an accurate count. There had to be several hundred ships at least, quite possibly a good deal more.

Just as concerning as the arrival of the pirate armada, though, was the presence of one particular ship in its midst. Ryo-Ohki's sensors immediately zeroed in on it, and Ryoko knew why. It was, after all, one not unlike her.

Ken-Ohki was here. Nagi was here.

Kagato had made his move.

….

Despite the threat posed by the new arrivals, the bridge crew of the Ōtaka remained calm and professional as they called out updates for their superior officers. Standing behind the holographic projector table at the back of the bridge with her arms folded, Admiral Mayumi Fukunaga observed the disposition of the pirate fleet with cold aloofness.

We were expecting an attack to the rear at some point in this engagement, she reminded herself as she plotted her next move, but this is a bit earlier than I'd anticipated. You've played your hand well, Kagato.

Although she'd retained a screening force for her carriers along with heavier units to the rear for just this scenario, Mayumi knew that the Second Fleet's First Battle Group was still in a difficult position. The bulk of her warships and fighters were focused on the forward thrust, and the resistance they were meeting was composed of more than just seemingly endless swarms of drones now. Washu had turned many of the floating space rocks within this system into camouflaged weapons platforms, with what had previously been seen as the rough surfaces of asteroids turning out to be cleverly disguised panels. Those panels were now sliding away to reveal hidden batteries of plasma cannons, and these weapons were considerably more powerful than those mounted on the tiny drones. With her fighter squadrons still contending with the hordes of combat automata, it fell to her bombers and warships to target the weapons platforms. It was a task that the strike craft and the larger vessels were well-suited to, but it did mean that they had to divide their attention and could no longer provide the heavy fire support that they'd been granting to the nimbler interceptors and space superiority fighters.

Her forces were committed up front, and now they had a fleet to the rear that they needed to handle. Mayumi knew immediately what needed to be done, but that didn't make her task any less tricky.

"Comms, contact the Second and Third Battle Group!" she ordered, "Tell them the time has come. Send them the pirate fleet's coordinates and instruct the commanders to come in behind them. Take our carriers deeper into the field, and array our heavy escorts behind us. They'll have to hold the line until our reserves can take the field."

Her subordinates raced to carry out her commands while the Admiral adjusted the holographic display. Her gaze focused on the two units out at the tip of the Second Fleet's thrust, relentlessly pressing onward despite the arrival of a new hostile force. The mission remained unchanged; Eve Squadron and the 232nd Fighter Wing had been ordered even before the Second Fleet had left Jurai to concentrate solely on reaching the repository, no matter the costs. Mayumi was not about to countermand those orders, though she would be lying if she said that she wasn't tempted to do so. The young prince and his friends had already proven themselves to be the equal of the Empire's finest pilots, and it would've been most reassuring to be able to deploy them along with the 232nd against the pirate fleet to Mayumi's rear.

We all have our roles to play in this battle, the Admiral thought bitterly, Prince Heero is leading the attack, while I am ultimately the support and the shield. I knew this going in. He will do his job, and I will do mine.

To the rear of the flagship, some of the escorting battleships, battlecruisers and heavy cruisers had already arrayed themselves for broadsides against the oncoming outlaw horde. Banks of heavy plasma cannons unleashed hell as soon as they had targeting locks, with rivers of azure energy washing over the forward pirate ranks. Entire wings of motley fighters that appeared to have been assembled from almost random bits of scrap were utterly atomized, and the larger craft behind them fared little better. The modified freighters and gunships that made up the pirates' screening force found their meager shields almost immediately overwhelmed and burned out, and the ships themselves were ripped apart by subsequent shots. Ugly and utilitarian cylindrical cruisers and blocky segmented battleships the likes of which Mayumi had never seen before and could only assumed had been pieced together in some forsaken shipyard far beyond civilized space were able to take the hits better than their smaller comrades, their shields rippling when they held and superheated chunks of metal being ripped from their hulls when they failed. Their return fire was a mix of orange energy beams, physical slugs from railguns, and a wild assortment of missiles. Mayumi's eyes narrowed as she watched the beams splash against the shields of her battleships and cruisers, with some of the railgun slugs bouncing off the barriers while missiles were disintegrated midflight.

The enemy wasn't concentrating their fire; they were simply throwing everything they had at the wall and seeing what would stick. They held a broad and loose formation, but many of the ships weren't cooperating with each other. Studying their movements on the display, to Mayumi's keen eyes it seemed as though some groups of the pirates were actually working to keep their distance from some of their peers, and it wasn't just to avoid clumping up and presenting easy targets.

I should have expected as much, she mused when she realized what was going on, Crimson Talons, Nova Hounds, and Black Knives all in one fleet? They hate each other almost as much as they hate Jurai, and they've fought turf wars that have left entire star systems ravaged. It's a miracle that Kagato has them all aiming in the same direction. If we can break their already tenuous discipline…

"Comms, track the frequencies being utilized by the pirates," she ordered, "Try to figure out which ships are commanding the major formations. If we can take out their commanders, we'll break the back of this armada!"

As her subordinates hastened to carry out the command, Mayumi watched as the fighter squadrons that had remained behind with the carriers moved up to support their heavy escorts. Dogfights broke out as interceptors clashed with incoming pirate fighters, the former being backed up by corvettes and light cruisers while the latter sought fire support from jerry-rigged freighters and rickety raiding frigates. When it came to quality, the Juraians had the enemy decisively beat, but as the Empire's forces had their attention split between Washu's drones and the pirates, the outlaws could bring greater numbers to bear. The First Battle Group's rearguard was holding for now, but with the pirates already throwing more ships and attack craft into the fight, Mayumi knew it wouldn't stay that way for long.

She could only hope that her reserves would take the field before it was too late.

….

Far ahead of the First Battle Group, Washu watched the pirate fleet clash with the Juraians. As she'd expected, Kagato was employing his outlaw allies as essentially a throwaway force. There was no subtlety or finesse in their attack, no clever tactics at work here. The only smart thing they'd done was revert from lightspeed to the rear of the First Battle Group and thus only had to contend with the units escorting the carriers. Washu had no doubt that the flagship and its escorts looked like enticing targets, and the pirates were going after them with great zeal. Sheets of energy were flying from the Juraian capital ships in wave after wave as they fought to keep their new enemy at bay, as fierce a holding action as Washu had ever seen. The return fire from the outlaw warships was nothing to sneeze at, but so far only some of the Juraian heavy cruisers and lighter escorts had suffered under it; the shields of the battleships and battlecruisers were still holding for the time being. Countless tiny explosions were endlessly detonating between the two fleets as their respective fighter squadrons duked it out, with the pirate craft at least providing more of a threat individually than Washu's drones.

None of that was really of a concern to her, though. Military action was not her domain; that was the Admiral's area of expertise, and Washu was content to leave the combat situation in Mayumi's capable hands. Adjusting the holographic display, it didn't take her long to find a single ship breaking off from the pirate fleet and racing through the field, its violet beams cutting through the drones that attempted to intercept it. Even from such a great distance, it wasn't hard at all for Washu to identify the white crystalline craft as Ken-Ohki, and she suspected that there was more than just Nagi about the craft. Kagato had arrived, which meant that Washu and her companion had work to do.

She turned to Sasami, who was still sitting on the small bed next to her. "Sasami, it's time. Just remember what I told you, okay? Lay back, relax, and try to think as little as possible. The rest will come on its own."

The princess nodded, although she couldn't resist casting one last nervous glance at the images of the unfolding battle. "Okay…"

For her part, Washu got up from the bed and took a seat directly on the floor. Meditation wasn't something she often engaged in, but sitting cross-legged and with her hands resting palms-up on her knees, she fell into a deep trance. She could already feel the faintest tendrils of Juraian energy emanating from Sasami; Tsunami wasn't wasting any time.

Taking a deep breath, Washu drew her focus inward. Her first focal point was the two small crimson spheres in one of her pockets, mindful not to draw too much power lest they resonate with the gem inside Ryoko and distract her in the middle of combat. With Heero no longer needing the one she'd hidden in his armor prior to the raid on the first repository, she could now use both to begin drawing upon just the tiniest fraction of the might she'd wielded in her original form so many eons ago.

That should be all I need, she thought, I hope.

Her entire body began to tingle, and the air around her crackled as Washu felt the crimson sparks dancing over her. With the greatest possible caution, she began to push outward, emitting a faint pulse of energy that rippled across the lab before passing harmlessly through the walls and the hull of the Yagami itself. Behind her, she could feel Sasami, or rather Tsunami, do the same.

A poignant silence filled the chamber for a moment, and Washu wondered if another pulse was necessary. Amidst such a chaotic battlefield, it was possible that Tokimi might not have detected that initial feeler. She was about to ready another pulse when a chill suddenly went down her spine. Something akin to a faint breeze brushed against her, but there was no wind inside the chamber. Then, without warning, a voice echoed in both her mind and the room at large.

A voice she hadn't heard in a very long time.

"All this trouble just to get my attention? I suppose I should be flattered, though it strikes me as excessive."

Washu's heart paradoxically rose and sank. Under other circumstances, that voice would've been a pleasure to hear, and perhaps it still was even now. However, hearing it now also confirmed her worst fears, and it meant that the conflict being waged outside the patrol cruiser's hull was merely a crude sideshow compared to the true cosmic game underway here.

"I knew it was you," she said softly, "I didn't want to be right, but I knew. Tokimi… why?"

"That's all you have to say after so much time apart? No pleasantries? No questions about my well-being? I thought you were better mannered than this, Washu."

Sasami's voice came from behind Washu, but the words weren't those of the princess; Tsunami was in the driver's seat here. "You're normally the one to cut straight to the heart of the matter, Tokimi. Can you blame us for doing the same here, given the circumstances?"

"No, I suppose not. As for the 'why' you're so desperate to know, Washu, I would think that'd be quite easy to answer. The grand design that we set in motion continues apace. You and Tsunami might have become distracted by the mundane aspects of the plane you inhabit, but my eyes have always been on the true prize."

"That prize is not Kagato," Washu emphatically argued, "If anything, his ascension will put all that we set in motion at risk. You must realize that, Tokimi."

"And you think that this boy from the fringe of the galaxy is the one we've sought? While I confess to finding him intriguing, I'm not blinded by the attachments that you and Tsunami have formed with him. My gaze remains unclouded. I only wish that I could say the same for the two of you."

"Even if Kagato was the one we've been searching for, Washu and I could never support him," Tsunami countered, "What he is after is nothing less than a galaxy ruled through a perpetual state of fear, of helpless dread beneath the ultimate Sword of Damocles. What is the point of us discovering the higher being we've long sought if that individual threatens every single life in the universe that we created?"

"The lives of mundane beings are immaterial. The purpose of our project was to discover the true limits of the universe, those of our own power and what might push beyond what we considered to be possible. What that might mean for those inhabiting the profane realm is irrelevant."

Washu let out a regretful sigh. "I was afraid of this. Tsunami and I made a mistake, but it wasn't in backing Heero. It was in leaving you behind on the upper plane all those eons ago. Had we remained with you, perhaps our perspectives would align with yours, but they would be diminished compared to what they are now. Coming down here and living amongst the beings that populate our creation broadened our horizons and helped us both realize the true enormity of our actions and the potential consequences thereof."

"We have an obligation to safeguard our creation and those who call it home," Tsunami added, "Tokimi, it is not too late. Come down from the upper plane and experience this universe in full with us. Come see the fruits of our ancient design, and you will understand why Washu and I seek to protect it from the likes of Kagato."

"I can see just fine from where I'm at. Perhaps it's better this way. In conflict, the three of us may learn more than we could through uniformity of thought."

Washu's eyes narrowed. "That's your answer, then?"

"It is. You and Tsunami have your candidate, and I have mine. Their clash is preordained. Let us see what the universe becomes through their conflict."

"This is wrong, Tokimi," Tsunami protested, "We have no right to put so many lives at risk just to carry out an experiment!"

"If you are so attached to those mundane lives, then I suggest you put everything you have into this contest. Your candidate will need it if he is to stand a chance against mine. I look forward to seeing what comes of their clash. Win or lose, there will be much to learn, and our grand design will be that much closer to fulfillment."

A grim pit settled in Washu's stomach. "There really is no talking you out of this, then. So be it. Let me offer you one bit of advice, Tokimi. Consider it a gift from an old friend."

"Oh? None of us have ever granted gifts to each other, if I recall. Your time on the lower plane truly has changed you, Washu. Very well, then. What counsel do you offer?"

Washu smiled, but there was no mirth in the expression. "Don't underestimate the 'mundane beings' of this plane. It'll be your undoing."

"Allow me to proffer counsel of my own," Tsunami added in firm resolve, "Don't take Heero Yuy lightly. Threaten that which he holds dear, and our candidate will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

"I will bear your counsel in mind. Until our next meeting, my friends."

Her presence vanished from Washu's mind, and she let out a breath that she didn't realize she'd been holding. Standing up and stretching, she went over to the bed and knelt beside it. Examining Sasami, she found that Tsunami's presence had gone dormant again, and the princess was now in a state of deep sleep.

Better this way, perhaps, she thought, If all goes well, this battle will be over before she wakes up.

She went over to the holographic projector and tapped her fingers on the console. The image of the battle outside was replaced by the azure pixy figure of AIDA, whose face was awash with concern.

"You caught all of that, right?" asked Washu.

The artificial intelligence nodded. "I did. That was… something else, Doctor Washu."

"I'm sure it was," Washu replied, "I'm heading back to the cockpit. Keep an eye on Sasami. Should the worst come to pass and the ship must be abandoned, is your frame prepared?"

"I have run multiple diagnostics since we departed Jurai," AIDA answered, "The frame is ready, and a download will only take moments. If the worst-case scenario does indeed occur, I will get Sasami to an escape pod if it's the very last thing I do. You have my word on that."

Washu smiled. "Thank you. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Yes, let's," the AI concurred as Washu headed towards the door, "Oh, Doctor?"

Washu looked over his shoulder. "Yes?"

AIDA smiled. "Please, be careful out there. The first repository was nasty enough, and this time I will not be on the ground with you all for the second. Watch your back, and that of our young prince."

Washu inclined her head. "I will."

….

"It's not looking good back there," Eva noted, unable to keep the concern from her voice.

Heero couldn't argue with her. Briefly glancing at the sensor display in between unleashing bursts of plasma from his wing-mounted cannons, he could see the pirate armada advancing on Admiral Fukunaga's rearguard. He had to hand it to the Juraians charged with carrying out the delaying action; they were some of the most disciplined soldiers he'd ever seen. Despite the ferocity of the barrages being unleashed from the outlaw warships and the major disparity in numbers, the capital ships defending the First Battle Group's rear refused to back down. The battleships and battlecruisers were unloading on their oncoming foes with everything they had, pouring out so much azure fire from their plasma cannons that the flashes from their salvos could be seen by the naked eye from almost anywhere in the massive asteroid field. The heavy cruisers and lighter units supporting the capital ships were likewise showing incredible courage and ferocity despite the growing casualties among their ranks, refusing to yield and making the enemy pay dearly for each Juraian warship that fell to the marauders. In between the formations of larger warships was one of the fiercest dogfights Heero had ever seen, with the Juraian interceptors chewing through the pirates' cobbled-together and secondhand fighters with near fanatical zeal, paying no heed to the salvos from the capital ships that regularly tore through their battlefield and vaporizing any pilot who got in the way regardless of affiliation.

No matter how dogged a defense the rearguard waged, though, Heero knew that they couldn't keep it up forever. Already, the pirates were spreading out, attempting to outflank and envelop the Juraians. In response, the Juraian fighters and lighter warships harried the wings of the outlaw fleet in an effort to slow them down. It was a valiant effort, but Heero could tell that they were only delaying the inevitable.

"They need help," he muttered, "Where are the reserve battle groups? The Admiral should have called them in."

"And she has," Eva reassured him, "The signal went out from the flagship as soon as the pirates arrived; I have it recorded in my data logs if you require proof."

Heero took a deep breath to center himself as he blew apart two drones with bolts of azure energy. "No need. I trust you."

Eva smiled. "I appreciate that, but you should give that same trust to the Admiral. She's been commanding her fleet for many years, and she knows what she's doing. The training exercises in the lead-up to this operation should've been proof enough of that. She will deal with Kagato's outlaw fleet. Our responsibility lies forward, not behind."

Heero knew she was right, but as his fighter was buffeted by a volley of orange plasma bolts, he still had on eye to the rear of the battlefield. "Speaking of Kagato, do we have eyes on him?"

Eva nodded, and one of the side displays shifted to show an image of Ken-Ohki. "Doctor Washu has been monitoring events from the Yagami. We have no way to know for certain that Kagato's aboard Nagi's ship, but given that there's been no sighting of the armed yacht he utilized in the previous engagement, it's a fairly safe bet that he's on Ken-Ohki."

As she said that, Heero felt as though his back had suddenly brushed against a pillar of ice. Weaving through the asteroids and taking out targets of opportunity while Ryoko continued to watch his back, he sensed two familiar presences, both reaching out as if searching for him… which he suspected they were. Unsure how to respond, he simply focused on the enemies in front of him, but he remained uneasy. Eva might not have been able to confirm with complete certainty that Kagato and Ragyō were aboard Ken-Ohki, but the energy that Heero could sense from afar was now all the proof he needed.

"Tag Ken-Ohki so he's easy to identify in this mess," Heero ordered as he cut loose with a salvo from his heavy guns, blasting through a squadron of drones, "and keep an eye on him. Kagato's probably going to wait for us to deal with the repository's outer defenses before making his move. Send a message to the others as well; make sure they know that our real enemy has arrived."

"Understood," Eva replied, and Nagi's ship became a violet icon on his sensors.

Checking his position, Heero could at least draw some measure of comfort from the progress Eve Squadron and their allies had made. On the map of the system as a whole, his team was now roughly three-quarters of the way to the moon where the second repository was located. Unfortunately, their advance was slowing due to the thickening defenses. There was still no end to the drone swarms, and the closer they got to the moon, the more concealed weapons platforms began coming online. The tiny orange plasma bolts from the drones were increasingly being joined by larger energy blasts and missiles coming from asteroids that had revealed themselves to be far more than mere floating rocks in space. Heero's heavy cannons were proving more than sufficient to eliminate individual weapons platforms, but lining up for clear shots against them in a battlefield full of drones, friendly fighters and drifting chunks of stone was definitely a case of easier said than done.

Ryoko's voice suddenly rang out over his cockpit speakers. "Heero, dive! Now!"

Not questioning the pirate's command despite her supposedly being his subordinate, Heero took his fighter into a sharp and rapid descent. The cause for it became clear a moment later when two pillars of orange energy blasted through the space he'd occupied just moments ago. Following the beams back to their source, Heero saw a weapons platform that he'd missed earlier. He wanted to smack himself for his mistake, but instead took the much more productive approach of locking onto the armed space rock with his heavy cannons and blowing it apart.

"Thanks for the warning," he remarked as Ryoko fell back in behind him, crimson beams blazing from Ryo-Ohki as the lovely outlaw tore several drones some fatal new ones, "That was too close."

"Hey, I almost missed that one, too," Ryoko replied, "Thank your grandfather. Don't know how, but he spotted it before even I did. I'm just the messenger."

Heero raised an eyebrow as his plasma cannons melted a trio of drones. "I thought you didn't want him 'backseat piloting' as you called it earlier?"

"I don't," Ryoko grumbled, "but he's got sharp eyes, and it paid off here. Can't really complain."

"No, I suppose not," Heero concurred as bolts of energy and bits of stone peppered his shields, "We need every sharp eye we can get out here."

"Speaking of sharp eyes," said Ryoko as she shot down four more of Washu's combat automata, "I got mine on Ken-Ohki. Want me to engage?"

Heero checked his sensors again before shaking his head. "Negative. They're still pretty far out, and we need to focus on blazing a path forward. Your firepower's better put to use here. Be patient. You'll get your next crack at Nagi soon enough."

Ryoko let out a reluctant sigh. "Fine. Probably for the best; Ryo-Ohki's not exactly enthusiastic about taking shots at Ken-Ohki."

"Meow…" the living starship whined over their shared frequency.

"I know you've got a crush on him, but now's not the time for that!" Ryoko snapped, "He's the enemy here!"

"Will she be alright?" asked Heero as he picked off two more drones with his plasma cannons.

"Ryo-Ohki's a big girl," Ryoko insisted, "She knows what's at stake here. She might not destroy Ken-Ohki, but she'll show him she's no pushover."

Heero could only trust that she was right.

….

"Meow…" Ken-Ohki quietly murmured as his violet beams shredded the squadron of drones that had moved to intercept him.

It wasn't like him; Nagi was used to her trusty living starship cheering in triumph whenever he slew his enemies. The cause for his disquiet was easy enough to determine, though. After all, the closer they got to their target, the closer they got to the object of his affections.

"Keep it together, Ken-Ohki," Nagi gently chastised him, "I know you're not happy about meeting her like this. Just focus on the drones, okay?"

"Meow," the crystalline vessel acknowledged.

"He's not going to be a problem, is he?" asked Ragyō.

Nagi shot a glare over her shoulder. "He'll get the job done. We always do."

"Indeed, you do," Kagato remarked in a placating manner, "Please, do not take offense with my sister's remarks. Given the circumstances, I'm sure you can understand her wariness. Ken-Ohki has performed quite well so far, but the fact that he's a living starship as opposed to a more conventional vessel does pose certain challenges."

Nagi shook her head as she weaved her starship between floating rocks while picking off targets of opportunity and shrugging off stray plasma bolts with Ken-Ohki's shields. "You won't have to worry about those 'challenges'. At the rate we're going, Ryo-Ohki will have already dropped off Ryoko and whoever else she's carrying at the second repository well before we arrive. If this goes anything like the previous engagement, she'll probably break off and try to hide until the ground team's ready for extraction. Either way, she should be steering clear of us, so Ken-Ohki won't have to fret about shooting at her."

Kagato stepped forward until he was just a meter or so behind her, his eyes narrowing as he studied the ongoing battle with keen interest. "That's reassuring. I do have to wonder, though, if Ken-Ohki is the only one fretting about engaging our familiar foes in this new clash."

Nagi bristled. "What exactly are you getting at?"

"The boy," Kagato calmly replied as his gaze settled on one particular fighter, "You've developed a soft spot for him, haven't you?"

Following his gaze, Nagi watched the craft that Ryo-Ohki was supporting. She had no proof, but the fierceness with which Ryoko covered that particular fighter was as good an indicator as any that Heero Yuy was the pilot. The bounty hunter couldn't help but be impressed with the seemingly effortless manner in which he deftly maneuvered through the system-wide asteroid field, contending with both drones and weapons platforms alike while relentlessly pressing forward towards his ultimate goal. The young man might have been from the galactic backwoods, but his piloting skills were the equal of any ace that Nagi had ever seen in action.

"He's interesting," Nagi answered, her tone deliberately nonchalant, "It's not every day you see a hick from the Outland Sector mingling with the galactic elite, as it were."

Kagato chuckled. "True enough. In all fairness, you're not the only one here who's become rather taken with him. Isn't that right, sister?"

Glancing over her shoulder, Nagi was surprised to see Ragyō smiling rather than taking umbrage with her brother's accusation. "He's a gifted swordsman. I'm sure Yosho had a part to play in that, but only to a point. Talent like his… you don't see it every day in this galaxy."

Kagato smirked. "Looking forward to your next dance with him? I certainly can't blame you for that. Even so, remember our broader purpose here. We must balance our whims with our goals."

His sister rolled her eyes. "Don't think you can lecture me, brother, when you and I both know that you're hardly any different in this regard. Where I find him fascinating for his combat skills, you're obsessed with the fact that he generated a Light Hawk Wing back at the first repository. Don't even try to deny it."

As bolts of orange energy buffeted Ken-Ohki before Nagi could deal with the drones that had unleashed them, Kagato let out a laugh. "Called out, and justly so! I suppose turnabout is fair play. That being said, I can at least keep things in perspective. Our little Outland Sector prince is a curiosity, nothing more."

He sounded casual enough about it, but there was something in his tone that Nagi sensed indicated his true thoughts on the matter weren't as carefree as he was trying to convey. Whether by virtue of bloodline, power or skill, the boy had gotten under Kagato's skin after just a single encounter.

I guess it should come as no surprise, Nagi mused as she twisted and spun her vessel through a hailstorm of plasma bolts before ripping apart the source of the barrage with a salvo of violet energy from Ken-Ohki, not when the prince in question has attracted the attention of beings as varied as a notorious pirate, two princesses, an infamous scientist, and much more besides.

As for her own thoughts on the boy…

Well, he'd already survived a few rounds with her, and Nagi suspected the prince's abilities had only grown since their last encounter. That alone made him worth keeping an eye on. More importantly, though, if he really had become Ryoko's main squeeze, then Nagi almost considered it an obligation to go after him for no other reason than to piss her rival off.

Better watch yourself, Heero Yuy, she thought as she watched his fighter cut a swath of destruction through the asteroid field, You've drawn the interest of some very dangerous people. If you can survive the attention…

…I might just have to swipe you for myself.

….

"Damn it!" Kiyone hissed as the Yagami shook from a heavy impact, "Ayeka, how we looking?"

Jurai's crown princess studied her console intently and hoped she was reading it correctly. "Shields still holding, but they're in the yellow… that's not good, is it?"

"Not particularly," Kiyone deadpanned.

"It was that weapon's platform!" Mihoshi chirped.

Following the blonde's gaze, Ayeka saw a large asteroid ahead and slightly to starboard of the patrol cruiser. While Heero and the other pilots had been diligent about taking down as many of the disguised weapons platforms lying ahead of the Yagami as possible, they simply couldn't account for every possible target; there were too many of them. That left the Yagami to contend with the remainder, or at least endure their salvoes until aid could come.

"Angle us twelve degrees to port, and I can get all of our starboard weapons on that thing!" Hilde called out.

"And expose more broadside to those heavy guns?" Azaka nervously protested.

"That hardly strikes me as wise!" Kamidake added in clear distress.

"We're already a big enough target as it is," Kiyone shot back, already maneuvering the ship as Hilde had instructed, "Might as well get as many guns on that thing as we can. Hilde, fire at will!"

A barrage of orange beams flew forth mere seconds later. Even the heaviest weapons of the Yagami couldn't completely destroy one of Washu's hardened weapons platforms, but they didn't have to; they just had to knock out enough of the enemy's guns so that the ship could weather the next salvo. Ayeka breathed a sigh of relief as Hilde's aim once again proved true, with lances of plasma silencing one battery nestled in the rock while damaging another. Follow-up strikes came in the form of concentrated plasma bursts from some of the 232nd's fighters, reducing the disguised weapons platform to just a floating rock with some superheated metal fused to it.

In all the excitement, Ayeka almost missed the telltale hissing of the cockpit door sliding open. The hand that fell on her shoulder almost caused the princess to jump out of her seat. As it was, she needed a moment to compose herself before turning around to see a familiar face.

"Miss Washu!" she gasped, "Please do not sneak up on me like that in the middle of such a tense situation. My heart can only take so much stress!"

Surprisingly, Washu's apology seemed sincere. "Sorry, Ayeka. I thought you heard my entrance. You can transfer damage control back to my station now."

Ayeka was concerned; something about Washu's behavior seemed… off. "Miss Washu… is everything alright? You found what you needed back in the lab, did you not?"

"I did," Washu confirmed as she settled into the seat she'd occupied earlier, "I have everything I need for when we make our landing. Speaking of which, how are we doing on that end? Shouldn't have too much further to go by now."

Kiyone shook his head. "We're close, but the inner defenses are no joke. You really didn't make this easy on us, Washu."

Washu sighed as she checked her console. "Can't be helped now. The Yagami can hold together, right?"

"She'll make it!" Mihoshi confidently asserted, "She's gotten through tougher spots than this before!"

"Mostly spots of our own making," Kiyone muttered wryly.

"I think the fleet is in a tougher spot than us right now," Hilde chimed in, unable to keep the concern from her voice, "Those pirates are really going at them. How much more can they take?"

It was a good question, one that Ayeka feared the answer to. Adjusting her display, she brought up the First Battle Group's rearguard. Her fellow Juraians continued to hold their ground, but they were suffering for it. Fearsome broadsides from the battleships and battlecruisers continued to reap a heavy toll on the outlaw warships, but now it was more than just the Imperial escorts who were taking losses. Gaps were beginning to show in the shields of the larger vessels as the barriers were strained to their breaking point, and some had lost entire chunks from subsequent volleys that had gotten through. Juraian hulls could take a beating, but the concentrated fire being thrown at them by the outlaw armada was beginning to take its toll.

Many Juraians will not be returning home today, she thought somberly, I knew that this would be a bloody operation, but even so… it's worse than I'd imagined.

She shook her head. It wouldn't do to get distracted at a time like this. If she wanted to honor the fallen, she could do so by focusing on the task at hand, playing her part to make sure that the mission was ultimately successful. As the Empire's crown princess, she had an obligation to make sure that those who died here today did not fall in vain.

She was no longer working damage control, but Ayeka had another responsibility. Her console was set up to let her monitor communications, and that included more than just those of Eve Squadron and their immediate allies. The Yagami was picking up signals from all across the battlefield, and those of the pirates were among them. Many frequencies vanished as quickly as the flashed across her display, with the speakers almost certainly falling silent for good as the guns of the Juraian rearguard warships carried out their bloody business. Curiously, she noted that some of the larger outlaw vessels appeared to be trying to reach Ken-Ohki, but no replies were forthcoming from Nagi's living starship.

"How odd," she remarked to no one in particular, "If I'm reading this right, Kagato does not appear to be taking any active role in directing his band of marauders and thugs."

"Of course, he isn't," Washu replied, "He wouldn't say as much to their faces, of course, but I know how he really sees them; they're completely expendable to him."

"So, he's just throwing an entire navy's worth of outlaw ships against the Second Fleet without a care in the world?" Kiyone asked incredulously, "It must've cost him a fortune to get all these pirate bands into his employ!"

"It's like he's literally letting the Juraians burn his money with their guns!" Mihoshi chimed in.

Washu smirked. "Not a bad analogy, Mihoshi. To Kagato, money's just a means to an end. He probably offered a king's ransom to secure the pirates for this operation. Knowing they'd be blinded by greed, not to mention centuries worth of hatred thanks to their constant clashes with the Empire… he couldn't ask for better pawns."

"Those 'pawns' are still quite dangerous," Azaka argued.

"They're going to punch right through the First Battle Group's rearguard at this rate!" Kamidake added with a note of panic, "For throwaway troops, they're proving to be rather dangerous!"

Ayeka nodded nervously. "Azaka and Kamidake are correct. The rearguard cannot possibly hold against such a furious assault. With the carriers having moved deeper into the asteroid field, they'll be caught between the pirates and the drones. This is the setup for catastrophe!"

Washu smiled. "Is that what you think? You should have a little more faith in your Empire's officers, princess. The Admiral has her enemies right where she wants them."

Ayeka was about to question that assertion when Mihoshi's voice rang out. "I've got new contacts, Kiyone! They're coming out of lightspeed to the rear of the pirates!"

As Ayeka leaned forward to get a better look over Mihoshi's shoulder, she heard Washu chuckle behind her. "Right on time."

Sure enough, two clusters of new contacts were on the sensors, each one comprised of over two hundred warships.

The Second Fleet's reserve battle groups had taken the field.

….

"Not a moment too soon," Mayumi muttered under her breath as the ships of the Second and Third Battle Groups of the Second Fleet materialized on the holographic tactical display.

The commanders of said battle groups had plotted their approach perfectly, with the Second coming in above and to the rear of the outlaw armada while the Third mirrored their comrades with an entrance below. With the pirates focusing their fury on the First Battle Group's severely battered rearguard, they now found themselves caught between all three groups, and the Juraians wasted no time in taking advantage of that.

Knowing that they would most likely be called in to provide immediate relief for the First Battle Group, the Second and Third Groups had prearranged their warships so that the heaviest hitters were at the tip of the spear, while lighter escorts and support craft were on the wings and the carriers to the rear. That foresight paid major dividends now, as it allowed the battleships and battlecruisers to immediately open up without first having to wait for their smaller comrades to get out of the line of fire. The result was nothing less than two massive walls of azure energy slamming into the pirates from above and below as the capital ships cut loose with their main battery weapons. Behind the initial volley came follow-up shots from the heavy cruisers and escort flotillas, sniping at whatever ships had not been immediately obliterated by the opening salvo. Clouds of interceptors billowed forth from the carriers, with heavier space superiority fighters and bombers following in their wake.

Taken completely by surprise, whatever semblance of discipline once possessed by the outlaw armada collapsed almost immediately. Intoxicated on the prospect of destroying the First Battle Group's rear guard and getting a shot at the carriers, it seemed that none of the pirate fleet's commanders had given a single thought to the possibility that their foe hadn't put all its eggs in one basket. Volleys from the battleships and battlecruisers to the rear of the marauders punched through the shields of the armada's most powerful vessels and tore into their engines, leaving ships drifting and belching smoke and flame into space when they weren't destroyed outright. The raiders had retained absolutely zero fighters for rearward defense; all their squadrons had been thrown into the attack on the Juraian rearguard and whatever drones had seen fit to interfere. Without fighter support, the heavy units that hadn't been destroyed by the Juraian capital ships quickly found themselves the subject of strafing runs and concentrated strikes from the Second and Third Battle Groups' interceptors and bombers. Plasma cannons were reduced to piles of molten slag, railguns and missile launchers were blown apart, and communications and sensor arrays were destroyed as the Juraian strike craft methodically executed their attacks, leaving their victims all the more vulnerable to the next massed salvos from the battleships and battlecruisers.

Emboldened by the arrival of allied support, the First Battle Group's badly battered rearguard redoubled their efforts. Their wounded capital ships lit up the space around them as their main batteries cut loose with defiant salvoes, their sheets of sapphire energy ripping into the outlaws with fearsome power. The surviving heavy cruisers and lighter escorts opened up with every gun they had left, while the struggling interceptors threw themselves against the attacking pirates with renewed ferocity. Caught in a vicious crossfire, the outlaw armada quickly fragmented as the Crimson Talons, Nova Hounds, Black Knives and other major organizations sought to preserve their own assets at the expense of supporting pirates from other groups. Meanwhile, many of the surviving independent raiders were already attempting to break off entirely, clearly deciding that vengeance against the Imperial Fleet for past piracy suppression operations wasn't worth going down in fiery last stand. Those self-preservation instincts had kicked in too late, though; the Second Fleet had a reputation for going hard against whatever marauders and raiders it came across, and just because the pirates weren't their primary objective in this battle didn't mean that they were going to show leniency here.

Confident that the clash to the rear of the flagship was well in hand, the Admiral turned her attention back to the engagement that the rest of the First Battle Group was fighting. Naturally, Eve Squadron and the 232nd Fighter Wing were continuing to blaze a trail through the asteroid field, mowing down any drones and weapons platforms in their way, but the forces moving up behind them were more than making their presence known. Interceptors, space superiority fighters and bombers were obliterating drone swarms with combined mass fire strikes, their efforts amplified by supporting salvoes from the corvettes and destroyers following in their wake. The light and heavy cruisers were splitting their focus between the drones and the weapons platforms, while the battleships and battlecruisers further back were wholly dedicating their fearsome main batteries to dispatching the armed asteroids. The Juraians were continuing to take losses, but a grim check of the numbers on the holographic tactical display told the Admiral that the casualties remained within acceptable margins for this operation.

Acceptable losses are still losses, Mayumi thought ruefully as she fixed her gaze on the icons representing Eve Squadron, Your Highness, it's up to you and your retinue to make sure that those losses have meaning. Don't let us down.

….

"I'll be damned," Heero muttered in between dodging plasma blasts from the weapons platform that he was lining up a shot on, "She set them up perfectly."

'She' in this case being Admiral Fukunaga, and the set up was plain for all to see. After pulling the trigger and obliterating his target with a salvo from the fighter's heavy cannons, Heero took another glance at the sensors and saw that the pirate armada had already lost a good chunk of its might. The Second and Third Battle Groups had made their respective lightspeed jumps with pinpoint accuracy, and their heavy hitters were brutally punishing the outlaws for the losses that had been inflicted on the First's rearguard. Barely a few minutes had passed since the arrival of the reinforcements, but the fearsome salvos that the Juraian capital ships alone had unleashed during that brief interval had reduced the ranks of the larger pirate vessels by a quarter, and more were falling with each passing second. The assembled brigands were rapidly losing whatever semblance of cohesion they'd previously possessed, with many of the surviving vessels so panicked in their evasive maneuvers that they'd would up barely avoiding collisions with their allies. In fact, more than a few of the marauders had plowed straight into their erstwhile comrades as they'd sought escape from the firestorm being unleashed upon them, with larger vessels either sending smaller ones spiraling out of control or outright destroying them as their heavy hulls proved to be inadvertently just as deadly as the Juraian salvos.

"Quite the impressive piece of work," Eva chimed in, "Any pirate who survives that savage kicking probably won't want to take any follow-up jobs from Kagato after this."

"We can only hope," said Heero as he swerved around an asteroid before popping off a few volleys from his plasma cannons, picking off a handful of drones at the head of a new formation while supporting fire from Ryoko trimmed their ranks still further.

"We're making good time," his support AI remarked as the moon where the second repository lay waiting few steadily larger in the distance, "Unfortunately, that also means we're going to be in range of the surface emplacements sooner rather than later, and they pack quite the wallop."

Heero nodded. "Mark those that pose the most immediate threat and pass their coordinates to the rest of the team. They'll be the first targets of our bombing run once we make our descent."

Eva winked. "Already on it. You'll get an alert before we come within firing range. In the meantime, that ring of weapons platforms ahead strikes me as the more pressing concern. Not to mention all those drones."

She wasn't wrong about that. As they drew closer to their destination, Heero could see a broad crescent of asteroids that bent all the way around the moon. These were too neatly positioned to be rocks that had been naturally caught up in the moon's orbit over the ages; they'd been deliberately moved to the spots that they now occupied. Already, panels were sliding away to reveal heavy weapons emplacements, and larger asteroids above and below them were spewing out hordes of drones from their previously concealed hangars.

Heero quickly designated a section of the defensive line and sent the data to both his squadron and the 232nd. "We'll punch through here. Quatre, Ryoko; up front with me. We'll take the closest platforms and open up a breach. Everyone else, fan out and keep the drones off our backs."

With Ryoko on his right while Quatre accelerated forward to take up position off his left wing, Heero charged up his heavy cannons and sighted in on his target. He pulled the trigger a moment later, and two blasts of yellow energy ripped across the void before slamming into one of the platforms. A flurry of scarlet beams tore forth from Ryo-Ohki as the living starship hammered one of the platforms next to Heero's target, melting heavy plasma cannons and detonating warheads inside their launchers. Two plasma torpedoes shot out of the launch tubes beneath the cockpit of Quatre's fighter, zipping through the field before impacting another platform, their ensuing detonations blowing the target to bits of metal and stone.

As Heero adjusted his aim and locked onto another platform, his allies moved in to engage the drones that were rushing to intercept him. A rain of shells and missiles flew forth from Trowa's craft, ravaging the forward ranks of the hostile combat automata and forcing the drones following them to scatter. Two ionic pulse missiles entered the fray courtesy of Duo, and their detonations left dozens of drones floating helpless in space. Plasma fire from Wufei, the fighters of the 232nd and the Yagami made short work of the disabled drones before shifting to deal with the next wave. All the while, the moon ahead continued to grow larger by the second, and Heero couldn't help but notice that his sensors were getting awfully crowded.

"That's too many for even us to punch through," he remarked as he obliterated another weapons platform.

"Then let our allies do the heavy lifting," Eva suggested, "We just need to hold out a bit here until help can arrive."

That much was certainly true. Although Eve Squadron and the 232nd had gotten pretty far out in front, reinforcing fighter squadrons and light warships from the Second Fleet were moving quickly to close the gap. Following the trail blazed by Heero and the others, it wouldn't be long until they were in range.

As Eve Squadron and the 232nd became entangled in a dogfight with the latest swarm of drones that had issued forth from both the asteroid hangars and those on the surface of the moon before them, Heero kept one eye on his sensor display. More specifically, on the violet contact marker that represented Ken-Ohki. Nagi was hanging back, dispatching whatever drones came across her path but otherwise patiently observing, doubtlessly waiting for the order from her employer to move in.

Kagato's pirate armada is being crushed by the Second Fleet, Heero mused grimly as he picked off a pair of drones with his plasma cannons, and he won't lift so much as a finger to help them. They really should've expected as much from him. Blinded by greed and the thought of retribution against the Juraian navy, they served the purpose he intended for them and are now being disposed of… he played them perfectly.

Just one more sign of how dangerous he truly is.

….

Standing behind Nagi, Kagato observed the destruction of his little outlaw navy with an amused smirk. "Simple, yet effective… well played, Admiral."

Kagato hadn't been expecting the pirates to actually defeat the Second Fleet, though he had hoped that they'd at least survive a bit longer than they had. As it was, the armada of marauders and raiders was falling apart before his very eyes. Caught in the vicious crossfire of the Second Fleet's three battle groups, what leadership remained amongst the brigands was alternating between frantically plotting their retreat and vehemently cursing their employer's name.

Too late do they realize their true purpose in this battle, he thought, I needed them only to provide a bit of cover for my insertion, and they fulfilled that quite nicely. Money well spent, if I do say so myself.

Between the remnants of the outlaw fleet and the swarms of drones defending the system, the Juraians couldn't afford to send any ships after Ken-Ohki. Even after the last of the pirates were dispatched, Kagato doubted that would change; the repository defenses were proving to be far more tenacious than the brigands could ever hope to be. He had to give his old colleague credit for the thoroughness with which she'd approached the task of guarding the path to their ultimate creation.

"They've cracked the orbital defenses," Nagi announced, "Looks like they're making their descent now. Want me to move in?"

Kagato held up a hand. "Not yet. Take another look."

The bounty hunter did so, and her eyes narrowed as she saw fresh swarms of drones rising from the surface of the moon. "Of course… should've known there'd be more than just the asteroid hangars to worry about. Still hanging back, then?"

"For the moment," Kagato replied, "They'll become entangled in fresh dogfights, but only until reinforcements arrive. Once the Juraians have created a window for our prey, we'll slip in behind them. No one can access the data within the repository without Washu in any case, so it's imperative that she make it down to the surface."

Nagi was wary. "That's going to be a very small window for us to get through. Need I remind you that we have no backup? With your pirate band getting stomped on by the Second Fleet, our only assets in this system will soon be those of us aboard Ken-Ohki. The Juraians could potentially land an entire army on that moon."

Kagato shook his head. "Not under these conditions. Washu's defenses are far too formidable perhaps. With greater time, the Juraians might be able to suppress them for a proper landing operation, but they're moving with haste. They'll give Washu and her escorts their opening, then they'll simply work to keep the drones at bay until her team's ready to withdraw."

Nagi raised an eyebrow. "You sound awfully sure of that."

Kagato smiled. "I know the Juraian military, bounty hunter. Look at the Second Fleet. It came here arrayed for space combat; it lacks the assault carriers and transports that you'd find for a major planetary landing operation. That alone is enough to betray their true purpose. They are here to provide cover for a limited insertion, in this case being that of Washu and her escorts to the second repository. If they dispatch reinforcing ground teams, it'll only be to aid in their extraction should the situation turn dire."

"Which it will when we show up behind them," Nagi pointed out, "We could end up getting caught between our prey and Juraian special forces. I'm good, but I don't like fighting on two fronts. It doesn't tend to end well."

"Agreed," said Kagato, "That is why we will be in and out before the Juraians can land reinforcements."

Nagi looked skeptical, but an incoming squadron of drones forced her to focus on the immediate threat rather than future ones. "If you say so. Just remember this one thing; I honor my contracts, but I don't see them as suicide pacts."

Kagato smirked; her underlying meaning was easy enough to take. "Of course. I would expect nothing less from a pragmatist like yourself."

"Risk versus reward," Nagi casually remarked as she picked off multiple drones with pinpoint accuracy, "So far, the rewards you've offered have been appropriate to the level of risk. Keep that balance, and I'll stay on retainer. The moment the scale tips too far in a particular direction, though, I'm out."

Kagato inclined his head. "I appreciate your honesty. I will bear it in mind."

Contenting himself to stand back and watch the spectacle of space combat continue, Kagato allowed his mind to wander. As far as the bounty hunter was concerned, this entire venture was just her positioning herself on the side of the man that would soon overthrow the current reigning Emperor and take his place as the most powerful figure in the galaxy. She had an eye for her future employment prospects, something that Kagato could appreciate. Money was a prime motivator for her, but not the sole one, which made her much more intelligent and valuable than the pirates he'd sent to their deaths. What the bounty hunter did not realize, though, was that this undeclared war was far more than just a political dispute between Juraians. A larger cosmic design was unfolding, one that Kagato wanted to stand at the forefront of and bend to his will.

But in order to do that, he would have to defeat far more than just the current Imperial leadership. This wasn't a mere clash for dynastic power, but a deadly game between the entities that had given birth to the universe itself. One of those entities had seen fit to back Kagato, had seen the chance to overcome millennia of stagnation through him, while another sought to maintain the current status quo.

Or perhaps two of the trio, Kagato mused, if the younger princess is who I suspect she is...

….

It wasn't just drones and orbital weapons platforms trying to kill them now. As the fighting inexorably made its way towards the surface of the moon, the heavy emplacements began to make their presence known. Thick scarlet beams lanced skywards, with Quatre only barely able to avoid getting shot down by the opening salvo. Spiraling his fighter as he weaved through incoming fire while blowing apart several drones with bursts from his plasma cannons, he knew what needed to be done next.

"We've got to get down their quickly and silence those guns!" he called out over the tactical channel, "They'll rip the Yagami and the Juraians apart otherwise."

"You saved some torpedoes, right?" asked Heero.

Quatre nodded as he checked his stores. "Still got half my payload."

"Good," Heero replied, "Here's how we'll play this. Six, you're taking out the turrets guarding the landing platform. I'll strafe the ones along the northern arc of the crater's rim, and Six will cover me after she deals with her own targets. Four, the ones to the south are yours. Two, Three, and Five; cover Four on his run. 232nd, keep the drones off us and the Yagami. Once we've got enough clearance, Eve Squadron will land and switch our fighters over to the support AIs. They'll find some cover and wait until we need extraction."

Various acknowledgements rang out over the tactical channel as Quatre began lining up for his first attack run. Heero and Ryoko moved out ahead, the latter dropping below the former as she swooped in. If anything, the pirate had the hardest job; she had to slag all four of the turrets defending the platform while still making sure that Eve Squadron still had a place to drop everyone off for their insertion.

Blasts of scarlet from the ground cannons filled the sky as Eve Squadron moved in on their targets, supplemented by smaller orange bolts as the drones surging in from all directions attempted to pick them off. Fearsome counterfire from the 232nd discouraged the latter, while the former could only be evaded. Washu's weapons were powerful, but Quatre could tell that these emplacements were clearly designed to target larger vessels as they were having trouble tracking the nimble fighters.

Ryoko was the first to make her move. Diving so low that Ryo-Ohki wound up skimming the surface of the crater with barely more than a meter to spare, the pirate had actually managed to get her living starship down to the point that many of the surface batteries couldn't depress their guns enough to target her. Zipping in like a hornet, she eliminated two of the guns guarding the landing platform with a precise pair of crimson energy beams. Pulling up just before reaching the platform itself, she then bagged the other two turrets before rapidly repositioning to keep drones off of Heero's back while he made his attack run.

A flash of golden-yellow light lit up the sky as Heero eliminated his first target, with the turret closest to the northern side of the repository being reduced to slag and smoke. Quatre realized that Heero had actually only used the right heavy cannon on his fighter for that shot, with the left gun opening up a second later after the young prince had adjusted his angle. The second shot bagged another turret before Heero leveled out and began working his way further up the canyon rim.

They're all doing their jobs, Quatre thought as he acquired his own targets, and I need to do the same.

Pulling the trigger, he let fly with one plasma torpedo from his fighter's left launcher. Before that warhead had even gotten halfway to its target, he shifted his trajectory slightly and fired off another from the right launcher. The first projectile impacted the turret closest to the southern side of the repository, while the second torpedo nailed the emplacement next in line. Both weapons went up in spectacular detonations, and Quatre was already pulling up so he could circle around and set up for a second run.

Fresh drones spewed forth from hangars that had previously been concealed by the walls of nearby craters, but Quatre was not worried about them; he trusted his friends to have his back. That trust was proven to be well-founded as a hail of bullets and plasma bolts from Trowa shredded the initial wave, while a pair of ionic pulse missiles from Duo paralyzed another cluster and sent dozens of drones tumbling down towards the surface of the moon. Unable to fight even the relatively weak gravity of the celestial body, the disabled combat automata dashed themselves to pieces upon the jagged rocks and craters. Well-aimed salvos of plasma from Wufei trimmed at the already fraying edges of the latest enemy formation, which were sent into further disarray by massed volleys from the craft of the 232nd Fighter Wing.

As Quatre continued to blow apart surface emplacements along the southern arc of the crater's rim while Heero did the same to the north, it was tempting to think that they were on the cusp of victory. Quatre new better, though. For all the fighting that they had done so far, they were still only clearing the way to the doorstep of the second repository. They had yet to contend with the internal defenses, let alone their real foe.

I hope we've all got energy to spare, the L4 native thought, because we're going to need it.

….

"How are we looking?" asked Heero as he melted the next emplacement with a salvo from his heavy cannons.

"Not bad at all," Eva cheerily replied, "Quatre and the others are tending to the southern arc quite effectively. Just a few more guns on our end, then the bomber squadrons should show up and be able to attend to the rest."

Weaving left and right to avoid fire from both the surface cannons and the drones nipping at his heels, Heero lined up his next shot. Pulling the trigger a few seconds later, he saw two more blasts of yellow energy rip forth and slam into the base of the next emplacement in line. His shots must have hit the main power generator, because the turret was subsequently torn apart by a spectacular explosion that actually triggered a minor rockslide along the crater wall.

As his fighter was buffeted by bursts of plasma from his pursuers, Heero contacted his escort. "Six, you're getting sloppy."

"Hey, I've got my hands full here!" Ryoko shot back just before she plastered the offending drones with a volley of crimson beams, "There, you happy?"

Heero smirked. "I am, Six. Keep it up. We're almost ready for our insertion."

"The sooner, the better," Ryoko grumbled as she picked off a trio of drones, "There's a lot more these bastards incoming."

That much was certainly true, if the teeming swarms of tiny dots filling Heero's sensor display were anything to go by. He'd thought that the thousands of drones billowing forth from the concealed asteroid hangars scattered throughout the field had been impressive, but the moon seemed determine to put its rocky cousins to shame. He only half-jokingly wondered if the entire celestial body had somehow been converted into one giant hangar and factory for the drones; knowing Washu, it was hardly outside the realm of possibility.

She's too damn good at what she does, he mused as he sighted in on the next emplacement along the crater's rim, not that I'll ever tell her that.

Opening up a moment later, he watched in satisfaction as the twin rivers of golden-yellow hellfire from his heavy cannons reduced the turret to molten metal. He only had a second to savor it, though, for fire from both drones and turrets further down the arc forced him to take evasive action. He swooped low, taking his fighter along the inner wall of the crater so that many of the turrets couldn't depress their guns downward enough to draw a bead on him. The guns further up the rim, though, had no such problems, and streams of crimson energy joined the rain of orange bolts aimed at him. Geysers of superheated stone erupted all around Heero as he zigzagged through the barrage, all as he plotted his next attack run.

"You sure do like living dangerously!" Eva remarked as a particularly near miss buffeted the fighter's shields with bits of red-hot stone, "You really are an adrenaline junkie, aren't you?"

"I've got my issues," Heero deadpanned as he rolled his fighter and climbed, situating himself along the rim of the crater before snapping off a salvo with his heavy cannons that obliterated the next gun in line, "I've never pretended otherwise."

"At least you're honest about it," Eva quipped, "I just hope it doesn't result in our mutual destruction."

Heero nodded as he swerved the fighter to the left and began skimming along the outer slope of the crater. "That makes two of us."

A few destroyed turrets later, and Heero was beginning to grow impatient. Checking up on the rest of his unit, he saw that Quatre and the others had made similar progress along their side of the crater. The L4 native had already expended the last of his plasma torpedoes, but the combined firepower of his regular cannons and the weapons of his friends were still proving more than sufficient to deal with the turrets down the line. The sky above them was filled with the fighters of the 232nd dogfighting with Washu's drones, putting on an impressive delaying action despite the ludicrous disparity in numbers. Heero spotted a particularly agile and aggressive fighter that his sensors identified as belonging to the Major, twisting and turning like a thing possessed as she blasted one drone after another with daredevil grace and ferocity.

Beyond the 232nd, the sky was illuminated by a constant series of fresh and fading explosions as the rest of the Juraians continued to fight through Washu's orbital defenses. More fighters and bombers were starting to get through, but it was still a fierce contest as more and more drones continued to rise from hangars scattered all over the moon. In low orbit, corvettes and destroyers were assisting interceptors in clearing lanes through the automated swarms so that strike craft could make their descent. Beyond them, flotillas lead by light cruisers continued to widen the breach in the orbital defenses, clearing out weapons platforms and hangars carved into asteroids as they waited for heavier units to catch up and lend support.

"About damn time," Eva said as the sensors showed a new wave of friendly contacts inbound, "Looks like the bombers are finally setting up for their runs."

"Then we need to make sure they've got room to do their work," Heero replied as he pulled his fighter up and began targeting the drones that Ryoko had previously been keeping off his back, "Eve Squadron, shift focus to the drones. Let the bombers deal with the remaining turrets."

Making sure his actions matched his words, Heero opened up with his plasma cannons. A hail of azure bolts chewed through the drones that had begun to swarm Ryo-Ohki, giving Ryoko some much-needed breathing room. She immediately exploited it, opening up with every weapon her living starship possessed. Scarlet beams lanced out in all directions, detonating more machines in strings of explosions.

On the opposite side of the crater, Heero saw his friends likewise gaining altitude as they moved to deal with the drones that were attempting to intercept the bombers. A pair of ionic pulse missile from Duo sent a good number of them crashing down to the surface of the moon, while volleys of plasma from Quatre and Wufei reduced more to superheated shards of metal. Bursts of shells from Wufei's rotary guns ripped more of the combat automata to shreds, while the fighters of the 232nd gorged themselves on enemy reinforcements that were streaming in from the east. Interceptors from other squadrons had finally arrived and were eagerly joining in on the furious dogfight, resulting in the space over the crater becoming very crowded.

As he picked off additional targets, Heero saw the incoming bombers fan out and line up for their individual runs. Blazing blue orbs flew forth as the strike craft let fly with their payloads, and their warheads found their marks seconds later. Heero had to hand it to the individual pilots; though they'd taken their sweet time in getting on scene, they'd executed their strikes with textbook precision.

"Think that'll do it?" he asked his support AI as the remaining surface emplacements ringing the crater were swiftly silenced.

"I'd say so," Eva confirmed, "Let's get the Yagami in here."

Heero was one step ahead of her, already reaching out to the Galaxy Police patrol cruiser. "Seven, this One; you're clear for descent."

"Copy that, One," Kiyone replied, "See you on the platform!"

"And that's our cue," said Heero as he glanced at the holographic pixy hovering over his display, "You ready?"

"My piloting subroutines are prepared," Eva confirmed, "Getting to analyze you in action has even allowed me to make some improvements to that aspect of my programing. With your command, I'll take over."

"Then do it now," Heero ordered as he released the yoke, "The ship is yours, Eva."

Her takeover was completely seamless, not even disrupting the evasive maneuvers Heero had been conducting. He filed a mental note away to give Washu some praise once the mission was over; she really had done a good job with both the craft and the support AI.

"You'd better get your weapons," Eva suggested as she guided the fighter down towards the landing platform, "Watch your back; you don't have AIDA in your head this time. I wish I could take her place."

Her concern seemed quite genuine, and Heero couldn't help but smile beneath his helmet; it was more than just her pilot programming that Washu had done a good job on. "I'll be careful. Just promise me that you'll do the same."

"Will do," the AI answered with a smile of her own, "Now get down there and do what you do best, Heero."

"Roger that," said Heero as he left the cockpit.

He already had his sidearm, Master Key and knife secured on his armor. It only took him a few moments to grab a rifle and four compressed energy grenades, and one final system check confirmed that his armor was running at peak performance. Heero moved to the boarding ramp, which Eva began lowering a few seconds later.

"I can't hold position for too long!" the AI announced through his helmet speakers as stray bolts of orange plasma zipped by the fighter, "It's still pretty hot out here!"

Heero quickly judged the distance. "Here's good. The armor's thrusters will handle the rest."

"Then go!" Eva ordered.

Heero did just that. Leaping from the fighter, he triggered his thrusters in tightly controlled bursts to ease his descent. Fortunately, the relatively low gravity of the moon aided considerably on that front, and his touchdown on the landing platform was so light that it didn't even disturb his shields. Casting a look skywards, he saw his fighter already heading to the west, with Eva likely seeking out a spot to lie low until he recalled her.

His rifle was at the ready, but there were no signs of any hostile surface contacts just yet. Heero supposed whatever defenses Washu had in store for those who made it past her orbital forces were lying in wait inside the repository itself. Taking up position under the cover of one of the ruined surface cannon mounts, he waited patiently for the others to arrive.

It didn't take long. Duo was the first to arrive, followed immediately by Trowa. Quatre and Wufei showed up shortly afterwards, all of them making their descent in a manner similar to Heero. Up above, the crimson silhouette of the Yagami grew steadily larger, while the crystalline form of Ryo-Ohki swooped in to drop off Ryoko and Yosho. As the moon had no atmosphere unlike the world that had housed the first repository, the pirate and Jurai's long-lost crown prince were both clad in sleek spacesuits designed by Washu personally to allow them full freedom of movement in combat, Ryoko's a mix of black and crimson while Yosho's was grey and white.

As Heero fellow former Gundam pilots took up positions with their weapons aimed towards the repository's entrance, Ryoko came over to Heero and put a hand on his shoulder. "How you holding up?"

Heero nodded. "Fine so far. You?"

Even through her tinted visor, Heero could see Ryoko smile. "Warmed up and ready for a real fight!"

Heero couldn't help but find her bravado comforting despite the gravity of the situation. "Still got my back?"

She leaned forward to press her helmet against his, her amber eyes gleaming with resolve. "Always."

Heero lowered his weapon and reached for her hand. "Thank you. I don't take your support for granted, you know. I never will."

"I know," she replied before gesturing ahead, "Now, eyes forward, Heero. We've got work to do."

They certainly did. No opposition had made itself known down here just yet, but that could change all too quickly. Focusing his aim on the front entrance, Heero waited with the others for the Yagami to complete her descent. With the fighters of the 232nd providing close support, she made it through the drone swarms looking no worse for wear. Her starboard hatch opened up, and Hilde, Washu, Ayeka and her two Royal Guardians floated out a moment later. Duo's wife was clad in the same armor she'd used before, while both Ayeka and Washu had spacesuits of a design similar to those worn by Ryoko and Yosho. The princess's was violet and black, while Washu's was a mix of dark red and green.

No words were needed as the team assembled, with Heero and Ryoko taking point. They all knew what they were here to do, and there was no point in delay. Raising his rifle while Ryoko readied the Key Washu had forged for her, Heero led the way forward. With the exception of the Yagami, Eve Squadron's part in the orbital battle was over.

The ground battle began now.

Preview for next time!

Ryoko: You know, I'm getting really tired of all the killer robots, Washu.

Washu: Too bad, because there's plenty down here to deal with.

Ayeka: Would you two quit bickering? I'm trying to concentrate on deflecting an army's worth of plasma bolts here!

Yosho: The drones will be the least of our problems.

Duo: No kidding. Where are those psychotic cadet branch royals?

Trowa: Following in our wake, no doubt.

Quatre: Don't forget the bounty hunter.

Wufei: And the creepy assassin twins.

Heero: Don't remind me.

Hilde: Next time, in Chapter Twenty-Five: No Need For A Frantic Incursion! Can we just blow this place and go home already?

Kagato: Oh, poor dear, I'm afraid it won't be nearly that easy.

Author's Notes: Well, that was fun! Nothing like a crazy space battle to liven things up. It's one of the reasons why I've been looking forward to the space arc of this fic for so long; there's plenty more where that came from.

And yes, before anyone asks, the curve-hilt design of Heero's Master Key was inspired by the lightsaber used by Count Dooku in Star Wars. RIP Christopher Lee, one of my all-time favorite actors. You are dearly missed.

Hope you all liked the chapter. Feel free to review, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time!