The Dark Millenium
The Group
The girl tossed her brown pony-tail over
her shoulder as she fixed the prisoner with a bone-chilling glare.
She'd been interrogating the bastard for nearly two hours and she'd
managed to get nothing out of him. Frustrated she left the room,
slamming the door shut just before she put her fist through the wall.
"He given you trouble, Commander?"
Without turning she removed her hand from the hole she'd
made. "Nothing I do will get him to talk."
"If you want... I could have a couple
of the men rough him up a little..."
She turned half way to smile sardonically
at him.
The middle aged Captain of the guard
blinked. "Oh, guess you already tried that, huh?"
"Yah. It was the first thing
I did Logan. The very first. I nearly pounded him unconcious
and I still couldn't loosen that tongue of his."
Noting her weary expression, dark
circles under her eyes and the paleness of her skin the guard shifted his
weight and cleared his throat. "Look Jupe. You need ta get
some rest. You've been running on fumes for days now."
She shook her head, green eyes flashing
with rebelian and stubborness. "You know I can't do that Logan.
Especially not now, not after Mom and Dad died to see our people to safety.
I'll die before I allow the Negavers to take anything else from my people.
I swear..."
"That's just it Princess Lita.
Your too precious now. You're the only reason the people continue
to fight. They won't allow themselves to do anything but their best
in the shadow of your strength, but not one of them expects you to be anything
more than a normal human being."
A small smile brightened her face
an instant and she laid a calloused hand on his shoulder. "Thanks
Logan. I'll think about it after I've finished doing my rounds, and
maybe you should take your own advice." She started down the hallway
before calling back. "And that's an order Captain. So hop to
it."
Watching her go, he shook his head
sadly but couldn't mask the admiration and respect in his dark eyes.
-------------------------
Fingers flashed across the keyboard
as she fixed the screen with a determined look. Finally, with her
vision beginning to blur, she spotted the problem and corrected it.
Leaning back she rubbed her acheing neck.
"Oh honey. How did I know you'd
still be here."
Startled the girl spun in her chair
to face the woman who'd spoken. The woman wasn't more the five feet
tall, with a delicate build and a pale complexion that gave the impression
that she was fragile. That is until you looked into her eyes and
saw the immense intellegence behind them.
"I just had to make sure the shields
on our planet were at their highest, that's all mother. I didn't
mean to worry you."
The woman gave a wry smile, "So what
is the shield's output now?"
The girl's cheeks grew red.
"About a hundred and fifty percent."
The Queen chuckled softly. "Oh
Amy. You're too precious." She moved gracefully across the
floor and embraced her daughter. "If your father were alive, he'd
be extremely proud of you. Almost as proud as I am. If it hadn't
been for you we wouldn't have been able to resist the Negaverse's attacks
as long as we have. You've given us the time we so badly needed to
make preparations for the war and none of our people will ever forget it."
Slowly the woman pulled away. "Now, off to bed with you, you can
continue your work tommorow when your mind and body are fresh." The
Queen watched her blue-haired daughter leave and felt a pang of regret
at the legacy of war she would have to live through.
--------------------------
With precision she placed one struggling
footstep in front of the other, desperately forcing strength into the arms
supporting her father's ever increasing weight. "Hang on Papa.
The infirmery's just a little farther."
"Please daughter, save your strength.
You'll need it to lead our planet to victory." The King broke into
a coughing fit that brought a tinge of blood to the corners of his mouth.
"Father, you can't give up.
You can't leave me... I won't be able to do it without you. Please,
please don't..." Tears brought her words to a halt.
The dying King smiled a smile filled
with all his love for her. "Your a natural leader. With Tantras'
help you'll bring Venus out of this war with as few damages that is possible.
Your mother and I shall always be with you... always. We love you
dearly Mina. Please don't cry over my death, I'll be happy with your
mother for eternity now." Grasping his sword's hilt he pulled it
from it's sheath. "Take this, my daughter, and use it to fight with
every ounce of your heart and eventually your love for our people and life
will bring about..." He coughed so hard his body shook.
Taking the sword, the blonde girl
set it aside. "Please father... rest... I'll take care of everything...."
He clasped her tiny hand in his larger
one. "I know Mina. I know..." With that he breathed no
more.
Wiping away tears, she gently covered
his pale face with her coat before gazing at the sword. Slowly she
reached out her arm and took it. "I'll fight with my heart Papa.
Now and forever, if necessay. This I promise you." Getting
to her feet she moved back towards the battlefield.
-------------------------
The enemy fighter blipped on her screen
and she had to roll to the side to avoid a target lock. Adrenaline
rushed through her viens as she fell in behind him. With the confirmation
that her sensors had him she fired a missile and veered away as the space
fighter burst into flames.
Not two seconds later her radio sqawked
to life. "That's all of them gran-daughter, return to the control
base."
"Copy that." Quickly she turned
and headed back to the planet.
After landing she climbed out of her
plane and turned to face the tiny man coming towards her. Using both
hands she reached up and removed her helmet, letting a cascade of raven
black hair tumble down around her shoulders. Her gaze went from her
grand-father's diminuitive form to the larger one of the families' personal
guard, Chad. "I thought the docter said that you shouldn't be up
for another couple of days."
The young man shrugged his shoulders,
and not for the first time she wished he would grow his hair long, instead
of the buzz cut he normally wore. "We're short men, Princess Raye.
You need me and besides that, I'm perfectly fine. The doctor's just
full of it."
The girl smiled in response but only
momentarily. "We're loosing men too fast. We need an alliance.
Grandfather can you send an affirmation to Princess Serena of the Moon
Kingdom and tell her we agree to the alliance proposal she's made."
"Of course Raye. And may we
pray that it isn't too late."
------------------------------
She looked up at a picture of her
'parents'. Oh, she knew they weren't her parents. Her parents
and theirs had died a long time ago. Now, she lived with Horuka and
Michiru and they, altogether, ruled over their planets in a tight alliance,
keeping the Negaverse at bay.
Horuka was leading the fleet in the
never-ending battle and Michiru was balancing the extra heavy load of governing
the three seperate planets.
While she knew Horuka could take care
of himself she couldn't help but worry about him, he'd lost his twin sister
in the earlier stages of the war. He had once started to tell her
about what had happened, about something his sister had given him but he
stopped almost immediately with a look on his face that made her think
he was listening to something far off.
The girl sighed as she put the picture
down and left her room to go down to the infirmery. She wasn't there
more than a second before she moved amoungst the beds to find the worst
case. Finally she came to a man sick with fever from the infection
from the deep cut in his mid-section. His head was bandaged and his
skin was so pale it reminded her of snow. Glanceing around her she
made sure that no one was near and carefully pulled the white curtain around
his bed. Satisfied no one could see her she went to his side and
gripped his large hand in her tiny one. Focusing she saw a purple
glow surround her hand and slowly creep up the patient's arm until his
entire body pulsed with the light. Slowly she streatched out her
mind until it flowed over him like the gentle wave of light. Something
seemed to break away from somewhere inside her causing her limbs to vibrate
with a comfortable warmth. She knew that at that moment her eyes
were glowing, as was the symbol of Saturn in the middle of her forehead
that only appeared at this time.
Slowly she allowed instinct to take
over and heal the man on the bed. As she finished the glow ebbed
away, fading to nothing. Her legs were just about to give out beneath
her when Michiru pulled the curtain open and ran to her side to hold her
up. "Hotaru!"
The girl looked up into her mother's
watery green eyes. "Everyone has to do their part Momma. I
can't lead an army, or govern our planets yet but I can help save the lives
of our people, even if only one at a time."
Michiru smile, "I know but I still
worry, little one. And if the evil forces find out about your unnatural
healing abilities... well I don't need to explain to you what will happen,
do I?"
She smiled at the Queen. "I'll
be careful Momma. I promise."
Michiru hugged the frail girl against
her light green hair and lifted her into her arms. "I know, Hotaru,
I know."
-------------------------------------
She felt her legs wobble as the messanger
recited his message and was thankful for Darien's strong arm around her
shoulders.
Diving deep within her reserves she
found the strength to reply without showing her evident relief. "Tell
Princess Raye that we will await her arrival or the arrival of her representative
to finish the official agreement."
The messenger nodded, "Yes, Princess
Serena." He was about to turn and leave but appeared to remember
something and swung his attention back to the blonde girl. "Her highness
offers your mother her kindest sympathies and wishes her well."
The girl's heart leapt into her throat.
But she held herself in check, giving the man a sad but kind smile.
"Express to Princess Raye the Royal family's thanks for her concern."
The man bowed low, "Yes m'lady."
Then turning on his heel he left the room.
Her strength seemed to flow out of
her and she would have fallen had Darien not been there. "Queen Serenity
will be alright, Serena. You have to keep faith."
Her blue eyes blinked burning tears
away. "I know Darien, everything will work out as long as we have
each other."
Darien gave her a smile full of love.
"We'll always be together, no matter what.
-----------------------------
Setsuna paced uneasily in front of
the Time Gate, her Time Staff in hand. Things were about to begin
but she couldn't go to Queen Serenity until her friend arrived to compare
notes. As she turned around to begin pacing agin a flash of
purple momentarily blinded her and when she looked again she found Sailor
Saturn before her.
Smiling good-naturedly, despite her
worry, Sailor Pluto welcomed her jokingly, "What took you so long?"
The dark haired girl smiled back at
her, a dangerous smile, her Silence Glaive gleaming brightly in the dim
light. "I had something I had to do." Her smile quickly disappeared
from her lips. "The time has come to awaken the other Sailor Scouts."
Pluto's forehead creased in a frown.
"The situation has become that critical?"
"Yes, but then you already knew that, didn't you?"
Pluto sighed, turning a thread of
dark green hair around her finger in an unconcious gesture. "I knew, although
I had hoped I was wrong."
Saturn laid a small hand on the older
Senshi's shoulder. "You know what you must do, and sometimes what
we have to do isn't easy but it still needs to be done."
Pluto looked into the old eyes of
the young girl. "You should know, you've lived and died in more lifetimes
tthan I could ever hope to count."
Saturn smiled sadly. "Oh, but
because you are the Senshi of Time you could if you wanted to..."
"Yes, I could but at the present I
don't have enough time. No time at all..."