Prologue
            The Guardsman Chronicles
                 by Rick Federle
                         
     
          The woman in the Negaverse general's uniform frowned at
     the bleeding form suspended before her.  He'd been stubborn,
     wouldn't say anything.  He'd been captured during the assault on the
     Moon, and they'd sprinted him to the Negaverse to see what they
     could learn from him.  He hadn't given them a thing.  She'd tried
     every trick she knew, from mental interrogation to raw, physical
     beatings. 
          Amazed by his stubbornness, she'd actually offered him a
     place in the Negaverse, but his only response was to weakly spit at
     her.  That's why she'd just beaten him nearly to unconsciousness
     just now.
          "Maybe an extended stay in our temporal cell will make you
     change your mind."  She said, turning on one heel to face the two
     Negawarriors who were waiting several feet behind her.  "Take him
     away."  She commanded as she brushed past the two.
          Grimly, the two Negawarriors yanked the figure from the
     air and dragged him through a nearby doorway, and tossed him
     inside to land with a clatter.
          
          "Let's see if a thousand years of isolation has changed his
     mind any."  The Negageneral told the two Negawarriors who stood
     guard over the temporal cell.
          With a nod, one of the two guards unlocked and opened the
     door for her and she stepped inside the cell, pausing just inside the
     doorway.  The figure within paused at her approach, turning
     toward her, but the Negageneral raised her hand and invisible
     restraints locked the figure's limbs.
          "Well, ready to switch sides?"  She asked as she lowered her
     hand. 
          "Not a chance."  The occupant replied, struggling against
     the restraints.
          "Well, in that case, I'm going to have to change your mind." 
     She raised her hand and an energy bolt slammed into the armored
     form.  He gave a cry of agony.  "Well?"
          "Never."  He maintained.  "I'll never work with scum like
     you."
          "Then you will die."  The Negageneral stated.  "Eventually." 
     She raised her hand and another energy bolt slammed into him.
          
                                     * * *
          Mina sat upright on her bed, breathing hard from the vision
     or some such that she'd just seen.  She pulled her knees to her chest
     and buried her face in the bed sheets to absorb her tears, trying not
     to sob too loud.  She's seen him, she knew.  She'd seen her true
     love and he was being beaten by a Negageneral.  She could feel the
     echoes of his pain and she could feel his love for her still.  After all
     these years of looking, she'd finally had a glimpse of him, and the
     glimpse she got was one from a nightmare.  But it was no dream,
     she knew.   Just as surely as she knew it was him and that he still
     loved her.  And she knew she still loved him.
          They'd hidden their love from everyone on the Moon for
     years, and to her knowledge, no one, not the other Scouts, not even
     Luna and Artemis knew about it.  She knew now that he'd survived
     the destruction of the Moon Kingdom after all, and that he was still
     alive.  Somewhere.
          "Mina?"  A sleepy Artemis asked, looking up at her in the
     darkened room.
          Mina took a ragged breath to control the sobbing for a
     moment, then lifted her head, pointing her face in the direction the
     voice had come from.  "I'm okay, Artemis.  Just a bad dream."
          Artemis murmured a sleepy reply, which Mina didn't catch
     because she laid back down and buried her face in her pillow to
     continue crying.
          
                                     * * *
          
          The Negageneral turned her head away from the suspended
     figure as she heard the Negaforce calling her.  With a frown, she
     turned away toward the door and stepped through it.  "Watch him." 
     She thumbed over her shoulder as she walked past the two guards.  
     She didn't hear the acknowledgment of the two guards as she
     disappeared out of cell block and down the hallway.
          
          He raised a weary head to watch the Negageneral leave only
     to be replaced by a pair of Negawarriors.  "I've got to get out of
     here."  He thought.
          "Rainbow Beam Blaze!"  He commanded, and a beam of
     radiant rainbow light leaped from his palm, tearing through the
     restraint, and slamming into the cell wall.  He dropped to the cell
     floor as the restraints gave out.
          The two guards drew their swords as he rose from his
     crouch, watching him warily.  "Can't stay and play today."  He said
     as he leaped forward, arms extended.  His tackle carried the two
     guards into the opposite sides of the doorway and he released them
     as he started to move through.  He rolled to his feet and looked
     back to see the doorway and his former cell wink out into oblivion,
     the agonized shrieks of the guards fading into nothingness.
          "Ookay."  He said after a few seconds of staring at the now
     empty space.  "I don't think I want to know where they went."  He
     got back to his feet and automatically adjusted his sheathed sword
     back to a more comfortable position.  With that, he turned to the
     exit to the cell block and hurried out.  He'd find an exit from the
     Negaverse, eventually.
          
                                    * * * 
          
          Pluto looked up in alarm as she realized something was
     shifting in the Time Gate.  With a frown, she walked over for a
     closer look.  She'd only come up because she wanted to check
     something, but this could be a disaster.  She watched as the
     temporal disturbance shifted, settled to a fixed point, then smoothed
     out.  With a start, she realized that it was today that the disturbance
     was centered around.  Something important was going to happen
     today.  She examined the shift and her frowned deepened.
          The Negaverse was back, all right, and this time, there was
     something strange going on.  She would have to hurry and get the
     others if they were going to have any effect on it. With a flicker, she
     disappeared from the Time Gate.
          She blurred back to her human form as she raised a hand to
     knock on a door.  A ten year old opened the door.  "Hi, aunt
     Susan."  The ten year old said.
          "Hi, Christine.  Where are Alexandra and Michelle?"  Susan
     stepped through the doorway as Christine made room for her.
          Christine closed the door behind her "aunt."  "Poppa and
     Momma are in the bedroom."  Christine offered.
          Susan flashed her a smile of thanks, then walked over to the
     bedroom door and pounded on it.  It was yanked open.  "What?  I
     was taking a nap."  Michelle complained.
          "Get dressed.  There's work to be done."  Susan told them. 
     "The Negaverse is back."  She closed the door and walked over to
     the couch to settle down to wait.  She didn't have to wait more than
     a minute before the two emerged.
          "The Negaverse?"  Alexandra asked as they entered the
     room.
          "Yes."  Susan turned to them.  "They're back and if we don't
     hurry, they'll tear the others up before they're ready."
          "All right, let's go."  Michelle agreed.
          "Pluto Crystal Power, Make Up!"
          "Neptune Crystal Power, Make Up!"
          "Uranus Crystal Power, Make Up!"
          "Saturn Crystal Power, Make Up!"
          Sailor Pluto nodded confidently as the other three formed a
     circle with her.  "Time Teleport!"  She commanded and the four
     disappeared.