Name of the Creator(s): Kyralih / Sailor Uranus
Forum: Free-Form Forum
Advanced or Relaxed: Advanced
Plot Summary: 
A society of highly advanced humanoids have discovered a near-infinite source of energy - the energy source found within human beings. Through use of new technology, the race of war-loving Tarans created devices that can harness the energy emitted by star seeds... thus creating a new reason to support slavery on their home world.
A few short years after Galaxia's reign over the galaxy was ended, the Tarans discovered a power much greater than that of star seeds - sailor crystals. After capturing and experimenting on their own planet's guardian, their suspicion founded correct, they immediately and greedily turned their eyes outward, to other planets and their stock of star seeds and the possiblity of further crystals to be employed towards running their devices. A new goal formed in the mind of their rulers - domination.
After bringing other senshi down, forcing them to submit under their unspeakable tactics and impeccable power, they heard of a Sailor Senshi who had become legendary for the near-infinite power and love she possessed, a senshi who was to be queen, the senshi who defeated Galaxia... and the sailor crystal that would power their dreams of domination. And so, with their most powerful warships in tow, they turned their eye on the Solar System, and the young team of women who protected it.
 
They powered through the outer solar system, the senshi at their posts easily overtaken, first Neptune, then Uranus Pluto and Saturn. They reached Earth with little warning. The attack toppled the buildings of Tokyo, the sensors on board honing in on the sailor crystals below. Once the short battle was over, the ship collected its prize - five senshi... but the machine picked up a man as well, something that had never happened before and so was thought to be a fluke. The senshi they distributed into the widely spaced holding chambers, already taking their energy as they hung unconscious. The man in the tuxedo they put into a cell with the Earth civilians they took to sell at auction to the wealthy people of Taran.
They had only a number of days to get out. To save themselves from a future of slavery that has been proofed against their abilities. To regain their freedom and get back to Earth and protect the populace from other attacks, else save the galaxy from the advances of the Tarans.
 
The mission: Save Serenity. Save the senshi. Save the people. Get home alive.
 
Details on any necessary information: 

So far, in Batteries:

Future Plans:

Things to know:

Restrictions:

Otaku Senshi Restrictions:

OOC Thread: Original New

Member to Character List: 

Original Accepted Storyline Submission: Free-Form Forum: Batteries (December 30, 2011)

“Ami! What’s the status on the outer system?” Minako grilled, her voice tense with controlled anxiety as she took up her duties as leader of the guardian senshi. With one hand placed solidly at her hip and the other resting on the blue-haired genius’s shoulder, she looked the part of a champion. Her light blue eyes concentrated on the computer screen seriously, even though on a number of occasions she had confessed she didn’t understand everything that went on there.

Ami, her fingers flying across the keyboard madly, begged for another moment as she awaited the latest satellite relay. “The attack is coming from the fourth quadrant – Neptune will be the first line of defense if they don’t get the shields up in time. Their computers are warmed, the barrier is travelling…”

Mamoru watched the screen along with everyone else, his eyes tracing the path of a small, blue line that gradually enveloped the tiny picture in a corner of the screen, the mathematical figures and communication devices that kept track of its progress whirring and changing with the field as time wore on. A familiar hand reached out for his and he immediately took it, offering what comfort he could to his fiancée in the cool room of the Crown Arcade basement. Without looking he could feel her apprehension, her fear for those friends who had left to secure the outer bounds against the threat Ami had barely detected earlier that morning. Glancing over, he saw the worry lining her face, her sapphire eyes glued to the computer screen just as everyone else’s, her small body tense.

It had been nearly three years since last the Outer Senshi had to take their post at their respective castles… and the last time, they did not return. He squeezed her hand comfortingly and she turned her gaze to meet his, offering a distracted smile before immediately turning her attention back to the screen. He knew she was thinking of that time, of when Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna left for their posts, tiny Hotaru leaving to defend Setsuna, even though she was not fully awakened. But it was different this time – all four of them were there. The barrier was already closing –

“Ami! Upper-left corner, what is that?!” Rei called, a slender finger jabbing towards the screen.

“It’s moving really fast…” Makoto commented, leaning over to get a better view.

“I – it’s not supposed to –“ Ami hesitated, minimizing sections of the screen to maximize others, the little picture blown up to a greater size as she pulled open other calculatory screens. “It’s traveling so fast, I—“

“It’s stopping!” Rei narrated.

The small, fuzzy dot slowed to a stop just outside the barrier.

“They did it,” Makoto breathed, “it can’t get through the field once it’s closed.” The blip hovered in space, not moving. Had they averted the conflict before it even took place?

“But it’s not closed yet,” Ami breathed shakily.

An icy feeling took over the room as the group of six watched apprehensively. Usagi’s fingers were like ice in his hands. How much longer would it take to complete the sphere?

Suddenly the screen grew incredibly bright. When they were able to look back, the barrier had disappeared completely, the small dot of an invader cruising through the space the barrier had previously blocked as if it had never existed, on a direct path for the planet Neptune.

“We have to help her!” Usako cried.

But even as the words left her lips, the dot paused beside the planet, immobile for barely ten seconds before it continued on.

“What just happened?” Usako asked unevenly.

He pulled her toward him, only able to guess at what had just happened. It paused at Neptune before moving on, but it did move on. Sailor Neptune would never have allowed it to move any further, that it had indicated only one possible explanation: she had been defeated.

“What just happened?!” Usako repeated. He pulled her even closer, placing a hand on the back of her head to force her gaze away from the screen.

“Ami, where is it going next?” Minako asked, her voice all business despite the slight tremor in her arms.

With a few button presses the image zoomed out. “If it continues on its current path… Saturn.”

“Hotaru-chan,” Usako breathed. She pushed herself forcefully from him, her eyes hard, “we have to help her!”

“We have to stay here.” Minako corrected cooly, standing straight and facing off against Usagi.

“We can’t leave her alone to face it!” Usako argued.

“We can’t risk it!” Minako returned, “What about you?! First and foremost we are to protect you, Usagi, and then the people of Earth. Usagi, if we go and if something happens, who will protect them? Who will protect Naru? Motoki? Our parents?” the blonde’s face softened, but her resolve appeared resolute. “We stay here, in case Saturn falls.”

“She won’t be alone, Usagi-chan,” Rei said quietly but resolutely, “Haruka and Setsuna would never let her face it alone. They’ll be there with her, and together they’ll defeat it.”

They all turned back to the screen.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
 
This was it.

Tuxedo Mask stood beside Eternal Sailor Moon, her guardian senshi surrounding them. All eyes were skyward. There, shining brightly even in the light of the midday sun and approaching steadily, was the enemy. Minute by minute its light grew more intense, the pinpoint becoming bigger and bigger with its approach. The time it took to clear Saturn was considerably longer than it took to get past Neptune… but it was still less than a full minute. In the back of his mind, Mamoru considered their fate. The enemy had torn through the solar system faster than any comet ever had, passing through the outer senshi, strong by themselves and almost undefeatable together, faster than ever imagined. But they had seen their future – he had been there. They would survive this, and in three years Usako would take the throne of Earth as Neo Queen Serenity. They would have a daughter, they would lead Earth into an era of peace. He had seen it. … but in the future they had never mentioned Sailors Uranus, Neptune, or Saturn… and Pluto had died before, yet she still existed at the gates of time. … she had said once that the future was ever-changing, and that the future they saw was but one possibility. Had they somehow gotten off the path?

“Sailor Planet Attack as soon as it gets in range,” Eternal Sailor Venus directed.

Chibi-Usa and her Asteroid Senshi had appeared after the battle with Galaxia, so they had still been on track then. …but they hadn’t seen Chibi-Usa since. They had assumed she was finally living happily in the future with her own senshi team, keeping peace and fighting for justice, but what if…?

His hand was taken suddenly, distracting him from the glowing bit of metal hurtling towards them, now about the size of the head of a pin. It was her. Smiling brightly, lifting away his fears as easily as ever. No, this was right. They were still on that path, their future was still there, he felt it. He knew it; he knew it as surely as he knew this strange, miracle romance. He returned her smile, her eyes alight with hope. She was so strong, and he would do anything, be anything, to help her, protect her and stay by her side forever.

… and then everything went wrong, all at once.

“WATCH OUT!” Mars cried.

In a split second, Tuxedo Mask glanced up to see the hulking underside of a gigantic metallic spaceship and immediately moved to shelter Usako, having spotted a section of the hull opening to emit what must be a weapon. It must have teleported the remaining distance, and now –

BOOM

A shockwave shook through them. Sonic, ultrasonic, electromagnetic – it felt like all three, this heavy, pulsating wave that knocked them to their knees. … but that wasn’t all. All around them, the people of Tokyo screamed, crying out from their hiding places as the unspeakable happened. The buildings, starting with the tallest skyscraper, shook and then collapsed as the wave found the resonating frequencies. “NO!” Usako cried.

“Senshi!” Venus shouted, her voice strained against the force pushing them into the ground.

From somewhere to his left he heard a resolute cry, “Jupiter Crystal Power!”

Makoto.

“Mars Crystal Power!” from behind them.

Rei.

From in front of them, her body staking as she pulled herself into a kneeling position, “Mercury Crystal Power!”

Ami.

“Venus Crystal Power!”

Minako.

Beside him, the blonde stirred. His odago-atama. He pushed himself to his knees and held out his hand to help her. Using his strength, she, too, knelt. “Silver Moon Crystal Power!”

His Usako.

They all glowed. Fleetingly, he wondered if he, too, should try adding the power of his own crystal into the attack – his golden crystal… but they had never tried it before. He didn’t know if it was compatible with their tried-and-true attack. Before he could think longer on it, the five young women cried out as one, “SAILOR PLANET ATTACK!”

Energy rushed out, fighting the force of the waves, lashing out in every direction and then gathering to the will of the girls. It shot upward toward the ship… where it was met by another attack. The two forces battled against one another… but then, augmented by another burst from a different part of the ship, the enemy’s attack prevailed.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Something heavy lay across his chest. Something concrete, large, but not quite crushing. Tuxedo Mask coughed, dust and debris aggravating his throat, his mouth dry and covered by a thick layer of dirt. He almost swallowed but thought better of the idea. His ears rang annoyingly, a high pitched whine that didn’t indicate it would cease any time soon. What happened? He shook his gloved hand, hoping to dislodge any grime found there, and wiped at his eyes to clear any irritable particles away. Well, the mask was lost, but what else is new?

Cautiously he blinked his eyes open, staring straight up from his pinned position. He coughed again, otherwise staying as quiet and as still as possible. There, hovering above him impossibly, was the hull of the spaceship. Leaning his head back as far as he could, fighting another cough, he looked around through a gap in the rubble, only then realizing the extent of the damage done to the city of Tokyo. The skyline, heck, the groundline was changed irreparably. Buildings around for hundreds of feet had toppled. … the people, what had happened to the people? He looked around again, but in every direction it was the same. What once had been tall buildings, skyscrapers and stores, was now nothing but piles of rubble. The attack… Usako!

He struggled against the concrete block, but was utterly pinned. The ringing in his ears began to die down, and taking its place was eerie silence, broken by a strange scanning noise. A ping that echoed. Something moved above him. Keeping a sharp eye on the ship, he saw a bay open and this… claw, like from a crane game in the arcade, reached out and shot down towards him. It veered off his course and he heard the ping again. It landed hard to his left and he heard a gasping cry.

Quickly the clawed arm shot back towards the ship. Horrified, Tuxedo Mask yelled, “Sailor Mars!” his arm reaching out towards her even though he knew there was no hope of catching her. The unconscious form of the senshi of passion and fire, grasped within the metallic arm, retreated quickly into the ship, her long black hair pulled by the breeze.

Then she was gone, disappearing into the darkness.

No. No, this wasn’t right. He fought against the concrete block, trying to slide his way out from underneath it. How long had he been unconscious!? Who else had it taken?

He heard it again, the ping. It was probably a method of echolocation, but what was it honing in on? Living bodies? Again the claw emerged, this time landing somewhere below his feet and emerging with Sailor Mercury. “Mercury!” he yelled, but she, too, appeared to be unconscious. He tried harder to get free.

It emerged again.

This time, it seemed to be heading straight for him. … but at the last second, as he braced for impact, it turned slightly to the side, crashing into the concrete beside him. He followed its descent until the explosion of debris and dust, but he had seen it. There, all along, was Usako. Her blonde hair the only part visible beyond the mountain of rock, hair that he had only noticed now in the reflection of sunlight off of the claw. “USAKO!” he cried, fighting. The claw closed. “USAKO!!” It started to rise. There she was, cradled within it, her eyes closed and body limp, her wings tattered, torn, and broken. “No!” he cried defiantly, pushing with all of his strength against his barrier, kicking his dress shoes against the rock as he fought to gain purchase, to be free before it was too late. His knee scraped painfully against the rock, but it was nothing to him. “Usako!”

One arm draped poetically through a gap in the claw, as if she were reaching out for him.

“Usako…” she was too far away now. Her pigtails fluttered, the last he saw of her before she disappeared. “Damn it!” he cursed hopelessly, his heart beating quickly, painfully, as it felt like it was breaking. He couldn’t help her – he was awake, he was willing, but still he couldn’t help her! What was the use of having a crystal if he couldn’t wield it as a senshi could?! He couldn’t save her. “Damn it!” he cried again, coughing fitfully as he felt tears forming in his eyes.

“Well doesn’t this one seem feisty?” a male voice joked conversationally.

“He’ll fetch a good price,” another voice agreed. “It’s as if he knew the senshi.”

“Meh, not our problem,” the other shrugged. They were two men standing near his pinned legs, wearing strange militaristic gear as they surveyed him. “Come on, let’s shock ‘em and get this block off ‘em.”

Shock him?

The second man stepped forward brandishing a long pole. Above them the claw emerged again, taking aim and heading straight back towards them.

“Watch it! The claw’s comin’!” the other warned just in time.

It crashed around him. Tuxedo Mask felt the metallic fingers close beneath him.

“What’s it doing?! Has it malfunctioned?” one asked perplexedly, “It’s only supposed to hone in on Sailor Crystals, and he is definitely not a senshi!”

As the claw straightened out, pulling him skyward as the concrete block scraped hard against his legs, Mamoru heard the two soldiers finish, “Oh well, let ‘em figure that out upstairs. There’s another civilian that way.”

As he rose through the air he twisted to get a view of the ground, of the remains of Tokyo. There were six great dents in the debris field – probably where the claw had gathered them – but beyond that was something he had never thought to see. Never even guessed. … beyond that, there was a giant platform, onto which unconscious bodies were being loaded. Not senshi, not warriors or military personnel, but just regular people. Men and women in business suits, children in school uniforms, lined side-by-side together… and the load was growing. What was going on?

But then he was within the hull of the ship, pulled into blackness.

A strong electric current raced through his body.

When he came back to himself it was all at once. Immediately he knew where he was and what had happened, and from the moment he opened his eyes, he was ready to fight. He sat up hurriedly, whipping his arm around at the enemy he felt was near, but rather than the shouts of dismay he was expecting, his actions were met with a hushed murmur of concern. He looked around at the person he had almost elbowed in the nose and nearly jumped back in shock. Shingo? Usako’s little brother stared back at him, his hands out pacifyingly. His high school uniform was torn and dirty, caked with grey dust like the other people milling about, some staring at him, others pointedly not, still others acting too casual.

“Shh,” a girl Shingo’s age cautioned with her finger to her lips. He had met her before – a young sculptor, if he remembered correctly.

He nodded in understanding, the motion alerting him to his pulsating head. Whatever they had done to him, it had packed a pretty good punch. He looked around, one hand holding his head – it was only then that he realized he was without his hat and his mask. Shingo and this girl, and anyone else in this room, knew who he was. The jig was up – the ‘secret identity’ completely dissolved. Oh well, now or in three years; it didn’t matter too much, right?

The room was large, cavernous even, with many levels above the one they were on like the inside of a beehive. Balcony walkways overlooked them, the hallways home to different barred cells that looked out into the room, armed military guards keeping watch over the doorways. He couldn’t see much on the level he was on, but as he tried to stand Shingo held out his arm with further caution.

He tried a smile, “hello, Shingo.”

“Tuxedo Mask,” he returned slyly. “We’ll talk about how obvious that was later – now, I think there’s a job for you to do.”

“Tuxedo Mask,” the brown-haired girl cut in quietly, “I’m small and I’m a great listener. I was there when they brought you in here – the two guards that had you told the guards on duty here that there had been a malfunction with the sorter and that you had been picked up by mistake. The others had already been distributed to different areas and that if you gave any trouble they were to lock you up, just in case.” She nodded her head to the cells above.

“Anyone that has stood up to them, from screaming and actually fighting to just looking at them the wrong way, have been shocked and dragged up the stairs and thrown into a room,” Shingo continued, “Mika’s classmate,” he nodded to a sharp looking girl that was pointedly looking away from them, “said she saw them hooking the people up to these weird machines that made them pass out.” Grimly, Shingo scooted forward, “Look, I don’t know where my sister is, but I think she’s in trouble. She, Sailor V, Ami – all of them. I can’t do anything, nothing like what you could do. They don’t know who you are, or what you can do. You can help them, and you can save us.”

“We’ve all talked about it,” Mika said, motioning subtly to the people milling around, “and we believe in you, Tuxedo Mask, and we believe in the senshi. You can get us back home.”

He smiled at the sentiment, pulling himself into a kneeling position, the tattered remains of his pant legs splaying around him on the cold metal floor. With one hand in a fist to keep his balance, he leaned in conspiratorially, “Thank you. I need to find a way out, and a method to get out of here without detection. Any maps of the ship would be appreciated, but not absolutely necessary… “

Shingo smiled, “We’ve already figured that part out.”


((OOC: Anyone want to be a traitor from the other side? I give you tons of insider information about the Tarans ^.~ boy or girl, doesn’t matter. I’ll leave this position open until tomorrow (January second); I have a backup plan for dear Tuxedo Mamoru (haha, no mask) if there are no traitors to be found – the Earth people all ban together for a giant distraction and he scales the walls, steals a uniform and off they go. … in fact, that might happen even with the traitor. … spoiler alert. … … XD Yeah, so message me!))

Minutes later, Shingo, Mika and Tuxedo Mask walked casually away from the front of the room, the highschoolers keeping their heads down almost suspiciously. Tuxedo Masked smiled slightly and whispered, “You two look sneaky; act like you’re looking for someone.”

Shingo snapped up, looking back over at him and changing his stance drastically, mimicking Mamoru’s easy gait, copying, too, the way in which he glanced through the crowd. Still, the young man looked overly nervous and excited. Mika, on the other hand, emanated a feeling of frightened determination as she kept her chin up, walking with more purpose in her step.

As he looked away from his two guides, heading over to a predetermined spot that should be less visible in the upcoming chaos, his eyes caught a flash of familiar short blonde hair as a man near his own height passed him moving a different direction. Double taking, he nearly froze in place – Motoki. “Moto—“ the blonde turned hastily and put a finger to his lips; Mamoru stopped mid-word. His green-eyed friend winked and flashed a brave smile, nodding his head back towards the guards. He understood – Motoki was involved with the distraction. With a nod, the two kept going in their own way, silently wishing the other good luck.

“Right there,” Shingo whispered, yawning and stretching, his right hand subtly pointing to a stretch of the walkway above.

Acting as if he, too, were stretching, Mamoru looked up. No guards around that cell, or those surrounding them. But where was the exit? He traced his way around the upper level, finding at last a solid door that more than likely went out of the room… back near the entrance. What kind of distraction did they intend upon pulling off in order to get all eyes off of the exit?

But it was too late to really ponder.

From the direction of the entrance there was a great roar of protest from the crowd of the seemingly broken people of Earth. “Go!” Shingo directed.

Tuxedo Mask sprang, jumping easily to the railings and vaulting over them. With his cane readied before him he dashed towards the entrance, preparing to use his smoke attack if necessary. The ruckus below was incredibly loud, the voices of many rising up to echo around almost deafeningly – he had not yet been noticed by the few armed men before him on the path. Their forms bent over the railing, yelling curses and threats as they brandished the long electric shocking sticks at the people below, Tuxedo Mask was almost convinced that he could make it. He switched his cane to his left hand as he ran, getting ever closer to the exit and the guards, intending to either knock them unconscious or to knock them over the edge if they turned at just the wrong moment, when suddenly a door burst open beside him. Before he knew what was going on, a hand grabbed his free right arm and jerked him off of the walkway and into a small, dark corridor. His momentum carried him further, even as the abductor stayed put and pulled the door shut with an inaudible ‘click’.

He whirled around, preparing for an attack by raising his cane warningly, and found himself face-to-face with a shorter, angry looking woman with cropped black hair and furious blue eyes. “And what in the HELLS did YOU think you were doing?!” she demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest and putting all of her weight on one hip. She didn’t look as if she were going to attack and he lowered his cane halfway. Crossly, the woman swatted his cane away from her with her left hand, her right placed firmly on her hip as she continued to glare at him. “Are you kidding me? Your stick isn’t even electrified; did you seriously think you’d do any damage with it? Listen, I know your planet’s small, but really?”

Mamoru grit his teeth at the barely veiled insult, catching his breath by breathing through his nose as he returned the woman’s unfriendly gaze. He straightened to his full height as she looked him over, unashamed of his torn pant legs, his scuffed shoes or his dirty jacket. Right now she very well held his life in her hands; by extension, she held everyone’s lives and futures. With one scream, it was over.

Instead, she quirked an eyebrow and smiled, “Well, you’ve got spunk, that’s true enough. So,” she sighed gustily, her stance relaxing, “what are you doing?”

He chose not to answer, keeping still. Who was this woman, then? She wore a jumpsuit uniform, grey on dark grey, with its sleeves tied about her waist. The cap on her head had an insignia about it – a ringed planet with a trident through the center, as if it were a skewered meatball at a cocktail party. She obviously worked on the ship – working for the enemy. Why did she care what he was up to? She should just turn him in right then and there – why divulge any information when she could use it against him?

She rolled her eyes at him, “What, you going to save all of those people? Save your planet?”

He nodded curtly.

She chuckled softly through her nose, very amused by the idea. “And how do you propose to do that? You know this ship is guarded by hundreds of soldiers, all armed to the teeth with shockers? We’ve got laser rifles out the wazoo,” she flipped her left hand in a circle as if to indicate a large amount, “ – on this trip, we’ve even got some of the highest ranking officials from Taran City aboard, some of the most important Therasii around, along with their barely-controlled bodyguards.” She shrugged apologetically, “The only hope you had were your senshi, and we’ve got them – all comfy, cozy and strapped in for the long flight.”

“Not all of them.” he replied.

“Not all of…” she looked at him, her blue eyes puzzled, then she laughed, her lips tilting upward in a disbelieving smile, “You’re kidding, right? You’re not a senshi - you’re a guy. Males don’t hold sailor crystals – planets always choose female guardians.”

He neither validated nor negated her assumption; he was the reincarnated Prince of Earth and held within him the star seed of Earth and was protected by the Sun – his was an odd case, to be sure. One that, thankfully, had not been anticipated by these people.

“It’s funny how you think being quiet means I won’t figure it out,” she stated in an offhand manner. “Come on, Tux,” she invited, squeezing past him to lead him down the narrow, electrically-lit corridor, away from the beehive room. Tuxedo Mask followed – it was pretty much his only option at the moment. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked, glancing back at him as they walked.

He didn’t answer – honestly, he didn’t quite know what to do. They were in space, flying off away from Earth on a highly advanced war ship. Even if he were to find everyone and somehow get them free, how could they possibly get everyone back to Earth? Not to mention overcoming the guards and army personnel this woman had mentioned. … but, perhaps… Mercury. He and Mercury might be able to figure out how to pilot an escape pod – Uranus drives and flies, so she might be able to offer some input as to the steering designs. They would just have to come back, rescue Shingo, Motoki and the others, guide them to an escape pod and off they’d go.

“And here I thought you’d have a plan. There’s really no use in me helping you if you don’t – you’d just be a waste of my time, really.” The woman stated, coming to a halt at a turn in the hall, a doorway just beyond the reach of her elbow. “Listen, I liked your drive, your spunk, and I really wanted to help you, but if jumping over the railing and running towards armed guards was as far as your grand scheme went, senshi-man, this relationship is over.”

Tuxedo Mask took a deep breath – he hated being at the mercy of someone else. Even if this woman did intend to help him, he didn’t like the idea of her being able to turn on him at any minute. Should he extend her this vein of trust? How far would she take him? What was in it for her, anyway? “What is in this for you, anyway?” he repeated aloud, the thought seeming an important question.

“For me?” she returned. After a quick moment of contemplation she shrugged, “I’m kinda bored right now, so helping just one little person escape would be a good way to spend the afternoon…”

“I intend to save them,” he stated.

“Look, that’s noble and all, but there’s only one of you. I can get you out, easily enough, but a good hundred or more others? Not really feasible.”

“We save them later. Now, I intend to save my friends.” No matter where they were.

Her eyes suddenly lit up. “You’re serious? I’ll be right back.”

Without another word, the black-haired girl slipped through the door and was gone.

He stood waiting in the darkness for nearly ten minutes, wondering if she was ever coming back. Just as he began entertaining thoughts of slipping out after her, however, the door opened suddenly and she rushed back in, tossing the load of clothing in her arms at him as she turned and shut the door. “Put those on – they should fit okay. You’ll look like a mechanic, like me. We’re just lucky you’ve got Therasii features.”

“Therasii features?” Tuxedo Mask repeated, unhooking the pins from his tuxedo shirt, thankful at the woman’s choice to continue facing the door as they spoke. Turning away so that his cape could still cover him if the unthinkable happened, he shuffled out of his tattered pants.

“Tall, black hair, blue eyes. They’re the most prominent markers of being Therasii, or the dominant race. If you had blonde hair and brown eyes, we’d be pretty much over. Then again, I could probably scrounge up a slave suit and parade you around as a Kersa I’m delivering. Or using, whichever.”

He finished changing, choosing to wear the jumpsuit as it was intended rather than tie the sleeves around his waist as she chose to. “Kersa? And I’m done.”

“Good,” she turned. “Kersa are the lower people,” she explained offhandedly. “They do the menial stuff. Now c’mon – I don’t know where your “friends” are, exactly, but the nearest Crystal machine isn’t too far away. It’s used for some of the primary offensive systems – they won’t notice when they go down.”

Mamoru nodded; he didn’t exactly understand what she was talking about, but he absorbed everything for later use.

“Act casual. We’re taking a right out of here, past the holding chamber – don’t wave to your people – and we’ll take the fourth left. Let me do all the talking when we get there.”

Without checking, she burst out of the hallway. He followed behind her, trying his best to appear as though they had worked together before. Shortly after leaving the tight corridor, they did indeed pass the holding cell, the commotion having died down within. He wondered to himself what befell Motoki, or the others that had risked themselves to see he had a distraction, but the doors were closed. The woman continued without pause, heading confidently in the path she had described. They took the left and she opened the door to a smaller room that held a giant machine, its metallic body solid and imposing, wires and tubing leading away from the glass-like shell it held nestled within it, like a claw.

Within the glass chamber, held suspended in liquid and apparently unconscious, was a senshi.

Tuxedo Mask froze in place, staring up at the entrapped girl. She had long black hair tied up in a ponytail which floated weightlessly around her, a silver tiara striping across her forehead. Her attire was different from those of his friends, unadorned in any way – no bows, no ribbons, no heels or gloves – but it was unmistakable: this was a sailor senshi.

“How are the readings, boys?” his companion called out, waving at obvious technicians that surrounded a deck of panels not too far away from the machine.

“The usual. She’s resting now, but you should’ve seen how much power we got out of her this time. Did you see the fancy laser work when those Solar girls attacked? The power levels were phenomenal!” One technician stated enthusiastically.

“And if her levels are like this, imagine what we could get from that Legendary Senshi we picked up!” the second added enthusiastically.

“That’s only if the ‘legend’ was based in fact, you two, so quit slobbering all over the controls,” the black-haired girl replied, having approached them she promptly waved them off. “Have the systems not cooled off yet?”

“Nah, almost there.”

“Good; I was wondering what in hells you two were still doing in here. You’ve got other duties; go ahead and get to them – I was just going to show the newbie,” she indicated Mamoru with a thumb over her shoulder, “the routine system checks. I’ll make sure the system cools correctly – you cold even catch a quick lunch if you hurry.”

“Thanks, Togarishii,” one smiled as the two rose from their chairs, walking towards the door.

Mamoru was patted on the shoulder by the other, “Good luck, newbie. She’s tough.”

He smiled convincingly as they left. As soon as the door closed he turned on the girl. “What is going on here?! What is this?” he asked, motioning to the suspended female.

“We’re collecting power,” she commented, messing with the switches on the panel. “A lot of power. Inelegant, but effective.”

“Power?! So what is she, just a battery?!”

She stopped what she was doing, turning to him in the heat of his outburst, and stated, like cold water thrown on his face, “Yes. We’re all batteries – it just took a special chamber to get us to work.” She turned back to the panel and continued, “A prominent Therasii scientist developed the machine years and years ago. Using a regular star seed, like those of our Kersa servants, in three days we could gather enough energy to run our houses for three months. After Galaxia, the scientists became even more curious. Building a better machine, they used it on a larger star seed – on Sailor Taran and her sailor crystal. She was Kersa anyway. It worked. Really well, in fact so well they wanted more. So our usual space shipping lines, which farmed precious metals and stuff from other planets, then turned to collection of an even more precious commodity.”

She turned, sensing Mamoru’s cold glare, and shrugged, “Hey, I didn’t make it. In fact, I’ve developed something even better than these machines. Less wasteful, too.” She smirked, “and with this little escapade, I might even be able to get it to the testing floor for mass production. Star seed batteries are good and all, but…” her hands paused, her usually uppity face falling just a bit in masked pain, “well, never mind. Anyway, just a second and I’ll free this one for you. What’s her name, anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Mamoru replied, having picked up on the flicker of emotion and figuring this Togarishii woman to be good, deep down. “She’s not from Earth.”

“Ah, you’re right,” she commented, turning her attention to a side panel. “Says here she’s from the planet Vageta. Hmm… she hasn’t been here all that long. Ah well, it was worth a shot. The next room, then?” she inquired, walking away from the panel.

“Was that it? Were you really just checking the system?” he asked.

“Well I was going to set her free, but if she doesn’t belong to you then why bother?” she shrugged.

“Why bother? Release her.”

Togarishii looked at him unsavorily, “And if she’s unstable…?”

“Just release her. No one deserves to be used.”

“Okay,” the black-haired woman shrugged, returning to the panel.

Slowly, the chamber began to drain, the liquid pulled out of it through a series of connecting tubes. As soon as all the water was gone, the senshi left crumpled on the floor, the glass cocoon apparatus moved forward, out of the nest of metal, and hovered suspended off of the floor. Tuxedo Mask moved forward in time to catch the senshi as the glass cracked along its seam, depositing its load a good four feet above the ground. He broke the girl’s fall, then lay her gently down.

“When will she wake up?” he asked Togarishii, kneeling beside the unknown guardian.

“Any minute now. Lucky for us, her powers should be unavailable to her for a good while, but she should still have most of her strength.”


((Go Sailor V! v(^_^) hahah... unluckily for them, she doesn't rely on her powers all that much. ... poor, unsuspecting rescuers... ))

Her breathing quickened, but her eyes stayed closed as she tried to figure out her surroundings before moving. Someone was right next to her and she was not in that tank. That's all she needed to know. Her eyes opened and she moved quickly. Wanting to immobilize him, the black haired woman aimed her upturned fist savagely at Mamoru's crotch. She tucked into a ball and rolled sideways away from the man.

Springing upwards, the woman landed in a loose fighting stance. She briefly looked at her surroundings and determined that only two people had been sent this time. "Foolish," she muttered. With a loud yell, she charged toward the instrument panel with her hand outstretched. Prepared for a counter-attack, she ducked downwards and, hoping to destroy it, brutally side-kicked the instrument panel.

She leapt over the hopefully destroyed instrument panel and tried to hold the other woman in a lock. A faint yellow-white energy gathered at her finger tips, which she held extended toward the other woman's head. "For the last damn time, where in the hell is my brother!" She yelled, her anger poorly contained.

"I'll blow her head off! I did it last time and I sure don't have a problem doing it again," she spat. Her senshi uniform flickered and then vanished. Despite having dropped her transformation, the glowing energy still coalesced around her fingertips and threatened to take the other woman's life, whether or not she had been caught in the lock. "Answer me, dammit!" She warned, "my patience is thin."

’Shit!’

Mamoru fell back, startled at the abrupt change in the rescued warrior and immensely grateful that the pair of pants Togarisii procured for him were just a little low in the crotch line, saving him from what could have been a very painful situation. Even as he sat sprawled on his rear end, his eyes traced the quick, practiced movements as the girl rolled quickly away, springing back up to her feet with a howl of rage and attacked the instrument panel. Definitely a warrior. He pulled himself to his feet just after the panel dented inward with a metallic crunch and the black haired senshi pulled Togarisii into a headlock. He reached out a hand in an attempt to mollify the newly awakened girl, but apparently to no avail.

This rescue was not exactly what he had in mind.

“For the last damn time, where in the hell is my brother?” she demanded, the ungloved hand aimed at the mechanic’s head starting to glow unnaturally. Was she really going to attack?! “I’ll blow her head off! I did it last time and I sure don’t have a problem doing it again.” Her uniform flickered and vanished, replaced with a black, tight-fitting bodysuit with thick white armor protecting her chest, a gold plating protecting her abdomen, white boots and gloves and some sort of fur belt – it was as if she were a uniformed warrior, whether transformed as a senshi or not. Her icy blue eyes were filled with uncontrollable rage, “Answer me, dammit! My patience is thin!”

How was he supposed to deal with this? Corny one-liners would have little effect on her, especially as he wouldn’t be working as a voice from the darkness, so no hope of distraction. Perhaps he could diffuse the situation another way? There was little chance he could really take her on in a fight, after all. Taking a deep breath he approached the heated situation slowly, speaking in deep, even tones. “I don’t know where your brother is. Calm down, and we’ll talk about it.”

“Yeah, let’s not go blowing anyone’s head off just yet,” the mechanic piped up with a strained voice, one hand reaching up in an effort to loosen the headlock and breathe a little easier.

“Listen,” Mamoru implored, making eye contact with the enraged girl and keeping his composure, exuding calm. “I’m not with them. We just rescued you.” He said nothing more, choosing to leave the explanation at that for now and see how this Sailor Vegeta elected to respond.

The lock around the woman's neck and head did not loosen, despite Mamoru's pacificatory words. She did not want to talk, she wanted to see her brother, and she wanted to see him now. She had waited long enough and had suffered enough in that tank by the hands of the Tarans. Her energy had been depleted and, although she was not weak, she definitely could feel the effects. Never would she be weak, never.

The hostage spoke with a strained voice and weakly struggled against her capture. "Shut up," the woman growled, momentarily tightening her hold.

"I have no reason to trust you," she hissed at Mamoru. "You dress just like them", the woman said, spitting the last word out with a venomous tone. The Tarans dared to use her brother as bait in order to capture her, Sailor Vegeta. No one would be willing to rescue her or her brother. These people must have some ulterior motive.

"Your word is worth nothing to me."

Frieza would likely feel affronted by the Tarans and would retaliate, but not because of her. He would take her capture as a stain on his pride. If anything, she would feel hell once she returned to Frieza's home base. Her people? They didn't think she would be worth the effort to rescue. She was a sailor senshi, after all, and her brother was a disgrace.

"Where is my brother?" She brought her hand with the glowing fingertips closer to the other woman's temple. The hairs were close enough to be signed, the skin was close enough to feel the heat.

Togarisii breathed in quickly, making a hissing noise though her teeth as Sailor Vegeta’s hand advanced on her.

“Hold on,” Mamoru beseeched, understanding the woman’s confusion over his appearance but hoping to stall the warrior before she destroyed someone, especially as that someone was his only contact on this ship; his only hope to saving Usako and the others. “No, you have no reason to trust me – “

“Just as we had no reason to set you free,” Togarisii hissed, apparently unable to keep quiet. “We should’ve left her in the tank, hero!” she added, leaning as far as she could away from the glowing, hot hand. Her cap fell to the floor with the movement.

“Wait,” Mamoru said preemptively, keeping calm, knowing that such a comment might set the angry girl off. Otherwise he chose to ignore the Taran’s interruption. “You have no reason to trust me,” he repeated, “but I am speaking truthfully. Drop my guide and you can leave. Good luck with finding your brother, Sailor Vegeta.”

He hoped this tactic would work.

Unfortunately, it was obvious that neither the man nor the woman knew where her brother was being held. If they did know, they likely would have used the knowledge as a bargaining chip for the woman's life. She huffed at their apparent lack of usefulness and figured that the only way she would find her brother was on her own. Why had they set her free? Neither of them had called for reinforcements, sounded an alarm, or tried to use a weapon or skill to take her down. They were at a disadvantage or they would have attacked her by now or retaliated in some capacity.

"You have run my patience very thin, woman!" She barked. The hostage nearly caused the captor to act rashly. The glowing energy did connect with the hostage's head, but Mamoru's words caused her to still and remove her hand. "Never call me by that title, boy!" She hissed at Mamoru.

"How do I know you will not sound the alarm as soon as you have the opportunity?" If he did speak the truth, they would not sound the alarm, because it would call attention to them. She had never been a very trusting person, but the odds were in her favor. "Why set me free only to let me walk away?"

She seemed to be tormented for a moment, apparently unsure what action to take. Finally, with a loud, agitated growl, she shoved Togarisii away. "The workers will be here soon," she said more calmly. The energy had not dissipated. Now, she trailed both Mamoru and Togarisii with her hand. Although she had let her hostage go, it appeared that the sailor senshi still did not trust her rescuers. "You never answered; do you know where my brother is?" Why set her free only to let her walk away?

Tuxedo Mask internally sighed as the stranger dropped the Taran, but outwardly showed the same stoic stance, keeping her gaze as he casually put a hand on his hip.

Togarishi stepped quickly away from the warrior, cautiously shrugging her shoulders and stretching her neck to return feeling to it. Casually, as if to draw her short hair out of her face, she felt area near where the energized hand strayed, frowning as she found the skin to be slightly burned, feeling stretched and almost raw. She looked disgruntled towards the stranger, then turned her gaze back to Mamoru, her hands dropping to her hips in casual displeasure. “She’s right; those two were near the end of their shift, but when their replacements get here and notice what happened they won’t be happy about it. Then again,” she looked thoughtfully at a glowing screen on the wall and approached hurriedly, pouring over the information written in her native tongue.

She was pointedly ignoring the Vegeta-girl’s question, Mamoru realized, watching her carefully. Did the mechanic know where to find the girl’s brother? Was she keeping the information a secret from them, or was she just being difficult after the choke-hold and near-death experience? Or did she truly not know? He wished he knew a little more about his ally.

And wished she didn’t keep the easily-angered stranger waiting.

“Look, after those two, there was just one more crew due in before we enter deep-space. Their job was just to make sure the room was shut down.” She turned around, a victorious smile on her face and a gleam in her eye, “Just as I had thought. This one powered aft-lasers,” she nodded towards the warrior, “so there was no need to keep her in service until we get back to Taran. … Or they decide to take on another planet on their way back, but now that they have their “super weapon,” that’s highly unlikely. They’ll want to return as soon as possible, receive their awards, and get to work on the plan.”

“So,” the woman concluded, “I’ll just pretend to be a goody two-shoes and tell the next crew that I shut her down for them. No need for them to even enter the room, which gives you two more time to find who you’re looking for.” She returned her attention to the panel and pressed a few buttons, apparently writing a note to the intended crewmen.

“Just a second,” Mamoru interrupted, “‘you two’? You said you were going to help me.” He approached her, speaking softly. “I thought I could count on you.”

“What?” she questioned offhandedly, looking up only quickly as her hands clicked unknown characters, “Oh, yeah. Slip of the tongue there, hero, my bad. Sure I’ll keep helping you, for a while anyway. We’ve managed to make this little escapade invisible, but they’ll notice when I don’t show up for my shift.” She turned, “by then, I’m sure you’ll’ve found a few of your girls, no worries.”

“And what about her brother? What do you know about him?” he asked, louder this time so that the waiting warrior could hear him this time.

“What?” she looked up, “why should I help her? She nearly killed me.” Her statement sounded final, her blue eyes returning to the screen with an eyebrow arched in incredulity at being asked to assist.

He stared at her, his eyes hard.

Seconds passed, but finally she relented. “Fine. I’ll look into it, okay?” she looked back over her shoulder at the warrior from Vegeta. “I don’t know where your brother is, but I might be able to help you, too. You’re from Vegeta, right? I’ll need a few of his stats to find him, if they have him registered at all within the system.” She looked back to the screen and motioned for the girl to approach with two fingers. “Me and my hobbies,” she muttered.

A new field opened on the screen in a configuration that looked like a personnel form. Try as he may, Mamoru just couldn’t figure out the letters. … though he was pretty sure he had decoded the vowel system.

Togarishi tapped on the touch screen, filling out one field and pausing as she clicked the next, “from Vegeta, male – what was his age? I also need height, approximate weight, skin tone, hair color, eye color, any scars or other unique features. And a name – they might’ve filled out the bottom field…”

This situation was so aggravating! She felt her patience stretched to the limit. Who in the hells knew what her brother was going through right now while she pussy-footed around. She should have killed the man and woman off long ago and found him by herself. The woman knew something about her brother, the female saiyan was almost certain. How dare that woman hide information from her!

Growling low in her throat, she poorly tried to contain her anger. As Mamoru and Togarishi conversed, the sailor senshi from the planet Vegeta simmered in her anger and impatience. She ignored their words, but watched their ever movement. That is, until she heard the man mention her brother. She began listening intently. "If I remember correctly, you imprisoned me first." Yes, Togarishi was being held responsible for the collective actions of her race.

Togarishi mentioned her ability to look for her brother on the computer's database. Her patience had paid off! "Finally, you turn out to be useful, woman." She approached the console that Togarishi was typing information into. That was as close to a 'thank you' that Togarishi was going to receive.

The energy collected around her fingers finally dissipated. "Tobias, his name is Tobias." An odd name for a saiyan, but she hadn't picked it out. "He's 25 with black hair and blue eyes." She appeared thoughtful for a moment, but then shook her head. "I don't know his weight. Hell, I don't even know mine."

With a mirthful laugh, she said "we both work for Frieza. We're covered in scars." The brown belt around her waist uncurled. "A tail, all saiyans have tails." It wavered in the air for a moment before firmly curling around her waist. Finally, she said with a shrug, "we're identical twins. He looks like me, but a little taller with short hair."

Togarishi skipped around, filling out certain lines and leaving others blank, mumbling to herself as she went, “25, black hair, blue eyes, about…” she turned and gave the Vegetan a critical glance and guessed at a height, threw the number down and moved on, “covered in scars, tail.”

So many questions flew through Mamoru’s mind as he stared at the girl, absorbing the new information. He had imagined fleetingly that the three scars across her cheek had happened by accident, something not to be spoken of, as it would have been back home. But the laugh she had used when addressing them suggested she might even be proud of the trio… just who was this ‘Frieza’ she worked for? Before he could ponder much further or stop to ask a question, her belt unfurled and his eyes very nearly popped out of his head. A tail? She had a tail?!

Now he wasn’t there for a lot of what happened in the battle against Galaxia, but during his time in the Cauldron he was pretty sure he hadn’t run across a senshi with those particulars.

Realizing that he was staring, he glanced away quickly, looking back at the screen and perusing it as though he understood the characters and was following what the mechanic typed.

“Tobias,” Togarishi finished in the final field. “Twins, eh? I wonder if he ever mentioned that to anyone – it would’ve raised his price considerably. He might even be a status item, now,” she mused, pressing two buttons successively. The panel made two clicks, then the screen changed to a long list of names that constantly flashed in and out as the computer scrolled down a list. At the same time, a piece of paper printed from a slat in the wall beside the screen. Togarishi took the piece of paper thoughtlessly and stuffed it into her pants’ pocket. She turned to face them both, looking at each in turn in a curious fashion, as if both wanting to know more about them and wondering at their closeness. “It’s searching,” she said with a shrug, “it’ll beep when it’s done. Might take a minute or two – we’ve got close to a thousand “passengers” on board.”

Mamoru nodded absently. A thousand ‘passengers’ meant one thousand people they had taken from their homes. His hand balled into a fist at the information, at the frustration and rage at what had been allowed to happen. How had they managed to overcome senshi abilities, to outdo the planetary guardians so effectively that this operation had succeeded even once? The futility of his situation returned and he relaxed his grip. Perhaps he would find out the particulars, he thought, looking at the casually-stanced Taran. Either way, they would set things right.

An idea came to him, “Would you be able to find my friends on this system?” he asked, nodding back to the screen with a sliver of hope, “I know everything about them – all that you asked of her and more.”

Togarishi offered him a weak smile, “Sorry, hero. They don’t have any data in yet for your planet. You just got here – our census workers will start going through the citizens sometime after we exit your system. As for the senshi… well, their powers are analyzed and they’re just assigned to their positions. Each would be identified simply by their planet – ‘Earth’ ‘Saturn’ or ‘Neptune’ in this case, just as she was simply ‘Vegeta;’ and that labeling wouldn’t be entered into the system for some time.” She shrugged, “We’ll just have to content ourselves with searching the old fashioned way.”

The computer beeped.

Togarishi turned quickly, scanning the data.

Mamoru watched along; though his hope for expediently finding his own friends was dead, his hope for this strange soldier, probably far from her home, stubbornly stayed alive.

“Well…” the mechanic breathed out, “he’s not with the others we picked up. That means it leaked that he’s related to you and has been adopted, probably by one of the higher ranking officials on the ship as we haven’t touched back down in about two months.” She turned to face the Vegetan and shrugged. “I can give you the general direction and floor…”

“Or,” Mamoru broke in, looking the Vegetan warrior in the eye, “you could come with us.” Thinking their situations through, he elaborated the reasoning, “I’m searching for my friends, other senshi from my system. If you choose to come with us, we can get you farther through the ship with minimal risk of being detected.”

“Hero…” Togarishi warned cautiously, glancing at him.

“She’s just like you and me – black hair, blue eyes. If you can hide me, you can hide her, too, right? And you saw her earlier, if we get into trouble she can help, transformed or not. If we’re heading her way, we might as well bring her with us. It’d be a symbiotic relationship. What do you say, senshi?”

Now that she knew she was getting somewhere on the search for her brother, she felt a little more at ease. Of course, the information could always be faulty, but she would have to trust what information Togarishi gave her. She had nothing else to go on. Hell, come to think of it, she didn't even know the layout of the ship. "Is there a map of the ship on that computer?"

Then, she noticed that the male was eyeing her. He seemed surprised and maybe a little baffled. She eyed him critically, "what are you staring at, boy?" The other saiyans had given her the same look when they saw her transform into Sailor Vegeta for the first time. It wasn't a look that she liked, but she was used to it, sorta.

So, the male was looking for his friends, too? That might be useful information later on, so she tried to remember it, but she would be parting from him soon, so she had little incentive to care.

The computer produced the results she had been hoping for. Thankfully, Tobias was alive, but she wouldn't have expect anything less of him. For a moment, had a hard time hiding how relieved she felt at hearing Togarishi's words, but quickly she hid her emotions. "Adopted, what do you mean by that?" Working for Frieza for so many years only caused her to think of the worst. There were things far worse than being a slave...

Togarishi offered to give her some general directions. "I'll take whatever information you can give me." Before she could offer more information, the male interrupted and offered his assistance. She seemed hesitant to take him up on his offer, but she did consider it. He was right and be damned, Tobias would be the only one she would set aside her pride for.

"I said, don't call me by that title." The sailor senshi growled. "My name is Gochi." Another moment passed, then Gochi sighed and shook her head. "Fine, fine."

She would set aside her pride for her brother and work with these fools, but Tobias would sure as hell pay for it later. As soon as he was safe with her and they were out of this hell-hole. "I'll work with you, but only until we find my brother and get off this ship."

She didn’t want to be called ‘senshi’? It was an impersonal title, to be sure, but the malice in her voice suggested the word was an insult. He made note of her name, Gochi, and that of her brother, Tobias; in a situation like this, knowing one’s name was a key step to mutual trust. He nodded at her acceptance, glad to have someone like her on their side, accepting, too, the stipulation she placed on their relationship – ‘until we find my brother and get off this ship.’ He didn’t want to bring it up just then, but depending on the number of emergency ships available, they might have to stick together a little longer after their escape.

He stuck out his hand in partnership, “Mamoru Chiba, also known as Tuxedo Mask. I hold the sailor crystal of Earth.”

“Nice to put a name to the face, but I might just keep calling you ‘hero.’” The mechanic shrugged. “While you too “make nice”, I’ll go find her a uniform.” She walked over to the broken machine and scooped her hat up off the ground and put it back on, arranging her fluffy hair to get it out of her eyes before she stalked off towards the entrance. “Don’t leave the room,” she cautioned, looking back at them as she opened the door a crack, giving Gochi a once-over as if to affirm something in her mind. Then she left.

As the silence fell after the door shut, Mamoru remembered a question that came up earlier… pointedly ignoring the tail-factor. “So… who is Frieza?”

The male had a name, Mamoru Chiba. Gochi had never met another sailor senshi before, so was only mildly surprised to find out that a male could be a sailor senshi. She had never heard of Earth before, so assumed it was neither in her quadrant nor had Frieza 'visited' it yet. "I've never heard of Earth."

She looked down at his offered hand and did not make a move to take it. The female saiyan looked quizzically at Mamoru, than at his hand, and sniffed dismissively. Weird foreign customs...

Togarishi left the room, presumably to find a uniform that would fit Gochi. She wasn't thrilled about the idea, because she much preferred to wear her armor. Judging by the uniform the over two were wearing, the saiyan armor would provide more protection. The uniform better not have a skirt.

Gochi had planned on staying quiet throughout the entire time that Togarishi was gone and she was left alone with Mamoru. Unfortunately, Mamoru wanted some of his own questions answered. He asked who Frieza was. "You do not know of Frieza?" Gochi asked, dismayed at his ignorance. "He is the galactic emperor of the northern quadrant of the universe. He is the true leader of the World Trade Organization; his father, King Cold, is only a figure head."

Just talking about him caused negative emotions to rise in her. A low growl bubbled out of her throat and her fists tightened. "He's a sadistic, power-hungry bastard who will stop at nothing to become the most powerful." Her fists unclenched and she sighed, looking at the ground. "I'm one of his employees," she said the last word with a hint of sarcasm and irony. "Pray you never meet him. That day would be your last."

When his hand wasn’t taken, Gochi looking at it strangely, Mamoru returned it to his side cooly, reminding himself that customs aren’t the same everywhere. Take the French, for example. She seemed surprised of his unawareness towards this “Frieza” character, and the more he heard of him, the less he liked. Galactic emperor? World Trade Organization? Sadistic and power hungry… and Gochi appeared to hate him, even as she admitted to working for him.

“What exactly does he do to gain power?” he asked cautiously, his voice hard as he wondered if once they got through this mess they’d have another immediate problem in their future, besides the Black Moon clan.

Gochi quickly got over her dismay that Mamoru had never heard of Frieza, because she knew that ignorance couldn't last for long. She didn't know when, but, of course, he or someone else from his family would find Earth. He'd take it for everything it was worth, just like always. Spreading pain and hunger wherever he went, all for profit.

"In terms of wealth, he finds a profitable planet and offers them a 'carrot.' If that doesn't work, the planet is purged of all its inhabitants. The end goal is always profit."

Although she was certain he would ask and she wouldn't be afraid to confirm his suspicions, Gochi did not mention that her job as Frieza's employee was to perform the purges. She wasn't ashamed of what she did, but Gochi was aware of the social stigma attached to her duties. It wasn't like she had a choice in the matter. It was kill or be killed. She only was valuable to Frieza as long as she killed and purged in order to stay alive.

"In terms of physical strength..." Gochi sighed and shook her head. "I haven't even see someone put up enough of a challenge to cause him to achieve his final transformation." Frieza was also backed by the physical strength of others: the Ginyu Force, Cooler, King Cold, etc. He had a powerful military that did not dare to defy him.

"I've seen him fight, but even I don't fully know what he is capable of. He's manipulative and intelligent."

Gochi knew that she was outclassed, but she still dreamed of surpassing Frieza. Hell, she wasn't even sure if her hope of seeing him one day defeated by someone else was a futile pipe-dream. Maybe...

Mamoru listened carefully, a feeling of deep foreboding overtaking him. If any of his other employees were as talented in one-on-one combat as Gochi, they were in for trouble. What kind of ‘carrot’ did he offer? Did Earth have anything he would want? Was there a way to bargain with him, to strike some sort of deal, and, if so, would it be worth it to treaty with someone who killed thousands for personal wealth? Someone as powerful as that… he would rather Usako not have to fight him. … or Chibi-Usa, if he came farther into the future. A pain sparked at his heart at the thought of their daughter having to face such a threat within her lifetime.

If only someone would defeat him before he found Earth.

“Is there a way I can keep him from finding Earth?” he asked point-blankly.


:
Meanwhile…
“Togarishi?” a male voice asked.

The Therasii stopped and turned, a new set of maintenance clothes under one arm. It was Rukkio, one of her commanders, the Tesani badge shining brightly on his chest and a look of disapproving curiosity on his face. “What?” she returned. From the very beginning they knew she wasn’t one to show them much respect, and it was the skill of her work that saved her from being reprimanded.

“What are you doing with that set of blues?” he asked, referencing the uniform.

“New girl on the job just threw up all over herself,” she lied, shrugging and rolling her eyes at the apparent incompetence of the ‘new girl’. “Delicate thing – her uncle’s somehow related to one of the commanders and they sent her here to work on her attitude.”

An eyebrow raised quizzically, “but we’ve been out for months now – surely she’s seen enough to keep her nausea in line?”

“When I say the girl’s squeamish, I mean it, sir,” Togarishi continued, “one whiff of puke and she was gone. Somehow she had made it through the voyage without medical waste cleanup, but today was her unlucky day. I thought I’d help her out and grab her a new set of clothes as she washed off in the restroom.”

“That was uncharacteristically nice of you,” Rukkio commented tauntingly.

“Bite me.” She turned and stalked off.

“Keep up the good work, Togarishi!” he called after her with a chuckle, “And remember that meeting later.”

She raised a hand in farewell, not bothering to glance back at him. She sighed – depending on how Rukkio handled things, she might be in for some teasing later from the guys. She could hear it now – “Oh, Serisii, could you get me a new uniform?” “I seemed to spill something all over myself! Be a good Kersa and get me a new one, will you, Togarishi?” – fools. Ah well, if this worked out the way she thought it might, she’d show them. Mmmm, life support systems running through the good graces of her new technology… how delicious. She’d get so many awards. They might even promote her. How great would it be to have her own workshop?

She turned down a series of hallways and finally stepped back into the sailor crystal machine room. Closing the door behind her, she stayed quiet – the two seemed to be in a serious discussion. But then, almost anything that man did looked serious so she couldn’t be sure. They could be discussing the weather for all she knew. Holding the maintenance clothes under one arm until they finished, she mentally congratulated herself for carrying a hair tie with her – that Vegetan needed something to hold her hair back, especially if she was to pretend to work in maintenance division.

Mamoru was obviously very unsettled by the news, as Gochi knew he would be. Only a fool would believe he could take on a powerful foe, such as Frieza, without some fear and trepidation. He asked point-blank if there was anything he could go to keep Frieza from finding the Earth and attempting to sell it for profit. She sighed, knowing there was little he could do. She had worked for Frieza long enough to know.

Gochi shook her head, "No, not really." The planet Vegeta had momentarily escaped the fate of being sold, but only because the saiyan race was an excellent source of labour and military strength. In actuality, they might not have escaped anything... Frieza would kill them as soon as the saiyans posed a threat. The conditions were deplorable. Yes, she called herself an 'employee,' but there was a reason she did so sarcastically.

"You can prepare. He hasn't found Earth, yet." Or hope that someone else kills him beforehand, she thought.

Out of the corner of her ear, Gochi heard someone approaching the door to the room. She tensed. The discussion was interrupted when Togarishi stepped back into the room with the clothing. Gochi relaxed and approached Togarishi. Knowing the clothes were for her, the female saiyan took them from Togarishi without a word. For a moment, she inspected the clothing. Her nose wrinkled in distaste. "These offer little protection."

Perhaps, if it didn't look too awkward, she could get away with wearing the Saiyan armor underneath this disguise. With the clothes in hand, Gochi walked to a corner and began to undress. The protective armor and boots were removed, but the bodysuit remained. Gochi noted with satisfaction that the disguise did not include a skirt. The pants were pulled on first, she paused, and pulled the protective armor back on, then experimentally tried to wear the rest of the disguise over her protective armor.

Perhaps, if it didn't look too awkward, she could get away with wearing the Saiyan armor underneath this disguise. With the clothes in hand, Gochi walked to a corner and began to undress. The protective armor and boots were removed, but the bodysuit remained. Gochi noted with satisfaction that the disguise did not include a skirt. The pants were pulled on first, she paused, and pulled the protective armor back on, then experimentally tried to wear the rest of the disguise over her protective armor.

Mamoru wondered almost hopelessly what they could do to prepare. On the whole, Earth’s technology was nowhere near what it would take to fend off any attack from space, let alone one as all-encompassing as this Frieza threat hinted to be. Their only chance would be if the villain overlooked them for a few hundred years, until Crystal Tokyo was in full swing and the peace afforded the time and finances required to advance their planetary defenses. He was about to question whether Gochi could offer any hint as to where Frieza’s territory began, and how far away from Earth it was, when Togarishi returned and the Vegetan claimed her disguise. The attire Togarishi brought back for the warrior differed in color from theirs, suggesting a different post or set of duties. As the warrior took her clothes away from them for privacy, he turned to the mechanic.

“Everything go well?” he asked conversationally, biding time until the warrior was dressed, forcefully putting all thoughts of the mysterious threat of Frieza from his mind. He could do nothing about that now, or ever, as the case may be, and he needed to focus entirely upon his mission.

“Yeah. So-so, anyway,” the mechanic shrugged, “I was stopped by one of my higher-ups and had to devise a story. It made okay sense, so we’ll stick with it.”

She looked beyond him and cocked an eyebrow, apparently watching the actions of the dressing senshi. Mamoru felt a little uncomfortable at this, but his discomfort eased as Togarishi called over, “That’s a pretty smart idea. The baggy shirt should hide that chest plate nicely; if you wanted to keep wearing those glove-things we’ll just add a little more onto your character – make you a germaphobe or something.” She looked up thoughtfully, “Actually, that’s not such a bad idea. I told my superior you were assigned to maintenance as punishment – a ‘character building activity’ you could call it. You’re the niece of someone of importance and are squeamish around puke. I think I might’ve called you ‘delicate’, but the bit I told him about an attitude problem should excuse you from pretty much anything.

“In any case,” she continued, “if we’re stopped at all, anywhere, let me do the talking. The less interaction they have with you two, the better. You about ready there, Gochi?”

The outfit was simple and Gochi had never cared about her appearance, so she finished dressing quickly. She smirked with self-satisfaction when Togarishi commented on the cleverness of the female saiyan's attire. Her smirk faded when Togarishi called her a name, a germaphobe. "I'm a what?" The irritation and suspicion was clear in her voice. She didn't like being called names, especially being called names she didn't understand.

Togarishi explained the situation and the clever background she had been forced to devise for Gochi. Not a single word of the background was flattering, in Gochi's personal opinion. She would not play the part of a weak, simpering female. She was a strong Saiyan warrior, dammit! "What did you say," Gochi snarled, her tone clearly expressing that she was not asking a question.

"I'm a saiyan warrior; not a delicate female," she hissed, throwing the gloves down to the floor. Well, the attitude problem would excuse Gochi's real attitude problem and the less she talked, the less she had to act contrary to her beliefs and true nature. "I will stay quiet and I will not interact with the other people on this ship, but damn this all to hell if I act weak and delicate."

She kicked the gloves up with the front of her boot, pointed a finger, and incinerated the gloves, the one part of her former outfit she would not be wearing and which could not be left behind. The dust scattered. Crossing her arms over her chest and looking truly disgruntled, but cooperative. She said "let's get this over with. Lead the way."

Mamoru smiled at Gochi’s outburst against female frailty and appreciated the solidness of his new ally. He nodded his own readiness to Togarishi and the shorter mechanic lead the way out of the room, slipping through the doors respectfully but not exactly covertly. It made sense though – don’t act guilty and people won’t think you are. Mamoru kept his head up as he walked, glancing around with apparent disinterest as he absorbed what he could about the layout. The walls of the corridors were painted a light burnt orange; the floor had a polished black surface that almost reflected their image as they walked. Lining the floor and ceiling were strings of bright light, the lower line less bright than the top and had the apparent use as emergency lighting. Every so often were display panels, almost identical to the one Togarishi used during her search of the ship, but most were left alone but for the occasional crewman who tapped something quickly before walking off. Perhaps checking messages? He wondered if the two men due in to shut Sailor Vegeta’s station down had received Togarishi’s note… but supposed they would find out soon enough if they hadn’t.

They turned down another hallway, and another, winding their way through the ship with ease, never stopped, never questioned. Once, a crewman dressed in a black jumpsuit paused as if to say something, but one look at Togarishi’s face and his mouth shut quickly. He waved in a manner that was too-friendly and promptly walked off. “Idiot,” the mechanic muttered.

With a final turn they entered a long hallway, lit just like the rest of them, but for the far wall. That was speckled with hundreds of stars.

‘Space,’ Mamoru thought, the realization finally hitting home, ‘We’re really in space…’ he paused to stare at the window, watching as some stars slowly moved, his perception of them changing as the ship sped forward. Where were they now? How fast was the ship moving? It had taken only hours to get from Saturn to Earth, and then that teleport maneuver it made… were they even within the Solar System anymore?

Togarishi cleared her throat, standing beside a door with a string of illegible characters above it.

That must be it. He moved to catch up with her, standing just behind so that when the door opened, it was clear that she was his supervisor. But what about Gochi? How would she react to all of this? He hoped they could get through this encounter, truly as many encounters as possible, with stealth like the first, without resorting to a violent attack that could alert the entire ship as to their doings.

Togarishi glanced meaningfully at Gochi, as if thinking the same thing.

With her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face, Gochi followed behind Togarishi and next to Mamoru. True to her word, she stayed quiet and did not verbally invite confrontation. Her face was surprisingly clear of emotion, even though she must be unhappy with the situation at-hand. She knew to play her part while her group was amongst the Tarans and the ship's crewmen. No, she wasn't going to act the part of a weak, simpering female, but she would be sure not to invite any suspicion or draw attention.

The training she had endured for more than a decade kicked in, as it always did. Great attention was given to the layout of the ship. Gochi made sure to note any possible exits and, in turn, non-exits. Although she likely would not be able to use them if the possibility arose, she also noted the location of the control panels. She took notice of the physical features of the people around her, including distinctive clothing and facial features. The information might be valuable later. None seemed to have the distinctive walk and stature of a fighter.

Based upon the few interactions they, as a group, were forced to encounter, Togarishi commanded a degree of respect among her fellow crewmen; Mamoru, on the other hand, enjoyed no such thing. Then again, the way he acted made him appear to be a fool or a new person, ignorant of the appropriate social customs, to the other crewmen. Gochi shook her head and scoffed.

Gochi did not bat an eye when they turned the corner and entered a long hallway lined with clear windows that allowed a spectacular view of space. She had lived the majority of her life in space, traveling to and purging vastly different planets inhabited by a myriad of races and species different from her own. They stopped in front of a door. Gochi silently wondered if Tobias was inside, but she had her doubts. Considering that Mamoru and Togarishi likely valued her for her fighting prowess, Gochi figured that they would put off finding her brother for awhile. Or at least until Mamoru found whoever he was looking for.

The Taran opened the door and stepped through, glancing at the tank for a moment as if bored before turning her eyes on the attendants behind the panel. “This is a new one, right?” she asked on her way over to them, “how’s she doing?”

Mamoru followed her through, his eyes immediately finding the chamber and locking there. Within, a tall young woman floated as if sleeping. Her long brown hair drifting about her in the currents of the cell, locked in place by a green-orbed ponytail holder; her short green skirts and pink ribbons wafted gently in the watery substance lit from behind, her sailor collar providing a frame for her unconscious face. It was Sailor Jupiter.

“Eh, just fine,” one technician commented offhandedly, “she’s almost ready for the journey now.”

“We’ve decided to link her in with the defensive system,” the other tech offered with a wide smile evident in his voice as Mamoru approached the chamber, staring up at Jupiter’s inert form. “Watch out there, mechanic! She may look peaceful, but this one put up one hell of a fight!”

“Really?” Mamoru turned his attention to the black-haired, blue-eyed man, mentally wondering how these people could stand such monotony in appearance. Everyone had black hair and blue eyes – how uninteresting. But this new information provided him with a bit of hope and amusement – how like Jupiter to not go down without a fight.

“Yeah – she woke up before the claw could get her and attacked it viciously. She’s got electricity on her side, you know; it almost fried the system it was so powerful. We had to hold back to make sure it wouldn’t cause a malfunction and check the surge protectors, and what does she do? You’d think she would run for it, right?” the technician paused, as if for dramatic effect, glancing now towards Gochi, “But no! She moves back into the middle of the mess, towards the blonde one, screaming something as if it would wake her up! We used a tactical shot to knock her out and caught her mid-run.”

“We figured that with a spirit like that, the defense system would be the best place to link her with,” the other finished.

Togarishi grunted appreciatively, “That she survived the blast and made it out conscious is pretty impressive.”

“You bet it is,” the more enthusiastic of the technicians agreed. “It’ll be nice to work with her, I think.”

“Yeah, probably,” the mechanic agreed hurriedly, shrugging, “she almost ready then? I’m supposed to double check systems, so if you two wanted to get out early I’ll finish up here for you.”

“Just finished, actually. System’s powered down.”

“Great. See you later, guys. Get over here – “ Togarishi paused, looking over at Mamoru with some confusion, “— Hiro, so I can show you how this is done. And don’t even think about leaving, girlie, your job isn’t done yet.”

Mamoru hid a smile as he passed the completely-fooled exiting technicians; Togarishi had forgotten his name and called the volatile Gochi a name she would probably find offense with. As the door closed behind them he stopped, thinking that calling him over was part of the cover, but the mechanic waved him over still. He stood with her behind the computer-operated panels.

“Pay attention – I’m going to show you how this is done. Gochi, be a dear and catch the poor senshi as she falls, okay?” she turned back to Mamoru, her eyes focused on him, possibly in an attempt to shield off any retaliation, “I figured you’d want to set her free whether she’s with you or not, right?”

He nodded. “She is with me – Sailor Jupiter, senshi of protection.”

“Cute,” Togarishi muttered as if not listening, looking down at the panels and pointing out the exact sequence to use to deactivate the machine after rerouting the power options. After three minutes of instruction, Mamoru pressed the final release, and water started to drain out of the tank. Once the water was gone, the tank opened from the side and Eternal Sailor Jupiter started to fall.

Gochi followed through the door after Togarishi and Mamoru. The room had a similar set-up to the room she had just came from. Another sailor senshi would be housed here, without a doubt. She didn't know if they were going to rescue every sailor senshi they came across. The female saiyan hoped not, because the larger the group... the harder it would be to stay unnoticeable.

Held in the tank was a woman dressed in a green and white sailor senshi uniform similar to Gochi's own, but that was more embellished. Leaning forward slightly to get a better view of the tag, Gochi read "Sailor Jupiter." The worker began to talk about the difficulties his group had in subduing Sailor Jupiter. Gochi smirked inwardly once she had heard the story. This female warrior had put up a fight and her electricity-based powers sounded particularly useful. The woman's body was well-toned, but obviously Sailor Jupiter did not put herself through as intense of a health regime as Gochi. Still, Gochi figured the woman would be more useful than the typical cannon fodder.

The group of workers prepared to move on to a different location while Togarishi prepared to free Sailor Jupiter from her confines. Get over here – “ Togarishi paused, looking over at Mamoru with some confusion, “— Hiro, so I can show you how this is done. And don’t even think about leaving, girlie, your job isn’t done yet.” Gochi looked angered and offended at Togarishi's choice words. Her lips tightened, but she stayed silent until the group of workers left.

"Bitch," she muttered, loud enough for Togarishi and Mamoru to hear. She walked toward the tank and waited for the tank to drain. After a few minutes passed, the procedure completed. The tank opened, Sailor Jupiter fell free, still unconscious. Gochi easily caught the sailor senshi and lowered her to the ground. Unlike the fools who had rescued her, Gochi knew to be prepared for Sailor Jupiter to attack. Logically, the last thing Sailor Jupiter would have done would have been to fight the Tarans. So, taking logic a step further, she would be prepared to fight the Tarans once she was released.

A few moments passed and Sailor Jupiter's eyes fluttered open. She groaned low in her throat and appeared slightly dazed. The haze cleared as soon as she saw Gochi, dressed in the working uniform of a Taran. "You!" Sailor Jupiter hissed, reacting instinctively. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Prepared for such actions, Gochi easily caught Sailor Jupiter's extended fist.

Sailor Jupiter seemed surprised that she was so easily countered. She had been expecting for the punch to land, which would have given her enough time to back away and prepare another electric-based attack. But that wasn't her biggest concern. Sailor Jupiter's biggest concern was that her Sparkling Wide Pressure hadn't worked. Not even a single spark of electricity had gathered in her fist!

During Sailor Jupiter's moment of confusion, Gochi said, "Look around."

Sailor Jupiter scurried backwards when Gochi let go of her fist. She quickly jumped to her feet and, indeed, looked around. She was surprised to see, "Mamoru?" A wide smiled broadened across her face and she rushed toward him. "What's going on! Where are we?" No one else was here. Where were the others? A breath hitched in her throat and she looked sick with worry. Ami, Minako, Rei... Usagi. "Where are the others?"

He met her halfway.

“Makoto--,” Mamoru started, barely able to continue seeing the worry etched on her features. He offered the best encouraging smile he could, awkwardly attempting to comfort her by holding her upper arms loosely, his own spirit feeling immensely lighter at her presence. Someone he knew, someone he trusted; it would all work out. They would find and rescue everyone, and things would be okay. “Makoto, we’re in space. The enemy was too strong – we were captured and separated, but everyone should be fine. We just have to find them.

“These people, the Tarans, they use star seeds as an energy source; Sailor Crystals are nothing more than giant batteries to them. That’s why they invaded Earth – to get our Crystals. Neptune and the others should be safe as well, that’s why the battles were over so quickly. They probably used the same attack on them as they used on us.” His sentences and thoughts were sporadic, something that hardly ever happened to the usually calm and cool man, but there was so much to say. He just hoped Jupiter was understanding everything, as much as there was, and as little as he truly knew. He took a deep breath, “They set me free, thinking that the seeking machine had malfunctioned because they had never run into a male crystal holder before, and I managed to escape the holding cells where they keep others captured from Tokyo. Motoki and Shingo planned the escape,” he added, knowing of the girl’s fondness for the arcade owner, hoping his intent to save them, as well, came through with his intonation.

It was only then that he broke eye-contact with the green-eyed girl, letting go of her as he thought to introduce their companions. “This,” he said, motioning to the Taran, “Is Togarishi. She’s one of them – a mechanic – but she’s on our side. She’s helping us shut down the machines and rescue everyone; she also got us these disguises and is keeping attention away from us. And this,” he now motioned to Gochi behind them, “is Gochi, the senshi of the planet Vegeta,” he phrased his words carefully as to avoid the trigger word ‘Sailor’, hoping the more gender-neutral term would suffice. “We rescued her first, and she’s agreed to help us so long as we help her find her brother.”


At her introduction, Serisii Togarishi swiped along the brim of her baseball company cap in greeting, a casual sign that she was known for. So, they had found one of his crew at last, she mused to herself. Hiding this one wouldn’t be so easy – brown hair? Green eyes? Green eyes were seen occasionally in both Therasii and Kersa children, but it either browned or blued out as they grew. And such long brown hair… how was she going to pull this one off?

She couldn't help but smile though as she remembered, "So, you took on and took out the finder for a bit when it tried to grab you, eh?"

OOC:

Mamoru probably had no idea how happy Sailor Jupiter was to see him safe. The last thing she remember clearly was the battle against the invaders. The memories Sailor Jupiter had of being captured were less clear and those memories told her nothing about where the others were located. What had happened? They could be hurt, free, captured, dead, or worse.

Then she felt Mamoru touch and hold her upper arms. Her wandering thoughts momentarily halted as he began to speak. "Space?" She whispered. Sailor Jupiter had been in space before, several times before, actually. It still felt a little weird each time. Mamoru spoke reassuringly, which caused her to feel a little better. Then he mentioned why they were in space on a ship. "What?" she exclaimed, slightly breathless. Her eyes narrowed and disgust sprawled across her face. "That's so wrong! They can't do that," she protested. The Sailor Senshi were worth more than a pile of batteries.

Before he anger could stew, Mamoru introduced the people that accompanied him. "It is nice to meet you." Sailor Jupiter said, bowing appropriately. "Thank you." She was surprised to learn that one of Mamoru's friends was a sailor senshi, but her surprise was short lived. Sailor Jupiter knew that other sailor senshi were out there.

Gochi nodded in Sailor Jupiter's direction when she was introduced, but said nothing. Togarishi seemed friendly and even impressed by Sailor Jupiter's battle with the finder. Sailor Jupiter smiled broadly and nodded. She flexed an arm muscle, "I'm stronger than I look, eh?"

Gochi restrained her tongue, but she almost quipped that Sailor Jupiter couldn't be that strong if she had been captured. Her tongue was only restrained, because Gochi knew that she too had been captured by the Tarans. Not only that, but she had failed and let her brother be captured. Yeah, she held her tongue.