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September, 2011
"Wow, so it's really true, then? Aliens did crash into the Pacific Ocean?"
Nix nodded to her classmate as she picked up a small device from her desk. "Yep. My father's company was contracted to help make these. They won't even come out on the market for another six months," she replied, handing the device to the other girl. It was roughly the size of a credit card and about twice as thick. "They're programmed to work only for their owners. When it's owner isn't holding it, it goes blank."
Juliet watched in amazement as the device in her hand turned white. It looked like just a piece of plastic, when a moment ago, it had been blue and there had been a message on one side. "That is so cool, but ... what is it?"
Nix chuckled as she took the device back and opened it. She turned it so the other girl could see the display screen and number keys. "It's a cell phone. They say they don't even need towers to send signals because they're tied into the satellite network."
"How incredibly cool! You'll have to tell me when I can actually go buy one of those."
"Six months, silly. Or longer if they don't get all the bugs worked out." Nix replaced the device on the desk and grinned. "So, tell me, what else did I miss by not going to class today?"
Juliet rolled her eyes as she dug into her bookbag and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Only some of the teachers claiming the whole alien thing was a hoax, while others pretended that nothing had happened. Oh, and Ms. Sakuma came by the school today."
"Aw, man. If I had known she was going to be there, I would have gone. Did she have the twins with her?"
"Nope. She left them at home. She just stopped by the school to talk to Hikari, then slipped into the French Class to check on the new teacher."
Nix grinned. "Wanted to make sure her students weren't in the hands of some madman, huh?" She glanced at the paper her friend had given her and frowned. "Math homework? Crap. I don't have my book with me."
"Use mine. I already have mine done. And no, you can't see it." Juliet grinned at her friend as she stretched out on the other girl's bed. It was habit that the two girls, who had been friends since the very first day of High School, would go to Nix's house after school to do homework and watch TV until Juliet's grandmother got off of work. When the weekends rolled around, both girls would usually be found coaxing the older woman into letting them get away with anything.
Making a face at her friend, Nix grabbed the book from her friend's bag. "I wouldn't want to see it, anyway. I'd actually like to get the answers right." The orange-haired girl easily dodged the pillow that came her way.
"Nix Enize, you take that back. My grades are excellent in math." Juliet grinned as she sat up and pulled her dark brown hair from it's ponytail. "It's English I'm horrible in."
"And you've always spoken the language."
"Just because I speak it doesn't mean I understand all the rules the teachers want me to." Juliet glanced over at the desk as the small phone Nix had shown her started beeping. "Is it supposed to do that?"
The orange-haired girl shrugged, picking up the device. "It does it sometimes. That's one of the 'bugs' they haven't got worked out yet. This is one of the prototypes, so it doesn't do much the way it's supposed to." She flipped the phone open and started laughing. "It's saying I have a message, but ... this phone isn't connected to the network."
"Maybe you should check it and see what it says. Who knows, it could be important."
Chibi StarMaker grinned at the look on Meiya's face. "As all those that are gathered here know, the Kinmokunai Empress relies heavily on the advice of her warriors and protectors and in times of war, when the Council is convened, the decision of the warriors present overrides even Imperial Decree. Meiya Aotani of the Hrrrrunai Empire, you stand before this council charged with treason in a time of war, endangering the lives of over one million Kinmokunai citizens and three counts of murder. What have you to say in your defense?"
Meiya sank into his chair and stared at the images he was seeing. "M-Murder, but I ... who am I accused of murdering?"
Chibi StarHealer stepped forward and glared at the man on the screen. "You are being held responsible for the deaths of a member of the Royal Guard, of your own sister, Fuminori Aotani and of your nephew, Yo-Ichi Aotani."
"But ... Yo-Ichi isn't dead!"
"Yo-Ichi was killed in the crash of Kou Yaten's shuttle. It is only through the magic of this world and the grace of the gods that he was brought back to us," Kakyuu replied. "This much is fact and can be attested to by at least two members of this body."
Meiya glared at the gathered group. As soon as he realized who two of the younger women to Kakyuu's side were, he smirked. "You've made a mistake. There are only two StarLights present for your council, giving you a total of four. Yaten's bastard child isn't a citizen of Kinmoku and Tsu can't be made to take part."
Chibi StarMaker grinned. "Can't be 'made' is right. She's doing this of her own free will. As for 'Kari ... Uncle Yaten married Aunt Jinia almost a year ago. She IS a citizen of Kinmoku."
Meiya's smirk faded. "You can not use my own children against me! I know that much for a fact! It's in your own rules! No child can be made to bring judgement on their parent!"
StarDestroyer smirked. "Then it's a good thing I really am a bastard child, isn't it?"
"Tsuki is not your child, Meiya. Your only child is Usami and she stands here as a witness, of her own free will." Kakyuu allowed a smile to cross her face at the look on Meiya's. "Seems you were right, after all. Too bad for you."
"Meiya Aotani, what say you to the charges being brought against you of treason, endangerment and murder?" Chibi StarMaker watched the older man for several long minutes as data scrolled across the screen in front of him, showing all the evidence that had been collected against him. "If you have nothing to say in your defense, then I call upon this Council to make it's decision."
"W-Wait! Kageshirou, please! I-I-I need t-time to prepare!"
Chibi StarMaker smirked. "I find it hard to believe that you don't have dozens of excuses at hand. You certainly always seemed to have them in the past."
"Maker." Chibi StarFighter glared slightly at the older Senshi, then turned to face Meiya. She watched as realization dawned on the Hrrrrunai man's face as to who she really was.
"B-But you can't be ..."
"It would seem that I can ... uncle." Chibi StarFighter smirked as the older man tried to block him from his mind. "Care to speak in your own defense, or shall I simply show the entire Fleet what's going through your mind?"
Meiya seemed to sink into himself. "Make your decision. There is nothing I can say ..."
Kakyuu sighed, turning to face the six warriors at her side. Formality made her ask each in turn, but she already knew the answer. She glanced back to Meiya as, one by one, they found him guilty of all the charges against him. She felt sorry for the man she had called husband and was glad that Usami had suggested the formality of the Council. The decision was now completely out of the redhead's hands.
Chibi StarMaker watched Usami as the man on the screen turned his attention away from the broadcast. The black-haired girl kept her gaze locked with StarDestroyer. "Second point of order," Chibi StarMaker began, "the Peace Accord with the Hrrrrunai Empire. In accordance with the guidelines laid down at the time of it's signing, it can be dissolved at any time by either Empress, given sufficient evidence that the other Empire has not lived up to it's duties."
Chibi StarFighter nodded slightly as the redhead turned to look at her. "The Hrrrrunai Empress ordered her ships to attack the last Fleet ship that left Kinmoku in the hope of obtaining the location of the rest of the Fleet. She also ordered several ships be built that would be able to reach Earth in a fraction of the time with the goal in mind of destroying what was left of the Kinmokunai Empire and their friends."
Sailor Orion frowned slightly. "This has been rumoured since we left Kinmoku. Do you have proof?"
Chibi Fighter smirked a little as she punched in a series of commands that brought up the data on the ship that had brought them to Earth. She watched the older girl for a moment as she read over the data. It was a show for the Fleet, most of whom hadn't had access to the data on his ship yet, and Orion was playing her part perfectly. Fighter punched in another series of commands and brought up data recovered from Taiki's ship of intercepted transmissions, bearing the mark of the Empress, relayed from the Hrrrrunai homeworld to the attacking ships. "Do you require more evidence?"
Orion glanced at the others, then shook her head. This whole thing was an elaborate show for the Fleet, from deciding Meiya's guilt to ensuring the protection of the Sol System. The decisions had already been made in private and proper precautions put into place, but with this 'meeting' being broadcast, there was the hope that none of the Fleet would dare question the sweeping changes that were about to take place. "No, I do not. Thank you."
"Has the Council reached it's decision?" Kakyuu asked. She listened as they all declared the Accord dissolved and saw Meiya's shoulders slump even more in defeat. The redhead stood from her chair, looking straight at the slumped figure on the screen. "The rest of this meeting does not concern you, Meiya. Royal Guards will be arriving on your ship shortly to take you into custody."
When his screen cut off, she glanced over at Chibi Maker. "I think I shall take over the Council now, Maker." She walked over to Chibi Moon and smiled. Formality required she speak in her native tongue, but she knew the younger woman would be able to pull the meaning behind her words from her mind. "I know that I speak on behalf of all the warriors of the Kinmokunai Empire when I say that Earth and her sister planets are under our protection and always will be."
The two teenage girls stared down at the prototype phone in shock. Even though it wasn't supposed to be connected to the network yet, the phone had connected and shown them the entire meeting of the Warrior's Council. At first they had thought it was a joke, especially when they saw girls from their school standing off to the side as 'witnesses', but as the meeting went on, they easily recognized the voice of 'Meiya'.
Neither girl had been able to understand the language that was being used, but one thing was for sure. They had just had all the proof they needed to believe that aliens were real.
"We ... we don't tell anyone what we saw."
"Agreed. I don't think they'd believe us, anyway."
Moments after the full broadcast ended, Chibi StarMaker left the Flagship and returned to the Av'Nai. There was one more mission to complete before she could turn over the ship to it's new Commander. One more mission to complete before she returned to Earth with her family and put thoughts of outer space at the back of her mind.
Stepping into the teleportation room, she nodded to the gathered group. Noi was standing beside Xan and Mahret, the Beryl look-alike they had rescued from stasis. Once the situation on Earth was explained, both she and Mex had refused to go to the planet, choosing instead to remain in space. Mex was having trouble adjusting, but Mahret was quickly learning the common language of the Fleet from Noi and refreshing her own medical skills with the help of Xan.
Beside the redhead were three men that had travelled to Earth with Urani, two of the Hseti and the half-Vexan, Van. They had all eagerly joined the Guard after learning about Seiya, Yaten and the others. Van had quickly proven to be a capable fighter and the Hseti were, at the very least, intimidating. All three were welcome additions to the Fleet.
The last member of their little group glanced up from checking his weapon and grinned. "Nice show, Commander."
Chibi Maker smirked slightly. "After this is over, you won't ever have to call me that again ... I hope. Heard anything from Meiya's ship?"
Tavek shook his head, sliding the weapon into a holster on his hip. "Not a thing. It's been absolutely silent." He frowned slightly as he watched the redhead slip a Guard uniform on over her fuku. "I don't like it. We should at least be hearing ... something."
Chibi Maker nodded. "If he's quiet, then that means he's up to something. I want you all to be on your guard around him. There's no telling what he's planning for us." She watched as first the Hseti and Van left the ship, then Noi and the two doctors. Grabbing Tavek's arm, the redhead smiled slightly. "Don't do anything stupid, please."
"Like what? Jumping off a cliff?" Tavek grinned at the redhead, then moved to the teleportation device. "Better hurry, Shirou. You might miss all the fun."
Chibi Maker watched him leave the ship, then easily teleported herself onto the bridge of Meiya's vessel. The first thing she noticed was that there was no one there. Frowning, the redhead moved toward the private room Meiya had used to contact Kakyuu. Opening the door, she heard a baby crying. Balling her hands into fists, she made her way into the room and found Lin, lying dead on the floor. Her baby was lying beside her, seemingly uninjured. Picking up the infant, Maker frowned slightly at the child's cat-like appearance. "So your daddy's a Stehe, huh? They can be a bit brutal at times. But you're better off with them than with Meiya anyday. Trust me."
She calmed the child as best she could and made her way back out of the room. The bridge was still empty, as were the halls on several decks as she made her way down and toward the stern. The baby now asleep in her arms, she continued to explore the ship. Beginning to feel very nervous in the silent passageways, she activated her communicator. "'Vek ... where are you guys?"
"Just left the engine room. The ship's been sabotaged, the computers are down, as are outside communications. No sign of the crew."
"Bridge is empty as well. Only people I've seen so far are Lin and her baby. She's dead, I've got the kid." Chibi Maker frowned at the display panel next to her. It was smashed and there were traces of black blood running down the wall. "What the hell happened up here, 'Vek?"
Tavek sighed. "His crew didn't wait for the Guard to show up and took matters into their own hands?"
"Wouldn't break my heart, but we won't know for sure until we find evidence. Preferably a body."
"Then I'm afraid you're in for a dissapointment, child."
Chibi Maker spun at the voice, one hand holding the child close to her, the other raising her Star Yell and aiming for the black-haired man that had managed to get behind her. "Meiya ..."
Meiya stared down the energy weapon's barrel at the redhead. "If you didn't look so much like him, I might have let you live."
Chibi StarMaker realized a moment too late that Meiya had equipped his ship with Hrrrrunai dampeners. Though the transformation stayed, the redhead was unable to summon her powers to fight back. As she tried to dodge the first shot, she heard screaming in both ears, Tavek in one, the baby in the other. The laser blast just grazed her shoulder as she ducked into the first available doorway. She tripped over something and rolled to avoid crushing the baby. As she did, she could see that what she tripped on, was quite possibly the body of the child's father. Several bodies littered the floor of the Galley, some in Royal Guard uniforms, others in Hrrrrunai military uniforms. There were still smoking holes in the walls from the recent weapon fire. As she pushed herself off of the bodies, her hand fell on the Stehe Guard's weapon.
"Don't move. I don't want to make this any more painful than necessary." Meiya stepped into the room, ignoring the bodies as if they were nothing. He aimed the weapon at Chibi Maker again, his hand shaking slightly from a wound in his shoulder. "I only regret that this will hurt my Usami."
The door on the other side of the room opened, distracting the black-haired man long enough for Chibi Maker to grab the weapon under her hand, aim and fire. From her position on the floor, she had a good view of the black-haired man collapsing to join the others on the Galley floor. But it was only after he fell that she saw who had stepped through the doorway. "'Vek!"
Tavek held a hand to his chest where the energy blast from Meiya's weapon had hit him. He could see the redhead fighting to get to her feet, even as his own legs gave way and he slid down the wall.
