Nadesico Fan Fiction ❯ Chasing the Darkness ❯ [12] Doomsday: The End is Coming ( Chapter 12 )

The rating of this story has been moved to 'R' because there is a tendency towards a lemon in this chapter. It is the most glossed-over lemon you will ever read. In fact, there is barely even a hint of citrus. But it's there. You've been warned.

PART TWELVE

Doomsday: The End is Coming

******

Yurika squashed her irritation as she walked into the council room to find that everyone had started without her. After all, her life was one of the three demanded in exchange for Lapis. It would make sense that they would have things to discuss without her presence.

She had barely taken her seat when a young officer ran in, shutting the door behind her and rushing over to Admiral Fukube and enacting a whispered conversation.

"They've refused," Fukube announced sadly when he finally looked up. Yurika looked around in confusion, but no one seemed in that much of a hurry to enlighten her. Fukube nodded at the young woman, who nervously brought up a document in a window.

"Their answer states that their terms are non-negotiable." she stuttered, breathless. "If the three jumpers are not delivered to them, then they will use the girl Lapis Lazuli to fulfill their ends. They assure us they have the means to reactivate her as an Imaging System, though from their wording it does not sound like it will be a pleasant process for Ms. Lazuli or Mr. Tenkawa."

"And the crew?" Gort asked in his rumbling bass.

"Execution." the officer replied. "They will not be held or released under any other circumstances than those set forth in the original demand."

"Well," Fukube sighed, rising to his feet, "The President of Nergal has assured me that the possibility of an all-out war has become a reality. We are already at a disadvantage, because somehow the Successors have come across documents outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the JF forces. The only reason we are even considering honoring this demand is to buy time for the JF Council to prepare for war."

It was time to begin throwing out plans and analyses, which most of the people there began to do. Yurika said nothing. The Successors' reply had sent her into a deep distress. If Lapis was to be of any use to them, they would have to separate her from Akito or use their connection to kidnap him. She knew as well as the Successors that neither Akito nor Lapis had been a successful Imaging System, but they would probably be much more successful as a pair. They would try them as a last resort, when time was running out, and the stress would kill them. In truth, the only one who could truly be of any use as the Human Imaging System was Yurika herself. The real reason they wanted Akito and Ines was to prevent them from helping the JF forces in the war. With all the active A-class jumpers under their control, the battle would be over before it even began.

She felt a stab of pain for Ruri. Araragi and his crew were as good as dead. Nergal would never submit to the terms of the Successor's demand, and even if they did, Akito had told her that the crewmen of the Lilac were most likely to be the first casualties of the coming war. But her real worries were focused on Lapis. If Yurika didn't go as demanded, they would rip Lapis away from Akito and use her for their ends. Or they would use Lapis to find Akito, because he could not hide from her, and place them both in the Artifact where they would almost surely lose their minds.

But if she, Yurika, went as they demanded, maybe they'd be satisfied with her and leave Akito and Ines alone. She'd been the Human Imaging System before; she knew her way around the Artifact. If she agreed to help the Successors willingly in exchange for Lapis's safety and the release of the crew of the Lilac, it might be enough. And if it wasn't enough, well, she would make sure that she would be the one to die, not Akito and not Lapis. She would make sure the Artifact was never used for such evil again.

And in the twenty seconds it took the council of admirals to decide that they were in the midst of a real crisis, her mind had been made up.

******

When Minato opened her door a while later to go down to the cafeteria for some food, she was surprised to find Ruri and Harry curled up outside in the hallway. She took one look at their tearstained faces and couldn't help but smile a little.

"Come on, you two," she said quietly, shaking them awake and helping them stand. In their groggy state it was quite easy for her to relocate them to the bed and couch in her room, where they both immediately fell asleep again. "These kids really need more sleep," she sighed, "They're too young for all this."

She made sure her liquor cabinet was locked tightly, then left, shaking her head sadly.

******

It was a tense few hours while the crew of the Nadesico waited for Akatsuki's shuttle to arrive. Many had wanted Akito and Yurika to leave immediately, but Erina had insisted that they stay until Ines was with them. Yurika agreed, but more because she didn't have the heart to wake Akito and because she was anxious for a little sleep herself than because she felt like listening to Erina.

Those who could sleep rested while they could. The rest, like Ryoko, spent the time pacing in various places on the ship, swearing mildly and cursing her inability to do anything. The rest of the pilots sat along the bunks in their room, watching Ryoko pace furiously. None of them would have been in any condition to fight at all if Saburota hadn't decided to drug the drinks he handed them. He practically had to force feed Ryoko, but once she'd swallowed the bitter liquid he drank the rest of her glass and lay down at the foot of her bed. That way, if she woke up before he did she couldn't go anywhere without him knowing.

******

Because most of the crew was asleep in unknown places, the only ones present to meet Akatsuki and Ines were Erina, Admiral Fukube, and Gort. Akatsuki didn't much care. He had things to discuss with those three and it would probably make it easier to make a decision regarding Lapis without Tenkawa and Yurika to make a fuss over it.

Deadline: 60 hours

Aritomo glanced at the clock warily. Perhaps 72 hours had been too long a time to give Nergal. Oh well, it didn't matter anyway. Lapis shifted beside him, frightened but angry. In one small hand she clutched a little Gekigangar figurine; the other gripped the edge of her seat as if she feared it would disappear out from under her. Aritomo shot her a look. She just stared back at him with the blank golden gaze that was more unnerving than a glare ever could have been.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, keeping her voice as blank as her face. Like Ruri, she thought vaguely, What would she do?

"Because the government has become corrupted. And change always starts with a rebellion."

Lapis blinked. She hadn't really been expecting an answer, but this one shocked her. "How is the government corrupt?"

"They've gone soft," Aritomo scowled. "Come on. It's time to go."

Lapis stood quietly. She wanted to resist them with all her heart, but she was too afraid. So she did what she was told, like she always did, even though inside she was seething with rage and thoughts of revenge.

******

"What's going on?" Yurika asked as she was ushered into a small but well-lit room, Akito and her "guards" trailing in her wake. Akatsuki, Erina, and Ines were already there.

Akatsuki looked past her, at the two young guards. "You can wait outside," he said.

"They wanna be alone," one nudged the other as they disappeared and shut the door, snickering. Ines and Erina rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"When do we run and how?" Akito cut right to the chase, choosing to ignore the boys completely.

"Ruri suggests you take the Nadesico A and lead the C on a merry chase through enemy territory." Akatsuki smiled, which made him look more crazy than happy. "But there's something we need to talk about first."

"Lapis," Yurika guessed sadly.

"Exactly. Erina?"

Erina stood up. "We're not going to trade you three for Lapis Lazuli. That means that they will use her connection to you to take you by force, Akito. You ruined their last operation-- they don't want it happening again. And since we can't use you to get to Lapis..."

"It's not an equal connection," Akito snapped impatiently. "She shares my thoughts but I don't share hers."

"Well, isn't that convenient."

"You can sit down, you know," Akatsuki commented in mild amusement. Erina gave him a condescending look and remained on her feet.

"At first we thought their threat to separate you and Lapis was a bluff. However, Ines assures me that it is possible and, more importantly, tells me that she knows how to do it herself."

Akatsuki cut her off with gesture. "Dr. Fressange, your turn."

"It's so basic it's almost embarrassing that I didn't see it before." Ines sighed. "Lapis was genetically engineered on a level that completely clouded anything attempted up until that point. Nergal scientists used some genetic samples they had from two of the A-class jumpers-- that's you two," she looked pointedly at Yurika and Akito, "In an attempt to, well, breed more jumpers, in essence. But that wasn't all. A majority of her DNA was replaced with someone else's. You see, they didn't just want A-class jumpers, they wanted A-class jumpers who could become completely compatible with the units they were jumping. They wanted more electronic fairies."

"Ruri," Akito said needlessly. Ines nodded.

"She's a clone," Erina remarked, "So it should be easy for the Successors to separate the links she has to Akito by replacing them with Ruri's."

Yurika's head snapped up. "She's a what?"

"That's why Omoikane accepted her so easily." Ines explained sympathetically. "In a chemical sense, she is the same as Ruri."

"Of course, we'd be working on this end of things," Erina commented. "But we have the original map of Lapis's genes. It will take a while to match it against Akito's gene map, but once that's done it'll be relatively easy to identify the genes that make up their link and sever the ties."

"Whose genes are you going to use to replace mine?"

"Yurika is the most likely candidate, because the genes involved are the ones affected by the nano-machines." Erina answered.

"You mean to tell me," Yurika began slowly, "That you want us to go through and change Akito's cells so that he and Lapis are no longer connected."

"That's right."

"You want to take an already traumatized little girl who's been kidnapped and rob her of the presence she grew up with?!"

Erina's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't put it that way. But we're at war. There are always sacrifices in war-- you two should know that better than anyone."

"Absolutely not!" Yurika exclaimed.

"Yurika, please understand," Erina said, and for once she seemed sincere. "There is no other way. I know you don't want to traumatize the girl, but they could use Lapis to channel a jump through the future that Akito knows. We can't let them have the A-class jumpers. Any of them. None of us would be safe if they had you three."

"Shoulda known you'd be looking out for yourself," someone muttered. The four people in the room looked up to see Yukina, Jun, Mayumi, Megumi, and Minato crowded around the now open door.

"How the hell did you get by?" Akatsuki asked, too tired to really care.

"We flashed some skin and they let us right through," Minato smiled sweetly.

"I see." Under any other circumstances he would have cared more, but as it was he should have known better than to try to keep anything secret from these people. This had to be the nosiest crew in existence.

"But since we're here, can we sit down?" Jun asked plaintively. Akatsuki waved his hand dismissively and took a long drink of his coffee.

"How much did you hear?" Erina asked in suspicion.

"Pretty much everything," Mayumi replied.

"And it figures that all Erina would care about is making sure she has the trump cards up her sleeve," Yukina's comment lost much of the bite when she pushed Jun down into the remaining chair in the room and then settled primly in his lap, much to Jun's embarrassment. The others settled for the floor or the armrests. Erina was not amused by any of it.

"We have to look out for ourselves before we can look out for anyone else."

"Does that count as evil, or just twisted?" Megumi asked.

"Look, you selfish twit..."

"Do it," Akito interrupted suddenly, making everyone pause to remember the actual topic of their conversation. "Lapis is strong. She can handle it."

"Akito..." Yurika began, split between anger, understanding, and her own desires. "She'll be so lost by herself."

"I trust her."

"There is one thing I think we can pull off," Ines began slowly, coming out of a thought-induced daze. "If Ruri was correct, and Lapis knows what Akito knows through his dreams, then if we could hypnotize Akito perhaps we could reach Lapis. At least to warn her. At any rate, it would be worth a shot."

Akito and Yurika looked at each other, then turned back to Ines simultaneously.

******

Lapis watched uneasily as they hooked up the tubes to her arms. She didn't really know what they were doing, but she saw the Artifact in the corner of the room and knew she would end up inside it sooner or later. Her fears were strong and pounding in her chest, but suddenly they seemed to be giving way to another feeling-- exhaustion. She hadn't gotten much sleep in the past few days, and it was finally catching up with her. Catching up quickly, too, from the feel of it. Her vision was slowly fading to black while her eyelids drooped visibly.

"What's wrong with her?" one of her captors asked.

"Damn, she's fainting," the other answered. "Stop the procedure until we can stabilize her vitals."

"Well, at least we won't have to use so much anesthesia on the kid now," someone commented manically.

Then the voices disappeared, replaced by fuzzy white cloud-like things. Only when she saw the figures coming out of the mist did she realize what was going on.

******

"Yurika! Yurika!" a soft, hissing voice prodded her out of dreamland. Yurika sat up, instantly alert.

"What?" she asked sharply, blinking away the sleep.

"We were supposed to hypnotize Akito, not you!" Erina snapped impatiently.

"Sorry."

"It's all right." Ines assured her with a tight smile. "Put on the VR helmet-- quickly, I don't know how long he's going to stay under."

"This will really let us go inside Akito's head?" she asked as she pulled the visor down over her face. Ines nodded the affirmative, and Yurika shook her head sadly. "Why didn't I know about this program years ago?"

"Good question," Erina muttered, pulling her visor down as well.

******

When Ruri woke up, she felt very young, very naive, and most of all, extremely stupid. Crying or getting drunk wasn't going to help anybody. If they were going to war, they were going to war, and the only thing she could do now was throw herself into preparation for it and push aside the pain for the time being.

"Harry," she said, shaking him awake. "Come on. We have things to do."

"Right, Captain, he said blearily, rising and walking vaguely in the direction of the door. Ruri took his arm and led him to Minato's sink, splashing cold water on his face until he was coherent.

"Get ready to link up with Omoikane," she instructed when he stopped staring at her blankly. "When Akito and Yurika escape, we're going to have to chase them."

"Okay, I'll...what?" Fully awake now, he stared at her like she had lost her mind. "What are you talking about?"

"I have a feeling that Yurika will be hijacking the Nadesico A. Nergal will have to send us out to catch her."

Harry blinked twice. "This is one of those things I'll understand when I'm older, right?"

"No," Ruri answered, "I'll explain it to you on the way. Hurry up."

******

"I'm a clone?" Lapis whispered, eyes going wide. The misty surroundings had faded into a playground, something Lapis had created to comfort herself. Even now, she kicked at the imaginary gravel nervously. She had known she wasn't like any other children because she didn't have any parents, but it had never occurred to her that she might be a clone. How stupid of her.

"No!" Yurika and Akito said at the same time, each taking one of the girl's hands protectively.

"Not exactly." Ines tried to look kind, but she knew she was scaring the poor girl witless.

"A composite. Many of your genes are copies of Ruri's." Erina took over; she was tired of everyone trying to be tactful about the situation. She was also ticked that Lapis couldn't tell them where she and the crew of the Lilac were being held; the Successors had taken as many precautions as possible. "But many of them are Akito's genes and Yurika's genes. Mostly Akito's. Nergal wanted another Ruri but they had to be sure you could be an A-class jumper, too."

"Erina..." Yurika began in warning, though she really couldn't put her finger on what exactly she was warning the other woman of.

"That's not the point." Ines glared at Erina for taking away her job of explaining everything and turned her attention back to Lapis. "You aren't a clone, but your body is close enough to Ruri's that I think I can replace the genes that make up your link to Akito. You can be your own person now, Lapis, and Akito can be his."

My own person? she thought in puzzlement. But all I am is a copy of someone else.

Akito heard the thought, and knelt down in front of her. "Lapis, everyone is a copy of someone else," he whispered. "Every child is a mixture of their parents. Your situation is just a little unique."

Lapis frowned. "Then... does that make you my father?"

Akito's eyes widened. "Well, yes, in a way," he said slowly, mind reeling, "I guess it does."

"We haven't got much time," Erina said suddenly, interrupting their hushed conversation. "But if we don't do this now, the Successors are going to do it later-- after they have Akito."

"Erina!" Yurika said again.

"It's all right," Lapis interrupted. "Do what you have to."

"Are you sure?" Yurika reached out to touch her shoulder, realized she couldn't, and stepped back.

Lapis smiled quietly. "I'm sure."

Akito stood. "Let's go," he said, and the world melted.

******

"This is going to take a few hours," Ines warned Yurika, "And both of you are going to feel extremely disoriented afterwards. I've already talked to Akito, but he knows what to expect."

Yurika looked over at Akito, eyes closed, on the bed next to hers. "I understand," she said.

"It's going to feel very strange, Captain," Ines continued gently, "I don't know how deeply you're going to be affected. There is a chance that you and Akito may end up in the same symbiotic relationship he and Lapis experienced-- I don't think it will happen, but there is that possibility."

"Ines, we haven't got a lot of time," Yurika said gently, "I'm more worried about Lapis losing her connection to Akito than my gaining one; but besides, if we don't hurry then it will all be in vain anyway."

Ines smiled in spite of herself. She had never truly taken the time to realize how mature Yurika had become over the years. Age had mellowed her.

"Besides," the admiral continued, "Akito and I already have a bond that can't be broken no matter what! We're tied by the red strings of Fate!"

Or not.

Ines sighed and looked up at the clock. Omoikane had finished running its comparisons of the three gene maps in the hour and a half it had taken to prepare for the surgery. The surgery itself was a delicate process, especially since they only had a vague idea of what to do. They were looking at another six hours here, minimum, even with Dr. Tani running the procedure. Time was flying by so quickly...

She turned quietly and nodded at the two scientists who were doubling as Tani's nurses. She would have liked to been there to oversee the surgery, but there were a hundred other things she had to do and only a few hours to do them. She was suddenly very, very thankful she had slept the entire shuttle ride up, and equally glad that Akatsuki had invested in gourmet coffee.

******

"It's too far, Captain!"

"It's not that far, Harry," Ruri said absently, trying to calculate exactly how far was too far. "I could scan the Lunar Base by myself from here. With you helping, it's entirely plausible to scan all the way to Mars."

"But how good of an answer are you gong to get?"

"It won't be the best quality, no, but it will still be far better than anything they've given us up until this point."

Harry sulked quietly. "What are the JF forces doing? There's another war going on and they're missing it."

******

When Mayumi reached the bridge, she was surprised to see Harry and Ruri interacting as they always had. She hovered in the doorway for a moment, unsure of what to do. She didn't really have a job, per say, except to fill in for Harry. After a short exchange with the boy, Ruri turned and motioned Mayumi into the dome with them.

"You'll be completely in charge of the Nadesico's operations for a time, Mayumi-san," Ruri told her.

Mayumi blinked. "But... I've never worked with the Nadesico C before, Captain," she argued. "What about Harry?"

"Harry will be here with me," Ruri motioned at the windows surrounding the dome. "We're going to try to scan the Lunar Base from here, and if we can, the space surrounding the Martian ruins. Besides, the ship is still in quarantine. All you'll need to do is make sure we don't crash into the ocean. Omoikane will help you."

Mayumi bit her lip and bowed, taking her place in Harry's dome with some misgivings. Omoikane? she asked as she touched the console hesitantly.

Hello, Omoikane said. Mayumi couldn't have been sure, of course, but it seemed like a cold greeting to her.

Omoikane, I really need your help so that the Captain won't have any distractions. Can we cooperate for now?

A-OK. Windows flashed with little mini-flags and banners. Mayumi smiled lightly, placing both hands firmly on the console in front of her to explore this new ship.

Deadline: 42 hours

Lapis did not wake even after Akito's surgery was done. She had never felt so lost or alone in her entire life. Akito's emotions and thoughts, even the disturbing ones, were a comfort to her, and she would give almost anything even to have his haunted dreams back. The sense of emptiness, of being hollow, was so overwhelming and terrifying she could not find the words to describe it, even to herself. Dr. Fressange and Ms. Won had described to her what to expect as best they could, but she had never known anything different, and could not even begin to understand until now. She realized a great many things while lost in her personal hell, many of them painful. There were times when she sincerely wished to die. But there were other realizations, too. She understood why human beings desired love and acceptance; she understood why she wanted love and acceptance.

It was this understanding that saved her from despair, in the end. Though the feelings were not as concrete, and not as powerful as before, she found that if she drew up Akito's happy memories the hollow feeling began to recede. Moving farther on that line, she found herself pulling up every memory imaginable from her brief time on the Nadesico. Even remembering the time when Harry had obnoxiously snatched Akito's credit card from her fingers filled her with a strange sort of happiness. She didn't need Akito's constant presence to prove she existed. She didn't need his memories to prove that she could feel. She had been making her own memories for so long, and she hadn't even realized it until Akito had gone. She found deep within herself that craving to make more such happy memories. She wanted to intertwine her life with those around her, to consider them her loved ones, to feel their joy and pain as she had once felt Akito's and, in a more distinctly separate way, still did.

The Successor's first clue that something was wrong was when the three scientists in charge of finding Tenkawa Akito entered Lapis Lazuli's mind, expecting to follow the genes they themselves had altered, only to discover a laughing little girl who ran just ahead of them, taunting them all the way. They were in her mind, and she made what had been her hell into theirs, forcing them through thick metaphysical marshes as she literally burned the bridges in front of them.

******

When Dr. Tani finally revived Yurika and Akito after hours of grueling, mind-numbing, painstaking nanosurgery, he was so exhausted that he could barely walk himself, much less help his groggy patients anywhere. His nurses, tired as they were, weren't much help either. He insisted that they stay and rest in the infirmary as long as they could, before collapsing on one of the other hospital beds himself. He'd expected Ines to show up at some point to see if things had worked, but the blonde woman was nowhere to be found.

******

Yurika and Akito obeyed Dr. Tani's order until he fell asleep. They were disoriented, both of them, and exhausted to no measure. But they couldn't stay in those white rooms, with the glass walls that offered no privacy. In unison, they slipped off the white hospital sheets and made their way to the door of the infirmary. The nurse on duty at the front desk, the only one who was still awake, tried vaguely to question them. But with everyone else asleep there was no Dr. Tani to refute Yurika's insistence that they were allowed to leave. Too tired to argue much, the nurse finally let them go.

After tiptoeing softly out of the room, Yurika took Akito's hand and practically dragged him back towards her quarters. As Ines had predicted, replacing Akito's genes with hers had had strange consequences on her own psyche. The link was not as strong as she had expected--or secretly wished for-- but it was there, and it pulsed beneath her skin, pounding in her veins. She felt his presence with heightened senses; his emotions whispered at the edge of her mind-- unintelligible but still unmistakably there. After so long, after so much had happened, the comfort of his nearness was staggering.

They were inside before the doors finished opening; Yurika didn't even bother to turn on the lights or turn down the sheets. Her elation had set her adrenaline pumping, but her second wind had pretty much burnt itself out. Akito kissed her once as they sank down onto the bed-- asleep almost instantly and wrapped in each other's arms.

******

"It's almost time, Ameko. You ready?"

"Remmy," she covered his dark hand with her own pale one, "I've been ready for this since my father first told me her story." Ameko stared up at him through a wash of black hair. "Do you think she'll really come, Remmy? I see her in the memorial every week, but she doesn't seem real to me. Like a doll, a story my father told to give us hope when everything else had died. Was she ever real? Is she really brilliant enough to help us? Will she come at all?"

"She'll come." Remmy declared firmly, his brow wrinkling with conviction. "She has to. As for the rest, we just have to believe in her. We have to stop this cycle."

Ameko smiled wanly, closing her fingers tightly around his. "I know."

******

"Of course I'm sure," Yoshio countered her crossly. "It's all there. Just put the program through the compiler in the VR equipment and it will create the environment for you to visualize."

Ines still wasn't convinced. She had worked on those codes for two days and had come up with nothing, yet Yoshio had them for even less time and had figured out the command codes and set up a compiler for them. But then again, she had no reason not to believe him except for her own pride. Sighing, she glanced down at the file he was sending. It was massive; she would probably have to make use of most of Omoikane's backup systems to run it. Erina would positively flip out.

Ines smiled slightly. All the more reason not to tell Akatsuki and his little helper what she was doing.

******

"We are running out of time!" Aritomo stormed, pacing back and forth in front of the lab. "What the hell is wrong with everyone?"

"Isn't it obvious?" a considerably calmer voice said, and a large man with graying hair and beard emerged. "Nergal has beaten us to the punch. The little girl isn't going to help you find Tenkawa Akito."

Aritomo turned a mottled purple. "If you had done as I asked, then we would already have him."

"Calm down," Jackht answered sharply. "No opportunity presented itself. Or would you rather I had blown all our cover and lost the girl as well? At least now you have a jumper to use in your project, whatever evil you happen to be scheming."

"A jumper who has never made a single jump by herself." Aritomo said bitterly. "This is wonderful." Suddenly, he whirled around and motioned to one of the guards he'd placed at the lab entrance. "Go get some of those JF fools," he ordered.

"Sir!"

"Now, now," there was a cocking sound and Aritomo turned back to the admiral, only to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun. "The execution is not to happen until after your New Order has begun. There doesn't need to be any unnecessary killing."

Aritomo hissed, and suddenly there were three guards holding revolvers to Jackht's head. "Threats like that are sure to make you the first to die," he told the older man, who didn't move.

"Even if they shoot me now, you won't be alive to appreciate my death," the admiral assured him, pausing for effect.

"Gentlemen, let's keep our heads," another voice broke in. "There is still much to do."

Jackht put his gun away and turned to follow the new voice. "You only have my cooperation while my men live."

"I'm well aware of that."

******

Akito woke in the middle of the night to the sounds of soft crying. He tightened his hold on Yurika's shaking frame and she froze immediately, her sobs dying away though her tears did not.

"Yurika," he said, and she turned in his arms, burying her face in his shoulder and soaking it with her tears. "Yurika, what's wrong?" he asked quietly. She had never done anything like this before-- she had always dreamed with a smile on her face. She rarely ever had nightmares, either.

"I love you." the words were muffled but he felt her lips against his skin. "I love you so much."

Akito kissed the top of her head. "I love you, too."

She relaxed against him then, tracing the line of his arm with her own hand, twining her fingers in his. He bent to kiss her and she lifted her face to meet him, tears forgotten, and wrapped her legs around him as they moved together, discovering each other again with the intense fervor that only years of forced separation could have provided.

******

"Got them!" Akatsuki announced triumphantly, slapping the tabletop gleefully as Erina read over the contents of the screen. "It's the official declaration of war."

"I still don't see why you're so happy about it," Erina sniffed, sipping her tea.

"Because I don't have to tread lightly anymore. Now that those old busybodies in the JF have made up their minds, we don't have to stall for them."

Erina closed her eyes primly. "You were never going to stall for them anyway. You just wanted to make the situation desperate enough to get Akito to agree to that surgery."

Akatsuki grinned. "That's why you're not the President, Erina. You think too simply."

Erina shot him a death look.

"Of course I needed Tenkawa to be an autonomous unit again. But I also needed the JF to declare war."

"Are you still planning to overthrow the Joint Peacekeeping Forces? That's the most insane idea you've ever had."

"What good is power if you don't use it?" Akatsuki crossed his arms behind his head. "Taking over UE was too easy. No challenge in a merger."

"Don't tell me you're just going to wait for the JF to destroy itself and then move in to pick up the pieces. The Jovians will never allow that."

"You never know what the future will bring, Erina."

"Oh...go crash your Aestivallis!" Erina shouted, standing.

Akatsuki grinned. "I plan on it."

******

"So let me get this straight," Yukina moved anxiously around behind Jun, trying to get his attention. "You don't know what our orders are or where we're going and you hate piloting with a passion, but you're walking towards the hangar, not the bridge. Are you lost or just stupid?"

"Yukina!" he wheeled around to face her. "Sometimes you do things because you have to do them, not because you want to! If you live life so spontaneously then someday you'll just burn out. That's why we have rules."

"Yeah, well if all you do is follow the rules, then you never do anything great!"

"Really," he stopped dead in the hallway, "And what does the great Shiratori Yukina suggest we do to will this battle?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Yukina smiled, and Jun was suddenly very, very afraid. The last time she'd said that, he'd ended up serving drinks in a miniskirt.

******

"This is it..." Megumi whispered, shutting her eyes tightly. She had hated the Jovian War, even before she discovered that the Jovians were human. And now, they were fighting their own. The JF Council had ruled that the Martian Successors were to be terminated at any costs. "Why do we have to kill each other?"

"If it bothers you that much, you should leave," Minato said suddenly. Megumi's eyes snapped open.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Minato's face was hard and set. "You'd take pity on the black plague if it wiped out your town."

Megumi frowned. "That's a little harsh, Minato."

"No, it's not. We lived through the Jovian War. People died who shouldn't have died. People lived who shouldn't have lived. One of the ones who should have died is out there right now, plotting some project so terrifying that Akito named it 'Doomsday.' He supported a regime that killed an innocent man to prevent peace. We fight so we can gain peace at last, and all the ghosts may finally rest."

Megumi's eyes narrowed. "I see. Didn't Akito teach you anything? Vengeance is not the answer, Minato. Condoning a war because you want revenge on one man is not justified!"

The two women stared each other down, each refusing to be wrong. Mayumi sank down deeper in her seat between them and wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into.

******

When he finally slept again, Yurika opened her eyes once more. He'd rolled over on his back with a soft snore, leaving her shoulders exposed to the cool air. Yurika carefully eased off the bed, straightening the sheets around him when he stirred.

She couldn't bear to kiss him good-bye for the fear that he might wake up again, so instead she bit her lip, blinked back her tears, gathered her clothes, and fled the room.

******

"Captain!" Ines exclaimed as Yurika turned the corner. The latter had successfully managed to avoid everyone else as she crept down the halls of the Nadesico, but as she neared her final destination she had grown careless. "Are you all right? Did everything go as planned."

"Yes!" Yurika squeaked. "Yes, it did. Akito is fine; I hope Lapis is as well." I'll be finding out soon enough...

"I'm sure she is," Ines grinned excitedly, taking her arm and pulling her aside. "Captain, do you remember how you asked me once to find out why you couldn't sense Jun's jump?"

"No..." Yurika replied, slightly puzzled, but Ines continued anyway.

"It's simple-- he wasn't using the Artifact."

"What?" Yurika demanded sharply. "How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure why Erina's injection mixed with his bloodstream in such a unique way, but simply speaking, his jump didn't go through the Artifact. Maybe that's why he was unconscious for so long."

"But what about Akatsuki?"

Ines shook her head. "The injection was different. I suspect Erina was leaning heavily on the Artifact's capabilities the first time. The second time, with Jun, she was using her own understanding to keep the drug from knocking the test subject out."

"I don't understand."

Ines smiled, showing as much excitement as she had ever shown. "But that's not the most extraordinary thing!' she announced. "Mr. Yamasaki and I have been working on it for days now, and I think it's entirely possible to construct a new Artifact."

"A second Artifact?" Yurika asked, awestruck. "Is that wise? Is that even possible?"

Ines shrugged. "He's done preliminary tests already and nothing catastrophic has occurred."

Yurika didn't really think creating a new Artifact was the wisest of decisions, but Ines would continue her work with or without Yurika's approval and the results, if the scientist was successful, could prove extremely beneficial in expanding the use of boson jumping, not to mention solving the problem of shutting down the transportation network when an enemy gained control of the Artifact.

So Yurika shrugged and nodded her assent. "But Ines-san, before you begin such a big project, you should get some rest. After all, you and Akito are going to be on the Nadesico A tomorrow. You can start your work there, but only if you get some sleep now." The two women looked at each other in silence for a moment.

"The three of us will be on the Nadesico A," Ines asked in a tone that was not quite a question. Yurika looked blank for a second, confused, then smiled.

"Of course. We three; all of us." She laughed. "So get some rest, Ines-san! We've got some Successors to wreak vengeance on and we don't want to miss it for the world."

And with Ines's agreement, they parted ways. Yurika wondered vaguely if she would ever get the chance to apologize for lying to her loved ones. But she couldn't think like that, or she was doomed to fail before she had even begun.

******

Ines watched Yurika walk quickly down the hall, doubts and hesitations plaguing her mind. An warning bell was going off in her head, but she didn't know what it was for.

Yurika turned sharply and entered the VR room that Ines herself had just emerged from. What in the world did she need in there? Almost unconsciously, her feet began to move her back the way she had come. Suddenly, blue light began to flood out from under the door. Ines's eyes widened.

"Captain!" she cried, regaining control of her feet and racing back to the VR room-- but it was too late. By the time she got the door open, Yurika was gone.

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