Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction ❯ The Senior Year ❯ Endings and Beginnings: Stage Zero ( Chapter 52 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A moment in time...

On Vos, the Mikado relaxes in his office. Insufferably confident, the dictator knows that soon, his agents will obtain the Sceptre of Lecasur. Once it is in his hands, he knows he can reclaim lost glories and the empire he controlled for over a century. His ambitions are now locked on the greatest power in the known galaxy. After all, the key to obtain that power is within his control.

On Earth, Benten remains in the Moroboshi home, guarded by Sagussan doubles of herself and her three closest friends. Entering the sixth month of her pregnancy, she yearns for the chance to free her husband and friends from the Mikado's grip. However, reigned back by her pregnancy, all she can hope for is that the galaxy's greatest power can rescue their leader...the key to their power...from the madman who had brought ruin to so many.

Over the Planet of Shadows, a Mikado Marines battleship under command of Captain Otasur waits near the gate by which the "Renegade" entered on its quest to obtain the Sceptre. The captain's orders are simple: take the "Renegade" aboard and transport its prisoners, including the frigate's famous captain and one other valuable prisoner...the key the Mikado seeks...to Vos.

Within the Planet of Shadows, Lum returns to the "Renegade," glancing over her shoulder at the departing figure in black and gold. Sadness is etched across her face as she turns away, then stops to look again. Parting from her Darling, even for a short while, always hurt. This time, it was necessary...for her, her friends on the "Renegade" and Earth, and the galaxy as a whole.

For the key the Mikado seeks...the key many others have sought...is none other than her Darling. Ataru Moroboshi. *Daimon'cha* and *Daite'cha.* First Father and Head of State of the Fifth Republic of Sagussa.

It was time for Ataru to return home...

* * *

Urusei Yatsura - Endings and Beginnings: "Stage Zero"
by Fred Herriot
**** **** ****
"Book of Days" written by Enya and Nicki Ryan
**** **** ****
Edited by E.B. Kushnir
**** **** ****
Thirty-ninth of a series based on "Urusei Yatsura" created by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****

WRITER'S NOTES:

1) This is the final part of Nassur's saga and Endings and Beginnings. Effective next story, the series' title changes to "Urusei Yatsura - Great Father Ataru" (UY-GFA). All stories are still to be chronicled in the UY-TSY ftp files and websites.

2) And some final notes:

The *Haijo-ju*: Literally "will of the people," the *haijo-ju* is the greatest weapon ever constructed. Based on the Eradicator from "Superman," the *haijo-ju* draws on the *te'a's* energy with potentially explosive results. The *daishi'cha* would desire to avoid this weapon. One *haijo-ju* was reported to have been built, approximately 14,000 years ago by Head Scientist Horan. It was believed that several prototypes, one which could be the Sceptre of Lecasur, were constructed before the final *haijo-ju* was created. This weapon's existence will have ramifications throughout this series, "UY Twenty Years Later" and "Double Zeta UY."

The Regeneration Matrix: The primary element used to resurrect the numerous *daishi'cha* when found by the Gatherer. A mineral-rich genetic soup found on Sagussa's moon Sagurei by Lyna's mother Ojin. Its powers are beyond miraculous, akin to magic. The process by which the matrix works remains unknown. The matrix, with the infusion of special enzymes, can be used to convert a normal person into a Sagussan. This was done to Lum in "Dakejinzou's Story." Only the very strong-willed can survive exposure to the matrix with some memories intact. NO ONE can survive the matrix unscathed unless prior preparations were taken.

*Jogh-pei.* Sagussa's version of jurgen (scissors-paper-stone). The elements involved in this are stone-sand-wind-wing:

Stone (clenched fist) - A stone remains still;
Sand (open hand palm up) - Sand comes from stone;
Wind (open hand palm down) - The wind blows sand;
Wing (knife hand palm down) - The wing rides the air.

Using Wing wins the game. Wind is second. Sand is third. Stone looses the game. And that is where Windy's farewell to Lum in "Ataru's First Girlfriend! Arrive Windy-chan!!" comes from.

**** **** ****

Ataru sighs as he trudges across the surface of the Planet of Shadows. Emotions storm through him. Relief at being free of the Mikado's madness. Hope in seeing his daughter again after five months away. Anticipation at finally reuniting with the *daishi'cha* who so affected his destiny a decade ago. Sadness at leaving Lum behind, still in the jaws of the mad dictator from whom Nassur fled ages before.

Stopping, he stares at the distant hulk of "Renegade." He wished someone had thought of putting mini-binoculars somewhere in the Sagussan duty jumpsuit he now wore. Staring at his wrist, his eyes lock on the five wreath of laurel stripes and the phoenix-and-star insignia denoting his place in the Fifth Republic. Leader of Sagussa. With the wishes of a hundred thousand pulling him away, how could he consider the desires of one?

But that one...was Lum.

His Other.

Ataru sighs. Lum's argument for sending him to meet Noa repeats itself. With him away, the Mikado would assume the *daishi'cha* had whisked him away unseen. With both away, the Mikado would assume the *daishi'cha* were rewriting the rules of this whole affair. Thanks to his paranoia, the Mikado was capable of doing anything to anyone. As Ataru learned on the voyage to Nekotengu Four, even Sagussa's power had limits.

Sighing, he turns...then stops, seeing a red flower lying by his foot. A rose. Picking it up, his senses detect her. Gold boots, black uniform, the same as his save for the three stripes on her sleeves. He gazes into her warm indigo eyes, her face framed by chestnut hair. Sniffing the rose, he gazes on the woman who had affected his life in so many ways. "Tell me, Minister," he smiles. "What is the logic of *you* giving *me* a flower?"

Noa laughs as they embrace...

* * *

Ataru had been aboard the "Hasei'cha" only once in the short time the sloop had been back in commission, after that fight with the Mikado's goons over Dakejinzou's children. The gates leading into the Planet of Shadows were too small to take a superdreadnought with a three kilometre beam. They were no problem for the Gladiator-equipped warpsloop. Staring at the ship now parked on an abandoned landing pad, he sighs, squeezing Noa's hand. "I came in on one ship, I leave on another. I must be living right."

"We ensured that," she smiles. "C'mon. The sooner you're aboard, the sooner we can rewrite this game to our rules."

"Yeah." There was a dictator who needed a lesson taught to him.

At the end of a gun.

The two step onto the laser gangway, sailing up to the quarterdeck. Amy stands by the doorway, piping him aboard as the sloop's crew snaps to attention. "Welcome aboard, sir," Eluza walks up, hand up.

"Oh, knock it off, Eluza!!" he sweeps her into an embrace.

The others laugh as they take turns embracing their *daimon'cha.* "Well, now that's over with, let's call across the way to get the others to come out with us," Ataru sighs. "The sooner we're free of this place, the sooner we'll be home. Where's Henry?"

"Waiting by the back door," Shildy smiles. "We parked there to ensure the Mikado's goons didn't realize we were here."

Ataru blinks. "Where are they?!"

"Waiting for 'Renegade' to come out."

A gasp explodes from his lips. "Get on the horn and call them now!" he snaps. "We don't want them sailing out that door!!"

"Yessir!!" Rumy snaps.

Everyone stampedes for the bridge. Once in position, the science chief hails the frigate. However, as they take their places, "Renegade" lifts off from the Crystal Palace, soaring unsuspectingly toward the main gate. "'Renegade,' 'Renegade,' this is R.S.S. 'Hasei'cha!'" Rumy snaps. "Danger! Do not depart the Planet of Shadows!! 'Renegade,' 'Renegade,' this is 'Hasei'cha!' I say again, do not depart the Planet of Shadows!!"

Ataru watches as the frigate turns into the departure lane, seemingly unheeding of the "Hasei'cha's" warnings. Closing his eyes, he mentally calls out, <<Lum, damn it all, stop!! There's a Mikado ship on the other side of that gate!!! Come out with us!! Lum!!!>>

The gate opens. "Oh, no!!" Spea gasps.

"Shit!!!" Eluza spits out. "Repeat the message, Rumy!! Hurry!!"

As the science chief jabbers over the communications line, Ataru furrows his forehead as he continues his mental call...

* * *

"Darling...?" Lum blinks.

Relaxed on the "Renegade's" bridge, the Oni shakes her head as she stares around. "What is it, Lum?" Nassur stares at her from the command station. "You okay?"

"Darling's trying to get in contact with me!" Lum stands, moving to the communications station. "Let's see if they're transmitting."

"Who?!" Junba wonders, looking around the bridge. "Where is Ataru, anyway?!"

Before Lum could answer, the gate opens. Sighing on seeing empty space beyond, Mendou thrusts the impulse accelerator. "Renegade" surges forward, flying free. "We're out of the Planet of Shadows, Nassur-san," Mendou relaxes. "Setting course for the wormhole."

"Wait!!!" Megane yips. "Unknown contact, off the starboard beam!!"

Everyone snaps right. An oncoming cigar-shaped craft. Nassur and Junba tense as the vessel banks to starboard, the black cygnet on its hull telling them everything. "It's a Marines ship!!" Cinba's sister announces. "It must've been sent after us by the Mikado!"

"I think we'd better get out of here!!" Shinobu gulps.

Nassur nods. "Full impulse ahead!"

"Aye-aye!!"

"Renegade" surges ahead as the battleship closes the distance. However, a lace beam lashes out, seizing the frigate before it could escape. Everyone is thrown against a bulkhead as "Renegade" is halted. "Tractor beam!!" Megane gasps. "What do we do?!!"

A communications toggle flashes. Lum stares at the board. "They're hailing us!"

Everyone turns to Junba and Nassur. The hunters stare at each other, then the former sighs. "I'll take it. On screen."

Lum nods. A moment later, the round face of a stocky officer in a V.D.F. captain's uniform appears. "Starship 'Renegade,' this is Captain Otasur of the Vosian Defence Force. Hunter Junba, are you aboard?!"

"I'm here, Captain," Junba walks up. "Strange to see you out here. I didn't expect an escort back to Lecashuto."

"We were dispatched to rendezvous with you on the Mikado's orders," he reports. "He feared that the renegade Nassur and his allies may try to escape. Do you have the Sceptre?"

"It's here and intact," she displays it.

"Good," he smiles. "We'll take you aboard. The trip back to Vos will take about three weeks. It should be nicer being among your own people than with those short-lives."

Junba's eyes narrow. "I understand. Shut her down. We're being towed aboard."

Mendou blinks, then nods. "Aye-aye."

"Renegade's" engines silence as the frigate is towed toward the battleship. Junba makes a cutting motion with her hand to Lum, severing communications. Once Otasur's image is off the screen, everyone glares at her. "You mean after all we've been through, after we saved your worthless hide on the Lannarkite planet, you're STILL going to turn us over to the Mikado?!!" Shinobu demands.

"Shinobu, wait!" Nassur holds up a hand. "Don't you understand?! Junba has no choice!"

Shinobu blinks, then nods. "Now, my orders from the Mikado were simple," Junba sighs. "Get the Sceptre and deliver Nassur back to Vos for trial and execution. My orders concerning you said that I was to use you to ensure Nassur didn't do anything stupid. They did NOT state whether or not you're to come back to Vos with me."

"If you think we're going to let you deliver our friend to that lunatic, think again!!" Megane growls.

"Wait!!!" she snaps. "Keep a cool head! If you fly off the handle, we're all dead!!"

"She's right," Nassur stands, gazing at his sister-in-law. "I hold you personally responsible for their safety, Junba."

She nods, staring at the others. "You've all got to play along. If you do, you're home free. Please...for once, will you trust me?"

The Terrans exchange looks. Despite it being a month, they still found it difficult to accept Junba as a friend. Distant ally at most. The disappointment of locating the Sceptre had worn everyone down. All they wanted was to go home, put this madness behind them. Junba stares at Shinobu. Ataru's former girlfriend blinks, then nods. "Okay."

* * *

Moments later, "Renegade" rests on the hangar deck of Otasur's ship. A phalanx of Mikado Marines surrounds the vessel. Otasur approaches the gangway as it lowers. A moment later, Junba disembarks, the Sceptre in hand. "Permission to come aboard," she salutes.

"Granted," he returns the gesture, then holds out his hand. "Congratulations are in order, Hunter Junba. Very well done. I trust the prisoners were no problem."

"Not really," Junba looks behind her.

Everyone blinks as Nassur steps down. "Nassur," Junba faces him. "You stand charged with desertion, disobeying lawful authority, murder and other crimes against the Mikado and the Confederation. You will be transported to Lecashuto to face trial. Understood?"

He nods. "Good!" Otasur smiles, then looks around. "Where are the others?"

"Others?" Junba blinks.

"The other prisoners. Nassur's friends."

"We're right here," Lum replies.

Lum, Shinobu, Mendou and Megane descend from the "Renegade." Otasur smiles, then blinks, noticing something missing from their arms. "Where are their cardiac bands?!!"

"I removed them," Junba shrugs. "If you were behind us, you would've noticed we had to put down on a planet near a Lannarkite hive. I was taken prisoner. They rescued me."

Otasur blinks. "I...didn't know that," he hums, then nods. "Take them into custody."

The thuggish troops move in on the Oni and the Terrans. Junba holds up a hand. "Hold it!!" she barks, then turns to Otasur. "What's the meaning of this, Captain?! Since when are they considered prisoners?!"

"They're Nassur's friends!" Otasur snaps.

"Excuse me, Captain, but since when was that a crime?" Junba wonders. "I made sure of it before we left. None of them were charged with anything by the People's Court. I certainly haven't charged them. What's the use of keeping them? We only needed them to make Nassur behave himself. Now that we have the Sceptre, we don't need them anymore."

Otasur sputters as Junba walks over to Lum. "Lum, Shinobu, Aisuru, Shutaro," she smiles. "You're free to go. I'm sure the 'Renegade' can take you to Earth. On behalf of the Mikado and the Vosian Confederation, I thank you for your assistance in obtaining our treasure. I apologize for the inconvenience we've forced on you and wish you well in the future."

"Of course," Lum nods.

The Marines quizzically stare at each other. "Wait a minute!!" Otasur snaps. "You can't do this!!"

Junba turns. "Excuse me, Captain, but I'M in command of this mission!! Operational orders state that members of the Special Hunter Corps have command priority over the Mikado Marines and the Defence Force!!! And I say," her voice drips ice, "...they can go!!"

Otasur marches up to her, slapping her across the cheek. "You insubordinate little worm!!" he snarls. "I am now in command of this mission!! It appears you've developed treasonous tendencies, Junba! I'll have to report this to the Mikado when we get home!! Bujosur wasn't the only one who decided to look after his own interests over the Mikado's and the good of the Vosian people!!"

Junba's jaw tenses, her neck stiff. Otasur tries to stare her down. He blinks first. Then, he notices someone missing. "Wait!! Where's the fifth prisoner?!!"

"What fifth prisoner?!" Junba demands.

"Moroboshi, who else?!!" Otasur snaps.

"He left," Lum smiles. "Darling has other things to do than to placate swaggering, tin-plated dictators with delusions of godhood!"

Otasur shudders, then spins on Junba. "You fool!!! How could you be so stupid?! Of all the people, you had to let HIM escape?!"

"What's the matter with that?"

"He's the Chosen One of the Eternal Voyager!!!" the captain snarls. "We needed him to keep the Maidens from destroying us!!!"

Junba hums. "Well, isn't that strange? I remember a clause in our Constitution which states that no Vosian shall interfere in the affairs of the Voyager or those affiliated with it! It's a good thing we let him go! We've would've had enormous trouble with the Maidens if we tried to hurt the Chosen One!!"

Otasur sputters, then glares at her. "That proves it, then! You're under arrest for harbouring rebel sympathies, Junba!! As for the rest of you, you'll be coming back with us! If we're merciful, you'll live!"

"Too bad, *kide'ne!!*" a strange female voice utters. "We're NOT gonna be merciful with slime like you!!!"

Otasur spins...just as blast of proton energy disintegrates him! Simultaneously, machine gun fire fells the Marines surrounding the "Renegade's" crew!! Everyone blinks as six dark-clad figures appear out of nowhere. "It's about time, Sylia!" Lum sighs.

Sylia removes her mask. "With them out of the way, what say we get off this ship?! Everyone aboard!!" she waves to "Renegade."

"Wait!!" Megane panics. "What about the tractor beam?! It'll be the shortest trip in history if that's still on!"

The shooters of Pathfinder Troop Six laugh. "I think they're about to experience much worse problems than our leaving the party," Linna muses. "Right, Nene?"

"Right," Nene hums, "...about now."

An explosion rocks the battleship!! Emergency alarms blare as a duty officer screams, "Emergency!!! Warp core breach in progress!!! Abandon ship!!! Abandon ship!!!"

"I suggest we get aboard," Sylia insists.

The others need no invitation. In seconds, they are on the bridge. "Let's see if Patty's improvements work!" Asukanoevan slips into the helm. "Shields up!!"

She presses a toggle. The fields project out from "Renegade," squashing everything in their way, including the ship around them! A second later, energy conduits explode as the hangar deck is vented into space, allowing the "Renegade" to tumble free from Otasur's doomed command. "Engines on, cold start!!" Sylia barks. "Get us out of here!!"

"We're going!!!" Asuka slams controls.

"Renegade's" engines roar to life as the frigate powers away from the battleship, her hull tearing apart from the decompression of the hangar bay's destruction. In seconds, containment chambers fail. The Mikado battleship explodes in a fury of antimatter gone insane!! By that time, Nassur's ship is clear, soaring away from the Planet of Shadows. "We're safe!!" Asuka announces.

Everyone breathes out in relief as Sylia turns to the helm. "Asuka, set course to intercept the Gatherer. Let's go home!"

"Aye-aye," Asuka programs controls.

With that, the tension slowly ebbs as realization dawns. "We're free," Shinobu sinks to the deck. "After all we've been through, we're finally free!"

"We are, aren't we?" Nassur wonders.

"You could've been free earlier if you allowed us to come in sooner," Sylia notes. "We could've intercepted you as soon as you were clear of Vos."

"I know," he readily nods. "You were still an unknown element to me, Sylia. Besides, what was to stop the Mikado from trying something else if his scheme was brought to ruin? Despite your capabilities, the fewer I had involved in my war, the better."

"Well, your part of this war's over," Sylia stands. "When we get aboard the Gatherer, we'll let you communicate to Hunba that your friends are safe and that she can commence the attack on Lecashuto."

He nods, then stares at Junba. "Looks like you've lost a home," he smiles. "Sorry."

"Yeah. I'm going to my cabin."

She steps off. The non-Sagussans fail to detect the barely veiled disgust on the *daishi'cha's* faces. "Junba, wait!" Shinobu rises, following the Vosian off the bridge.

Priss blinks, switching to Sagussan. "<<You mean she likes that thing?>>"

"<<She seems to,>>" Lum muses. "<<But I wonder if Shinobu'll ever get over what Junba did to her before we ran into those Lannarkites.>>"

"<<She may not get the chance if Noa has something to say about it,>>" Priss warns.

"<<What do you mean?>>"

"*Mei'aidoei.*"

Lum's eyes widen. Meanwhile, Shinobu walks up to the door of Junba's cabin. "Come in, Shinobu," Junba calls out.

The Terran peeks inside. "You okay?"

"I don't know," the Vosian lies on her bed, staring at the deckhead. "I still find it a little difficult believing Nassur's story about my sister and my parents."

"Trust comes with time," Shinobu walks in, sitting beside Junba. "It was that way between you and me, remember?"

"Yeah," Junba nods, staring at her. "I still want to be friends."

A smile tugs Shinobu's lips. "I think after what we've been through, we need time to unwind and relax, try to figure out what to do. You can do that on Earth, you know. Other hunters from your corps are there."

"Thanba and Pamanba, you mean."

"Also Mujanba," Shinobu nods.

Junba blinks. "Mujanba's alive?!"

"Uh-huh," Shinobu nods. "She handfasted with an Earth girl, a friend of Ataru-kun's sister. There were a few others, a group who were under Furusur's successor Bujosur. They came to track Pamanba down. But they later moved to Fukunotaiin to help Dakejinzou Shogai care for her kids and those other synthezoids that professor made. You won't be alone."

The Vosian hums, laying back, staring at the Sceptre they endured so much to obtain. A flashlight, Mendou called it. A *haijo-ju* prototype, Ataru termed it, although Junba had no idea what that meant. A treasure the Mikado hoped would help him maintain power. Now removed for three months from Lecashuto, Junba found herself wondering what kept driving the old man. With four million rebel soldiers about to storm into the capital, Junba certainly didn't want to be there. "I guess I won't be," she gazes at Shinobu, her hand drifting to grasp the Terran's.

The door opens, revealing Reinoevan. "Shinobu, we're almost there."

Junba jolts. "Thanks," Shinobu smiles.

The Pathfinder stares at the Vosian, then walks forward. Shinobu then notices Junba's tension. "What's wrong?"

"They're worse than Yehisrites!!" Junba gasps. "I didn't even hear or sense her walk up!"

Shinobu shrugs as the two rise, heading to the bridge. The "Renegade" approaches a distant tan wedge shape. As the frigate bears down on the Gatherer, the size of the superdreadnought sends shivers down Mendou's and Megane's back. "Noa was following us in THAT?!?!" the latter stares at Sylia.

The commander nods, unperturbed by the familiar sight of the ship which transported the *daishi'cha* to their present home. Junba stands at the aft end of the bridge, watching the Gatherer grow. Ataru Moroboshi. The Chosen One of the Eternal Voyager. The Mikado was audacious enough to attempt to coerce the Maidens into being his allies by seizing their leader. Now, THAT was crazy!

"Speaking of which, I've some words with that dyke about her perverted lust for Lum-san!!!" Mendou growls.

"For the last time, stupid!!!" Lum zaps both him and Megane! "Noa is bisexual!!! I'm sure Darling's made some arrangements for you two when we get aboard!!!"

The two shudder...

* * *

"There you are!!!" Noa laughs as she leaps into Lum's arms. "What's a gorgeous lady like you doing in a dump like this?!!"

The Oni laughs as she boosts the Sagussan into the air, twirling around as they kiss. Mendou and Megane vainly try to pry them apart, but feel Priss' hands clamp on their shoulders. "Relax, jerks!! Your ladies are right over there!!!" she nods forward.

"AISURU-KUN!!!!!!"

"DEAR!!!!!!"

The two find themselves facing a steaming Sil and Tanoshii. "S-sil-san," Mendou gulps, shuddering from his fiancee's withering gaze. "I-i-it's been s-such a l-long time...!!"

"L-looking g-good, T-tan-chan...!" Megane sweats, backing away from the priestess.

Both seize them, dragging them away. "Come on!!" Tanoshii hums. "We're going to get rid of your Lum-itis once and for all!"

"Lum-san, help us!!!" both men wail.

Lum and Noa watch. "They've been separated for too long," the latter sighs.

"Give them a bit," the former hums as they drop down. "Between Sil and Tanoshii, they'll be back to normal in no time."

"Good," Noa pulls away from her bondmate, drawing a pistol. "Now, in the meantime, it's time to take out the trash!"

Junba yelps as Noa's pistol swings her way. Nassur and Shinobu quickly leap into her field of fire. "Noa, what are you doing?!!" he demands. "Junba's not dangerous!!!"

"Put that away!!!" Shinobu snaps. "Just because she was lied to about her sister and her parents doesn't mean she deserves this!!!"

"Oh, no?!" Noa's voice drops to brittle ice. "You're right, Shinobu! This thing was lied to about a good many things!! And that's why I'm going to erase it from existence!!"

"Sh-she's crazy!!" Junba stammers, backing away from the incensed Sagussan.

"What's going on here?!!" Nassur demands.

"Do you have any idea what this thing is?!" Noa angrily glares at him.

"She's Cinba's sister!"

"Hah!!!" the Sagussan barks. "You better say it's Cinba's *daughter!*"

"What do you mean?!" Shinobu growls.

"Junba's a clone."

Silence. Nassur and Shinobu gape at Lum, then gaze at the woman in question. "What?" she gasps. "What are you talking about?"

"I met Cinba 14 years ago," Noa growls. "I even had the chance to touch her mind. It wasn't a full-blown mind-meld, but it was enough to get some interesting facts. Like the fact that she was an only child!"

"I was taken away from my parents when I was a baby!!" Junba asserts.

"That's a joke!! Don't you think Cinba's parents would've remembered a twin sister kidnapped after birth?! We have Cinba's DNA and RNA on file aboard the 'Hasei'cha' and the Gatherer! Comparing that with yours gave me the proof I needed to realize what you are, half-life!! Now," her thumb shoves the power setting to Level Twelve, "...if you don't mind, Nassur, it's time this *bastardization* of your first wife is eradicated!!"

Nassur sets his jaw. As he learned with the case of his own clone twin Nyassur, by every strata of Sagussan ethics, Noa was doing the proper thing. Cinba's personal space, her very genetic code, had been violated to create Junba. Noa, as Cinba's friend, was defending the hunter's rights, even now, years after her death. "Noa, please," Nassur sighs. "I know you think you're doing the right thing. If you say Junba's a clone, I won't dispute you. I know how accurate your medical technology is, the way Catty and Misato fretted over Nyassur. But Junba's no different from Lyna. Instead of rushing to judge her, why don't you allow her the chance to prove herself? Please! Surely you can do that!"

Noa's eyes narrow. Nassur trembles, sensing the steel in the Sagussan's eyes. If she wanted to, Noa could waltz right over him. Worse, surrounded by *daishi'cha* who believed like Noa, Junba was a sitting duck.

Lum walks up. "He's right, Noa-chan," her hand de-powers the pistol. "Besides, she wasn't cloned from a *daishi'cha.* The Edict doesn't apply here."

Noa turns to her bondmate. "Because Cinba wasn't a Sagussan doesn't mean she didn't have rights," she hisses.

"That's true," Lum nods. "But doesn't Junba have those rights, too? Lyna lost hers because people didn't like what she was."

"And a planet died for it," Noa completes, holstering her weapon. "How many more Lynas must die before people realize that a person's body is the property of the one who inhabits it?! Fine, then! I'll let that thing live for now, Nassur...as long as it stays out of my way!!" her finger rises in warning.

"No problem," Nassur nods.

The *ashi'cha* storms off the hangar deck. Lum shrugs, then flies after her. Nassur breathes out. Sylia passes him. "I hope you're right, Nassur," the Pathfinder commander flashes a sympathetic smile.

Nassur smiles as the other Sagussans walk off the hangar deck. Shinobu faces him. "What was all that about?!!" she demands. "What's this about Junba being a clone?!! What's this Edict?!! And who's Nyassur?!!"

"That's a long story," the hunter sighs. "I'll tell you about it shortly. In the meantime, I have a call to make."

He strides off the hangar deck. Shinobu blinks, then hears muttering from behind her. Turning, she sees Junba sinking to her knees, shaking her head in denial. "No...no, it's not true," she moans, reaching for her head. "I can't be a clone! I'm Cinba's sister! I'm not a clone! I'm not, I'm not, I'm not...!!"

Shinobu kneels, allowing Junba to sink into her embrace...

* * *

Vos.

The guns of the Rebel Alliance Army surrounding the Confederation's capital are silent as Hunba sips tea, staring at the distant spires of Lecashuto from her base camp 50 kilometres from the Mikado's headquarters. Tension among the 4,000,000 troops under her command was mounting. The corps and division commanders were demanding to know when they could press the final attack.

If they only understood.

Hunba's good eye glows as she senses her deputy. "What is it, Hessur?" she sighs.

"Um...Commander, there's a...thing here to see you," Hessur muses.

Sighing, Hunba turns to face him. "I've no time for...!!"

Her voice catches as she finds herself face-to-grill with the bow of a Sagussan rover unit! A small crowd gathers as Hunba walks around the automobile-sized reconnaissance droid, now floating a foot off the ground. "What in Lecasur's name is this?!"

The rover unit twirls to face her. "*Greetings, Commander Hunba,*" it bows its grill in salutation. "*I bear a private message from Nassur.*"

Everyone blinks as a holographic display screen appears before Hunba. Nassur's image smiles. "Hello, Hunba-san. I hope the rover unit didn't scare you too much. My friend Noa told me they're excellent in relaying private messages over long distances."

"Is this a recording?" Hunba wonders.

"No, it's real," he shakes his head. "Anyhow, I have news for you. My friends are safe and sound. We did get the Sceptre of Lecasur, but Ataru Moroboshi's friends decided they'd had enough of playing to the Mikado's tune, so they bailed us out. We'll be on our way to Earth right now. I hope I didn't get you in trouble by asking you to wait until they were safe before launching the attack."

"Well, things are getting tense," Hunba chuckles. "I'm glad to hear your alright. How's your wife? She still on Earth?"

"Safe and sound," Nassur nods. "At least I'm going to keep my promise and be there when she gives birth. Anyhow, I have to sign off now. Thanks again for waiting."

"My pleasure," she nods. "Nassur...when this is all over, why don't you come back for a visit? We have a lot to talk about."

"I..." he nods. "I'll try to make time."

"I hope you will. Take care."

"You, too," he nods.

The screen disappears. "*If you'll excuse me, Commander, I have to return to my observation duties,*" the rover unit bows, then flies away from the encampment.

The Vosians watch it leave, then face their leader. Hunba turns to Hessur. "Get the corps and division commanders here right away!" she barks. "We attack at dawn!!"

The troops let out a cry as they race off to relay the message. Hunba sighs as she returns to gazing upon Lecashuto. "Ninsur," she quietly intones, a tear rolls down her cheek. "Oh, if you could see your boy now..."

* * *

"Good morning," Benten-chan places a tray beside the bed. "How are you doing today?"

Benten groans as her eyes flutter open. The pregnant Fukunokami struggles against her added weight, taking the offered cup of tea from her Sagussan look-alike. "I'm okay," she mutters. "Why are you so cheerful?"

Benten-chan produces a videophone. "Someone wants to talk to you."

Benten stares at the monitor. Nassur's face appears. "Hey, gorgeous," the Vosian smiles. "How are you doing?"

Gasping, the Fukunokami stares at her husband. Benten-chan smiles as she departs to allow the couple time to themselves...

* * *

"Oh, Lyna spare me!!" Catty throws up her hands. "ANOTHER clone?!!"

Junba winces under the doctor's withering stare. Shinobu, after helping the hunter regain some sense of decorum, dragged her to the Gatherer's superstructure to locate someone to examine her and confirm Noa's accusations. "Look, I don't care about what you think about clones!!" the Terran growls. "I just want Junba examined. She needs to know the truth about herself!"

"I'm busy fixing Ataru's mind after the *saikoo jinseijitsu* came close to destroy it!" Catty snarls. "Go bother someone else!!"

"Wait!" Shinobu moves to stop her.

Catty disappears in a transporter beam before Shinobu could seize her. The door to the medical station opens, allowing Pony to enter. "Is something wrong, Shinobu?" the "Hasei'cha's" second medical officer wonders.

"Yes!! Would you please examine Junba!" she waves to the Vosian in question.

Pony shudders. "Why do you want me to examine that?!" she points.

Shinobu smokes. "Because...I...asked...you...to!!!" she snarls a word at a time. "What's so wrong with that?!!"

The doctor shakes her head. "Lyna's Soul, you really don't see what's wrong here, do you?!" she picks up a medical tricorder. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm busy helping Catty with Ataru! HE comes first here!!"

She disappears. "WILL SOMEONE HOLD STILL FOR A MOMENT?!?!?!" Shinobu bellows.

Junba leans on a diagnostic bed. "I don't believe these people," she shakes her head. "It's like I'm garbage to them!"

Shinobu sighs. "I'll try to get someone down here!" she vows, looking up. "Hey, Henry, is there any other doctor aboard?!"

"*Other than Catty and Pony, no,*" the Gatherer's computer replies. "*However, there are several nurses.*"

"Is Mie's sister among them?"

"*Of course. But even if I summon her, I do not believe Hotaru would desire to examine Cinba's clone. And Mie will not let you live long enough if you attempt to physically coerce Hotaru into examining Cinba's clone. That is the way the* daishi'cha *are, even though many venerate a clone, Lyna.*"

Shinobu moans. "This beats all," she mutters. "A cultural prejudice existing BEFORE the culture is created!"

"*If you want, I can examine her.*"

"That's right! You can! Thank you!! Show us why Noa believes Junba is a clone!"

A hologram graphic appears before them. Two DNA strands are displayed. "*The DNA on the left is Cinba's,*" Henry instructs. "*The right one is Junba's. Now, look here.*"

Tan-shaded bands connect half the molecules of Cinba's DNA to Junba's. "*These molecular strands are exactly alike,*" Henry explains. "*In identical twins, which Junba believes herself to be, ALL molecular strands will show compositional variation in the number of genetic enzymes, up to about one percentage point of the other twin. We have dozens of twins, triplets, quads and quints among the* daishi'cha *to validate that.*"

"That's acceptable," Shinobu nods. "What other proof do you have?"

"*Look here,*" Henry shows a schematic of Junba's body, magnifying her deltoid. "*In several places of Junba's body, residue still exists from a gestation matrix. Quite similar to the matrix used to create clones during the Age of Gisan'cha. This should NOT exist in the body of a naturally born person.*"

Junba shivers. "What else?"

"*The final proof,*" Henry sighs, "*is your chronological age. We developed a way of tracking how many times a body regenerates itself in the natural process of replacing cells. If you were Cinba's sister, you would be 65 years old. According to our scans, you're only thirty-five.*"

Junba sits still, staring at the blank holographic screen before her. "Th-that's impossible," she shakes her head. "I have memories. The school. Being in Nassur's class. My graduation exercise, all my missions! They're all there!! How is it possible that I'm a clone?! I can't be a clone!! I can't!! It's impossible!!!"

"*I cannot help you,*" the Gatherer's central computer sighs. "*The only person who could is the one who created you.*"

Junba wails, staggering out of the station. "Junba, wait!!" Shinobu calls out.

The Vosian staggers into the deck's corridor, leading to the turbolift into the main hull. She runs into the next available car, allowing it to close before Shinobu can catch her. Sinking to her knees, she moans. "*Where do you wish to go?*" Henry asks.

"Somewhere private!" she moans. "Somewhere where I can think!"

"*I have an idea,*" he muses.

Junba is seized by a transporter, beaming from the superstructure to the forward end. Located between the dreadnought's proton cannons is a beautiful hydroponic garden. The plants, a mixture of Sagussan and alien fauna, are separated by wide swaths of clear pools and fountains. Benches and love seats line the pools. Junba sinks into one, burying her face in her hands. "Why...why?!" she moans.

A clone? The very notion was impossible. Her mind searches back, denoting all her experiences. They were as fresh as fallen snow, seared into her mind, ready to be recalled. She was there. If she was a clone, would she remember different things?

Or was she made to remember this?

Junba blinks. If she was Cinba's clone, why was she created? Who created her? The Mikado? Impossible...if Nassur was to be believed. Cinba would hardly be known to the Mikado, even if she had met and married Nassur before Osur's troops swept in to reclaim their missing hunter. Would the Mikado have been so thoughtful at that time to create a spare Cinba to use against Nassur? Junba shakes her head. Then, all the Mikado had to contend with was a renegade hunter, no threat to his power base at that time. It couldn't have been the Mikado. So who was it?

"I can't believe I'm considering this," she stares at her reflection in the pool.

Her eyes glow. "Junba?"

Junba sits up, blinking as Shinobu approaches. "Why are you here?"

"I was worried," Shinobu sits beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Would you be if you learned your life was a lie?" Junba wonders.

"I guess not."

They fall silent, unable to say anything more. They gaze at the pool, allowing their thoughts to wander. Shinobu's hand drifts over, gently grasping Junba's. In a moment, the Vosian's head lies in the crook of the Terran's neck. "After all I did to you," Junba's eyes close, tears starting to trickle down her cheek. "How can you be nice to me?"

"You're being nice to me," Shinobu smiles. "I'm just reciprocating."

Both chuckle, then blink as a Fukunokami-born administrator walks up to a nearby love chair. "Who's that?" Junba blinks.

"That's Yuri, I think," Shinobu lowers her voice. "What's she doing here?"

Both blink on seeing an unscarred version of Junba in a light blue, gold and red jumpsuit approach. "Yuri," Junba-chan coos.

"Junba!" Yuri exhales as they sink into an embrace. "I'm so glad to see you again."

Their lips meet as the couple sinks into a chair. Junba and Shinobu remain silent as the Sagussans continue their fondling, drawn by a fascination to the struggle of a young couple exploring their relationship. Suddenly, Junba-chan looks away. "Why won't you do it?" she demands.

"I can't," guilt crosses Yuri's face.

The zoologist's eyes flash. "Why won't you be my bondmate?! You said you love me!"

"Of course I do. But I..."

Junba-chan looks stricken. "You love someone else, don't you?"

"Yes," Yuri nods. "I love you both...and I can't stand the idea of losing you both. Oh, Junba, I'm in such a bind! I haven't even told Kei about you!"

"Does Kei love you?"

"Yes," Yuri nods. "She watched out for me when we went to Earth during the Spirit War. We've always been attracted to each other. But...well, I've always been attracted to you, too! Can't we...do something?"

Junba-chan seems lost in thought for a moment. "Kei, huh?" she slides beside her would-be bondmate. "Well, let's see..."

With that, the zoologist overwhelms the administrator with a kiss. Shinobu and Junba flush as clothes fly off. Discreetly, they move to a more private part of the gardens. "Wow, and I thought I had problems!" Shinobu wonders as the two sit on another bench.

"What's going to happen?" Junba muses.

"Since there's no marriage on Sagussa, I guess Yuri and your spirit-sister are going to make some arrangement with Kei. Maybe they'll all chose to live together. Sylia once said threesomes and foursomes existed on Sagussa."

"That's enough to drive anyone crazy," the Vosian muses, staring at the Terran. "You seem not to mind people like that."

"Well, Pamanba recognized another woman," Shinobu shrugs. "My sisters are lesbians, too. And...I've had a couple of flings."

"You?" Junba blinks. "You were pining after Nassur so much, you acted as if there was no one else in the universe!"

"I know," a sigh emits from Shinobu, then she projects a curious stare at the hunter. "Well, after we pulled your butt out of the fire, you started to pine after Nassur, too!"

Junba sags. "I hoped I could've taken my sister's place. I was attracted to him. I'm not sure now if it was recognition. But what do you do when the person you've hated for so long saves your life?"

"That would be confusing," Shinobu muses. "I'm lucky, I guess. I've never had to go through the brainwashing you endured."

"Thanks," Junba squeezes Shinobu's hand.

They gaze upon the other. Silence falls over the scene as their vision seems to narrow to the point where all they see is the other's face. The hatred, the mistrust, the abuse. Suddenly, it seems so meaningless. Both had yearned for the same person. Both lost him before they could ever be a factor in his life. In their heartbreak, they put their lives on the line to obtain the treasure a dictator's mad fantasies first forced them together to locate. Three months of questions. Three months of tension.

*It is over. You're free.*

Free?

Free to do...what?

After what they endured, what DO they do?

Without hesitation, both sink into the other's embrace, tears flowing as a cacophony of emotions storm over them. Their world remains just each other, their experiences replaying again and again. The chasm is still there. The mistrust. The uncertainty.

But...did it really matter anymore?

Shinobu feels Junba's lips caress her cheek. "There, there," the Vosian's voice whispers in her ear. "It's okay. There's no need to be afraid anymore. I'm here for you."

Shinobu fights down the urge to laugh. Junba was still trying to be the warrior, still the protector, defending the helpless Shinobu from her fears. Her own lips touch the other's cheek. "You need it, too."

Then, quite innocently, their lips caress the other's cheek, in a vain hope to stem the other's tears. "I ache all over."

Shinobu slowly exhales as their noses touch. "Ditto."

With that, their lips caress in an awkward kiss. Both jolt as they part, surprise flashing in their eyes. Realization then dawns. Did it really matter anymore? "Ju-chan," Shinobu sighs.

"Shi-chan," Junba blinks.

In a moment, they realize it didn't.

* * *

"'The people now watching over me are different from Mie's friends,'" Benten writes in her diary. "'Being stuck with a double of myself is interesting enough. But Koosei really went to town and got doubles of Oyuki, Lan and Lum to stay with me. I remember seeing them at the close of the Spirit War. They were supposedly involved in the fight with the *saikoo jinseijitsu,* volunteering to be Lum's bondmate when the smoke cleared.'"

Benten blinks as the thunder of weapons fire distracts her. She smiles. Benten-chan with a rifle doing some target practice. "'Like every Sagussan I've met, they've got their good and bad points,'" she continues. "'My spirit-sister is a defence officer. Chances are good she'll be Minister of Defence when the Sagussan government finally forms. She's nice, loves to drink'...gods, I need one right now," she exhales, sipping a glass of water, wishing it was Fukunokami super-vodka.

"'Oyuki-chan is a thoughtmistress,'" she continues. "'That's the Sagussan word for a teacher. A philosopher-instructor. In her lies the knowledge of Sagussa's past. Lan-chan is an armourer. She builds the weapons Benten-chan and her friends need. And Lum-chan is a scientist. She's got a wanderlust in her. She an explorer like Nassur. I wonder what might've happened if they met...'"

The Fukunokami is shaken out of her writing by Lan's scream. "BENTEN!!!!!!"

Benten stares outside to see the armourer storm up to the defence officer, a weapon in hand. "What's your problem?" Benten-chan turns back to her shooting practice.

Lan cradles a souped-up Urban Assault Cannon. "Benten, you're awful!!" she snarls. "How dare you abuse my poor babies like this?!!" She indicates a series of nicks on the weapon's polished surface. "Look at this!! I spent three hours prepping him and you destroy him in two minutes!"

"Lyna's Soul, Lan, your job is to build these things!! My job is to use them!!! Quit treating them like they were your kids!!"

Lan shudders, then storms away in a huff. "I'll show you!"

Benten sighs, returning to her diary. "'Then, there's their bad qualities...'"

* * *

Sometime later, Benten and her guests have dinner. "I can really acquire a taste for Sagussan food the way you keep cooking, Lum," the Fukunokami wipes her lips. "That was delicious."

"Thanks," Lum sighs, sitting beside her. "So, how was it, finally being able to talk to your child-mate after three months?"

"I told him to get his butt back here as soon as possible!" Benten growls. "I can't stand the idea of sleeping alone!"

"Seems we're more alike than one would assume," Oyuki muses. "The need for companionship, the need to be loved, cared for. Regardless of what else the Mikado has done, he is certainly guilty of interfering in the affairs of family. That itself is considered a serious crime on Sagussa."

"But what if family still has to be formed?" Benten-chan wonders.

The thoughtmistress trembles at the suggestive gaze her would-be lover projects. Lan devilishly smiles. Benten shudders, realizing that the armourer shared much more than looks with her spirit-sister in Tomobiki. *Watch out, Benten,* she gazes at her spirit-sister. *Lan's got your number!*

* * *

Sometime later, Benten relaxes in the living room, running through her diary. The door opens and Benten-chan steps in. "I'm turning in," the defence officer yawns, stretching herself. "'Night, spirit-sister."

"'Night," Benten waves.

Benten-chan leaves. A moment later, the door opens...and *Benten-chan* enters. "Good evening," she announces. "Is Oyuki about?"

"She's went to the guest bedroom, Benten-chan," Benten nods outside.

"Thank you," the woman bows.

She departs. Benten jolts. "Wait a minute!! If Benten-chan came in to say good-night...who the hell was THAT?!?!"

* * *

The next morning, Benten-chan steps out of her bungalow, walking over to Oyuki's. "Wonder if Oyuki's up," the defence officer knocks on the door. "Oyuki! You in there?"

The door flies open, revealing a steaming Oyuki. "BENTEN!!!!" the thoughtmistress thunders. "KINDLY EXPLAIN!!!!!!"

Benten-chan sweats. "Um...explain what?"

"That!!!" Oyuki points.

The defence officer looks in...then howls on seeing her companion droid double sitting deactivated on the sofa. To better facilitate the formation of family units, each *daishi'cha* had a bio-mechanical double constructed. Kept in a storage locker, the companion droids were meant as walking advertisements. Programmed with their template's knowledge, they allowed prospective mates the chance to be personal with the ones they desired without the necessity of trying to date the real deal. The perfect escort service, Mie once called it.

Benten-chan turns to see Oyuki's eyes lock on her. "O-oyuki, I s-swear I didn't d-do th-this!!" she stammers, backing away from the incensed thoughtmistress, waving her hands in a peaceful gesture. "I didn't s-send my d-droid to s-see you! I swear it!!"

Observing, Benten blinks, then looks left to see Lan hiding behind the corner of her bungalow, vengefully giggling as Benten-chan protests her innocence. The pregnant hunter's eyes roll. "Better nip this," she mutters. As Lan walks away, Benten proceeds to join her spirit-sister. "Yo, Oyuki, what's up?" she wonders.

"What's up?!!" the thoughtmistress demands. "Benten, do you have any idea what this *kimei'aidoei* just did?!!"

"Well, gee, Oyuki, I wouldn't be too quick to judge," Benten innocently shrugs. "After all, I just saw Lan sneak off...and she seemed happy about something."

A volcano explodes behind Benten-chan! "LAN?!?!" she howls. "SHE did this to me?!!"

"Seems like it," Benten shrugs. "I guess she found out you've always had a thing for Oyuki and decided to exploit it."

Benten-chan moans, wishing for the chance to sink into the sand. Oyuki blinks, then turns to the defence officer, eyes wide. "Benten...is this true?" she wonders.

"Um...ah...er!"

"Benten!!" the thoughtmistress blushes. "So you're the one who's been using my droid all the time! I always wondered who my secret admirer was!" she meows, rubbing her cheek against Benten-chan's.

The defence officer gags as Oyuki psionically tweaks Benten-chan's shields, performing a psionic peek-a-boo. Hearts in her eyes, Benten-chan scoops her would-be bondmate into her arms. "We've got some catching up to do," she lustfully purrs.

The bungalow's door slams shut after them! Benten sighs, returning to Ataru's house. "One disaster averted!" she mutters...

* * *

Lum passes a medical tricorder over Nokoko, now comatose on her bed. Mal holds her life-mate's hand as the scientist completes her examination. "How is she?"

"No change, I'm afraid," Lum sighs, closing her tricorder. "She's so emotionally bonded to her brother and your sister, being separated from them both caught her off guard. At least during the Hustari mission, my spirit-sister was close by."

"She does so little," Mal frets. "Gets up, eats, sits in the living room staring into space, then goes to bed. It's as if she wishes to return to the Cosmic Chain of Life!"

"Well, Ataru and Lum should be back in a couple of days," Lum smiles. "Keep her moving. Allow her to touch her baby. That should pump some new life into her."

"Of course," Mal feels her abdomen, still four months from giving birth. "Thank you."

Lum nods as she proceeds back to her bungalow. "Hope I never have problems with my bondmate," she muses as she steps inside.

The door closes behind her. A shocked scream echoes from her bungalow. "LAN?!?!?!"

* * *

Next morning, Benten relaxes with Benten-chan, Oyuki and Lan at the dinner table. "So, you two did some catching up?"

"We did," the defence officer sighs, then stares sweetly at the armourer. "Oh, Lan, thanks for your help!"

"M-my help?!" Lan sweats. "I-it was a p-pleasure, Benten!"

"Oh, but we really appreciated it, Lan," Oyuki sighs. "As a matter of fact, we appreciated it so much, we felt that we had no choice but to reciprocate the favour."

"Re-...cip-...ro-...cate?" she gasps.

Benten-chan and Oyuki nod. Lan then feels intense heat pour over her from behind. "LAN!!!!!!"

Lan spins around, seeing a steaming Lum standing there, waves of empathic energy flashing over the Oni-turned-Sagussan's body. "L-lum-chan, I can explain...!!" the frightened armourer waves her hands.

"Lan!!" Lum hisses. "Do you have ANY idea what your droid did to me?!!"

"Wh-what?!" Lan gulps.

"She was a monster!!" Lum growls. "A howling, snarling beast that wouldn't stop!! Insatiable!! She...frightened...me!"

Lan moans. "I wanna cry..."

"Well?!!" Lum demands. "Is that REALLY what you're like?!!"

"Um...er...ah...!" Lan stammers. *Benten, I'll get you for this!!*

A threatening grumble emits from Lum's lips as she crosses her arms. "So!!" she sneers, leaning up to Lan. "Well, then! There's only one thing I have to say!!"

"Wh-what?!"

Smiling, Lum leaps into Lan's arms! "Do it again."

An explosion decks everyone else!!

* * *

"Hi, love! How ya doing?"

"Not good," Benten groans, eyes rolling. "You're lucky you're not nursemaiding some *daishi'cha* in heat. Brother, these four are unreal! Mie's friends were civilized."

"Relax," he laughs. "All of Mie's shipmates had their relationships established before going to watch over you. For the most part, Noa's people are still exploring their emotions. Relationships in their eyes are simple. Pick your mate and go at it."

"At least Lum and Noa took their time," she muses. "You told me about that incident over that Lannarkite planet when you called yesterday. Can't believe it took Mendou and Megane that long to discover what was going on."

"That's what happens when people blind themselves to the truth," he shakes his head. "Those two still have a lot to learn."

"Speaking of which, what's going on there? How is everyone?"

"Civil," he relaxes. "Mendou and Megane got a strip torn off them by Sil and Tanoshii. Sil told me about Mendou's parents trying to get him married to Asuka Mizunokoji."

"Yeah!" she laughs. "Sil and Osooko took care of that. But you can lay bets the guy'll be in for it when he gets back!"

"I don't know," Nassur muses. "Something tells me that Mendou's about to become a genuine space cadet."

Benten blinks. "You're kidding!"

"No," he shakes his head. "As soon as the shock of being forced on the mission wore off, he started to ask questions. How did starships operate, what's the current warp drive theories, what planets have we seen, things like that. I never realized Tomobiki's resident stuffed shirt was a closet explorer."

"Weird," she muses. "How's Shinobu?"

"Strange as this is going to sound to you, Shinobu and Junba are, as the Sagussans would put it, becoming bondmates."

Benten sits up straight. That caught her attention. "Shinobu and Junba?! No way!!"

"Way!" he laughs. "After what Junba put Shinobu through, that took us by surprise."

"I'll say," she reclines on the bed. "Then again, it's a relief. At least she won't be pining after you anymore."

"Yes, I have to confess that her interest was irksome. It should have been clear after the Spirit War I wasn't interested in her."

"That always did annoy me about her," Benten muses. "Anyhow, I heard about this time...it'd be after everyone's graduation to the time Ataru came back from Hustaros...when Shinobu took off to visit her cousins. You know, get away from everyone, put her life into perspective. Believe it or not, she ran into four future versions of herself trying to ensure she would develop in that direction."

"You're kidding," Nassur shudders.

"I'm not," she shakes her head. "And hearing about these four really scared me. I'm glad Shinobu got rid of them."

"Good for her," he nods.

"What about Ataru and Lum?"

"Lum's fine," he nods. "As for Ataru, well, Catty and Pony are hard at work getting rid of the *saikoo jinseijitsu's* controlling personality once and for all."

Benten smiles. "Everyone in Tomobiki will scream for joy," she sighs, a tear in her eye. "How are you?"

"I miss you," he smiles.

"Good," she nods. "You get back here as soon as you can! And when you do, you don't leave my sight again! Hear me?!"

"I will," he nods...

* * *

As the Gatherer soars toward Earth, Nassur rides the turbolift to the command bridge. Stepping onto the square structure, he notices Lum relaxing in the shipmistress' chair at the aft end of the bridge. "Hi, Lum," he sighs. "Where's Ataru?"

"Darling's still in the master bedroom," she nods aft. "Catty and Pony are working themselves into a lather trying to reset all his neurons after the *saikoo jinseijitsu* altered them for its own purposes. There's twelve years of damage they have to undo."

"Good luck," the Vosian sighs, stretching himself. "How soon to Earth?"

"Tomorrow," the Oni smiles. "Ryuunosuke and Nagisa want to do some work on the port warp drive, so we're limited for the time being to Warp Nine-point-five."

Nassur shudders. Warp 9.5 was still insanely fast to someone used to a Warp 4.3 speed limit. "Well, the sooner I get back, the sooner Benten'll calm down. She's had to nursemaid all your spirit-sisters."

"I don't envy her," Lum smiles. "They're good people at heart, but their inexperience can grate on the nerves after a while."

"You got the smartest one of the lot."

"I'll make sure Noa hears that."

"Lum," Shildy looks up from the watchmistress' station. "We're in range of Intergalactic News Network transmissions. Do you want them piped onto the bridge?"

"Please," the Oni sits up.

A hologram appears before them. Images of artillery batteries sending shot into Lecashuto appear as an INN newscaster makes her report. "For the last two days, the battle for Lecashuto has raged. Already, the Rebel Alliance Army has made considerable advances. However, resistance is tightening as the Mikado's troops prepare to make their final stand in this bitter civil war..."

Nassur remains transfixed on the images. A war he started, many said. If he had not fled Osur's school years ago, millions today would still be alive. But...how could he reconcile Vos' experience with his own?

"You get back here as soon as you can! And when you do, you don't leave my sight again! Hear me?!"

Sighing, he looks away, noticing Lum staring at him. "It's over, Nassur-chan," the Oni smiles. "You won't have to run anymore."

The Vosian's eyes return to the image...

* * *

The image is also piped to a private stateroom several decks below. Junba and Shinobu lie in bed, staring at the brutal images of war visiting Vos' capital. The Terran tenses as she feels her lover shiver. She reaches over, drawing Junba into an embrace. "It's alright, Ju-chan," she sighs. "Just because you don't have a home there doesn't mean you won't be alone from now on."

"You promise, Shi-chan?"

"I promise," Shinobu smiles.

They kiss...

* * *

"They're here!! They're here!!"

Heads turn as Ten-chan drives into Tomobiki High, landing on the teacher's desk in room 337. "What's going on, Ten?" Koosei blinks, failing in his attempt to teach math.

"They're here, Koosei-onii-chan!" Ten-chan floats up. "They're back!! Nassur-chan, Lum-chan and the others came back!"

Hearing that, everyone bolts to his feet as a stampede of students storms out of school. "Well, that's enough for that class," Koosei throws up his hands, then heads off...

* * *

Everyone gathers at the Mendou mansion. "Where are they?!" Paama demands.

A transporter beam answers, sending down Mendou, Megane, Shinobu and their companions. "Aisuru-kun!!!" the guards howl as they charge their leader, bowling him down in a dogpile.

"Young Master!!!" the Kuromegane jolt on seeing their employer's son, then several race off to inform Mendou's parents.

"Shinobu!!!" Ryuunosuke races over, embracing her former classmate.

Laughter bubbles and tears pour from everyone as people touch the long missing students, confirming with her own senses that all is well. Suddenly, Chibi looks around. "Wait!!" he barks. "Where's Lum-chan?!"

"And Nassur?!!" Sakura blinks.

"They went up to Oshika," Ten-chan says.

Agonized groans escape many lips. "Who is this one?!!" Cherry appears in front of Junba, scaring the wits out of everyone!

"You ghoul!!!" the hunter blasts him with her pistol! "Don't sneak up like that!!!"

"It's...fate..." the monk moans.

"Um...this is Junba," Shinobu walks over, gently grasping her hand. "She's...a friend."

Cherry appears before Junba, standing on stilts. "She has the Mark of Doom!! Beware this one, Shinobu!! She is cursed...!"

An explosion sends Cherry flying away!! "LEAVE US ALONE, YOU OLD FREAK!!!!!!"

"Damn you...!!" he howls.

Seeing this, Mendou and Megane convulse with laughter. "You know something," the former faces the latter. "Seeing that old fool, now I KNOW we're back home!!"

"Feels nice, doesn't it?" Megane guffaws.

The laughter is infectious; in minutes, everyone is howling. "Wait a moment!!!" Kakugari barks. "How can we celebrate when Lum-chan and Nassur-san aren't here?!!"

"That's right!!" Chibi yells. "We've got to get them down here so we can celebrate!!"

Everyone howls their agreement. Watching them, Mendou, Megane and Shinobu stare at each other. Smiles cut across their faces as a new outburst of laughter convulses them.

They were home.

* * *

The Gatherer floats to the east of the Ojika-hantou, hovering a kilometre above the Pacific. At Ataru's house, Lum and Nassur beam down by the front door. "Sister!!!" Mal cries as she flies into Lum, sending them tumbling over each other in joy. "Oh, praise the Mother Ocean, you've come home!!!"

"Hi, Mal-chan!!" Lum fiercely embraces her sister. "Yeah, we made it back!"

"Lum!!!" Reiko's cry echoes from nearby.

The Oni cries out as the Noukiite flies into her arms. The others of Nokoko's school embrace their missing member. Nassur lightly smiles, walking into the house. Proceeding upstairs, he knocks at the door to Ataru's and Lum's room. "Is that you, Benten-chan?" Benten's voice utters from inside.

Nassur looks in. "Hi."

Benten jolts, spinning around. Her eyes widen as she confirms who is there, then screaming, runs into his arms. "NASSUR!!!!!!"

"Hi, love!" he sniffs. "I missed you."

"I missed you so much!!" she sobs, staring at him. "NOW, can we be together?!"

Laughing, he smothers her with a kiss.

* * *

"How's Daddy?" Reiko walks up.

The *daimon'cha* of Sagussa reclines in the Gatherer's master bedroom as if asleep. His breathing is laboured, skin gaunt and pale, but he is very much alive. "He's getting there," Catty scans him with a tricorder. "His mind is slowly rebuilding itself. I guess being home does wonders for people."

Lum enters, followed by Mal and a still-dazed Nokoko. "We're here," the Oni flies to Ataru's beside. "How is he?"

"We're still fighting," Catty smiles, then notices Nokoko. "Okay, bring her here."

Mal helps Nokoko to a chair beside Ataru. Staring at her brother, Nokoko blinks, then reaches over. "Ataru-chan...?" she hesitantly asks. "Ataru-chan...are you okay...?"

Ataru's eyes open, then he blearily stares at his sister. "Nokoko-chan...?" he moans, blinking. "What are you doing here?"

"You're home. You all made it back."

"Home?!!" Ataru bolts up. Vertigo sends him down again. "That wasn't a smart idea!"

"Relax," Catty smiles. "Your mind's trying to adjust to being free of the *saikoo jinseijitsu.* Your body's adjusting to the blood transfusion you got from Lum. The regeneration matrix is hard at work getting you accustomed to Sagussan norms."

"Why don't you expose him to the matrix all-out?" Lum inquires.

"Because with his shattering psyche added to the *saikoo jinseijitsu,* performing *tre'cha* and *satre'cha* becomes hazardous," the doctor shakes her head. "We have to do some work, breaking the bonds between himself and the *saikoo jinseijitsu.* Once that's done, we can extract that thing. Once that occurs, THEN we can put him into the matrix."

"But even still, he may never recover all his memories from the year before the *saikoo jinseijitsu* was inserted," Pony adds.

"That's fine," Lum nods, patting Nokoko's shoulder. "Maybe we should leave Darling and Nokoko-chan to allow them to catch up."

The others leave the room. "Reiko-chan," Ataru smiles as his daughter climbs onto his bed. "What are you doing here? My little sweetie behave herself?"

"Uh-huh," she sniffs, joyful tears flowing down her face. "Daddy, please don't go away again! Please!"

"I won't," he gently embraces her, turning to his sister. "How are you doing?"

"I've been...better," Nokoko moans. "Just glad you guys are back. So, what do we do with this Mikado character? We can't let him get away with what he did."

"I don't care anymore," he shakes his head. "It was never my war until that slimebag decided differently. Besides, the rebels trying to put him out of business are within 40 kilometres of his headquarters and they're closing in a kilometre or two a day. In a month, it'll be all over."

"Good," she nods. "All we have to do is wait until Benten gives birth and things'll get back to normal for a change."

"We hope," a smile cuts across his face.

"Yeah," she sighs. "We hope. I just hope we haven't forgotten what normal is."

Ataru smiles tiredly, nodding.

* * *

"There! Everything looks nice now!"

The area around the Tarouzakura is gaily decorated in spotlights as party favours are arranged, blankets laid and food set out. Mendou stands beside his mother, surprised at her speed of arranging the celebration. "Very nice," he nods. "Now all we have to do is worry about the clean-up."

Haruka laughs. "You look well, Shutaro. "I'm glad to see you survived this voyage."

"It was...difficult," he admits. "Most of all being confined in close quarters, not to mention the uncertainty surrounding whether or not we'd be able to escape. None the less, it is good to be home."

"Good," she beams. "We'll have to talk," she turns. "There's much to discuss."

With that, she proceeds to the mansion. Mendou watches her go, then shakes his head. He knew what that discussion would cover: his parents' desire to marry him to Asuka. Sil told him about the omiai which resulted in Tobimaro and Ryooko marrying their lovers, how Sil and Osooko had to break it up to ensure Mendou and Asuka didn't get married by proxy.

How could his mother concern herself with such trivial matters after what Mendou experienced? He blinks, gazing into the night descending over Tomobiki. How could HE consider such trivia when he had embraced the stars? Staying on Earth was no future for him. His future was out there. And there was one way to ensure that future came about.

"Sir, are you well?" a Kuromegane asks.

"Eh?" Mendou blinks, then nods. "I'm fine. I'm going out for a walk."

"Yes, sir," the bodyguard nods.

* * *

Sometime later, Mendou winds his way into Tomobiki town park. He finds himself bathed in greetings from many female high schoolers. He meekly waves, wishing they would leave him alone for once. He then stops, noticing Megane standing in his path. "Aisuru?"

"You're out too," the guards' leader muses. "This party still on?"

"Yeah," he nods. "You coming?"

"Yeah," Megane smiles. "Tan-chan and I need the chance to celebrate. Then we need the chance to get to know each other again."

"The same for Sil and me. Mother's still bothering me about marrying Asuka."

Megane blinks. "They're STILL on that?!" he exclaims. "What are you going to do?!"

"The only thing I can. Propose to Sil."

Megane whistles. "You can kiss whatever inheritance you have good-bye," he crosses his arms. "Ryooko's married, remember?"

"Yes," Mendou nods. "But...I've no interest in that anymore," he shakes his head, staring into the starry night. "That's where I belong," he points. "Not here on Earth."

"Up there, you'll be safe with Sil," Megane muses. "Well, that's your choice, pal. Right now, all Tan-chan and I want to do is go to university and begin training in earnest."

"I envy you," Mendou smiles. "You have your life mapped out. Space is so...random. That's what makes it so alluring to me."

"Be careful it doesn't claim you along the way," Megane warns.

The two stop, noticing Junba and Shinobu standing there. The Vosian is now in slacks and a button shirt. "Hi, guys," the latter smiles. "Can't stay at home, huh?"

"Not really," Megane muses. "So, how are your parents taking to you and Junba?"

"It's...rough," Shinobu admits. "But with Shinoko and Nintaiko with other women, they figured it rubbed off on me."

"Then again, Shi-chan and I don't know what we're going to do," Junba admits. "Right now, we're still unwinding from the trip."

The four proceed down a path. "Worried about things on Vos?" Mendou wonders.

"Not anymore," Junba shakes her head. "Truthfully, I never had a home there. I've never had much of a home anywhere."

"Until now," Shinobu squeezes her hand.

"Even now," Junba frowns. "Shi-chan, we drifted together because we were hurting after finding out Nassur was married."

"So?" Shinobu stops, glaring at her. "Can't we try to make it something more than that? Why are you so afraid?"

"I'm not afraid!!" Junba snaps, then catches herself. "No. I am afraid...but not of you, Shi-chan. I'm scared of myself."

"Why?!!" the three Terrans demand.

"Don't you understand?" she points to herself. "I never had parents or a sister. I was grown in a laboratory like a fungus, then programmed to be the perfect slave warrior. 'Yes, sir;' 'no, sir;' 'anything you say, sir.' Then I believed all the lies they piped into me! I don't even know who I am! You're the lucky ones! You have parents, relatives, friends! Who are my relatives?! Who are my friends?! It's no wonder the Sagussans look at me like I'm garbage! I'm nobody!"

"That's not true!!" Shinobu sighs. "You are someone, Ju-chan!! Just because you were created by someone for a reason which doesn't make sense to any of us, doesn't mean you don't have value! You have value! To me, to Nassur, to us! Can't you comprehend that?!"

Junba tries to respond, but no sound escapes her. "Can I live here?" she looks around. "Can I...call Tomobiki home?"

"We do," Shinobu shrugs. "Lum did until she and Ataru left. Lan does. Ten-chan does. Whether or not you have something back on Vos doesn't matter, Ju-chan! You have a home here! Please," she embraces her. "Stay."

Junba blinks, then gently embraces Shinobu. Mendou and Megane stare at each other, exchanging a nod.

* * *

"Wow!!" Junba whistles on seeing the Mendou estate. "Is this where Shutaro lives?"

"Yeah," Shinobu hums. "Beautiful, huh?!"

"This makes the Mikado's headquarters look plain!" the Vosian mutters.

A Kuromegane announces them. A crowd has gathered by the Tarouzakura as Mendou and Sil walk up. "Welcome to the estate, Junba," he bows. "Please, make yourself at home."

"Thanks," Junba nods, walking into the compound. "Where's everyone else?"

Mendou sighs. "Nassur and Benten will be here in a while. Lum nearly refused to come because the guards didn't extend an invitation to Ataru. He won't be coming. Catty-sensei is still working on restructuring his mind."

"I take it that's a chore," Junba muses.

"You've never faced the *saikoo jinseijitsu,*" Shinobu warns.

The couples relax under the tree. An airbike is heard. The Kuromegane herald the arrival of Nassur and Benten, who disembark, heading into the compound. Greetings wash over them as Mendou and Sil rise. "It's good to see you, Nassur-san, Benten-san," Mendou bows. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."

"Thanks," Benten breathes out, patting her stomach. "This kid really does take a lot of energy from me...huh?!" she stops.

Junba and Shinobu turn, staring at the pregnant Fukunokami. Their eyes widen as they confirm with their senses who had won Nassur's heart, then they look away. "Um...nice to see you guys," Benten tries a smile.

It fails. "Hi, Benten," Shinobu sighs.

"Nice to meet you," Junba waves.

Benten blinks, then shrugs, returning to her husband's side. "I want to go for a walk," Shinobu whispers.

"Yeah, let's go," Junba nods.

They rise, slipping out of the compound. Making their way to the cliff overlooking Tomobiki, they sink into the other's embrace. "You know something?" Shinobu sniffs. "Part of me still didn't believe Nassur had married Benten until I saw her."

"Me, too," Junba wraps an arm around her lover as they gaze at the cityscape before them. "Felt like a slap in the face."

"Yeah."

Silence falls over them. "Ju-chan?"

"What is it, Shi-chan?"

The Terran bites her lip. "Do...you have any idea what you want to do with yourself?"

"Me? No, not really. You?"

"I want to go to nursing school," Shinobu muses. "Hey! Why don't we go together?!" she gazes at Junba. "Instead of learning how to kill people, you can learn how to heal them!"

"Well," Junba scratches the back of her head. "Doesn't sound like such a bad idea," she shrugs. "But where would I live? How would I support myself?"

"With me!!" Shinobu play-punches her in the arm. "Do you think I'd let you go off and live on your own?! You don't have a ship to live on like Lan does, you know!!"

Junba blinks. "Shi-chan...what are you trying to say?" she pulls away. "Do...you want to start a relationship?"

She is surprised at her forthrightness. "Yes, I want a relationship!!" she snaps...

...then Shinobu realizes what she said. "I want a relationship," she blinks, then she fixes Junba with a gaze. "Yes," she nods. "I want to have a relationship with you, Junba. With you...and only you!"

The hunter blinks, feeling a surge of fear crawl up her spine. This was the one battlefield she had never truly concerned herself with: love. "I..." she stammers, then feels her voice fade. She then fixes Shinobu with a gaze. "Why?"

The Terran jolts. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not to me," the Vosian shakes her head.

Shinobu stares at the stars. "Before I...I had relationships of one sort or another with several people. Ataru, Shutaro, Inaba...you know them. There was also a brief fling with Ataru's bioroid sister Atako, his brother Kaeru and Kaeru's child-mate Naromo. They even invited me to come live with them on Nagussa. I said I'd think about it. But...I think I've got a better offer," she gazes at Junba, a content smile crossing her face.

Junba flushes as Shinobu sinks into her embrace. "You see, Ju-chan, all I've ever dreamt of for myself...all I allowed myself to dream...was a happy home, a loving husband and children to raise. A peaceful, content life. But that was too simple. Now I've learned that I can expand my horizons. I HAVE to expand my horizons, learn to be the best I can be. I now know I can have a happy home sharing it with another woman. Naromo showed me it was possible. Shinoko and Nintaiko do it. Being with you gives me the chance."

"Shi-chan..." Junba blinks.

"I want to learn how to be a nurse," Shinobu twirls around. "Maybe in the future, I'll consider other things. That's then. This is now. I have to start somewhere. Why not there? So...why can't I do it with you?" she fixes Junba with a gaze. "Why can't you be something more than you are now?"

"I don't know if I can. I like being a hunter. I'm safe and comfortable there. The rules are simple, easy to comprehend."

"That restricts yourself!" Shinobu insists. "Ju-chan, if you stay a hunter, the Mikado wins. You and I believe you were not created by the Mikado, but by someone else. Your birth coincides with Colony Seventy-one's destruction. What if...what if...you were created to spit in the Mikado's eye?"

"What?!"

Shinobu grasps her arms. "Ju-chan. Outside of Nassur and your sister, very few survived Colony Seventy-one. Three hundred thousand people died. But...what if there was another survivor? A friend of Cinba's parents. And that friend decides that she doesn't want Colony 71 to remain lifeless. She decided she was going to bring new life to Colony Seventy-one. She did. You."

"That sounds very farfetched."

"Maybe," Shinobu leans into Junba's embrace. "But can you come up with something better to explain your existence?"

After a moment of thought, "No."

They gaze at each other. "Well?" the Terran smiles. "What will it be?"

Junba's mouth twitches. "You."

"I knew you'd say that, Ju-chan," Shinobu purrs as they kiss...

* * *

Sometime later, the two rejoin the party. By that time, Lum has arrived. Much to Shinobu's and Junba's surprise, Ataru is also there, still pale. Catty is with him, her first aid kit at her side. "Hey, welcome back, stranger," Junba gently pats Ataru's shoulder. "How are you doing?"

Ataru tenses. Catty bolts to her feet, shoving her away. "Keep your hands off, half-life!" the doctor snarls. "Ataru can't take any physical contact for the next while."

"S-sorry," Junba stammers, moving off to join Shinobu, Mendou and Sil.

Catty sits. "<<I don't know why you insisted on forcing him to come,>>" she glares at Lum, switching to Sagussan. "<<It's the same problem you had after you were shot.>>"

"<<Darling needs a chance to get out,>>" Lum insists. "<<I hated it when you had me cooped in the house. He'll hate it, too.>>"

"<<He's not in the proper mental shape to worry about being with friends, you know.>>"

Nearby, Junba blinks, then turns to her companions. "Do any of you understand that?" she indicates Catty and Lum.

"Not really," Mendou muses. "It seems there's a whole host of things those people did to Lum that we didn't suspect until it was too late. It does make me wonder."

"Dear, enough," Sil warns, projecting a cautious stare. "What Ataru and Lum do between themselves is none of your business."

Mendou shudders. "Of course."

Lan is busy feeding Rei. "Did anyone get the latest news from INN about what's going on in Lecashuto?" she stares at the other aliens.

"I heart they're within thirty kilometres of the Mikado's headquarters," Sil muses. "But the Vosian Defence Force is unable to instill a proper blockade of the capital because the Mikado's troops are using ion cannons to drive the capital ships away."

"Why would they do that?" Sakura wonders.

"It's forging an escape route," Koosei muses. "With the ion cannons chasing off the ships, the Mikado could sneak his troops out of Lecashuto. With that, the rebels and the Defence Force will be spending the next ten years chasing them down if they scatter."

"An army becomes a pack of terrorists," Mendou muses, shaking his head.

"Even worse. If those troops get out of the Confederation, they'll be complicating the lives of all the border states," Nassur sighs. "The new government will want the right to track down those people. But in the eyes of those governments, the post-Mikado regime will be playing the same game the Mikado was always fond of: sending in troops, infringing on the sovereignty of 'lesser' states, ignoring the rights of the non-Vosians."

"Leading to disintegrating relations, hostility, racism and other isms, even war," Junba sighs. "With another war, the chance comes for another Mikado to take power."

"The cycle never stops," Shinobu moans.

"Will you all please get off this topic?"

Everyone faces Ataru as he stares at them. "What's your problem?" Megane demands. "Aren't you concerned about what could happen if this monster gets away?"

Ataru glares at him, then rising, walks away. "Darling, wait!" Lum flies after him.

"What's his problem?!" Kakugari demands.

"What did you expect?" Koosei muses. "Unlike the others, Ataru's been in space for the past FIVE months, not three. Five months separated from his family and friends. He's tired, his defenses are worn and he's not in the mood to talk about what he's undergone."

"Well, we could've understood that if a certain someone would've told us that Ataru had been kidnapped in the first place!!" Megane glares at Catty.

The doctor snorts. "What's the matter, Megane? Upset that none of you were told what happened to your precious Lum?" she muses.

"Damn right we are!!" Megane bolts up.

"Sit down!!!" Tanoshii snaps. "This is supposed to be a party!! And will you get off that?! Why are you still pining after Lum?!"

"YOU stay out of this!!" Megane barks.

The apprentice priestess gasps as the guards' leader turns on Catty. "I've no idea what that bitch Noa did to Lum which made her so sour about us, but believe me, if that's the way you people make friends, you're gonna be the loneliest race in the galaxy!!"

"Listen to the arrogant fool?!" Catty laughs. "The only thing we did was rip away the blindfolds YOU forced on Lum to ensure you could control her! Once they were gone, once Lum saw how starved for attention you people were, she decided she wasn't going to play your game anymore, so she left to start her life with the person she loved!!

"And let me tell you something, you idiot!!" she jabs a finger at him. "As a doctor, my oath is to protect and preserve one's life to the benefit of my patient! That does NOT include those who would try to DOMINATE my patient, which is something you're all guilty of to one extent or another!! When I was putting Lum back together, trying to help her understand what being a Sagussan was all about, I knew that having all you idiots fawning over her would corrupt her in ways the *saikoo jinseijitsu* could never've dreamt of! And I would've done everything, including having you killed, to protect my patient!! And that goes double for Ataru!"

She storms off in Ataru's and Lum's wake. Everyone shudders at the doctor's threat. Nassur emits a sad sigh. "It seems this party's a bust, Shutaro," he stares at Mendou. "Maybe we need time to relax and unwind before we worry about celebrating our survival."

"Um...of course," Mendou nods.

* * *

Later, Nassur sleeps in the cabin aboard "Renegade," now parked in front of Ataru's home. Benten remains up, sitting at her desk as she adds another entry to her diary. "'By the looks of things, kid, the Mikado's done more to destroy everyone's sense of self than anything Ataru could have ever conceived...'"

* * *

The week after the Gatherer's return passes. The bitter feelings of the party at the Tarouzakura fade. Catty continues her efforts to heal Ataru's wounded psyche, preparing him for his eventual return to Sagussa. Lum remains in Oshika, helping Catty with Ataru, mothering Reiko and reforging ties with family and friends. Benten continues to wait out the end of her pregnancy, now in her husband's welcome company.

With the Gatherer orbiting Earth, the need for guards to watch over the pregnant Fukunokami is negated. Benten-chan and her friends return to Sagussa. Noa, Honey, Pathfinder Troop Six and the "Hasei'cha" crew remain to add a further security barrier against anyone seeking to harm their healing *daimon'cha* and his friends.

In Tomobiki, after an explosive argument over his "Lum-itis," Megane and Tanoshii begin their own healing, reforging the magic they had before the Mikado intruded. For Mendou and Sil, their relationship seems more resilient. The scion of Japan's richest family is now seriously considering proposing to his Oni lover. Of course, he also has to avoid his parents' attempt at forcing him into a marriage with Asuka (who for all this time has remained in Oshika beside Osooko).

Shinobu and Junba reinforce their bond. Visiting the former's sisters in Sado and Oshika, Shinobu considers something she would have never believed she would do with the Vosian hunter three months before: a handfasting. Junba becomes the latest in a long line of aliens now registered with the United Nations, thus gaining the right to seek residence and work alongside her lover.

News from Vos remains decidedly in the rebels' favour. Despite the ion cannons deflecting the blockade ships, the rebels continue their steamroller advance on Lecashuto. Casualties are horrendous, similar to the bloodbaths of the American Civil War.

Watching the destruction televised daily on INN, Nassur fidgets. A nagging feeling lurks deep in his heart. He has to go back. Finish the job he started years ago. Help destroy the Mikado. The hunter's eyes turn to his sleeping wife, glowing with the new life within, yet tiring of her clumsiness, her feelings of impatience to get the show on the road. With that constant reminder, he is able to sleep every night, his conscience intact.

But as with all things, it soon ends...

* * *

"Hi!!" Milan Domo beams as she stands on the beach before Ataru's home. "Milan Domo for INN now in the town of Oshika, Japan on Earth. We're continuing a series of interviews with prominent Vosian dissidents of the Mikado's rule. As Hunba's final blitzkrieg into Lecashuto picks up steam, we're meeting people who have more than enough reasons to loath the dictator the Rebel Alliance Army is trying to destroy. And here today is the most famous dissident of them all: Nassur."

The camera swings to display "Renegade," peacefully parked against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. The boarding hatch is lowered as Nassur emerges, finding himself facing the eye of the galaxy. "And here he is right now," Milan quickly moves to the surprised hunter's side. "Good morning, Nassur-san. How does it feel to have the monster who's tried to kill you forever off your back?"

For the first time, Nassur is at a loss for words. He quickly recovers. "Well, as Terrans are fond of saying, it's not over until the fat lady sings. Personally, as you undoubtedly know, my wife is expecting our first child," he indicates Benten, now descending. "She's my present concern."

"Congratulations," Milan beams. "What do you expect to do when the news comes down that the Mikado is gone?"

Nassur considers the question. "Breath a sigh of relief, then get back to my life."

Ataru, Lum and Noa are aghast on seeing who stands on his beachfront. "Oh, shit!!" he exclaims. "Who brought Milan here?!!"

"I don't know, but if that transmission gets out, the Mikado will know how to get to Nassur and Benten!!" Lum gasps.

Noa turns to her *daimon'cha.* "Shall I round up the usual suspect?"

"Please," Ataru snarls. "And call Koosei! He'll want to know!!"

"Right," the *ashi'cha* runs off.

* * *

"I'm innocent!!!" Lan protests as she hangs in chains upside down in her kitchen, Lufy's gun aimed unwaveringly at her forehead. "I didn't call INN!!! I swear it!!!"

"You'd better be innocent, *de'ne!*" Lufy growls. "Believe me, erasing you from existence will be doing this town a favour!!"

"Hey, I like the Mikado just as much as I like Yethis Seq!!" the Seishin teen protests.

"SHUT UP!!!!" Ataru and Lum bark.

Lan clams up. Nene walks out of Lan's control room, labtop in hand. "I checked all phone records. Even got into her ECM logs," the Pathfinder sighs. "No call to INN."

"See!! I told you!!!" Lan screams.

"Alright," Ataru sighs. "Cut her down!"

Lan falls head-first into the floor after Lufy parted the cable! Lum and Koosei turn to Ataru. "Now what?!" she wonders. "Who was it that blabbed about Nassur's presence to INN?!"

"I don't think that's the problem now," Koosei adjusts his glasses. "The real problem is what the Mikado will do when he gets hold of that transmission."

"I'd figure he's got enough problems right now with four million troops dropping on him without worrying about us," Ataru snorts.

"Darling, this is the same lunatic who sent a ship all the way here, kidnapped all of us so that he could force Nassur to travel half a galaxy to locate that stupid *haijo-ju* prototype!" Lum protests.

"The Mikado's never allowed people to get away with making a fool out of him twice," Koosei sighs. "Thought I've got to admit, Ataru, you're done more than your share."

"Me?!" Ataru points to himself.

"Well, let's see," Koosei hums. "Two regiments of Mikado Marines, a whole slew of Mikado hunters now working for Dakejinzou, another Mikado hunter handfasted to one of your sister's friends, all the officers of the Special Hunter Corps Lufy killed...and there was that other company of Mikado Marines Nokoko's friends butchered on Sakusei...need I go on?"

"Well, that's his fault. He stuck his nose where it doesn't belong," Ataru snorts. "I don't take it from the people here and I certainly as hell won't take it from him!"

"Problem with the Mikado is, he's never let go," Koosei sighs.

"Wonderful," Ataru moans. "We might as well be on Otasur's ship going back to Vos for all the good our being here's done."

"I just hope Nassur doesn't do anything," Lum frets. "I don't think Benten'll be able to take him leaving to fight the Mikado."

"Much less Shinobu," Ataru muses.

* * *

Within hours, the INN transmission makes its way to Vos. As Nassur's image appears to his people, the reaction is mixed. Most Vosians caught in the crossfire think little of this one who got away. Hunba orders her artillery to pump an extra salvo into Lecashuto to remind the Mikado he no longer controlled the lives of those around him.

As for the Mikado, his response is surprisingly swift. Realizing that lost telemetry from Otasur's ship spelt that Nassur had escaped with the Sceptre, the dictator hastily assembles a strike team to take a frigate to Earth. Their mission is to kill Nassur and his allies, find the Sceptre of Lecasur and return it to Vos. With the Defence Force unable to close the blockade over the Confederation's capital, the frigate makes a clean getaway.

Or so the Mikado believes.

Unseen by any Vosian sensor, a Sagussan rover unit detects the frigate, quickly transmitting its findings to Earth...

* * *

"Company's coming," Noa announces.

Ataru relaxes on his bed, several acupuncture needles implanted in his forehead as Catty continues to work. "What sort of company?" Lum stares at her bond-mate.

"The Mikado," the *ashi'cha* sighs. "Single frigate. It's due here in four days."

"They escaped the blockade?" Lum blinks. "If they get clear of the Confederation, it'll be the devil's own time trying to stop them before they make landfall."

"We know that. So what do we do?"

"Send a ship and stop them, of course!"

"Into Vosian space? Fire on a Vosian ship in Vosian space? If we're seen, it could change the dynamics of the whole civil war!"

"Why can't you intercept it as soon as it emerges from Vosian space?" Ataru mutters from his bed. "Wouldn't that be easier?"

"It would be. So, who do we send?"

"Send Eluza and her crew," Ataru mutters. "I think they can use the exercise after sitting here babysitting Benten."

Noa nods, walking out...

* * *

A day later, the Mikado frigate clears the last colony before entering the Dead Zone, the space leading right into the Earth-Triton system. As it makes a run for the Yiziba system, the first stop on the journey to Earth, it is pounced on by the "Hasei'cha."

Unnoticed by the warpsloop, several Ellsian solar sail yachts were in the area as Eluza's crew methodically wreck the Mikado ship, ensuring no one would ever see Lecashuto alive again. Naturally, one of the sailors recorded the battle, selling it to the local INN station in Baran when they returned home.

In a day, the news flashes across the local cluster. The Mikado's propaganda machine swings into full gear, denouncing the "pirates" for interfering in Vosian affairs. Unfortunately for the Sagussans, the rebels also make negative comment, requesting that the party who assaulted the Vosian ship identify himself and explain his actions. As Noa predicted, opinions regarding the civil war begin to change among top leaders on both sides. Was it possible that another power was trying to destroy Vos from outside while its people were caught in their fratricidal feud?

Then new information surfaces...from Uru. A ship matching the "Hasei'cha's" description had been seen on Earth sometime ago, interfering in an Urusian mission attempting to locate renegades who had sought refuge on Earth. Naturally, the source...close to General Yethis Seq...did not reveal that the Urusian forces under Captain Kakaru Azu's command were over Earth illegally, disrupting local affairs in a vain attempt to find a young Oni-Seifukusu couple before their existence could be made known to the galaxy.

To steal the Mikado's thunder and perhaps solicit additional intergalactic support for the rebel cause, the Vosian Defence Force dispatches a starship from its fleet based near the Dead Zone to Earth to locate the mysterious ship...

* * *

"Why are we on this milk run?" Darenba wonders as she stares at the grainy pictures of the "Hasei'cha" firing on the frigate, standing on the command bridge of her ship.

The star destroyer V.D.F.S. "Lecasur's Soul," newest and most powerful ship in the Defence Force, breaks from warp as she sails into Earth's home system. The commodore relaxing on her bridge was expecting their ship to be ordered to Vos to aid in the blockade of Lecashuto. Intelligence estimates now stated that a quarter of the 400,000 Mikado troops in the capital region had slipped away, with a brigade's worth escaping each day under the protection of the city's ion cannon defence battery. Now here they were heading to a developing world on scant information, trying to contact an unknown race, all for political gain. "Hard to estimate what the Admiralty's thinking these days," first officer Hitoko muses, scratching his close-cut red beard. "The way the brass operates these days, you'd believe the war was won."

"Well, it isn't!" Darenba growls, tossing the pictures aside. "And if we don't do something about the troops escaping Lecashuto now, we'll never see the end of this!"

"Approaching Earth, Commodore," the helm says. "Sensors sweeping for alien contacts."

"Very good," Darenba sighs, then looks at Hitoko. "What do you know about this world?"

The dark-haired *azhis'f* sighs. "It's been a hotly contested planet between the Federation and the Ipraedies for some time now. The Zephyrites and the Seifukusu stick their noses in every once in a while, but the real contest is between Uru and Ipraedos."

"And the information about that ship came from Uru," Darenba muses. "Now, I know that vessel wasn't Ipraedies. Design specifics were different, way more advanced. Definitely not Seifukusu. Zephyrites, maybe?"

"We've known there is a Terran Righteous Gentile," Hitoko notes. "Chances are, the only Zephyrite representation would be clerical. That ship does not look Zephyrite."

"Which means one thing," the commodore muses. "Someone else is trying to horn in on Uru's claim to Earth."

The first officer nods. "By bringing us in to distract these people, the Urusians probably hope to regain lost ground when it comes to relations. I've heard they've taken a severe battering over the last year."

"Agreed," Darenba nods. "Whoever these people are, we have to learn the whole story before we make judgements."

Hitoko nods. "Commodore, sensors are detecting a ship approaching us from Earth," the sensory officer reports. "Identification tag makes her I.S.S. 'Renegade.'"

The bridge crew blink in surprise. "'Renegade?!'" Darenba and Hitoko exclaim...

* * *

Later, Nassur steps onto the destroyer's hangar deck. "Permission to come aboard, Commodore," he holds out his hand.

"Granted, Commander," Darenba grasps his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She blinks on seeing his companion. "Who's this?"

"Ah!" Nassur smiles. "May I present Mister Angus McTavish of Canada, representing the United Nations of Earth."

"Pleased, Commodore," the reporter nods.

"Likewise," Darenba blinks, shaking his hand. "May I ask why your planet's government dispatched you? Normally, we wouldn't receive a delegation from a planet which would be under the protection of our Prime Directive."

"So Nassur's told me," Angus smiles. "Believe me, Commodore, we don't want to cause undue ruffles with your superiors. But we have to admit, even our tolerance has limits. Are you aware that the lunatic your friends are presently fighting kidnapped four Earth citizens three months ago?"

"No, I didn't know," Darenba crosses her arms. "But we're not here because of that. I hope those people don't come to harm..."

"Oh, no," Angus shakes his head. "They are back on Earth safe and sound, thanks in part to Nassur here," he nods to the hunter. "We know you're here looking for a mystery ship which defended Earth against illegal terrorist incursions by the Seifukusu Dominion and the Urusian Union four months ago."

"Terrorist incursions?" Hitoko wonders.

"That's right. Whoever told you about that ship obviously didn't mention that hundreds of innocent civilians were killed and wounded by Urusian and Seifukusu thugs who were trying to locate a young couple...an Oni male and Seifukusu female...whose only crime was their putting aside their races' mutual hatred and falling in love. That ship was the one who drove off the Urusians and the Dominion...single-handedly, I might add."

The Vosian naval officers blink in surprise. "I see," Darenba muses, turning to her first officer. "Appears you were right."

"I wish I wasn't," he sighs.

Angus sighs. "Because of that, we've decided that we're not going to bow anymore to any race whose citizens flagrantly violate our laws, kidnap our citizens and guests, or generally disrupt the lives of our people. Lord knows, we have enough problems; we don't want other races' problems falling on our heads, too. To that end, we've decided that we're going to negotiate with the one planet who has consistently demonstrated a sincere willingness to respect and acknowledge our sovereignty."

"Understandable," Darenba nods.

"Thank you," the Canadian smiles. "With that in mind, of course, we're willing to help smooth any ruffled feathers because of the incident concerning the Mikado's ship. We," he indicates Nassur, then himself, "strongly believe that vessel was dispatched to kill Nassur and his friends who reside on Earth. I'm sure you can understand, Commodore, that we certainly will NOT tolerate that."

"More than understandable," she smiles.

"Wonderful!" Angus beams, then turns to the open end of the hangar deck, enclosed by a forcefield. "As a matter of fact, I believe you might know of these people."

Darenba stares. "I don't understand..."

Her words catch in her throat as space behind the "Lecasur's Soul" melts into the Gatherer's tan hull. The deck crew gape in disbelief as the Sagussan superdreadnought hovers behind the Vosian star destroyer. Calls from the bridge confirm that the vessel aft of them is indeed the Eternal Voyager. Blinking, Darenba gazes at Angus, who innocently shrugs in response to the questions storming across the commodore's face...

* * *

A while later, Darenba and Hitoko beam down to Ataru's house to meet Sagussa's leader. "I'm not sure how I should greet you, sir," the commodore extends her hand as she walks into the living room.

"Please," Catty steps in the way. "My patient is currently undergoing several mental rehabilitation treatments. Physical contact with non-Sagussans is discouraged."

"Um...of course," Darenba nods.

"Please, make yourself comfortable," Ataru waves the commodore to the sofa across from him. "Let's see if we can do something to help both our peoples this day."

"That's why we're here," Darenba admits. "My orders were to investigate why your ship attacked that Mikado frigate. Nassur-san and McTavish-san made that problem quite clear. Of course, we would like it if your people would not interfere in our private affairs..."

"Commodore, what would happen if elements of your Confederation interfered in Sagussan affairs?" Noa muses.

"Why...we would punish them, of course."

"Forgive me, but that attitude does not sit well with anyone from my world," the *ashi'cha* sighs. "As you might know, Ataru was one of the ones kidnapped by the Mikado to locate the Sceptre of Lecasur," she nods to the man in question. "He was held against his will for three months. Separated from his people at a crucial time in our world's development. Yet by your laws, my people cannot bring the guilty parties to Sagussa to face a Sagussan court of law. That sort of arrogant presumption is not going to get you many friends when you finally depose the Mikado and form a new government. NO ONE, and that means us as well, is willing to allow 'business as usual'...Vosians being the only ones to judge other Vosians...to continue."

"It has not bothered people before," Darenba notes. "No other race has our technological advantages save Yehisril and Zephyrus...and yourselves, of course. The Mikado has never sent his hunters to the Royal Kingdoms or the Holy Republic."

"Regardless that the Zephyrites and the Yehisrites are your equals, shouldn't others have the right to deal with terrorists?"

"Of course."

"Commodore, your Prime Directive is an excellent document, very forward thinking in its approach to more primitive cultures. We have a document called the Non-Interference Directive. The difference between our laws is that the NID states that interference can potentially go two ways. Not just Sagussans interfering in Vosian affairs, for example, but Vosians interfering in Sagussan affairs. The NID states that when two races, regardless of technological levels, come into contact, EACH race has the indisputable right to deal with any transgressions against their society regardless of the perpetrator's origins. If a Sagussan became a terrorist and killed Vosian civilians, we would turn that perpetrator to the Vosian justice system and allow them to deal with it. All we ask is that Vos allows Sagussa...to do the same in return."

"What happens to diplomatic immunity?" Darenba crosses her arms. "The reason we prefer to settle our own affairs is that we're afraid every other race possessing a grievance against the Mikado or the rebels will seek to redress them violently. We've already got enough of our own blood on our hands. We don't want to add other races' blood."

"Understandable...applaudable, even," Noa smiles. "But that's the problem with civil wars. Both sides automatically seek to turn it into a war with foreign powers just to get the heat off their backs. When you drive the Mikado out of Lecashuto...being a foregone conclusion...you'll have to deal with decades of terrorist attacks and incidents with other races. The Mikado will want to do this for the simple tactic of turning Vosian public opinion against whatever other race which may provide the perfect bogeyman. Ipraedos, Yehisril, Zephyrus...even us. What we'd like to do is help you prevent those wars by nipping the Mikado in the bud."

"Supply troops and weapons to us to help destroy their forces, you mean," Hitoko muses.

"Supply troops, if that is what Commander Hunba would desire," Noa nods. "But more importantly, ensure that the Mikado's forces in Lecashuto cannot escape. Those ion cannons will not bother a Sagussan starship."

The Vosian officers stare at each other. "We would like to convey your offer to our superiors," Darenba muses. "It may take a couple of days to get a reply."

"We can do it right now," Noa stands, waving to the door. "Our comm systems work much more efficiently."

Curious, the two officers follow the minister out of the house...where a rover unit floats, a holographic screen projecting the image of a grizzly red-haired man in admiral's uniform. "Admiral Shermansur!" Darenba blinks, snapping to attention.

"Is that you, Darenba?!" he wonders.

"Where are you?" the commodore inquires.

"On Vos now, in Hunba's camp," Shermansur grumbles. "Right now, intelligence estimates state over 5,000 Mikado troops are fleeing Vos every day. It seems we need some help in cutting that off. Over a hundred thousand Mikado troops are already on the loose."

"Then the Sagussans would be permitted to send ships of their own?"

Shermansur nods. "Personally, I'd prefer not to get others involved. But that's the other problem with civil wars. The other side can easily guess what you're thinking."

Darenba nods. "Agreed."

"Very well," Noa smiles, turning to the rover unit. "Signal Fleet Shipmistress Feb. My compliments to her and inform her that she is to deploy her forces to blockade Vos. No Mikado ship is to escape Lecashuto spaceport."

"*Acknowledged, Minister. Fleet's ETA over Vos, 7 hours 22 minutes.*"

Darenba and Hitoko blink in surprise. It would take them four days to get back to Vos at the "Lecasur's Soul's" top speed. Turning to Noa, they elicit a shrug. "Terrans say that 'there's no time like the present.'"

* * *

"We have made contact with the mysterious race responsible for the destruction of the Mikado frigate 'Firenze' near Yiziba two days ago," Hessur announces at a news conference outside Hunba's camp within an hour of Darenba meeting Ataru and Noa. "Let me iterate that these people do not wish to initiate any sort of conflict with the Vosian people.

"These people address themselves as the Fifth Republic of Sagussa. Sagussa is located here," he indicates a star chart showing Beta Quadrant. Sagussa is denoted with a small "X" outside the red ring denoting the Galactic Barrier. "In the Fourth Stellar Cluster five thousand parsecs beyond the Galactic Barrier."

Hushed comments are heard from several of the reporters. "Over the last several months, officials from Sagussa have been in close contact with the United Nations of Earth," he indicates Earth on the chart. "The United Nations has expressed to Vosian Defence Force officials they now intend to commence mutual recognition treaty negotiations with the Fifth Republic within the month. Considering Earth's precarious position between several hostile planetary governments, I am expressing the view of the Rebel Alliance Army high command that whatever Earth decides for itself, Vos will support.

"Three months ago, the Mikado's agents, in flagrant violation of treaties the Vosian people signed in good faith, kidnapped four citizens of the planet Earth and one citizen of the planet Uru to force the dissident hunter Nassur on a quest to locate the Sceptre of Lecasur," Hessur sighs. "Despite the way the mission began, I am pleased to report that the Sceptre was found. Forces of the Fifth Republic of Sagussa, acting at the request of the United Nations, rescued their missing citizens and destroyed the Marine regiment deployed to ensure Nassur would be brought back to Lecashuto to face trial and execution. On behalf of the Rebel Alliance Army and the Vosian Defence Force, I sincerely apologize to the United Nations of Earth and the United Tribes of Uru for this appalling disrespect for their sovereign rights.

"To facilitate relations between the Provisional Government of the Confederation once constituted and our neighbours, who have endured much during the Civil War, with continuous intrusions on their sovereign territories by Mikado hunters and Marines, the Defence Force and the Rebel Alliance Army have invited ships of the Sagussan Republic Navy to Vos to aid us in the blockade of Lecashuto," Hessur concludes. "They will arrive within five hours. Their engagement orders are simple: destroy the ion cannons protecting the Mikado's troops as they flee Lecashuto, then ensure no one can escape. This is the first time...and we hope the last...that the Vosian people will have to call on other powers to aid us in our time of need..."

* * *

"You cannot remain in Lecashuto," Sussur faces the Mikado. "Once the Maidens arrive, we're trapped. There'll be no escape."

The Mikado stares at his ruined capital city. Distant barrages from dozens of artillery regiments denote how close Hunba's army is to capturing Lecashuto. The dictator turns to face his aide. "Have you...prepared a ship to take me to Colony Four?"

"A fast courier is on standby. If you leave now, you'll have a two hour margin of safety before the Maidens arrive."

A forlorn sigh escapes the Mikado's lips as he gazes once more at Lecashuto. "Perhaps it is time to return to the field," he muses. "And perhaps it is time for me to die."

Sussur blinks. "Sir, you don't mean...?"

"So? Who could tell the difference?"

"I don't mean that," the colonel warns. "But you haven't used that power in some time. Can you be sure it will work?"

"It will," the dictator glares at him...

* * *

Within a day, the flood of Mikado troops fleeing Lecashuto is stopped by the arrival of the "Lyna'cha," the monitors and Gladiators of the Fourth Fleet, accompanied by the ground brigades deploying on the Warsuit Brigade's carrier ships. As transports and courier craft are blasted out of the sky by the monitors, Feb's command ship swoops in to commence ground bombardment. The ion cannons vainly fire at the giant battlecruiser. In response, precise strikes by the "Lyna'cha's" main battery turn them into scrap. However, before the trap could be closed, a single courier craft escapes toward Colony Four...

* * *

The Gatherer lies in low orbit over Earth. Standing on the bridge of the superdreadnought, Ataru and Lum oversee preparations; the Gatherer is on his way to Vos to assist in the blockade. "Hasei'cha" and "Kiboo'cha" were already aboard. "You'll be in overall command," Ataru faces Noa and Fleet Shipmistress Oryuu. "Be as helpful and as friendly as possible to the Rebel Alliance Army and the Defence Force. Open door policy, just like with the United Nations."

"Okay," Noa nods. "With Catty on the 'Hasei'cha,' who takes over watching Benten?"

"I called Kurama," Lum smiles. "She's versed in pre-natal, childbirth and post-natal care. I hope Benten doesn't freak when she sees a double of Kurama being her midwife."

Everyone laughs. "Will you be okay?" Oryuu, a statuesque strawberry-blonde Ellsian, gazes concernedly at Ataru.

"There comes a time when a doctor's care has to end," Ataru sighs. "And the patient has to heal himself. Besides, Lum and I have to practice some mind-melding," he rubs his cheek against his fiancee's.

"And other things," the Oni meows.

"Don't go too far," Noa laughs, kissing her bondmate. "We want a crack at him, too."

Honey then runs onto the bridge. "You're not going to believe this!!"

"What?!" Ataru and Lum ask.

She tells them. "***THEY'RE WHAT?!?!***"

* * *

"***YOU'RE GOING BACK?!?!?!***"

Nassur winces as he faces his wife's enraged glare. Both now relax in Ataru's living room. "I have to go back," he sighs.

"If you're going to heap on me that garbage about you starting the Civil War, don't waste your breath!!" she growls, seizing his arm. "Dammit, Nassur, I'm not going to sit around here waiting for you to get shot!!"

"I won't get shot!" he assures her. "When I get to Vos, I'm going to arrange for the Sagussans to join the final attack! I owe them for protecting you and keeping an eye on us when we went to the Planet of Shadows! With them on side, casualties will stop."

Benten blinks, then shakes her head. "I want you here. Dammit, Nassur, I can have this kid any time now! You promised ME you'd be here when the baby is born!!"

"I know," Nassur assures her. "Look, we've be over Vos in three hours. Tomorrow we attack. It'll be over in a day. A couple days to clean up, then I'll be right back! Can't you understand?! This is my chance to close that chapter of my life forever!"

The Fukunokami shudders as tears flow. "You come back to me, you hear?!" she fiercely embraces him. "You come back!!"

"I will," he nods, kissing her.

A transporter beam is heard. Both turn to see a Tengu woman dressed in the light green and silver of Child Services appear. "No way!!!" Benten exclaims, eyes wide.

"Way!" Kurama-chan holds out her hand. "I was asked by Lum to come here and help with you, Benten. I hope my resemblance to my *kide'ne* spirit-sister won't sour things."

Having heard enough of Sagussan profanity, Benten smiles, shaking her hand. "Ah, what the hell!" she laughs, then thumbs her husband. "Now can you do something about knocking some sense into this lug's head?"

Everyone laughs. "I have to go," Nassur kisses his wife. "Be back soon, love!"

"I'll be waiting," Benten's lips tremble.

Nassur nods to Kurama, then heads to the "Renegade." The frigate soars from Oshika, bound for Tomobiki. "Why's he heading south?!" Benten blinks. "The Gatherer's up there!" she points up to the bright star of the Sagussan superdreadnought.

"He's going to pick up someone," Kurama sighs, gazing at her.

Benten blinks. "Her, too?!!"

Kurama nods...

* * *

"***YOU'RE GOING?!?!?!***"

Junba cowers as her lover has hefted a large tree in response to her announcement. "Um...yeah, I'm going back," she reports.

"WHY?!?!?!" Shinobu throws the tree aside. "Ju-chan, you don't have to go back!!" she grasps her. "You can get killed!!!"

"That's what war is about, Shi-chan," Junba sighs, tenderly kissing Shinobu's forehead. "But the chance is there that somewhere in the Mikado's headquarters is information about who and what I am. Besides, the Mikado used me to hurt all of you. I won't be used like that ever again!"

"Stay! Stay, stay, stay...!"

Her voice breaking, Shinobu sinks into her embrace. "This is for all of us, Shi-chan," Junba pats her back. "After this is done, we'll be free. Isn't that worth it?"

Shinobu stares at Junba. Enemy, wary ally, friend, lover, soul-mate. All that, this woman has been to her. To lose her now so soon after life began to make sense...

"Promise me you'll come back!!"

Junba kisses her. "I can't make that promise, Shi-chan," she smiles. "There are two rules in all wars. Rule One: people die. Rule Two: no one can change Rule One. If I go down, then that's the way life is."

"I won't see you again," Shinobu moans.

"That's...not exactly true," Junba's fingertips touch the side of her lover's face.

The Terran tenses. "What are you...?!"

Suddenly, a wondrous feeling floods Shinobu's soul. Memories, thoughts, emotions, beliefs...all which compose the whole essence of Junba of Vos...find a place in her lover's mind. Shinobu swoons as their souls caress the other, embrace...then Junba's fingers part from her mind. Shinobu blinks, then stares at her lover. "What did you do?"

"A precaution," Junba kisses her. "Remember, my love."

Shinobu remains in place as Junba turns toward "Renegade." A dizzy feeling fills her soul as one thought comes to her. Windy, aboard the "Windrider Dreams," bestowing this present on Junba...at Ataru's request...to ensure that if the body died, the spirit still lived on. Shaking herself, Shinobu calls out, "Handfast with me!!!"

Junba spins around. "If you come back," Shinobu smiles, "will you handfast with me?!!"

The Vosian blinks, then a celestial smile crosses her face. "I will!" she blows the Terran a kiss. "I promise!!"

She runs to Nassur's ship. Unseen by either, Cherry, Sakura, Tanoshii and Chie witness from the shade of a tree. "It is...sad, knowing the future, isn't it?" the Shinto high priest wonders.

"Indeed," the Buddhist monk nods. "We must pray for her."

* * *

Vos.

Evening falls over Lecashuto as the incessant bombardment from the rebel forces hammers the capital. At her base camp, Hunba meets with her generals. "With the alien ships blocking all attempts to escape, we estimate that between 250,000 and 300,000 enemy troops are trapped in Lecashuto," one general reads an intelligence report. "We can defeat them...but the casualty estimates are between a hundred and two hundred thousand. Time estimated to surrender: two weeks."

"We could send in a white flag and demand surrender," another general proposes. "They have no route of escape we can't cover."

"We've tried that again and again," Hunba throws up her hand. "When all the colonies came under our control, we sent the demand of surrender. It was ignored. We invaded, then demanded they surrender. It was ignored. These fanatics will fight until the end."

"Weapon of mass destruction?"

"No!! That is not an option!"

Everyone's eyes glow. "Can I propose a suggestion?" a strange voice inquires.

Eyes snap around as Nassur and Junba enter the tent. "Nassur!!" Hunba bolts to her feet. "What are you doing here?!"

"We came to help," Nassur smiles, then introduces Junba, mentioning she is Cinba's sister. "Commander, how would you like the war to be over tomorrow?" he faces Hunba.

"Do you have a miracle weapon which could help us?" Hunba muses.

"You've had it for a day or so," Nassur points up. "The Sagussans didn't just bring their fleet here. They have ground troops and they're ready to go."

"We'd prefer to handle this problem ourselves, thank you," Hessur notes.

"With respect, how many more have to die if we do it your way?" Noa asks.

The Vosians blink as Noa leads a small procession of Sagussan officers inside. Oryuu, Feb, Leona, Miranda, Rayna, Nihitomi, Eluza, Sylia. Introductions are made, then the Sagussan minister faces Hunba. "Put simply, Commander, Nassur made us a little promise. If we guarded his wife and sent a ship to trail his on their voyage to the Planet of Shadows, we get a crack at putting the Mikado out of business," she smiles. "So, how would you like to have some extra help?"

"Look, I know who and what you are," Hunba sighs. "The question is, do you have the experience to fight this battle?"

"No, we don't," Noa admits. "When it comes to actual warfare, we have only fought one battle. That was with the Niphentaxians six months ago. And granted, they were only a force of sixty ships. But you have little in the way of armoured forces, decent air combat support and your Defence Force ships are vulnerable to computer viruses and other little goodies the Mikado's people may have available to use. We're not so restricted."

"What do you have?" Hessur wonders.

"Twelve hundred ground combat mecha, 400 fighters, 200 heavy attack hovercycles, 200 foot soldiers and two special combat teams," Oryuu reports. "Plus one dreadnought, one battlecruiser and four defence monitors."

"We'd have to see this stuff in action before we could commit," a general muses.

"General, I have seen this stuff in action," Nassur interrupts. "And I can vouch, it's as good as it gets!"

"Nassur, we'd like to discuss this among ourselves," Hunba sympathetically smiles. "Would you all excuse us?"

"Sure," Nassur nods.

The visitors stream out of the tent. "My girls are screaming for action and they want to make this trench warfare?!" Leona growls. "What was Janny's estimate on casualties?"

"Three hundred thousand dead, half a million wounded," Feb sighs. "That is, if they fight round the clock until all territory is in rebel hands. Eight to ten days."

"I don't have ten days," Nassur growls.

"And if we get involved?" Noa muses.

"Less than a thousand casualties," Feb smiles. "It could be all over before lunch if we strike at oh-four-hundred."

"You hit in the dark?" Junba blinks.

"Optimal time," the Strategic Defence Director smiles. "They'll be low on energy and won't be expecting anything. Vosians launch attacks just as dawn's breaking."

The Sagussans tense as Hunba steps out of the tent. "We talked it over," the commander sighs. "We appreciate your desire to help us, but we'd like to do this on our own. Your blockade is doing enough."

The *daishi'cha* exchange looks. "Well, we were just trying to be helpful," Noa smiles. "If you change your minds, don't be afraid to call us. C'mon, girls."

They walk away. Junba and Nassur follow. "You mean to tell me that you're not going to do a thing?" the former demands.

"Of course we are," Noa smiles. "Just because they told us 'no' doesn't mean we're going to follow it. After all, the Mikado committed an act of war against the Fifth Republic. Intergalactic custom and law grants us the right to retaliate as we see fit."

"Even though no one recognizes you," Nassur muses. "Look, why don't I talk to Hunba alone for a bit? You folks get ready."

"Right," Noa nods. "Be aboard the Gatherer before twenty-hundred."

"Got it," he waves.

The *daishi'cha* and Junba disappear in a transporter beam. Nassur walks back into the camp. His eyes glowing, he makes his way to a simple tent with a sign marked COMMANDER. Just as he is about to open the flaps, a voice calls out from inside, "Come in, Nassur."

He ducks into the tent. Hunba sits at her desk. "I had hoped you wouldn't come back," she gazes at him. "My husband wanted you and your wife to live your own life."

He relaxes. "Hard to live your own life when you're looking over your shoulder."

"Isn't your wife about to give birth?" Hunba relaxes. "Shouldn't you be with her?"

"I believed that," he sighs. "But with this whole episode, there's been this voice in the back of my head telling me it's time to come here and finish the job. After all, many do say I was the one who started this."

"No, the Mikado started it a century ago when he took power. Lecasur warned of a centralization of power and what that would do to the one holding the strings. This whole exercise has been a harsh lesson for us all."

"And now you want to keep learning it when it could all be over in a day."

Hunba laughs. "You mean you're here to argue for the Sagussans?" she wonders. "Nassur, even if they are the Maidens of the Eternal Voyager, they're just children!"

"Emotionally, many of them are children, though that's changing as we speak. But they're the products of one of the most advanced societies that ever existed. A society who, when they found themselves in the middle of a civil war, fought five centuries, devastated their world and destroyed their race. The Sagussans you meet today are products of both the good and bad that old race experienced. And some of them have vast quantities of experience to call on. You have to get to know them to understand them."

"Chances are, I might not have that opportunity," Hunba strokes her French braided hair draped over a shoulder.

Nassur feels a slight chill. Braided hair marked a widow. Hunba hadn't considered seeking a new mate. Then again, her duties as commander of the Rebel Alliance Army allowed her no chance to make the healing pilgrimage to Sabaku, to undergo *nicha* for Ninsur. "I hope that isn't the mark of someone contemplating suicide," Nassur's voice lowers. "This planet can ill afford to lose you."

"You're courteous," Hunba smiles. "But I've never been one for command. This job came to me because I had a mind for organization and negotiation. Helping different groups forge an understanding, an alliance against a common foe. In a sense, we're more divided now than we were before Lecasur's time. But...I'm not Lecasur."

"No, you're Hunba. Isn't that enough?"

"Not for me," she shakes her head. "I have never fought for a grand goal, a great ambition to give to the Vosian people. My war has been very personal, Nassur. True, others look to me, but I'm a hollow icon."

"I should introduce you to Lum," he chuckles. "She could pass on her experiences in dealing with the Niphentaxians."

Both laugh. Hunba stares at him. "They will attack, won't they?" she smiles.

"Technically, the present government of the Confederation of Vos has committed an act of war against the Fifth Republic of Sagussa. By conventions, they have every right to seek redress," he nods.

"I hope it doesn't wind up with Vos fighting Sagussa," Hunba sighs. "What time?"

"Four in the morning," Nassur stands. "In the meantime, I have to get back to the Gatherer. Junba and I have our part to play in this. See you downtown tomorrow."

"Be careful," Hunba sighs...

* * *

Next morning. 0330 hours.

Lecashuto is draped in total darkness as six Sagussan ships of the line form a bombardment circle around Vos' capital, holding ten kilometres altitude. After forced rest, Gladiator, Warsuit and hovercycle pilots arm and prep their machines. Pathfinders suit up, check forcefield belts and weapons, then proceed to transporter rooms to be sent down alongside the "Hasei'cha" and the "Kiboo'cha" to strike at the Mikado's headquarters in thirty minutes.

"Renegade" launches from the Gatherer's hangar deck at 0330, heading toward Lecashuto. On the bridge, Nassur and Junba relax. Their part of the mission was to distract the local commanders so that they would not be in a position to receive reports from their front-line troops. Of course, with the first shot to be fired in thirty minutes, intelligence from front-line forces wouldn't come.

As the minutes tick away to H-Hour, the frigate moves to land on the city square some distance from the Mikado's headquarters. Troops on night patrol are surprised to see the frigate land without being challenged, then scramble to surround the ship as the boarding hatch deploys, allowing Nassur and Junba to disembark. "Hold it right there!!!" a sergeant barks. "Hands in the air, both of you!! You're under arrest!!!"

"We're unarmed," Junba reports, the Sceptre in one hand. "Where's the Mikado? I have the Sceptre of Lecasur!"

The Marines approach, two of them patting the hunters for hidden weapons. Once they are clean, the sergeant calls headquarters for orders. In a moment, a ground car drives up. In the back seat are Sussur and the Mikado. "There you are, Junba!" the dictator muses as he steps out of his vehicle.

"Here's the Sceptre," Junba walks up.

The Mikado takes the staff in hand, inspects it, then smiles. "Well done, Junba," he nods...then slaps her. "You traitor!! You just walked back to your own death!"

Junba tenses, then spits in the Mikado's face. "I think it's time for YOU to be exterminated, you piece of trash!!"

"You must really think the Maidens are stupid," Nassur smiles knowingly. "They're inexperienced, but not stupid!"

"It doesn't matter," the Mikado scowls. "Once you two are done away with, I'll have your friends hunted down and slain."

"Oh, good," Nassur smirks. "Ataru and his friends could use the target practice."

The Mikado shudders. "Guards!!"

"Your orders, sir?" a sergeant walks up.

"Have a firing squad brought up," the dictator smiles. "We'll do away with these traitors right now!"

"Yes, sir," he salutes.

Junba is forced back to stand beside Nassur. "What time is it?" she hisses.

Nassur checks his watch. "Five minutes."

As the minutes tick away, a squad of twelve men form up. Sussur takes command. "Any last requests?" the Mikado smirks.

"One," Junba sighs. "Did you create me?"

The dictator blinks. "Ah, so you know," he muses. "No, I did not. As a matter of fact, no one has any idea who created you, Junba. You were found one day asking about Cinba on Colony 40 when my agents found you. As for your memories, it took us a while, but you were receptive to our programming. It seems your creator put in a fail-safe hypnotic suggestion which blanked your mind when you were subjected to interrogation."

Nassur blinks. *Just like Nyassur!* he wonders, realizing that while they experienced different fates, his clone and Cinba's were created by the same person.

"Now, Nassur," the Mikado stares at his old opponent. "Any last words on your part? If you plead for mercy, I might spare you."

Nassur hums, then glances at his chronometer. "Well, well," he muses. "It's three-fifty-nine. No, I have nothing to say."

The Mikado tenses as Nassur fixes him with a stare. "But tell me this, Mikado. Do you know where your troops are?"

The chronometer now reads 0400.

A thunderous noise unlike anything human ears have been subjected to echoes from kilometres away as the Sagussan ships commence their bombardment. The sky lights up akin to high noon as multiple explosions disintegrate whole sections of Lecashuto's suburbs!! The screams of dying soldiers are drowned out as munitions destroy trench lines, hard defence points, barracks, command posts. In a minute, a hundred thousand soldiers perish.

But that is the least of the Mikado's worries. Over that cacophony of Armageddon, the roar of starship engines is heard. The troops look up to see the tan bulk of the "Hasei'cha" and the black shape of the "Kiboo'cha" race down, weapons discharging opening salvoes. Troops howl as they are blasted apart, scattering for cover.

But within the darkness lurks death. For emerging from dozens of places, black-clad Pathfinders pour out of their beam-down points, weapons blazing. The Vosians troops are caught in a brutal pincer as two troops of Pathfinder Team One slice them down. The "Kiboo'cha" hovers over the "Renegade," her weapons drilling the firing squad and Sussur before they could flee for safety. Seeing this, the Mikado leaps into his vehicle and races off for his headquarters, his escape covered by arriving platoons of Marines.

"There he goes!!!" Nassur screams at the Pathfinders, pointing at the dictator. "He's heading for his headquarters!! Let's go!!!"

The hunters get weapons as they join the pursuit. By this time, the "Kiboo'cha" and "Hasei'cha" land, allowing their crews to join the fight. They join other Pathfinder troops, a mass of black-clad Sagussans converging on the city centre. "Any news from the front lines?!" Junba walks up to Sylia.

"We've blasted enough holes in their defenses to allow the Alliance Army the chance to press into town if they hurry!" the Pathfinder commander reports. "Leona's and Miranda's brigades are shooting up all the hot spots to ensure the advance doesn't slow down!!"

"Good!!" the hunter nods. "You better tell everyone to watch it! The Mikado's headquarters is a fortress!!"

"That won't slow us down!" Sylia laughs.

The Mikado's headquarters draw Sagussans like a lodestone. Marines guarding the entrances pour withering fire on the black-clad troops, hoping to chase these no-wave demons, beings they once might have worshipped as living goddesses, away. However, as Junba and Nassur watch intently, the Sagussans demonstrate their own remarkable skills. Laser and particle bolts pass spaces where a second before, a gaggle of warriors stood. Grenades blow up chunks of barren ground, never coming close to touching a Sagussan. But when those bolts do get close, they deflect from the warriors' personal defence shields, careening harmlessly into the ground or the sky...or worse, back where they came. As the minutes tick away, the Sagussans press the Mikado forces toward the entrances. *Perhaps their immersion in logic and rationality taught them how to be cool in battle,* Nassur muses.

"If we get them trapped inside those entrances, we could call the Gatherer in to blow the whole building apart!" Sylia yells at Nassur. "This could be over in minutes!!"

"No!!" Nassur shakes his head. "We can't let all of you do this alone! Morale in the Alliance Army would sink if they didn't get the chance to take the city centre! They'll accuse you of being glory hounds!!"

Sylia stares incredulously at him. "Nassur, what's the logic of incurring casualties for reasons of glory?"

Nassur blinks. "I can't believe you just asked that, Sylia!"

Hovercycles of Miranda's brigade now race to the Mikado's headquarters. Riding on the sleek machines are platoons of Vosian troops, who disembark and join in the attack. Another hovercycle driven by Noa and Honey brings Hunba and Hessur to the scene. "Lecasur's Soul!" the commander gasps. "I can't believe things are going this good!! We couldn't ask for a victory like this!"

"It isn't over yet, ma'am!!" Hessur frets, glancing fearfully around as shells scream overhead. "I suggest you stay back while we're still suppressing resistance at the entrances!"

"Sometimes, a commander's life doesn't matter, Hessur. Take your squads and go help them!" she points at one spot.

"Yes, ma'am!" he salutes, then runs off.

Hunba, Noa and Honey make their way toward Nassur. By that time, the immediate areas surrounding the Mikado's headquarters have become no man's land, weapons of all descriptions discharging at the opposing forces. A high tech street brawl. However, given the Sagussans' advantages, more and more Mikado forces fall. "We're pressing them!!" Junba laughs. "We're getting through!!!"

Hunba turns to Linna, carrying a portable communications set. "Radio all commands to send forces to this location with all dispatch!" the commander barks. "When this place goes down, the other pockets of resistance will loose heart and surrender!!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Linna nods.

The murderous exchange continues for what seems an eternity. But within minutes of Hunba's arrival, one entrance is clear of enemy forces. Howling with delight, a mixed bag of Sagussans and Vosian rebels charge to prevent enemy reinforcements from stalling the advance. "There!!" Nassur points. "We're in!!! Let's go!!"

A stream of fighters...Nassur, Junba, Hunba, Noa, Honey, Pathfinder Troop Six and half the "Hasei'cha's" crew...make their way around the perimeter to the break. Enemy forces try to stem the attack, but the arrival of Alliance troops makes reinforcement from other platoons suicidal. "As soon as we suppress the guards, everyone goes in at once!" Hunba barks to Linna. "If we slow up for an instant, we'll be at this all day!! Tell everyone to remember that when we go in!"

The Pathfinder nods as Hunba returns her attention to observing the break-in. Her good eye detects movement in one of the ground level windows. The gleam of a rifle barrel aimed at Nassur! "Sniper!!!" she yells, running toward him. "Natsu-chan!!!"

Everything then changes to slow motion as Hunba charges at Nassur. The hunter turns around, a questioning look on his face. The commander rams into him. The sniper's rifle fires. The bolt slams into Hunba's chest, causing her to tumble onto her back, sinking to the ground! Eyes turn to see Hunba collapse. Nassur drops to her side. Noa yells for medical assistance. Linna calls for Leona's troops to strafe the Mikado's headquarters to prevent other snipers from cutting down the attackers. Lufy and Priss turn their weapons on the target. In a second, the whole room explodes, the sniper shredded before he could mark whom he hit!

Time returns to normal. Catty and Hotaru run up, first aid kits in hand. Several rebel troopers slow down, noting who had been hit. "Don't stop now, you idiots!!!" Lufy yells from nearby. "C'mon!!! Let's go!!!"

Noting that the Vosian commander was under care, the Pathfinders bellow as they charge into the building, several platoons of Vosian rebels right behind them. Nassur holds Hunba in his arms as Catty slaps a dressing over the wound. "We're losing her!" Hotaru warns.

"No one leaves on my watch!" Catty snaps.

Nassur holds her. "Why did you save me?"

She feebly smiles. "What mother...would allow her child...to come to harm?" she wonders. "Even one...she never got to raise?"

Silence. "What?!" Noa gasps.

Hotaru quickly programs her tricorder. "Confirmed! Hunba...is Nassur's mother!"

The Sagussans blink in surprise. Nassur is overwhelmed by that revelation. "Why...?!" his voice is barely audible. "Why didn't you or Ninsur tell me...?"

"We couldn't..." Hunba's body spasms. "We wanted...you to have...a normal life..."

"We're losing her!!" Hotaru barks.

Nassur shakes his head, tears he hasn't shed since Cinba's passing flowing from his eyes. "You...oh, Mother..." he gasps.

"Now, I'll never..." Hunba's good eye flutters, her strength finally fading, "...hold my grandchild...in my arms..."

Honey stares at this tragic scene, her senses detecting Hunba's *mei'na* experiencing that final separation of soul and body when death comes. Staring at Nassur, a man who never knew his parents' identity to this very moment, words thunder through her mind.

This cannot happen!

She cannot let this happen!!

Nassur's mother must not die!!!

"NO!!!!!!"

Everyone jolts as Honey shoves her sister out of the way, her fingers landing on Hunba's face. Summoning all her strength, she drops her psi-shields, her *mei'na* acting like a psychic vacuum cleaner to Hunba's spirit, drawing the Vosian commander's soul into her mind. Nassur howls with pain as his tracking powers detect the intensity of Honey's mind at point-blank range. Noa shields him with her powers as her sister continues her efforts to save Hunba.

For what seems an eternity, Hunba's spirit hovers in her mind, drifting between flying into Honey's mind and escaping to the embrace of the *te'a.* <<Come to me, Hunba!>> Honey calls out. <<Come to me!! You want to live, don't you?!!>>

<<Let me go...>> the commander's mental voice replies. <<You're killing yourself...>>

Honey cries as Hunba tries to pull away. "DAMN YOU, HUNBA!!!! DON'T YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER BORN?!?!?!"

Hearing that, Hunba hesitates, then her spirit flies into Honey's mind. The physical education instructor cries as her shields firm up, severing the link between herself and the commander's empty shell. She collapses as Hotaru barks, "Heart failure!!!"

"Wait!!" Noa kneels. "Honey...?!"

Honey takes in several deep breaths, then smiles. "She's safe..."

The other Sagussans exhale. Noa turns to Catty. "Prep her for immediate regeneration!" the doctor barks. "Transport Honey and Hunba's body to the Gatherer, stat!!"

"Hai, I'sagh!!" Hotaru nods.

Nassur remains in place, blinking. "What...what's going on?" he demands, slowly rising. "What are you doing with my mother?!"

"She's safe!" Noa assures him. "Her spirit's in Honey's mind right now! We'll regenerate her body, then refuse her spirit to it! It'll be as if she never died!! Now, c'mon!! We have to finish this fight!!!"

Blinking, the hunter nods as he follows the *ashi'cha* into the Mikado's headquarters.

* * *

"It's about time you idiots got here!" Lufy maniacally laughs as Nassur and Noa run up somewhere on the thirtieth floor. "We can use the extra firepower!! What were you doing?! Slumming?!"

A team of Pathfinders was exchanging fire with a platoon of Mikado Marines, blocking the way to the stairs leading to the upper floor offices. Nassur draws his weapon and adds his fire to the storm of lead and plasma cutting the enemy down. He notices that Junba has kept up with the Sagussans, although she has taken several nicks on the arms. Several of the Pathfinders also appear hurt, but do not slacken their fire. "You know what we need?!" Nassur yells at Noa.

"What?!" the minister drills a sergeant.

"We need the Cyborg! Ataru could tear through that mob just like those child-slavers he butchered on Noukiios!!"

"Well, he won't be able to call on the Cyborg anymore now that Catty's fixed up his mind!" Noa hums. "But we have something just as good!!" Pressing her communicator, she barks, "Noa to Leona!! Warsuit to the south-west side, floor thirty! Expedite!!"

"Right!!! Yohko, take care of it!!"

The Sagussans duck behind walls, yanking Nassur and Junba with them. A second later, the wall behind the Marines disintegrates, engulfing them in a titanic blast as missiles from Yohko's Heavy Missile Troop destroy a good hunk of the thirtieth floor, including the landing for the emergency stairs to the upper floors! "Nice going!!" Noa barks on seeing the damage. "You just cut us off from the upper floors!"

"Sorry!!" Yohko replies.

"What's the situation?!" Lufy demands.

"No major concentrations of enemy forces in any of the upper floors," Jun reports from the "Lyna'cha." "I do detect one moving object in a large office on the 100th floor. Minor concentrations of troops on 92, 86 and fifty-four. Nowhere near the stairs."

"The Mikado!" Junba icily smiles. "He's trapped in his office!!"

"And we're standing in his only path to escape!" Nassur smiles, then guides Noa's wrist to him. "Leona, can you hear me?!"

"What's up?!" the commander replies.

"Knock out the elevators!" the hunter instructs. "All of them!! Can you take out the troops at the levels Jun indicated?!"

"Twist my arm, I'll see if I can do something! What about you?!"

Nassur blinks. Fate had brought him to this point. "Junba, Lufy, Priss, Makoto, with me! Rest of you, go down and help clean up the lower floors!! Yohko, can you give us a ride to the 99th floor?!"

"Sure can!" the headquarters and support squadron commander chirps.

"Be careful!" Noa warns. "When trapped, a sandpanther is at her most dangerous! We saved your mom! Don't make us do overtime!"

"Right!" Nassur nods. "Let's go!!"

The warriors sprint for the Warsuit...

* * *

Moments later, as Vos' sun begins to rise over the mountains to the east, Nassur and his companions sneak onto the top floor. "How do we do this?" Junba whispers.

"We'll go in first," Nassur turns to Lufy. "He'll want to come after us and he can't detect you three. You mind?"

"Your civil war," she nods. "We'll be right behind you."

Nassur and Junba nod, running down the hallway to the double doors leading into the Mikado's chambers. Standing to both sides, they blast through the doors. They notice the large chair behind the Mikado's desk turned away. "Hands up, Mikado!" Nassur barks. "It's over!! Time for you to face justice!"

Laughter erupts from the chair. "What's so funny?" Junba demands.

The Mikado turns around, a small device in his hand. "It's not over yet!" he sneers. "I still have this remote."

"What's that going to do?" Nassur asks.

"Do you remember the teleportation device I sent to Earth to obtain your friends?" the dictator cackles, standing. "I saw to it that an atomic bomb was placed in it. One press of this button and Tokyo will be destroyed!!"

Nassur and Junba stare at each other. "Well, that would frighten us," the former hums mockingly, "IF the Sagussans weren't so kind to remove that device from Tomobiki just as I left to come to Vos!"

The dictator jolts, then presses a button on his desk. Suddenly a shield surrounds the two hunters. "What?!!" both exclaim.

"A force shield," the dictator cackles. "Not even your weapons can penetrate it! Now, let's see you try to stop me from putting you out of my misery once and for all!!"

He draws a pistol. In the hallway, the *pirpirsiw'r* shake their heads. "Time for this moron to get a reality check," Priss hisses, then presses her wrist communicator. "Anyone on the lower floors, this is Priss. Knock out the building's power supply, now!"

Inside the office, the Mikado takes aim, his hand moving to the shield control. A muffled explosion rocks the tower as rebel teams destroy the building's generators!! Lights fade as the shield trapping Nassur and Junba drops. The Mikado jolts in surprise as he looks around. "What was that?!"

Fatal mistake.

Junba drops, her pistol firing. The Mikado is stitched across the chest, the force sending him against the plate-glass windows! They don't shatter as the dictator collapses. Silence falls over the scene as Nassur and Junba remain in place. Tension fades as the two relax. "It's over," Nassur breathes out. "C'mon in, girls!"

Lufy, Priss and Makoto walk into the room. "Nicely shot!" the former hums, then pats the hunter on the back. "Good work! Maybe you aren't so bad after all, Junba!"

"I...thanks, Lufy," Junba smiles. "C'mon! Let's get back to Earth! We have two very impatient ladies waiting for us!!"

"I'll go for that!" Nassur nods.

The five turn to walk out of the room. Unseen, the Mikado stirs, his weapon rising to aim at Nassur's back. The safety clicks off, causing Junba to jolt. "What...?"

Time slows as the hunter turns, her eyes detecting the Mikado trying to shoot. She flings herself behind Nassur as the dictator fires. The bolt rams into Junba's back! Nassur spins around. Lufy and Priss twirl about, their machine guns thundering. The Mikado's desk and the Mikado fly apart from the storm of particle fire the Sagussans pour at him!! "JUNBA!!!!!!" Nassur screams.

He drops to his knees, catching her as Priss and Lufy move to ensure the Mikado is dead. Makoto yanks out her field dressing as Nassur lowers the wounded Junba to the floor. The clone's eyes flutter as she stares at her brother-in-law. "Did you...get him?"

"We got him!" Nassur nods, looking at Makoto. "Get someone up here!!"

"N-no," Junba shakes her head. "I'm a...clone, remember? My body...can't be regenerated like...a normal person's." She coughs as her strength fades. "Catty-sensei...warned me. Maybe...I should've been...more cautious...but...at least you're safe."

"Oh, no!" Nassur gasps. "Junba..."

"Please...don't be...sad," Junba manages a weak smile. "Shi-chan...I did that *tre'cha* thing...with her. That way...I'll always...be with her..." Her eyes flutter as her body slackens. "Nassur-chan...tell Shi-chan...I love her...tell her..."

"Yes?"

"Tell her...I...I'm sorry..."

Her body goes limp. Makoto automatically reaches for her face. The watchmistress blinks, then pulls away, shaking her head. "Her *mei'na* was never here," she wryly smiles. "At least, in some way, she'll live on...in Shinobu."

"Poor kid," Priss rubs Junba's head. "She deserved better than this."

Nassur nods, lowering Junba's body to the floor. Priss stands, noting the Sceptre of Lecasur, still sitting on what is left of the Mikado's desk. "So this is what she died for?" the *pirpirsiw'r* sneers as she picks it up. "Then it should be buried with her."

The others nod. Lufy kneels beside the fallen Mikado. "You got something for shot-up corpses, Lufy?" Makoto wonders. "Don't tell me you're into necrophilia!"

"No," the Gladiator pilot growls, her eyes narrowing as her hand touches the dictator's face. "This is worse!"

Suddenly, the Mikado's body bursts into flames as it disintegrates! Everyone jumps as they look away. When the light fades, they turn back...to see nothing. "What in Lyna's name...?!!" Priss exclaims.

"What's going on here?!!" Nassur demands.

"Simple," Lufy sneers. "The Mikado was never here."

Silence falls over the scene...

* * *

...as Shinobu bolts up. "Junba!!"

The Terran blinks as an ill feeling crosses her heart. Standing, she walks to the window, staring into the star-filled night. Her eyes water as some hidden voice tells her what just happened. Shuddering, she sinks into her bed, then covers her face.

"Ju-chan...you...you promised me...!"

* * *

Morning dawns on Oshika as Lum steps into the basement. "Benten, you up yet?" the Oni knocks on the door to the guest bedroom.

"Yeah, I'm up," Benten moans, rubbing her distended stomach. "Whoo! This kid really is weighing me down. Any news?"

"Darling's calling the Gatherer now," Lum notions upstairs. "They should've launched the attack while we were asleep. C'mon."

They make their way upstairs. Entering Ataru's bedroom, they find him on the secure phone. "Hi, Noa!" he smiles, waving his fiancee and Benten in. "What's going on?!"

The two women sit beside him, eagerly awaiting news. "Uh-huh," Ataru nods, then smiles. "Only 700 casualties on the rebel side?" he beams. "Get the doctors to help them treat the wounded...oh, already doing that, huh? What else?" A pause, then he blinks in surprise. "Enemy dead over two hundred thousand?! Geez, you guys sure believe in overkill, don't you?! How's Nassur?" A pause, then he bolts up. "She's what?!! I don't believe it!!" A pause, then he lays back. "She was hurt?! Oh, Honey got to her, huh?! Good! What else?!"

The women shudder with anticipation. His eyes widen, then he sadly nods. "I see. Okay, thanks. See you in a day or so. Bye."

He hangs up. "What?!" Benten stammers, gulping. "What happened?!"

"Well...the good news is that Lecashuto fell by nine o'clock local time," Ataru sighs. "Seven hundred rebels were hurt in the final attack. Few of the Mikado's forces escaped to be captured. Nassur's okay."

Benten exhales. "What else?" Lum urges.

"It turns out that Hunba, the commander of the rebel army...is Nassur's mother."

"You're kidding me?!!" Benten exclaims.

"No," he shakes his head. "She was badly hurt. Took a sniper's round meant for Nassur. Honey saved her via *tre'cha.* They're regenerating her right now."

"Thank Lyna!!" Lum breathes out, then tenses as Ataru's face falls. "What else?"

Tears brim his eyes. "Junba's dead."

Silence falls. "D-dead?" Lum stammers, her eyes watering. "Oh, no!"

"Who's going to tell Shinobu?" Benten wonders, staring at her best friend...

* * *

Nassur relaxes on the Gatherer's observation deck, watching Vos rotate beneath him. The mass of lights marking Lecashuto shine in the evening sky as the Sagussan Navy prepares to depart for Earth. It was over. It was not over. The Vosian people were free. The Mikado was still alive. But he, himself, was free to go back his life, to Benten and their child. His mother...his mother!...was free. Junba was dead.

It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Noa walks up. "How're you doing?"

"I've been better. How's my mother?"

"She's out of regeneration," the *ashi'cha* sits beside him. "Honey did *satre'cha.* Initial analysis looks good. Hunba's asleep now. We saved her," a bitter tone enters her voice, "...but I'm afraid she may not have a home to go back to."

"What?!" Nassur blinks.

"We signalled the Alliance Army to tell them she was recovering," venom creeps into her voice. "They acted as if something was jamming us. So I went down there to tell them that Hunba should be back to normal in a couple of days. Hessur told me to my face that as far as they were concerned, Hunba was dead. That's what the people believe, that's what the Provisional Government wants them to believe."

"Why?!" he demands, outraged.

"For that, I've no idea," Noa shakes her head. "In the meantime, I've ordered everyone to muster back aboard their ships. We'll be heading back in a short while. As far as I'm concerned, we're done with this place."

"So am I," he nods. "Before I left, one of the generals asked me if I was willing to help form the new government."

"I take it the answer was 'no.'"

"In no uncertain terms," he sighs. "Despite all Varanko, Cinba and Dakejinzou've done, what's to stop me from becoming another Mikado? So I told him to find someone else."

"Good for you. Anyhow, I think it's time we get everyone aboard so we can go home."

He stares at her. "What about Junba?"

An ill feeling crosses Noa's face. "There's nothing we can do, Nassur," she sighs. "That's not because of our aversion to clones. It's reality. The regeneration matrix would tear her body apart, but it would never rebuild it. No one knows why. It seems to have a innate sense of what is a natural being and what was created in a laboratory. All Catty can do is put her body in an automated cryogenic suspension tube. Put her somewhere safe and maybe, maybe sometime in the future, someone can do something."

"What about cloning her a new body?"

A bitter laugh escapes her. "After our predecessors destroyed themselves over the whole question of clones?!" Noa exclaims. "Thanks but no thanks! We don't have any cloning machines on Sagussa; they're forbidden by law. Besides, if we did clone Junba a new body from her old cells, the DNA would degrade all that more. It's like making a copy of a copy. And I don't think you'll want us to raid Cinba's body for new DNA!"

"No," he shakes his head. "That would be wrong. It's just...what happens to Shinobu?"

"Nassur, as long as Junba's *mei'na* remains in Shinobu, she still lives. And we have our own memories of her. She'll live on in them. Isn't it true that if you remember someone, it would be as if they never died?"

He considers the point, then nods. "I guess so. I hope Shinobu understands that."

"She will," Noa sighs. "She may act like the perennial victim, but deep down, she's very strong. She'll get over this. When she does, she'll get on with her life."

Nassur considers that, then nods...

* * *

"Hi, Mrs. Miyaki," Lum forces a bright smile. "Is Shinobu here?"

"Oh, Lum!" Kimiki Miyaki escorts the Oni inside. "Maybe you can talk to Shinobu. She refuses to come out to have anything to eat. I think something's wrong!"

The Oni shivers. She knew. "I'll go look in on her." Flying upstairs, Lum lands by the door to Shinobu's room. Knocking on it, she calls out, "Shinobu?! Are you there?"

"Come in, Lum."

Lum slides the door, floating inside. Shinobu sits by her window, staring at the city beyond. "Shinobu..." Lum begins.

"You don't have to tell me," Shinobu sighs. "I already know."

"I...I'm sorry," Lum shakes her head, wishing she could say anything, do something more. What could you do when a loved one died, especially when the one you were consoling thought the worst of you? "Shinobu, if there's anything, anything you need to have done, please...I'll be there for you."

"Thanks, Lum."

Sensing that she wanted to be alone now, Lum rises, walking out of the room. Proceeding downstairs, she tells Shinobu's parents. As outbursts of tears and shocked outrage echo from the lower floor, Shinobu sighs. It was over. What was the use of fighting when she had nothing to fight for?

Her eyes focus on the sky above her, a decision creeping into her heart, one she had contemplated from time to time when it looked as if Junba would kill her. Now Junba had. Not intentionally, but her death spelt the death of everything Shinobu Miyaki had tried to make of her life. All her dreams. All her hopes. All her ambitions. All dust. An even look crosses her face.

The decision was made.

Junba would rest in peace...but she would not be alone. Content, a smile crosses her face. Now, she could be at peace. Shinobu walks downstairs. Her parents move to embrace her, weeping over her loss. Loss? What loss was there? Oh, Junba was not coming back alive, but was that really a loss? Shinobu would just have to go to her. Nothing really difficult in that decision. It surprises her.

Now all she had to do was wait for Junba's body to return...

* * *

"There you are," Catty smiles as Nassur walks up to the Gatherer's primary medical station. "She's conscious...and she's been asking for you. C'mon in."

Nassur steps into the medical station. Warmly decorated, it didn't project the antiseptic atmosphere most sick bays had. In one diagnostic bed, Hunba, dressed only in a nightgown, relaxes. Honey sits beside her, holding the commander's hand. Nassur blinks, surprised Hunba had both eyes back. Beside the commander, Pony scans her eyes, then hands her a pair of round-frame spectacles. "Here you go, Hunba. Try these on."

"Thank you," Hunba slips them over her nose. Her vision clears up, presenting her with a view of her boy. "Natsu-chan!"

Joy fills his heart as he sits beside her. "Hi...I...ah, I don't even know what to call you. I...I've never thought of you as anything more than a distant friend."

"It's alright," she squeezes his hand.

He stares at her, then shakes his head. The shock was still getting to him. This was his mother! "Why didn't you tell me?"

"As I said, when we learned you were alive and well...after your father had Osur killed...we had to make a decision. Do we reveal ourselves? What would happen if we did? We...then realized that if we did reveal ourselves, you and your wife would never get the chance to live a normal life. Even then, your father understood you. You would've come back to Vos with us...young, inexperienced, full of reckless fire...and you would've been killed by more experienced hunters. What type of parents would we be if we allowed that to happen? So...we did the only good thing we could do: send you to someone who could teach you how to survive."

"Varanko," he realizes.

"Exactly," she nods. "I met him when I was a schoolgirl. He'd just become Lord High Executioner. Oh, he was the rogue. Lost his first wife. We...well, you know..."

"Dated?" he muses.

"Yes," she nods. "He later confessed I was the most bright and cheerful person he'd met. I helped him heal. So, when your father and I had to decide where to send you and Cinba...he called to help. He said...he was pleased to be of service."

Nassur relaxes. If Hunba had recognized the Yehisrite, Varanko would have really been Nassur's father. No wonder Varanko adopted him. "I guess I always had a family. I just never realized it."

"He always kept us apprised to how you and Cinba were doing," Hunba admits. "Always did it in person. Killed a whole slew of hunters along the way. The Mikado couldn't touch him; diplomatic immunity was involved. Then again, that moron could never understand what really mattered!" a growl enters her voice, tears flowing. "Taking innocent children into those schools, torturing them, destroying their spirits!! Thank Lyna, at least those places are gone!!"

She falls back, allowing Honey to embrace her. Nassur blinks, wondering why his mother would call on Sagussa's mythological patron instead of Lecasur. "There, there, Hu-chan," Honey coos, patting the commander's back. "It's okay. You did it. You freed them. You should be happy."

*'Hu-chan?!!'* Nassur mentally exclaims.

What was going on here?!

* * *

Shinobu stares at the knife before her. A simple meat-cleaver, it was as long as her lower arm. Easily concealed in her kimono sleeve. Further, it was wickedly sharp.

It would do...

* * *

"Noa, I need to talk to you."

Noa blinks, looking up from her meal. She is now in the cafeteria below the bridge. "You okay? You look disturbed."

"I am...concerned...about my mother," Nassur sighs. "I think something went wrong with this *tre'cha* thing Honey did for her."

Noa blinks, then sighs. "What happened?"

"She...Noa, I would swear that Honey and my mother have become lovers," Nassur sighs.

"Aren't we the gallant knight, saving his mother from the demons?" Noa laughs, then sighs. "I hate to tell you this, Nassur, but right now, as my people look at things, my sister and your mother ARE lovers."

Nassur faints! "WHAT?!?!"

"Settle down!!" Noa waves him back to the chair. "You see, Honey is trained in the art of passing her *mei'na* in case she believes she will imminently face death. Knowledge of helping others pass their *mei'na* to her comes with the ability to perform *tre'cha.* Honey executed the *tre'cha* perfectly. It really was as if your mother had not died."

"So what is wrong?" he demands.

"Well...she forgot to take precautions."

"Honey?"

Noa nods. "You know my people gain intimate pleasure by close psionic contact. When *tre'cha* becomes involved, we have to shield our own *mei'na* to allow the other's mind to remain uncorrupted. Honey isn't a nurse like Hotaru. They're trained in mental restoration duties, holding one's *mei'na* when that person has died. Honey isn't."

"So what DID happen?! Get to the point!"

"When Honey dropped her shields, using herself as a psychic vacuum cleaner to draw Hunba into herself," Noa sighs, "...she didn't shield her own *mei'na* from touching Hunba's. It'd be as if both did *mavan'shagh.* Honey experienced EVERYTHING Hunba lived through. To us, that's the most intimate, erotic experience one could have with one's lover."

He takes that in, then sighs. "They've become bondmates."

"Exactly," she nods. "And with your mother having lost what life she had on Vos, maybe it's a good thing. The Provisional Government wants to use her as a martyr to press their reforms and keep the people's loyalty. They can't have her suddenly appear alive and well. It'll result in another power struggle, one Vos doesn't need." A weak shrug twitches her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Nassur. I wished things would've gone better, but they didn't."

"It's okay," he sighs. "The swiftness by which they declared her dead when you were screaming she was still alive ticked me off, too. But...do you think Mother understands?"

"She should," Noa nods. "As Honey touched Hunba, Hunba touched Honey. She knows about how things work on Sagussa. As a matter of fact, while we were prepping your mother for regeneration, Hunba, through my sister, asked the doctors to subject her to the regeneration matrix the *daishi'cha* use."

"Which means that my mother is now a *daishi'cha.* The lifespan, the powers."

"And as physically young as you," she smiles. "The matrix does that sometimes."

He sighs. "Okay. Thanks, Noa."

"Anytime."

He rises to leave, then stops, looking back. "Noa, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Do you approve of their being together?"

The *ashi'cha* shrugs. "Nassur, it's not my place to pass judgement on my sister's choice of bond-mate. Although," a mischievous glint appears, "now **I** can bother her about being the lovesick sandpanther in heat!"

Nassur blinks, then laughs...

* * *

Shinobu lays out her kimono. A simple white design, soft flowers stitched into the cloth. A pity it wasn't her wedding kimono. Then again, she didn't have one. It didn't matter, she smiles, feeling the fabric. White was always the colour the bride took to a wedding, regardless of culture.

Junba would understand...

* * *

"Where, Henry?"

"*Fourth door to your right ahead of you.*"

"Thanks," Nassur nods, stopping in front of the door. The Gatherer's superstructure housed quarters for all the *daishi'cha,* a measure meant to be used if a terrible calamity befell Sagussa. Although how much more could be done to that world, Nassur couldn't imagine. He had seen holograms of the planet. He was barely able to imagine life existed there. "You want to establish your culture on THAT dustbowl?!" Benten exclaimed when she saw Sagussa's image.

The door in question is marked as the quarters for four: Lufy and Catty, Priss and Sugoi. So it was true, Nassur muses, having heard of the young Oni-Avalonian's bonding with Pathfinder Troop Six's coxswain. The door was also denoted with a poster warning FREE FIRE ZONE! SLACKERS NOT WANTED!! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! Pressing the doorbell, he waits.

"C'mon in, Nassur!!" Lufy beckons.

The door opens. Nassur notes that Lufy, Priss and Makoto were there. "I guess you're here discussing the same thing," he muses.

"The Mikado's alive," Lufy muses. "Big question: where?"

"I've been thinking about that," he sits beside Priss. "Chances are, he's so far gone that all he'll want to do is get at me."

"In his mind, all he sees is you," Priss takes a swig of her bottle of ru-jugh.

"And Ataru, as well," Makoto warns.

"Agreed," Nassur nods. "Now, since Junba had been looking for her family since the Mikado reprogrammed her, she would certainly prefer to be buried beside Cinba and her parents on Colony Seventy-one."

"So we'll go there after Benten has the baby?" Lufy muses.

"If Shinobu goes along with it," Nassur sighs. "I suspect she might."

"We're burying Junba in a cryotube to await the chance to heal her body," Lufy muses. "How that could be possible, Catty doesn't know. Colony Seventy-one's as safe a place as I can think of outside Tere'na-korgh."

"Yeah, bury her beside Lyna," Priss snorts, handing a bottle of her personal ale to Nassur. "Wouldn't that be something?"

"Thanks," Nassur swallows, then nearly gags. "Whoa!! That's strong stuff!"

"Yeah, we do like our booze!"

"We're a horrible race of lushes!!" Makoto laughs.

"That's not all!" Lufy warns. "We're..."

"OVERSEXED, UNDERPAID, UNDER-APPRECIATED LUSHES!!!!" the three bellow.

They laugh, high-fiving each other. Nassur chuckles, realizing the *pirpirsiw'r* were doing this to debrief themselves, unwind from the tension of the fight. "The big question I have is what in Lyna's name was that we fought in the Mikado's office?" Makoto wonders. "No body can fly apart like that when one of us touches it?"

"Lufy might know," Nassur nods.

"They're called shadows," Lufy sighs. "I know because it's one of the very few memories I have of my old life. Certain Silent One sects on Vos were capable of doing this."

"'Shadows?'" Priss wonders.

"You don't know?" Makoto blinks.

"I was a bard, not a warrior princess," the Pathfinder protests.

Lufy coughs to get their attention. "Anyhow, the Silent One, when doing this, manipulates psionic and electromagnetic fields around him to build a version of himself. Indistinguishable from the original except for one thing: they're not as well skilled as the template. They're really meant for distraction. Not much else."

"That thing distracted us," Makoto hums. "Not to mention wrecked Shinobu's life."

"Yeah," Priss sighs. "What's this have to do with burying Junba?"

"I think the Mikado will be waiting for us there," Nassur sighs. "For me. I'm the architect of his problems. He'll want to settle things with me one-on-one."

"But you have to be there for Junba's funeral," Lufy notes. "Clone or no, you are next-of-kin outside Shinobu."

"In fact, I wouldn't put it past this slime to attack us when the funeral is underway," Priss muses. "We're having it after Benten gives birth, right?"

"Right," he nods.

"He'd love to attack then," Priss leans back. "It'll be poetic justice in that jerk's eye if your child was killed along the way."

"True," he growls.

"The only thing we can do is have someone on picket duty while we're having the ceremony," Makoto proposes. "It could be anyone from Sagussa. One drop of the shields in *mavan'shagh* and that bastard's brains are toast. One bullet later," she cocks her fingers like a gun, then fires, "and it's over." She blows across her 'smoking' finger.

"Agreed," Nassur nods.

"But right now," Priss nudges him, "your concern should be your wife and your mother. Don't worry. Leave the Mikado to us."

* * *

Oshika is as quiet as a crypt as the Gatherer descends. Everyone stands in front of Ataru's house, staring as the ship comes to a halt, looming over the spires of Nicole's palace. "Renegade" launches from one of the side hangar decks, descending toward the beach. Everyone waits as the frigate lands, the lower boarding hatch coming down. A moment later, Nassur steps down. "Nassur!!!" Benten cries as she stumbles toward him.

The hunter smiles as his wife sinks into his arms. Everyone comes up, eyes questioning him as he turns to Shinobu, draped in a white kimono. "Shinobu, I'm..." he shakes his head, then embraces her.

Shinobu contently smiles. "It's alright," she sniffs. "I'm fine."

Nassur blinks, alarm bells sounding in the depths of his mind. Shinobu had that look. *His'r-piv'm,* Yehisrites called it. The Look of the Dead. Nothing to live for anymore. "Shinobu..."

"I want to see her," Shinobu sighs.

Nassur shudders. This was no time for a scene. If Shinobu was determined to do it, even he couldn't stop her. "In her cabin."

"Thank you," she pulls away from him.

Everyone watches her board "Renegade." "She's taking this very well," Megane muses.

"Too well," Mendou adds.

"Someone should be with her," Lum warns.

Nassur turns to Cherry. "I...want to bury Junba on Colony 71 beside her sister and parents. Would you mind...?"

"I would be very honoured," the monk bows. "We Japanese believe that the more deities invoked at the time of death, the better one's chances of achieving Nirvana."

"We'll all be there," Mendou nods. "Junba was one of us, even if it was for just a short while. What friends would we be if we allowed her to pass to Heaven alone?"

Everyone turns to see Hunba and Honey descend from the "Renegade." The rebel fighter now wears a Sagussan jumpsuit; the black, gold and light blue of External Affairs. Two wreath of laurel stripes adorn her arms. "Who's this?!" Mendou blinks.

"Everyone," Nassur smiles, holding his hand out. "This is my mother, Hunba."

"Hello, everyone," Hunba bows.

Everyone returns her greeting. "Ma'am," Invader lumbers up, hand out. "It's an honour to meet you...although I must confess that the change of uniform is...unusual."

"Well, with the Confederation believing me to be dead, it seems I don't have a world to call my own," Hunba shakes Invader's hand, smiling at her bond-mate, "...until I was offered a job in Sagussa's External Affairs ministry. I'll be a special advisor on Vosian affairs to the Sagussan government."

"At least you'll have a place to call home," Miroku Shigaten embraces her. "In the meantime, what say we go inside and get to know each other? We've a lot to talk about."

A cramp surges through Benten's abdomen. "Benten, what's wrong?!" Ten-chan floats up to her as the hunter feels her strength go.

"Rats!" the Fukunokami hisses. "I think this kid's decided to come!!"

"Get her inside!" Kurama runs up to help Benten back into the house. "Honey, call Catty and Pony! I'll need them and two nurses!!"

"Right away, I'sagh!" Honey nods.

Benten is escorted into the basement. Already arranged is a sterile examination table with all the equipment necessary to aid in childbirth. Catty, Pony, Hotaru and Setsuna beam in, then sterilize. "Get her on the bed and prep her!" Kurama orders.

"Right away!!" Hotaru nods.

Everyone gathers by the doorway. "What's going on?" Lan wonders.

"Benten's having her baby!!" Reiko beams.

Lan pales. "Baby?! Here?!! NOW?!?!"

She faints! "I believed Lan-chan was stronger than that," Oyuki muses over everyone's laughter.

"Everyone but immediate family out!!!" Kurama barks, slipping a gown on. "Nassur, his mother and Benten's parents can stay!!"

With that, everyone streams into the living room. Honey closes the door behind her. "Now what?" Megane wonders.

"We wait," Tanoshii holds his hand...

* * *

Inside Junba's cabin on "Renegade," Shinobu stares at the unmoving body before her. Junba is draped in a Sagussan burial robe, in Pathfinder dark blue laced with red and green; the nearest Sagussan equivalent of her occupation as a psi-hunter. Her kill belt is drawn around her. Her hands grasp the Sceptre of Lecasur to her heart. Prayer shawls are draped around her neck, containing messages from a dozen *daishi'cha.* Noa's shawl is visible. FORGIVE ME, it states. I WISH WE COULD HAVE BEEN FRIENDS.

"Only in death do they understand," Shinobu sniffs, her hands passing through the stasis field to touch Junba's cheek. "Only in death...why? Why is it people wait until others are gone to express the truth? Oh, Ju-chan, why couldn't you have stayed?"

Leaning down, she kisses the Vosian's stilled lips, then straightens herself. "Today, everyone wants to celebrate life. I have no heart for it. The rest of my days will now be with you, my love," she draws the knife, lowering herself to her knees as she bares her throat. Taking in several deep breaths, she points the blade at her trachea, her eyes never wavering from Junba's face.

"Now, my love, I join you!"

The blade begins its advance.

<<SHI-CHAN, STOP!!!!!!>>

Shinobu screams, dropping the blade as she looks around, eyes wide. "J-j-ju-chan?!" she stammers. "Is th-that y-you...?!"

<<Of course it's me, stupid!>> the hunter's voice echoes in her mind. <<Don't you remember?! I'm inside you now!>>

Shinobu blinks, rising to stare at her lover. "Th-then w-why did you st-stop me...?" she gasps. "Don't you understand?! We can't live like this! I want to be with you!!"

<<And I am with you, love!>> Junba's voice soothes her. <<I'm inside you! What better place could I be?!>>

"But I want to hold you! I want to love you! I can't do that if they're going to put you into the ground!!"

<<Love's more than that!>> Junba assures her. <<Besides, don't you want to save yourself for the one you are bonded to?!>>

That statement catches her short. "One...I am...bonded to...?!"

<<Shi-chan, think! You told Pamanba once that you met a boy named Aki-chan when you were four years old! He had come to Earth looking for an Oni. That was Lum, remember?>>

"Yes! So what?!"

<<Shi-chan, being inside you means I have access to all your neurons. And I can tell you have a *pe'cha* bond with Aki-chan; Akisur, I should say. That's his name.>>

Shinobu blinks. Akisur. A Vosian name. A Vosian MAN's name! Was that the reason she pined after Nassur? Was she actually after someone else? "Ju-chan...is he...?!"

<<He's still alive, love. Believe me, even you'd sense it if he died. He's out there. You can still find him.>>

Shinobu takes that in, relaxing. Junba's words roll over her again. Her life was not over after all. There was someone out there for her! She had to find him. But...how? Where? "I have to find him," she blinks.

<<I know, love. I know you can do it.>>

"But...wh-what about you?"

<<Hey, I'm still here, remember?>> Junba laughs. <<I don't mind being here, love...as long as I can stay within you.>>

Shinobu blinks, tears streaming down her face. She then notices the knife. What reason would it have to be here? Shaking her head, she places it on a desk. Taking a deep breath, she leans down to kiss Junba once more, then strides out of the room...

* * *

A moment later, Shinobu steps into the house. She notices everyone waiting in the living room. "What's going on?"

"Benten's giving birth!" Lum beams. "She went into labour after you went to see Junba."

"Oh?!" tears flow down her cheeks. She had been reborn. Now new life was entering this world. Today was a happy day.

Suddenly, the wails of a baby echo from the basement. Everyone bolts up, excitement charging the air as the door opens, revealing Hunba. "It's a girl!!" she screams.

A roar of joy surges from everyone as people embrace. In a moment, the door opens again, allowing Nassur to emerge. In his arms is a cloth bundle. Peeking from it is the cherubic face of a beautiful baby girl. "Oh, kawaii!!!" Lum exclaims on seeing her.

"This child is blessed!" Sakura muses.

"What's her name?!" Ten-chan wonders.

Nassur smiles. "Junba."

Everyone blinks. "Junba's creator was really prophetic," Nassur explains. "In Vosian, 'junba' means 'woman of peace.' What better name could there be for the first child born after the Civil War has ended?"

Approving nods come from other people. Nassur blinks on seeing Shinobu standing there. Walking up to her, he allows the Terran to take the child in hand. "Shinobu, would you be Junba-chan's godmother?"

Surprised, Shinobu beams. "I'd love to."

Cheers echo as people yell for a party to start. Shinobu sinks into Nassur's embrace as she stares at her goddaughter. "What made you change your mind?" Nassur whispers.

She smiles. "I learned I've something to live for after all," she whispers.

Blinking, he nods...

* * *

"There," Lum fixes her obi. "All set!"

The Oni is adorned in a tiger-striped kimono emblazoned with a mythical phoenix, denoting her dual allegiance to Uru and Sagussa. Parading herself in front of the full-length mirror, she beams, then turns to Ataru. "Darling, are you set?"

To her surprise, Ataru reclines on his bed, still dressed in his duty jumpsuit. "Did you say something, Lum-chan?"

"Get dressed!" Lum urges. "We're about to head to Colony 71 for the funeral!!!"

"I'm not going," he announces.

Lum stops. "Why?!!"

"You should know why!" he eyes her.

Lum stares at him. Through their bond, she knew what stormed through her fiance's heart. "Shinobu would want you to be there."

"I can't face her after everything I heaped on her. It's my fault that she believed she was Nassur's lover right to the point where the Mikado would've targeted her! I'm the one who started this whole mess!!"

"Now, you stop!" she barks. "Darling, you couldn't predict what the Mikado would've done! None of us knew how deep the hatred was between him and Nassur-chan...or how crazy he would've become! Besides, what about how Shinobu tried to use us to get at Nassur-chan?! If you're going to cast blame then you have to included all of us, not just you!"

He sighs. "I can't go. I don't want to go. I can't face her after all I've done! I...I destroyed the life of the only person before Mie-chan and you that I could really call a friend! Nothing I can do can atone for that!!"

Lum moves to reply, then falls silent. Regardless of what she said, Ataru's mind was made up. Nothing would alter his views. And they had long established the habit that neither could force the other to do things the other didn't want. Even now, officially engaged, that still ruled their relationship. "Well, stay on the Gatherer," she sighs. "I'll try to think up excuses. I'll say that you're busy doing some administration work. You'll have to decide how your cabinet's going to be, anyway. You still haven't chosen a Prime Councillor. But if Shinobu presses it, I'll tell the truth."

"Okay," he nods. "Henry?!"

"*Yes?*"

"Beam me to the master bedroom. I have some work to do."

"*Very well,*" Henry responds.

Ataru disappears in a transporter beam. Lum sighs, then walks out of the bedroom. Waiting for her in the living room are Nokoko, Mal and Reiko, all in beautiful kimonos. "Where's Daddy?" the Noukiite wonders.

"He's already gone ahead, Reiko-chan," Lum takes her hand. "C'mon, it's time to go."

Nokoko and Mal stare at each other, knowing what really had happened. The four then proceed to the waiting "Renegade."

* * *

Sometime later, the Gatherer sails into orbit over Colony Seventy-one. The world seems desolate, barren. Scars from orbital bombardment mark the two continents where settlements had been established. The barren wasteland where cities once stood, farms prospered, parks spread for kilometres around...all mark the tragedy that happened here. Nassur stands on the Gatherer's bridge, gazing at the world he last walked on 35 years before.

"Homecoming?" Noa wonders.

His mouth twitches. The *ashi'cha* was adjusting her uniform. "Not really," he sighs. "It was a home...once. Not now."

"Standard orbit achieved," Spea reports from the watchmistress' station. "All controls under Henry's command."

"Beam the graves detail to excavate the site," Noa orders. "We'll have the body transported down in an hour."

"Aye-aye, Minister," Spea nods.

Nassur looks at Rumy, manning the science station. "Rumy, can Henry scan for life on the planet?" he walks over. "Human life?"

The science chief blinks, then adjusts her controls. "I'll scan right now," she reports. "Just a moment."

The turbolift doors open, revealing Benten, dressed in ceremonial battle uniform with chains, loin guards and arm shields. A sleeping Junba lies in her arms. Noa stares at her. "How do you feel?"

"Kurama ought to get her hands bronzed," the bounce in her step is all too apparent. "It's as if I never had Aiotoga."

Nassur walks over to her. "It's a nice name," he wraps an arm around her. "Have to keep remembering she's not all Vosian."

"And she's not all Fukunokami," Benten kisses him. "Besides, my mom'd kill me if I didn't consider giving her a Fukunokami name."

"Yeah. I'll see you on the hangar deck."

"Right," she walks off the bridge.

Rumy turns. "I found something."

"What?" he walks up to her.

"Two lifeforms," she reports. "Humanoid, Vosian. Readings are hard to obtain due to background radiation. They're in the capital city, about six kilometres from the cemetery."

"One's the Mikado. Who's the other?"

"Can't tell," Rumy shakes her head. "Further, I can't tell if they're real people or shadows. Lufy told me about that business in the Mikado's headquarters. Who knows what they could be!"

"I see. Thanks, Rumy. I'll tell Lufy."

"Right," she smiles as he walks off...

* * *

"So, who's it going to be?" Lufy wonders.

The *pirpirsiw'r* are in the pilot's quarters. "We were there when Junba died," Priss notes. "We all have to be there."

"Let's do *jogh-pei,*" Makoto proposes.

The three assume positions. "Ai, ei, ii..." Lufy counts.

"*Jogh!*" a voice calls.

They stare at Ataru. "Ataru, what are you doing?!" Lufy demands.

"I'll handle him," the *daimon'cha* sighs, holding up his hand. "After all, the wing rides the air."

They exchange looks, then nod. This was the final stage in the break between Ataru and Shinobu. "Okay," Lufy sighs.

"Get ready. If I need help, I'll yell."

"Right!!" the three nod.

Ataru heads out. The *pirpirsiw'r* shrug, then proceed to dress. At that moment, the door opens, revealing Nassur. "There're two of them there," he warns. "You get someone to go keep an eye out?"

"Yeah," Lufy nods, waving. "It's taken care of. There's loads more where we come from. See you in a bit!"

Nassur nods, then heads out. The three exchange looks. "I just hope he's ready for this," Priss buckles on her gun belt.

"He should be," Lufy sighs. "Catty knew what she was doing."

* * *

As the crowd proceeds to the hangar deck for transit to the planet's surface, Ataru sits in lotus position in his bedroom. Candles surround him as he concentrates, focusing the energies of his *mei'na* to the task at hand. Innocent people had been drawn against their will into the Mikado's warped game. The dictator, like all sore losers, had decided that was not enough. Time for him to get a reality check...a *terminal* one.

Eyes narrow, his hands lash out, passing through the air over the candles. The flames barely flicker. Smooth as silk. Smiling, he pulls up a bowl of black face paint. In a minute, tiger-striping is marked on his face. At that moment, the door opens, revealing Elle-chan, an officer from Benten-chan's directorate who moonlighted as a martial artist. "You wanted to see me, Ataru?"

"A martial arts uniform, please."

"Okay," she nods. "Oh, Chief Rumy reports that two tangos are on Colony Seventy-one, six kilometres from the cemetery."

Ataru's eyebrow rises. "That's fine. Inform everyone I'll be dealing with them. Under no circumstances are any of Shinobu's guests to be told. No need for alarm."

"Aye-aye," she nods, walking out.

Ataru returns to his meditation. Two? The Mikado brought a playmate...or was it a shadow? No matter. They were the enemy. Destroy the enemy. A surge flows from his heart, filling him with raging energy. Partially the *saikoo jinseijitsu,* its sentience removed over the last couple of weeks and reborn as the fifth sibling of the Moroboshi family, Negako. Partially the Cyborg, its special powers return to the *te'a* whence they came. Partially his surface personality, now possessing uninhibited access to the knowledge of the other parts of his mind.

All Ataru Moroboshi.

Elle returns, a martial arts jumpsuit in hand. Setting it down, she leaves. He icily smiles. He blows out the candles, then proceeds to dress. Time to have some fun.

* * *

On the wind-swept surface below, Cherry continues his prayers, blessing the gravesite. Beside Junba's final resting place were the graves of those she had sought for so long. Cinba. Namasur. Shuba. Spread out behind the governor's family were 300,000 graves, bearing the bodies of innocent people, victims of the Mikado. Beside the monk, Sakura and Chie carry out their own blessings. The grave is excavated, two metres long, a metre wide, two metres deep. Guy lines are erected to lower Junba's casket to her final resting place. The leader of the graves detail then turns to the priests. "Are you ready, sir?"

"We're ready," Cherry nods.

She nods. A moment later, a transporter beam sends Junba's body and her pall bearers down. Sylia, Eluza, Shildy, Spea, Reinoevan, Makoto. Flanking them are the two lines of the honour guard. Lufy, Mie, Rabby, Amy and Patty in one line. Priss, Asukanoevan, Linna, Nene and Rumy in the other.

Next are Nassur and Shinobu, next-of-kin. Families of the bereaved: Benten, Junba, Hunba, the Shigatens, the Miyakis. Everyone else comes. Shinobu looks around, surprised to see who had come. Her classmates, their parents and friends. Her sisters and their life-mates. Pamanba and Clarisse. Varanko, Yukio and several executioners. Dakejinzou, her children, the other clones and Pamanba's fellow hunters. The hybrids of Home Base. The other Nendo-kata. Nicole's family. The bioroids of Sado. Otako and other delegates from New Avalon. Rei's mother Yedris, sister Sugoi and delegates of the Urusian Democratic Alliance. Soban and his gang. Kitsune. Kotatsuneko. The Rosebuds. Her cousins from Nerima, the Saotomes and the Tendous. Inaba and several members of the Destiny Management organization.

And all of them were here for her!

"Detail, advance!" Amy, senior chief on deck, barks. "March!"

The honour guard slow marches to the gravesite. The pall bearers keep step until Junba's cryotube is over the pit. The coffin is draped with the Vosian cygnet flag, "71" stencilled in the middle. The bearers lower the casket into the braces. Cherry walks forward. "Honoured friends, we have come here today to bid farewell to our friend..."

* * *

Unseen by anyone, the funeral is being observed through a pair of binoculars from somewhere in the ruins of Colony Seventy-one's capital city four kilometres away. "Burying someone who was never born here," the Mikado sneers, eyes narrowing. "Pathetic! Time to end this! You ready?"

His companion silently nods. Both are now draped in form-fitting black combat uniforms akin to ninja's gi. Vosian dragons are emblazoned on their chest. The two warriors slink out of their observation point, moving stealthily toward the cemetery. All they had to do was kill someone. Best of all Nassur's newborn daughter. No sense in giving their followers future headaches.

As they pass one alley, something fires out, smacking into the Mikado's cheek. The dictator jolts, spinning to see something framed in gold standing in the shadows.

"It's not nice to interrupt a funeral."

The two brace themselves as someone walks out of the shadows. Someone draped in a gold phoenix and black tiger-stripes...

* * *

Nassur delivers the eulogy. "Junba was not born of a mother's womb. She never enjoyed a childhood. Never understood the warmth of a family's love. While we do not and may never know who created her, why she was created...we do know she strove for those things we took for granted. Love, family, a hearth to call her own."

Shinobu remains calm, looking around. People acknowledge her with soft smiles. Her mother holds her hand. Reiko was smiling, looking pleased. *Oh, that's right!* Shinobu reminds herself. Noukiites believed in reincarnation. To Reiko, Junba would soon return in a new body, a new chance at life. Death was a celebration of new life.

Behind her, the others who were forced on the Planet of Shadows mission remain still. Mendou and Megane weep, consoled by their lovers. Lum remains in control. Shinobu sighs. She understood what had happened. As long as Shinobu lived, Junba would live within her. What better fate was that? And Ataru?

Ataru?

"That she found it before she was taken away from us should not be seen as a tragedy, but as a triumph. Among my people, making peace with yourself before your death is seen as easing your way through Purgatory into Heaven. I am sure Junba made peace with herself, with those who surrounded her, before she departed this world for the next..."

Shinobu looks around.

No shaggy brown hair.

No well kept beard.

Nothing!

Where was Ataru?

* * *

The side of a building shatters as the Mikado's friend tries to cut Ataru in half. The Terran leapt clear, landing behind the stranger, then slamming him into the building. His right hand snaps up, intercepting a knife strike aimed for his eyes, then his feet trips the Mikado. The dictator rolls out of the way as Ataru slides clear.

The Mikado shakes his head. This was the first time he had come face-to-face with Sagussa's *daimon'cha.* Not the girl-chasing moron as rumours announced him. A moderately tall, slender but physically powerful young man. Very little in the way of body fat. Not muscular in Gophentaxian terms, but no skinny rail, this one. Not even approaching twenty Terran years. Well skilled, too.

This would be an interesting contest.

The two Silent Ones advance on the lone ninja, trying to stare past Ataru's neutral face, probe his guards for weaknesses. The Terran backsteps, not seeing a fallen hunk of masonry in his path. His foot catches, causing him to tumble over. Seeing their advantage, the Vosians charge...and wind up getting some chin music from Ataru's feet!

They stagger back as Ataru recovers, analyzing them. Simple strategy when fighting a handicapped duel. Eliminate one, then take out the other. A purr rises from his throat. Time to find out how good these two were...

* * *

The bearers fold the banner, the last time Colony Seventy-one's flag would be used for this duty. The Provisional Government decreed Colony 71 a war cemetery. No additional burials would be permitted there. After everyone left today, the only people who would be allowed to visit were relatives of those buried there.

"Detail, port arms!" Amy barks.

Weapons snap to their chests. "Ready!"

Actions are cocked. "Aim!"

Weapons rise to the sky. "Fire!"

Ten shots ring out. There is not a dry eye in sight. Amy orders a reload, then a second volley. Then a third. Clarisse and Pamanba raise their voices, humming "Book of Days." The other *daishi'cha* join in...

One day, one night, one moment
My dreams could be tomorrow
One step, one fall, one falter
East or west
Over earth or by ocean
One way to be my journey
This way could be my Book of Days

No day, no night, no moment
Can hold me back from trying
I'll flag, I'll fall, I'll falter
I'll find my day may be Far and Away
Far and Away

One day, one night, one moment
With a dream to be leaving
One step, one fall, one falter
And a new earth across a wide ocean
This way became my journey
This day ends together, Far and Away
This day ends together, Far and Away
Far and Away

Eluza marches up to Shinobu, flag in hand. Saluting the deceased's bondmate, Eluza hands her the flag. "Here you go," she salutes again. "On behalf of all of us, please accept our deepest condolences for your loss."

Shinobu nods, her body quaking as tears flow down her cheeks. But she doesn't cry for Junba. Junba was within her.

She hurt for other reasons.

Ataru hadn't come.

Again.

* * *

A crumbling skyscraper falls down as Ataru rolls clear of the Mikado's strike. They understood pressure point tactics. Cute. Suddenly, the *daimon'cha* tenses as the dictator's companion charges at him from behind. Ataru ducks and twirls. His roundhouse kick sends the other warrior sprawling. Then using the momentum, he catches the Mikado around the neck and rams the dictator's head into the ground!

His companion sky dives on Ataru. The *daimon'cha* spins away, then cartwheels to his feet. The Mikado is on him, landing two blows to the ribs before Ataru delivers a brutal chop to the back of the dictator's neck. He falls forward as Ataru sweeps around, trying to regain the advantage.

Something was wrong.

Ataru intercepts a fury of punches and kicks from the Mikado's companion as he tries to determine what is going on. Their psychic resonances were...off. Not exactly human. He had never met the Mikado in person, but he had felt the poisonous resonances the dictator left on Nassur. And this, while similar, was not the same. Not as powerful. The Mikado was well into his fourth century of existence. These two were almost...brand new.

"You cowards!" Ataru snarls, a surge of hatred thundering through him. "At least you should've had the guts to face me in person!! It's no wonder Nassur didn't respect you!"

They were shadows.

Fine and fair.

Time to uncork the big guns.

"***TYPHOON WIND-FIST!!!!!!***"

Colony Seventy-one's capital explodes!!

* * *

Junba's casket is lowered into the pit. The graves detail fills in the grave as Catty lights a memorial flame below the headstone. Meanwhile, the mourners pass Shinobu, shaking her hand, embracing her, wishing her well. Nassur remains behind her, his hand on her shoulders, steadying her.

Finally, Lum comes up. Shinobu glares at her. "Where is he?"

Lum jolts. Their old classmates tense, sensing the venom in Shinobu's voice. "Where is he, Lum? Why isn't he here?"

"Hey, where's Ataru?!" Megane demands.

"It took you that long to notice?" Tanoshii growls.

"Well?!" Shinobu snaps. "Doesn't he care anymore?! Doesn't he have any feelings?! For Ju-chan?! For me?! Answer me, Lum!!"

"Shinobu," Nassur hisses. "If Ataru doesn't want to do anything, you don't have the right to yell at Lum!"

"You stay out of this!!" Shinobu snarls, then faces Lum. "Well?!"

"Nassur-chan's right," anger flashes in Lum's eyes. "I resent the fact that whenever Darling or I do something which doesn't meet with your approval, you try your best to make the other feel so guilty, you force a fight between us! Darling didn't come because he didn't want to. If you have a problem with that, take it up with him, not me!"

Shinobu feels her strength go, a hoarse gasp escaping her lips. "That disrespectful bastard!!!" Mendou snaps, drawing his katana. "How dare he not come in Shinobu-san's time of need?!! He shall be two for his sin!!"

Nassur and the *daishi'cha* shake their heads in disgust. "This is the lowest thing he's ever done!!!" Megane snarls, pointing to the sky. "This is beyond unforgivable!!!"

"Where is that jerk?!" Ryuunosuke snaps.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Shinobu wails. "He doesn't care for us!! We could all die and he wouldn't blink an eye! He's been saying it since the Spirit War!! He hates us!!!"

"No," Lum turns to leave. "He felt he had no right to come today."

Everyone stops. "What...?" Sakura gasps.

"Don't you get it?!" Lum spins on them. "Yes, there was a time Darling hated you! He would've killed you if you pushed him too far! But after he had the chance to cool off, put his thoughts back together, he realized that in certain places, you were his friends! And yes, there were things he did which were wrong. He admits it. But because none of you showed that you were willing to acknowledge what he was doing for himself, he saw no reason to be friendly with any of you."

She turns on Shinobu. "You used Darling and I to get your hands on Nassur-chan," Lum jabs a finger in Shinobu's chest. "Darling was the one who helped Nassur-chan recognize Benten. That was to destroy your dream of marrying Nassur-chan and to teach you that you couldn't use friends like that. Afterward, he stayed silent because he wanted you to learn that people won't bow to your desires."

Shinobu shudders, tears flowing. "But at the same time, Darling never wanted this to happen," Lum concludes, then turns away.

"Whatta guy!" Ryuunosuke exclaims.

"He didn't say a thing," Paama muses.

"He did," Sakura looks down. "We didn't listen. Now it's too late. His destiny lies elsewhere...as it was always meant to be."

Distant explosions rock the countryside. "What the heck's that?!!" Kakugari wonders.

"Hey, look!!!" Chibi points.

Everyone turns to see a cloud of battle move ominously towards them. "H-hey, N-nassur," Benten stammers, tightly cradling Junba. "I-I th-thought you s-said there's n-no one living on th-this rock!"

"Oh, that's right!" Nassur snaps his fingers. "The Mikado's here."

"***WHAT?!?!?! AND YOU DIDN'T THINK OF TELLING US?!?!?! WHAT TYPE OF FRIEND ARE YOU?!?!?!***" everyone screams.

"Oh, don't worry," Lum giggles, watching the coming fight. "Darling's handling it!!"

Everyone jolts, then relaxes. "Oh, thank the gods!!" Mendou breathes out. "Against the Cyborg, that monster's toast!"

"Um...it doesn't look like the Cyborg to me, Dear," Sil warns.

Everyone tenses as two dazed Vosian warriors stagger out of the smoke. Following them is a single figure in a Sagussan martial arts uniform. "Ataru doesn't look like he's going to transform," Ryuunosuke muses.

"He can't call on the Cyborg," Lum notes.

"Then how's he...?!" Megane pales. "Don't tell me that thing's on the loose again?!!"

"The *saikoo jinseijitsu's* personality is gone, too," Lum adds.

"Then how's he fighting those two?!" Benten screams, pointing.

"It's all Darling," Lum shrugs. "One person. The Cyborg, the *saikoo jinseijitsu,* all under Darling's conscious command and control. After twelve years, he's whole."

Nassur's eyes narrow as he recognizes the Mikado's companion. "No! That's impossible!"

"What?!" Benten wonders.

"That's Osur!! What's he doing here?!!"

"Osur?!!" Shinobu shudders, her eyes widening. "Your school commandant?! But didn't you say your father killed him?!"

"Looks like the Mikado isn't the only one capable of using shadows," Catty muses, having finished work with Junba's grave.

Seeing the mourners still on the field, the Mikado and Osur bellow as they charge. "Benten, get Junba-chan out of here!!" Nassur snaps. "These two mean business!"

"So does Darling," Lum muses.

Ataru points at the former commander of the Special Hunter Corps. "***SPIRIT-BREAKER FIRE-LIGHT!!!!!!***"

A blast of psionic energy slices Osur in half!! "Vaporized!" Chibi gasps.

"Another shadow!!" Nassur exclaims.

Once Osur is gone, Ataru pounces at the Mikado.

"***SOULSWORD!!!!!!***"

The blade leaps from Ataru's chest, sweeping down in a murderous arc to slash the Mikado's shadow in half!! The dictator's double screams as it disintegrates, bellowing revenge before it returns to its component energy. Ataru lands, allowing the soulsword's energy to return to him. Breathing out in relief, the *daimon'cha* turns and walks away. A second later, a transporter beam takes him.

"Ataru-kun, wait!!!" Shinobu cries.

"Let him go, Shinobu," Sakura sighs, looking up to the bright light marking the Gatherer. "We can't force him to be friends with us anymore. When he's ready...if he wants to come back...he'll come back."

Shinobu stops, then sadly nods. "In the meantime, let's get off this rock!" Benten sighs. "No offense to you and Junba, Shinobu, but we have our lives to get back to!"

Hearing that, everyone laughs...

* * *

Sometime later, the Gatherer soars from Colony Seventy-one, bound for Earth. Other ships transport the other guests home. On the bridge, Ataru relaxes in the shipmistress' chair, gazing at the stars. "You're going to take the 'Renegade' back?" he stares at Lum.

"Yeah. You're invited to come."

He tenses, then shakes his head. "No."

"Darling, they understand."

He sadly nods. "I can't go back to them. Not now. My responsibility lies here," he points to the deck. "Not with them."

"You have to stop being angry, Darling."

"In due time. I need my anger, Lum-chan. It's the fuel I need to push me to the next stage in my life. Besides...I still can't look at those people without remembering what they've done to me. I'm still mad at some of them. I...might stop hating them, but..." he shrugs. "I guess I'm still mad at myself. How can I face them when I still have trouble facing myself in the mirror every day?"

She kisses him. "Okay. See you."

"Miss you, Lum-chan," he grips her hand.

"Miss you, Darling," she smiles.

With that, she steps off the bridge, heading for the "Renegade"...

*** The End ***

Epilogue.

Colony 71 rotates under its sun, continuing its lonely trek across the cosmos. Storm clouds form over the capital city. It rains for a while, then the clouds part. Sunlight falls over Junba's grave. Suddenly, a burst of bright light surges from the grave. Before long, the planet is bathed in that energy. Ruins disintegrate as the scorched soil is boiled away. All traces of human interference disappears.

The *te'a* beholds this.

The light, Its light...was good.

After what seems an eternity...it is about a day...the light fades. As it recedes, trees begin to grow at an accelerated rate. Within an hour, a desert world becomes a jungle paradise. Other nutrients combine, forming single-celled organisms. In minutes, multi-cell animals begin to swim in the cleansed seas. Some remain there. Others grow legs and lungs, transforming from fish to amphibian to higher forms of life.

The *te'a* beholds that.

The life, the life It created...was good.

In the epicentre of the blast, the hole where Junba was buried is cleansed of matter. The others are gone, transferred to an isolated island in the middle of the planet's largest ocean, separated by energy fields and distance from intermingling with the planet's evolving life forms. The case which held the prototype *haijo-ju* others addressed as the Sceptre of Lecasur is gone.

And the one who held the Sceptre unto death was elsewhere, awaiting the chance to return to her *marei'cha's* side, to fulfil the promise she made before Entropy separated them. But that was no longer a concern.

The *te'a* beholds that.

No longer could mortals interfere.

And that, above all...was Good.

*** And The Beginning ***