"Here's where we stand," Apsyrtus began, gesturing at the chart projected behind him. The other senshi were seated in a loose arc, listening as he spoke. "Imperatrix and Tynka are the offense of our group. They both have very strong attacking powers which we'll be relying on. They're also able to defend themselves well. We'll be using the pair of you as an spearhead," he told them, "for your brute power and occasionally as decoy for more complicated plans."
Imperatrix made a face at the word 'decoy'. "I look forward to working with you," Tynka told him with a smile.
He nodded. "We'll see how well you fare in battle."
"Oh, don't underestimate me," she said with a gleeful smile. "I'm quite capable."
"If I can move on?" Apsyrtus asked lightly, attempting to keep his expression serious, but unable to quite hide his grin. "Gaussia, you have a healing ability, which means we're primarily going to use you as support. Your job will be to keep everyone else attacking the enemy, not to attack yourself. All right?"
She nodded firmly. "That sounds perfectly fine to me."
"The rest of us," Apsyrtus continued, "have abilities that lie inbetween: neither directly offensive nor directly defensive. Gotho, you have binding and sealing, correct?"
"That is correct."
"I have influence," he continued. "Thais, you have an influence as well with your colors, correct?"
"That is correct. I can also blind the enemy, for what it's worth," he added with a shrug.
"And Strenua has a distorting ability. Strenua is also going to be in charge of our battle plans," he added. "He's come up with a number of different ways to combine our powers effectively, which we'll go over later."
"What about Fiducius?" Gaussia wanted to know, and the senshi jumped slightly at attention being called to him.
"Subamara is a jack of all trades," Apsyrtus said with a nod. "He has offensive, defensive, and manipulative abilities, so his role will switch around depending on what the situation requires. In addition, he has a scrying ability that will let us glean information about our enemies. I'm going to be working you hard, Fiducius," the Grecian senshi said with a smile.
"I'll do my best."
"Now," Apsyrtus said, "I've received a report that the enemy is on the move. They're making a strike at Sarema."
"Why should we be concerned with Sarema?" Imperatrix spoke up.
"A number of reasons," Apsyrtus said with a nod, "I'm glad you asked. First, Sarema is important strategically - having it taken opens up a direct path to Strenua and Gotho, which are of course places we want to keep out of the line of fire. Secondly, saving them will give them a reason to help us, with conventional troops and supplies against the ships, keeping them off our backs. Third, since their senshi died of natural causes about a year ago and they haven't had a chance to find a new one, the enemy will not be expecting a lot of resistance to their ground troops. We can take them by surprise. And finally," Apsyrtus addressed the room, voice strong, "It gives us a chance to strike at them. Any chance is a good one. We are all committed to defending our homelands first and foremost, but as I said yesterday, the best defense is a good offense. Striking them down on other worlds ensures that they will never reach ours."
Tynka applauded, followed by Strenua, and then the rest of the group joined in, giving the orator a brief round of applause. He smiled graciously, taking a slight bow. "That's where we stand. So for our first manuver, we're going to head out by ship in a short while." He walked back to the projection controls, displaying the rock that was Sarema. "To avoid detection, we're going to land on the far side, here. A group from Sarema is going to meet us there and take us to where the battle is probably going to be. Imperatrix, you're going to be our spearhead for this one, posing as the senshi of Sarema. Give them a good fight. Subamara and Gaussia, you're his backup. If he gets hurt, you take care of him, Gaussia, and you cover your group with your illusions, Subamara." The pair both nodded, and Fiducius glanced over at Imperatrix.
The other senshi didn't seem pleased. "And while I'm babysitting, what are you lot going to do?"
"Catch them in a pincer movement and spear them from behind," Strenua spoke up. "We will keep our presence cloaked while you manuver them, and then strike them unexpectedly with a powerful blow. Tynka and I will be the primary source of damage, with Thais, Colchis and Gotho providing support to us, but only if needed. Ideally, they will only see you and the two of us, thereby masking our true numbers."
"That's the best strategy the geniuses of Strenua can offer to us?" Imperatrix asked scornfully.
"For the moment. We will be able to detail movement more thoroughly once we have selected a place for battle," Strenua explained calmly, ears tilting slightly. "It is best that we do not lock ourselves into too specific a movement until we are more aware of the full situation. To that purpose, we will all be carrying communication headsets," the alien added, holding a small earpiece up as an example. "We will keep all informed of each other's situation and therefore be able to modify our plan as needed."
Imperatrix didn't seem very satisfied, but let the subject drop. "Are there any other questions?" Apsyrtus asked, looking around. "If not, then we'll head out. The gods will be with us."
Fiducius watched him as the senshi got up, the Colchis senshi leading the way. Tynka and Strenua moved up to join him, talking to him in low tones, and so Fiducius gave up on trying to get a word in, letting himself fall back to the rear of the group.
"Looks like we'll be working together," Tsaria said from beside him, giving him a smile. "I look forward to it."
He nodded. "I didn't know you had a healing ability. That must be useful."
She waved a hand, embarrassed. "It's not specifically healing, it's just one application. I can also sing, and I could take breath away," she added in a more serious tone. "But it's a strenuous thing to do, so I'm glad he didn't ask me to fight the enemy directly. I want to fight, but I'm not sure I'll be much use."
"That's not true," he reassured. "It sounds like you're the only one of us that has a healing ability at all. That's incredibly useful. It means we'll get to live to fight another day if we're hurt."
"Thanks, Fiducius. You're a sweet guy," she said with a smile.
"Hurry up," Imperatrix instructed from ahead of them. "We don't have time to waste. I don't really care if I'm stuck with you two as long as you don't get in my way."
Fiducius gave the older man a nod. "You can count on us."
"I don't need to count on you," he stated before turning to enter the ship. "I can do fine on my own."
Sailor Cobalt Falcon loved her job. Really, there was no better way to say it. Being in Galaxia's army did have its downsides, such as the strict punishments for failure, but Cobalt Falcon had never failed. And she didn't plan to, not with the way things were going. Watching as her two minions stormed around the city they were tearing up, she almost wished something would happen.
The something came in the form of a whip cracking across the street, throwing her two minions back. In front of her, a tall man stood, watching her with a cool expression as he gathered the whip back in his hand, smirking slightly. "You must be 'Sailor' Cobalt Falcon," he greeted. "I've heard so much about you. Like how you can't take on anything that's a real challenge."
She blinked, mildly surprised. Intelligence had said that this asteroid's senshi was already dead, but here he was, apparently, in the flesh. A mild setback, and one that made her wish she had a few more minions, but hardly insurmountable. "And you must be some loudmouth," she said with a wave of her hands, wings flaring out in a similar gesture. "I don't see how someone like you could qualify as a real challenge for me."
There was another crack of the whip, and one of her minions went down with a gurgle, knives protruding from several points in his body. "Let me educate you, fake senshi."
She scowled at him, withdrawing weapons of her own--twin chakram. "Watch your mouth, little boy. I'd hate to have to remove it for you." With a flick of her wrists, the twin chakram soared for him. He sent the whip flying again, knocking them out of the air, and they came back to her fingers. As she grasped them again, his whip snaked out, circling around the second minion's throat and neatly snapping his neck with a jerk back from the senshi. Cobalt Falcon frowned. This boy was going to be an annoyance. "Very well, then. If you want to play...we'll play."
"I don't play," he said with a slight smile, advancing on her slowly, and then with a sudden burst of speed, the whip lashing out at her. "I win."
"We'll see about that," she grunted, deflecting the whip with her chakram as she skidded back across the street.
From their hiding place, Fiducius and Tsaria watched Imperatrix battle the pseudo-senshi, Fiducius absently rubbing his card case at his side. "Wow, he's really strong," Gaussia observed. "I guess he doesn't need our help."
"Stay alert," he told her, feeling the energy of the cards brimming under his fingers. It would only take a word to send one at the enemy, but Fiducius had a feeling Imperatrix wouldn't appreciate the help. And he had no desire to get on the other senshi's bad side. "We can't afford to let down our guard."
She nodded, and watched as the battle moved through the streets, ducking out of view behind a building. "Should we follow?" she asked.
"Yes." He moved forward quickly, moving up the side of a building for a better view. Looking down at her, he nodded for her to go ahead, that it was safe.
She stared up at him in surprise, but then slowed down as she approached the two dead bodies, pausing by one. Turning him over, she took a step back in shock. Fiducius dropped back to the ground. "Gaussia? What's the matter?"
"This senshi," she said, frowning as she looked over his uniform.
"What about him?"
"I...I've seen him before."
"You've seen him? In some of the enemy footage?"
She shook her head. "No, I've seen him, as a senshi. Let me think." She frowned, tapping her chin, then straightened up. "Doyanrose. That's it. He's the senshi of Doyanrose."
"You mean he's a real senshi?" Fiducius looked back over the body. "Why is he working for this Galaxia?"
"I don't know. But look," she said, holding up one of the dead man's hands. "He has those same bracelets."
Fiducius frowned, then considered something. "Gaussia, see if you can find me a bag or something in a nearby building. Let's take these bracelets back to Strenua and see what he can make of them."
She nodded, and as Fiducius went to remove the bracelets, the body crumbled to dust, leaving only the bracelets and a small crystal on the ground. Frowning, Fiducius looked over at the other body to see it had turned the same way. Tsaria ducked into a nearby building, emerging a short time later with a coarsely woven bag. "This should do, right?" She looked around. "What happened to the bodies?"
"Looks like they crumbled," he said with a frown. "I don't know why. Let's take these bracelets and these crystals back." After they had filled the bag, Fiducius used the handles to tie it to his belt. "There. Let's follow Imperatrix."
She nodded, and he swung himself onto a roof, looking for the pair. The ambush had already taken place, it looked like: he could see Tynka as well, now, but the enemy senshi was nowhere to be seen. "It's over," he told Tsaria as he dropped back to the ground. "Let's get back to our meeting place."
Strenua turned the bracelets over in his hands, ears twitching around as he examined them. "You're sure?" Apsyrtus asked Gaussia. "You're absolutely sure it was him?"
She nodded. "I went to Doyanrose for some training. I'd know him. Why was he working for Galaxia, Apsyrtus?"
"A better question would be, why is he alive?" Tynka spoke up. "He died in the assault on his home world. We had footage of him being killed."
"But they took his body away," Apsyrtus said, pacing around a few steps. "What if they managed to take him alive?"
"I do not believe so," Strenua said with a shake of his head. "My observations indicated the wound was most assuredly fatal."
"Then that brings up a new question: can this Galaxia bring people back to life?"
"That's a sobering thought," Thais spoke up.
"There's some flaws in the system, though," Imperatrix stated. "Their reflexes were gone to hell and back. I'm not sure that those minion senshi of hers were good for anything aside from meat shields."
"There's certainly a possibility that that's what they use them for," Apsyrtus agreed. "Any initial thoughts on those bracelets? Or those crystals?"
"I will send a pair of the bracelets to be analyzed by my people," Strenua stated. "Currently, I have no solid information, though there are some hypotheses. They could be used for control, or perhaps for the revival process, if they are indeed reviving dead senshi."
Apsyrtus nodded. "What about the crystals?"
"That is easy enough. I am still running my findings through a database to confirm it, but these are senshi starseeds."
"Starseeds?" Fiducius asked.
"They're like a soul," Tynka explained. "Everyone has one, but senshi have special ones with unusual power. These are those special starseeds, then?"
"I have very little doubt."
Apsyrtus rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "This has opened up a whole world of questions, but I'd say we accomplished everything we needed to do and then some. Good job, team."
Tsaria managed a smile, and some of the other senshi nodded. "Let's get some rest. Chances are, they're not going to take this laying down," Apsyrtus stated. "They'll strike again soon. The ship won't be back to Colchis for a while, so we should have some time."
Fiducius watched as the group split up, Tynka leading Strenua away firmly and the other senshi dispersing, leaving Apsyrtus in the room. "Are you all right?" the younger man asked slowly.
Apsyrtus managed a tired smile. "Just trying to make some sense of this. How was your first battle?"
"I didn't really do anything," Fiducius said with a frown. "It was all Imperatrix and Tynka. They deserve the credit."
"We almost had her, but she managed to teleport away," Apsyrtus said with a scowl. "Still, the pair of them bashed her up pretty good. She won't be leading any attacks for a while."
Fiducius watched him for a long moment. "So...I guess we won this one?"
"We certainly did, Fiducius," Apsyrtus said with a smile. "And we're going to win the rest, too. Say, Fiducius, why don't you check on Gaussia? She's probably feeling pretty worn out by finding out her old mentor was working for Galaxia, willing or otherwise."
Fiducius nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll go do that." He exited the room.
Apsyrtus watched, then sat down with a sigh, rubbing at his temple. Tynka entered a short while later, shutting the door behind her. "I knew you'd still be here if I didn't come to fetch you. You and Strenua are both alike in that regard, you blockhead."
He smiled at her, gesturing for her to come sit next to him. He put an arm around her as she did so, leaning his head against her shoulder. "I feel terrible. I'm putting kids to war."
"You mean Gaussia and Subamara? I heard you sending him off," she said with a smile.
"They're both good kids," he mumbled. "What if they don't survive this?"
"Physically, or otherwise?"
"Both."
Tynka shrugged. "Can't worry about that. Just got to see what we can do, not what might happen. They're kids, but they're also senshi. Senshi aren't given tasks they can't handle."
"Thanks for your reassurance of our future," he grumbled, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
"Now come on, old man," she teased, offering him a hand up. "Off to bed with you, or you won't get your beauty sleep.
He accepted her hand, getting up, but then leaned against her back, putting his arms around her. "Tynka," he murmured, holding onto her tightly. "I love you, you know."
"Yes, I know, you silly thing," she teased, but her voice was gentler, and she put her hands over his own. "You're a good leader, Apsyrtus. There's greatness in you. You can handle whatever is going to come your way, I believe in you."
"Thanks. I'm glad someone does, because I'm not so sure I do right now," Apsyrtus said, lips quirking into a smile.
"Well, that will never do," she stated, turning around so she could pick him up. "I won't tolerate insubordination among the ranks."
"Is it really insubordination if I'm insubordining myself?"
"Insubordining isn't a word. And yes. So I think we're just going to have to beat that habit out of you," she said with a cheeky grin, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before carrying him off.
"Ah! You don't have to carry me!"
Pacing around in front of Tsaria's door, Fiducius admitted to no small amount of nervousness. Come to think of it, every time he approached Tsaria in a manner other than in their battle, he felt this way. And she was pretty. And kind, and he couldn't help but admire her love of everything around her. That was something Pribram had told him he would have to learn. This seemed like a pretty good place to start.
The door opened abruptly, Tsaria blinking in surprise as she saw him. "Oh! Fiducius! What brings you by here?"
"Ah... Tsaria," he greeted nervously. "I, um. I wanted you to teach me how to love everything."
"Oh, is that all?" she said with a smile.
He then realized what he said. "No! I mean, uh...I am interested in that, but it's not actually why I came by here right now. I wanted to see how you were doing. This being your first battle and all."
"I didn't do much of anything," she said with a shake of her head, her curls bobbing about. "Even you did more than me."
"Well, it's hardly a competition. Are you...all right?" he asked after a moment. "I mean, seeing your old mentor there...it must have been shocking."
"It was, a bit. I almost didn't recognize him. It's been a few years since I've seen him. Oh, how rude of me," she exclaimed. "Would you like to come in?"
"I'd love that," he said with a slight smile, stepping inside as she let the door reseal itself behind her.
"You know, I've never been on a ship this large," she told him, taking a seat at the small table and gesturing for him to do the same. "That it's so big we all get our own rooms is amazing."
"Well, it is a passenger design," he told her, admiring the white walls as he took a seat across from her. "So it's not that unexpected."
"Do you know a lot about sail ships, Fiducius?"
"To an extent. This is a Hug-Bell design, we have a lot of them at home," he told her. "They're the most common ships on the Main Belt. I like their designs over the other shipyards out there."
"Ah, I see. Where is Hug-Bell? Is that another asteroid?"
"No, I believe it's a comet, so they sort of roam around," he told her. "I've never been there. But it might be interesting to do sometime, when they come back to this area."
"That would be fun," she agreed with a smile. "We'd better work hard and get this area cleaned up before they return, then."
He nodded, smiling. "So you wanted to learn about love?" she asked him.
"Ah, well...It doesn't have to be tonight. A lot happened. You have a lot to sleep on."
"So do you," she pointed out. "Would you rather not?"
"No, I don't mind! I just don't want to tire you out further. What can you tell me?"
She put a finger to her lips, thinking, and the gesture drew Fiducius's attention, a part of him admiring the curve of her sweet, innocent lips and her small, delicate fingers. "Well, it's not a difficult thing, really. I mean, love is love. Haven't you ever loved someone before, Fiducius?"
His expression fell. "I don't think I do, actually. I've never felt strongly about anyone. When I was on Subamara, I was different from everyone else. They were nice to me, but there was always an unspoken line. 'You're the senshi, and I'm not. We have to be separate'. At least, that's how it always felt to me. Pribram was my only friend, and it was because she has some power, like me. I don't know if she is a senshi, or was. But then I came here, and there are so many like us," Fiducius added. "And there's many more out there. It's like I've stepped into a whole new world. I *want* to make friends with everyone here. I want to learn to love all of them. Already, they feel special to me. Especially Apsyrtus," he added after a moment.
"He's a very good man, isn't he?" she asked. "He always thinks of what's best for everyone."
"Yes, but he's also very good because of other things. He isn't afraid to be afraid, if that makes sense. And he's very friendly, and likes jokes. He's also confident in himself, so much that I wish I could be confident like that."
"You sound like you've known him for years," she said, leaning her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands, eyes sparkling as she watched him.
"I haven't, really," he said with a shake of his head. "Only for a few days more than the rest of you have. He's the one that came to my world to try and make an alliance with me. I think I would have done anything, since it was him. He opened up to me, and he's let me go at my own pace, in a way. I'm very comfortable around him."
She smiled. "It's good to make friends, isn't it? Who else do you feel comfortable around?"
He looked at her. "I'm comfortable around you. I like being with you very much."
"I'm glad to hear that," she said with another smile. "Receiving love isn't required to give it, but it's always nice."
"Giving love? Am I giving you love?"
"Well, yes," she said. "The same way you're giving Mr. Apsyrtus your love and trust. You care about him and you want him to be happy, right? That's really all you require."
"I care about him and I want him to be happy," he repeated. "Yes, I think that is how I feel. But...it's not the same way I feel about you," he added after a moment.
"Oh? How is that, then?" She watched him curiously.
"I, well...I'm comfortable around you, but sometimes I get nervous. I don't want to say the wrong thing to make you think less of me."
"Oh, that's silly," she reassured him. "I don't think you can. You're a very sweet man, Fiducius. And you speak from the heart."
He watched her for a long moment. "That's not all, though."
"What else is there?" When he didn't respond, she reached over, pushing a bit of black hair from his red eyes. "You have such pretty eyes, you know."
"Th-thank you," he managed. "I've never really looked at them."
She laughed gleefully at that. "Of course you haven't. Eyes can't look at themselves."
"I could use a mirror," he protested.
"Oh, but that's not quite the same thing, is it?" she giggled. "That's just a reflection."
"Well, the point stands," he said, folding his arms.
"I'm sorry," she apologized between giggles. "You're trying to tell me something serious and I've just ruined it for you."
"It's all right," he reassured her. "I'm not sure I'm ready to say it, anyway. Maybe another time." He got up to leave. "I should let you rest. I'm glad we spoke, Tsaria."
"I'm always glad to speak with you, Fiducius. Good night."
