Sailor Saturn hefted the Silence Glave, gazing across the
arena thoughtfully. Her short black hair blew gently in the artificial
breeze, her Senshi uniform crisp and neat. "Are you ready?" she asked
her opponent softly.
Tenjou Utena smiled slightly in return, raising the Sword of
Dios. She carefully brushed her long pink hair back, her black and
rose military style uniform making her seem to fade into the shadows.
"Always," was her simple answer.
They charged without any warning, their weapons crashing
together loudly. "Silence Wave," Sailor Saturn cried and power surged
from her weapon. But Utena merely braced herself, using her blade to
turn that power aside.
"Revolution Sword!" Utena cried out, and her sword was etched
in white fire as she struck.
Sailor Saturn blocked the attack with a hasty, "Silence Wall!"
She looked a bit startled as she softly said, "A new trick?"
"Something I picked up," Utena said with a casual smile.
"Incredible," Erica murmured as the dark haired girl watched
them from the safety of the observation room built into the wall of
the arena. When Aunt Minako had mentioned that Utena was here visiting
the palace she had asked if it would be possible to see her. Erica
hadn't really been expecting to see her in battle, though.
"That they are," Minako admitted. "They do this every time
Utena visits, supposedly because of a feud years back." The blonde
smirked, "Personally, I just think it's because they're the only ones
who can give the other a good fight."
"Ouch," Erica winced as the two women hammered on each other.
She looked down, trying to get a better look and blinked in honest
surprise, "They're both smiling."
"See what I mean?" Minako grinned.
Back and forth across the arena they went, each searching for
any sign of weakness in the other. They seemed very evenly matched,
shimmering with power as they tested their abilities against a worthy
opponent.
Suddenly a red rose struck into the floor between the two
women. From the shadows, the dark skinned woman with purple hair
appeared, dressed in a costume like Utena's but colored pink and edged
in black.
"Anthy," Erica looked down from the booth and recognized her
from the histories.
"Yes," Minako agreed, "but in that uniform she's also called
Bara no Senshi."
"Soldier of Roses," Erica translated.
"I hate to interrupt your play," Anthy smiled, "but Utena and
I need to go see Neo-Queen Serenity later, and I'd like to make sure
we look reasonably good."
"Perfectly understandable," Hotaru smiled. She nodded to Utena
and added, "We can always take this up again later on."
"I'll be looking forward to it," Utena grinned as Anthy lead
her out.
Up in the observation room Minako smiled at Erica, "If you
want, go talk to Hotaru. I'm certain she wouldn't mind arranging for a
introduction."
Erica blushed, a bit embarrassed at being so transparent,
"I'll do that." She looked up at Minako curiously, "Will we see you at
dinner?"
"Yes," Minako smiled, "I just have some things to take care of
first."
With that they separated, and Minako continued on to her
offices. She keyed the door open and went inside, closing it firmly
behind her before she sat down behind her desk. She patiently dealt
with some of her paperwork, killing a bit of time.
"Good afternoon, Lady Venus," the woman seemed almost to
appear from nowhere, her short brown hair swept back from her face.
Dark brown eyes and black leather completed the look, a tough and very
dangerous young woman.
"Hello Major Kusanagi," Minako answered calmly.
Everyone knew that Lady Venus was the head of Neo-Queen
Serenity's diplomatic corps as well as it's head diplomat. What very
few people knew was that she was also the head of the intelligence
division, running a tight organization of operatives throughout known
space.
And Major Motoko Kusanagi was her lead agent and right hand
woman, over seeing much of the agency's covert operations. A survivor
of the crazy years in the late 21st century, the artificial
intelligence that she had evolved into had seen almost everything, and
could handle it with style.
Taking a seat Motoko reached into her jacket to remove a data
slide, "Here's our latest report, and I've highlighted key information
you might want to give the Queen."
"Thank you," Minako took the slim recording device before
asking her, "could you give me a brief summary?"
"Sure," Motoko smiled. "Locally, we seem to be doing well. Our
allied colonies are happy, and while there's some corporate mischief
going on I've got people on it." Her expression grew more serious,
"But many nearby non- allied planetary systems are starting to arm
themselves."
Minako sighed, "We were almost expecting that. With us on one
side and Jurai's fleet on the other, they had to be feeling nervous."
"The problem is someone is selling them arms from the
outside," Motoko said softly.
Minako's eyes narrowed, "Earth tech?"
"Thankfully, no," Motoko smiled slightly, "but it is Jurai
military tech. We're still tracing it back discretely, but I think a
Lord has decided to line his pockets a bit."
"It's in your report?" Minako confirmed. At Mokoto's nod she
said, "Then I'll pass an edited version to the Jurai ambassador, as
well as asking Serenity to informally let Tenchi know."
"Many Jurai nobles are also getting a bit nervous about us,"
Motoko added.
"What have I told you about spying on our allies?" Minako
scolded her gently. Motoko just grinned and she asked, "Why are they
nervous?"
"The shield configurations on out latest ship classes," Motoko
said simply. "When Jurai lent warships to shoot at them, they expected
to punch right through our shields. Instead, the new designs held off
everything they could throw at them."
"They know we've never had an expansionist military policy,"
Minako said with a sigh, "and that our fleet is intended for defense
only."
"Don't be naive," Motoko scolded her gently, "the nobles of
Jurai know that Tenchi won't be around forever. We are the only
military power right now that could hold our own against Jurai, so if
they ever want to be expansionist again they have to deal with us."
"So does the war party among the nobles have enough pull to be
a problem?" Minako asked her softly.
"Not yet," Motoko answered, "but I'm keeping an eye on them."
She got up from her chair, "Those are all the highpoints. I'd better
go before we're seen together, ma'am."
"Are you staying around the Palace for awhile?" Minako quickly
asked. "I don't get to talk with you socially very often."
"I'll wear a different body," Motoko smiled slightly, "see you
later." With that, her skin went pale, and she simply disappeared.
To be continued...
Characters in this Episode:Sailor Saturn and Lady Venus are from
Sailor Moon. Utena and Anthy are from Revolutionary Girl Utena. And
finally, Motoko Kusanagi is from Ghost in the Shell and it's manga
sequel, Man Machine Interface.
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