"Graphite was the first," Achorite replied. "Then Silicon,
Germanium and Lead. Tin disappeared just this morning when she was
supposed to be watching Marcasite and Opal."

Wow.  Pluto's been a busy little girl. :-)

????

Just in case you're wondering, I not buying the "Graphite did it all"
for a minute.  The idea that Pluto would let all these refugees run
around free run absolutely contradictory to the previous chapters.

She hasn't even -showed up- yet. How can her contiued non-appearance
contradict her previous actions, if she hasn't -made- any?

Why?

A)  She has a much different perspective on the situation.  To the
other senshi, this is just another threat.  Pluto however, was actually
ALIVE during the fall of the Moon Kingdom.  These are the same monsters
that destroyed her home, life and family.  They killed her queen.

Cobalt killed Serenity? Kaliborite did it? Jasper?

Pluto has more perspective than that. She's spent ghod knows how many years
watching humanity make the same bloody mistakes. She's had the same period
of time to come to terms with the fall of the Moon Kingdom.

And finally... If she were the sort of person who -could- slip up and let
her feelings interfere with the execution of her duties (which, IMHO, are
defined by Usagi's goals and view, even if they haven't actually discussed
the matter, but even otherwise wouldn't cover murdering helpless victims
and starving refugees), -she- -wouldn't- -have- -been- -put- -in- -charge-
-of- -the- -Time- -Gate-.

B)  Yes, Usagi has told the others to let the refugees be.  However,
since when has Setsuna ever taken orders from Usagi?  She had the
ability to bring Uranus and Neptune back in line from day one.  She
didn't.

Define day one.

If you mean, "from their first appearances," she was probably being sneaky.
After all, even if the Lovers didn't know where the Talismans were, SHE
sure did.

If, on the other hand, you mean from the start of this little tale, then
Usagi is doing a perfectly acceptable job all by herself, thank you.

C)  Graphite doesn't strike me as particularly patient.  The deaths
depicted here are her idea, but does she have the brains and subtlety
to pull off the ones before?  You don't portray her as having them.
She doesn't even bother fleeing the scene of her own handiwork.

This, I'll buy, but what does it have to do with Pluto? It only means that
there's -somebody- out there.

"I've done what you've always been too cowardly to do,
Cobalt. I'm getting rid of the defective half breeds before they can
ruin it for the rest of us!"

Another clue that Graphite can't be blamed for all the deaths.  She
doesn't take credit for the previous deaths

*nodnod* Of course, how do we know she's the only one still living?

"Your friend is going to be okay," Usagi continued. "Ami is
a very good doctor and this is her mother's hospital," she
explained, confirming Cobalt's suspicion.

*sigh*  Usagi is entirely too trusting for her own good.

So think Uranus and Neptune, anyway.

But look me in the eyes and tell me you could betray -her-, after she's
trusted you.

Usagi nodded. "Does it have to be from people?" she asked,
getting up and sitting down next to Cobalt.

Good question.  How much life energy does a cockroach have?  Might not
be a lot, but THOUSANDS of cockroaches...

Yup. Or plants, or cattle, or whatever. Heck, worse comes to worse, you can
raise chimpanzees. They're -surely- bright enough to be close enough for
government work.

"We'll help," Usagi said. "You can drain me as much as you
need to help all your friends come to this world. I don't know how the
others feel, but I bet would could find others willing to help. People
donate blood all the time, after all. Why not donate energy?"

Oh boy.  Do you realize that Cobalt's group can PAY for energy?  I
mean, they're throwing around precious stones like they were nothing.
They rent apartments and set up stores without ever worrying about
where the money is coming from.  Heck!  They could run it as a homeless
shelter!

Heh. "Energy Commissions: We Pay You to Sleep!"

Now all you have to do is get it past the Surgeon General...

In addition, there is some people they can drain with impunity.  How
would the senshi look, bringing a murderers murderer to justice?

IIRC, energy drains aren't fatal, just tiring. Maybe you could push it to
lethality, but why bother? After all, if you kill him, you can't drain him
again.

The two big problems with Beryl's draining operations, from the Senshi's
pov, were the fact that they were nonconsensual, and the use to which the
energy was going.

Faced with the choice of allowing an essentially harmless low-level drain
to continue, or condemning thousands of people to death by starvation, I
can't see Usagi -not- bending.

They
wouldn't look good at all.  A quick trip through a maximum secuirity
prison could rake in a lot of energy, which the senshi would have to
break in to stop. By then, the youma are already gone.

I've manufactured whole cloth for the sake of the story. I hope
they're not too distracting.

I'm going to restate my earlier comments:  Cobalt's group is a truly
terrifying enemy.  It all boils down to the fact that they're
desperate. They have a lot more motivation than any previous foe.

Ail and Ann.

Yes, Cobalt & Co. are desperate, terrified, and cornered. Worse, they're
smart about things.

But - do they desire to harm the Senshi? Is their ultimate goal something
that the Senshi cannot afford to have happen? And is the cost of stopping
them less than the cost of allowing them to continue?

-I- don't think so. Do you?

Sailor Moon and Mercury may trust them, but its pretty obvious that the
others don't and the refugees have to be seeing that.

True, but they'd also see that none of the Senshi - and, by this point that
includes the Lovers - will do anything without Usagi's say-so...

Now, to us, it's obvious that that's not going to be forthcoming, at least
now that she knows the score, but the Refugees can't know that yet. Still,
the smart thing to do would be to wait and find out, I think, and Cobalt is
nothing if not smart.

Blessed be.
Nathan Baxter
(There's nothing wrong with Haruka and Michiru except that they're Gundam
characters in a Gekiganger world.)



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