Disclaimer: All characters are owned by their respective holders. No  
money is being made from this and no such intent should be inferred.

* * * *

The Devo Bazar was a huge asteroid two Sol units from a double star.  
The only planet was a gas giant with several moons, none of which  
were habitable. At some point, the asteroid had been gutted and  
filled with huge decks which in turn were packed with vendor stands.  
It never closed, it never stopped. Merchants came from all over the  
TerJurai Empire and beyond to sell and buy.

The woman who walked through the crowds was not a seller, or a buyer.  
She was tall and lean, with blue hair that was tightly pulled back.  
Her clothes were nondescript, and her eyes, golden yellow in color,  
were cold and hard. She moved with the ease of a trained warrior and  
her steps were sure.

Her name was Ryoko, a woman far older then she looked and when she  
did stop, her hand was clamped around the wrist of a Sulian.

Small, cringing and servile, Sulians had long, many jointed fingers  
that were almost like tentacles. If a Sulian was careful, those long,  
clever fingers could pick the most protected pocket.

This particular Sulian was very good, but Ryoko had been around a  
very long time, and she was better.

"Please," the Sulian said in a voice edged with grief. "Younglings  
not eat days. Need few creds which fill mouths."

"Find a newer sob story, and a better speech pattern" Ryoko snarled.  
"Now buzz."

The Sulian's eyes hardened as it recognized Ryoko as a much bigger  
fish and bowed respectfully before fading into the crowd. Within the  
hour, every pickpocket on Devo would know to give her a clear berth  
and every mugger would hear about a challenge.

Ryoko liked muggers. They were upfront sorts, very straightforward.  
Business types, muggers.

She continued on, eventually coming to a food stand. She gave the  
droid clerk a look and tossed what looked like a small coin onto the  
counter, which vanished before it had even hit the drula wood top.

Ryoko kept on and into the small storage area at the back. The  
creature sitting on the cushions looked up and Ryoko snarled. It was  
a Terjurai, with the blank eyes that marked a node of the Nabiki hive  
mind. It wore a voluminious blue colored robe, a red cap sat upon  
long bluish-white hair and its red eyes were cold and empty.

"This node was chosen to speak with you for two reasons, Ryoko,"  
Nabiki said without preamble. "The first is the matter of contract  
Six Five Five Stroke One Two Eight entered into by the parties Meiou  
and Hibiki and Node Five Three on standard date Two Five One Five  
Zero Zero regarding the tracking of bloodlines has been discharged on  
Japan."

"Discharged?" Ryoko asked, blinking in confusion and then her eyes  
widened as her memory coughed up the details. "Aw shit! It's time?"

"Not my concern," Nabiki said.

"Right," Ryoko said. For a moment, I forgot that you're only helpful  
if you were paid to be."

The Nabiki ignored the comment. "The second is that Node Nine Three  
Four's life-span is nearing its end and cannot be extended. Before  
its expiration, it wished to speak with you. Thank you and have a  
nice day." A single puff of smoke rose from the back of the  
Terjurai's neck and the red eyes gained warmth. "Ryoko?"

"Yeah, its me, kiddo."

"Its good to see you again, Ryoko. It's been a while."

"Yeah..." Ryoko trailed off, staring at the floor and then she went  
to her hands and knees. "I'm sorry, I-I couldn't--I . . . I  
never . . . " Tears flowed down her cheeks.

"I know, Ryoko, and I do forgive you. I was wrong to blame you for  
her death. Don't blame yourself for what happened. You had a choice  
to make is all. We all make choices." A hand, wrinkled with age,  
stroked her hair. "Go, Ryoko, give us back the moonlight."

"Come with me," Ryoko said. "It'll be like it was."

A shake of the head and an understanding smile. "No, Ryoko. Instead,  
I should like to stay here and rest, just for a while. Goodnight, big  
Sister."

"Goodnight, Sasami," Ryoko said, voice thick with emotion. Sasami's  
eyes closed and then she faded from sight in a stream of golden and  
blue sparkles. Ryoko took a deep breath through clenched teeth and  
dashed her tears away with one swipe of her hand and then she stood  
up and left.

Japan was many light centuries away and she had some stops to make.

*****************
Fifteen Years Later . . .

Ever since that damn Jusenkyoin had smacked him with that damn virus,
Saotome had spent half his life as a woman and as he did now whenever  
he thought about them, took a moment to curse the entire geneomancers  
guild.

Still, he was something of a positive thinker. Yes, it was disorienting
to change gender when hit with water, but it also meant could finally  
achieve
his dream, and like his mother before him, join the Senshi, the royal  
family's personal bodyguard.

But first, he had business to take care of and he shoved the left  
control rod forward, increasing the horse's speed, the ruins growing  
ever closer. This really was a good horse, he decided as he steered  
it over the stone blocked road with his palm on the right rod, the  
single wheel humming as it passed over the cracks. Gentle pressure  
was all he needed to steer and Saotome decided that when he returned  
to Tokyo, he would buy the horse.

The sunlight suddenly dimmed and Saotome made a face as he  
reevaluated the light conditions. Overhead, he could see the green  
and whites of Midway, one of Japan's several moons as it passed  
between Japan and the sun. That meant that he would be fighting the  
first duel in the dim twilight. Still, his female form, which he was  
currently in, had better night vision.

'Man,' he thought to himself, 'how the hell did I wind up havin three  
duels
in one day?'

Twisting the lever, he parked the horse by the tree and stared at the  
young
lady standing by the wall, chewing on a blade of grass. Her bright  
red hair
was tied back from her face in a long pigtail and she wore a long red  
cloak. She looked much like his female self, but smaller and more  
slender.

"Your manners need more refinement," she said, giving him a cute  
smile as she
stepped away from the wall. "Our business was to commence five  
minutes ago."

"Is dying that important to you?" Saotome asked as he heard the howl  
of two
more horses as they approached. The rounded the corner and stopped and
Saotome felt his heart sink as he recognized his other two appointments.

One of them was tall, with blue hair that was pulled tightly back and  
wore a dark blue cloak. The other appeared to be male at first  
glance, and it was only by the planes of her face that you realized  
that he was a she. She wore a dark purple cloak and her pink hair  
spilled down her back in straight waves.

"Shidou, you can't fight her," said the blue haired woman. "I'm  
dueling her
in an hour."

"I'm fighting her as well," said the third woman. "We were to meet at  
the
meadow in two hours."

Shidou started chuckling as she began to remove her cloak, the other two
climbing out of their horses and doing the same. "Well, it seems you  
have a
busy afternoon ahead of you," she said to Saotome. "Let's get on with it
then." Her cloak hit the ground and Saotome stared at the tunic.

"You're one of the Senshi?" he asked Shidou. The cloaks of Shidou's
friends also hit the ground, revealing that they wore identical tunics.
"You're all Senshi? I've been looking all over Japan for you."

"And now you've found us," Shidou said. "So unless you'd like to  
reschedule, let's discuss your lack of manners, shall we?"

Saotome sighed and removed from his belt Nerima, the blade handed down
through the generations of his mother's family. A single thought, and  
the
blade flickered to life, an energy beam a meter long, ten centimeters  
wide,
and an edge of one molecule. "Very well," he said. "But I will take  
no pleasure in this victory." He slipped into a guarding stance as  
Shidou produced a blade of her own seemingly out of thin air. "I'll  
be with you ladies in a moment."

The other two exchanged looks.

At that point, there was the sound of multiple horses approaching and
Shidou's expression became one of disgust. "She wouldn't, not twice  
in one
day."

"Took them long enough," muttered the blue haired woman, almost at  
the edge of his hearing.

Around the corner of the ruins came five men and women in the tunics  
of the
Church's soldiers. "You'll all under arrest," said a woman with the  
epaulets
and silver braid of a captain. "Will you come peacefully, or resist  
arrest?"

"She would," the other two Senshi said in unison.

"I'll ask again," said the captain levelly. "Will you come peacefully  
or will
you resist arrest?"

"What are you, stupid?" demanded the blue haired Senshi. "Of course
we're going to resist. Just give us a moment." The three Senshi went
into a huddle. Saotome tried to join them, but was shoved away.

"Five against three," said the blue haired woman. "Hardly seems fair.  
Utena, you want to sit this one out?"

"There's four of us," Saotome said.

"Oh shut up," Shidou snarled. "This is between us and High Priest
Kagato. Don't be stupid."

"I may not wear a Senshi's tunic," Saotome shot back, "But I believe  
that I have
the heart of a Senshi, like my mother before me."

"You got a name?" Shidou demanded.

"Saotome."

Shidou exchanged looks with her comrades. "Shidou," she said and  
indicated
the others. "Ryoko and Utena." Saotome shook everyone's hand.

"So that's it?" asked Ryoko. "Everyone's aquatinted?" They spun to  
face the
Church soldiers, an energy blade manifesting in Ryoko's hand and  
Utena took
hers from her belt. "Okay," Ryoko said with a smile. "We're ready to  
resist."

The soldiers clambered out of their horses and drew their own swords,  
shouting a battle cry as they rushed forwards. For a moment, there  
was a flurry of swords as everyone jockeyed for position and then  
they all flowed in different directions.

Saotome wound up with the captain, who proved to be well skilled with  
her sword. Put on the defensive, Saotome could only retreat, fending  
off her snakelike blows as he searched for an opening, any opening to  
use for his offense.

****

Shidou cleaned off her blade and stared disgustedly at the man in the  
dirt before her. "Amatuer," she growled as Ryoko and Utena joined  
her. "So much for being strengthened by Serenity's will." Ryoko made  
a strange noise and Shidou winced. "Right. Sorry, Ryoko. Forgot."

****

Saotome stared as Nerima's hilt bounced from the top of the wall, and  
fell to the ground far below. 'Far enough to kill someone,' part of  
him dispassionately noted and he looked back at the captain, and  
smiled as he moved into a guarding stance. After all, swords were  
only an extension of the body, which was the true weapon.


"Look," Utena said quietly, causing the other two to look up from  
their looting of the soldiers. That was to say that Shidou was  
looting, and Ryoko was watching. "She's still alive." She pointed at  
the high wall at the south end of the ruins. At the top, they could  
see two figures, and only one of them had a sword. The other was  
dodging the orange blade as it swept through the air.

"Unarmed combat against a blade?" Ryoko asked. "Is she nuts?"  
Unnoticed by her fellow Senshi, her fingertip began to subtlety glow.

"Its only bad if they get you," Utena replied.

"Utena's got a point," Shidou said as she ripped the platinum braid  
from the body of the soldier at her feet. "Unless they make contact,  
a sword's just a nifty light beam." She scowled at the soldier's  
purse. "Only fifty banum?" She slapped the body. "How the hell are we  
supposed to stick it to Kagato if the church pays its dopes crap?"

"We got paid in standard creds," Utena said. "Banum's only good if  
you're buying Arcian Draught, remember?"

Shidou's eyes lit up and she started digging through the fallen  
soldier's tunic more enthusiastically,

****

When one is armed and their oppenent is not, one generally believes  
that the advantage is theirs. This belief had made the captain  
overconfident and provided Saotome with the opening he had been  
looking for. As she lunged, he twisted and leaned to the left, and  
then lashed out twice with his foot, catching the captain in the  
stomach and then again in the face. Groaning in pain, she toppled  
forward and then fell off the wall, plunging down to hit the ground  
below with a sickening thump that he could hear even from atop the  
wall. Concentrating, he reached out to Nerima and called it to him. A  
second later, the hilt was hovering before him. Grabbing it, he  
hooked it to his belt and turned to make his way back, only to stop  
as his foot brushed something.

Looking down, he saw a data link embossed with the Church's symbol; A  
tree under crescent moon. As he picked it up, Midway finished its  
passage and the world began to brighten, the sunlight reflecting off  
the link's black casing and the embossed moon. In that brief, glaring  
flash, he thought he saw the silvery moon of the insignia go  
transparent, revealing the face of a rabbit. And then the moment  
passed, leaving him blinking rapidly. He studied the case again, but  
there was nothing remarkable. Shrugging, he tucked the link into his  
belt pouch and began making his way back down the wall.

By the time he got back to the horses, Ryoko and Shidou were leaning  
against one of the walls, watching Utena pile the bodies of the  
soldiers.

"What's Utena doing?" Saotome asked.

"Revenge," Shidou replied. "She likes to get creative with Kagato's  
lackeys." Saotome turned away as Utena took out a knife and began to  
hack at the bodies.

"But why?"

"She used to be one of the Church Soldiers," Ryoko shrugged. "She  
won't talk about it much."

"She takes her revenge pretty seriously though," Shidou said.

"Shit," Ryoko said, staring down the road. "Horses."

"I don't see anything," Saotome said.

"Ryoko's got better hearing then we do," Shidou said and then raised  
her voice. "Utena! Company!" Utena gave no sign of acknowledgment,  
but she did rise to her feet and walk to retrieve her cloak.

"What about Saotome?" Shidou asked as the Senshi gathered their cloaks.

Ryoko's golden eyes were unreadable as she studied Saotome. "She  
comes with us," she said

Saotome bowed his head in thanks and headed for his horse.

****
As they moved north, the terrain turned rocky and the road bad, and  
the quartet was forced to slow down to a snail's pace or risk  
crashing. They stopped only late at night and moved out at dawn. They  
had taken the news of his gender changing ability with minimal  
concern, but Saotome couldn't help feeling like they knew something  
he didn't and often caught them looking at him oddly, speculatively,  
almost.

But he welcomed it. While maybe not a Senshi yet, he had found them,  
and for that, he was thankful, if a bit troubled. For as long as he  
could remember, Nodaka Saotome had regaled her son with tales of the  
Senshi, painting them as unflawed guardians of love, justice, and  
peace. Saotome could still hear her ringing tones as she told him  
tales of heroism and sacrifice. Of the great Lady Venus, one of the  
original nine Senshi (when there had been only nine) who sacrificed  
her only shot at love for Holy Serenity's safety. His father,  
however, had spoken of them as human beings, with all the good and  
bad that came with it.

If the trio he had fallen in with was any indication however, then  
Emperor Tenchi and Holy Serenity entrusted their safety to borderline  
psychopaths and Shidou seemed to be the worst of the lot. She fought  
the few bandit ambushes they encountered with a zeal that seemed  
almost suicidal, was perhaps a bit to fond of ale, and companionship  
with people who made a living out that sort of thing did not overly  
offend her sensibilities. She was occasionally careless about the  
truth, and indifferent about the rights of the dead when it came to  
property ownership...or the rights of some of the living for that  
matter.

Utena quite obviously had a feud with the Church. They encountered  
patrols of Church Soldiers quite frequently, and Utena always took  
time to butcher them, even if it forced them to slow down.

It was Ryoko who drew his attention though. Unlike the others, she  
seemed to have no particular beef with the Church, in fact she  
scowled, when the other two joked about the tenets of the Church and  
yet was indifferent to her companion's bloodthirsty excesses. She  
rarely spoke, but her eyes were always on him. Watching, studying.

It was on one cold and clear morning as they traveled a narrow road  
along a mountain face, that suddenly the sun seemed to wink out,  
Saotome looked up just in time to see what almost looked like some  
kind of hand descend upon them.

The next thing he knew, he was standing in a chamber fashioned out of  
some kind of metal. The floor lurched and there was a strained sound,  
as though some aged voice was calling out "Miya!".

Saotome somehow managed to perch on Shidou's head as the scream of  
sheer terror bellowed forth from his lips. "CAAAAAAAT!"

"What the hell?" Shidou demanded, shoving Saotome to the floor.  
Saotome immeditly dashed to the wall and pressed himself against it,  
eyes darting everywhere.

"Family thing," Ryoko said. "I'll talk to him later."

Once it was explained that the ship only made those noises because  
its builder thought it was cute and there were in fact no felines on  
board, Saotome calmed down. Though whenever the ship, which he soon  
learned was called the Ryo-Oki, made a noise, he jumped.

The Ryo-Oki was an old ship, but fast, and they were soon in the  
system's outer reaches, out among the asteroids. Ryoko, who sat in  
the room's only chair, a hand on each of the crystal spheres that  
seemed to be the controls, slowed the ship, apparently searching for  
something. Finally, they dipped inside one of the great rocks and  
after maneuvering through a crevice, came to a large cavern. Clinging  
to one of the walls by means of a bottom mounted grasping claw was a  
medium size freighter. It was disc shaped and obviously very old. It  
appeared to be a single deck and the cockpit was mounted on the side,  
rather then center on in the front.

"That's a Republic ship, isn't it?" Saotome asked.

"Sort of," Ryoko replied as they slowed. "She was built during the  
fifty or so years between the First and Second Republic, when the  
Empire was decorating systems with the burnt out hulls of Alliance  
ships. After the second Republic was founded, this design became  
popular with independent haulers because of the increased cargo  
capacity and low operating costs." On the view-screen, the hull of  
the freighter closed with frightening speed--

--Saotome blinked and found himself standing in an empty cargo bay.  
At his feet was a small brown creature with thin brownish-gray fur.  
Saotome jumped back, instinctively distancing himself from the  
creature's catlike appearance. The creature, however, looked at him  
with dim yellow eyes and made a pitiful squeaking noise. It was then  
that he noticed that the air in the room was stale and smelled bad.  
Saotome tried not to breathe too deep.

"I'll put Ryo-Oki in her chamber," Utena said, scooping the creature up.

"Fine. Saotome, come with us." Ryoko and Shidou led Saotome through a  
corridor to a small conical cockpit. before him was two seats set  
into the floor before a console. To his right, another console set  
into the wall, and an ordinary chair at some kind of desk to his  
left. "Flip every switch on that console with a red light," Ryoko  
said to him as she took the left seat at the front. Saotome did as  
instructed as Shidou squeezed past him and took the right hand seat.

"Seven percent systems failure," Shidou said. "Not bad considering  
its been here for what? Ten years?" Her fingers danced across keys,  
and Saotome could hear the hum-whirr of stasis fields spinning down.  
The air began to freshen as the scrubbers started working and the  
deck-plates started vibrating as the engines came online.

"Closer to twelve," Ryoko said absently as she she manipulated the  
controls, detaching the ship from the wall and guiding it out of the  
cave. "Anything vital?"

"Nah, or at least nothing the auto-repair can't handle. So where are  
we headed?"

"Dunno. It's a pretty safe bet Kagato knows we're here, so we need to  
get out of this system. Any suggestions?"

"Jump Gate then hyperdrive," Utena said as she entered the cockpit  
and sat at the third console. With nowhere else to go, Saotome sat at  
the desk and began fiddling with the data link.

"No. He's going to be watching the jump grid." Ryoko said and reached  
for the console set between the two front seats just below the  
hyperdrive controls, slouching a little to see the screen. "I'd  
rather just hyper out of here." Long fingers tapped keys. "Some out  
of the way system where Kagato doesn't have a reach." She muttered a  
curse to herself. "Or at least where the Church has other things on  
its mind." Then a moment later. "Shidou, you owe me fifty."

"Huh?"

Ryoko jabbed a finger at the screen. "Manticore and Haven are at war.  
Again." The blue haired woman resumed tapping keys, stopping only to  
take a cred chip from Shidou, who was half leaning over her shoulder.

Foe the most part, the next hour passed without incident, the Senshi  
speaking together in hushed voices.

"Ryoko?" Saotome asked, breaking the silence. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What's Helios?"

"Helios?" Ryoko's head came up, almost smacking Utena in the face.  
"Where'd you hear that?"

"Its on this link."

Ryoko snatched the link from his hand and studied it. "This is a  
Church link . . . where did you get this?"

"The captain dropped it when she fell."

Ryoko held it out to Utena. "This genuine?"

"Yes, it's a memo to all units from Kagato's office ," Utena said  
after a moment's glance at the link's screen. "They're to gather any  
and all references to Helios, no matter how passing or the context.  
Its tagged as High Priority."

"Nothing in the ship library," Shidou said as they gathered behind  
Ryoko.

"I can see that," Ryoko muttered and swore to herself. "All right."  
she reached for the navcomp and began setting a course.

"Where are we headed?" Shidou asked.

"Place called Chas," Ryoko said. "Get comfy, we'll be in hyperspace  
for quite some time."

"How long?" Saotome asked.

"At least a week," Ryoko smirked. "Hope you like mealpacks." She  
punched the final numbers and pulled a lever. Outside the canopy, the  
stars vanished, to be replaced by the mottled sky of hyperspace.


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'