Prologue
Contact.
The entire universe seemed to pause momentarily when Eternal Sailor Moon took the possessed senshi's hand in a firm but loving clasp. Galaxia's eyes froze in shock before shrinking to pinpoints as the blinding light of Sailor Moon's soul fought the dark miasma that permeated the older senshi's entire being. The light became unbearable and a piercing scream was ripped from Galaxia's throat when the light settled inside her and pushed its way inexorably outward. The bindings she had placed on the chaos all those years ago finally failed under the light's assault and her uniform - everything which defined her as a senshi, a warrior - exploded outward in a flash of glowing stardust. The dark miasma of chaos immediately followed and quickly dissipated back into the cosmos, taking the dark storm clouds of war with it as it left.
Galaxia looked up at Sailor Moon in awe. She was free. Finally, free.
"Thank you, Sailor Moon. Your shine lights up the galaxy with a very warm, sweet light!"
The two senshi slowly separated without realizing it. Galaxia, her long hair unbound once more, glowed with the same inner light which radiated so strongly from the younger senshi. She gazed over the shining sea of liberated star seeds before turning back to her companion.
"Is Chaos truly gone?"
Usagi looked out at the glowing sphere of souls. "I think it went back to where it belongs," she whispered.
"Where it belongs?"
"Yes, back to people's minds." Usagi smiled. She could tell the older senshi didn't understand. Before Galaxia could object, she would have to be made to understand. Her friends' sacrifices demanded no less. "Let's believe in them!"
Galaxia stared at the other senshi once more, her expression troubled.
Usagi had to make her understand. "The people who love their world; we believe them. We believe. That's what we must do. You mustn't worry; the Light of Hope is in everyone's mind once more."
"How strong you are," Galaxia replied. Her eyes dropped in shame. "But what I did was irreparable ..."
Usagi's heart sang; she did understand after all. "Let's do it again from the beginning. It's not too late." The younger senshi threw her arms out wide. "Please guide the Star Seeds so they don't lose their way back to their homes."
Galaxia's face lit up in joy. "Thank you, ..."
Her form dissolved into a streak of glowing light.
"... Sailor Moon."
... and then she was gone. A moment later the entire sea of star seeds which surrounded her followed Galaxia in countless flashes of brilliant contrails.
Usagi's gaze turned upward to follow the glowing star seeds as they departed into the moonlit sky. She waited silently until the last one winked out of sight.
"Everyone, I hung in there," she whispered to the void. "We saved them ... we saved them all ... everyone ... except you."
Usagi curled in on herself, her wings enfolding her in a gentle caress of ethereal feathers. Hot tears tracked down both of her cheeks. It was finally over, but the cost ...
"Why did you leave me behind? I'm not that strong ... you were always there with me; even after I ... I ... hurt you so much." Her voice broke into wracking sobs. "It wasn't ... s-supposed to ... happen like this ... again ... everyone ... you weren't ... supposed ... t-t-to die ... again ... bec-c-c-ause ... of ... m-meee ... I'm ... alone ..."
"You're not alone."
"I .... d-deserve ... to ..."
"You're not alone, Princess."
"... alone ..."
"Everyone is around you ... forever."
"... everyone ..."
"Come back to us, Usa-ko."
"I wish ..."
"I wish ..."
Usagi felt an eerie peace encompass her inner being. A crystalline certainty that had been missing was now there, somehow, someway. She unfurled her wings and relaxed, tilting her head back to bask in the warmth of the glow that still emanated from within. Eyes still closed but no longer streaming tears, she paused for a moment to remember ... and then smiled.
"Never again."
Eternal Sailor Moon - the Messiah of Light - poured her entire essence into the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou. The magical crystal responded instantly to her commands and her entire universe turned white.
"Usa-ko?"
Usagi moaned groggily. She felt warm and safe and entirely too comfortable cuddled up against her full-body pillow. She did not appreciate having her dreams interrupted like this.
"Usa-ko, it's time to get up."
Usagi snuggled further under the covers; maybe whoever it was would just go away. She ...
... didn't own a "full-body pillow". She didn't normally sleep in the nude, either. And that voice ...
Her eyes flew open.
"Finally awake, sleepyhead?"
Blue eyes stared into eyes of blue. It wasn't a dream, and they really were together, in his bed, in the ...
"MAMO-CHAN!!"
Chiba Mamoru never stood a chance.
An hour or so later ...
Mamoru collapsed back on the bed next to his beloved fiancée. That had been ... well, "intense" was certainly too mild a word to describe what had just occurred. He looked over to the vision of glory resting beside him ... there was something about the intensity of the last hour which bothered him.
"Usa-ko, are you all right?"
Usagi simply beamed. "Of course I am, Mamo-chan. How could you think otherwise?"
Mamoru choked off a sigh before it could begin. He knew his love could be a bit overemotional at times, but still ...
"It's just that ... you aren't normally quite that enthusiastic, and your ..."
Usagi silenced him with a finger over his lips. "Shhh. I just had to be sure." Her hand wandered downward as she pushed herself up against her lover's side and she giggled lightly when "ChibiChiba" responded to her touch once more. Her man may be tired, but he wasn't totally worn out. Yet.
"Usa ... ko ..." Mamoru said with a groan.
"I'm fine, Mamo-chan. Really." Her attention wandered while she gave ChibiChiba some additional ... encouragement ... and a series of images flashed quickly through her mind.
... Ami-chan studying, a pile of textbooks sitting beside her as she absently twirled a lock of hair ...
... Rei-chan meditating in front of the Sacred Fire ...
... Setsuna-san at her drawing board, putting the finishing touches on her latest fashion design ...
... Michiru-san lost in her own world of music ...
... Mina-chan arguing with Artemis over her grades ... again ...
... Haruka-san yelling in unadulterated joy as her motorcycle flew in the air after cresting the latest hill ...
... Mako-chan adding the final touch to her latest recipe ...
... Hotaru-chan giggling and laughing at a local park ...
Tsukino Usagi was content. She knew her friends were safe and happy, and she would make sure they would never be hurt on her account again. She ... slithered ... on top of her man, positioning herself ... just ... so ...
"Things couldn't be more perfect."
Elsewhere
Serenus Rosalba Meditrina Filomena Adrasteia the Fourth reviewed the latest status report and nodded to herself in satisfaction. Her unorthodox move in pursuing significant gains in the heavily regulated Tiarrizian sector with such a small force had taken most of the other major players by surprise, and the high-risk gamble had paid off quite handsomely. Given the totality of her janissaries' recent victories, she now had the luxury of consolidating her reserves in both the Sygnasian and Malorian sectors, which in turn would allow her to reinforce the entire Krr'pttht theater. Albineo in particular was in danger of succumbing to recent Krr'pttht advances and was a world she could ill afford to lose - its position as a nexus transfer station for three entire subsectors gave it an importance far beyond the limited resources the primitive culture could provide on its own. Now that she had finally recovered from several previous significant setbacks, she could finally give the Krr'pttht the ... attention ... they so richly deserved.
Serenus had taken great pleasure in watching Mealocious' recent and permanent retirement at the hands of her janissaries, given he was responsible for most of her previous losses. Doing so by recapturing most of Tiarrizia in the process made it all the more delightful, and being able to redeem her half-sister's contract from him without penalty had been an unexpected bonus.
If the recent run of good fortune continued for any measurable length of time she might actually accrue enough pieces to contemplate challenging Draconius himself.
She shook her head out of her fantasies. Challenging the Dragon to even a minor game was almost never worth the risk, for his terms for playing had never varied over the incredibly long time he had been an active player. Draconius was personally responsible for retiring a good third of all races who had ever been forced out of the competition, and his immense skills in playing reflected the fact that he was the oldest active player in existence - no other race even came close to his record. No, willingly initiating a game against the Dragon was something that should be left firmly in the realm of idle fantasy.
"Sere-chan? I think we have a problem."
Serenus looked up from the status board and sighed. She loved her half-sister dearly, but her recent habit of turning every little "non-success" into a major crisis got old in a hurry. "What is it this time, Beryl?"
The lanky red-head held up a transfer crystal. "You've got a private incoming transmission from the Tiarrizian Arbiter. It's marked 'urgent'."
Okay, maybe little sister wasn't manufacturing a crisis this time. Arbiters seldom sent unsolicited communiqués while a conflict scenario was still in progress, and there shouldn't be any active scenario in Tiarrizia besides the one she herself had set into motion. Given that end-game notifications always arrived via the normal routine status updates, receiving an urgent and unscheduled message from an Arbiter did not bode well at all. She accepted the transfer crystal from her half-sister with trepidation. Placing it on the worktable surface in front of her, she forced a precisely coded burst of her life force into the transfer crystal as identification and then waited for the recorded message to commence playback.
"Greetings, Player Adrasteia," the voice of the local arbiter - an ancient Tirrilian - began. "It is my duty to inform you that your field commander in this sector has invoked the voluntary discharge clause of her contract on behalf of herself and her entire staff. This constitutes a class two rules violation given the request was unscheduled and no Notification Of Intent To Substitute Active Personnel had been received by this office prior to said event. An unscheduled redeployment penalty of one force level will be assessed on each command and staff position and none of the former field personnel will be eligible for re-employment in these capacities for a minimum of twenty local stellar time units. You have three local planetary time units to redeploy suitable replacement personnel; failure to deploy said replacements in the stated time period will result in forfeiture of this sector and public disclosure of the contents of this ruling. Do you acknowledge the receipt and comprehension of this ruling in its entirety, Player Adrasteia?"
Serenus drew a shaky breath before replying. "I do, Arbiter."
"Acknowledgement of ruling comprehension received and recorded. Tiarrizian Sector Ruling 3.99471.6.22225.8.15229458.7b is now complete; please stand by for return transmission of field game pieces."
The transfer crystal glowed a brilliant white for a brief moment before vanishing, leaving behind a standard coded transfer box. Serenus keyed in her identification and opened the box to verify the contents, even though she knew what she would find inside. She nodded as the transfer box dematerialized, leaving behind the glowing form of the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou and the set of nine senshi power core crystals which had been employed so successfully by her janissaries over the last three years.
What the hell was she going to do now?
"Damn it, that should not have happened," Serenus swore after reviewing the record of Moon's encounter with Galaxia embedded in the Ginzuishou's internal data store. "All of the relevant reactions and psychometric parameters were accounted for; I should NOT be sitting here with the Ginzuishou in my hand."
"Outside interference?" Beryl queried from the main simulation terminal.
Serenus checked the event log again. "Nothing detected. If something did manage to slip in to influence Moon it did so without tripping any of the crystal's active or passive sensors, and that's well beyond the abilities demonstrated by the Fr/qlln with Galaxia. It's well beyond my abilities when it comes right down to it."
"True, so which contingency are you going to implement? You're already halfway through the grace period."
Serenus frowned. "I'm not sure. None of the alternatives I've laid out accounted for the possibility of the voluntary retirement of my entire janissary force. Combat loses - certainly, but this? I just don't know."
"I still think you should implement the second Tokyo plan," Beryl replied as she began inputting something into her datapad. "It has the potential for the least amount of downtime in the substitute force."
Serenus shook her head. "I'd really like to agree with you little sister, but that group is rapidly approaching the breaking point in their interpersonal group dynamics. Each candidate individually is certainly capable of being trained with minimal effort, but I haven't been able to calculate even a single scenario which results in the necessary motivational unity required by the staff positions. A year ago, maybe ... but now? And even if they could be molded into a cohesive team there still isn't enough qualified candidates to fill all of the required positions."
"True, but if you were to make this slight modification to the deployment plan, I think most of your objections become irrelevant." Beryl handed her datapad over to her older sister, the grin on her face turning into a blatant smirk.
Serenus' eyes bugged out when she read the proposed changes her sister had outlined to the contingency plan. She jumped to her feet and loomed over the taller redhead. It took several attempts for her to properly express her opinion.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!?"
Beryl's smirk became even more pronounced, which only served to infuriate Serenus further.
"I took a big enough risk the first time in depending on such a small force in this sector - now you want me to reduce it even further? DON'T YOU REALIZE HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS? There is no possible WAY for such an idiotic plan to succeed in the long term, let alone in our current situation."
Serenus paused briefly to take a deep breath. Beryl took this opportunity to hand another datapad over to her older sister.
"This is the STUPIDEST and most IDIOTIC idea you have come up with yet! I cannot BELIEVE that you would have the gall to propose something so ..."
Serenus' voice choked off suddenly in mid-rant. She sat down with a thump after scanning the simulation results her sister had just handed her.
"... insane it just might work." She looked back over to her sister. "Are you SURE these figures are accurate?"
Beryl nodded with a toothy grin. It was SO much fun to catch her older sister off-guard like this.
"Hmmm ..." Serenus set the simulation results down and picked up the other datapad. She reread the proposal thoroughly and then paused in thought for a good fifteen minutes. She finally set the first pad down on the work surface next to the crystals and looked back up at her sister.
"The only cost is the loss of an additional power level for the commander position to handle the added overlay?"
"Correct," Beryl replied. "And this change has the additional benefit of being virtually impossible to predict. The other players will NEVER see it coming."
Serenus nodded. That statement was certainly true - none of the other players would ever expect her to do anything quite this ... rash. Still, the risks were only slightly greater than the other best alternative, and the potential rewards? The most likely return for taking this risk was ...
Oh my.
The being known to others only as Draconius looked down at the most recent delivery and licked its lips in anticipation. The white queen's latest gambit had proven to be extremely well played and had allowed it to increase the Fr/qlln's indenture by another hundred and twenty systems. Another such setback of equal magnitude and the Fr/qlln would be force to retire.
Draconius looked forward to that event; it held by far the largest indenture over the sorely embattled player, and the Fr/qlln were ... delicious.
The ancient dragon also looked forward to seeing how the little queen adjusted to the subtle changes it had made in her playing field. She wasn't yet directly involved in any of its current competitions, but she was rapidly approaching the point where she could potentially present a worthy challenge in one of several upcoming conflicts which it was now laying the groundwork for. Her reactions to its little ... modification ... would help determine which of the new games she would be invited to participate in.
It didn't hurt that humans were also quite tasty.
Draconious hummed to itself as it snapped up the Fr/qlln ambassador with a single bite. It anticipated a long and very fulfilling relationship.