April 30, 2025

     It had taken weeks for the tiny cult to get permission to use the
park for a holy ritual.  They needed a greenspace and Tokyo was notably
deficient in such things.  Nor was the city government very fond of
obscure religious groups of late after several unfortunate incidents with
crazed cults attempting to bomb various city functionaries.  This group,
however, the 'Children of Herne', despite following some barbaric
looking European nature god, had followed all the proper procedures and
more importantly, paid bribes to the correct people.  As long as they
didn't cause any trouble, they'd be fine.  If they did, they would likely
be hung out to dry.

     As it was, the city was going to have other things to think about.

     The group was lead by a short and stocky, yet remarkably charismatic
man who called himself 'Cerunnos', though his parents had named him
Daisuke.  His hair was grey with age, but still curly.  He had an amazing
vigour for a man of his age--he seemed to bristle with life, which was
part of how he had attracted his followers.  They believed he was the
avatar of Herne the Huntsman, some sort of fertility/nature god.  The
dogma of the cult was somewhat vague...more or less they were all under
Cerunnos' sway and did whatever he told them, which often involved a lot
of running naked and mad passionate sex.  

      What it involved right now was drawing a huge chalk circle in the
middle of the park with one of those little machines used in football
stadiums to refresh the grid lines, and drawing lots of runic squigglies
inside it, while some of the others danced about chanting the words
Cerunnos had taught them.  Once everything was set up, they all moved
inside the circle and began dancing in a ring with torches around
'Cerunnos', who chanted in a tongue that sounded to them like some alien
language.  

      Long slumbering power awoke.  Cerunnos could feel it.  He laughed.
Fools.  They know not what they do.  He abandoned his old body and
became one with the site, the most powerful arcane point in all of Tokyo.
Years of planning was about to come to fruition.  To him had fallen the
power of control over the earth:  rock, stone, lava, and most
importantly...fault lines.  He 'grabbed' the nearby fault line and yanked.
The Second Kanto Quake had begun.  

      Cerunnos, however, would not see the effects.  He realized too late
that he had overstressed himself.  He had been too impatient and not
gathered enough power from the point before causing the quake.  As he
slipped into unconsciousness within the earth, one of his followers fell
down and dropped her torch.  The entire park soon began to burn.
Cerunnos' body burned to ashes and the fire spread.  Not that he cared.
It was but one of hundreds he had used over the millenia and not one of
the better ones.  

May 22, 2025

      Tokyo lay in ruins in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Quake.  Taka
quietly drove his bulldozer through one of the devastated parks, as did
several other workers.  What was bad for the city was good for them.  This
Genom company wanted to build its new headquarters here, so they were
clearing away the rubble.  Tearing down the outlying blocks of buildings
was next.  The Genom Tower was going to be huge.

      It's a pity about the park, he thought.  This was really beautiful
once.  It was a memorial, too.  But I guess the city is desperate for cash
to rebuild after this big mess.  Repairing all this fire damage would cost
a bundle.

      He shrugged off the thought and went back to focusing on his job,
driving past the sign which read, 'Future site of Genom Tower.  Another
fine job by Matsuura and Son, inc.'  In years to come, he would kick
himself for having had anything to do with this.  By then it was too late.

********

Dance of Shiva

Chapter 11:  Delenda est Schilling.

********

       Catherine Romanova was short and red-haired like her daughter, 
although her hair was much longer and tied back into a long-braid.  Her 
husband, Kazuya, was red haired as well, and both of them were well into 
middle-age.  She was dressed up in one of her nice business suits today 
because she was going to be meeting her daughter's boyfriend's parents.  
Having heard a few strange stories from Ryu about them, she was quite 
interested in seeing what they would actually be like.

       Frantically, she flitted around the kitchen, trying to get everything 
ready while her husband 'helped' her, which usually wasn't much help as he 
wasn't a very good cook.  Not that she was the goddess of cooking
herself.  Both she and her husband liked to eat, but disliked cooking,
which meant the best take-out places in the area knew them all by name.

        He was competent at barbeque, however, so she had sent him out to grill 
meat.  Unfortunately, he had finished before she did, which meant he was now 
hovering about, getting in the way.  She was glad he WANTED to help, though.  
She'd spent years beating that into him (He'd been raised to let the women do 
it all), then years regretting what happened when he did help.

        The ringing of the doorbell sent him scurrying, and soon she got her 
first look at Tenchi and Ryouko Hakubi-Masaki.  Tenchi looked quite 
respectable in a nice suit, while Ryouko...well, she'd always assumed Ryu had 
been joking when he claimed his spikey hair was inherited from his mother.  
Still, she was dressed nicely enough in red and black, although she kept 
tugging on her clothing as if it was a straitjacket.

        Nene and Ryu were there as well, both dressed up in their best
clothing.  Ryu said, "Mrs. Romanova, these are my parents, Tenchi and
Ryouko Hakubi-Masaki."

        Tenchi stepped forward and offered her a hand, which she shook.  "Nice 
to meet you."

      Ryouko sniffed the air.  "Smells good.  When do we eat?"

       "The food will be ready in just a few minutes.  Kazuya, can you take our 
guests to the table?"

     Soon, they all got seated, and started talking while waiting for the
food.  "So you're a lawyer?"  Tenchi asked Kazuya.

     Kazuya nodded.  "Hai.  I wanted to be a doctor when I was in high
school, but then I discovered that I wasn't as good at science as I
really needed and that I didn't actually enjoy doing biology experiments
and since medicine is basically applied biology and chemistry, I ended up
doing law instead.  And Catherine runs a computer troubleshooting and
consulting service.  Nene takes after her mother."

        Ryouko sipped her tea, then frowned and said, "This doesn't taste like 
sake."

        Kazuya blinked.  "It's not sake."

        "Don't give her any,"  Ryu said.  "Trust me."

        "Hey, I CAN hold my liquor!"  Ryouko snapped at Ryu.

        Kazuya started to get up.  "I think we have some in the kitchen."

        Tenchi put a hand on Ryouko's shoulder and whispered into her ear.  She 
fumed.  "Tea will be fine," she said.

      It was perhaps the hand of destiny that caused Catherine to come out
of the kitchen with a bottle of sake at that moment.  And people say
Destiny has no sense of humor.

********

        Dinner was over and the post-feeding drunken reminisences were in full 
progress.  Nene and Ryu, despite their best efforts, had been unable to 
prevent their parents ending up soused and had finally yielded to the 
pressure, ending up hammered themselves.  Catherine was standing on the 
sofa, acting out an elaborate story which no one really understood because it 
relied on knowing all the details of her life which only Kazuya knew, although 
Nene had flashes of comprehension.  "Okay, so this was like after Mitsuru-
sempai and Nanami-chan started dating.  But BEFORE Shinobu-sempai's 
sister had him kidnapped and tattooed 'cruel to his sister' on his forehead.  
Okay, now Nanami and I were trying to do our homework.  She was bored out 
of our skull, so we decided to go down to the Tokyo U union, where we see this 
spikey haired girl and this really weird looking girl with long hair in this 
funky kimono and they're having a food fight and...hey, that was you!"  She 
pointed at Ryouko.

      Ryouko laughed.  "What, the time Aeka and I started pelting each
other with baked potatos?"  

      "Yeah.  So we're walking along and Nanami gets hit in the head with a 
baked potato.  Two seconds later, Mitsuru-sempai shows up with the entire 
girl's soccer team chasing him and shouting about underwear and then..."  She 
paused.  "You tell the rest, Kazuya-chan."

      He shook his head.  "I have NO idea what on Earth you're talking
about."

      "Umm...neither do I."

      Mass facefault time.

********

      They didn't clean up until the next morning, mostly because the 
Romanovas simply passed out on the spot.  The next morning, their heads 
pounded as they tried to clean up.  "Now I remember why we don't have many 
parties anymore,"  Catherine said.

        "Well, Ryu's parents seemed pretty nice, even though I never did get a 
straight answer on what they do for a living."  Kazuya tried to figure out how 
so much clothing had gotten scattered around the living room when he didn't 
remember waking up naked.

         Catherine plugged in the vacuum cleaner, concluded in three seconds 
that it would make her head explode if she listened to it much longer, then 
turned it off.  "I think Ryouko said she was a spy."

         "I remember Tenchi said something about the government.  Working for 
the Emperor or some such thing.  Then again, I also distinctly remember 
Ryouko flying."  Kazuya sat down and laughed.  "Like Shinobu-sempai's wife.  
I doubt Ryouko's from outer space like her, though."

          Catherine nodded.  "What's the odds that two people we know would 
marry aliens?  I wouldn't have believed it myself if she hadn't shown up in 
her spaceship and challenged Shinobu-sempai to a game of tag for the future 
of the Earth at your high school reunion."  Turning to her husband, she said, 
"That wasn't common at your high school, was it?"

        "Even at Greenwood, aliens were pretty rare.  Although I did meet some 
ghosts."  Kazuya laughed.  "But that reunion...that topped it all.  I
suppose we ought to tell Nene about that some day, but I don't think she
believes in aliens."

      Catherine nodded.  "Well, she's not too likely to end up married to
Alien royalty or go to outer space any time soon, so we don't need to
worry about it."  Thinking a minute, she said, "Maybe Nanami-chan and
Mitsuru-sempai went to outer space."

      "I don't think so, although...there was that one trip they wouldn't talk 
about."  He sighed.  "I wish we knew what happened to them."

        "I'm sure Nanami's making a profit, wherever she's gone to."  Catherine 
said, then clutched her head.  "Remind me to get rid of the rest of the sake.  
Ugh, my head!"

     "I'm just glad we've managed to build a nice normal life.  No aliens.
No ghosts.  No people driving motorcycles down the hallway.  Now, if I
could just get around to getting rid of that one stump..."  

         Catherine knew better than to believe he would ever get rid of the 
stump, given that it had sat in their front yard for over twenty years and 
motivated the purchase of at least five tools, which had never been used.  Her 
husband was a great lawyer and a BAD handyman.  

********

      Kiyone slipped quietly through the hallways of Schilling
Enterprises, ignoring the loud crashing noises coming from downstairs.
She smiled faintly.  If there's one thing Mihoshi does really well, it's
create a diversion that attracts ALL possible attention.  She looked at
the primitive device in her hands.  I can hardly believe any civilization
would need to make a modem this large.  

      A simple enough job.  Schilling Enterprise had two computer systems.
One of them was used for less secure transactions and could be accessed
from outside.  The other one had no external connections and could only be
accessed from inside the building.  Normally.  

*********

       Nene sat and hacked at a furious pace.  Have to make sure all my
tracks are covered so those security checks don't find anything.  Part of
the problem was not knowing for sure how many potential records had to be
altered.  Nene thought she had covered her tracks, but some tidbit of info
that might reveal her true age or other information she had covered up
might leak out.  

      She also had a ton of information to try to collate on Schilling
Enterprises that her information gathering programs had dredged up.  Just
to further complicate matters, Wasyuu had given her a new computer that
was much more powerful but also seemed to constantly go whacko.  She'd
given up on voice interface and was just typing now...the voice interface
seemed to be far too literal and got confused easily.  And the computer
kept lecturing her and trying to tell her what to do, so she had to shut
off its voice too.  

      The phone rang.  She answered it.  "Hello?"

      "Hi, this is Celia.  We're on our way back."

      "Wow, this quick?"

      Celia smiled, though Nene couldn't see it.  "Something just
clicked."

      "Cool.  I'm pretty sure the widget in Schilling's computers is
working.  Soon as you get back, we can make our raid."

      "Good.  We need to get moving.  How are things going?"

      "Enjoying my new toys.  Worrying too much about keeping my job."

      "Well, I don't know if any of our lives will be the same after
this."

      Nene nodded.  That was for sure.

******

      Unit 2 and Unit 3 faced off in the clearing while everyone else
watched.  Some kid named Hitomi was driving Unit 3.  Noa's mind quietly
ignored the fact that she hadn't been any older than the 'kid' when she
started doing this.  They both drew their combat rods and the kid charged
her, rod held high like someone out of a samurai movie.

       Noa laughed quietly to herself and sidestepped, then slammed the
kid in the back with her rod, sending her flying.  The kid got up and did
it again with similar results.  Noa said, "This isn't a samurai movie.  If
you charge someone with a weapon held high over your head, not only do you
leave yourself vulnerable, if they move, you can't do much.  Don't run in
an Ingram unless you have to.  It's a lot harder to stop than it is with a
human body."

        The kid apparently ignored her, getting up and charging a third
time.  Noa sighed.  Going to have to beat some sense into this one.  She
sidestepped again.  Suddenly, Unit 3 was behind Noa, smashing Unit 2 in
the head with her rod.  Noa staggered, but managed to regain control.
Bloody psychics cheat, she thought.  "Not bad use of your powers."  She
backkicked and sent Unit 3 sprawling.  "But how long can you keep this
up?"

        Unit 3 staggered to its feet.  The girl looked dazed.  Noa moved
in, smacking Unit 2 over and over as the girl put up only a feeble
resistance.  Noa backed off.  "Like I thought.  You try teleporting one of
these things and you're not going to be worth squat afterwards."

       The girl moaned.  "Never moved something this heavy before."

       "Look, you people can all do things I can't do and never will be
able to do.  But it's got limits.  You're not going to be able to stop in
the middle of the battle because you've run out of power.  We're going to
be facing dozens, maybe hundreds of boomers and God knows what else.  Use
your powers wisely, and they'll give us the edge we need to survive.  Lean
on them too much and you'll be dead.  You've got limits that our
enemies do not.  Boomers won't get tired and they'll keep coming
until they can't move at all.  Your powers don't make you
invulnerable.  Class dismissed for lunch." She got out of her Ingram and
prayed they had actually listened to her.

        Hiromi and Taeki joined her for lunch, along with the Chief, who
had dropped in with some visitors.  "Everyone, I have some friends I'd
like you to meet."  Noa looked up and blinked.  "A...Ayukawa...?"  Noa
had all of her albums.  She had thought Madoka was dead.

       Madoka, Kyosuke, and Hikaru laughed, especially Madoka.  "That
brings back memories," she said. 

       Hikaru glomped onto Kyosuke's arm.  "Daaaaaahling!"  They all
laughed again, leaving the others rather confused.

       Noa blinked.  "Professor Hiyama?  You're part of this too?"

       Hikaru smiled.  "Couldn't resist the urge to make history as well
as write about it."

       Noa wondered for a moment what they could possibly need a
historian, a musician, and a...whatever for.  

       Chief Goto said, "Well, I see you know two of our people.  This
fellow is Kasuga Kyosuke, noted photographer and not so noted psychic."
He then introduced the three ex-SV2 officers to the guests.

       Kyosuke posed in a rather silly pose for a moment, then laughed.
"My son worked with you in SV2 for a while."

       "Oh, you're Akira's father?  He was a good officer."

       "Hai.  Anyway, we've come to make you an offer, Mrs. Shinohara,"
Hikaru said.

       "An offer?"

       Hikaru took a deep breath.  "Due to an unfortunate encounter with
one of the beings we're likely going to be facing soon, I...have the
ability to help awaken people's psychic potential.  It takes different
forms with different people as far as I can tell...I've only done it a few
times.  It makes me rather...uncomfortable.  However, given that you're
going to be leading this assault and you're the only person who doesn't
already have this ability..."

     Noa blinked.  "I..you...what?"

     Taeki cocked her head.  "And what is this going to cost her?"

     "Well, it's irreversible, for one thing.  If you decide you don't
like it, I can't undo it.  And not everyone has much potential.  And the
only way for me to determine that in advance...makes me rather
uncomfortable as well."

     Noa felt a bit overwhelmed.  "I...uh...I'll have to think about
this."

      Hikaru nodded.  "I understand.  I wouldn't force this on anyone."

      Noa had more to think about for the rest of the day than she really
wanted.

******

      Ryu worked on his homework, trying to not get too far behind.  Thus,
he almost didn't notice the head sticking up through his desk, looking at
him with a mischevous twinkle.  Almost.  "Spying on me for Manami, mom?"

      "Would I do such a thing?"

      "In an instant."

      Ryouko phased out of the furniture and hovered next to Ryu.
"Spoilsport."

      "Just don't rig up anything that'll destroy the dorm, okay?"

      "It's not like we can't afford to repair it."

      "Dad won't like it either."

      Ryouko sighed.  "You're no fun."

      "I'd like to not get kicked out of my dorm and have to go live in a
shoebox."  He finished off the last physics problem and turned to his
chemistry homework.  "And try not to do anything that'll take out my
roommate or suitemates, either, okay?  No teleportals to deep space or
anything like that."

      "I suggested that, but Manami doesn't trust those things."  Hmmmm,
she thought.  Maybe the...

      "And if you put Nair in my shampoo, I'll help grandpa film you in
bed again."

       Ryouko said, "Again?"

       Ryu laughed.  That should distract Mom for a while, he thought.

*********

      Macky sat quietly on the steps of the shrine while everyone ran
around packing.  He still hadn't managed to unlock his abilities yet.  If
I have any, he thought.  At least Grandma and Aeka-san will stay here with
me so I don't have to play with the tree by myself.  Celia and Youshou
were heading back to town.  He could train her there and Celia wanted to
plunge into the thick of things, Macky could tell.  He knew his sister
well.  She wouldn't SHOW enthusiasm, but he could see it when she had it.
Which was all too rare.

      He felt hands on his shoulders and jumped.  Meylia leaned down.
"You okay, Macky?  You don't look so good."

      He sighed.  "I feel useless."

      She sat down by him and put an arm around his shoulder and gave him
a hug.  "You're not useless."

      "What if I never figure out how to do this?"

      "If I could figure it out while lying in a coma, I'm sure you can.
You're much smarter than I'll ever be."  Her voice was soothing and quiet,
but Macky wasn't ready to believe.  

      "Yeah, right.  That's why I'm 18 with no high school diploma, no
job, and a future of being my sister's flunky for life."  He sighed.  "I
haven't had a date in my entire life, probably because I only meet women
who are armed to the teeth and several years older than me...at the
youngest.  Not to mention, every time I tried, Celia gave me a lecture on
family secrets, our crusade, blah blah blah blah."  He quietly sagged.  

      Meylia sighed.  She knew it had been hard for her grandchildren but
it had never quite been shoved in her face like this before.  My poor
grandson has lost all of his childhood.  "So your sister hasn't let you
date anyone at all?"

      "Well, she hasn't dated anyone either, so at least she's not a
hypocrite."  He sighed.  "I've thought about going off to college, but she
really does need me...but I'm gonna go nuts if I can't ever have any
social life at all."

       "Well, I'll talk to Celia about it."

       Macky laughed faintly.  "I don't think she'll listen.  I'm
surprised she hasn't tried to turn the Knight Sabres into a monastic
order."

     Meylia tried not to laugh at a sudden mental image of Priss in a 
nun's habit.  "Is it really that bad?"

     "Not all the time, but I just wish I could have a date.  Just ONE
date.  Just to even see what it's like."

      Meylia thought.  Hmm.  This could be a challenge.  "I'll see what I
can do."

      Macky sighed.  "Grandma...Is this all as weird to you as it is to
me?"

     "More weird to me.  I had a normal life until this happened.  You
never had one."

      He nodded.  

      "I was all alone and terrified for weeks after I woke from the coma.
I thought I had lost everyone I loved and turned into some kind of magical
ghost or something.  All I had left was revenge."  She paused and smiled
at Macky.  "I'm so glad that you two are still alive and okay.  I love you
two very much.  You know that, don't you?"

      Macky smiled back.  "I love you too, grandma."  He felt a little
better now.

*******

     Wilson Kamisaka sat on the couch, watching TV.  He had taken the day
off because it was his birthday.  He was rather worried about the
possibility that the idiot assassin might be traced to him.  The guy had
gotten arrested, but Stingray hadn't pressed charges...yet.  Why did
anyone in our company want her dead, anyway?  "It just doesn't make any
sense,"  he muttered to himself.  "Why would anyone want a lingerie shop
owner killed?"

      "That's a good question.  We intend to find out," said a woman's
voice behind him.

       He froze up.  What the...  Turning around, he saw a blue-green
haired woman standing behind him, wearing an odd looking tight red
jumpsuit.  "Hi.  Shall I cut off your hands first or would you like to
come peacefully?"  she asked with a cheery tone of voice.

       "Who the hell are you?"

       "I'm the dread space pirate Ryouko."  She casually blasted his TV to
a pile of smoking wires and glass.  "That could be you."

       Wilson came peacefully.

*******

      The Knight Sabres sat around the briefing table, such as it was.
"So what's the plan?"  Priss asked.

      "Well, Wilson claims he gets his orders from an account on their
machine whose password is supposedly only known by the head of Regional
Operations at the company's headquarters back in Germany.  However, Nene
did some hacking and determined that someone has been logging into that
account from here in Japan, namely from a Takahito Enterprises warehouse
in Yokohama.  The account hasn't been logged into from Germany in 3
months.  Secondly, Takahito Enterprises is owned by Daichi Tool and Die,
which is a subsidiary of Genom.  Thirdly, someone else inside Schilling
must also be involved since usually notes for Wilson were hidden in his
office and the email messages just told him where to look.  The next step
is going to be to catch the person in Takahito who is sending the
messages...or at least using their computers."  Celia paused for air.

      Nene said, "The account being used from Takahito belongs to a minor
executive, Dora Shinishi.  Whoever is doing this logs onto the executive
account at Schilling on a regular basis.  We're going to catch them the
next time they do."

      "We also have a plan to make them believe Genom is responsible for
whatever damage we may do."

      Priss laughed.  "I like it."

      "How are we going to make them think Genom is responsible?"  Linna
asked.

      Nene laughed.  "When they see big blue boomers rampaging through
their building, what else COULD they conclude?"

      "How are we going to do that?"  Linna asked.

      "We're going to play dressup!"  Nene laughed.

      Now Priss and Linna were worried.

*********

      Noa sat quietly on the couch and watched TV.  Asuma came over and
sat down by her.  "Thinking about the offer they made you?"

      Noa nodded.  "I can't decide if I should take it or not.  It's not
doing those kids much good as labor pilots, but..."

      Asuma said, "I think you should take the offer...we're going to need
every advantage we can get."  He sat down beside Noa and handed her a cup
of tea.

      Sipping the tea slowly, she replied, "If I was younger, I think I
would say yes.  When I was really little, I wanted to be a superhero."

     "Like the Senshi?"

      She laughed.  "Yeah.  I didn't want to die like them, though."  She
shuddered.

      He nodded.  "I guess they had the Power too."

      "It didn't save them."

      "But they saved us."

      Noa remembered that day.  Indeed, she could never forget it.  As
much as she might have wanted to.  

*******


      The battle seemed like it had been raging for hours.  One of the
Senshi, dressed in green, her hair in a long pony-tail, had gotten Ohta
out of the park, or at least out of the fight.  Noa was fighting
desperately, practically walking on a sea of labors.  Dozens, maybe
hundreds were scattered about the park.  She couldn't see any of her team
mates.  There were Senshi everywhere.  They leapt about like berserk
grasshoppers, carving swaths of destruction with fire, ice, cold, light,
water and other substances.   And above it all was mocking laughter and a
strange play of lights in the sky, like the Aurora Borealis.  

      "Foolish Sailors.  I can send every labor in the city after you if I
want.  You cannot hope to defeat them all."  The voice was male and
strangely hollow.  Where it came from, Noa couldn't tell.

      Noa punted a labor skyward and dodged a second one, which then got
cut in half by a man in white armor on horseback.  He paused briefly to
bow to Noa.  "You fight well, lady knight."

      Noa laughed nervously.  "You too.  What is that thing, a
monofilament sword?"

      The man laughed.  "Just magic."  He turned and galloped into a knot
of labors, scattering them about with single blows and lifting a red
haired senshi up onto the horse from their midst.  

      Noa took a few seconds to boggle, then went back to fighting.  What
scared her was that if the opposition hadn't been constantly reinforced by
more labors, they would have been able to win by now, easily.  These
people were scarily powerful.  She watched one of them leap into the air
and stab a labor in the 'head' with a short golden dagger.  It fell over,
smoking.  Two more labors charged that senshi from the rear.  Noa drew her
gun and fired, blowing off the head of one labor.  It collapsed and
knocked down the other one.

      The senshi spun and took out the second labor, then paused to smile
at Noa.  Noa smiled back and gave her the thumbs up, then returned to the
fight.  Maybe we'll actually win this, she thought.  I hope Ohta's going
to be okay, and everyone else...

      That was when the shining lights in the sky came together into a
glowing circle, in which could dimly be seen a face.  It smirked.
"Foolish Senshi.  Come and get me, if you dare."

      They dared.  They came together in a massive circle and joined hands
as Noa watched. The rampaging labors fell silent.  The Senshi rose into
the sky, riding a circle of light.  They passed through the light in the
sky, which shrunk and dwindled behind them.  The horde of labors suddenly
slumped over and collapsed.  The Great Labor Riot of 2000 AD was over.
The Senshi had not been seen again since that day.

************************

       "I wish I knew what happened to them...We don't even know if they
managed to defeat whatever caused that."

       "Well, it never happened again, so I'd have to assume we did."

       She sipped her tea.  "I had nightmares for months about labors
rampaging without anyone controlling them.  How the government managed to
avoid having to totally supress them..."

       "Well, you got a commendation out of it."  He paused and thought
for a moment.  "Hmmm.  Maybe if you take Hiyama-san's offer, that dream I
had about you becoming 'Ingraman' will come true."

       Noa laughed.  "I'll bring you a souveneir from the M-61 galaxy."

       They both relaxed a bit after that.

*******

      Linna shook her head faintly.  Wearing a boomer costume over their
hardsuits.  If this fools anyone, they deserve what is coming to them.
Apparently Wasyuu had offered some holobelts, but they weren't quite
working right, so Celia and Nene had chased down these costumes.
Apparently they had originally been designed for use in some cheesy movie
like 'A Clockwork Boomer'.  

       Nene was sitting at the computer, monitoring the computer accounts
to see if the target logged onto either of them.  If they did, she would
trace their log on site and the Sabres would strike.

       Priss sat back, feeling relaxed.  This was something she knew how
to deal with.  No monsters, no magic, just fighting nice predictable
humans and boomers with the people she trusted most.  She had her sword
with her, though, just in case.

********

     Z put his current body to bed and slipped into the one he had
prepared for this.  I haven't found those interfering Juraiians, but I'll
show X I can handle the Knight Sabres.  

      Assuming they were smart enough to follow the trail of clues I
created for them.  He paused as he headed for his car.  I hope X wasn't
needing the boomers I borrowed for this for anything.

********

     The Sabres waited a few blocks from the warehouse in the Silky Doll
truck, with Ryu up front driving.  They had borrowed him since Macky was
still off in the countryside, training.  
     
     Nene's computer pinged.  "They're online."

     Celia nodded.  "We're going in."  Priss and Linna got up and followed
her, while Nene stayed in the truck so she could monitor the 'net
connections.

     The Knight Sabres had already prepared their break in and had a handy
second story window available to slip in through.  From the walkway above
the main floor of the warehouse, they could see the lifting equipment and
the tons of crates that formed neat stacks on the floor below. They could
also see the office that had the computer.  They leaped down to the floor
below and headed to the office door.  Priss simply crashed through the
wooden door to the office.  "Dead or alive, you're coming with me!"

     The man who sat in the chair ignored her and kept typing.  He had
short, black hair and wore a nice suit.  They couldn't see his face, but
he looked eerily familiar.  

     Priss grabbed his shoulder.  "You deaf, pal?"

     The man spun around in the chair.  For a moment, the trio thought
that Brian J. Mason was sitting before them.  They all froze in place,
sharing a common thought.  Didn't we kill him TWICE?

     Then they realized it wasn't actually him, though he looked creepily
similiar.  Cold eyes, a faint sneer, the same excessively slick hairstyle,
and the same look of unwarranted confidence.  The features, however, were
somewhat different, though not by a lot.  He looked sort of like a bad
copy of Mason.  He also had a high pitched whiny voice.

     "I told you idiots to wait in the crates."  'Mason' blinked,
apparently surprised by the sound of his own voice.  "Now I remember why I
wasn't using this body.  Anyway, go back to the crates and wait for the
Sabres to show up."

     Celia said smoothly, "Yes sir."

     They turned and walked out into the warehouse.  Celia radioed the
others so they wouldn't be overheard.  "Nene, jam all communications out
of the warehouse.  Priss, Linna, be ready to cover me.  I'm going to grab
him.  We can expect way too much company."

      They nodded.  Celia walked back into the office.  "Sir, the Knight
Sabres are here."  

     'Mason' blinked.  "They are?  It's awfully quiet."

     "They're trying to be stealthy, sir.  Shouldn't we get you out of
here?"

     "It doesn't matter if this body dies.  It has a lousy voice, anyway."
He quickly shut down the program he was running.  "I might as well come
out and say hello to them before they die."  He followed Celia out into
the warehouse and saw Priss and Linna waiting. "I thought I told you to go
back to the crates."

     Priss laughed.  "We're on strike."

     "What?"

     Celia grabbed the man.  "Let's go."

     "HEY!"

     "You're not too bright, are you?"  Linna asked.  They all leaped up
to the upper level walkway.  

     The man shouted, "SAVE ME!"

     Two dozen crates burst open.  It was the most boomers any of them had
ever seen in one place.  Priss swore loudly.  The chase was on.  

*********

      Leon finished off his paperwork.  Stupid internal security checks.
About the only thing they didn't ask me is what I had for dinner
yesterday.  As he got up to go, Daley walked up to him.  "Hiya, Leon.
Looks like I picked the wrong day to come back, eh?"

      Leon said, "I hope you enjoy filling out internal security report
forms."

      "More fun than I can stand.  Ready to hit the road with me again
tomorrow?"

      "Promise me you won't ask for a gun without recoil."

      "Should I ask?"

      "No."  

*********

      The Sabres zoomed through the run down warehouse district with
combat boomers in hot pursuit.  There were just too many of them to fight
them all at once.  Ryu and Nene followed in the truck, trying to not
look too conspicuous while they called for help.  "So who are you?" Celia
asked the man she was carrying.  

      The man laughed, seeming far too calm.  "James Stuart.  Nice
costume, by the way.  I guess you're actually one of the Knight Sabres
inside that costume?"

      "So how long have you been manipulating Wilson Kamisaka?"

      The man visibly started.  The Sabres dove into an alleyway to avoid
gunfire from the pursuing boomers.  "You're one of THEM!"

      "Didn't you already guess that?"

      The man howled an inchoate cry of rage.  "JURAI!"

      Now it was Celia's turn to start with surprise. 

      He laughed.  "Two birds with one stone!"

      Linna had a very bad feeling, which got worse when the man began to
crackle with black energy.  "Celia, DUMP HIM!"

      It was too late.  The energy crackled into Celia's suit and the jets
got damaged.  She plummeted to the ground, dropping Stuart, who crashed
into a dumpster.  Celia got back up.  A quick damage assessment showed
that other than the damaged jet, her boomer costume had taken the damage
for her.  Unfortunately, the twenty pursuing boomers were coming.  She
crashed through a nearby doorway into a warehouse.  Maybe I can hide.

      Stuart clambered to the top of the dumpster.  "GET HER!"

      "Screw you."  Priss said, opening fire on Stuart with her flechette
cannon, then fleeing into the warehouse before the horde of boomers caught
up, as did Linna.  They scattered, hoping the boomers would split up too. 

      Out in the van, Ryu and Nene were having a frenzied discussion.  "We
have to DO something!"  Nene said.

      "You think the five of us can fight twenty combat boomers?"

      "Well..."

      Ryu sighed.  "Dad said they'll be here soon.  All we can do is keep
the communications jammed like you're doing."  He paused.  "Look.  You
stay here and do that.  I'll go in and help."

      "But you said..."

      "I can phase so they can't hurt me."  I hope they can't hurt me, he
thought.  "I'll distract them."

      The boomers were milling about through the warehouse, trying
methodically to track down their targets while the Sabres hid desperately,
which wasn't easy in big blue boomer costumes.  Priss managed to walk
around a corner admidst the crates and right up to two of the boomers.
"Shit."  She opened fire with her gauss gun and blew the head off of one
of the boomers, then ducked back out of sight as the other boomer blew
away everything near her.  She thought to herself, I guess this is my big
chance to see how well this sword works on combat boomers.  She
transformed and leapt into the air, coming down over the flaming wreckage
onto the boomer, cutting it in half before it realized what had happened.
I LIKE this, she thought.

       Unfortunately, this gave away her position to half the boomers in
the place.  Luckily, Ryu chose this moment to appear in the air over the
crates, attracting the attention of just about all the boomers.  They
opened fire and he teleported to one corner of the room.  Darting hither
and yon, he dodged desperately, teleporting frequently and trying to
concentrate on staying phased.  

      Priss took advantage of the distraction to head for the exit, as did
Linna and Celia.  As they exited, a rather mangled Stuart leaned up out of
the dumpster.  Priss blinked.  He survived being shot with my flechette
gun?  
  
      "Damn you, Jurai...This body is giving out on me."  He saw the
sword, which Priss was still carrying and Linna now noticed.  "Two of
you...I could have gotten two of you at once...Should have brought a
better body...didn't think I'd need it."

     "What ARE you?"  Celia asked.

     "I am the bane of all your line, for you slew the beloved of the 
Great Lord SHIVA.  DIE!" He gathered more black energy around him, then
quietly spewed more blood and died.  The energy guttered out.

     They took off for the truck.  "What about Ryu?"  Linna asked.

     "He can just teleport out once we're clear."  Celia said.  I hope.

     He did.  They rendevoused at the truck, right as Ryouko, Tenchi,
Manami, Kiyone, Mihoshi, and Sasami arrived.  "Sorry it took so long,"
Tenchi said.  "We got lost looking for the right warehouse."

     Celia sighed.  "With Stuart dead, we don't know for sure if he was
connected to Wallace, although..."

     "The horde o' boomers kinda says "Genom" to me."  Priss said.

     Linna stared at the sword.  "Where did you get that, Priss?"

     I'm surprised she didn't say anything about my...oh yeah, it's inside
my hardsuit so she can't SEE it, Priss thought.  "Sasami gave it to me."

     "Can I get one?"  Linna had always wanted her own lightsabre.  

     Sasami laughed nervously.  "Uhh..."

     Celia said, "Also, whatever he was, he was after Juraiians.  At
least, he could tell I'm one, and it sent him into a frenzy.  He said we
had killed his beloved master Shiva's child or something like that."

     "He must be one of the ...whatever they are that are using Genom to
try to make war on Juraii."  Manami said.  

     Mihoshi says, "Kiyone and I have been doing some checking following
some lines of investigation that Youshou-san suggested to us."

     Kiyone nodded.  "Three criminals with a noted hatred for the line of
Jurai escaped from Galaxy Police custody in 1896.  Two Galaxy Police
Agents chased them to Earth and reported them killed...however..."

     "However?"

     "They shot down the spaceship the trio had stolen, but didn't
actually recover any bodies.  There is some evidence that the criminals
possessed some sort of mind-swapping technology and may have survived the
crash by taking over new bodies in the area.  They might not even need
bodies to survive.  Youshou thought he may have encountered these beings
before...it would explain some past experiences of his.  And Wasyuu thinks
she knows where they came from."

     "Where?"  Nene asked.

     Sasami said, "It all began a very long time ago..."

*********

Circa 10,000 BC

      Walyn smiled.  "How is the rainmaking coming along?"  he asked his
computer.

      'Planet has insufficient water to flood entire planet.'  the
computer reported.

      Walyn rolled his eyes and put down the report he was reading,
floating over to the computer bank.  "I KNOW that.  Otherwise the entire
planet would already be submerged.  You're supposed to be draining the
water from Ascalis IV to make up the difference.  That way we can compare
catastrophic drought and catastrophic flooding."

      "Professor Wasyuu is currently conducting experiments on Ascalis IV.
It was my understanding that..."

      "Do it anyway!  We can't wait forever and a day for her to finish.
Besides, I'm sure she'd do the same."

       Like most people, he didn't really know Wasyuu very well.  

*********

      By the time Sasami finished telling the story, everyone was very
quiet.  "And so we condemned him to death for devastating two worlds.  But
he swore his work would go on for a year of centuries, and so it has.
Something is out there, unleashing disasters, stalking Wasyuu, myself, and
the house of Jurai, for condemning Walyn to death.  Every century, some
menace is unleashed somewhere.  We've never been able to find where he hid
all these disasters, and we can't even be sure that any disaster or threat
is connected to him...but just about anything that shows up gunning for
Juraiians for no apparent reason usually is connected to him."

     "In other words, there could be millions more of these things or
they could be the only ones?"  Linna asked.

     "He claimed he served something named Shiva,"  Celia said. 

     "Like the god of destruction?"  Nene asked.

     "I don't like this idea of mind-switching entities...how could we
tell we're getting the right person?  How do we STOP them?"  Linna asked.  

     "Wasyuu's working on that."

      Celia said, "So Wallace is quite possibly one of these things."

      "Heck, that could have BEEN the same thing if it was one of these
mind-swapping whatsits,"  Priss said.  

      I don't like this, Linna thought.  I don't like this at ALL...I wish
we could have just stuck to nice simple Boomers like the old days.

*********