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Unnumbered Episode #209: Because of My Naivete, What Will I Do?
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	Sailor America swore for the fifth time; it was all she could do to
stop from throttling the communicator.  "Dammit Jupiter, *I'm* your PR guy,
*I'm* the one who deals with the press every bloody day, and I'd think that 
*I* would know best how to handle the media!"

	America was screaming for information.  She was usually privy to
quite a bit of secret information, but this time even she was being left out
of the loop.  This was her fifth request for more information about the
terrorists, and Jupiter was reacting predictably.

	"Look," said Jupiter, barely concealing her impatience, "I have more
than a few things to attend to at the moment, so just talk things out with
Sailor Saturn here, okay?"

	America got angrier, something she hadn't thought was possible. 
"Saturn?  Your little disciple of war, there?" Sailor Saturn was Jupiter's
second in charge, and was slated to take over the post of deputy commander
in chief once Jupiter's stint was up.

	"I don't have time right now, America.  Good-bye."  Jupiter gave the
communicator a savage poke and turned to the rest of the planet senshi in
the room.  Venus, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto; hardly a full house.  Mercury was
on the moon on business, Mars was as yet unaccounted for, and Saturn was
running at least four different errands.  And of course, there was Serenity.

	"Your Majesty, this is what we know so far.  At 11:46, several
alarms went off at the Palace, including the alarms for unauthorized use of
weapons." She paused a bit to let that bit of information sink in.  "Shortly
thereafter, all emergency doors leading to floors fifty and up closed, under
level one authorization.  I don't need to tell you what that implies." Level
one was available only to planet senshi and the Royal family.  "We've talked
to some people who managed to escape the affected floors before hand.  They
reported that the floors were being occupied by," and here she slowed down
and spoke deliberately, "an undetermined number of persons carrying firearms
and dressed in loose-fitting black garments."

	"Like the people who ambushed the dedication this morning?" asked 
Neptune.

	"Yes.  And just like this morning, they weren't too upset about
being killed, or killing others.  We have one report that one of the
blacksuits took down three security guards with her bare hands: *after*
being shot twice in the chest with a laser pistol.  Based on these
observations, I don't believe it would be wise to underestimate our
opponents."

	"But just who *are* our opponents?" asked Venus, exasperated.

	"I'm getting to that.  First, I'm happy to confirm that Endymion and
Small Lady are not in the Palace.  They're still safe on Shikoku." She
turned to look Serenity in the eyes.  "I've ordered a contingent of senshi
to get to them as fast as possible, and have them returned to Crystal Tokyo.

	"Unfortunately, we still have over one hundred Palace personnel
still unaccounted for, including Sailors Mars and Orion.  Neither has
attempted contact." She took a deep breath.  "We see two possibilities. 
One, they've been negated and cannot respond, either because of capture or
death."

	"I don't think Sailor Mars would be very amenable to capture," said 
Uranus with a slight chuckle.

	"And I would know if she were dead," said Serenity quietly.  It was 
the first she had said since they'd entered the conference room.

	"Exactly.  Which leaves the second possibility: they can contact us, 
but are unwilling.  If so, why?"

	"Simple," said Uranus.  "They're trying to carry out operations
against the terrorists.  Communications may be detected, and so they're
keeping quiet."

	"Are you certain?" asked Venus.  "Could they detect our
communicators?"

	"Unlikely," said Jupiter.  "We've been on the line with Miyazaki
since the thing started.  We're pretty certain that *we* could crack any
communication.  But whether or not *they* can . . . that's what the AIs are
working on."

	"Is Sailor Mercury on her way?"

	"I haven't requested her to be here, and she hasn't informed me of
any such intention.  I think we have all the necessary resources right here. 
However, as a precautionary measure . . . Your Majesty, with your permission
I'd like to recall all senshi who may be in system.  I think we could have
some serious crowd-control problems soon."

	"Crowd control?" asked Serenity.

	"At this point, we can say with certainty that the terrorists are
either part of a foreign invasion force, in which case there has been a
security failure of the worst possible order, or a group of Crystal Tokyo
malcontents bent on overthrowing the monarchy."

	She was answered by a collection of gasps.  "We've known for some
time that there are anti-Serenity factions in the city.  They've been silent
since 3028, however, and I think we now know why."

	"They had to have help, didn't they?"

	"Not necessarily, Sailor Neptune.  There's a lot of information out
there, and a lot of people with free time since the dole was passed in 2801. 
We can't keep tabs on everyone, not without sacrificing a lot of privacy."
Jupiter looked down the table at Venus.  "And we decided a long time ago
that we weren't going to run a police state."

	"Very well, Jupiter, you may make preliminary preparations for
recall.  Any other recommendations?" asked the Neo-Queen, rubbing at her
forehead tiredly.

	A knock came at the door.  "Enter!"

	A young woman who could not have been more than twenty walked in,
wearing an RSN uniform.  Too weary to bow before the Queen, she simply
spoke.  "Message from Sailor America, priority two."

	"Well?"

	The aide raised her handlink and began reading.  "'Your Majesties,
Sailor Senshi.  Am in serious trouble here.  Press is demanding information. 
Is my strong recommendation that a continuation of the present news blackout
will have extremely undesirable effects.  Recent analyses indicate the city
to be in a fever pitch.  Is my respectful wish for you to know that riots
and revolutions are begun in such circumstances.  Urge you most vigorously
to give me as much information as you are in possession of regarding present
situation at Crystal Palace.  Yours, Sailor America, dated 14:20:45 JST, 5
June 3033.' Your answer?"

	"Wait outside, please," said Serenity.

	"Yes, Your Majesty."  Remembering to bow, she retreated.

	"Jupiter?"

	Jupiter tried to hide her annoyance at America's second attempt to
get her attention.  "Serenity-sama, I stand by my position.  If we let the
media know everything we know, it'll amount to free publicity for the
terrorists, which I'm willing to wager is exactly what they want."

	"But we don't know what they want," protested Neptune.  "They've
made no demands, issued no statements, and no-one's stepped up to claim
responsibility."

	"I think it would be safe to assume that they are who I think there
are, and that they want what I think they want.  They're anarchists, and
they want Serenity out of the picture."

	"Enough," said Serenity.  "Get me Sailor America."

	Jupiter blinked.  "Your Majesty, do-"

	"Sailor America is my secretary of public relations.  This is a
matter of public relations.  Therefore, I am going to ask for her advice. 
Do you see a flaw with my reasoning?" asked Serenity, the very smallest hint
of a smile on her face.

	"No, your Majesty."

	"Good.  Send in the messenger."

***

	Sailor Orion blew frantically on her gloved fingers.  They were
smoking slightly.

	"There, now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

	Orion glared at Sailor Mars through the now-open door.  "You didn't
tell me it was going to get so hot."

	"I thought that when it started glowing red you'd figure it out 
yourself."

	"Not everyone likes fire, you know."

	"Enough witty banter.  We've got a palace to save.  C'mon, follow
me." The two went into one of the rooms in Mars's suite.  Behind some silk
screens was a closet.  Mars flung the door open, reached in, and produced an
oblong object.

	"Laser pistol?"

	"Actually, the mechanism is slightly different from a traditional
laser.  Makes the whole thing a lot less bulky, and it doesn't burn your
hands off when you use it.  But yes, I guess you could call it a laser."

	"How come I never saw these things before?"

	"You didn't have to."

	"Do you practice being so secretive?"

	Mars examined her pistol and punched a couple of buttons that were
on the grip.  "Actually, it's a little something I picked up from Sailor
Pluto.  Hang around her for long and you can't help but get a bit
enigmatic."

	"Wonderful.  And I suppose this is for me?"

	Mars sighed.  "Look, I'm not in charge of giving out powers.  But
your attack would level a couple of floors at its most controlled level. 
Without that pistol you're next to useless."

	Orion frowned at this reminder of just how little control she had
when it came down to it.  "Thanks for the vote of confidence." She turned
the pistol around in her hands a couple of times, inspecting it closely. 
"So, what do we do now?"

	"The first thing we've got to do is find out what's going on.  The
computers are down; I've been trying for hours.  The phones aren't working
either.  In fact, every electronic device in the Palace seems to be
malfunctioning."

	Orion poked around in her pocketspace.  "What about our
communicators?  They were working awhile ag--OW!" The redheaded senshi
looked down at Mars.  "Why'd you slap me?"

	Mars walked over several meters to where Orion's communicator had
landed after it had been slapped from Orion's hand.  "Because I didn't want
you to use the damned thing!  Look, Orion, we don't know who's responsible
for this, we don't know what their abilities are, and we don't know what
they want.  Until we find out, we're going to keep a damned low profile.

	"Now, if they know there are senshi still in the Palace, they're
going to come looking for us.  And if they *don't* know, then your using
that communicator could be just what they need to find out about us!"

	Orion took a deep breath, and then another one.  "Right.  I
understand.  But you could have been a bit less violent about it."

	"I could have.  Now, did anyone see you come here?"

	"No-one that I could see."

	"Good.  Now, next is to find out where everyone is.  If Serenity or
Endymion are still in the Palace, we've got to find them.  They could be
incapacitated . . . or worse."

	Orion didn't even like to think about that.  But there was another
possibility.  "Could there be other people still here?"

	"Entirely possible.  But Her Majesty is our prime objective."

	"But shouldn't we try to contact the outside?"

	"Later."

***

	"Your Majesty, sailor senshi."  Sailor America bowed.  "You wished
to see me?"

	"Yes.  Sit down, please."  Serenity's voice was warm despite the
crisis.  America sat at the end of the table, at the far end from Serenity.

	"Sailor America," said Neptune, "we need your honest assessment. 
What would happen if we went public with everything?"

	A look of surprise washed over her face.  "Everything?" she
squeaked.

	"Everything we know, and quite a few things that you do not know
yet."

	She looked around the table.  Jupiter looked very upset, as did
Uranus to a certain degree.  Neptune and Venus had on neutral expressions
that bordered on disapproval.  And Serenity looked . . . well, it had been
said before that she was serene, and that certainly held true now.  America
couldn't tell if the Neo-Queen was at a council of war or a cricket match.

	"Well, it's hard to say.  It depends on what's actually going on."

	"You haven't been told?"

	"Nothing more than what was absolutely necessary, and little of that
has been released to the media."

	"So they are proceeding on rumors and hearsay?"

	"Yes, Serenity."

	"And you don't see this as a bad thing?"

	"Your Majesty, I don't really know what's going on in the Palace.  I
mean, if you're not even telling me, it must be something pretty big."

	"Not necessarily," said Uranus.  "Endymion and Small Lady are safe
and sound."

	"And Sailor Mars?"

	Jupiter exchanged a glance with Venus and Serenity.  "At this point,
we are assuming that Mars is inside the Palace."

	'Now that's surprising,' thought America.  "Anyone else?" she
managed to ask.

	"We think around a hundred or so.  The problem is that we've been
unable to make contact with her."

	"Um-hm."

	"Let me break it down for you," said Jupiter.  "Most of the top
floors have been taken by an unknown group of terrorists who we believe were
also responsible for this morning's attack.  The only in-system senshi we
haven't been able to contact are Mars and Orion, and so we're next to-"

	"WHAT?"

	"Is there something wrong, Sailor America?" asked Uranus.  Neptune
elbowed the blonde in the side and whispered a few things in her ear. 
Uranus had the grace to look embarrassed, but America was beyond noticing.

	"No . . . nothing at all," said the brunette, but inside her head
was spinning.  Jen was inside the Palace?  There, in danger?

	"Sailor America, we are aware of your relationship with Sailor
Orion.  We hope that it will not affect your performance in the present
situation." Serenity said the words kindly, but the underlying meaning was
clear.  Whatever personal problems she had with Jen would damn well wait
until the crisis was over.  Very well.  But she wouldn't let them allow her
love to come to any more danger.  Not now, not ever.

	"Not at all, your Majesty.  Um . . . getting back to the point, I'd
have to say that full disclosure would be a mixed blessing at best.  The
press will panic, I can assure you that."

	"They aren't panicking now?"

	"No.  If they were panicking, I'd be working a lot harder right now. 
For the moment they're just making best guesses.  I guess you've been able
to prevent any news leaks?" Venus nodded.  "Well then, when I go on the air
with this," she had made up her mind before even arriving that she would not
be making the announcement personally, "it's going to be the first bit of
hard information they've had to go on since the story broke.  Now, how much
later information do you plan to release?"

	"None."

	America gave Jupiter an odd glance.  "Okay, lemme tell you why
that's a bad idea . . . ."

***

	The pair crept around the corner.  Orion and Mars had progressed two
floors without meeting anyone, which had the black-haired senshi immediately
suspicious.

	"Two possibilities," whispered Mars.  "Either they don't have enough
people to keep tabs on all the floors, and are slowly retreating and
consolidating their forces, or we're walking into a trap."

	Orion didn't particularly like that assessment.  "Couldn't it just
be that we've caught them between patrols?"

	Mars frowned.  "That's the optimistic point of view.  Optimists
don't survive very long in warfare."

	"Warfare?"

	What else do you think this is, a bloody flying circus?  Sailor Mars
didn't ask that.  Instead, she said, "Yes, warfare.  I don't know about you,
but I'm not going to sit around and let kami knows who take over the
Palace!"

	Orion managed a thin smile.  "I figured that much out."

	"Good."  They had gotten to the end of the hallway, and were now at
a T-junction.  To the left, another long hallway.  To the right, a short
hallway that lead to an elevator and some stairs.  "Interesting.  Very
interesting."

	Orion looked to the right and tried to figure out why Mars was so 
interested.  Then it hit her.  "No guards!  But wouldn't-"

	"-the stairs be the first place they would place guards, yes.  But
they've probably got the ability to shut down the shafts."

	"More fail-safes?"

	"We've never been overly concerned with someone taking over the
Palace." She sighed.  "Anyway, I don't think we can rely on the stairs or
the elevators.  If the shafts haven't been sealed, I'd be surprised if they
haven't been booby-trapped in some way."

	"Ventilation shafts?"

	"You watch too many movies.  Those are sealed too.  Each floor can
survive on its own ventilation system if necessary."

	"Well, you've got your firepower handy, if I may say so . . . ."

	"That would be unwise.  You learned that back at the School."

	Orion blew a sigh through her bangs.  "Well then, what do you think 
we should do?"

	"We use the service passageways."

	"Service passageways?"

	"You know, Her Majesty never asked as many questions as you've asked
in the past couple hours!" Mars shook her head, then started walking down
the left-hand hallway.  "Yes, the service passageways.  They'll be sealed
too, but unlike the other routes, the service passageways can be
overridden."

	Orion munched on that for a moment, following closely behind Mars. 
Her blue eyes kept a close watch on their surroundings, but for now things
were as quiet as ever.  "And you're letting me know this?"

	"It's on a need to know basis."  Sailor Mars didn't bother
mentioning just how many things around the Palace were need to know. 
"Remember that all bets are off if Serenity is still in the Palace."

	Orion thought a moment about the Queen, and then a second unbidden
image came to her mind, an image of an irrepressible brunette from across
the Pacific.

	"Then again," said Mars, half to herself, "if Her Majesty was still
here, I imagine the rest of the senshi would have gotten their rears up here
in a hurry . . . ."

	"Why don't we just ask?"

	"Orion, I've told you about-"

	"Hear me out.  Why don't we just get to a window?  Then we can use
lights or something-"

	"Like Morse code?"

	The redhead rifled through her memories for a bit, and then
remembered.  "Oh yeah, Morse code.  Used by telegraph operators or
something?  No, I think we could use something a bit more modern.  
Um . . . damn."

	Mars laughed hollowly.  "Right.  No AI."  Her face turned serious. 
"I wonder what happened to it?"

	Sailor Orion already had her handlink out.  She wasn't worried too
much about signal leakage; unlike their communicators, the things were
supposed to be completely undetectable by all means except line-of-sight. 
She'd never had an opportunity to test that theory.  The handlink's
computing power wasn't much when it wasn't linked to the local AI, hence the
name handlink, but it was enough to solve a couple of elementary problems
such as encrypted secure signal transmission across a monochromatic
electromagnetic communications beam.  Well, that was the technical term.

	"I think it can be done.  We just need a window."

	They stopped.  The end of the hallway was visible, about twenty
meters distant.  To either side were several nondescript doors.  Orion
inspected the nameplates more carefully; these were more quarters for the
sailor senshi, specifically those who spent most of their time away from
Earth.

	Mars reached down close to the floor, ran her hand over a section of
wall, and stopped at a particular point that had nothing to suggest itself
to Orion.  Mars pushed, and out of nowhere a small panel with a few buttons
replaced the spot she had pressed.  She smiled.  "Some things work even
without power." She punched in a sequence too fast for Orion to remember,
and the door swung open.

	"Pardon us for intruding," said Mars ritually as they entered the
apartment of Sailor Aurora, who was presently several thousand light years
away.  She had not been on Earth for two years.  Casting a blind eye to the
senshi's personal effects, the two made their way to the window, which
looked out over the city.  Of more interest to them, however, was the park
that surrounded the Palace and was directly below them.

	"Will they be able to see us?"

	"Dunno," said Orion, desperately trying to recall lessons in physics
and geometry and failing miserably.  "I guess it depends on the critical
angle, or something." She punched a few buttons randomly, not really knowing
what she was doing and hoping that something good would happen quite by
accident.

	Sailor Mars stepped to the window.  It was crystal, of course, but
had a transparency the finest glassblowers would be hard pressed to match. 
Being crystal, and more importantly being built through the magic of
Neo-Queen Serenity, it never needed cleaning.  To Mars's eyes, it looked as
if the next step she took would take her outside the building.

	"I hope it does."

***

	"So, that's my view.  Take it or leave it."

	Everyone around the table sighed.  It had been a marathon session. 
Sailor America knew her craft, and she had used it to her full advantage. 
She hadn't dared to reveal the true reason for her fervor: her burning
desire to see Jen out of the crisis safe and sound.

	"Well, Sai-"

	"Sirs!"  An aide in fleet uniform burst into the room, with only the
most perfunctory of salutes.  "We've got someone on the line who claims to
be speaking for the terrorists!"

	Three of the senshi began speaking at once, but Jupiter overrode
them all.  "Have you been able to confirm that they're who they say they
are?"

	"The call's coming from one of the occupied floors of the Palace. 
It's either genuine or a very good forgery."

	"Are you recording?"

	"Everything, sir."

	"Good.  Patch it in through here."  America marveled at Sailor
Jupiter's calm.  The senshi of lightning looked up at the faces in the room. 
"When he or she comes on, I'm the only person who speaks.  No-one else says
anything unless I give the order, okay?"

	"Right!"

	Jupiter took the time to smile quickly at America.  "You wanted all
the data, did you?  Well you've got it now."

	There was an audible click.  "You're on, sir."

	"Yes?"

	"Ah, Sailor Jupiter.  Konnichiwa."  It was a light voice, a voice
that seemed slightly familiar to Venus's ears.

	"Who is this?" asked Jupiter harshly.

	"I represent an organization of concerned citizens who-"

	"You mean an gang of killers!"

	"I would advise you to hold your tongue."

	"How *dare* you speak to a sailor senshi like that!" growled
Jupiter, and America could see that the sentiment was mirrored in other
faces around the table.

	"Now, is it nice to talk in front of your sovereign like that?"

	"What I say before Serenity-sama is my business and . . . ."  she
trailed off as she realized what she had just said.

	"Thank you for confirming my suspicions.  Now, I suppose you want to
know why we've done all this?"

	"We know.  You want Serenity to abdicate."

	The voice sounded amused.  "Rather bright, aren't we?"

	"You realize that there's no way that we'll grant your demands,
don't you?"

	"I rather think you don't have a choice.  We have the Palace, you
see."

	It was now Jupiter's turn to smile.  "You have the top floors of a
building.  Her Majesty isn't inside.  Neither is Small Lady or Endymion. 
Face it, there's no-one of any great importance inside there.  Now if you'll
come out peacefully-"

	"-with our hands up, no-one will get hurt.  How cute."

	"Don't turn this into a firefight.  We both know who will win."

	"Do we?"  The line clicked.

	"DAMMIT!"  She had been hoping to find out more about who they were
up against, but had come up blank.

	Sailor Venus punched a button on the table.  "Yes, run full security
checks on all Palace employees, from Her Majesty's secretary down to the
garbage collectors.  *Everyone*, do you hear me?"

	"Yes, sir!" came the voice out of thin air.  Jupiter merely raised
an eyebrow.

	"That voice," said Venus.  "That had to be the voice of one of my 
old assistants.

	"The bastard worked for me."

***

	Sailor Orion had been fiddling with the controls for two minutes
when Mars sprang back from her lookout position at the door.  "Two men are
coming, and they don't look friendly!  Can you hurry up a bit?"

	"No!" squeaked Orion.  Mars groaned softly and went back to the
door, peeping just a bit around the corner.  Yes, two of the mysterious
black- suited characters.

	"Okay," whispered Orion, "just a bit more and-"  The sound of a
pistol being drawn interrupted her.  A second later, Mars let out a shout
and sprang back from the door.

	"They're coming.  Get ready."

	The redhead had no time to protest.  She simply dropped the handlink
and spun around, simultaneously pulling her laser pistol out of her pocket. 
Just then, the two men popped around the corner.

	Sailor Orion fired.

***

	Many levels below, at Earth Headquarters, which was now under
ruthless security, a particular light began to glow on a particular console,
cast off in a corner of the cavernous room.  The tech responsible for that
panel took a few seconds to notice this, but once she did it was all she
could do not to scream into her headset.

	"Warning red, warning red," she said, her voice echoing throughout
the hall.  "Sailor Mars's laser has been fired on level seventy-nine, India
section.  One . . . no, three shots now, medium yield."

	Above, in the section of main control panels that hung out over the
room and was cheerfully called the crow's nest, Commander Tashimoto Kinosari
listened to the report and lifted a red phone.  "Sailor Jupiter?  Yes, this
is Earth HQ.  Sailor Mars is alive."

***

	"What?"  Jupiter's cool, calm reserve went out the window.  "Have
you confirmed this?" The other senshi looked around at that.  "Very well,
I'm on my way." She put down the phone and looked up at the others.  "Sailor
Mars has to be alive.  Her laser's been fired, and only she can take the
safety off it.  I'm going to forward HQ on the lawn and taking control of
things."

	Neo-Queen Serenity swallowed.  "I will go with you."  She met a
chorus of vigorous no's.

	"Your Majesty, we can't allow it!"

	"To go that close to the Palace with those scoundrels controlling
part of it?"

	"Unthinkable!"

	"My decision has been made," said Serenity, not showing a hint of
anger or annoyance.  "Forward headquarters has not been evacuated, has it?"

	Jupiter stood her ground.  "No, your Majesty, but-"

	"So apparently those there are perfectly safe?"

	"Safe to the degree that-"

	"Well then, I suppose you have made my decision for me.  I will go
there with you immediately." She stood.

	Jupiter bowed automatically, and pulled out a handlink to make
preparations.  As she did, she couldn't help but mutter to herself that
monarchs nowadays simply didn't pay heed to their protectors.

***

	"This sucks!" shouted Sailor Orion to Sailor Mars.  The two were
slowly retreating down a hallway, under heavy fire from over a dozen of the
terrorists.  The terrorists were blasting away with lasers now instead of
projectile weapons, and the only reason they hadn't fried the two senshi was
because Mars's fire was providing ample cover.

	Finally, they managed to get around a corner, where Mars punctuated
her attack with a large fireball that sent the terrorists reeling.

	Orion slumped against the wall, exhausted and sweaty.  She peeped
around the corner and just as quickly jumped back.  "Nice trick with the
fire there, how it doesn't consume the walls or anything."

	"Thanks," said Mars, who didn't seem winded at all.  "Took me a few
hundred years to perfect it."

	"Hm."  She slouched down, side by side with Mars.  "Well, I-"

	She stopped as a shadow fell on her.  Three terrorists were looming
above them.  Wordlessly, they raised their weapons and fired.  As they
raised them, Orion had a single thought in mind: 'I'm about to die.'

	Sailor Orion leapt in front of Sailor Mars, took the brunt of the
laser attack on her back, and crashed to the ground without a sound.