It was not a dark and stormy night. In point of fact, the night sky over Crystal Tokyo was possibly even more serene than usual, and lit by a brilliant full moon, reflected by the million facets of the Crystal Palace.

    However, that light did not reach into the shadowy halls of Alpha Base, the command center of the Realm's defensive military, and the intruder within those halls took full advantage of that.

    The intruder darted from the deepest part of each shadow to the next so swiftly that an observer (were one anywhere nearby) might have judged the intruder to be flying instead of running or leaping. Only the long stick strapped to the intruder's back detracted from the otherwise low profile he, she or it had achieved. And the detraction was apparently irrelevant, since all of Alpha Base's sensors -- whether technological, magical or a combination therrof -- failed to alert security to the intruder's presence.

    Eventually, passing through a literal gauntlet of sensors like a hot knife through butter, the intruder reached the goal of the night's
expedition: a door like any other, plainly marked "CinC, PDF/RSF". The
intruder paused as if to take in a deep, cleansing breath, before
unlimbering the burden across his, her or its back, clenching it tightly with one hand. The other hand suddenly lunged forward and typed a five digit code into the codelock beside the door, and then reached down to send the intruder sommersaulting into the room beyond the door as it slid open.

    Raye Hino looked up from where she sat at her desk, doing paperwork and eating re-heated pizza. "Hey, Lydia. Have a seat."

    Lydia Tomoe, more often known as Lady Saturn, let fall the mantle of darkness that surrounded her. She was not amused. "I suppose that if I asked how long you've been aware that I was heading this way, you'd refuse to answer."

    Raye shrugged as she set down her pen. "You'd be right. I was expecting that you'd show up eventually, and given your style, I expected you to try and sneak in through the defense systems."

    The younger Senshi frowned as she sat down in a chair in front of the desk, letting the Silence Glaive rest against the right arm. "What do you mean, `try'? I did it, didn't I?"

    "You did fairly well up until the door to my office," Raye admitted. "But do you really think I'd use an obvious number like my birthday as the lock to my door?"

    Lydia slumped in her seat. "You've managed to put disinformation in Lita's files. It took nearly everything I had to get a look at those files, and you've managed to put false data in them?"

    Raye shrugged. "Lita helped."

    "I'm never going to be able to fill your shoes. It's bad enough that I can't help but think Serenity's giving me your job as a consolation prize for losing Reenie, but to know that I'm not going to be able to handle it --"

    "Lydia, *relax*. Serenity wouldn't give you the job if she didn't think you could handle it, and I wouldn't approve you for the post if I didn't agree."

    The Soldier of Life and Death gave the Soldier of War and Fire a
disbelieving look. "And how were you proposing to stop her?"

    Raye grinned, a trace of child-like impishness showing on her features. "I'd get her on my lap and kiss her until she couldn't see straight. How else?" She sobered. "Really, Lydia, this isn't any sort of runner-up. We've had you in mind for the job for a few years now -- Reenie suddenly deciding to marry Jacinth had nothing to do with it. Heaven knows that you've got enough experience to do the job."

    Lydia let the expression pass. "True, but Dame Saturn's experience as a general isn't one that *I'd* trust to put in charge of my army if I were Serenity."

    Raye drew in a deep breath, and Lydia joined her in the chorus. "Don't ever try to second-guess Serenity. She always knows more than she's telling, and she almost always knows best."

    Smiling wryly, Raye continued alone. "Besides, no matter what, you've definitely got more practical experience as a commanding officer than I did when I started. Mine was mostly theoretical."

    A frown creased Lydia's brow. "That's something I've been wondering about. Where did you learn? From what I remember being told about your past life, it didn't seem designed to teach strategy or logistics. And at the start of *this* life --"

    Raye settled back into her chair, a far-away expression coming over her face. "You're right. I even remember what the woman who was holding onto the PDF before Serenity took charge said when she found out I was going to be heading up the military wing hereafter. `You're putting a shrine maiden in charge of *my* people?'" she snarled in a fair imitation of Ms. Poulis' voice. She shook her head. "None of them knew, though."

    "Knew what?"

    She looked up at the ancient clock on the wall of her office. "Well, let's see. You take over as Commander-in-Chief of the Planetary Defense Forces and Royal Space Force as of 1200 hours today. That gives me about eleven or so hours to tell the story. I'm not sure ..."

    Lydia glared. "It occurs to me that after the change-over, I could theoretically order you to keep telling the story if you weren't done yet."

    "And I'd encourage you to do so, so that you can see just how far your authority stretches. But if I leave a few personal details out, I think I can get it done in time."

    Raye stopped smiling, and the far-away look returned. "It starts a very long time ago, before either of us were born. I only came into this particular story a few years after I'd lost my eye --" She pointed at her bionic left eye. "-- but not long before I started dating Megumi. It had been going on for over seventy years before that.

    "But for me, it began when the phone call came, telling me that my great-grandmother, Kanzaki Sumire, had passed away. And before it ended, I'd gone around the world, learned from the greatest living master of Okinawan karate, studied with the Joketsuzoku, practiced Jurain swordsmanship, learned enough about firearms for an entire lifetime, and nearly been killed a few times -- and returned the favor.

    "I'd been a Sailor Scout for six years. This is the story of how I became a *soldier*."



                     Together Again Side Story

                  Legacy of the Teikokukagekidan

                     featuring characters from

                           SAILOR MOON
                           SAKURA WARS
                            RANMA 1/2
                          TENCHI MUYOU
                          GUNSMITH CATS
                       EXOTICA CHRONICLES
                               and
                            PREDATOR

                          Coming Soon



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