Falling Star
The Kinzuishou Space Plane core command ready room
General Artemis strode back and forth taking questions from the floor. The Japanese's best men and women were primed and ready to go. They were the very best. An elite force dubbed The Shitennou paramilitary operations Unit, receiving last minute instructions on the rescue attempt. They were about to fly to a height of 100000 feet. The Kinzuishou Stealth Space Bomber could fly into deep space, often visiting the Moon and Mars to drop off supplies in the lunar capital of Lunaria and Firebird City on Mars respectively. these ships serving the alliance during the old war were fully refurbished and fitted with the most sophisticated weaponry, the Federation council, a transitional body set up to augment the formation of the new superpower, had commissioned for this assignment.
Chrysanthemum Palace
Empress Aiko got the news on her personal communicator at three in the morning. It was a warm night. Spring was upon them. Sokhumi watched her get out of bed and slip on a silk robe over her youthful naked form. He observed that even when she rushed to dress, her movements flowed gracefully and brought a faint smile to his lips: the sultry eyes, passion pools and yes, the depth of her love and wisdom present. She looked so beautiful, her long hip-length locks decorating her glorious physique astounded him even in the early hours of morning. But something was up and as he rubbed the tiredness from his eyes, a sense of foreboding began to overtake him.
Looking at her worried expression as she read the disk pager and its urgent communiqué he knew something was wrong and jumped out of bed, and was at her side in an instant.
Gazing over her shoulder, he arched an eyebrow. "What is it, blossom?"
"It's Usagi, she's missing and the house is abandoned, Rei and Nephrite were tied up on the patio and the place is deserted and one of the guards is dead, it's a terrible mess…"
"By the Kamis, what the hell happened?"
"That is what I am going to find out, come on!" Aiko said, leading the way as her husband followed.
An hour later, news of a different sort struck the hearts of all in the palace and sent shockwaves around the world. People stood in a trance, disbelieving the news displayed on the Palace holo-imager, most weeping. The Chinese president, murdered in what was at first thought a terrorist attack had placed Japan's military and that of their allies on a war footing. They learned from the Chinese ambassador that a team of elite mercenaries had teleported into the presidential compound from an orbiting space plane and after securing the compound and killing all in their path, they shot the president while he slept. The country was in chaos and grief stricken.
"Oh, that poor girl, Rei, and Mamoru, too. Sokhumi, I feel awful having to tell her this terrible news. But after already having Mamoru abducted and barely having time to get to know him, and now, to inform her of their father's death and of our precious Usagi's abduction also, it's all too much. I don't know if I can-" Aiko began to cry, and Sokhumi held her as she sobbed in his arms. He kissed the top of her head, waved the young attendant away, and escorted his wife to a nearby sofa. "I will deal with the press, Dr. Kotuku has given me these pills, but I don't need them." She dropped the container into the palm of his hand and he nodded, putting it aside.
~*~
Aiko was a strong woman, though she was not afraid to express her emotions, after she was done crying, a look of steely resolve replaced the look of grief, having evaporated as if it had never been there in the first place.
~*~
"I have ordered the elite Palace Senshi Guard to join the Shitennou Unit. They have tracked the space plane and thanks to the implant Jadeite possesses, we were able to find them. But the rescue is going to prove tricky," Aiko said, and hugged Sokhumi once more.
"Rei and Nephrite are okay; they have joined Motoki and are on their way to Tokyo," Sokhumi informed her, and this lightened her mood somewhat, but the worry was plane to see in her eyes. "They are only minutes away from boarding the plane," he said, and this buoyed her, bringing a lopsided smile to her lips, and lit up her tired looking face. Neither of them got much sleep and it was beginning to show on both of them.
"I hope Usagi and Mamoru will be all right," Aiko said as the image floated a meter or so off the black marble floor in the throne room that served as rescue headquarters.
Suddenly, their fifteen-year-old son, Prince Shingo rushed into the chamber, following hot on their brother's heels, their sixteen-year-old twin daughters Princesses Ikuko and Reika. Ikuko in her traditional white kimono, a Sakura blossom tied to her long black hair, as it was the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival, her younger sister in a denim skirt and lace top with her hair tied into a single pigtail.
"Mother? What's going on?" Ikuko asked, as she and Reika hugged their mother.
"It is a sad day for us all my children. Usagi has been abducted along with Mamoru!"
"No! Shingo cried, startling his sisters with the passion of his cry. "We have to get them back and-"
"We're doing all we can my son, Special Forces are on their way to board the plane. Thank the Kamis we had Jadeite's tracking device to home in on and I want you all to stay here today. Girls, prepare some refreshments, your aunts and uncles will be coming and others. Feel free to contact your closest friends and if they wish to visit the palace let your father know and he will arrange it, okay?"
"Sure, mother," Reika responded, placing her shoulder bag on a white leather couch fashioned in the shape of a Chrysanthemum.
"Also children, the Chinese President has been assassinated, and the festival has been postponed until Tuesday as a mark of respect," Sokhumi told the children.
The city and entire country was officially in mourning as was most of the world. The US and English ambassadors were conducting an impromptu press conference and the president of Oceana joined them, her Eurasian features contorted into one of grief replacing the usually perky expression of the leader of the Southern League.
The Kinzuishou
The image of a bright silvery Manta-like space plane came into view, the smaller Starlight stealth fighter using gravity wells to position itself above the vast aircraft. Soon, they stood atop the outer shell in magnetic boots, protective suits and breathing apparatus setting the charges in a configuration that would blow a small hole large enough for their infiltration unit to get inside.
"Okay, ready everyone?" Luna said, smiling at Artemis through her visor. She and Artemis worked well as a team, and worked equally well in bed, but she pushed these thoughts aside, as pleasant as they might be. They placed a second series of charges to counter the explosion lest the stabilizers fail and the ship plummet to Earth. Also, it would provide an extra escape route if they needed one.
"We're good to go, let's do this people, fire in the hole!"
Manta Space Plane
"Jadeite… Jadeite, by the Kamis, please be all right!" She felt as if the big man's body would crush her. But she had no idea what state he was in. Her head hurt and she felt faint. As her vision cleared, she sighed with relief. She then noticed Umino was crawling across the polished metallic floor towards them. "Umino, please hurry…, it's Jadeite."
"I will be there in a minute, Usagi, hang in there. The air pressure feels as if its crushing us and I feel as if a Sumo champion is riding piggy-back on me!" he chuckled, doing his best to assure her all was okay despite the burning fire within his almost bursting lungs and the overwhelming sensation of light-headedness threatening to push him into a state of unconsciousness. Soon he was kneeling before them, attempting to free his hands from their bindings.
After a little blood, sweat and tears, the thick cord snapped. "Ouch! Remind me not to try that too many times."
He lifted the semi-conscious man off the small frame of Usagi. She gasped for air as Umino helped her upright. Once she had her equilibrium, they tended to Jadeite. "Come on big fellow, you're going to be okay…I did first aid, comes in quite handy when you've been kidnapped by some weirdoes and bundled into a former Millennium War space plane. That's why you're feeling sick, Usa-chan; it's the altitude. The cabin pressure isn't set and that's why we've all got nosebleeds. I will look for the environmental control console. I used to collect models of these birds and studied all the schematics on-line in my aerospace web link… so I'm a geek…, sure comes in handy sometimes, huh?"
"Thank the Kamis for geeks! Oh, Mamoru…where's Mamoru!" Usagi interrupted, the blood draining from her face, she knew he was in trouble; she could feel it and began to cry. "Oh Mamoru, please be okay!"
"We'll find him, don't worry," he said, looking about him as if by doing so the familiar bulk of the man would suddenly make itself manifest.
Usagi began to think the worst. "Why isn't he here with us? What do they want with him!"
As much as he empathized with the princess, Umino needed her to focus if they were to have any chance of getting out of this alive. "Look, we'll find him. I got to get Jad upright, loosen his belt and collar and keep talking to him, and for the Kamis' sake, don't let him lose consciousness… if he fades out, slap him. Trust me, it won't hurt him and it's all part of first aid training and will save his life – got it girl?" he squeezed Usagi's hand and offered a brief smile, "You going to be all right?"
"Sure, now go do your stuff. I will look after Jad, Umino-chan," she said, setting her jaw in that cute, but determined way he knew so well and nodded before scrambling to his feet.
"I'll be back soon!"
After Umino found the environmental controls, he adjusted the settings and came back to the group angry. "They were just going to leave us here to die, either of subcutaneous hemorrhages or asphyxiation...bastards!"
Jadeite was coming round. He moaned, "They've got Mamoru… That bitch…"
"Take it easy Jadeite, get your strength back, we're going to need it if we're going to get out of this alive," Umino said, passing him a flask of water he'd found in a nearby alcove on the way back from the environmental control panel. "Seems they thought we knew nothing of these aircraft. They hadn't figured on me, hey."
"Aren't we lucky, dude?" Jadeite said with a smirk as he stood up and helped Usagi to her feet. "First thing we've got to do is find a way into the armory; do you know where that is on these birds as well as knowing the general layout, Umino?"
"I'm your man!"
"Good, let's go… Oh, shit! What the hell was that?" Suddenly they heard a loud explosion and felt it rock the aircraft.
"Shit!"
"Let's move!" Jadeite shouted.
~*~
"Oh my, I thought you'd be as glad to see me as the rest of you is, prince!" she laughed, as she finished spraying a rose scent upon her chest and straddled him once more with her hungry body, her long glossy red hair hanging over her face as she made ready to claim him. She was definitely attractive, Mamoru thought, but her screwed up notions of right and wrong, her dangerous disposition and associations aside from the fact he wasn't in the least interested in her, made it easier to resist her obvious wiles despite having been forced to copulate in a drugged stupor. But curse his manhood if it would honor his feelings and refuse the waiting depths of this ravenous woman's lust. “Oh Endy, that’s so nice, I don’t mind taking the initiative given your current condition…Ah so hot! Again, shall we. Sound like a plan, my gorgeous Endymion?” she whispered in his ear as she wiped the sweat from her brow, breathless after their exertions as she moved above him once again as he shut his eyes and ignored her as best he could.
“Go to hell!” he whispered.
“But I’m in heaven, and you’re one hell of a good screw, even if your heart isn’t in it,; but the rest of you is and that is what counts darling!”
~*~
The massive aircraft lurched violently to one side. Mamoru heard a loud ‘boom' that sent the sweat-laden redhead flying from Mamoru's naked form. She struck the wall hard, hitting her head, the impact knocking her out cold.
He fell off the bed, unable to break his fall, but fortunately he'd fallen upon Beryl's piled clothing and her security keys were soon in his hands. Forcing himself to move, stiff from the drug, he cleaned himself of the evidence of his body’s betrayal and allowed the tears to fall. He recovered himself. It got easier to move as he breathed in deep gulps of air. Mamoru found a small pocketknife on the chain and grinned at the sprawled figure on the floor. She almost looked like a naked faery, vermilion locks splayed about her head and body. The bronzed contours and calm expression upon her face, the evil intent having fled for the moment made her almost beautiful. Under other circumstances, she would be a looker. But he turned away and began to work feverishly on cutting himself free.
As the aircraft righted itself, he'd grabbed his clothes and dressed. Then opened the draws and rummaged through a collection of cosmetics, women's undergarments and sanitary products until he found a laser pistol and tucked it into his belt.
He paused to examine Beryl's skull, with gentle hands lifting her head onto his lap and felt around for any fractures or cuts. Checking her pulse, he was relieved to find she was breathing. "You're lucky girl, you've got a lump as big as a golf ball, but otherwise you are okay. Try and be a decent human being and lose your creepy friends and you might find happiness."
She moaned a soft, “okay, I only wished you had really wanted me. I was a fool Endymion. Why are you tending my injuries after how I forced you to have sex with me? I don’t get it, you should leave me to die. Usagi is one lucky woman…,” Beryl murmured.
This shocked him and he carefully set her head upon a pillow and threw a blanket over her shivering form. She would have one hell of a headache when she woke up. Mamoru shook his head. "Power isn't all it's cracked up to be, Beryl. Take it from someone who knows. Go home and get a job or something."
He had already done enough, more than enough and more than she deserved. But his humanitarian nature kicked in. Some might consider his act of mercy a sign of weakness, but he knew better; it made him a better person. He thanked the Kamis for that. But Mamoru wasn't sticking around. He knew the crew would see her right and he climbed unsteadily to his feet and made for the door.
Mamoru ducked down a corridor, avoiding soldiers as they ran past, each obeying the demanding claxons. He continued on his way, unsure where he was heading or what to do next.
~*~
They landed one of the fighters upon the outer shell of the space plane. Mina prepared her girls to slip through the port created by Artemis and his team and gave the order to go. "Okay guys, let's do this," Mina shouted, the palace guard dubbed, ‘The Senshi' an elite team of women trained for Special Ops. Each wearing a black wet-leather protective body suit, boots and armed with a host of weapons and gismos on a belt and a small pack. They were Japan's best. Mina, the only American member of the team was their leader and she was good at her job. She scanned the interior, and soon they slipped inside.
"Life signs...?"
"I've got something, but its fuzzy, must be the alloys in the bulkheads, but I am picking up all of them, Luna and Arti's team of course, but one is on the move," Jasmine told the blonde.
"We can intercept them… go!"
~*~
Beryl woke to the sound of Mamoru's voice, but how did he get free. She sat up and he stared at her. He sat there naked as Beryl, wincing at the pain at the back of her head climbed onto the bed and moved towards him. She had forgotten something, hadn’t Mamoru dressed and left after tending to her injuries? But her headache persisted and she didn’t care. He was back and that was all that mattered. Maybe he reconsidered and she felt elated. She straddled him once again and as Beryl felt the familiar surge of male prowess inside her, she cried. "At last! You're mine and soon the world will be ours!"
~*~
"That bitch!" Usagi screamed as she stared at the holo-images of her husband having sex with the redhead were beamed to the chamber where they were now hiding from the crew. Umino hugged Usagi as she wept in his arms. "How could he, he's there with her, both of them in that bed…"
"I know sweetheart," came a voice from the doorway. Jasmine and Leticia stood at the entrance, their pulse rifles strapped over their shoulders. "But his eyes, they look weird, I don't think its Mamoru. I know him," Mina added.
"What do you mean… Look! It's him!"
"No, look at his eyes, they're brown!" The special ops soldier sauntered over to her friend and Usagi turned from Umino and hugged the leather-clad woman with a fierce intensity. "Are you sure?"
"Yup, take a look at these close ups, look at his posture also. I know Mamo-chan has a birthmark on his abs, where is it girl? Remember, I photographed him for the Palace Gazette, and as you know, I have seen him naked, and I think you're lucky to have him, but this is not Mamo-chan!"
Usagi sighed with relief. "But how and who is this? Why is that bitch acting like it is him? She acting or something?"
"Hey, steady down. First things first. We also picked up Mamoru's life signs on the move away from that bedroom and unless he can be in two places at once, this clinches it and Beryl looks a little out of it, her eyes are dilated."
"Shit girl, you're observant."
"I'm paid to be. Now, we got to find Mamoru and get you all off the ship. We're meeting up with Artemis and Luna in… ten minutes and this is a huge vessel so let's move our asses, okay?"
"Okay!" Usagi perked up, now smiling again.
~*~
"Luna! We've got them, everyone's here but Mamoru is missing. We have to find him. There is an imposter aboard, he's got brown eyes and well, he just looks odd and Beryl is currently screwing him at the moment so we have to find the real one!"
"Changeling, one of those body modelers, that's probably how he's doing this."
"I've picked up Mamoru's vitals, come on, this way!"
As they entered the engine room, they knocked out the crew and secured the chamber.
"Oh Mamoru! You're okay, Thank the Kamis!" Usagi cried as she threw herself at Mamoru, almost knocking him off his feet.
"Hey, Odango Atama, take it easy, you've just about knocked the stuffing out of me!" he chuckled. "I was lost. This thing is huge!"
They were all relieved and glad to have found the princess and her husband. Now came the tricky part. Getting off the aircraft -- alive.
"How touching! I thought it a good likeness Endy, forgive me but I don't think you know me. Mamoru and friends I am Mamoru! Hahaha!" Seiya laughed maniacally.
"What are you trying to pull buster. You're a first rate dud, I knew you were a fake the moment I clapped eyes on you. Who are you really?" Mina challenged, unafraid of the armed imposter.
"Seiya at your service,” he bowed, “But after I kill you all, I will claim my place as the future emperor of the Dragon Kingdom, as I do a little identity theft… funny that, Endy. I shall rule along with sweet naïve, ambitious and sexy Beryl as Empress… Oh, Mamoru, by the way, I saw it all in glorious color and zoom digital; Beryl is great on top is she not. Yes, princess, although he did his best to resist Beryl’s charms, he succumbed. But don’t look so glum. He was under the influence after all. Hate his body, not the man, hahaha! Pity you couldn’t have gone to her bed willingly, no matter… Beryl, she’s pretty hot when it comes to sex, hahaha! Usagi, you missed the boat I’m afraid!”
Mamoru pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Seiya. “Shut the hell up! Usagi, I was forced to have… I couldn’t-“
“Mamoru, it wasn’t your fault.”
“So forgiving of you!” Seiya sneered, clapping. ”I am about to be sick… you two will die before we’re done here so have one last kissy and death shall soon claim you all!”
"You won't succeed, people will never buy it, and we have you covered, just turn around and you'll see!" Artemis said from behind Seiya, a pulse weapon locked onto the changeling.
"No!" he fired his laser weapon as Artemis tackled Seiya and the blaze of fire hit the power core and the console exploded. Two of their team members, Koki and Kigali were killed instantly. Artemis ran to the fallen women. Seiya froze for a moment, his body aglow with golden light as he convulsed. He dropped the weapon, staggered from the chamber, and ran.
"Oh shit! Great, now we're going to crash!" Umino shouted, "But fear not, there is an auxiliary console over here. The core will go into cascade at any moment. But don't worry I got it covered. We have to lose the core before it destroys the ship. I think we can land this baby in one piece. Have any of you been gliding, or like Usa-chan here, Sky Surfing? Well, this is going to be much the same thing. Mina, Jasmine, help me with this, we have to move fast, we’ve got five minutes!” Umino shouted.
“Lets move!" Mina shouted as the fires in the power core began to turn violet hot.
~*~
They just managed to jettison the power core. The explosion was ear splitting. The ship's engines shut down. Umino, Mina and Jasmine were using the aircraft's emergency power to operate the stabilizers to bring the ship in for a smooth landing, well, as smooth as was possible if you happened to be flying a ship half the size of a large city.
"Mamoru, Usagi, they were heading for a landing field just north west of Beijing, but we're not landing there. Hang on, the trajectory is coming in… Oh, crap! We're heading for the Eastern Inferno!"
~*~
Hot winds blew relentlessly, huge dragon fly-like insects the size of a dog fed upon bulbous plant pods, a green slimy tendril snapped lightning fast as it caught one of the slower winged creatures that roared and bit into its captor, but soon the neurotoxin had taken affect and its resistance waned. Elsewhere, huge lumbering creatures fought one another and rolled away, pausing as all looked skyward at the shimmering thing that was flying overhead, closing their large eyes, they howled, growled and hissed, the many creatures all looking to the mountains to where the strange object was lost to view. Soon however, they returned to their fighting.
