[Episode 101895] [Episode 101895]Artemis fidgeted nervously under Ami's near-predatory gaze. Finally, he let out a heavy sigh and sat down next to her feet. He gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking. "Well... you know how my memory has... holes right?" Ami nodded somewhat uncertainly, she didn't want him trying to weasel out of this. "Luna and myself have noticed a few things the past couple of months that have got us wondering."
Ami couldn't contain her curiosity. "Like what Artemis? It's all been accurate so far. At least when you remember it."
Artemis nodded. "True, but when we took a closer look at it. The holes in out memories are very selective at times." He hopped over to Hotaru and started at her face for a moment. "I know this is Saturn, from the absolute bottom of my heart. But I can't tell you why. I can remember a hundred balls that she attended, a dozen missions, but even now, I couldn't tell you what she looked like." He let out a great sigh. "I'm concerned that our memory loss was not due to the cryotubes, but was engineered."
Silence reigned in the clearing as Ami tried to process the fact. Were they being manipulated? Every victory, every near defeat on someone's checklist? An icy determination settled in her mind. She would find out who was doing this. Turning her head back to Artemis, she locked gazes with him. "Who could possibly do that Artemis? No one that I can even think of has the knowledge to do something on that scale."
Artemis racked his brain for a few seconds, trying to force the revelation to appear, but to no avail. "I'm sorry Ami, I really don't know. I have some extremely vague suspicions, but it's not worth the hassle to reveal them yet."
Ami slowly nodded, understanding his reluctance. "Ok. But back to the subject at hand, what do you know about these "Xenomorphs?"
Artemis could almost feel the heat from her stare bore into his head. He reluctantly talked. "Well, I only really dealt with them on one occasion that I can remember. It's another one of the problems with our memories, I can remember this clearly, but not your name in the Silver Millennium?"
Ami's eyes narrowed. "Yes, inconsistent memories, got it. Artemis... Xenomorphs, now please."
He sighed. "Fine. It's not a good story, and please don't repeat this yet. It all started when a scientist's experiment ran out of control...."
***
Jupiter strode powerfully into the control room. Her eyes swept the assembly of people, seemingly judging all whom she gazed upon. A young man locked into her vision and her mouth pressed into a bloodless line. She barked out, "Commander Makia, what exactly is going on here?"
The young man spun around and stuttered out, "La..l.lady Jupiter, how nice of you to visit us durr.." Jupiter's gloved hand flashed out and slammed across his face, cutting him off. His eyes grew wide and a trickle of blood flowed from his cheek.
Jupiter scowled down at the officer. 'Sycophant' "Why was I not informed earlier about a swarm of Jakti Xenomorphs taking over one of my research islands?" Hna Makia's jaw worked uselessly for a moment before Jupiter lost all pretense of patience. "Commander Hna Makia, I hereby strip you of your post as well as all responsibilities and privileges thereof." Her hand waved once and the center's security team snapped to attention. "Get this trash out of my sight."
Hna's face went from surprised to volcanically angry. "You can't do this to ME! My father is an important man, I have connections, I have friends, I have.." A security guard slammed a glowstick into his side and with a single jerk, Hna fell silently into their arms. Jupiter just nodded as they none-so-gently drug him out of the room.
A quiet, almost shy voice grabbed her attention. "Lady Jupiter? I um.. I was looking at some of the records and found something you might to um... see for yourself... um... ma'am." Jupiter flicked her long, brown hair over a shoulder and looked at the display the tech was pointing at. It took a moment for the importance of the information to register. Biting back a snarl, she started barking orders. "Communications, contact island 2501, issue emergency evacuation order 643." A "Yes ma'am" floated from a corner.
Orders continued to fly throughout the Command Center.
"Operations, issue proclamation 277 and send a copy to the Palace."
"Medical, start your response to island 2501."
"Security, send a flight of S14 Starhawks and begin carpet bombing the infected area. All units are ordered not to land under any circumstances. Any shit violating this order are to be treated as enemy combatants."
Jupiter felt a small tug on her leg and glanced down. She swore quietly as she saw her daughter's face looking up at her, full of worry. "Momma? I had a scary dream and I went to go find you but you weren't there so I grabbed my board and went into the hall I thought it would be ok cause it's not that late out but everyone is running and I heard you yelling and what's going on momma?" Jupiter took a quick look around the room, trying to find a free body. Seeing everyone occupied, she kneeled down to eye-level. "Listen to me honey, this really isn't a good time to be in here, mommy is very busy..."
A technicians panicked voice cut into her talk. "Lady Jupiter, Research island 17 is performing final docking procedures with island 2501." The tech grabbed his comset for a second before continuing. "Docking is confirmed, evacuation is nearing completion, but there are functioning lift ships still on the ground. Invaders are advancing........south port overrun, lift platform under Xenomorph control." The tech spun in her chair and looked at Jupiter with wild eyes. "Ma'am, if they can use that platform...." A chill swept across the room. "What are your orders ma'am?" A quick glance at her Head of Security was answered by a grim headshake, there would be no effective military response at that point.
Jupiter just stood silent for a few heartbeats before kneeling down and covering her daughter's ears and kissing her forehead. She quietly murmured, "Serenity forgive me." In a louder voice, she called out, "Maintenance attend. I, Lady Dalin Jupiter, hereby order the destruction of Research Island 17 as well as Residential Island 2501 to be completed by contra-grav disruption. I issue this order of my own free will and accept all responsibility for the consequences." A chill silence swept across the room, no one dared breathe loudly else they be swallowed by the tension. Jupiter wrapped her arms around her daughter and in a firm, but quiet voice spoke the doom of the islands. "Order.....execute."
A lone technician quickly typed a sequence of commands into a terminal before hesitating and glancing back at Jupiter. A jerky nod answered her and the final command was entered.
The main monitor zoomed in on the islands. Two flashes from the underside of both islands seemed to accuse her of a crime. Jupiter watched with an emotionless expression as the two islands gradually broke apart and fell into the depths of the Jovian atmosphere. Turning her head slightly, she spoke in an even voice. "How many?" A tech typed furiously for a moment before quietly answering. "Current estimate is a little over one hundred thousand remained on RI-2501 Lady Jupiter."
Jupiter tightened her grip on her daughter before continuing. "Communications, access all Command Center recorders and send to Central Command." Turning and freezing the entire crew with a glance, she continued. "This is as of now a class-A secret. Follow your orders people." And with that, Jupiter strode out of the command center, daughter in he arms.
***
Ami blinked as she tried to assimilate the tale. To take some intellectual space, she asked the next question on her mind. "So that was Makoto?"
Artemis shook his head. "No it wasn't. Well, the child was her, but Lady Jupiter was her mother. She never really got over that day and tossed herself into her daughter's training. By the time of Beryl’s attack, Jupiter hadn't seen their ruler in over a decade."
Ami nodded. "So why isn't there any information on this? You said something about a Royal Seal."
Artemis laid his head down on his paws. "Yes, Serenity ordered that because of the nature of the Xenomorphs, all research must be stopped and all files destroyed. She must have felt somewhat guilty, the scientist in question had spoken to her previously on the subject and she had proclaimed interest. Better to destroy them, than to allow another tragedy like RI-2501 to occur again."
Ami nodded, it seemed a prudent action to take. "What happened then? Just swept it under the rug?"
Artemis shook his head. "No, a top secret platoon of the Royal Guard were trained and equipped on the moon. They had one mission, the total destruction of the Xenomorph race." Artemis stood and paced around her feet. "It took them seven years, but no trace of the Xenomorphs remained anywhere in the Moon Kingdom. Hundreds of specimens were destroyed and whole buildings torched to wipe out that stain on the peace and safety of Serenity's kingdom."
Ami mulled the information over in her head for a moment before a stray thought struck her. She whipped around and pinned Artemis with her eyes. "That's why Pluto hates this boy so much, she was an advisor to the Royal Guard platoon wasn't she?"
Artemis grimaced slightly before responding. "Almost, she was an advisor, we needed the Time Gate to track them down. But that's not why she hates them so badly. Her brother was one of the people that got trapped on RI-2501 when Elder Jupiter ordered it destroyed."
Hotaru frowned and spoke for the first time. "I don't care what her history was with them, she will not kill Ranma because of it." She painfully pushed herself to her feet, and continued in voice that could chill liquid nitrogen. "And if she tries, I will always be there to stop her."
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(Posted Tue, 11 May 2004 05:15)
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