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strange world walk to and fro.  It was such a seamless blend of the
past, present, and future of Japan before her; from the bamboo walls
to the tall steel sky scrapers that over shadowed them.  Cars without
wheels zoomed past, like they were gliding on air, leaving dirt clouds
in their wake as they made their way toward the palace in the
distance.

It had been a long time since she had seen such a structure before.
Some of these buildings were consistent with the Warring States Era of
Japan.  Others were obviously inspired by more modern designs.  The
mish-mash of technologies and styles didn't make any sense.  She had
criss-crossed the timeline and never had she seen a conglomeration
such as this.     She leaned on her deep well of knowledge since that
was all she could rely on at the moment.  God she really felt out of
her element now, she bemoaned.

Dutifully, she gripped her staff, continuing her observation and
determined not to allow her mind to get sidetracked.  Another unusual
thing she spied, at least in this place, was that all the women.  They
walked much too mechanically, their vacant eyes made them look more
like trained servants.  Pluto shivered, hoping they didn't end up
somewhere that enslaved women.

Whatever this place was, it definitely wasn't Earth, a little
astrology told her that much, but familiar energies tingled her
senses.  Small Lady had to be nearby.

"Do you know where we are, Pluto?"  She heard Mars ask her voice
small.  Pluto didn't turn around.  The scene below held some
fascination as well as providing her with some vital clues.

"We're not on Earth."  Lifting from one knee, Pluto stood in the=20
open
window of the steeple, the wind playfully tugging at wisps of her dark
green hair and the ends of her black skirt.  "That much I am certain."

A tall brunette poked her head around the Time Guardian to get a
better view of the happenings below.  "What a weird place."

"My sentiments exactly."  Pluto frowned slightly at the bite in Mars'
tone.  Apparently she had already recovered from her melancholy.  She
supposed this was a good thing.  "When are you going to call that Time
Gate and zap us out of here?"

The Time Guardian spun around facing the annoyed Scout.  "Not yet Mars."

"What!?"  The soft wooden floor muffled the laden clicks of Mars'
high heels.  "We have to get back home."

Pluto's tempered flared and she had a hard time quelling it.   Though
she served her Queen loyally, she would not be ordered around like
someone's time traveling chauffeur.  There was more to her than just
activating the Time Gate.  Her entire life didn't revolve around it.
"Home can wait."

Both girls began to shy away at severity of her statement.

Jupiter cleared her throat, though the Time Guardian could easily see
the tension in her body.  "What do you mean, Pluto?"

The Time Guardian settled herself.  Picking a fight with Jupiter
would be clearly unwise.  "I apologize, but Small Lady is here.  I can
feel her energy in this city and we are not leaving without her."

Appearing slightly calmer, Mars once more approached her.  "Easy
enough then.  We just follow you to Reenie and then we're out of here,
right?"

"Not necessarily true, Mars.  I can only feel her presence but I
can't find her.  Her energy is too spread out to pinpoint."   Gazing
back out into the cityscape of the unusual world, Pluto continued.
"It's not only that; the Silver Crystal is out there, and it's masking
her position as well."

"So Serena's here as well?"  The expression across Mars' face
was
hard to read.

Suddenly Pluto felt an urge to find out what Mars' was thinking.  The
girl was obviously in turmoil, but over what exactly?  She wondered if
she could sympathize with the raven-haired priestess and instantly
felt guilty for her outburst earlier.  The poor child just lost
someone who she cared deeply for and now was trapped in this foreign
land with little hope of returning.  Pluto felt some trepidation and
looked at Mars and Jupiter who were watching her expectedly.  She'd
tell them about the Time Gate later.  First they had to find Small
Lady.

"I don't think so.  The energy I feel from the Silver Crystal is cold.
 I suppose would be the appropriate description."  Pluto faced the two
Scouts, both pondering in proud silence what she meant.  She sighed.
"But our most pressing concern is to make sure Small Lady isn't in any
danger.  She's probably out there by herself and we have no idea
what's lurking out there."

At this, both Scouts nodded and once again Pluto gained some control.
 She relaxed feeling a sense of normalcy returning albeit briefly.  It
would leave the moment she left this place, but they had a mission to
accomplish.  "And after we retrieve Small Lady, we must secure the
Silver Crystal before it falls in the wrong hands."

Yes, she'd worried about the Time Gate later.

------------------------------------------------------

He had to hurry, the show beckoned, and his musical angel wasn't
ready to spread her wings.  Using his brush, he painted his
masterpiece on the palette of his angel's circuitry.  For some reason
the circuit was acting up again, disturbing the behavior algorithm.
He didn't like it when his angel was sick.

"Matt."

Furiously, the artist worked.

"Maatttt."

Now where did he put his wielder?

"MATT!"

Matt jumped, pointing his handheld wielder at the golden haired man
fuming in the doorway.

Slightly flushed, he lowered his psuedo-weapon and sighed.  "Oh hiya, Bro."

His brother ushered himself into the stuffed workshop, flinging aside
some of his long golden locks while careful to keep his white suit
away from the greasy tools and smudged clothing strewn around on
hangers.

He looked over the prone humanoid figure resting on the bench.  "Is
our little marionette ready to put on another great show?"

Matt grinned sheepishly, ruffling his matching golden hair in attempt
to block his brother's view of the machine's open chest.  "Uh, yeah.
She'll be ready.  She'll knock em' dead in fact!"

His brother snickered and gave Matt a hearty slap on the back.  "Come
on Matt, I've been dying to know her secret.  I mean, she is making us
a pretty penny.  It was ingenious of you to suggest going to
Japoness."

Standing tall, Matt expanded his lungs, and coughed out.  "And, ahem,
you thought that Hikari wouldn't make it out of the saloons of New
Texas.  Besides, I would have learned Japanese and gone out here
without you."

Dusting off the comment off the cuff of his pale suit, his older
brother replied.  "Sure, Matt, just in the same amount of time it took
you to learn Russian?"

With his slumped shoulders, the technician made no move to dismiss
the rain cloud that he imagined had developed overhead.  "Thanks,
Davy."

"Don't call me that."

Matt felt his smirk sufficed for an adequate reply.

 "Are you going to tell me or what?"  Arms crossed, Matt took notice
of how his brother's clean, neatly pressed suit was the antithesis of
his oil smudged, worn clothing.  The dichotomy was fascinating.  "Or
will I have to bribe you?"

Matt raised an eyebrow, intriqued.  "Oh, my brother, David.  Do you
think I actually have a price?"

As David studied him with his dark green eyes, Matt wondered if
David's expression was ever this incredulous before.

"Okay, David, what is it?"

Digging into one of his coat pockets, David revealed a small,
spherical crystal.  "I thought you're marionette might like this
addition to her accessories."

Matt snatched the crystal from his brother's well manicured hands.
After giving the translucent stone a sweep with his ever incriminating
eye, he smirked once more.  "Let me guess, you found it on the
street."

"Yep.  As far as I can tell it's just your run of the mill stone."
David glanced around slightly Matt's workshop before finally returning
to the artist in earnest.  "So are you going to tell me or am I going
to die in anticipation?"

Spinning the crystal in his hand, hr watched the myriad of colors
refract from every little crevice in its surface.  It was a strange
stone, the reflection of light made it look like there was a tiny fire
blazing inside despite it dull grey luster.  Though he probably
wouldn't get a great price for it, Matt found it esthetically
pleasing.  Satisfied, he nodded.

"Okay. Here is the secret to Hikari, the magically dancing
marionette."  With a grand wave of his hand, Matt displayed the
circuit to their success.

Matt watched eager to see David's awe as he viewed the sophisticated
circuitry of the marionette.  Instead, Matt felt a pang of
disappointment when his brother swept over the complexity of wires and
plugs lazily not at all soaking in its beauty.  To his credit, David
did stare at the colorful large lens at the epicenter of the mass of
wires.

"This," David pointed at the lens, "looks like an eye."

Ah, his brother actually asked a question!  At least he was somewhat
impressed.  "Actually no it's not.  This wonderful thing," Matt tapped
the glass lens, "is a Maiden Circuit!  It's what gives Hikari life!"

David took a step back, aghast.  "She's alive!?"

Matt snickered.  He never could understand his brother's fear of
females.  "No, silly.  I've dumb down her intelligence so that it does
everything I program her to do, even vague commands."

"Huh."  David eyed the circuit warily.  "It must have cost you a
pretty penny, Matt."

Even though it hurt his jaw, Matt's grin grew wider.  "Nope.  I won
it in a poker game with some drunken guy from St. Petersburg."

David's face lost all muscular ability and fell.  "You what?"

"Oh yeah.  A real bragger he was.  Hell, he even told me how it
worked and what it was and where he got it from."

"How does it work?"

Matt lowered his voice as though he were revealing a plot to take
over the world.  In some ways, he'd like to think he was.  "You see,
the Maiden Circuit lets marionettes act more like humans.  Apparently,
both the original Ieyasu and Faust had created a few back when they
crashed here."

"Why would they do that?"

"I don't know.  Lonely, I suppose.  Anyway, this guy bragged that he
had stolen it from Faust's compound."

"You're telling me this is hot!?"

"No, I mean this guy was making all sorts of wild claims the entire
night and the more he drank the wilder they got.  At one point he was
telling me the Mesopotamia was still orbiting the planet, when we all
know that it blew up with the rest of the colony ships from Earth.
Why would the original crew abandon a space ship and resort to cloning
themselves if it was still operational and orbiting the planet?"

David frowned.  "Uh-huh.  You act like it isn't refutable."

Matt shrugged.  "That and he bragged he had the largest-"

David raised his hand, stopping the sentence before it could be
completed.  "All right, all right!  So he probably was lying about
that, but just in case, let's be careful.  This is Gartland we're
talking about.  That's the last place we'd want to be, especially on
trial.  If they grant us one."

David draped his arm over his brother's shoulders and directed him to
the door.  "So let's pretend I didn't hear this and get some sake.=20
I hear it's pretty good here."

"You're paying."

"Fine.  I'll pay."

As David ushered him further out the door, Matt noticed the stone in
his hand.  "Oh wait a sec!"

Running back to the marionette, Matt dropped the crystal on the open
palm of his mechanical angel's hand.  Briefly, he thought the
refracting light flared for a moment, but quickly dismissed it.  David
was right.  He'd spent too much time in the shop today.

As went out the door, Matt glanced back admiring his perfect creation
and sighed.

"Come on Matt!  Hurry up!"

Matt shook his head and pulled the door closed.  As he walked away
with his brother, laughing merrily he wondered idly if he had closed
Hikari's hand or not.  Oh well, must have been his imagination.

-End of Part 9-

Author's Notes:
The die has been cast.  Everyone's has been split up and surprising
twists have been revealed and we've only just started this arc!  As
the anime series begin piling up what will be the fate of our lovely
soldiers?
I'd like to point out that the characters Matt and David are based on
long time FFML contributors Matt and David Johnston (no relation) and
I got their permission to include them in this story a loooong time
ago.  I'm hoping they still don't mind.  Heck I hope they're still
alive.  If you guys are still alive let me know if this is still okay.
Thanks for reading folks!

Soundtrack:
Various scenes inspired by music.
Waking Lake Side =E2=80=93 Voyager by Daft Punk
Halebit and the Insect Ocean =E2=80=93 Outhouse by Jimmie's Chicken Shack
Serena Entering the Community =E2=80=93 Way Out by Orbital
Morning in Japoness =E2=80=93 Pearl's Girl by Underworld
Pluto on the Steeple =E2=80=93 Sweet Feather from Macross Plus Soundtrack
Matt Theme =E2=80=93 Supra Genius by Soul Coughing

Disclaimer:
All original characters are owned and copyrighted by Bastion (c) 2008.
Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi
Saber Marionette J is owned by Satoru Akahori
Nausicaa is owned by Hayao Miyazaki

Bastion
Rev 04/08