by

Eric Metcalf

General Kazor looked up from his massive, stone desk. A dozen crystals of various colors littered the surface; all of them contained reports from his subordinates. However, the officer standing across from him had delivered the most important report. In the light of the glow-globes, the officer's gray uniform appeared almost black. A fitting color, Kazor thought.

"Well done, Takisite," Kazor said, his voice a deep basso. "You were able to defeat Jandar's army without resorting to a major attack. Such discretion and tactical flair is rare among the Dark Kingdom."

"Thank you, General," Takisite replied, bowing low. "I live to serve."

"And serve you have," Kazor replied. "And now I will call on you to serve again. With your victory over Jandar, all of the generals who rebelled against me have now been brought to heel. Therefore, I want you to take your elite team on a special mission." Kazor handed a crystal to Takisite.

Takisite channeled a flow of energy into the crystal, causing an image to form above the crystal. A blue planet floated in mid-air, wreathed with white clouds. "Earth," Takisite said, his voice both reverent and skeptical.

Kazor nodded. "The ultimate prize. Queen Beryl died trying to gain it, but she relied too heavily on the sheer power of Metallia. Now, we will use the numbers of our youma and the skill of our generals to defeat them. But first, we need information on their strengths and weaknesses. We need to decide how to hit them for maximum effect, and what defenses they can muster."

Takisite nodded. "Yes. As I remember, the Sailor Senshi were instrumental in defeating Beryl. They could prove troublesome if they engage me. My team is only four strong."

"You must be patient," Kazor replied. "I have reviewed Beryl's records of the Senshi's behavior before. They respond to attacks, but they are not active in patrolling the city. Therefore, if you do not attack the humans, they will not bother you. Of course, if you are in a position to defeat a few at a time, it will make our task easier later. But first, gather the information I require. That is your principle mission."

Takisite bowed again. "It shall be as you command, General. How long do I have?"

"Three months, as the humans measure time. Then the cosmos will have reached a favorable alignment, and our mages can open massive gateways into Earth from the Dark Kingdom to transport our armies. You have until then to provide me the information."

"Consider it done, General. I shall report when I have made my first reconnaissance." Takisite spun on his heel and strode out of Kazor's office. Kazor sat back for a moment and relaxing, savoring the moment. The conquest of Earth was beginning, and there was nothing the Sailor Senshi could do to stop him, not this time.

Camp MacArthur, the main American Army base in Japan, sprawled over a hill just outside of Tokyo. The base was fairly quiet, since there were no threats in the area. However, any army is constantly running drills, and the results of one such drill were being analyzed in the intelligence section of MacArthur.

First Lieutenant Ean Hoffman poured over the results of the electronic warfare test. His small desk in the common area of the intelligence building, or 'intel shack', was covered with paper printouts showing signal strengths and other radio data. He had been shuffling through the papers for half an hour, with no useful information anywhere in sight.

"These are the days I hate intelligence work," he groaned.

"That's why they pay you the big bucks, Lt.," Sergeant Johansen said. Two years younger than Ean, Johansen let his military buzz-cut grow out several inches longer than Ean's. He was also about three inches shorter than Ean's six-foot-two height, and an equal match for Ean's slender build. Johansen was a signals officer and electronics genius who had worked on the equipment during the test.

"Only wish that were true, Sarge," Ean replied, then his eye fell on a sheet of paper on the ground by the desk. It showed signal strengths in a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that the Army didn't use, either for signals or for electronic warfare.

"Hey, Johansen, were you working up in the high frequencies yesterday?"

Johansen shrugged. "Not on purpose. We could have had some signal leakage up there. Why?"

Ean picked up the printout and showed it to Johansen. "This much leakage?"

Johansen's jaw dropped. "No way. No way that was us. This is something else. Civilian?"

Ean shrugged. "Does anyone use that portion of the spectrum?"

Johansen shook his head slowly. "No, it's too hard to reach. It takes major power even punch a signal up there. That's not civilian, and it's not us."

Ean glared. "That means one thing: hostile. Potentially at least." Ean glanced over the readout. "This doesn't show bearing received."

Johansen shook his head. "We assumed we were working from fixed bearings, so we got sloppy. Besides, just one bearing isn't going to tell you much, assuming we get a repeat."

Ean smiled. "Aww, I thought you were bored, coming over here. Now, this is from the big detector, right?"

Johansen nodded. "It's the only one with that kind of receiving gain."

"Would it take something that big to track this signal, if you could build something specialized?"

Johansen shook his head, smiling. "No, no it wouldn't. If you build a dedicated receiver, you could make it pretty portable."

"How portable?"

"Oh, say, you could put it in the back of a cargo truck."

"How long would it take you to build this?"

"A couple of weeks dedicated work. I think we actually have most of the stuff on hand, as spares for the big array."

"Okay, here's the plan. I need to clear this with upstairs. You start drawing up plans for a second, dedicated received. Be ready to get to work when I give the word. Also, see if you can put together a man-portable unit. Preferably something concealable. If this turns out to be close, I want to be able to track it while its happening. This is going under codename Lightshow. I'll call you when I get the go-ahead. With something like this, Captain Midra's got to let us go."

Johansen saluted, grinning. "You've got it, boss. Just give me the word."

Ean nodded, standing up. "Get over to your work area. I want you ready to go to work pronto when I call. Dismissed." Johansen turned and almost ran out of the office, barely dodging two aides. Ean shook his head and headed for his commander's office.

On a barren patch of rock, a woman with long, flowing dark green hair stood, watching a massive stone arch. Dressed in a white blouse with a dark collar, a chest bow with a red stone in the middle, short, dark skirts and black boots, she leaned on a gray staff taller than she was. Inside the arch, images shone, like movies. Now, she watched massive, crystal towers shatter and fall, swallowed up by darkness covering the ground. She could feel a pulling, as if what she was seeing was changing as she watched.

"So the Dark Kingdom rises again," she said to no one. "This time, it is more powerful than before. The Princess will need my aid, and the aid of other warriors to defeat it this time. I pray I can find the others in time." Focusing her will, she moved the image in the arch to show a green, empty field. She strode forward, passing through the image as if it was water.