							June 2000

			Secret Garden 3: Final Battle
				     Scene 9

	"Your highness, we have word of a massive army converging
 on our position here at the Moon Palace." The senshi of Jupiter
 came to a skidding halt before Queen Serenity, blurting out her
 news as fast as she could, almost tripping over her words.

	Queen Serenity nodded as the words sank in, "And so it
 begins.  Gather all of the trops, including our reserves, and
 set up a perimeter around the palace." she looked up as the
 rest of the young senshi came running into the room and halted
 before her.  Neptune, Uranus and Saturn came strolling in
 behind them, stopping near the door to listen.  "I want one
 senshi, including Uranus and Neptune, at each corner.  Saturn
 will stay with me.  Venus, you have command of the inner senshi
 and our forces.  The Captain of the guard will report to you,
 and you will give him his orders.  Uranus, you and Neptune work
 best as a unit and seperate from the rest of our forces.  I
 want you to be guarding the two closest points on our northern
 wall.  Act independantly, as best you can, to wipe out as much
 of the army headed our way.  Jupiter, was there any report as
 to how many soldiers are in this army and who is leading it?"

	Jupiter glanced at the door as Endymion and the Princess
 arrived, and hesitated, "Er... Yes your majesty.  I am lothe to
 admit this, but the four body guards of the Prince Endymion are
 leading the army and all of the soldiers who were not killed
 and are missing from the terran ranks are part of that army. 
 We are looking at an army of close to two hundred thousand, not
 including certain ghostly forces that we have no way of
 counting.  The Lady Beryl is in control of those forces."

	Endymion sucked in a sharp breath, "Are you positive my
 generals are part of that force? All of them?"

	Jupiter nodded, "I'm sorry your highness, but I have more
 than my share of terran guards on the same watch as I and most
 of them are shocked and outraged that four of the most loyal
 bodyguards in the galaxy are fighting for one such as Beryl."

	"She must be controling them somehow." Endymion said
 softly, "Your Majesty, I ask your permission to try and break
 whatever spell is on my friends.  I cannot, in good conscience,
 leave them to the mercy of that witch."

	"Denied, Endymion," Queen Serenity said sharply, "I can
 understand your concern and your pain in this matter but this
 is just the opportunity that Beryl is looking for.  I cannot
 allow you to put their lives ahead of the millions of lives on
 this planet."

	Endymion nodded, "Understood, your majesty.  But I had to
 try."

	Her gaze softened on her son-in-law, "I wish I could give
 you a better answer, Endymion.  I understand, more than you
 know, what it is to loose trusted friends."

	Endymion said nothing as the Queen turned back to Jupiter
 and thanked her for her report, "Thank you, Jupiter, I have but
 one last question.  What is the estimated time of the army's
 arrival?"

	"Sometime later this evening your highness."

	"then we do not have much time to prepare.  Saturn,
 Endymion and Serenity, come with me.  Venus, I leave our
 defense in your capable hands."

	Queen Serenity strode from the room, Saturn following as a
 silent shadow, Endymion and the Princess on her heels.  The
 door closed with a resounding boom and Venus turned to the
 other senshi, "Alright, this is how we need to work this," she
 knelt on the floor, fumbling with a few of the tiles before she
 found the one she was looking for and hit a pannel on it.   The
 tile slid away revealing a cache of small weapons.  Venus
 grasped the hilt of the sword on top, "This sword is the
 Crescent sword of Venus, when I am holding this I can channel
 all of your attack through it.  Uranus, Neptune, you already
 have your weapons, and we'll be needing their powers in the
 upcoming battle.  Jupiter, the staff is yours."

	Jupiter leaned down and grasped the staff, hefting the
 surprisingly light piece of weaponry in her hands.  She twirled
 it experimentally, "The Oak Staff of Jupiter," she said softly,
 "Mother said it was lost."

	"No, just hidden.  It has the power to create a new power
 for you.  Use it wisely, and choose well." Venus replied,
 "Mercury, you have this," she held out a small crossbow, "This
 is the Wrath of Mercury, your most powerful weapon in the
 upcoming fight.  This will amplify your powers from defense
 into attack.  Mars, the Bow of Mars is yours.  With this you
 can send your attack further from you, and cause greater
 damage." 

	She handed the bow to Mars and then closed the pannel,
 leaving a rod with a crescent shaped head inside before
 standing up and attaching the sword to her hip, "The last
 ability of these artifacts is they will allow us to coordinate
 our attacks.  Each of you will be able to hear me, and I will
 be able to hear you.  Keep in contact constantly with me, I
 will need to know where we will have to send our forces.  I
 don't have to tell you that we are grossly outnumbered and that
 some of us will not live to see tomorrow." She met each of
 their gazes, "I just want to say that it has been my highest
 honor to serve our princess with each of you.  Good luck."

	She darted away, subconsciously telling each of the senshi
 where she wanted them to be posted.  Quickly they each spread
 out to their posts and settled in to wait for the coming
 attack.

******** 

	"Why did you wish my with you, your majesty?" Saturn asked
 softly, "Could I not be of more use serving on the front lines
 where my powers would be a great asset?"

	Queen Serenity led the way into the very center of the
 Palace and into the main vault of the royal family before she
 turned and met Saturn's somber gaze, "I need you with me.  If I
 am attacked while using the powers of the ginzushiou it will
 cause a catastrophe and I cannot allow that to happen."

	Saturn nodded, twirling her glaive once, "I understand. 
 Thank you for trusting me with this responsibility, your
 majesty."

	"If not you, Saturn, then who?"

	"Is that why you asked the Prince to guard the Princess in
 their chambers?"

	Queen Serenity nodded, "It is.  I do not want my baby girl
 to see me waste away from the power of the crystal."

	Saturn turned to the door and took up a guard's position. 
 She waited while the Queen retrieved the crystal and approached
 the doors.  "Come, my young senshi, we will wait in the throne
 room."

	Saturn led the way to the throne room in silence, her
 glaive at the ready as the Queen's heavy tread followed.  Once
 there, Saturn sealed off the room, save for one entrance, and
 posted herself in front of the throne to wait for the Final
 Battle to begin.

********

	"Mother! No!" Princess Serenity slammed her hand against
 the solid door of the bedchamber repeatedly, the locked doors
 unmoving under her onslaught.

	Gentle hands wrapped aroun her bare shoulders but she
 shrugged them off, banging her hands again, "Mother, please, we
 can find another way!" she screamed.  The rage finally worked
 itself out and she collapsed against the doors sobbing,
 "Mother, please, do not do this..." she whispered brokenly.

	"Serenity, she cannot hear you." Endymion wrapped her in a
 gentle embrace from behind, cradling her as he spoke the words. 
 He hadn't expected the Queen to lock them in their chambers and
 he'd been unprepared for the surge of grief and outrage
 Serenity had poured into her assult on the doors.  He gently
 stroaked her hair back from her face, "I am sorry, Angel, but
 she has made her choice.  She wishes for you and I to live,
 even if it means sacrificing herself in the process."

	Serenity turned in his arms, silent tears streaming down
 her cheeks, "Her choice, one that condems all of my friends to
 death!  She does not understand that they are a part of my
 strength, and when they perish so will a part of me."

	Endymion held her tightly, "I know.  Can I help in any
 way?"

	She shook her head, curling against him as he sank to the
 floor with her in his lap, "No one can help now," she said
 softly, almost to herself, "things are beyond anyone's control,
 we cannot stop it or change it, just accept it." 

	"Do not speak so, you do not know that."

	She met his gaze, her eyes sad, the color of stormy skies,
 "We are stronger together, you and I, Endymion, and so are my
 friends and myself stronger together.  Divided, they will
 surely fail." she took in a shuddering breath.  "All we can do
 it wait now, my love, to know the outcome."

	"I will protect you," he swore softly, laying his forehead
 against hers and meeting her gaze squarely, "No matter what is
 yet to come, I will protect you."

	She shuddered at his words, "And in doing so I will loose
 you," she replied brokenly, "Hold me for as long as you can." 
 She closed her eyes and leaned in close, kissing him gently to
 forestall any responce but felt it in his arms tightening
 around her protectively.  They sat locked together in the large
 room, pressed against the door, for many long hours as they
 waited for the battle to begin.

********

	They came as a wave of darkness that blocked the Earth
 from view, thousands of soldiers charging across space by the
 evil powers of the Lady Beryl.  Venus saw them first and
 allerted the rest of the senshi through ther linked minds, 'The
 enemy approches.  Be ready'

	She tightened her grip on the sword as the soldiers around
 her stirred restlessly.  The coming army looked more like a
 wave of a Lunar storm, cackling with solar energy that would
 threaten any living creature caught in its path.  She swallowed
 hard, watching the wave come steadily closer.  Swords were
 drawn and soldiers took up their positions for defending this
 side of the Palace.  Venus looked at the army of two hundred
 soldiers under her command and closed her eyes for a moment,
 'Mother Venus, if you are listening, give me the strength of
 fight this battle with courage and dicipline.' she opened her
 eye and then narrowed them on the coming army, watching it
 split and go two seperate ways.  

	"Steady Men," she called, seeing them shift nervously. 
 She held up her sword and let the light of the sun flash off
 the blade, drawing every eye, including the enemy's.  They drew
 nearer, their focus now on the senshi of Love and Beauty. 
 Venus smiled grimly, pointing her finger at the blade of the
 sword, letting the light play over the men in her army.  "Ready
 your blades," she shouted.

	Two hundred swords rose into the air, their blades angled
 so that the light striking them was towards the coming hoard.
 Venus nodded, seeing all was ready and took a deep breath,
 praying this would work.

	"Crescent... BEAM!"

	The golden light sprang from the tip of her finger and hit
 the blade, reflecting off it towards the elevated blades.  She
 concentrated, biting her lip and drawing blood as the beam
 refracted and broke into 200 crescent beams and went hurtling
 towards the enemy.  She saw many of them fall, holes in their
 chests, heads and limbs, more than twice the numbers of enemies
 falling under the brutal assult.  And yet, the army still
 advanced, their momentum barely even halted.  

	Venus swallowed hard and repeated the trick twice more
 before a few of the swords the men in her army cracked and
 shattered under the pure energy assult.  With grim
 determination she dropped into a fighting stance.  If they were
 going to try and get past her, she was going to take as many of
 them with her as she could.  She would make them pay for
 choosing to attack the Moon Kingdom.

	The arrow of evil sliced through the Moon Kingdom's army
 with hardly a pause, decimating it until it reached the senshi
 of Venus.  Her sword blazed with fury unrivaled and her hair
 floated about her body like an aura of her rage.  She leveled
 the sword at the coming soldiers and spoke a single word of
 command, so softly it wasn't audible, and a light shot forth
 from the sword.  

	She wielded it in an arc, swinging it from her left to her
 right, and mowed down hundreds of enemy soldiers in a single
 blow.  Many of the front ranks of the army hesitated, only to
 be pushed forward by the men behind them.  Venus swung the
 sword back, determined to cleave a huge portion of this army
 into dust even though she was hopelessly outnumbered, when a
 huge white light surrounded her.  A cheer went up in the
 attacking army as the senshi of Venus' scream echoed across
 their ranks and she disappeared.  Their blades bloodied  and
 their voices raised, they continued on towards the palace. 

********

	"Mina," Serenity whispered.  She bit her lip as she felt a
 part of herself clench with fear.  Endymion's arms around her
 tightened as new tears pooled in her eyes and slid down her
 cheeks, "The army is coming... and we will not be able to stop
 them."

	"It is me she wants, Serenity, perhaps if I left..."

	"NO!" She clutched him tightly, "That is what she wants. 
 Divided we will fall easier.  Do you not see?  If you leave it
 will leave me open to her attacks, and in doing so she can kill
 me, just as she promised, before going after you."

	"I will not go anywhere," he told her softly. 

********

	Jupiter lashed out with one fist and broke the blade of an
 attacking soldier with her gloved hand.  She swung her staff
 the other way, catching several other soldiers as they tried to
 surround her.  She smiled grimly, sweat and blood marring her
 once white bodysuit, "Forward men!" she yelled, her small
 detatchment of men even smaller after the skirmish.  They fell
 in behind her as she dispatched the soldier who's sword she'd
 broken.

	She held the staff aloft as the small group of no more
 than twenty charged valiantly at the coming hoard.  Jupiter
 looked about as she felt the staff quiver in her hands and felt
 the words to an awesome new power took shape in her mind.  She
 paused, raising the staff above her head and held it in both
 hands, "Guardian Jupiter, give me the courage!" she shouted,
 winds and electricity whipping about her and tearing at her
 uniform and hair.  Her eyes flashed and went completely white
 as she looked at the oncoming hoard, her hair whipping about
 her face.

	"Lightening... STRIKE!" 

	Lightening surged from both end of the staff and plowed
 into the oncoming army with a destructive force as her men
 engaged them.  The armor plated soldiers of the enemy army fell
 into one another, passing the deadly surge of electricity along
 until nearly a quarter of the force arrayed against them lay
 dead or in their final death throes.

	Jupiter collapsed as the awesome powers that has coursed
 through her body began to take their toll.  She never saw her
 small batallion get slaughtered, nor the evil army's continued
 appraoch as her eyes fluttered closhed, the staff clenched in
 her hands as everything was lost in a pure, white light.  

********

	"Lita," Serenity shuddered, pressing in closer to her
 husband.  Another tear silently fell in the darkness as the
 army came closer.
	
********
	
	"Come and get me if you dare you evil pieces of crap! I'll
 burn the skin from your bones, I'll maim you so bad you'll go
 crying back to mommy and even she won't recognize you!" Mars
 yelled at the approaching army.  She winked at the soldiers
 under her command as if to reassure them as she fingered her
 bow.  

	The coming army seemed to pause  and approach the senshi
 of fire and her command more hesistantly and Mars couldn't help
 but smile.  Obviously the threat of fire was greater than the
 desire to win in some of those soldiers.  She aimed her bow at
 the coming army and pulled it back, concentrating.  

	"Ready!" she called, looking to her side at the one
 soldier she'd chosen to call the orders for her after that one. 
 Her command was made up of mostly bowmen and they readied their
 weapons as Mars began concentrating on her powers.

	"Aim!" called the soldier beside the senshi, his sword
 raising into the air as the soldiers took aim.

	"Fire"

	"Fire... SOUL!" 

	Mars let loose her power as she let the arrow fly into the
 midst of the arrows from the men under her command.  Her eyes
 widened in shock as the arrow lit those within its rage on fire
 and then continued onwards, striking first from all the
 projectiles.  The Martian arrow plowed through more than two
 dozen soldiers before finding its rest in the ground, the
 fireball finally expiring.  

	As the rest of the arrows slammed into the front ranks of
 the approaching army, the soldier next to Mars raised his sword
 again, "Ready!"

	Bows were knotched again, Mars simply pulling the bow back
 as another arrow appeared in her hands.

	"Aim!" Mars put her bow at the angle for release as the
 rest of the bowmen did the same.

	"Fire!"

	"Fire... SOUL!"

	The fireball sprang from her bow a second time, and this
 time Mars concentrated on it, making it larger, encompasing all
 of the arrows and growing larger still.  She felt faint as the
 fireball plowed into the front ranks of the army and put all of
 her will into it, making it expand, gow hotter, get bigger, do
 more damage.  She could smell the roasting flesh of the men in
 the enemy army, could taste their fear.  They charged as the
 fireball finally expired on the ground and slammed into the
 ranks of bowmen as they tried to loose one more volley.  The
 Lunarian soldiers were slaughtered and Mars, her eyes falling
 closed heavily, never saw the sword raised and arcing towards
 her neck as white light exploded behind her eyes.

********
	
	"Raye," Serenity choked, curling into a tight ball.  She
 burried her face in her knees, trying to block out the feel of
 death, the coldness that was enveloping her soul.

********
	
	"Bubble... Spray!"

	White mist shot forth from the hands of the senshi of
 Mercury, giving the army under her command a brief respite and
 a chance to regroup.  She fingered the crossbow at her hip,
 wondering if she should perhaps use it.  They'd been fighting
 with strike and run tactics for the past twenty minues since
 engaging the enemy, always falling back closer to the position
 where they would have to make their last stand.  She wiped her
 forehead with the back of her hand, her glove stained with
 sweat and blood.  She watched her soldiers regroup and check
 their wounded and dead as the fog floated about the battle
 field, causing the enmy to retreat.

	'At least they can't see through this,' Mercury thought
 with a sigh.  She flipped her computer open, calculating how
 many they had killed to those they had lost and smiled grimly. 
 They couldn't win, their numbers were just not big enough.

	"Alright, men, assemble up, and listen for your orders."
 her voice cut through the fog easily, carrying to each of her
 hundred or so soldiers that were left.  They assembled as near
 to her as they could so that she wouldn't have to speak too
 loudly and have the enemy overhear their plans.


	"I have within my power a weapon capable of turning this
 mist which protects us into a weapon," she began, "I am
 hesitant to use it though for it will affect everyone and
 everything inside it, meaning myself, you, and our enemy.  You
 men will retire to our break point.  Defend the entrance of the
 Palace on this side from all attackers, no matter what the
 cost.  I will set off my offensive strategy alone, at the
 point, when the most concentrated part of the army is visible
 and hopefully it will eliminate more than half of their forces. 
 You must hold them as long as you can at the entrance.  I
 cannot stress this enough.  You must protect the Queen and the
 Princess, they are our only hope for the future."

	The men remained silent, nodding their agreement, knowing
 that the senshi was probably throwing her life away to make a
 last ditch effort to protect not only the Palace and the people
 within but to also give them a fighting chance.  They saluted
 her as she dismiessed them and took up a well protected vantage
 point to watch the oncoming army.

	The soldiers quickly retired towards the Palace entrace
 they had been given orders to protect.

	Mercury took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing
 heartbeat.  'This is it,' she thought softly, hearing in the
 back of her mind the clammoring of the other three senshi's
 thoughts.  She bit her lip as she felt each of them fall, all
 of them within a few seconds of each other.  She felt tears
 sting her eyes, 'Mercury, give me the courgae to die like they
 did,' she prayed softly.  She attached her computer to the
 small crossbow and activated it.  Bolts appeared in a small
 quiver attached to her wrist and she quickly knotched one of
 them.  She could feel the mist she'd created rapidly dispersing
 on the lunar winds as she made her preperations.

	Finally ready, she took another deep breath as the mist
 finally dispersed and left the field of battle visible.  The
 attacking army began its cautious approach once again, looking
 everywhich way for ambushes.  When they found none they sped
 their pace up, the entrance they'd been told to sieze now
 within sight.

	Mercury waited until half of the army was within her view
 and leveled her crossbow above their heads, pulling the
 trigger.

	"Bubble...SPRAY!" 

	The bubbles attached to the bolt as it hurtled across the
 army, trailing freezing particles in its wake.  She quickly
 repeated the process a dozen times, feeling more of her
 strength ebb with each shot and use of her power. She fired the
 last bolt. 

	"FREEZE!"

	She watched in morbid facination as her plan went off
 without a hitch, the bubbles coalessing into a huge icy mist,
 clogging the lungs and freezing the approaching soldiers in
 their tracks.  More than half of the attacking force was under
 the icy shroud of death, and more than half of them perished 
 as they fell to the ground frozen, some shattering as they hit.

	Mercury smiled grimly, feeling her grasp on the world
 slipping away, "Only for you, Princess," she murmured softly. 
 Brilliant white light engulfed her as she slipped away, a
 peaceful smile on her lips.

********

	"Amy," Serenity whispered.  She felt cold as the weight of
 what exactly had occured settled on her soul as she wiped away
 the tears that trailed slowly down her cheeks.  Now there was
 only Endymion standing between her and the Lady Beryl's army. 
 She closed her eyes and grasped him tightly.  She knew she
 would loose him too.

********

	Queen Serenity watched the senshi of Saturn stand
 silently, without moving next to the one entrance to the room. 
 Still as a statue, the diminutive senshi's eyes were closed,
 but the Queen knew not to take that for carelessness as a
 guard.  Sailor Saturn was simply conserving her energy for the
 time when it would be needed.
	
	Queen Serenity took a deep breath, the ginzushiou
 pulsating softly in her hands, its energgy singing through her
 veins, just waiting for her to utter any kind of word, or think
 any kind of thought, to activate.

	Two figures backed towards the doors, and she watched
 Saturn for any kind of movement.  She relaxed when the fuku's
 of the two outter sehshi came into view.  "What news?"
	
	Neptune turned, her gaze taking in Saturn's position by
 the door, her glaive raised and ready for action, at a glance
 as she faced her monarch.  "My Queen, the four borders have
 fallen, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus are no more.  They
 managed to take out slightly more than half of the attacking
 army but we cannot hold them ourselves.  We cannot win."

	Uranus swiped at a cut across her brow, her glove coming
 away stained with blood, sweat and dust, "Your Majesty, we need
 to retreat from the Palace.  If you stay here, you will surely
 be captured or killed."

	Queen Serenity shook her head even as the senshi from
 Uranus spoke the words, "I am not leaving," she said softly.  

	"Then the sacrifice the inner senshi made was worthless,
 your highness." Neptune told her softly, "They died believing
 their lives would be given in service to you and the Princess,
 in hopes that you both might survive.  If you stay, either of
 you, then they died in vain."

	Queen Serenity shook her head, "They are not dead.  The
 Lady Beryl is too strong, until she is defeated, killed, they
 can be no further use."

	Uranus and Neptune ecchanged glances, "We saw them die,
 your majesty.  We saw each of them use their weapons and then
 disappear when they could no long sustain the powers within
 themselves and the weapons."

	"You are wrong, Neptune.  Guard the door with Saturn,
 please, Uranus.  Neptune I will need your mirror to guide them
 as to what is and is not a mirriage."

	The outer senshi nodded, their faces grim masks of
 determination as Queen Serenity closed her eyes and held the
 Ginzushiou up in front of her, her hands extended.  Brilliant
 white light exploded within the room as the power within was
 released. 

********

 Author's Note: Stay tuned for chapter 10!  It shouldn't be out
 before long :D  And for everyone who wanted more with the
 senshi, I hope to put some short stories out that have to do
 with the Generals and the senshi at a later date.  For now, I
 hope the battle scenes with the senshi were enough to tide you
 over!

 questions, comments, flames, suggestions to:

 Jade_Max@innocent.com
OR
 Jademax@hotmail.com

 Thanks for reading!
 Jade_Max


