Shades of Darkness

Kinomoto Minae paced the back of Mace Windu's small yet comfortable ship. She had been doing a lot of heavy thinking during their trip to Coruscant and still had so many more things to think about.

Minae sat down in a chair at the back of the ship and leaned her head against the headrest, closing her green eyes. If she was supposed to be the Senshi of Truth and Longevity, did that mean she'd always have to tell the truth, no matter what? But then, how was she supposed to keep her identity as Sailor Honoghr hidden, if she's supposed to tell the truth? And she had lied to Windu earlier, saying that he might have heard her call for help. She was actually very happy with the Noghri; they had taught her so much and were her family. She missed them a great deal already.

She looked around and noticed that the arm of the small chair had a sharp point on the end. Minae started pressing her arm into the point, trying to inflict pain. She should be punished for having lied to Windu when she was supposed to be telling the truth. The truth is what she stood for, so she shouldn't be doing the opposite. If the Noghri knew about this, they would've told her she was to be punished. Minae pressed her arm harder into the sharp point, and a small speck of blood appeared. This form of punishment was actually not as terrible as she would've had to go through if she was still with the Noghri. The Noghri would have had her arms tied uncomfortably behind her back while she would hang upside down from the ceiling until her face lost all color. But she wasn't with them anymore. She didn't have to hurt herself whenever she did something slightly wrong. Minae brought her arm off of the point and wiped away the only small drop of blood that had appeared. No more punishments. Things were going to have to be much different now.

As for always telling the truth, she could learn to live with that, as long as avoiding it sometimes was possible.

Windu interrupted her thoughts, saying that they would be landing very soon. Minae slowly walked up to the cramped cockpit and sat down.

The Jedi - at least that's what Minae remembered him calling himself - closed his eyes, and Minae felt something creeping around her mind. She shuddered, trying to get rid of the weird sensation.

"Before we left, I said you had a lot of potential, and I was very right," Windu said, opening his eyes again.

"Potential for what?" Minae asked, wondering if she really wanted to know.

"You have a lot of Force-sensitivity in you. That's Jedi potential." Windu looked at Minae, who seemed confused. "You could be a Jedi, like I, if you wanted."

"I'm sorry, I'm still new to this whole 'Jedi' and 'Force' stuff. Things still aren't clear," Minae sighed. Then she remembered her duties as Sailor Honoghr, which she obviously couldn't give up. "But anyway, I'd rather not become a Jedi. I'll search for other things in life."

Windu looked out the viewscreen, then responded, "I guess that works perfectly then, since you're too old to begin training anyway."

Minae's jaw dropped. What? So she didn't have a choice in this matter. Even if she had wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to become one. Well, THAT was just fine and dandy. This universe might be meaner than she had first expected. Windu interrupted her again, telling her to strap in, as they were about to land.

Coruscant was like nothing she had ever seen before; there were bright lights from ships everywhere, and there was hardly any free room in the sky because everything was filled with fast ships or amazing tall towers. Minae couldn't say anything, but she did gasp in awe a few times. They had just landed at the Jedi Temple when Minae told Windu that she wouldn't be able to stay. He gave her directions for the way out of the Temple and some other general tips for getting around Coruscant, then they both departed on their separate journeys. Minae could tell the older Jedi was very disappointed, because he had just wasted a lot of time picking her up, and she wasn't even going to be of use to him.

Minae exited the Jedi Temple and entered the busy streets of Coruscant, not exactly sure about what she should do next.

An innocent man stood reading piles of datacards with his datapad while leaning against the wall of a random building. A wave of darkness passed across him, and the air filled with gray and purple smoke. The man dropped his datapad, which crashed into thousands of tiny pieces on the cold floor, and ran out of the thick smoke, coughing. A large shadow hovered over him, and as he started to look up, he was blinded by sudden darkness.

Getting worried, the man started to run away when he felt something grab his shoulders roughly and pull him back. A slimy oval object was thrown onto his neck, and it dug something into his flesh. He screamed, trying to grab at it, but it was too quick. The innocent man's life was sucked out of him in an instant, and he fell back onto the floor, dead.

Vra Vji laughed, floating above the dead body. The dark woman held her arms above her head, and a misty black circle formed between her hands, while her blonde hair went crazy in the wind.

"In the name of evil, I command you to ENTER!" Vra threw the shadowy ball at the body, which seemed to just evaporate into the skin.

Slowly, the previously dead man lifted himself up and stood in front of Vra. His eyes were now a glowing red, and his skin had a yellowish tint to it.

"Nightsister Vra Vji. I am ready to obey your orders. Command me as you please," the changed man spoke.

Vra laughed again, then raised her left hand and looked upward. She and her new soldier rose into the air, eventually vanishing among the fog.

Minae was following Windu's directions to the Galactic Job Center, frustrated as she kept getting lost.

"This looks like it could be it," Minae said, relieved. When she was just about to touch the button to open the door, something tickled the back of her mind, saying that something was very wrong. Minae turned around and had another strange sensation, this one telling her she needed to get to a certain place.

Tucking the holomap that Windu had given her into her pocket, she started running, letting her mind lead her. She reached a corner and skidded to a stop, looking forward. The entire area was filled with black fog which scratched at her throat. She looked up just in time to see a foot disappear into the cloudy fog above, but she could see nothing else.

Thinking she might be able to see through the fog better if she moved a little, Minae walked forward, looking up. It was no use, she couldn't see anyth--

"OW!" Minae cried as she slipped on something and fell to the ground. There were tiny pieces of glass everywhere, and a few large pieces of what looked like datacards. Giving up, Minae stood and walked back to the Galactic Job Center.

Sitting with her eyes closed, Mara tried to rest, but it was hard when she was in a room filled with people talking. Mara opened herself to the Force, hoping that would help. As soon as she began the connection, a sense of danger swept over her, and the image of black smoke or fog entered her mind. Mara stood up immediately, looking around.

"Is something wrong?" Mara's future son, Ben, asked, looking up from a book.

An ice-blue-haired girl was tickling a smaller girl but soon froze and put her hand to her forehead. The ticklee stood up, laughing. "What are you doing, Yuki?" the girl asked, still laughing.

"Yukiko, did you sense it, also?" Mara asked, walking over to her. The younger girl stopped giggling when she noticed the serious looks on the other two's faces.

Soon, more people in the room were groaning, sensing the same thing Mara had just felt a few moments before.

What was that? A thought entered everyone's minds.

"I have the exact same question, Koumi," Kirana answered.

"It appears as if we all have sensed the same disturbance in the Force. Something must be very wrong," Nom spoke up.

"Not again!" a young Kairiku sighed.

"Whatever it is, it's gone now," Mara realized.

Priire pointed her finger. "But it might come back, there's a very good chance of that. We should all go out and stand post around the planet, so we can be ready when it does return." Priire stood up, continuing. "Then maybe we can find out what it was."

"I agree with Priire. That seems like the best thing to do right now," Xarae added, brushing back her long, dark brown hair.

Chouko stood up from where Yuki had been tickling her. "Right now? Are we going to leave right away?" She grabbed two pieces of candy from a bowl and threw one to Kairiku, who missed catching it and had to bend down to pick it up.

A flash of bright hair crossed the room as Ippin looked into the bowl and sighed. "There's only one piece left already. Didn't we just buy some more?" Ippin stared into the younger girls' faces, who just grinned in return.

"While we're out looking for whatever caused the disturbance, we can buy some more," Yuki suggested.

Nom picked up where the others had left off earlier before everyone had started thinking about candy. "We should go in groups of two. It will be Mara and Ben, Koumi and Kirana, Ippin and Priire, Chouko and Lys, Kairi-chan and Yuki, and Xarae and myself. We should leave now, so we do not miss anything."

"We'll just transform when and if we find anything. Let's go," Lys opened the door and exited with Chouko, who discarded a wrapper before leaving.

Everyone else also left, grabbing their lightsaber or blaster along with a comlink before heading out.

Ciel sat at the Diverse Diner, picking at some human food. She figured Coruscant, which she luckily already lived on, would be a good place to find Vra Vji again, since Coruscant was the center of the galaxy. Her Guardian Angel had also told her about other Sailor Jedi, so she might even bump into some more here and be able to group with them.

She finished her Corellian ale, then flipped some Republic credits onto the table, which should more than take care of the tab, including the tip.

Ciel left the restaurant, pulling her coat tighter around her before sticking her hands into the pockets.

"Wow, it's dark already," she whispered to herself, though the lights from all the ships didn't make it completely dark. Ciel walked farther away from the diner, heading back to her apartment.

All of the jobs seemed useless. There was nothing Minae really wanted to do. She was lost and had no idea how she could live her life. If she had, at first, taken up Mace Windu's offer to become a Jedi, then at least she'd have something to do, other than her duties as Sailor Honoghr. The thing was that, as Sailor Honoghr, she couldn't make any money. She needed a real job, something to help her earn a living. But nothing in the job directory seemed to help. She even took a Galactic Career Test to find out what job would fit her most, but so far the results weren't looking too good.

Maybe if I learned how to fly a ship, I could be a cargo hauler. Just carry things and drop them off. And I'd always be ready to hurry somewhere to fight. Or I could take people to places, but they would get in the way if something bad happened. Minae continued debating choices, but there was something wrong with each one.

A politician? No, nasty job. Politicians lie, that wouldn't work for me at all. Minae looked at the next option. Entertainer? She clutched her chest because she was laughing so hard. That obviously wasn't the right job for her.

Maybe I can just get a lower job, like a cook or someone who works at a company. Most of the food I made back on Honoghr didn't turn out too bad. If I remember correctly, they actually really liked my food. Minae shrugged. She would give it a try. It wasn't much of a job, and the pay probably wasn't that great, but it would have to do. She'd look for openings tomorrow, because night was already here and she would have to find a place to stay.

Minae thanked the people there for their help, then left the building. She had started walking in a random direction, just letting her mind - or was it supposed to be the Force? - guide her.

She didn't know it, but she was walking to the shallow and empty parts of the underworld of Coruscant. Looking around, Minae realized that there couldn't be a place to sleep here. She started to turn back around when she felt another tug at the back of her mind, followed by what sounded like someone screaming.

Minae started running towards the scream, and hid behind a corner when she saw someone. A blonde, blue-eyed woman stood facing a scared male Twi'lek, who was cowering in a dark corner. The woman laughed evilly and reached inside her dark robes, pulling out what looked like some sort of modified blaster.

Minae gasped, then remembered what to do. Throwing her brooch, which began to flap its wings, into the air, she yelled "Honoghr Power, Make-up!" and began to transform.

Sailor Honoghr quickly jumped out from the corner and yelled to the woman. "Stop right there! I am Sailor Honoghr, Senshi of Truth and Longevity! In the name of Honoghr and the Noghri, I stand to make sure that what you do comes back to you three times worse! And how dare you try to take away that being's life so soon. Longevity is something that should be available to everyone. Now surrender, before you regret ever meeting me!" As Sailor Honoghr, she felt a fresh surge of energy run through her. Normally, she would've been scared to death in a situation like this, but she felt so strangely brave in full costume.

The woman laughed once more, turning away from Sailor Honoghr to face the Twi'lek again. She fired her modified blaster, and a slimy, oval, leech-like thing jumped out at the crying Twi'lek. The thing began sucking the life out of the Twi'lek, which dropped dead after just a few moments.

Sailor Honoghr screamed, shocked. "You weren't supposed to do that! You were supposed to come fight me first!" Her face grew red, wondering what she did wrong.

"I'm not stupid, little sailor thing. What was it you called yourself? Sailor Honoghr? That was it. Now, like I said, I'm not stupid. I like to finish my work before moving on to other things. And I'm not quite done with him yet, so back off and wait until I'm done." The woman turned back towards the Twi'lek again and raised her arms into the air. A misty black ball formed between her hands, and she prepared to throw it.

"What are you doing?" Sailor Honoghr cried.

"I'm implanting him with an evil soul so he can be my soldier of darkness, which I will do to you as soon as I'm done with him." The woman sneered. "Now stop interrupting me!"

Sailor Honoghr panicked. What was she supposed to do now? Oh! An attack! She put her hands together and concentrated.

"Honoghr Toxic Waste Blast!" she shouted, pulling her hands apart. When she separated her hands, a gray energy ball had appeared between them.

The dark woman turned around to see why Sailor Honoghr had just shouted something and was stunned when she saw her throwing her attack. The woman jumped up into the air, so Sailor Honoghr's attack went right past her, but doing this caused her misty black ball to disappear.

"Drat! Look what you did. It takes me a while to make those," the woman frowned.

"Who are you anyway?" Sailor Honoghr asked.

"Vra Vji, and I am only telling you because I am proud of my work and don't want anyone else taking credit. Since I can't turn you into a soldier of my darkness for now, I'll just have to kill you, too, for the time being." She positioned her modified blaster again, this time at Sailor Honoghr.

Ready to try it one more time, Sailor Honoghr sent another Honoghr Toxic Waste Blast at the woman, which only managed to break her weapon. The woman screamed in frustration, but a wicked smile crossed her face.

"I'll be back another time, and you better be there, girl," she said before vanishing among a cloud of black fog.

Sailor Honoghr coughed, trying to breathe but not being able to because of the fog.

"What's going on? Who are you?"

Sailor Honoghr turned at the sound of another voice. Disappointed that she'd have to fight someone else now, she turned around, preparing her attack, but stopped when she got a good look at the person. It was another Sailor Senshi, thank goodness! At least she wouldn't have to fight anyone now.

The black-haired, blue-eyed senshi dressed in purple and silver squinted her eyes to get a better look at the girl standing quite a lot of meters in front of her.

"I'm Sailor Honoghr, and I see you're a Sailor Senshi, too," Sailor Honoghr said, collecting her long brown hair in her hands and pushing it back so it would stay out of her face.

"Yeah, I'm a Sailor Senshi... But first tell me what was going on here, and why you are standing in front of a dead Twi'lek..." the other senshi responded, with a skeptical look on her face.

Sailor Honoghr jumped, then began to laugh nervously. "Whoops, I guess I forgot about that. What happened is that I felt a strange disturbance, and I somehow ended up here, where I found an evil woman trying to kill this male Twi'lek. I tried to stop her, but she finished killing him before she turned back to me. I guess I didn't expect that," Sailor Honoghr looked down, twiddling her thumbs. It was her first real fight, and she had failed horribly. Would things continue like this until she finally died in a fight? She hated herself for that. Whether she was Minae or Sailor Honoghr, she always seemed to do things wrong. She wasn't clumsy, it's just she had no proper instruction.

"How do I know you're not lying to me, and are really Vra disguised as someone to fight evil, not cause it? That would be very like her," the senshi said, stepping back.

Something clicked in Sailor Honoghr's mind. Vra! That was it! "First of all, I am the Senshi of Truth and Longevity, so you shouldn't have to worry about me lying. Second, are you talking about Vra Vji? Because if my memory serves me right, and I usually have a good memory, that's what the woman called herself. She also said she was a Nightsister," Sailor Honoghr said, snapping her fingers.

"Vra was here!" The senshi growled, running forward towards Sailor Honoghr. "Sorry about that, I'm Sailor Centrali. What was Vra doing, and where did she go? Tell me everything," Sailor Centrali said.

"Whoa, slow down! Okay, come with me," Sailor Honoghr motioned for Sailor Centrali to follow her to the dead Twi'lek. They both knelt down, and Honoghr pointed to a slimy oval thing attached to the Twi'lek's lekku.

"See this?" Honoghr started. "She had a modified blaster and shot it at him. I guess it sucked the life out of him. Then she had a misty black ball that she said was going to give him an evil soul so he could live again as her soldier of darkness. At least I think that's how it went."

"How did she get away? You didn't try to stop her?" Centrali asked, looking around again.

Honoghr looked hurt. "Hey! I tried my best - this is my first time, you know. Okay, I started using my attack against her, and when I did, her misty black ball disappeared. Then she tried to shoot me, too, with her modified blaster, but I destroyed it with my attack. I guess that was her only weapon, so she left. But she did say she'd be back, unfortunately. Anyway, I think the Twi'lek is dead for good, and there's no way to bring him back, unless he lived again as her 'soldier of darkness,' I think. But he's better off dead than serving her, right?"

"Right," Centrali stood up.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Sailor Honoghr asked.

"We'll just have to go home and wait for her to return." Sailor Centrali sighed. She said goodbye and started to walk away when Sailor Honoghr transformed back into Kinomoto Minae. Minae was going to ask her if they should stick together to fight, but she was already gone.

Minae finally left also, taking one last look at the Twi'lek, then left to find a hotel to stay at.

"All I want is a good night's sleep," Minae yawned, starting to walk back to the regular levels of Coruscant.

"Hurry, Chouko, we might have already lost it!" Lys called, running quickly.

"I'm sorry, I'm running as fast as I can! I can barely keep my eyes open, we've been searching for hours," Chouko, now Sailor Chibi Dantooine, shouted back to Lys, who had also transformed.

Sailor Chibi Bakura skidded to a halt, putting her hand up to motion for Chibi Dantooine to stop, also.

"It was or still is in here, I can feel it," Chibi Bakura whispered. She and Chibi Dantooine tiptoed through the undergrounds of Coruscant and stopped when they saw a body on the floor.

"Sailor Chibi Bakura, there's no one else here, just the body now. Should we check it out?" Sailor Chibi Dantooine asked, still whispering.

"Yes," Chibi Bakura responded, and she and the other Sailor Senshi stepped up to the body.

"Oh Force," Sailor Chibi Dantooine moaned, staring at the dead Twi'lek. Covering her mouth, Chibi Bakura leaned over the body and looked at the slimy oval thing attached to its lekku. Stomach beginning to feel queasy, she backed away.

We're here. Is it safe? Koumi's voice entered the other two's heads.

"I think so. There's no one else here that I can see, well, no one living, that is," Chibi Bakura responded.

Sailor Kessel and the pearlescent-haired Sailor Omwat walked over to Sailor Chibi Dantooine and Chibi Bakura.

Sailor Omwat groaned, and Sailor Kessel looked disgusted when both of them saw the dead Twi'lek.

"What happened here?" Sailor Omwat asked.

Did you see anyone? Sailor Kessel added.

"No, we just got here ourselves, so we have no idea, either," Chibi Dantooine responded.

I'll call for the others to come. Sailor Kessel thought to them all.

Xarae and Nom had been the first to arrive, with Mara and Ben following soon afterwards. While waiting for the others to come - who knew where they could be on the planet - Xarae had lifted the Twi'lek's body with the Force so they all could examine it better. Lys had found a stick that she used to pry the slimy oval thing off of the lekku and was poking it with the stick on the ground, turning it over continually to study it. Ben and Nom had looked over the Twi'lek itself, making sure that it was really dead, while Mara walked around the dark area, trying to look for any clues.

When Xarae was done moving the body around, she and Chouko had joined Mara in the search for any evidence.

Finally, Yukiko and Kairiku showed up, Yuki holding a bag of candy, just as Xarae noticed a blast in the wall that looked like it was still fresh. Not wanting to be around the body that was beginning to smell bad, Yuki joined Xarae in examining the blast.

"That blast you two are looking at, it's recent, isn't it?" Lys asked, walking over to them.

"I'm positive it is. When I first found it, the metal it had blasted into was still slightly warm. Now it's back to normal temperature, though," Xarae responded.

Everyone started walking towards the blast when Ippin and Priire finally showed up.

"Sorry we took so long, we were half way across the planet. And when we tried to get back to my ship, people kept stalling us, trying to sell something or invite us to play a round of sabacc," Priire said, exhausted.

"Which you agreed to." Ippin rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I won!" Priire smiled.

"We have some more important things at hand now," Nom interrupted. "Come over here."

Ippin and Priire walked over to where everyone else was studying the blast in the wall.

"Hmm... You know what this blast really looks like?" Lys asked the others, who shook their heads. "I'm really sure that it looks like a senshi attack. It seems the right size, and must've had just the right amount of force as a regular attack to go into the wall this far. Furthermore, it fits the situation perfectly. Someone might've been here and killed the Twi'lek-" Lys pointed to the dead body, and Ippin and Priire, who were seeing it for the first time, wrinkled their faces "-and another Sailor Senshi must have sent an attack at them, but they missed. Does that seem right to you all?"

"Actually, Lys, that makes perfect sense," Mara said, crossing her arms.

"Is there anything else we can do for now?" Yuki asked, yawning.

Koumi looked at Chouko and Kairi-chan, whose eyes were both beginning to lower slowly, as if there were heavy weights pulling them down.

We should probably go back now. It's three standard hours in the morning, and we would all think better if we were more awake, Koumi "said," projecting her thoughts.

"You're right," Kirana answered, catching Yuki's yawn.

The twelve soldiers left the underworld of Coruscant, heading back home, where it was safe.

"Are you currently accepting applications to work here?" Minae asked a waiter at the Diverse Diner while tapping her fingers on the counter.

"Uh, yeah. I think so. Um, let me get you a form," the scale-covered waiter replied, leaving for a second. When he came back, he was carrying a datapad in one hand and the doughnut Minae had ordered in the other. Minae thanked him, taking a seat at an empty table.

I looooove doughnuts, they're so wonderful, Minae sighed, taking a big bite out of hers. She set the doughnut back down on the plate, and then picked up the datapad.

Let's see... Name: Kinomoto Minae. Species: Human. Standard Age: 16. Gender: Female. Homeworld... Minae paused, thinking about what she should put for her homeworld. Honoghr was an obscure planet, and basically no one knew about it. It would be a bit weird when they read her application, since they may think she was trying to hide something. Right now would be the perfect time to have a parent, just so they could take her by the hand and lead her in the right direction. Minae missed her parents so much; no matter how comfortable she would get fighting as Sailor Honoghr, and no matter how used to this galaxy she would become, she would always be insecure. Always. Never being able to make decisions on her own, just wanting someone else to lead her. Not because she wanted people to do everything for her, but because she would never know if she was doing the right thing.

Finally, Minae entered "unknown" for her homeworld, and continued filling out the application.

She had a doughnut sticking out of her mouth, fingers quickly entering something into the datapad, when someone sat down in the seat in front of her. Embarrassed, Minae took the doughnut out of her mouth and wiped any frosting off of her face. Before she looked at the person in front of her, she felt something strange again.

"Do I know you?" Minae asked the girl with black ponytails sitting in front of her. "You look really familiar..."

"I'm pretty sure we met last night, though I didn't quite get your real name," the other girl spoke. Finally, Minae remembered. The girl sitting in front of her was Sailor Centrali, though she didn't remember ever talking to her in her non-senshi form. Minae suddenly got worried; if she knew who Minae really was, other people who saw both Sailor Honoghr and Kinomoto Minae would recognize the similarities, also!

"How did you know it was me?" Minae whispered, concerned.

"I just felt a strange presence, and something in my mind let me know it was you." The girl shrugged.

"Oh. I never did get your name, either. I'm Kinomoto Minae. That's last name first, so just call me Minae," Minae said, extending her hand.

"I'm Ciel su'Maka." Ciel shook her hand in return.

"So, have you seen any sign of Vra in the last few hours?" Ciel continued, obviously very interested in Vra.

"No, I just woke up an hour ago and came here right away to fill out an application to work here," Minae lifted her datapad so Ciel could see what she was talking about.

"Hmm... I would've expected her to be on the move, working as fast as she could, not wanting to waste a moment. Though I do think she will strike again, today," Ciel said, deep in thought.

Minae was having another bite of her delicious doughnut when Ciel stood up again.

"I should go now. I really shouldn't rest until I've found Vra and she's destroyed." Ciel spoke with an even more determined look on her face. They both said goodbye, and then Ciel left.

Minae gave the filled datapad to the waiter again, who said they'd call her at her hotel if she was hired. While leaving the restaurant, Minae realized that Ciel must really be obsessed with finding this Vra person.

Well, she thought, I guess I'm really obsessed with trying to do things right.

That same afternoon, Minae had gotten a transmission from the Diverse Diner. They were calling her back, this time to see what she could do. So she had walked back to the diner and was now baking them her specialty, crepes. On Honoghr, she was always making the tasteful thin pancakes wrapped over fruit or another filling for desert or for breakfast. The owner of the Diverse Diner had asked her to try making a crepe with some alderberries, a fruit imported from Alderaan. Not surprisingly, the alderberry crepe turned out delicious.

However, Minae had one problem. She could hardly cook any lunch or dinner foods, only breakfast foods and deserts. They were her favorite things to eat, after all, so it was no surprise that that was all she could cook. But the delicious crepes, waffles, and cakes made up for all that, and they hired her immediately.

Minae was skipping back to her hotel, thrilled that she had gotten the job, when she felt another warning tickle her mind. She started running towards the danger, but it was so far away. She would never make it there in time.

Sailor Vjun, Sailor Omwat, and Sailor Iridonia raised their arms and prepared their attacks. A hoard of dead-looking beings with yellowish tints to their skin and evil red eyes were charging at all of the senshi, some carrying modified blasters.

"Energy Sphere!" Vjun shouted, jumping into the air. She hurled a white ball of energy at one of the charging enemies, knocking it back. Next, she shouted "Kienzen Halo!" causing a disk to come spinning at the knocked-down being. The Halo cut the being in half, and Vjun prepared to move onto another attacker when the top half of her split victim jumped onto her back.

Sailor Omwat screamed, shouting, "It's like a zombie!" when one of them charged at her. The pearlescent-haired senshi quickly sent an attack at the enemy, which collapsed, thankfully not coming back up.

Sailor Iridonia raised her hands, using the Force to pick the top half of the zombie-like creature off of Vjun's back and throw it against the wall, where it slid down and didn't move.

"Thanks, Xarae," Vjun panted, quickly turning back to where another one was charging at her.

Iridonia nodded back, then the three continued fighting their share of the creatures, being extra careful not to cut them in half.

Meanwhile, Sailor Hoth, Sailor Chibi Bakura, Sailor Kessel, and Sailor Dathomir were fighting even worse piles of them. There were so many that Sailor Hoth was practically staying in one place just long enough to use her Hoth Blizzard Blast on one of them before she had to hurry to another. Sailor Chibi Bakura and Sailor Kessel were fighting in the middle of the area, not pausing their attacks at all. Eventually they started jumping in the air when two were charging at the senshi, causing them to bump into each other so the senshi could send an attack at them while they were still knocked out. Sailor Dathomir ran around the dark area, squeezing to dust any enemy that might have survived the others' attacks using Stone River Obliviate to do the job.

Not too far away, Sailor Chibi Dantooine, Sailor Yavin, Coruscant Knight, Sailor Asteroid, and Sailor Chibi Naboo were fighting an exceptionally hard group of ten of the strange beings. These ten seemed stronger than the ones the other senshi were fighting, like they were trained to be harder to kill. They constantly sent attacks toward the creatures, but they would always move too quickly, dodging the attack.

Sailors Iridonia, Omwat, and Vjun reached the five fighting the harder group when they were done with theirs. Iridonia had picked up another one of them with the Force again, throwing it headfirst into the wall. While it was still recovering, Sailor Asteroid sent an attack at it, finally killing it. They used the same tactic for the other nine, finally finishing them off, when Sailor Hoth, Sailor Chibi Bakura, Sailor Kessel, and Sailor Dathomir met up with them, also.

"Are there any left?" Chibi Naboo, panting, asked the last four when they returned.

"I think they're all gone," Hoth responded, adding, "What were they, anyway?"

"First of all, one survived an attack when Vjun sliced it in half, as if it was already dead, so cutting it wouldn't do anything," Omwat said, leaning against a wall.

"And they had yellowish skin and red eyes. Well, at least you could tell that in the ones that looked like they originally didn't have that kind of skin and eyes," Chibi Dantooine pointed out.

Coruscant Knight, deep in thought, suggested that this might have something to do with what they found the night before.

"It most definitely seems like they're connected," Asteroid answered.

Chibi Bakura sat on the ground, thinking. "What we can piece together so far is that they seem to have been already dead, yet they were made alive again. Maybe the Twi'lek we found last night that was already dead was killed to become one of these creatures. It makes sense, but still, who could be doing all of this?"

"Me, of course!" A woman's voice laughed.

All the senshi looked up to find a blonde woman in dark robes floating near the ceiling.

And just who might you be? Koumi asked. The woman wasn't shocked by the voice that had entered her mind; she just merely laughed again.

"I am Vra Vji, Nightsister from Dathomir, and you have just battled against my soldiers as a test to see how strong all of you are. And now that I have my results, I shall go prepare to defeat you, since your kind are getting in my way." Vra disappeared into the wall, not giving the senshi a chance to ask any other questions.

Yukiko turned to Nom with a questioning look. "Can you tell us more about these Nightsisters from Dathomir?"

"Nightsisters are witches from my planet who use the Dark Side of the Force, and that is as simple as it can be put," Nom answered.

"If all of this just now was only a test, we need to be prepared for the final battle," Ben sighed.

The rest agreed, then left to go back to the Room Behind the Waterfall.

"I feel her! I can feel her here!" Ciel growled, running. But now she was Sailor Centrali, trying to catch Vra Vji. She ran into a big basement-like area, but all she found around her were corpses of yellowish beings of every kind of species.

"Sith! I'm too late! I've missed her again," Ciel stomped her foot on the ground. "But she was here, that I can tell. And I was right, she did come back today. Which means she'll be back again. But next time, I'm going to be waiting for her and not running to get there in time." Ciel turned around, upset that she'd wasted another trip across the planet and hadn't even made it in time.

Minae was not even close to her destination when her mind stopped tingling.

"I must be too late," she whispered to herself. "I need some sort of vehicle!"

Knowing she'd just be wasting more time if she continued running, Minae stopped and rested for a while before returning to her hotel.

The next day, all Minae wanted was to have a normal life on Coruscant. She was tired of this Senshi stuff already, and she had hardly even started. She didn't want to go back to Honoghr, but she did want to lead what most people considered a "normal" life. She had only just embraced this whole new galaxy, so how was she supposed to go about fighting for it?

An alderberry crepe, just made, sat in front of Minae. She stared at it and stared at it, thinking about nothing, just letting her mind stay blank. Finally, she screamed, pulling off her cook's hat and ripping it apart. A Bothan waiter walked over to her, looking at her strangely.

"The screaming makes the crepes better," Minae said calmly, handing the Bothan the plate. The waiter gave her an "Oh, I see" look, assuming she was serious.

Minae slumped down onto the floor and buried her face in her hands. This was all too much for her; it had to be a dream. She belonged back on Honoghr, living with the Noghri, training with Sabaky every day. She missed the stories he would tell her at night, especially the ones about what Honoghr was like when it was still beautiful. There had been plants everywhere, streams and rivers flowing gracefully, and beautiful cherry blossom trees in certain parts of the planet. The description of the older Honoghr made it seem so beautiful, though now it was just a wreck. But at least she wouldn't be helping shoulder the burden of the galaxy if she was still there. She hadn't even met any other Senshi, besides one, and she had assumed there would be many. And they all had to be much better at their job than Minae was.

A click in the orders processor interrupted Minae's thoughts. Standing up, she read the new order. Yet another crepe... At least that was one thing she could do right. Sighing, Minae began on the thin pancake wrapping of the crepe.

"I'm so hungry!" Yuki moaned, holding her stomach. "All we've been doing lately is fighting and trying to figure out exactly what that Vra lady is doing. We've skipped so many meals, and as much as I love candy, we can't live on it forever."

This looks like a good place to eat suggested Koumi, stopping in front of the Diverse Diner.

"Yuki, do you remember what crepes are? I remember hearing about them back on Earth, but there's hardly been any mention of them here," Kairi-chan asked.

"Well, I think I remember it being like a thin pancake wrapped around strawberries or other berries. I can't remember ever trying one, though," Yuki replied.

They sound good to me. Let's go in here, I'm starving. The three girls were about to press the button to open the door when it opened right before them, with a man walking out of it in a hurry. The man ran right into Kairi-chan, throwing her to the ground.

"Watch where you're going kid," the man growled, starting to walk away.

"Age isn't everything!" Kairiku yelled back. "Don't underestimate me, that's not smart!"

Koumi jumped in front of the man, staring into his hard eyes. Seems to me it'd be better if YOU watched where you're going.

"Wh- where'd that come from?" The man asked, stuttering.

And next time, mess with someone your own size. This time Koumi mouthed her words, too, so the man finally realized it was her.

"What's this, some sort of Jedi trick or something?" He smiled, looking cocky. "And besides, don't threaten me, especially when you're hardly half my size, too." It was true, as the man was very big. Almost as big as a Wookiee, actually.

Koumi narrowed her eyes, ready to think something back, when Yuki grabbed her and Kairi-chan's arms, quickly running into the restaurant.

"We don't have time for that, we need something to eat," Yuki said, sitting at a table with the rest of them. A Bothan waiter came up to them, handing each a holomenu.

"May I recommend our alderberry crepes? They are quite delicious, especially for young humans like yourselves," he said, practically purring.

Kairi-chan shrugged, and Koumi nodded in agreement. The crepes did sound good, after all.

"I guess we'll each have some of those," the ice-blue haired girl said, handing back her menu. The Bothan took the other's holomenus then left their table.

"It feels so good to just be able to sit back and relax. Those crepes better be good!" Kairi-chan said, stretching.

In the back of the restaurant, Minae felt another strange tickling in her head.

"I'm getting way too many of these," she whispered to herself. She was just starting to take off her apron to leave when she noticed the sensation felt good, not as if something bad was happening again. Thinking that was a bit too strange, Minae leaned out of the kitchen, looking at everyone seated in the busy restaurant. Her eyes immediately fell upon three girls sitting at a table, one with ice-blue hair, another with long, black hair, and the last with blonde hair with red streaks going through it, with some of the hair pulled up into strange buns.

"The buns must be a style on Coruscant," Minae said to herself. Wondering why that group was of such interest in her, she asked the Bothan waiter if they were the ones who had ordered three alderberry crepes.

"Just one group of many," he sighed, jealous that people loved her crepes so much.

"Do you mind if I bring them their food?" she asked, still staring at them.