Data 11: The Solar Warrior's Origins The Solar Warrior had the attention of everyone at SDF HQ now. He thus began to speak about his origins: "To begin my story, I must take you back tens of thousands of years, even before the Moon Kingdom itself was founded. It was the time of the 'Golden Epoch,' an era of universal peace and prosperity that existed long before the Silver Millennium. At the heart of this Golden Epoch was the Solar Realm, a kingdom that was governed on truth, justice and mercy. The Solarians themselves lived in a pocket dimension that existed within the Sun; my race was old when time was young. Our ruler and god was known as the Guardian of the Sun, but since our ruler was away on a ten thousand year journey to acquire knowledge of the other alien races that exist in this galaxy, our kingdom was governed by the Royal High Council,consisting of the High Priests of the Sun. Law and order was maintained by the Holy Order of the Solar Knights, and I, Nakajimi Tetsuo, was one of them. I was born to one of the most powerful families of the nobility; we ruled what we had called the Planetary Province of Terra, what you call Earth. The Solar Realm consisted of all of your Solar System. The Solar Knights were known for their even-handed administration of justice and acts of chivalry. Everyone who lived in our realm was assured that no criminal would escape, no cry for help go unheeded. Soon I was made the Exalted Commandant of the Solar Knights, and I was set to marry the Crown Princess herself once she and the Guardian of the Sun returned. "However, that was not to be. One day, we were on routine patrol near Pluto, when we received a distress call. 'Help! We are under attack!,' it went. Soon we heard a menacing voice. 'We are the Mecha-Dominion! We will absorb your world into our realm! Rebellion against us is useless!' We raced over to the outpost, but saw that it was virtually destroyed. We found a few survivors. They told us that the Mecha-Dominion consisted of cybernetic beings who implanted computer chip devices onto the foreheads of those they conquered and made into slaves to serve the Supreme Computer that governs their realm. They were on their way to Pluto. We had to stop them." "We called for reinforcements, and gathered our forces at Pluto. Soon we saw their vast armada: a vast fleet of ships without number; ships that all looked the same and were all in the same pyramidal shape. We fought valiantly, but their weapons were far too superior to ours.They had weapons that could destroy entire planets and entire fleets of starships. Soon Pluto fell to the Mecha-Dominion. Thus that was repeated with each planet. Neptune fell, then Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury. Finally, we made one last desperate stand at the Sun. However, the Mecha-Dominion Mother Ship fired a powerful beam, collapsing the forecefield that kept our pocket dimension inside the Sun in existence. All who were in there perished in solar fire. Soon all save I were absorbed. I managed to escape by self-destructing my ship and hiding out in a cargo box. I had managed to take some provisions beforehand. I was in there for a month until a squadron of the United Galactic Confederation Defense Forces rescued me. They briefed me on what happened. All but a remnant who managed to escape had been taken from every planet in our realm. I was the only Solarian still alive. The Solar Realm was no more, and I was the last Holy Solar Knight. I finally settled on the Moon--which even then had people on it-- and settled with some survivors. Back then, after the Mecha- Dominion attack, each planet was governed under its own system of government. Earth had fallen into anarchy and chaos, while Mercury, Venus and Jupiter had become monarchies. Mars, Saturn and Pluto were republics while Uranus and Neptune had become military dictatorships. The Moon had become a republic with a strong centralized system of government; there was a powerful president and an equally powerful parliament and high court. Soon enough, the president had asked me to head the newly created Lunar Republic Security Force. I served in that capacity for thirty years." "Then, one day, the long-absent Guardian of the Sun returned. She stopped by the Moon and asked for me. I saw her at my office in Tranquillity City, the capital of the Lunar Republic. I still remember everything as it was yesterday. I remember when I first saw her, she said, 'I know you carry a tremendous burden in your heart. I know you lost everyone you cared for. But I want to make that up to you. I am the Guardian of the Sun, who was once the ruler of the now extinct Solar Realm.'" "I then asked, 'If you are her, then why did you abandon us?'" "She replied, 'I was seeking knowledge of all that live here in the galaxy. But now I realize that I have been derelict in my duties. If I had been here, I could have saved my people. When my daughter saw what happened, she killer herself. I know that you were going to be wed to her. I am sorry.'" "I felt such a great loss then. But then she pointed toward the Earth and spoke further;" "'Look at the Earth. When my ancestors, Izanagi and Izanami, created the Earth, the mud dripping from Izanami's spear created those islands you see off the coast of East Asia. On that nation, the gods themselves took human form and decided to live there. They call this land in their tongue Nihon, which means to them the source of the Sun. They are a vibrant people, but the lawlessness that permeates this planet threatens to overwhelm them. Already I have seen the terror that these anarchistic humans do. I have visited this planet in many disguises. In Egypt I saw the natives there enslave another race called the Hebrews who were fleeing from starvation. In the Western Hemisphere I saw savage tribes cut out the hearts of other people while they were still alive and offer them as gifts to their gods. I have seen lawlessness and disregard for the rights of others. I saw cruelty and disrespect and murder. If this is what the attack of the Mecha-Dominion has left, then it is time to correct it.'" "'By now you should know who I am. I am actually Amaterasu- Omikami, the Great Heaven Shining Deity. I am the Goddess of the Sun. I hereby say now that I will never again abandon my people. As for you, you can help me in this. I will give you the power to face these anarchists who wish to keep Earth in chaos. I know that you have developed a special affinity for these humans. They need someone who will hear their pleas for help. Whenever the widowed and the orphaned are oppressed, whenever the less fortunate are persecuted, whenever those who cannot speak or fend for themselves need help, you will be there for them. I will make you immortal so that you can always watch over these humans. From time to time, I will change your appearance so that you can walk among men. I will send you down to Nihon and you will lead these people through their transition to becoming a great society. That way, never again will I leave my people helpless without a savior to rescue them.'" "With that, she bestowed upon me the powers I now have as the Solar Warrior. After that, I left the Moon and arrived here in Japan. As Amaterasu-Omakami herself said, I was given many disguises over the millennia. I became Jimmu Tenno, the first Emperor of Japan. Humanity has also known me by various other disguises. I was once Saint George, the Dragon Slayer; King Arthur of Britain; King Robert the Bruce of Scotland; Sparticus of Rome; Michael Collins of Ireland and most recently Steven Biko of South Africa. Whenever the masses were being persecuted, there I would be, fighting to right injustice." "Eventually, the Mecha-Dominion attacked the Solar System once again. The atack was so devastating that finally Selene, the Greek Goddess of the Moon, decided that it was time to re- establish a system-wide empire. She took the best of her Amazons and the best men of ancient Greece, and settled them on the Moon. Since this time, the Lunar Republic was obliterated, they had to re-establish a nation there. Thus it was that one of these Amazons, Cynthia of Corinth, was wed to Telemachos, son of Odysseus, and thus the Moon Kingdom was established and the Silver Millennium was inaugurated. From them descended every ruler of the Moon Kingdom, even Queen Serenity. During Queen Serenity's reign there was another Mecha-Dominion attack, and I was called to help in defeating them. We were successful. A year after, Princess Serenity was born, at the same time that another person on Earth was: his name was Endymion, who was a descendant of Roland, the nephew of Charlemagne, who sounded his horn too late in battle for help and was killed by the Saracens. His wife Aude went into labor and gave birth to his great- grandfather; Aude then died from the shock of the news. About twenty years later, I paid a visit to the Moon Kingdom once again, and I met him. I even introduced him to the Queen and the Princess." "I don't have any recollection of meeting you then," Mamoru said. The Solar Warrior continued: "That was because you knew me then as Haakon Norjal, a Viking who had recently been converted to Christianity and was now using his fighting prowess to help others. It was I who introduced you to Usagi." "Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing a Viking that day when I first met her," Mamoru confessed. "He said that he had visited the Moon Kingdom many times over the past twenty years and got to know the princess very well. I think he said that we'd make a good couple. I have to admit that back then, Usagi wasn't as much as the airhead she still is to an extent." If Usagi was awake to hear that right now, she would have blushed. But she was still resting from her recovery. "So now you see," Tetsuo resumed, "I have been on your side all along. When I heard that the Moon Kingdom had been destroyed, I was stunned. For centuries afterward, I prepared myself for the day that I would see my old friends again. When the Dark Kingdom returned six years ago, I was ready, but then, I was commanded by Amaterasu-Omikami to prepare for a threat to Japan even greater than that. Little did I know that it would be the NIRAA. I promised Amaterasu-Omikami that I would stop them. And I hope now that I have earned your trust and can fight alongside you." Luna was the first to speak: "We're sorry if we ever doubted you, Solar Warrior. On behalf of the entire Sailor Senshi, we'd be happy to have you on our side." Daria was so moved by the Solar Warrior's story that tears were beginning to run down her face. "I see you are moved by my tale, Daria. You are crying," Tetsuo said,. "No, I'm not," Daria answered. "But then again, you have moved me. I must confess that ever since I first met you, I have drawn strongly attracted to you. You're unlike any other guy I've ever met. But I know that this cannot be. You see, I've got a guy back home in Lawndale that I have a crush on named Trent Lane; if only he'd know how I felt." "Daria," Tetsuo said, "Give it time. One of these days, he'll tell you how he feels about you. In this battle, we're fighting for everyone we care about. I know I am. I have a wife and son back home in Narita that I'm fighting for. I'm fighting for their future just as the Sailor Senshi are fighting for theirs. Remember, if we lose this battle, we lose everything we're fighting for: freedom, security, and family." He then rested a hand on Daria's left shoulder. "I can sense that you are a very special person. Use the talent that you have for good." Usagi was now beginning to stir. "Uh, where--where an I?," she finally said. "It's all right, Usagi-chan," Rei said. "You're back. That's all that matters." ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Back at Lawndale High School, which was being used as the headquarters of the Free Lawndalers, there was going to be a reunion. Trent was with his sister Jane, waiting for Ami and Ms. Barch to arrive with Quinn. "Janey," Trent said at last," I can't stand the waiting." "It sounds like you really care for Quinn, doesn't it?," Jane said. "Yeah, well, after all, she is Daria's sister," Trent answered her. "She may be ditzy but she's OK." Jane then said, "Trent, I know that you know that deep down in your heart you really love Daria. So why don't you tell her that next time you see her?" "But I don't know if there's going to be a next time," continued Trent. "Most of Tokyo's been bombed out. I don't know if she's alive or not." Jane could see that tears were beginning to roll down Trent's usually calm face. Jesse went up to him. "There, there, man," Jesse said. "Things are going to be OK." Trent finally broke down and admitted it: "Man, I really love Daria! If she's gone, I don't know what I'll do with myself!" Jake and Helen couldn't help but hear that; they were a few feet away. They both approached him. "You know, Trent," Jake began, "You'd probably think I should be telling you right now to stay away from my daughter. But right now, I'm beginning to see things in a different perspective. Major calamities like this do that to people. Heck, I always wanted to front my own rock and roll band, but then my father sent me away to military school. That was such a bummer." "Besides," Helen added, "I know you mother and father are pretty good folks, even if your mother likes to listen to rap music when she's making her pottery. Besides, Daria says you have a pretty good band. Now if you had some good management and some good legal representation, you'd be all set." "You're not making a pitch to hire you as my lawyer, are you, Mrs. Morgendorffer?," Trent said. "Not necessarily," answered Helen; "but it wouldn't hurt." It was then that Ms. Barch and Ami returned with Quinn. "Mr. and Mrs. Morgendorffer," Ami said, "I believe this is your daughter." Quinn saw them and ran up to them, crying. They both hugged her. "Oh, Mom! Dad! It was just horrible! Horrible!," she sobbed. "I know, dear, I know," Helen said. Mr. DeMartino arrived. "I see you accomplished your mission," he said to Ms. Barch and Ami. "Yes we did," Ms. Barch said, "and we asked for a female sheriff to arrest those two scumbags Beavis and Butt-Head." "Still hostile towards men, I see," Mr. DeMartino said. "Just remember who it was who kicked your ass after you cut out sports and clubs from the yearbook!," Ms. Barch warned. "Let's go home now, Mom, Dad," Quinn said. "I want to get some rest." "Very well," Mr. DeMartino said. "Ms. Barch, Ami, Jane, you will accompany them to their house and guard the premises. "You wouldn't mind if Jesse and I went along too?," Trent said. "At this point, I don't care," Mr. DeMartino said resignedly. "As long as you help protect Quinn until we finally stop the militia." Thus Quinn, Jake, Helen, Jane, Trent and Jesse left for the Morgendorffers' house. ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Beavis and Butt-Head were in a sheriff's department cruiser, being taken to the county jail. They were handcuffed and in the back seat, as was standard procedure. They were trying to get out of their handcuffs. "Let us out of these! We didn't do anything!," Beavis said. "And I supposed the body of Tom Anderson in the county morgue is still alive," the female sheriff's deputy replied. "You boys are going to get the needle for this!" "Uh, don't you mean the chair?," Butt-Head asked. "No, I mean the needle. They use lethal injection now in this state." "The needle! The needle! THE NEEDLE! THE NEEDLE!," Beavis said over and over again. The deputy grabbed her can of mace and sprayed it on Beavis, who went "AAAAAAAAAAA!" as the stuff stung his eyes like a thousand devils. "Shut up, the both of you, right now!," the deputy roared. The car stopped at a red light. Beavis said, "I've gotta take a whiz!" "You'll get a chance to go to the bathroom once we get to the jail," the deputy said. "But I gotta go now!," Beavis said. "All right, all right, " the deputy said, "I'll pull over by those bushes and you can go there. But no funny stuff, or I'll shoot you ass!" They pulled over, and the deputy took Beavis to the bushes. She undid the handcuffs. Beavis went and relieved himself. But when the deputy came to put the cuffs back on him, he was nowhere to be found. "Beavis, you come back here!," the deputy said. Beavis suddenly leapt out of nowhere, grabbed the mace from her, and sprayed it in her face. She was sent howling as Beavis got into the cruiser and drove off. "Hey, great going, Beavis!," Butt-Head said. "Yeah, now we're going back to Lawndale and we're going to pork that bitch Quinn for what she did to us!," replied Beavis. "Hey, Beavis," asked Butt-Head, "are you going to get me out of these cuffs?" "I will soon, asswipe!," shot back Beavis. "Just don't go postal on me!" They drove in excess of 120 MPH as they headed for Lawndale. ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- The Lawndale Militia's trial against the city government was continuing. Already quite a few accusations--most of them groundless--were made. The city judge, for instance, was accused of taking bribes from the Sierra Club so that he could rule in favor of them in a lawsuit brought up by a property rights group in regard to conservation easements at a park that had a known endangered species of butterfly. The city council was accused of giving taxpayers' money to a private company that was developing an industrial park in the northwest corner of town. In one outrageous charge, the mayor was accused of bringing welfare recipients from New York City in to Lawndale so as to drive down property values, and was even accused of trying to turn over law enforcement to the UN Peacekeeping Forces. But it was only to get even more ridiculous. Anthony had the mayor on the witness stand. He was now saving his best for last: "Mr. Mayor, is it not true that as recently as this past August that you were having an affair with a certain Ms. Quinn Morgendorffer, whose only 14 years old, for God's sakes?" "That is not true!," the mayor said. "I only saw the person in question once. She and the others in her organization, the Lawndale High School Fashion Club approached me about selling raffle tickets door to door during Halloween weekend. I did not have an affair with her, and that did not affect my decision to grant the permit." "I have this picture that proves otherwise, Mr. Mayor," Anthony said. He held up a photo of him and Quinn at some restaurant. "That picture is being taken out of context," the mayor said. "We were discussing the proposed permit and the route they were going to take through town. You're blowing this all out of proportion!" "I've heard enough from you!," Anthony said. "I now hereby order the jury to deliberate this case! Until they reach a verdict, we stand at recess!" He banged the gavel and the jury retired to deliberate. Somehow, the verdict was known in advance, but they wanted to have the illusion that they were haggling over it for some time. Therefore, it took three hours of debate before they stopped for the night. By the morning, the fate of the city government would be known. ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi was feeling better now. She got up in a sitting position and was being briefed on the situation as it now stood. "Right now," Luna said, "everything looks bleak. Every ward in Tokyo has at least 45% damage. Ruptured gas mains are causing even more fires than the actual bombings. Many SDF and American military bases have been bombed as well. Even now the President of the United States is considering sending in troops to stop the attacks, but he's facing considerable opposition from Congress. Our Prime Minister is holding an emergency Cabinet meeting even as we speak. The situation is desperate." Matters were not helped when NHK presented this special bulletin: "This just in from Lawndale, USA. A trial is being held by the Lawndale Militia against the government of that city. The government's been accused of bribery, corruption, embezzlement and a litany of other charges. The jury is supposed to render its verdict in the morning. NHK will update this situation when we receive more information." Daria realized that she had to get back to Lawndale--and fast.