Suika Roberts
		   Presents

		  Manchuria

		A Second Part
		      Of
	     Dark Kingdom Rising


	Official channels.  Heh.  I smile a little as Sailor Moon talks to the
dock foreman.

	`I need about two thousand containers loaded to this spec.  Can you do
it?' she hands him the sheet we'd worked out.

	The containers themselves had already been filled, sliding access
doors cut and sealed in the middles, donated labor and IOUs.  They were
on-site already, and now we just needed the foreman's agreement and a ship.

	`Yeah, we can do that.  This is bracing, right?' he traces a few lines
on the load plan.

	`Exactly.'

	`Shouldn't be any problem at all.'

	`Kewl,' she mauls the English word.

-

	The "Midnight Sun", a Bahaman registered container ship.  We leap onto
the deck with a little bit of effort, then Moon speaks to the deckhand we
find.

	`Hey, I need to speak to the captain.'

	`Sure thing,' he smiles, then leads the way.

	`Why,' Jupiter leans over towards me, `does everyone just agree to
whatever she says?'

	`I have no idea.  It just happens.'

-

	The captain is a big caucasian man, blonde-haired, bearded, balding.

	He smiles to see us, `What can I help you with?'

	`I need transport for six hundred thousand to Port Arthur.'

	`This isn't a passenger ship.'

	`I know.  We've got that covered.'

	`I suppose.  It'll throw a big wrench into our finances if you can't
pay quickly.'

	`We can get you the money within six months.'

	He rubs his chin, eyes shadowed, `That'll do.'

	I try not to let my disbelief show.

-

	We start loading at dawn.  I wonder how we're going to pull this off.
We've got six hundred thousand unarmed youma, sixty automatic rifles, a dozen
pistols, and a hundred and fifty grenades.  To take over an area larger than
Japan.

	At least youma train quick.

-

	So, the containers are loaded, and our youma are walking up the plank.
Sixty thousand at a time, thirty to each modified container, shared bunks
barely deep enough for them to wiggle back out.

	Almost all of them will be moving over the next few weeks, just a few
staying to continue to pass papers to the Japanese government and the UN.  I'm
rather surprised that we can trust them with that much, considering that three
weeks ago they were living, if you can call it that, in poverty so abject that
even not thinking about it makes me shudder.

	Six days to Dalian.

-

	This sucks nearly as bad as I thought it would.  Two more days.  At
least we don't have to worry about food, but gas is running a little low.

	I glance at the noisy generator, a small crowd of youma clustered
around it, feeding off the energy emitted by the hunk of crystal hooked up to
it with six three-gauge cables.  I'm rather proud of those, even if the
generators are almost enough to deafen unprotected humans within fifteen
meters.

	There should be enough gas for a couple more days.

-

	`We're here to take over.  Call off the patrol ships, and don't tell
your superiors, OK?  I'll talk to them later.'

	`Yes, Ma'am,' the commander of the Lushun naval base says.

	I shake my head.

-

	`Hey, bring me to the mayor,' she tells the dockhand, then turns back
to us, `Unload, and get ready to move out.  Most of us will be heading inland
tomorrow.'

	I nod.

-

	We haven't shot anyone yet.  Of course, Moon has talked to everyone
first, going straight to the proper authority to subvert any attempt to stop
us everywhere we go.

	I look at her, as she rests, leaning up against the turret of the T-72
she's commandered as a command vehicle.

	`If our luck holds we'll have all of Manchuria in another two days,
and it will be another week after that before Beijing finds out we've taken
over.  Time enough to stabilize things,' she smiles at me, then raps her
knuckles against the side of her head three times.

	`Is that the plan?'

	`Best case.  Worst case, I'll be forced to wipe out large portions of
the Chinese army.'

	`Don't you mean we?'

	`No.'

	I turn back to the front, watching the road as I contemplate what
she said.

	Mars runs up, leaps onto the tank, then wraps Moon in a hug.  I turn
to watch.

	`How're things?'

	`Fine,' Mars kisses her on the cheek, `Provisions are good, everyone's
now armed, and training is proceeding apace.'

	`Good,' Moon kisses Mars on the lips.  I watch, mildly fascinated.

	`What's Tux up to?' Mars asks when the kiss breaks.

	`Helping Venus assimilate the Chinese armed forces units we've taken.'

	`Boring.  Glad he's got that rather than me.'

	`So am I,' Moon smiles.

	`Oh!' Mars pouts, `For that, you owe me another kiss.'

	`Gladly.'

-

	Goodness.  She did it.  All of Manchuria is "ours".  All of the
leaders, the military, and most of the people have accepted becoming part of
the "Dark Kingdom" as Moon insists we call it.

	Three more days before she thinks Beijing will find out.

-

	Damn.  That was anti-climatic.  I stare at the document the messenger
from Beijing brought.

	Lots of fancy verbage, boiling down to `We don't want to fight you, so
you can keep Manchuria, so long as you say that you're still part of the PRC.
We won't try to tell you what to do, and you won't tell us what to do.'

	Usagi smiles at me, one arm around Mamoru, the other around Rei.

	`Very nice, isn't it?'

	`I guess, unless it is just to lull our suspiscions.'

	`No, it's real.  They don't want to risk us nuking them.'

	I stare at her in shock.

	`What?  We have sixty-five ICBMs, each with at least eight
twenty-megaton warheads.'

	My mouth moves, but no words come out.

	`We,' and she waves the hand wrapped around Rei, `are now a
superpower.'

-

	Sailor Dirt stares out over the Yalu river, into North Korea, `Can't
we do anything about that?' she frowns, `I want to rescue everyone.  I know it
won't make up for what I did, but . . . '

	I touch the tall, red-haired woman's shoulder, `It will help.  We'll
deal with North Korea soon, don't worry.  Queen Serenity has a job for you.'

	`Oh?'

	`Yes.  You know the treaty that was signed with the US?'

	`Yeah . . . ' she says.

	`We need a Child Protective Services Special Agent to assign there.'

	`I,' she frowns, `I can't.  I'm not--'

	`You are the best choice.  Normal Agents are already filtering in,
but--'

	`There's that whole `Answers to the Director' thing.  Where did you
dig Megumi out of, anyway?'

	`A very deep, very dark hole.  The old Moon Kingdom found her
single-minded devotion to the welfare of children, any children, um,' I trail
off, thinking.

	`Disturbing?'

	`A danger to social order.  So they shut her down and buried her.'

	`Oh.  And Queen Serenity resurected her?'

	`Plugged her in, and turned her back on.'

	`I thought she was a little old-fashioned,' Dirt says, `But I hadn't
realized just how old.  She must pre-date First Serenity.'

	`By thousands of years.'

	`I'll do it.'

				     Fin

---
log:
3168/Aftermath/early	planned
3168/Aftermath/22	started
3170/Chaos/11		Someone answered my spelling question on Port Arthur!
			Yay!  Port Arthur was a naval port.  Renamed Lushun by
			the Japanese after they took it from the Russians in
			1905.  It's changed hands a few times, but is
			currently called Lushun.  The city of Dalian has grown
			around the naval base itself, and serves as the
			commercial port.
3170/Chaos/25:		Fixed some logistics problems I had.  Sigh.
3170/Aftermath/17:	Title Block