The Moon Dragon's Lair

LUNAR: The Lost Episodes

By Jeffery Branch

Volume Forty: Episode 3-4.87 "Assemblage"

Rated: R

Asteroid Field, near Dreyious Prime, 8 June 2740

Armon Rydos was furious as he trotted up to the main entrance to the station’s main engineering space, which was an absolute shambles. Maktbahr, his second in command, was already at the entrance as firefighters dealt with the blaze, while light smoke continued to pour from inside.

“Talk to me, Mak! Was this an accident?” Rydos demanded.

“Hell, no, Armon. Plain and simple, it was sabotage. Just like upstairs in the auxiliary room,” the Dark Kingdom scientist replied crossly. He pointed to the dead DK soldier on the floor, eyes open but unseeing. “Someone nailed this poor bastard between the eyes with an RSN regulation hand blaster. DK guns aren’t nearly so precise, or so neat. Then our saboteur thoroughly wrecked engineering.”

“Anybody see the bastard?” Rydos wanted to know.

Maktbahr shook his head. “No one saw a damn thing. At least no one who’s still alive. According to the medic, the engineers inside were all killed before the plant was torn apart. The guy was a fucking phantom, Armon, in and out like the wind. We’re talking serious military precision, the likes of which I’ve only seen from RSN special forces.”

“What about damage? How bad is it?”

“Catastrophic. The plant’s trashed. High power blaster fire tore through the equipment, computers, you name it. Once things started blowing up, it was a chain reaction that destroyed pretty much everything,” Maktbahr replied glumly. He paused to check notes on the DK version of a microcomp. “We’re operating on emergency generators, but we’ve never had to use them for extended periods. At best, we’re talking ten, twelve hours tops before the fuel runs out. Thankfully, life support equipment wasn’t in there or we’d already be dining on vacuum. But once the generators go, well, you can guess the rest.”

Rydos scowled. His head spun as he couldn’t believe what was happening. He had thoroughly planned everything for this facility, right down to the smallest detail, and yet an act of sabotage, something he hadn’t factored in, had everything falling apart at the seams. The Cygnian hated feeling helpless. “Can the plant be repaired?”

“Not immediately. The damage is too severe. We’d need two to three days just to clean up and make basic repairs to get everything up and running. And like I just told you, we don’t that kind of time. Oh, and, believe it or not, that isn’t the extent of the bad news.”

“You mean there’s more?”

“Unfortunately. With the plant down, our defensive systems are also out. No scanners, no comm monitoring, no way to use our defensive weapons as the generators can’t provide enough power to fire anything while keeping the lights on and life support running. We’re blind, deaf and helpless, Armon. What do we do?”

Arms folded across his chest, Rydos stewed as he considered his options. “Kill the power to all nonessential spaces. That should buy us a little more time.”

“For what?” a puzzled Maktbahr asked.

“To load up our stores. Mobilize everyone, Mak, have them fill those two Peregrine cargo ships in the hangar to the ceiling. Anything we can’t take with us we’ll blow to kingdom come. Arm all DK personnel and have a dozen soldiers in the hangar for security. And have the techs warm up those bio-armor combat suits. Just in case.”

Maktbahr cocked a curious eyebrow. “The bio suits? Armon, we’ve never tested them. Don’t know what they can, or can’t do. And what about your planned interrogation of the incoming shift? You suspected someone from that crew is the saboteur. What about them?” Maktbahr asked.

Rydos shot his partner a withering stare. “Since we don’t have time to ferret out the troublemaker, we’ll just kill everyone from that crew after we’ve finished loading the ships. Let’s get started.”

Safely hidden in an alcove twenty feet away, Moira “Scarlett” Cassidy removed a tiny but powerful listening device from her right ear that picked up the conversation Rydos had with Maktbahr. The bounty hunter frowned from what she overheard.

While the show is coming along just the way I planned, I can’t say I like the threat of Rydos planning to kill the workcrew, she thought. Since this place wasn’t turned inside out by thugs looking for me, that meant Rollins didn’t squeal. But now his life’s in danger, thanks to my mischief. Even though I’m no angel, I can’t let the guy get killed because of me. I’m gonna have to move fast and grab Rydos before he can execute everyone.

Making sure the coast was clear, Scarlett, blaster in hand emerged from the alcove and, skirting around the wrecked engineering room, made her way down the hall Rydos and Maktbahr traveled.

Dreyious Prime, Sagittarian District, Argus City, 8 June 2740

Sightseers at the entrance to the Caves, waiting to go inside were puzzled and startled at seeing three people: a tall, slender, white haired woman, a petite black woman with waist long dark hair, and a lanky black man with dreadlocks, their clothes plastered to their bodies from sweat, trundle out into the cool, late afternoon air.

Sailors Magneta and Sirius, along with LISA Special Agent Franklin Marley, ignored the curious stares and double takes of everyone around them as they quickly made their way from the caves to the parking lot where their hovercar waited.

“By the Crystal! I am ever glad to be out of that miserable hole!” Sailor Sirius grumbled. She shivered from the breeze against her thoroughly sodden clothing. “I hated it down there with a passion!”

“That makes two of us, Sailor Sirius,” replied Sailor Magneta, running a hand through her damp hair. She didn’t want to think about how much she stunk from perspiration while she felt like a drowned cat. “Dismantling all that weaponry down there took longer than we anticipated.”

“Shouldn’t we inform the Dreyian government of that weapons cache?” Marley asked.

“Don’t worry, Agent Marley, we will. After we complete our mission. And find out for sure if there are any more weapons caches on the planet.” The Senshi of Magnetism activated her communicator. “Team one to teams two and three, report.”

“This is team three leader. Glad to hear from you, skipper,” came back the voice of Sailor Ebony. Relief could be heard in her voice over the speaker. “Team two is with us and we’re all in one piece. When we tried to reach you and couldn’t, we became worried. What happened to you?”

“My team and I found a DK weapons cache three klicks underground outside Argus City. That’s why you couldn’t reach us, what with all that rock blocking signal strength. What did you find?”

“Plenty. We know who’s running that black market weapons operation, and where he’s hiding,” Sailor Ebony replied. “We’ve got a fix on the place. Activate your homing circuit and we’ll come pick you up.”

Hearing that, Sailor Magneta cocked an eyebrow from puzzlement. “Pick us up? Did you return to the Shroud for Draco II?”

“Not quite. Find us a good landing spot and we’ll show you. Expect us in ten minutes. Sailor Ebony out.”

“What do you think that meant?” a curious Sailor Sirius asked.

The German Senshi shrugged. “Beats me. I guess we’ll soon find out. C’mon, you two.”

Standing in a secluded, grassy field little over a kilometer away from the Argus Caves, the Senshi and Marley were startled to see a sleek, jet black starship with forward swept wings swoop in from the west like a bird of prey. With a whoosh of thrusters, the craft extended its landing gear and came to a rest on the field. A moment later, a ladder extended from the side of the ship while a door opened.

“Whoa!” said Marley.

Sailor Magneta nodded. “I concur. Let’s get aboard.”

The trio wasted no time climbing aboard the vessel where they found Sailor Ebony, dressed in her fuku just inside the door. Grinning, the Senshi of Darkness came to attention and saluted her leader.

“Welcome aboard Renegade, skipper,” said the blonde who pressed a button on the bulkhead that retracted the gangway and closed the door. She then gave the sweaty, bedraggled looking trio a good, long look and smirked. “Glad to see you and your team are well, Sailor Magneta. Even if you’re a little… ripe.”

“Thank you ever so much for mentioning that, Sailor Ebony,” Sailor Magneta snarled, glaring lasers at her teammate who grinned back. She then looked around her. “And where did you find this interesting toy?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll explain en route to our destination.” Sailor Ebony then spoke into her communicator. “Sailor Ivory! Team one’s aboard! Take off!”

“Roger that, sis! Next stop, the asteroid field!”

“Asteroid field? Is that where our target is?” Sailor Sirius asked.

The blonde nodded. “Yup. It’s a hidden facility little over a parsec from the Shroud. No one there ever knew the place was there.”

“Hide in plain sight,” said Marley as he followed the women forward towards the bridge.

“Exactly. Pretty clever if I do say so myself.” Sailor Ebony paused to give Marley a grin. “Oh, and your partner is here, safe and sound.”

Marley snorted good-naturedly, but inside, he was relieved, as Broduer was more than just his partner, the Frenchman was also his best friend. “I’m not surprised. That sneaky Frog has always been hard to kill.”

“How did you pin down the location?” Sailor Magneta wanted to know.

“I’m homing in on my boss’s homing signal, that’s how,” came back Rhett, Renegade’s smarmy AI, startling the German Senshi and her team. “Seig heil, babycakes.”

“Ignore him, Sailor Magneta. We all have,” said Sailor Ebony, rolling her eyes. “The owner of this vessel is a bounty hunter who snuck onboard the station. She’s after the mastermind of this operation, Armon Rydos, a disgraced RSN captain turned weapons smuggler.”

“You’ve done well, Sailor Ebony. Good work. How long to get there?”

“Sailor Ivory can give you accurate numbers, but I’d say around fifteen minutes. Looks like this mission is in the homestretch.”

Sailor Magneta nodded. “I certainly hope so. Full speed ahead.”

The Shroud, Dreyious Prime, 8 June 2740

Sailor Quetzalcoatl all but sprinted into the Shroud’s Flight Control Center after she received an urgent message from Lieutenant Ripley, summoning her there. The Mexican Senshi rushed up to where Ripley awaited her. Sorcerer Viking and LISA Section Chief Walter Brock were hot on her heels.

“What is it, Ripley? What’s so urgent?” the Senshi demanded.

“Twelve minutes ago, Archangel reported an unauthorized launch. The ship in question, operating under phony flight permits, made two stops, the first near the coast of the Pacifica Ocean, the second outside Argus City,” Ripley replied. “Regarding the former, Coast Guard personnel report having encountered two Senshi who, unknown to them- and to us- were engaged in some sort of operation there. After the second stop, the ship headed into space; we were tracking it when it suddenly went off the grid.”

Sorcerer Viking cocked a curious eyebrow. “What do you mean by ‘went off the grid’?”

“I mean, it all but disappeared. The method of how it vanished from our scanners is consistent with an activated stealth mode,” Ripley replied. “One other thing. According to Archangel, the ship was named ‘Renegade’. Does that mean anything to any of you?”

“Not me.” Sailor Quetzalcoatl turned to Brock. “What about you?”

“A moment.” The hulking Texan removed a microcomp from a pouch on his belt and punched several keys. What he saw on the screen made him smirk. “Yep. Thought so. That ship is registered to a bounty hunter LISA hired to find a former RSN captain turned gunrunner named Armon Rydos. Looks like Scarlett found him. Maybe this is guy is who Omega Force came here to find. Ripley, what was the last known course of that ship before it blipped out?”

“327.774, right into the northwest quadrant of the asteroid field,” Ripley replied.

“At last!” said Sailor Quetzalcoatl, a wolfish grin curling her lips. “Aim all scanners and sensors in that direction! Full power! Look for anything out of the ordinary! Ready our Battlewing detachment! Once we have firm coordinates, have them launch at once!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“I wonder what happened to Omega Force?” Viking wondered aloud.

“Who knows? Maybe they’re on that ship. But that doesn’t change anything for us. Once we know where Rydos is, we’re going after him!”

Asteroid Field, near Dreyious Prime, 8 June 2740

Relying of her training from her days in the RSN, Scarlett managed to follow Rydos and Maktbahr to the hidden station’s huge hangar bay where two Peregrine transport ships sat on massive scaffoldings. Safely hidden behind a metal packing crate, the redheaded bounty hunter watched five dozen men, including Darby Rollins, all in overalls stood near heavy material cargo-moving hovercraft. Standing at attention against the far wall were a dozen DK soldiers in heavy body armor and toting blaster rifles.

Hmm. Pretty formidable numbers, thought a frowning Scarlett as she observed everything. Even with my bionics, and my weapons, I’d have a damn hard time taking out all those slugs. But I can’t let Rydos leave here with any of that ordinance. Or kill any of his workers, especially Rollins. And there’s still the not-so small matter of taking Rydos alive for the bounty on his head.

“Maktbahr, do we have a crew in the control center monitoring for incoming ships?” Rydos asked.

The DK scientist nodded. “Yes. While scanning power is down considerably, we can still detect ships from short range. Unfortunately, by the time we do seeing trouble coming, it’ll already be too late.”

“We’ll have to take our chances. Let’s get this show on the road. I want those ships loaded with as much stuff as we can.” Rydos paused to whisper to Maktbahr. “Once we’re done, have the troops kill all the workers, then arm the self-destruct program. I want nothing, and I mean nothing left behind for the RSN to find. Got me?”

Maktbahr nodded. “I understand.”

Satisfied, Rydos turned to face his workers. “Listen up! I want as much ordinance moved from the lockers and onto these ships as possible! We’re moving to a new location to continue operations! The RSN may well be onto us and could bust in on us at any time, so we’re getting out of here! Your section leaders have already given you your assignments! Let’s go!”

With a scowl, Scarlett decided to move, her plan being to fire on the transport ships and disable them before taking on the troops. With any luck, she’d find a way to survive; she always managed to survive.

“Time to find out if the luck of the Irish is really with me,” Scarlett muttered. Crossing herself, then taking a deep breath, the bounty hunter, blaster pistols at full power in hands, moved into the open.

“Hey! Who the hell’s that?” yelled one of the DK soldiers, pointing at the fast approaching Scarlett. Before he could bring his weapon to bear, Scarlett snap fired at the thug, reducing him to ash. At the same time, she trained the other blaster at the cargo ship's engine grids and fired, blowing a huge hole through the grid, resulting in an explosion the shook the hangar bay, followed by instant chaos. The other thugs turned to fire at her, but the bounty hunter, thanks to her bionic legs, moved like greased lightning, enabling her to evade the enemy fire as she dove behind the other ship.

Rollins, scattering for safety like everyone else gasped at seeing Scarlett. Shit! It’s her! Is that bitch suicidal, or just plain crazy?

The thugs, eager to hit Scarlett, fired indiscriminately at the ship, pockmarking it with blaster holes. Something that enraged Rydos, watching the unfolding disaster.

“Stop firing, you fools! Stop firing!” he yelled, but his voice failed to carry over the din of weapons fire as smoke began to fill the bay. “You’re wrecking the ships! We need them intact! Flank that bitch! Get around her! Cut off her escape! Hurry!”

Meanwhile, Scarlett fired back at the soldiers, scoring hit after hit and slowly whittling down the numbers as the ship she hid behind was being riddled. So far, so good, she thought. Sensing movement from behind, Scarlett spun around to see two thugs leveling their rifles at her. With a curse, the redhead fired hastily, killing one, but the other managed to punch a beam through her left thigh and she tumbled to the ground. While Scarlett felt no pain, her damaged leg, sparks and smoke wafting from the hole, was left immobile and she lay on the deck as repair nanomachines went to work, but she kept a grip on her guns and killed the thug.

Not good! Gotta get to shelter while my nano-dwarves fix me up!

As four more thugs approached her other flank, Scarlett pulled off her left earring, gave the stud a quick twist, and then hurled it at the thugs. Five seconds later, the micro charge in the bauble exploded, killing the thugs on the spot while further damaging the vessels.

“Dammit! Kill her! Kill her!” a frustrated Rydos screamed.

“What? Are you serious? Dammit!” yelled a shocked Maktbahr into a communicator. He grabbed Rydos by the shoulders. “Armon! Control says a ship’s headed this way!”

“Where?”

“The auxiliary shuttlebay! Someone’s found us!”

“Shit! Mobilize the bio-troops! Get them there fast! And send troops to control! Tell the control room crew to activate the self-destruct circuits! If we’re screwed, then we’re gonna go down fighting!”

The Renegade

“So that’s it,” said Sailor Magneta, staring at the station, perfectly camouflaged as an asteroid. “Impressive. Sailor Ivory, are we still on course for that auxiliary shuttlebay?”

“Yes, ma’am! Thirty seconds to the doors!” said the Senshi of Light from the helm seat.

“Good. Arm weapons. That’s the only way we can get inside. Once the doors have been blown, get us in fast before the emergency blast doors close. Got it?”

Sailor Ivory nodded, a cocky grin on her lips. “Don’t worry, boss! I’ll get us in! No problem!”

The white haired German turned to face her teammates. “Even though we’re in stealth mode, and, for whatever reason, we haven’t been scanned, I suspect we’ve already been spotted. Once inside, I want all enemy forces neutralized, but be careful in using your powers. With all the ordinance said to be stockpiled there, one mistake could blow us, and everything in this sector, including the Shroud, to hell. I prefer for everyone to come out of this battle alive. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” the Omega Senshi shouted in unison.

“Captain! I’m picking up some sort of disturbance on the station,” said Sailor Cerebra from the sensor station. “Explosions of some sort, and weapons fire. It would appear that some sort of battle is taking place!”

Rhett’s electronic chuckle could be heard over the bridge speakers. “Sounds like my boss has already started the party. Wahoo!”

Sailor Magneta cocked an eyebrow. She found the AI and it’s all-too human personality disturbing. “If that’s the case, then let’s join the festivities. Sailor Ivory! Fire!”

At her leader’s command, Sailor Ivory pressed a red button on the console and Renegade’s wingtip mounted cannons spat crimson hued beams at the station’s doors, effectively blowing them apart. Sailor Ivory then accelerated Renegade’s speed and steered the ship into the voided space, mere seconds before emergency blast doors shut closed. The Senshi activated braking thrusters at full power, sending everyone to the floor in a hopeless tangle of limbs while bringing Renegade to a stop, its pointed nose mere inches from the inner walls. In hover mode, Sailor Ivory slowly spun the ship around until it was facing the auxiliary doors before setting her down on the deck and shutting down the sublight engine.

“Whoa, mama! That was sweet!” said Rhett. “Not even Scarlett pulled off a stunt like that before. I’m impressed!”

“You can say that again, pal! That reminded me of a late 20th century roller coaster ride,” said Sailor Sirius, a crooked grin on her face as she climbed shakily to her feet. “Gotta say it was a whole lot of fun!”

“If you though that was fun, Sailor Sirius, then you’re seriously warped!” Sailor Britannica growled to her teammate as she extracted herself from Aggie and Sailor Russia and stood up. She then turned questioning eyes toward Sailor Ivory. “Sailor Ivory! Why’d you spin us around?”

“Precautionary measure, Brit-chick. Chances are we’ll have to blast our way free after we’re done fucking over the bad guys,” said Sailor Ivory, the wide, goofy smile on her face indicating she had a tremendous amount of fun piloting Renegade in that daredevil maneuver. "Better to be in position now for an escape than later when we might be in a hurry to get our asses the hell out of Dodge.”

“Good thinking, Sailor Ivory,” said Sailor Magneta with a nod. “Time to earn our pay, ladies. Let’s shut this place down!”

“Da! I am all for that, commander!” said Sailor Russia, a demonic smile on her black painted lips as she was eager to do what she loved most: battle. “Russian Armor... ENGAGE!”

In a flash of light that stunned Marley and Aggie, the Slavic Senshi transformed into her seven plus foot tall armored form, leaving the two of them shocked. The giantess, still grinning, cracked her knuckles, the sound like two anvils grinding together. “Let us happily indulge in mindless bloodshed and destruction!”

While the LISA agents openly stared at Sailor Russia like she were a madwoman, the other Senshi wore expressions of casual indifference, mainly because their teammate was indeed a madwoman. Meanwhile, Sailor Magneta was actually proud of the female titan for her unabashed love of carnage, a love she shared just as much, if not more. The German Senshi was eager to indulge in violence.

After Sailor Ivory opened the hatch and the Senshi of Omega cautiously left the vessel, the LISA agents closed behind. Everyone was on edge; their muscles coiled and ready for anything as, in the distance, they all heard an explosion and knew a battle was already taking place.

“Sailor Sirius, do you have the schematics for this station from the intel you uploaded from that bunker down in the Argus Caves?” Sailor Magneta asked.

The Senshi of the Stars, microcomp in hand nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ve got everything readily at hand.”

“Good. Take Sailors Ebony and Cerebra to the command center. Shut down anything of importance short of life support, including anything that looks like a self-destruct program. I’d just as soon avoid anything in the way of a repeat of what happened on LP-7.”

“You don’t have to remind us of that, boss.” Sailor Sirius then turned to Sailors Ebony and Cerebra. “You’re with me, kids.”

Sailor Ebony, 524 years old, openly bristled at being called a ‘kid’, especially by the diminutive Libyan who looked more like a child than her. “Right behind you... grandma.”

“Sailor Russia, you’re on point,” Sailor Magneta said to the others and the LISA agents. “We’ll go in the direction of the explosion. I want to know what’s going on here. C’mon.”

With Sailor Russia in the lead, the boarding party cautiously entered the hall, and was caught fast in an explosion.

To be continued...