"LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo"
LUNAR:
Tales From Crystal Tokyo
By
Daryll Pung
Episode
1-12: Discovery
Rated:
R
On
the fringes of the Atlantis system, 12 October 2736
The
SLS Nephlyte
"All Stop," came the order.
The captain of the Nephlyte turned to the assembled Sorcerers.
"I believe it's your mission, Warlock Zyi."
Zyi nodded as he motioned to the others.
"Captain, please charge all of the TPAs.
Lady and gentlemen, take your seats.
Are we ready for this? Do we
all know our parts?"
There was a collective nod from the group, assembled on the back of the
bridge. The demeanor of the six
became extremely serious.
"Let's do it," ordered Zyi.
He hopped the railing, moving to his console.
The others each took theirs. "Begin."
If anyone had been watching, they would see the swept, two-tiered shape
of the RSN destroyer waver, as magical energy began to shimmer along the edges
of the ship; followed by space wavering all around it, and then the ship was
replaced by an angular, pointed shape, with the glowing green exhaust of its
engines. Purple-tipped spines
dotted its surface, and dark blue spotlights highlighted its black hull, where
the name Vengeance was written.
The newest DK destroyer in the fleet slowly moved into the Atlantis
system.
Lunar
Incarceration Facility, Planet Luna, Sol system, 12 October 2736
Sailor Mercury leaned back in frustration.
She glared at the individual in the chair across from her. The Infiltrator was strapped down, held in place by
force-field restraints. It glared
back, yanking briefly, struggling to escape.
Sailor Mercury snorted. "Don't
bother. Even if you were to escape,
I would put you on ice. Literally."
The hours of wasted time with this thing were galling her.
It blinked, and subsided.
"Now, how many of there were you?
How many were sent?" asked Sailor Mercury.
"None," it grinned.
Sailor Mercury clenched her teeth. She
forced herself to relax. Her
patience was being exhausted. Her
eyes still closed, she spoke again. "How
many were sent?"
It chuckled. "Zero." The individual it was facing didn't move, with her eyes still
closed. Her fists were clenched.
She was half its size, with dark blue hair and eyes.
All in all, laughable. Then
it paused, as another thought struck it.
It was dealing with a Planetary, and in this case, appearances were
deceiving. It had to remind itself
that the calm, quiet Senshi in front of it had destroyed hundreds and thousands
of his people. While normally calm,
when aroused, her fury was bottomless... and very cold.
It shivered, and looked around. It
WAS cold. Ice was beginning to form
on the walls. It snapped its head
back to look at its interrogator. She
hadn't moved; and still it got colder. Finally,
her ice-blue eyes, matching her demeanor, slowly opened, and she glared at it.
It was conscious that for the first time, it felt.... fear.
The shivers now passing through its body weren't just from the cold.
It was so cold in the room that ice had obscured the audio, visual, and
biosensors. It glanced back in her
eyes, and saw the weight of the ages in the otherwise youthful woman,
accompanied by a tightly focused rage. It
shivered again.
"I'm going to ask this one more time.
How many Infiltrators were sent to the Sol system?" Sailor Mercury
said, slowly, coldly.
It thought for a second. "Who
knows?"
Sailor Mercury's eyes flashed briefly, and she stood, the sound of her
chair scraping back sounding extremely loud in the silence.
She stared at him, raising one gloved hand. Soundlessly, a gleaming, sharp, shard of ice materialized;
suddenly, there was a blur, and tearing pain in its arm.
It gasped from the sudden intense cold and raging pain.
Black ichor gushed down its arm, and the ice dissolved.
Sailor Mercury finally spoke. "I
am not accustomed to failing my queen. I
will have the answers. I am also in
a position to grant you what you wish; and rest assured, I could prevent your
death while still causing you intense pain.
For I know that you want to die in the least painful way possible.
Well, you will wish you were facing your superiors with your failure
before I'm finished with you... for they will be nicer then I will ever be as
far as punishing you."
It blinked against the pain, against the shivers.
It forced up a bit of bravado. "How
many? That's like asking how many
starships in the DK fleet that are smashing your fleet, and precious Princess,
as we speak! It's irrelevant!
It doesn't matter!"
"Bastard!" snapped Sailor Mercury, raising her hand again in a
rapid blur. It flinched, eyes
closed, waiting for the impact.
It never came. It opened its
eyes; Sailor Mercury's hand was slowly dropping.
The coldness in her eyes was fading, replaced by thoughtfulness.
"Starships... of course," murmured Sailor Mercury.
She glanced at it, and then turned away, opening her communicator.
It couldn't quite make out the conversation, but when the communicator
closed, there was a look of satisfaction on her face. She strolled to the door, and opened it.
There was a blast of warmer air; the ice on the walls was rapidly
melting.
"Take the prisoner to the parade grounds," ordered Sailor
Mercury. "Prepare to witness
execution."
Exactly ten minutes later, the Infiltrator was executed in front of the
Palace staff, Planetary Senshi, and King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity I. As
everyone dispersed from the area, reporters began their interviews; a few
noticed Sailor Mercury in deep conversation with Serenity.
No one could discover the details of their conversation.
Tau
Ceti Mine, Sabaat system, 13 October 2736
The
SLS Destiny
"DK ship number forty-three," sighed Sailor Sirius, manning the
ops console. "As before,
scanning intensely."
"Gee, ya think they're lookin' for us?" muttered Sailor
America.
"Probably," said Sailor Vulcan calmly.
She noted the brief glare Sailor America sent her way.
"Fortunately, the asteroid walls are providing good protection from
their sensors."
"Fortunately," grumbled Sailor Orion.
Her attitude was a common one; a majority of the crew was unhappy at the
current state of the flagship of the RSN. They
would rather be fighting than hiding... although they still couldn't put up much
of a fight.
"Number forty-four; like the last, scanning.
This one's a cruiser, though," reported Sailor Sirius.
"Still no battleships?" asked Sailor Saturn.
"No," said Sailor Sirius.
"They're probably waiting on the perimeter of the asteroid
belt."
Princess Serena glanced at her, arms crossed.
She was sitting in the chair, and hadn't said much after she had been
wakened with the news.
"Got another one coming in; a destroyer.
It's coming in close, scanning like the rest," said Sailor Sirius.
"This one's gonna scan this asteroid."
"Stay calm," ordered Serena.
Sailor Eos stood nearby, her face expressionless.
She could see how nervous Reeni was.
"This will be the twentieth time we've been scanned.
Old news."
"It's passed," Sailor Sirius reported.
The
Flagrant
"Hmm," frowned the captain of the Flagrant.
"Enhance the view of the asteroid we just passed."
As it popped on screen, he stared intently at it.
"Rotate the view." It
slowly spun, revealing the immense double doors.
"We've seen several like that; all the occupied ones were
captured," said his First.
"The abandoned ones still have power," said the captain slowly.
"And they'd make perfect hiding spots.
This is right near where the debris was found, right?
Can we access the asteroid's sensors?"
"Negative, Lord," came the report.
"Something's got control of them; we're blocked."
"Really," grinned the captain.
The
SLS Destiny
"Umm, the ship that passed just attempted to access the mine's
sensor suites," reported Sailor Sirius slowly.
Reeni leaned forward, gripping the armrests of the Captain's chair.
"Report!" she snapped.
"The DK ship is transmitting!" Sailor Sirius said urgently.
"Trace it!" ordered Reeni.
"The destroyer is coming about!" replied Sailor Sirius.
She looked up. "Oh, shit. They're
firing." Her voice spoke in
the monotone of dread.
A hollow thud resounded as the main screen showed green beams slamming
into the doors that protected them. Everyone
on the bridge grabbed for support as the asteroid, and them, shook slightly.
"Detach the anchoring cables," ordered Reeni.
She clenched her teeth. "What
do we do now?" she whispered to herself.
"DK forces now converging on the area," reported Sailor Sirius
bleakly.
"Red Alert," ordered Reeni.
"Time for the perfect operational check of all our freshly repaired
systems."
"You do realize leaving the way we came in is an extremely risky
proposition?" said Sailor Saturn softly.
Reeni nodded.
"At the moment, I'm fresh out of ideas," Reeni said. "Waiting until they blast the doors through is the only
thing we can do. Besides, we can
sit in here, shielded on all but one side, and just kill them as they come
in."
"Until they blow a hole through the thinner part of the asteroid;
like the sections that were mined out," pointed out Sailor Eos.
Reeni sighed. "I know,
I know."
On the screens, DK ships could be seen converging from all angles. Multiple impacts slammed into the doors, which were starting
to glow from the heat. A few
Negatorpedoes from the cruisers slammed into the doors, weakening them further.
"Several ships have detached from the rest, and are now setting up
at the most heavily mined areas; we're looking at a six- or seven-pronged
attack," reported Sailor Sirius.
"Designate new areas; keep me up to date on the rate of
penetration," said Reeni.
"Copy. Door Integrity
is at 91%, Area 1 Integrity 96%, Area 2 Integrity 95%, Area 3..." Sailor
Sirius began.
In
Faster-Than-Light Transit, 13 October 2736
The
SLS Minotaur
Archmage Derrelli rolled back, and leapt to his feet.
He blocked a blow with the staff in his hands; the sword glanced off with
a dull clang and several sparks. The
staff in his hands was made of steel; and the opponent's sword was dull, but he
was still certain if it hit him it would hurt.
His opponent jumped back, twirling his sword expertly, before lunging
forward again. Derrelli blocked the
first blow, ducked under the second, and blocked the third, bringing up one end
of his staff into the arm of his opponent, who winced in pain, dropping back.
They circled one another, oblivious to the cheers and chants in the
background. The mat gave slightly beneath their feet as both shifted
positions; then his opponent came at him in a blur of savage swings.
He blocked several, before finally catching one in the arm.
It stung. He allowed it to
knock him down, where he used his staff to parry several more blows, before
forcing his opponent back with series of whirlwind kicks.
He arched his back, and leapt to his feet, and immediately ducked,
swinging at his opponent's legs, catching them, and tripping him up. He pressed his advantage, knocking the sword out of his
opponent's hands, and placed one end of the staff at his opponent's throat.
The applause was tremendous. He
knew it wasn't just for him; they had just had one hell of a duel.
He was breathing heavily, and he removed his staff, extending a hand, and
helped his opponent to his feet. They
shook hands.
"Great fight, boss," said his opponent.
"You're definitely worthy of commanding the Vipers."
"Yeah, great fight... and thanks," replied Derrelli evenly. "By the way, that hurt!" His opponent chuckled as he took the staff and picked up the
sword, passing them to another to put away.
Mage Torym came over. "Nice.
I never thought a staff would be a useful weapon in close combat, but
you've gotten really good at it."
Derrelli arched his eyebrows. "So
what do you use for that?"
Torym grinned. "I never
intend to be in close combat!"
Derrelli laughed. "Uh
huh. You had to have picked
something; otherwise you couldn't have graduated Basic."
Torym sniffed. "I'll
just summon something to fight for me."
Derrelli simply looked at him, a half-smile on his face.
Torym sighed. "Okay,
fine. I like using a scythe."
"A scythe?" blinked Derrelli.
"Maybe I should just call you the Reaper instead of the
Creator!" Torym rolled his
eyes, and glanced about.
The gym was beginning to clear out; the practice was mostly over, and it
was time for final preparations. They
would be arriving soon. Derrelli
stretched, massaging the spot on his arm where he had taken the sword blow.
Torym shrugged. "Lookin'
forward to this?"
"Sorta," said Derrelli thoughtfully.
"I mean, we don't know what it'll be like, and I hope I do a good
job, but I do want to put my skills to the test.
Hopefully the first test will be an easy one."
"Put your skills to the test? Don't
you mean blast the opposition into tiny piles of ash?" quipped Torym.
Derrelli simply smiled. He
glanced out of the window nearby, eyeing the spiraling stars, knowing that soon
enough they would be normal stars, and they would be in combat.
"Ash. Yeah, that sounds
like a plan. Incinerate the bad
guys. Oops, nothing left for anyone
else to fight. C'est la vie,"
he said quietly.
"Won't be that easy," Torym said slowly.
"Close enough, Tor. Hope
you got a thick pad of paper and a lot of pencils.
We're gonna make us a very long list of names," nodded Derrelli with
a cocky smile.
"Can't take their names when the ashes are blowing away in the
wind," snickered Torym as they walked for the entrance.
Derrelli affected a wounded tone. "I
can hold off long enough to get their names.
You act like my first reaction to any problem is nuke it into the Stone
Age." The double doors hissed
open as they approached.
"It is," chuckled Torym as they stepped through. The doors hissed shut before Derrelli could think of a
suitable reply.
Near
Atlantis-1, Atlantis system, 13 October 2736
The
SLS Nephlyte
The bridge crew let out a big sigh as the communications closed. It was very stressful, being where they were, doing what they
were doing. Still, the hail they
had just answered had gone without a hitch, with the enemy buying it hook, line,
and sinker.
"Whew," said Archmage Ereunak softly.
They were even now sliding past the outer defenses; sensors were busily
recording everything. They couldn't
launch a RIFT probe until they were in the nebula, but a lot of data would be
packed on it.
"Captain, I have initial readings on the area," reported the
science officer.
"Go ahead," said the captain.
"The planet now has an Earth-type atmosphere; approximate life signs
total eight hundred thousand, all DK. The
number of ships in the system is close to five hundred; I don't even want to
know how many are in the Sabaat system," the science officer began.
"How the hell are they reinforcing?" said the captain in
disbelief.
"That's what we're here to find out," replied Zyi.
The captain nodded at his science officer to continue.
"Defensive platforms number about three hundred; all packed with
Negatorpedo launchers. The highest
concentration of ships and platforms are near the nebula, and near the
planet."
"More good news," sighed Ereunak.
"We've barely begun," said Zyi.
"We'll make it."
Ereunak gazed at him. "We
hope."
Tau
Ceti Mine, Sabaat system, 13 October 2736
The
SLS Destiny
"Door Integrity down to 13%," reported Sailor Sirius. Several of the screens now showed the Destiny's sensor
reports, as the sensors in the areas being bombarded were gone.
"Cannot get readings anywhere other than that and Area 4, which is
down to 21%."
Their shields flared periodically, from all the debris knocked loose from
the bombardment. Huge cracks now
marred the door, and several areas of the asteroid's interior. Flashes could occasionally be seen through the mineshafts,
shining green and dark purple light over them.
The maneuvering thrusters were working overtime, keeping them away from
the walls as the asteroid shifted almost continuously from the impacts.
Reeni was tense, sitting straight up in her chair.
The tension in the air was thick, thick enough to cut with a knife.
Her mind was working overtime, trying to come up with a way to get them
out of here without using the Crystal and totally exhausting herself too early
in the fight.
A small blast of flame and debris showed on the main screen.
"Doors have been breached," reported Sailor Sirius
mechanically.
"Estimate five minutes before they are completely collapsed,"
added Sailor Vulcan.
"Target weapons through the breach," said Sailor Saturn. "Can we hit anything?"
"Yes," reported Sailor America, standing over the tactical
console. "I suggest blasters;
torpedoes would likely hit the debris."
"Fire at will," ordered Reeni.
Suddenly, a thought struck her, even as the first yellow beams knifed
through the narrow breach.
"Blasters stable," reported Sailor Orion, manning the
engineering console. It helped to
be able to participate. The
crewmembers that normally held these positions were still around, at the
secondary consoles, ready to take over at a moment's notice.
"TPA ready?" asked Reeni rhetorically.
"Yes," replied Sailor America.
Reeni stood. "I've got
an idea. Officers, take your proper
stations. Senshi, come over to the
TPA. Maintain fire."
She stepped over to the console, and sat in it, brushing her pink bangs
from her face.
"Princess?" asked Sailor America.
"Join hands, and prepare to give your power to me," Reeni
began, sliding her arms into the console. "Sailor
Saturn and Sailor Eos, on either end, rest your free hand on my shoulders.
Everyone establish a link, and get ready."
There were a few nods, and then they followed her directions, and as they
joined hands, their powers began to combine.
Energy shimmered around them; each was surrounded in an aura: Sailor Eos,
lavender; Sailor Sirius, a deep red; Sailor Vulcan, golden yellow, Sailor
America, a fiery orange; Sailor Orion, bluish-white; Sailor Saturn, dark purple;
and Reeni, white, with the moon on her forehead glowing fiercely.
At the same time, channeled through the TPA, a shifting, multi-colored
aura rose around the Destiny.
Their thoughts linked as they concentrated, and suddenly all knew the
plan. The power level reached its
conflux, and all shouted in one voice:
"SAILOR TELEPORT!"
And the Destiny vanished in a burst of multi-colored light.
The
Flagrant
"Blaster fire has stopped, Lord," reported the tactical
officer, even as a bright flash briefly showed through the breach.
"Keep firing," he ordered.
"Status of defensive screens?"
"Up, but barely, Lord," reported tactical, as on the bio-screen
green beams laced into the widening gap.
"Uh, Lord," began the ops officer.
He turned. "The Destiny
is no longer there!"
"What!?" screamed the captain.
"Where could they go? And how?"
"They're behind us, coming from behind an asteroid-"
Suddenly, the Flagrant shook with a sudden impact, and the last
thing the captain was conscious of was a sudden burst of flame and ichor coming
from the back of the bridge...
The
SLS Destiny
"Target destroyed," reported tactical.
"Switching targets. Death
rays ready."
The Senshi, each regaining their strength, were all sitting in
undignified positions on the floor. Each
slowly stood, moving to the stations they had held moments earlier.
"Lock death rays on three different cruisers," ordered Reeni,
sinking into her chair. "Fire
when ready."
"Firing now," came Sailor America's reply.
The Destiny, still charging in, faced dozens of hastily
maneuvering ships. An intense
reddish glow suddenly rose from three different points on her hull, and three
super-powerful beams of energy ripped out, each nailing a different ship.
Three more explosions marred the surrounding space, debris flying about.
Red and white torpedoes issued in streams from the Destiny; yellow
beams struck with pinpoint precision. Green
beams were beginning to fly back at them, and the remaining cruisers discharged
salvoes of Negatorpedoes.
"Point defense!" called Reeni.
"Helm, fly through them if you have to but get us outta here!"
The yellow beams suddenly switched targets, picking off the incoming
torpedoes as the Destiny's torpedoes struck.
Each ship in its path took a white torpedo on its defensive screens,
followed by a red torpedo nailing the engines as the screens were phased out. Bursts of ichor and plasma blossomed, followed by the
explosions of the targeted ships. The
end result was though the Destiny shuddered with the shockwaves, she
blasted herself a hole and flew through it.
The red ion trail of the Destiny's sublight engines increased,
almost with an audible roar, and she raced away from her enemies. The DK ships wasted no time in pursuing.
The great ship dived under, soared above, and weaved in and out through
the asteroids. Several times, their
shields flared as small asteroids were batted aside or contact momentarily made
with larger ones; such contact was accompanied by a vicious shudder.
The DK ships tried their best to keep up; an occasional explosion marked
the destruction of a ship that plowed into an asteroid.
The Destiny soared clear of the asteroids, settled abruptly,
whipping around to face the last DK ships chasing them.
Blasters and torpedoes promptly destroyed each as they emerged.
Finally, none remained.
"Whoa," sighed Sailor Eos.
"We did it."
"Not quite," stated Sailor Sirius.
She looked up. "The
enemy ships in this system have combined into a two-pronged force; they are
approaching. They total three
hundred and thirty-five, mostly battleships and cruisers."
"What!" snapped Reeni. "Where
in the name of the Crystal did they get that many ships!?"
"Oh, fuck," whispered Sailor America.
"Come about to face them!" ordered Reeni.
"Sailor Eos, man the TPA. Sailor
America, stand by on all weapons. Sailor Orion, status?"
"We have one layer of shields remaining; holding at ninety-six
percent. Hull damage minimal, no
injuries reported, all major systems still up," Sailor Orion replied
rapidly.
"Ideas?" asked Reeni. No
one said anything. "Great,
just great. How are we gonna handle
this?"
"They're almost to weapons range," Sailor Sirius called
urgently.
"Fire when in range!" said Reeni.
They hadn't come this far to lose, although she couldn't deny the
situation was desperate.
"Princess!?" gasped Sailor Sirius suddenly.
"Massive RIFT signatures, all around us!"
Reeni jumped to her feet as the surrounding space became nearly white.
As the bursts faded, the ships swarmed around the Destiny,
creating a defensive net. The DK fleet hesitated momentarily, allowing the fleet to
finish raising their shields and charging their weapons. The first salvoes of yellow beams, torpedoes, and death rays
ripped into their ranks.
"YES!!!!" cheered the bridge crew of the Destiny.
The cheers were so loud that Sailor America barely heard Reeni's joyous
command. She pressed her panel, and
the Destiny's firepower was added to the fleets’, creating a massive
crossfire that began decimating the DK force.
Reeni smiled in relief as she sat back down.
Her red eyes teared slightly, but she blinked them away as the fight
continued.
They were no longer alone.
They were fighting back.
Near
the Atlantis Nebula, Atlantis system, 13 October 2736
The
SLS Nephlyte
"Access granted," nodded the DK commander of the battleship
hanging in front of them.
"Thank you, Lord," replied Zyi.
"Glory to the Dark Kingdom!"
"Glory to the Dark Kingdom!" came the reply as the
communications was ended. Zyi took
a deep breath.
"Let's do it," he said.
"Enter the nebula," ordered the captain of the Nephlyte. "Warlock Zyi, if you would prepare your first
probe?"
"You got it," he replied.
"Be right back."
Ereunak lounged near the back of the bridge.
He was feeling a bit lightheaded, from all the adrenaline racing through
his system. As Zyi departed, he
exhaled, realizing his knees were shaking slightly.
It was time, he thought quietly.
He gripped the chair he sat in as the ship pierced the nebular boundary,
shuddering. He glanced about as the
bridge became noisy with orders and reports, and softly began reciting
equations.
Zyi stood, stretching as he finished cramming the last bit of information
into the probe. The computer screen
in front of him flashed up the completion message, and he turned away, not
noticing as he did so that the screen abruptly darkened.
He exited the probe garage, heading down the corridor.
He made a left turn, and briskly walked to the lift.
As the doors hissed shut behind him, he spoke.
"Bridge."
The lift hummed, and slowed to a stop.
The doors hissed open. Zyi
stepped out, and blinked in surprise.
Everyone was slumped over, asleep.
"What the hell? Nephlyte,
what happened?" Zyi asked the ship's AI.
There was no answer, and suddenly he felt the coolness of a blaster
pistol press into the back of his head.
"I shunted the AI into his backup core and severed all links to the
outside," came a voice. "Only
the automatic routines are now working. Oh
yeah, put your hands above your head."
Zyi slowly raised his hands, and then suddenly dropped, with a sweep
kick. It connected, and the person
behind him fell, pistol clattering to the deck.
The person leapt at him, grabbing him viciously as he reached for his own
pistol. He felt hands roughly grab
it out of his holster, and then a vicious kick was delivered to his midsection,
slamming him against a console, which sparked and shocked him with the force of
the impact. He fell away, and
blinked his eyes, trying to recover his senses.
As he did, he saw the person standing over him, pistol pointed at him.
Archmage Ereunak.
"Wha... are you an Infiltrator?" Zyi demanded.
Ereunak looked at him for a moment.
"Sort of," he grinned evilly.
He pulled the trigger.
STAY
TUNED!