"LUNAR:  Tales From Crystal Tokyo"

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LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo

By Daryll Pung

Episode 1-15: "V" Is For Victory

Rated: R

 

 

New Sahara, Sabaat system, 15 October 2736

Powell Mine

            "Well?" Archmage Derrelli asked.

            "All clear so far," came the report.  "This area is free of any enemies."

            "'Kay.  Everyone, let's take some chow, eh?" smirked Derrelli.

            The 187th settled slowly.  Those near the outside ate rapidly, their eyes never leaving the area around them.  They all had standard issue Nutripaks; and they all pretended not to taste them... for the most part.

            "Whatchya got over there?" grinned Mage Torym, making a face as chewed.

            "Hmm... fried cardboard, with diced rat droppings," chuckled Derrelli.  "You know, these things aren't half bad if you imagine you're in a gourmet restaurant.  I'd kill for some steak and shrimp right now.  Mmmm, fried shrimp..."

            "Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of imagination," said Torym dryly.

            Derrelli raised an eyebrow.  "Heh.  Sucks to be you, I guess."

            "What's that!" came a call.

            Derrelli was only seconds faster than the rest of his squad, dropping the Nutripak and readying his rifle.  A good chunk of the weapons pointed in one direction, but there was nothing to see.

            "What…?" trailed off Torym.

            "Listen," Derrelli said, cocking his head.  A sound, like rocks falling, could barely be discerned, and it was followed by the sharp retort and squeal of something crushing metal.

            "Did we miss something?" asked Torym.

            "No..." said Derrelli.  "I think they're reopening the elevator shaft, since we've sealed every other exit off this level with your Walls Of Force.  That's about the only area on this level we haven't cleared.  Everyone, move out!  Weps ready!"

            The 187th scrambled to their feet, and paired off, moving down the tunnel.  It was merely a few feet before the tunnel came to a junction.

            "And the last junction," mused Torym.  "How far under are we?"

            "About three thousand feet," replied Derrelli.  "And we've been in this fuckin' ant colony for twenty-seven hours now, with no communication to the surface barring the one."  He referred to the area that had been mined out, where they had made a report to the surface, almost ten hours ago.

            A loud bang drew their attention.

            "Okay, I don't see we have any other choice.  Again, we have to split up.  We can't let these assfucks escape.  Torym, both these tunnels are dead ends; they're only thirty meters long.  Fifteen men each, double time.  You stay with the main body; once both are clear... if they are, that is, bring everyone to meet us.  I'm takin' twenty; this oughta be the main enemy force.  Let's end this," Derrelli finished.

            "Damn straight," said one of his men.

            "Move out!" called Derrelli.  He set off down the tunnel to the lift, while two other parties were quickly dispatched to scout the tunnels.  Torym breathed a sigh of relief as both parties returned intact within ten minutes, reporting all clear; then the 187th raced to rejoin their commander.

 

            Derrelli slowly readied his rifle.  This tunnel had been 100 meters long; the stench had strengthened to almost intolerable levels as they approached.  He expected the worst as they entered the area; he was not disappointed.

            This was the lowest level of the mines; the bottom of the lift shaft.  He saw a similar sight to the one on the first level, except it was far worse.  The first thing he noticed was that the cavern had been hollowed out; it was a lot larger than it should have been.  The sheer mass of Negatroopers... with a few Spidertroopers, to boot, was overwhelming.  The walls were coated with dried blood, and bodies were crunched against the sides.

            At least they were leaderless.  He had been hunted down and killed fourteen hours previously.

            "Small consolation," muttered Derrelli.  If the leader had been here, he doubted such idiocy would be tolerated; they probably would have tried burrowing around the force walls.

            Sounds from behind; the back of his little force wheeled, weapons ready; but it was only the rest of the 187th rejoining them.  Torym made his way to Derrelli.

            "Reeks," he gasped.  "By the by, should I mention that we paused to scan the area, since there's no minerals about?  And the surrounding rock is very unstable; if this battle isn't precise, we could bring the place down on our heads?"

            "Great," muttered Derrelli.  "Everyone get that?  Mark your damn targets; make sure you hit them and only them!"

            "Well?" asked one of his men.

            "Target the spidertroopers first!  Open fire!" shouted Derrelli, sighting his first choice of targets before pulling the trigger.

            Scores of white-hot beams of energy nailed four of the five spidertroopers; they disintegrated under the impact.  The fifth wheeled, arms glowing; even as the next barrage found its mark and various Negatroopers charged the 187th, it discharged a volley of its powerful energy, and not a one hit a target.  They all struck the walls.  Rocks tumbled down upon the fight.

            The wave of onrushing enemies, snarling, baring sharp, slicing claws was frightening, thought Derrelli.  At least they knew how to deal with them.  He debated using a spell, as his weapon bucked repeatedly in his hands, white energy nailing his enemies.  He didn't want to add to the instability of the area.

            He was elbowed in the side.  "The supports!" hissed Torym.

            Derrelli stared at the supports; they were warped and twisted under the burden, but more importantly, Negatroopers were slashing at them.

            "Shit!  They intend to collapse the sealed lift!  If they do that..." he trailed off, sighting on one of them.  He fired; he had the satisfaction of seeing a white nimbus around his target as it dropped free, falling into the thinning mass below.  "Sharpshooters!  Target the bastards on the beams!"

            White beams lanced out; almost all the Negatroopers fell in one salvo.  Two remained; then one; Derrelli fired.  His target dropped even as he shot.

            "Fuck!" he exclaimed as a cloud of superheated dust, rock, and bits of metal, rained outward.  "He jumped!  I nailed the beam!"

            A loud rumble filled the area, and the rain of falling debris grew larger.  An immense boulder suddenly slammed down, crushing a group of Negatroopers in one swift blow.  Black ichor splattered about as a loud screech of overburdened metal rent the air.

            "Go!  Back to the junction!" shouted Derrelli.  He fired off one final shot as the 187th fled the area.  Even as his back turned, a shadow blocked out the lights.  He threw himself down the tunnel in desperation, and was overtaken by a cloud of dust and an earth-shattering roar.

 

The SLS Destiny, In Orbit

            "What!" blinked Sailor Sirius, bringing up the view on screen two.  An immense plume of dust billowed out of the surface entrance to the largest mine on New Sahara.

            "That's the one we were waiting on," muttered Sailor Orion.  "The last pocket of resistance in this system."  The two were sharing bridge duty, allowing the princess to get some much-needed sleep.

            "No kidding," muttered Sailor Sirius.  "It's amazing that the least populated planet caused the most trouble."

            "Well," began Sailor Orion.  "The other planets in this system were very easy to scan, and weed out the pockets of resistance.  Even the ultra-sophisticated sensors of the scout ships can't operate properly with the mineral interference deep beneath the surface in some of those mines.  We can only generalize locations; hence, the old-fashioned approach."

            Sailor Sirius frowned.  "I wonder what happened?"

            "Hopefully, we'll soon know," replied Sailor Orion.  "Let's contact the nearest pair of scout ships and have them do deep scans of that area."

            "Sounds good," nodded Sailor Sirius.  "I'll take care of it."

            Sailor Orion sat back down, her worry creasing her face.  "I hope the 187th is all right."

 

Powell Mine

            Torym groaned, sitting up.  He glanced about; the 187th seemed to be intact.  He wasn't the only one stirring.  They were all coated with dust, some bleeding slightly from the shards of sharp rock and metal.  He looked behind him.

            The tunnel was completely blocked.  They were about fifty meters from the junction, and the lights were flickering on and off.  This was one of the dead areas.  He heard a groan near the rockfall, and Derrelli raised himself up on his arms.

            "Ouch," he grumbled.  "This sucks."

            "You okay?  Is everyone okay?  Is everyone here?" asked Torym, looking about.  A series of grumbled affirmatives answered him.

            "Yeah, I'll live," muttered Derrelli.  "Is everyone accounted for?"

            "Yep," said Torym, swinging his scanner about.  "No losses.  No surviving DKs, either."  He paused, staring at the display intently.  Derrelli glanced up.

            "Um," he said.  He was staring at a large crack that was getting longer by the second.

            "By the Crystal," muttered Torym.  "We cleared the mine, all right... and now, the entire thing is about to collapse on us."

            "Well, at least the bodies got their burial," said Derrelli.  He slowly got to his feet.  The lights suddenly went out.

            "What the?" frowned Derrelli.

            "The fusion generator just blew," said Torym tonelessly.  A tiny bit of dust rained down as the ground shuddered all around them.  "And the reaction just fused all exits shut."

            "No fuckin' way," blinked Derrelli.  "You tellin' me we're trapped?  And the whole place is about to collapse on us?"

            Torym nodded.  "And with the collapse of the areas above us, I can no longer get any readings whatsoever."  He glared at the scanner in his hands despondently, finally deactivating it and stowing it.  "Which also means we can't call for help."

            Derrelli slumped.  "So, this is it."  He paused for a second, staring up.  His fists balled.  "Nah, I can't accept that.  There's gotta be a way out.  First things first, let's find the most stable area we can, this tunnel's about to come down on us.  Then we can think.  With all the magic we have here, there's gotta be a way."

            The 187th nodded, and stood.  They retraced their steps down the tunnel, and moved back to the area where they had broke for their meal.  All shone lights on the walls and ceiling; there were no cracks, and no tremors.  They could hear sharp reports of rock collapsing, echoing down the tunnels; but so far, this area was unaffected.

            "Everyone, keep a sharp ear out, and a sharp look out," ordered Derrelli.  "Now, let's get our brainpans working.  What spells might help us in this situation?  Fire's out; I don't want to suffocate us."

            "So, we can't blast our way out," said Torym.  "All my walls can't help, other than to protect us."

            "What about summons?" asked Derrelli.

            Torym sighed.  "I'm not that skilled yet, Pyro.  I can only summon a few elemental spirits, and not one that can really help."

            "Most of us are gonna be of little help, boss," said one of the others.  "We only know the basic spells."

            Derrelli frowned.  "Torym, what about a rock, or earth, elemental?"

            Torym chuckled.  "No, won't work.  This is their natural element, so they can move through it with ease.  They don't dig, or anything like that.  Water and air are out, as well.  It would take far too long for either to be much help.  I can't summon the more sophisticated spirits yet, either."

            Suddenly, the ground rumbled around them, and a loud roar filled the air.  Everyone standing fell to the ground, and looked about helplessly.  The rumbling ceased as suddenly as it began.  All went silent for a moment, waiting for more.

            "You feel that?" blinked Derrelli.

            "What?" asked Torym.

            "Moving air," said Derrelli.

            Derrelli leapt to his feet, running down the tunnel, towards the source of the moving air.  He slowed; then stopped, and glanced up, shining his light.

            "Well?" asked Torym, stopping by him.

            Derrelli grinned.  "Everyone here knows the Floating Disc spell, since that is one of the basics.  I know they don't move up, and can only hold so much weight, but if you look at the size of the shaft that just opened, I see no reason we can't make an ascending series of discs, and then climb up one at a time."

            "Hell yeah," one of his men said.

            "Let's do it," nodded Torym.  He concentrated briefly, and then extended his hands.  "Floating Disc!"  A shimmering disc appeared four feet off the ground.

            Derrelli motioned to one of his men.  He scrambled aboard, saw Derrelli nod, and summoned his own.

            "Floating Disc!"

 

The SLS Destiny, In Orbit

            "All we have been able to determine is the mine is approximately sixty percent collapsed, and appears to be reaching a point of stability," nodded Sailor Vulcan.

            Princess Serena frowned.  "That's it?"

            "Well, it's not conclusive, but no trace can be found of any DK troops," added Diana.

            "And no sign of the force sent down there?" Reeni asked.

            "Unfortunately, not really," sighed Sailor America.  "Life signs are reported, but we can't get a lock on any of them, and can't determine how many there are.  The scout ships are doing the best they can, but things are still shifting.  They have hopes that when the area settles, they'll be able to get a better estimate."

            Sailor Eos, sensing Reeni's concern, laid a hand on her shoulder.  "They'll be fine, Reeni," she said quietly.

            Reeni's red eyes glanced at Sailor Eos.  "I hope so.  I'd like to be able to report to Mother that the Sabaat system is completely liberated, in only a few days' time, with minimal losses.  And losing the 187th wouldn't be that.  There is a lot of talent there; it's one of the premier Sorcerer units.  And I know I should be concerned with the bigger picture, but even losing one life is bad."

            "'A single death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a statistic'," said Sailor Orion in a monotone.  "Josef Stalin, a twentieth century communist leader on the subject of losses of war; cruel, but unfortunately true.  The human mind can take only so much before it numbs itself in interest of preserving one's sanity."

            "Now is not the time for moralizing on the situation, both specific and overall, Jen," said Sailor America softly.  "Or waxing philosophical."

            Sailor Orion blinked and nodded.  "You're right; just the historian in me speaking out of place.  Sorry."

            "It's only been two hours since we first noticed the collapse," broke in Sailor Sirius optimistically.  "I'm sure they're hard at work figuring a way out even as we speak."

            "If you take into consideration the caliber of the individuals who successfully complete the Sorcerer Training Courses," added Sailor Vulcan, "then it is only logical."

            Sailor Sirius smiled.  "See?  Even the emotionless Sailor Vulcan is optimistic; how can we not be?"

            Sailor Vulcan's only reply was a raised eyebrow.

 

Powell Mine

            "Well?" asked Derrelli.  He was three force discs down from Torym.

            "I swear, if I have to summon another one, I'm gonna flip out!" he sighed, reaching to the next outcropping of rock.  "We've repeated this nine times each, and this is getting old."  He touched to ledge, and drew his hand back with a look of surprise.  "The rock's still warm!"

            "We must be at the top level, then," came Derrelli's voice.  "Aftereffects from the fusion reaction?  And I do believe we need to hurry it up; I was just told the lowest discs are disappearing from the expiration of the spell's duration."

            "Probably.  It's warm, but not too warm.  We oughta be okay," said Torym.  He grabbed the edge, and pulled himself up.  He rolled, and stood.  "The area looks fairly stable, although the exit is sealed.  It looks like the shaft narrows dramatically upwards from this point."

            "Let's get everyone up there, then," said Derrelli.  "We're near enough to the top; we can blast our way out."

            Twenty-eight minutes later, the 187th was all crowded into a thirty-meter long section of tunnel.  As they all relaxed, shaking from the exertion of maintaining so much magic, Derrelli surveyed the area.  He eyed the melted rock, and then flipped up his rifle, fingers dancing over the control panel.  "Adjust your weapons to disrupt; except you, Tor.  Set yours for explosive effects.  We'll destabilize the molecular structure of the rock, and then you blow it open.  Sound like a plan?"

            "Yeah," nodded Torym.  "After you."  He began adjusting his rifle.  "We need to make it quick, though; I don't know about anyone else, but my last power pack is nearly gone."

            "Likewise," frowned Derrelli.  "Let's do it."

            Thin reddish beams ripped from a dozen rifles at once, impacting into the rock with a thin red aura.  Torym leveled his rifle, as the rock took on a reddish hue.  He sighted.

            The orange beam from his rifle drilled the glowing red rock face dead center, and a shuddering explosion rocked the area.  The heat wave forced them back momentarily, but the debris was blasted away from them.  There was the sound of rock clattering, and then nothing as the dust settled.  It was dark through the opening.

            "Don't tell me..." began Torym, lowering his rifle.

            "Hold on," said Derrelli, moving forward.  He glanced about, and then looked up.  He smiled.

            "What is it?" asked Torym.

            "Stars, Torym, stars.  It's a crater.  We can climb along the rim, a nice, easy climb, and we're home free.  Try reaching the command post.  You should be able to get through.  We did it."  Derrelli grinned. 

            "Mission accomplished."

 

The SLS Destiny, In Orbit

            "They're safe," said Warlock Huyril on screen one.  "No one died from the collapse; the place had been crawling with DK forces.  They lost a grand total of twenty-nine troops since they landed; that's the least of any unit."

            "And it's cleared?" Reeni said carefully.

            "Yes, your Highness.  New Sahara is now clear of all DK forces," Huyril replied, a smile creasing his Latin features.

            Reeni smiled broadly.  "That's it, then.  Sabaat is completely liberated!  Good work, Warlock Huyril.  Pass that on to all your troops."

            "Thank you, Ma'am.  Just one more thing: the 187th's dropships have nowhere to go.  They had come from the Minotaur," Huyril explained.

            "I daresay we have room aboard the Destiny," Reeni said.  "Send them here."

            "As you command," nodded Huyril.

            "Destiny, out," said Reeni.  She caught Sailor Saturn's eye.  "Can we make sure they have quarters?"

            "No problem," said Sailor Saturn, waving to a nearby crewmember, who nodded and raced from the bridge.

            "Might as well keep them here," shrugged Reeni.  "It's likely they'll be needed for Atlantis."

            "We still don't have a plan for that yet," Sailor America reminded them.

            "Soon enough," smiled Sailor Eos.  "Soon enough.  For now, we should all just take a break.  I want a Diet Coke with lemon; anyone care to join me?"

            "Why not?" smiled Reeni broadly.  They turned, and led the exodus off the bridge, leaving a lieutenant commander in charge.  He shrugged, and took the chair.

            "Maintain sensor sweeps.  We just got this system back; let's not lose it again," he said.

            "Aye, sir."

 

New Sahara, Sabaat system, 16 October 2736

187th "Vipers" Dropships

            The six dropships containing the 187th were the last to depart the surface.  They were all relaxing; many were asleep.  Derrelli felt proud; his unit had done extremely well.  And now, they were going to the flagship!  He grinned.  He had always wanted to go aboard the Destiny; he was now getting that chance.

            He glanced at the hot sands below, as they raced higher into the deep blue sky.  He knew that volunteer teams of civil workers would soon arrive from Sol to help rebuild, along with the permanently assigned replacements of the defensive garrisons.  Sabaat would be a busy place for a while; but the worst was over, and things would soon return to a semblance of normalcy.

            He reached over, to the toggle switch on his armrest, flicking the screen to the forward view.  As the blue of the New Sahara sky faded to the black of space, he zoomed in on the splendor of the Destiny.  From its huge wings, to its graceful, yet threatening center section, the flagship added just the right touch to their victory.  It was one of the coolest things he had ever seen.

            "Sweet," he murmured.

            "Hmm?" asked Torym.

            "The Destiny," said Derrelli.

            "If you zoom in more, you can probably see where the hull patches are," Torym commented, glancing at the screen.

            "Nah," said Derrelli.  He grinned.  "Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask you something."

            "What's that?" asked Torym.

            "We got any paper left?  I know I've still got ink left in my pen, and my steel-toes are in my duffle," Derrelli chuckled.

            Torym returned the smile.  "If not, we'll cut us down some trees and make us some."

            "Yeah," Derrelli said.  "Sabaat's free, so now it's time to go hunting."

            "With an unrestricted license and no bag limit," finished Torym.

            "My spells are great," mused Derrelli.  "I think Firewall is a bit more effective, though."

            "A little," yawned Torym.  Then he frowned slightly.

            "What?" asked Derrelli.

            "There aren't any mines on Atlantis, are there?" Torym asked plaintively.

            "I sure hope not," replied Derrelli fervently.  "By the Crystal, I hope not."

 

The edge of the Sabaat system, 16 October 2736

The SLS Ursa Major

            "Approaching now," came the report from the conn.

            "Fly above the asteroids," said the Captain tersely.  He was tense; it wasn't everyday that a scout ship carried the important cargo he had aboard.

            "Receiving a communiqué from the Destiny, sir.  It was directed to Fleet HQ and rerouted to us, for..."

            "Me, probably," said a quiet voice as the doors hissed shut behind them.  "What does it say?"

            "Sabaat... is free."

 

 

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