"LUNAR:  Tales From Crystal Tokyo"

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LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo

By Daryll Pung

Episode 1-16: A Grand Old Game Of Chess

Rated: R

In Orbit of Atlantis-1, Atlantis system, 16 October 2736

The Demon

            "Lord, we've not had any contact with the Ripper or any ships assigned to the Sabaat system in some time," reported First quietly.  It was all she could do not to shake as she stood at attention.  Heran was not in a good mood.

            "Yeah, tell me something I don't know!" he snapped.  "So our enemies are quite naturally responding to our attacks, and I'm the one who gets blamed because everything doesn't go as planned!"  Heran scowled.  He had been "punished" for the raid on the Gate, for allowing that ship through.  Never mind that the Demon wasn't anywhere near that!  Like it was his fault that the ignorant station commander had allowed a good chunk of his precious gate get blown away, along with himself.  But, of course, they had to punish somebody, so they punished him.  Pain was not something he enjoyed.  The response time for destroying the errant probe had been excellent; that he had overseen.  Heran frowned, his intellect overruling his anger.

            "Might as well write them off; none of them exist anymore.  We've obviously lost the Sabaat system; and they'll be coming here next.  Since it seems to be my responsibility, move our task force to the Gate to guard it; draw the rest of the ships in around the nebula, star, and planet.  Make sure they are spaced out appropriately; I want them to provide overlapping fields of fire without bunching too close together so the use of the TPAs doesn’t wipe them out.  Matter of fact, screw the planet and star; just have our ships block the path to the Gate," Heran said bitterly.  "Let the automated platforms protect everything else."

            "That's a lot of our citizens you're abandoning, Lord," commented First quietly.

            "So?" he replied.  He became very quiet.  First gulped, and snapped to attention.

            "As you wish, Lord.  What of the Minotaur?" she asked.

            Heran blinked, having allowed himself to forget the capture of the almost-destroyed cruiser.  The two escorting destroyers had fallen easy to the recon force he had sent; the remains of the two coupled with the Minotaur amounted to quite a bit of captured GM technology.

            "Should we begin tearing them apart and studying how they work?" she asked.

            Heran turned, all anger gone from his expression.  He glanced thoughtfully around the bridge.  A lot of his crew no longer feared him unless he was angry; most respected one of the foremost commanding officers in the DK fleet.  It was the higher-ups who didn't care; who punished regardless of who was at fault.  He gave his second in command a deep, searching look.

            "Yes.  Yes, but the information isn't to leave the three hulks.  Cannibalize the two smaller ones, and see if we can't fix the cruiser," began Heran.  He sat in his chair abruptly.  "Also, begin an undercover operation on the Demon.  Find out who is dissatisfied with the Dark Kingdom.  Take no action; just make a record of it and give it to me.  Alert the engineers; the GM cruiser is highest priority."

            "As you wish, Lord," said First, mystified.  "As you wish."

In Orbit of New Sahara, Sabaat system, 16 October 2736

The SLS Destiny

            The black vastness of space made for an awe-inspiring backdrop, thought Sailor Sirius.  The Senshi aboard the Destiny were relaxing in the standard uniforms, watching the arrival of the six dropships that were even now on final approach.  Below the observation area, two officers with brown and black uniforms manned the console.

            The force field may have been invisible, but a thin line of blue lights was blinking repeatedly around the force field generators, showing it was up.  The shuttlebay doors were open wide, and the wedged formation of the dropships slowly turned into a column, with the lead ship first.  As they neared, a buzzer sounded, and the internal force field indicators flashed on a millisecond prior to the outer force field lights going out.  The four tractor beam emitters set just inside the doors were activated, the rippling purple beams steadying the first ship, drawing it in.

            It was only three and a half minutes later that the outer force field indicators flashed back on, and the shuttlebay doors began to close.  The rear doors on each dropship began to open up, and several other crewmembers wearing brown raced out, dragging hoses and other gear to the dropships.

            "That went well," nodded Sailor Saturn.  Both saw the commander of the 187th, a tall, dark haired man, turn to the black man at his side.

            "This is sweet," grinned Archmage Derrelli.

            "It is pretty cool," agreed Mage Torym.  "We're aboard the flagship of the fleet, the single most billy bad-ass ship we have."

            "We'll have to ask for a tour later," chuckled Derrelli.  "I feel like a giddy little kid right now."

            Torym yawned.  "Sure, I'd love a tour.... After I've showered and slept for a week, that is."

            "I hear ya, Tor.  I hear ya," Derrelli said.  "And I second the motion."

            The Destiny spoke.  "The bridge is calling Admiral Tsukino," Sailor Sirius heard.  She turned, seeing Princess Serena blink her red eyes as her pink ponytails bobbed.

            "Go ahead," she said.

            "Message for you from an approaching scout ship, the SLS Ursa Major."

            "I'll take it down here," Reeni said, turning to the screen as the others glanced at each other.

            "From a scout ship?" asked Sailor Eos quietly.

            The screen blinked on, and Reeni did a double take.  "Mother?"

            Neo-Queen Serenity I nodded.  "Yes, Small Lady.  We are on approach; ready the main docking bay.  We will talk more when we arrive; but for now, I wished to congratulate you.  You have handled yourself brilliantly."

            "Thank you, Mother," smiled Reeni.  "We'll prep everything for your arrival right away."

            It was a mere twenty minutes later when the immense bay doors of the Destiny began to close, the Ursa Major secure in its moorings, and Serenity secure on the Destiny.  Her arrival had been a ceremony indeed; within the span of ten minutes, Reeni had mustered all the off-duty crew into their uniforms and welcomed her aboard exactly as prescribed in the fleet procedures.  The only non-regulation moment had been Reeni dumping protocol and running to her mother and father for a long embrace.

            Not unexpected, of course.

            Thirty minutes after their arrival, Serenity, King Endymion, Luna, Artemis, Sailor Mars, Mars Knight, Sailor Mercury, Mercury Knight, and Saturn Knight, were all assigned quarters and relaxing in the briefing room.  The entire Senshi complement of the Destiny was with them.

            "Is everything settled?" asked Serenity of Reeni.

            "Yes, although the crew is still hard at work catching up on their duties.  Between your arrival and taking on the 187th, it's been busy," grinned Reeni.

            "The 187th?" asked Serenity.

            Reeni nodded.  "Yes.  They were originally tasked to the Minotaur, but that ship was all but destroyed in the fighting, so it was sent back to the Sol system.  The 187th had nowhere to go, so we brought them here.  I figured they'd be needed for the upcoming problems in the Atlantis system."

            Serenity frowned slightly.  "You are aware the Minotaur and her escorts were attacked and are presumed destroyed by a fleeing DK force?"

            Reeni blinked in surprise.  "No, I wasn't."

            Endymion spoke up.  "Might as well include the commanders of the 187th in this briefing."

            Serenity nodded slowly.  "That is a good idea; it will be likely our foremost Sorcerer unit will be needed for the hardest part.  Who are they again?"

            "Archmage Derrelli and Mage Torym," said Destiny.

            "Send for them please, Destiny.  Have them report here right away," said Serenity.  "Derrelli?  I know I have met that young man before...."

            "He was one of the Sorcerers involved in capturing the one Infiltrator," Luna reminded her.

            Serenity's eyes twinkled with humor.  "I predicted he would go far.  Very resourceful; if a bit... shall we say, hotheaded.  Much like someone else I know and depend on."

            Sailor Mars grinned slightly.

            Scarcely twelve minutes had gone by before the doors hissed open to reveal Derrelli and Torym, freshened up in new uniforms.  After the courtesies were exchanged, the two moved to the back of the room, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

            "Very good," smiled Serenity.  "Everyone, please take your seats.  We have much to discuss."

            The decibel level in the room immediately dropped as everyone fell silent.

            "Firstly," began Serenity, "I must commend all of you.  Your sacrifices will not be forgotten; this ship and all aboard have done extremely well.  You led by shining example.  Whilst the situation is not yet concluded, the tide has turned, due in good part to all of you."

            "This is, indeed, far from over.  We have taken what is rightfully ours back from the grasp of darkness; now we must take the offensive and destroy the method with which our enemy intrudes upon us," Serenity continued.  The screen lit up behind her.  "Raye?"

            "Thank you, Serenity.  First, I ask that the following information be kept to yourselves until the operation is in full swing.  What we know comes from another sacrifice; that of the destroyer SLS Nephlyte.  It was tasked with discovering the source of the Dark Kingdom's interest in the Atlantis system," said Sailor Mars.  She stood, moving to the screen.  "What you see here is an image of what was found; this picture was taken just before the Nephlyte's capture.  The ship subsequently self-destructed."

            "Oh, my," murmured Diana.

            "What you see is some sort of space-warping conduit.  Sailor Mercury has been doing a lot of computer modeling and research as of late, trying to give us a better picture of what it could be.  Sailor Mercury?"

            The blue-haired Senshi stood.  "Based on the probe data, and the picture, we can now hypothesize with some certainty that this structure is a type of subspace conduit generator; more commonly referred to as wormholes.  These types of anomalies are generally unstable; they move about without warning.  However, it appears that the DK has discovered a means to create a stable, controlled conduit.  I firmly believe that this actually requires two gates.  I 'm also guessing that the gate is currently not operable; the explosion of a self-destructing ship is quite powerful.  Also, the one in the nebula is probably a receiving point; the activation almost certainly has to originate at the other end.  We can also presume the other end is near the Dark Kingdom's home system.  Unfortunately, at this point in time, we can't make use of this conduit to find said home system."

            As Sailor Mercury sat down, Derrelli cleared his throat.  "Ma'am, was the Nephlyte doing the special mission we heard about?"

            Sailor Mars looked at him for a long moment.  "Yes."

            Derrelli slumped.

            "Yes, and unfortunately, all hands appeared to have been lost.  We are unsure of how it was captured," continued Sailor Mars.

            "Ereunak was on that ship, then," muttered Derrelli.  "So long, buddy."  He focused his attention to the things at hand.

            "Now," began Sailor Mars, "We have the bare bones of a plan to deal with what is in front of us.  It is time to flesh them out.  Our mission has several objectives."

            "One, we have to eliminate the enemy fleet, and the enemy defenses.  This will be phase one.  It's fairly straightforward:  our fleet must engage theirs.  We are vastly outnumbered, so some creative thinking is going to be applied.  Namely, the Destiny will be in the middle, and on four equidistant points from there will be a battleship.  Princess Serena, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Saturn, and myself will each command one.  The opening move will be the TPA use of our powers to thin out the numbers," Sailor Mars said.  "This will, of course, apply fleet-wide.  I know normal procedure calls for the TPA to be used as a last resort aboard combatants, but this is hardly a normal time.  We don't expect this to be too hard a fight, especially with two Crystals to back it all up, but we may be surprised."

            "That's phase one.  Phase two is the planet currently designated Atlantis-1.  Sensor reports from the Nephlyte show it now has an Earth-compatible atmosphere; it is also colonized by the DK," said Sailor Mars.

            "Doesn't that make it their space, then?" asked Sailor Orion.

            "No," said Luna.  "We discovered it first; there has also previously been zero DK presence in this region.  We were exploring the area long before they were; we had quite an extensive network of relays set up before they began their rampage."

            "There's also the fact that this is a clear and present danger to the sanctity of the capital system of the Golden Millennium," added Artemis.  "And they have made no formal claim, whereas we declared it part of our space."

            "So, this infringement must be dealt with," continued Sailor Mars.  "We haven't yet planned this part out; it will probably involve landing all of our Sorcerer troops and establishing martial law-"

            "No," said Serenity quietly.

            "Your Majesty?" blinked Sailor Mars.

            "The planet must be cleansed," spoke the ruler of the Golden Millennium.

            The room became utterly silent for a moment.  Finally, Sailor Saturn spoke. 

            "That is a lot of lives, your Highness," said Sailor Saturn.

            Serenity sat up very straight.  There was no trace of humor in her now.  "I know it is a harsh decision, Hotaru.  Unfortunately, it has to be.  We will broadcast messages to evacuate the planet; allow the DK ship captains to save their... fellow creatures.  I know some may even share our outlook; but we cannot allow a hive of Dark Kingdom influence within our borders, under our guard or no.  That is simply asking for treachery and further violence.  I wish there was an easier way, but any remaining creatures on the planet when we attack will be moondusted."

            "I do not fully understand your position, your Majesty, but I do understand the logic of that decision," Sailor Vulcan said after a brief pause.  "Suffice it to say, we will be announcing our intent by broadcasting such a message."

            "So we announce our intent," Serenity said.  "We will have to.  We will allow them... Amy, what is the best estimate of time to evacuate the population with the amount of ships they possess?"

            Sailor Mercury did some rapid calculating.  "Five days, twelve hours."

            "Very well.  Serenity to the bridge," said Serenity.

            "Bridge here, Fleet Admiral, go ahead."

            "Send this message, across all frequencies, into the Atlantis System: This is the commander of the Golden Millennium forces.  We are going to be attacking the Atlantis system in one week.  You have that long to evacuate your citizens.  Please do not take this as a ruse; we are coming, and any remaining in the system at that time will not survive," finished Serenity.

            "Aye, aye, Ma'am."

            "A week?" asked Endymion.

            "Yes.  That is plenty of time for them to evacuate," Serenity said.  "I hope that will also cause many of their ships to not be present; even if they take the long way home."

            "What about the Sorcerers, then?" asked Sailor Mars.

            "Leave the ships carrying Sorcerers near the back of the fleet.  We will hopefully only require the services of the 187th; bring enough replacements from other units to fill them up to strength.  Only the best, though," said Endymion.

            "So phase two will involve...?" asked Sailor Mars.

            "Myself," said Serenity.  "And the Silver Imperium Crystal."

            "Okay," said Sailor Mars quietly.  "Are you sure about this?"

            Serenity gazed steadily at Sailor Mars.  "I am.  The responsibility will be mine, and mine alone.  I will not drag Small Lady into this."

            "As you wish, your Highness.  Phase three, then, is the final phase.  It involves the destruction of the gate, and any defenses therein.  This is where the 187th may come into play; we think there is a possibility some of our people may be alive in the gate structure; we will perform detailed scans as we approach the area.  If there are, and if there is indeed a possibility that we can use the gate against our enemies, then you will be dispatched to rescue, destroy, and/or capture," said Sailor Mars.

            "And try not to bring the place down on your heads this time," chuckled Sailor America, her joke breaking the somber mood.

            "Hey, if the bad guy hadn't jumped, I wouldn't have nailed the last support beam," said Derrelli defensively, amid the laughter.  "Seriously, though, you can count on the 187th."

            "Good," said Sailor Mars.  "We'll need to."

            "So that's it, then?" asked Sailor Eos.

            "We hope so," said Serenity evenly.  "Until then, we will allow everyone just enough time to recuperate and recover without dulling his or her edge.  Make it a fleet-wide order; schedule light workloads for the next few days while we prepare."

            "Okay.  We now know the plan; this briefing is adjourned," said Sailor Mars.  "Let's remain on our toes."

In Orbit of Atlantis-1, Atlantis system, 16 October 2736

The Demon 

            "...will not survive."

            As Heran listened to the message for the fourth time, his fingers rapped the armrest of his chair.  First was standing nearby.

            "What do you think, Lord?" she asked.

            He glanced at her.  "I think it bears the ring of truth.  I also believe that is the voice of Serenity; I think she'll be with the force that attacks."

            "Then what is defending their home system?" asked First.

            "It is probably well defended; that doesn't matter now.  They know too much; and we no longer have the ability for a sustained offensive.  So, we will make the battle a moot point.  Draw every starship into the nebula; form separate battle patrols.  We know when they are coming; we'll envelop them with a multidirectional attack," said Heran thoughtfully.  He beckoned First closer.

            "Lord?" she asked.

            "How goes your investigation?" he asked.

            "Well, it’s only in the beginning stages now, Lord, but the results already don't look good.  There appears to be a lot of crew that are unhappy," she said.  "Also, the engineers report by cannibalizing the destroyer hulks and some parts from the Demon, we can rebuild the cruiser."

            "Tell the engineers to do so; take whatever they need," grinned Heran.  "As far as the crew goes; I believe that's my fault; I allow them to think too much and to take pride in their ship and captain.  Very well.  Continue your investigation."

            "As you command, Lord," she said, saluting with her arm across her chest in the way of their people before spinning on her heel and departing the bridge.  As the bio-doors slicked shut behind her, he stood and approached the science station.

            "What would happen if one of our battleships were to self destruct within the planetoid's atmosphere?" Heran asked.

            The science officer pressed his controls, computing it out.  "Well, Lord, the reaction from the engine core wouldn't be checked by the vacuum of space, so it would likely continue until all of the higher gasses in the atmosphere were consumed, since the units in place to provide such atmosphere couldn't cope; resulting in no atmosphere, and then-"

            "That's all I need to know.  So, self-destructing one of our battleships will be a death sentence for a planet and all on it," mused Heran.

            "Yes, Lord," said the science officer.

            Heran turned away, heading back to his chair, his hands behind his back.  The grin on his face was one of purest evil.

In Orbit of New Sahara, Sabaat system, 16 October 2736

The SLS Destiny

            Derrelli leaned back, in one of the comfortable chairs in the observation lounge.  He was temporarily alone.  He gazed out of the windows.  Due to the location of the lounge, facing towards the rear of the ship, he had quite a view of the rest of the Destiny, as well as New Sahara and all of the other ships in formation with the Destiny, following a similar orbital path.

            He and his men had been told they could go anywhere the rest of the crew could, but he was the only one here.  He had wanted to study, but he found he couldn't concentrate.  He laid his spellcomp aside, and stared at the panorama outside.

            "Destiny, would you please decrease lighting to thirty percent?" he asked, placing his arms behind his head as he relaxed.  His eyes took in every detail, from the swept shape of the Destiny, the red glow from the immense banks of Fusion Impeller sublight engines, to the other ships.  It was quite a display of GM strength.  He heard the hiss of the door.

            "Um, anyone in here?" he heard.  He spun around in his chair, and blinked.  Standing just inside the door was a pair of gorgeous women.  The shorter of the two had deep auburn hair and laughing chocolate brown eyes.  She bore a faint smile.  She was dressed in a purple skirt and silver top; with black knee-high boots trimmed in purple, and the tiara on her forehead bearing only a lavender gem.  Her companion was considerably taller, with long black hair, and thoughtful amber eyes.  Her hair mostly concealed her ears, but where it didn't it was easy to see they were pointed.  She was dressed in the traditional outfit of a Sailor Senshi, the minor differences being her bow had a star, and she wore gold triangular earrings.  Unlike her companion, no trace of emotion showed in her elegant features.

            "Yeah, uh, don't mind me," Derrelli said, stretching.  "Just tryin' to relax, Sailor Vulcan, Sailor Eos."

            Sailor Eos laughed, a rich, cheerful laugh.  "I imagine you need it, Archmage Derrelli.  Don't mind us; I'm simply introducing Sailor Vulcan here to the merits of diet Coke with lemon."  Sailor Eos crossed over to the dispensers.

            "One question, Archmage Derrelli," began Sailor Vulcan, as Derrelli waved his hand.

            "Just Derrelli, please.  Too many titles drive me nuts," Derrelli said.

            Sailor Vulcan raised her eyebrow as Sailor Eos broke in.  "Would you like anything, Derrelli?"

            Derrelli glanced at her.  "Uh, sure... a tall glass of milk would hit the spot, actually."  Sailor Eos nodded, and Derrelli returned his attention to Sailor Vulcan.  "So, what was the question?"

            "Why relax here?  Would your quarters not make more sense?  Then you do not have interruptions," asked Sailor Vulcan.

            "That's not the type of relaxation I was shooting for, Sailor Vulcan.  I chose this location because I wanted to... well, for one thing, I haven't had much opportunity to look at space.  For another, I've always wanted to see the fleet, and right now I have a chance to do so.  It's just... cool," grinned Derrelli.

            "Cool?" asked Sailor Vulcan, eyebrows raised.

            "Yes.  As in, thrilling, or awe inspiring," said Derrelli.  He was quiet for a moment, as Sailor Eos handed Sailor Vulcan a soda with a slice of lemon in it, like the one she had.  She handed him a glass of milk.  "Thanks, Sailor Eos."

            Sailor Eos regarded him thoughtfully as Sailor Vulcan tried her drink.  "You came here to... center yourself, for lack of a better term."

            Derrelli glanced up, startled.  "Yeah.  Yeah, you could put it that way.  I knew one of the guys aboard the Nephlyte, for one thing.  He was... well, you could say he was a friend of mine.  Ereunak.  Apparently, he's dead now.  And after the narrow, tiring escape from the mines, and all we dealt with down there, I'm just trying to prepare myself for what could be next."

            "You are worried, then," said Sailor Vulcan.  "I must admit, I am also... concerned.  I have found that practicing Yoga helps with calming oneself and controlling one's emotions."

            Derrelli smiled slightly as he took a sip of milk.  "I'll take your word for it."

            "We're taking a major risk," said Sailor Eos.  "But, it will be worth it."

            "You say that with such certainty, Sailor Eos," said Derrelli quietly.  "How do you know?  How can any of us know?"

            "I'm sure Pu... I mean, Sailor Pluto, probably does.  That's her business.  But me... it's probably because I'm an eternal optimist.  I firmly believe that we will triumph," said Sailor Eos.  "Enough of that for now, though.  What do you think, Sailor Vulcan?"

            "It is... different, Sailor Eos.  Refreshing," responded Sailor Vulcan slowly.

            "I knew you'd like it," smiled Sailor Eos broadly.  “And I thought I asked you to just call me… never mind.”

            "I did not say..." began Sailor Vulcan, as Sailor Eos' smile widened.  Sailor Vulcan simply raised an eyebrow.  She noted Derrelli's amused look.

            "Well, we should go get some rest ourselves," said Sailor Eos.  "Hope you find the inner peace you're looking for, Derrelli."

            "Yeah, thanks.  Nice talking with the two of you," said Derrelli.  The two got up, placing their empty glasses back in the dispenser, where the automatic cycle kicked in, removing them.

            The door hissed shut behind them, and Derrelli spun back around, gazing back out at the vastness of space.

            "Inner peace," muttered Derrelli.  "Hmm.  Don't know if I need peace; I just have this sudden urge to really blast something; pent-up anger, I believe its called.  Another term would be the urge to be kicking ass."

            He picked up his spellcomp, and activated the backlight on the screen.  For the moment, he was calm.  But like a spark waiting for a breath of oxygen to ignite, Derrelli was merely biding his time.

            It would be coming very soon.  He was sure of that.

STAY TUNED!

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