"LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo"
LUNAR:
Tales From Crystal Tokyo
By
Daryll Pung
Episode
1-07: Firestorm
Rated:
R
In
high orbit near Atlantis-1, Atlantis system, 21 June 2736
The
SLS Pleiades
Sailor America coughed, waving her hand, trying in vain to blink the
smoke out of her eyes. She could
hear scattered beeps, as well as the sounds of crackling flame and showering
sparks. She blinked furiously.
As her vision cleared slightly, she realized the viewscreen was still on.
Bodies were strewn about, several lying at weird angles or in puddles of
blood. Sailor Orion was barely
stirring.
What hit us? she wondered, then glanced back at the screen.
Oh, shit.
The starfield was rotating fairly rapidly, and every other rotation
revealed the newly designated planetoid Atlantis-1 getting closer at a high rate
of speed.
She scrambled towards the helm, where the chair was circling eerily.
She stopped it, then climbed in, and stared at the black panel.
We're fucked, she thought gloomily.
There is no power to the helm.
In a rush of anger, she pounded the console, and saw it flicker. She hit it again, and it wearily bleeped to life, some parts
flickering mightily. She paused,
trying to remember how to operate the emergency thrusters. She found the control, and pushed what she hoped was the
right selection.
No response.
"Eileen?" she heard a weak call.
She glanced over to see Sailor Orion staggering to her.
"Helm's out, and we're in a terminal spin towards the planet!"
she hollered, barely realizing how panicked she sounded.
She pounded the panel again in her frustration, and the ship lurched.
She let out a cry of triumph, only to gasp as she realized the ship was
slowly rotating, and seeing the telltale shape of a DK battleship through the
grasping reddish rays of the tractor beam.
She noted a second DK battleship catching the grievously wounded Draco,
plasma streaming from its shattered engines, hull scorched.
A sinking feeling filled her.
"Oh, no," gasped Sailor Orion, seeing the same things, as well
as two DK pods, armed to the teeth, and probably carrying boarding parties, one
moving toward each ship.
"We're going to die, aren't we?" cried Sailor America,
desperately trying to hold on to her self-control.
Sailor Orion glanced at her, feeling woozy.
She closed her eyes and laid her head on the damaged console.
"There's nothing we can do!"
"Damn," said Sailor Orion.
Damn, damn, damn. We tried.
We tried, but it was too much. Too
much. She sighed, resigned to her fate, her ship burning around
her.
She heard a gasp.
Sailor Orion opened her eyes, and blinked.
The two shuttles were now expanding fireballs, debris flying about.
"Huh?"
Two white blurs suddenly streaked on screen, and the Pleiades
lurched free as the white blossoming impacts cut the tractor beams.
Tendrils of the aftereffect rocked the two battleships, even as a third
came between them. The Draco
also fell free.
"Ghost Torps!" shouted Sailor America.
"But, who?" asked Sailor Orion, eyes wide.
The three battleships suddenly slewed about, as if trying to dodge.
Suddenly, there were three blazing, super-powerful beams of intense red
energy, one targeted on each ship, and they impacted with astonishing force.
The battleships' shielding collapsed instantly, and a shockwave raged
through each. The beams burst
through, blazing out the back ends with debris and ichor following. As the beams cut off, they got a good view of one of the
battleships, slowly spiraling out of control, a tremendous hole blasted all the
way through, red hot from the attack, fire licking the edges.
Then, it exploded, as well as the other two.
As the shockwaves rocked the Pleiades violently, Sailor Orion
cheered.
"Three death rays! Three
death rays!" she yelled.
"The Destiny!" shouted Sailor America, hugging Sailor
Orion excitedly, as the huge form of the flagship of the Royal Star Navy
suddenly threw a shadow over them. The
sleek, swept shape dwarfed them, even as another tractor beam locked on.
They felt the ship tremble slightly, and then they were being drawn
closer to the Destiny.
"Jen!" gasped Sailor America, pointing.
Sailor Orion glanced, seeing the approaching fleet as the explosions
finally faded. The Draco was
just in front of them, slightly below. A
salvo of negatorpedoes flashed out-
-And were immediately neutralized by slivery rays, all lancing out
seemingly at once, from a point just in front of the Destiny.
"Wha-?" frowned Sailor Orion.
The front of the Destiny crackled with dark, purplish energy,
which suddenly leapt forth from the ship, streaking toward the nearest cruiser.
The
SLS Destiny
Princess Serena relaxed, the glow slowly fading from the moon on her
forehead. She took a deep breath,
even as she deactivated her Crystal.
She glanced over to the TPA, where Sailor Saturn tensed, allowing her
attack to blaze forth.
The crackling attack slammed viciously into the front cruiser, ripping
through it and leapfrogging to the next, and the next.
The six remaining cruisers fell away, shuddering and burning, and the
three battleships...
One abruptly turned tail, green energy blasting out, and then it
disappeared. The other two
shuddered, reacting to Sailor Saturn's attack, even as the six cruisers exploded
in glorious blasts of greenish-yellow gas and debris.
"Finish them!" she ordered.
"Aye, ma'am," came the calm reply.
A beep, a press of a panel, and a salvo of streaking red torpedoes raced
for the battleships. The
detonations were quite visible, and several small explosions were seen billowing
through the ships, before they, too, exploded.
"Escorts?" asked Sailor Eos.
"Blasters taking care of them, ma'am," said the tactical
officer on the spacious, well appointed bridge.
"Five, no, four, left. The
lead battleship has retreated, but not before taking substantial damage from
Sailor Saturn's attack."
A spiraling, blazing ship, trailing flaming plasma and ichor, could be
briefly seen tumbling out of control in front of them, before a yellow beam
drilled out, tearing through it and exploding it.
"The last enemy ship has been destroyed," reported tactical.
"With the sole exception of the lead battleship, which ran
away."
"Recovery of the Pleiades and the Draco
complete!" came the call. "Both
extremely damaged, with massive casualties.
All four Sailors alive, however."
"Bay doors are closed. Repressurization
in progress. Engineering scrambling
teams Alpha and Beta for repairs; medical teams right behind," reported
Diana.
"Comm, send a message to Mother," ordered Serena.
"Keep her informed."
"Aye, ma'am."
"Eos, Diana, with me. Hotaru,
you have the bridge," said Serena. "We're
going to sickbay."
"Gotcha," replied Sailor Saturn evenly, taking the chair as
Serena stepped for the main turbolift.
"Great work, everyone," smiled the Princess of the Golden
Millennium. "Keep it up!"
The doors hissed open, and after two humans and a gray cat stepped in,
hissed shut.
"Standard orbit of Atlantis-1," ordered Sailor Saturn calmly.
The sleek shape lazily banked, shielding flaring briefly as debris was
batted aside, and the huge ship slowed to an imperceptible crawl.
For the time being, the Atlantis system was secure in the grasp of the
GM.
Sol
Base 1, In high Lunar orbit, Sol system, 22 June 2736
Sailor Betelgeuse smiled brightly as the incandescent lights of the
reporter's head-cams lit up the briefing room.
She was used to it, of course. As
Her Majesty's head of PR, she handled all of the major press conferences. She made a few final adjustments to her blue skirt, and
tweaked her orange bow. She cleared
her throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.
The purpose of this particular briefing is to update you on the events
dealing with the newly named Atlantis system, near the Saabat system, where as
of late we've been experiencing problems with the Dark Kingdom," she began.
Her blonde curls bobbed as she activated a viewscreen behind her.
"This view is taken from the main viewscreen of the SLS Draco.
In essence, you are seeing what they saw during the incident.
Notice the new star. Based
on the readings of the SLS Draco and the SLS Pleiades, our
scientists have computed that the Atlantis star will live at least five thousand
years, due to its proximity to the nebula.
This star was created by Sailor Orion's attack, used to destroy five Dark
Kingdom cruisers. We're as of yet
uncertain how the Dark Kingdom managed to get such reinforcements to the area,
but we're confident we'll soon find out."
The view now showed the approaching white shockwave.
"The Dark Kingdom's task force is led by a ship they call the Demon,
commanded by one Lord Heran. Apparently,
they decided that two of our scout ships were more than a match for one
battleship, so they sent in a rather decent-sized fleet.
They didn't count on our tenacity, however.
Unfortunately, the SLS Draco and SLS Pleiades were
ultimately outfoxed, remarkable how long they held off the enemy, proof positive
of the intellect and resourcefulness of the Sailor Senshi and the toughness of
the Royal Star Navy. At any rate,
here we will now see the Dark Kingdom's treachery."
The view showed the wave washing over, and the subsequent attack, leading
to gasps and low murmuring from the assembled reporters.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the answer to your questions about
how Her Highness is dealing with the situation." The view now showed, from a better angle than the Pleiades,
since the Draco had been further away, of the arrival of the Destiny.
The screen darkened after the last ship exploded.
"We've now determined that the one ship that got away was indeed the
Demon. This isn't over, but
the SLS Destiny, captained by Princess Serena, with Sailor Saturn and
Diana, will remain on station until the SLS Unicorn is fully repaired,
and the two cruisers nearing completion in the shipyards can reinforce."
There were some very surprised looks at the mention of the captain of the
Destiny. Sailor Betelgeuse
paused, wondering if Sailor Eos was ever bothered by the fact that she was never
mentioned to the public. Keeping her obscure increased her effectiveness at protecting
the princess; and truth be told, she did get a lot of recognition from the
Planetary Senshi and the Royals. Sailor
Betelgeuse blinked her blue eyes, getting back to business.
"The SLS Draco and SLS Pleiades both suffered heavy
casualties and extreme damage from the attacks; however, Sailors Orion, America,
Sirius, and Vulcan are all alive. Last
report showed they would be fully healed by this time tomorrow.
We do not have an exact count on casualties; and both ships will be out
of action for the next six months. They
are currently safe inside the internal docking bay of the SLS Destiny,
under repair," finished Sailor Betelgeuse.
"Any questions?"
Hands went up all over the room.
Academy
of Sorcery/Crystal Tokyo, Planet Luna, Sol system, 29 September 2736
"And it is important," the instructor said, circling around,
"that you have not only the barrier spell in place; but also a command
spell ready to go. The elemental
spirits you are summoning are fickle. They
may or may not like the form you summon them into; they may or may not want to
do what you ask. A lot of them hate
being called." The wavering
form of the spirit was safely entrapped in the summoning circle on the ground,
held by a magic field. Its form
shifted and flowed, like the water, which made up its essence.
The class nodded. Derrelli
was a bit bored. He wasn't
interested in conjuring spirits or summoning various animals... wait a
minute.
"You can create virtually any form, use virtually any spirit, so
long as you're careful about it. Yes,
Mage Derrelli?" said the instructor, noting the raised hand and knowing it
would be a good question. The young
man in question wouldn't have breezed through the ranks as fast as he had
otherwise. He was quite smart,
strong-willed, and above all, a real pain in the ass.
"You said you could summon anything.
Is it, therefore, possible to summon a Sailor Senshi or Sorcerer?
What about any normal human?" asked the dark-haired mage.
The instructor blinked. "It
is possible. However, Senshi and
Sorcerers, like most intelligent, powerful beings, can hear the summons, and
then ignore it if they so desire. Whether
a normal human can or not depends on their mental ability; same with other
intelligent races, such as Vulcans, Thoqualians, or Vegans."
"Oh." Derrelli sat
back. He noted his buddy Torym leaning forward, watching intently.
He knew Torym liked this stuff, and was already deciding to specialize in
this field. His spellcomp even bore
the designation "The Creator".
Not Derrelli. He had become
rather attached to the manipulation of fire and electricity, mostly fire.
He and Torym had helped each other out through the maths, which for the
two of them had been ridiculously easy. Derrelli
had made Apprentice five weeks in, and made Mage two weeks ago.
He had already assimilated, learned, memorized and mastered the spells
for Archmage, and had tested for it two days ago. At that, he knew Torym, still
an Apprentice, was slightly jealous of his affinity for magic.
Derrelli simply assisted his friend in any way possible to counter that.
Torym raised a hand.
"Apprentice Torym," said the instructor.
"You also have a question?"
"Yeah. What happens
when the summoning circle is disturbed, and something's in it?" asked
Torym.
The instructor nodded seriously. "A
good question. This depends on the
being in the circle. Disrupting the
circle in any way frees whatever's inside.
As in the case of this particular water spirit, it is hostile, and would
then attack."
Derrelli broke into a malicious grin, as he flicked his finger, mentally
activating several equations and willing the forces they harnessed to life.
He activated a weak Telekinesis spell, knocking a pencil to the floor,
and it rolled towards the circle.
"Everyone, get back!" shouted the instructor as he dived for
it, knowing he wouldn't make it in time but trying anyway.
The only one who didn't move was Derrelli, as he prepared one of his
favorite spells.
The pencil rolled into the circle, and a few sparks flew as the
protective field cancelled out. The
instructor threw himself aside as the spirit lashed out, and he threw himself
towards the emergency switch on the wall.
Derrelli smirked ferociously, as the well-known maths flew through his
mind, and fire rose in his open left palm.
He suddenly threw his palm forward, cupping his fingers as he let the
energy rage from his hand. "Fireball!"
"NO!" gasped the instructor.
"The lab!"
Derrelli ducked under the nearby table as the blast struck the water
spirit full in the face, and then exploded.
Flames washed overhead, a loud boom deafening all in the lab, accompanied
by the tinkling of smashing glass, and the sprinkler systems kicked on as
everything in the path of the spell burst into flames.
The spirit was instantly vanquished, and everyone's ears popped from the
shockwave.
Derrelli poked his head above the steel table, noting a few flames
flickering on the end of it, before the water sprays put it out.
Several tables now lay on their sides, surfaces charred and blackened,
everything flammable was burnt, and even the crystalline windows had shattered.
Derrelli noted a few char marks on his uniform, and his face burst into a
wide grin. The fire alarms were
still wailing, and suddenly the lab door burst open, Dramlyn standing there.
He gave a quick look around the room, and then his gaze rested on
Derrelli, who was smiling like an idiot.
Dramlyn then shared a look with the instructor, and both sighed.
"Mage Derrelli, please come with me," groaned Dramlyn. "As usual."
Derrelli heard Torym's chuckle as he got to his feet, and then followed
Dramlyn out.
"Oops."
Dramlyn turned away from the window, his gaze coming to rest on his desk,
where Derrelli's spellcomp sat, amongst other things.
It was all black, with the phrase "Master Blaster" printed on
it in bright, fiery letters. The
screen was currently dark. Dramlyn
allowed himself a brief smile, and then schooled his face into a serious
expression as he looked at Derrelli, and sat down.
His fingers tapped the desk.
"Kid, do you know," he began conversationally, "that in
the three months you have been here, our total repair bills have been five times
what they normally are? You've single-handedly
destroyed more labs, equipment, and injured - albeit minor
injuries, flash burns, etc. - more staff and students than has ever previously
been done."
Derrelli blinked. "No
shit?"
"I suppose you're proud of that," sighed Dramlyn.
"I can't help it... I like blowing things up."
He tried hard to sound calm about it; but it was obvious he thought the
situation humorous.
"Yes, but remember the difference.
Blow up your enemies, enemy structures, or whatever.
NOT your friends, classes, and instructors!" said Dramlyn, leaning
forward. "Derrelli, you have
to learn tighter control! You are
at the point now where your true potential is peeking through.
It's okay to want to blast things; but if you want to do that, go to the
test range." Dramlyn leaned back. "Okay,
kid, let me ask you this. Do you
ever want to make Sorcerer?"
Derrelli blinked, surprised. "Of
course, sir."
"At this point you wouldn't make it.
Part of the Test Of The Crystal to become a Sorcerer involves getting a
massive amount of power and seeing what you do with it.
You have to have discipline to control that power; I know you have the
ability. You'll do fine on the
loyalty and moral aspect, I should think," said
Dramlyn continued. "I
don't believe I was mistaken in seeing your talent; I don't think that you're a
bad person. I just think you've
been trying far to hard to imitate a certain individual from another time. By the way, done any hacking as of late?"
Derrelli sat back, his expression serious.
"No, I've been far too busy with magic.
How did I get caught the first time, anyway?"
"Guess."
Derrelli blinked, then grinned. "Magic.
Of course. The question is,
our magic, or Crystal magic?"
Dramlyn gave him a knowing look.
Derrelli winced. "Crystal
magic, huh? Ouch."
He thought for a moment. "You
know, I think I may have been getting carried away with my newfound abilities;
on a power trip, as it were."
"Kid, I'm glad you see that," said Dramlyn, crossing his arms
and leaning back. "You see, even the man whose name you took wasn't as
psycho about torching as you're trying to be.
He only went nuts in a fight. I
know this from extensive conversation with those who actually met and fought
with him. Again, there's nothing
wrong with exploring your talents; that's encouraged, even.
Just do it at the firing range. There
are several potent holographic simulations with a lot of stuff to blast that you
might enjoy. Now, I need from you a
promise. I need you to promise me
that you will practice discipline; that you will not blast everything you can
unless it is in the proper environment. I cannot let you advance any further in rank otherwise."
Dramlyn sat up, dead serious.
Derrelli blinked. He thought
for a split second. Where's the
choice? he asked himself. There
is only one answer.
"I give you my word. No
more wanton blasting, and I will try and learn discipline."
"There is no try," said Dramlyn.
"It's already there; it requires discipline to get as far as you
have. You just have to remember
that. Use your head. Now, I need you to go get your blaster rifle and bring it
back here."
"May I ask why?" Derrelli asked, already knowing the answer.
Dramlyn gave him the Look. He
grinned. "Be right back."
He rose swiftly.
It took Derrelli exactly fifteen minutes to hop the train to his place,
open the locked closet where it was carefully stowed in its special, magically
sealed container, and lock his apartment behind him.
It took even less to get back to the Academy.
He carefully set it down on Dramlyn's desk, breathing slightly heavy from
running flat out from the elevator lobby to his office.
Dramlyn slid forward a microcomputer.
"Sign here. This is an
acknowledgement that your rifle has been returned."
Derrelli signed with a flourish.
Dramlyn took the case, and waved towards the door.
An archmage assigned to the armory came forward and took the weapon.
Both nodded, and Dramlyn turned back to Derrelli.
"You passed the Test for Wizardry.
Aced it, again, actually. And
you've already mastered the necessary spells.
Yet another record, kid. You
have set a new record for how fast anyone has ever advanced to Archmage."
Dramlyn held out his hand, holding in it Derrelli's new rank insignia.
"As you know," he said as Derrelli stood at attention,
"Your responsibilities around here now change; you are
a student no longer." Dramlyn
came around the desk, removed Derrelli's old insignia, and placed the new ones
on his collar. "Congratulations."
"Thank you, sir," Archmage Derrelli smiled.
He relaxed.
"Your focus is still on studying magic, but you no longer have to
attend any courses; you have a firm grasp on all the theory.
I'm sure that will make the instructors happy," Dramlyn grinned.
"You can still choose to attend classes on magics you may not know
very well yet; that is your choice. And
I have your word."
Derrelli nodded.
"Very good. You may
also begin to research new, personalized spells on your free time.
The facilities here are at your disposal; all we ask is you keep that
activity here. And please, test new
spells in the proper place! You
will also now be required to take your part in guard duty; rotating through the
armory, the Palace, and a few other choice locations. And if you should be required for combat, you will now be
leading a squad. I know they taught
you how to do that at Basic."
"Yes, sir," nodded Derrelli.
"Well, great. There's
not much else to cover. You now
report directly to me as your superior; I do have a certain, vested interest in
you. Also, on guard duty you are in
the public eye. Do try and show off
the things taught to you in Basic. Other
than that, keep studying. The magic
loads get much bigger between ranks where you are now.
Here's another goal for you: the
fastest anyone has ever made Sorcerer from Archmage is a year and a half.
Here is your schedule; four days out of the week you have guard duty for
ten hours. Report to the parade
grounds at 0600 on the listed days." Dramlyn
handed Derrelli a microcomp. "And
that's that."
Derrelli snapped to attention and saluted.
"Get outta here, 'Master Blaster'", quipped Dramlyn with an
affected accent. "Again, congratulations, kid."
Nebular
Artifact NAX-1701, Atlantis system, 30 September 2736
The
Demon
Heran tapped his fingers. He
was on the bridge, bored, watching the final checks as they were run.
The Destiny.
He was in the nebula, near the arrival point.
He had received a message the day before, three months after losing his
task force to...
The Destiny.
"Motherfucker," he snarled.
It had taken three months to repair the damage from Sailor Saturn's
attack, and for his wounds to heal from his subsequent "punishment".
They were even now making sure everything was fixed properly.
His engineers had become extremely efficient at making repairs, and that
was not necessarily a good thing. And
it was all because of...
The Destiny.
"Message coming in," came the report from his Comm officer.
He flicked a finger towards the main screen, and the message was
hurriedly patched through. The Comm
officer was understandably nervous, as a lot of crew had been blasted to
smithereens as of late.
As before, there was no picture, merely the layered voices.
"Lord Heran, we feel you have paid your dues.
It is still necessary to capture the so-called Atlantis system.
In addition, you will lay seige to, and capture, the Saabat system, to
serve as a distraction while you build defenses in the Atlantis system.
"What if I am unable to?" asked Heran.
"What if I cannot destroy that damn ship?"
There was a pause. "As
long as it is sufficiently damaged, and driven off, that is acceptable.
It is true when dealing with the Lunars the unexpected can happen.
To this end, here is the fleet you now command."
The energy vortex burst open in front of them, and ships began pouring
out. Suddenly, Heran understood why the only attempts in other border areas had
been weak and very few, as well as why the shipyards had been working overtime.
He lost count after the thirtieth ship came out, with no end to the flow
in sight. The anger that had overwhelmed him began to fade at the view of the
huge fleet of ships.
Surely, he thought, surely the Destiny must fall before a fleet
such as this!
And still the ships poured out...
STAY
TUNED!