"LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo"
LUNAR:
Tales From Crystal Tokyo
By
Daryll Pung
Episode
2-19: Widespread Devastation
Rated:
R
Near
the Source Gate, just outside of the Hell System, 31 May 2738
The
SLS Bahumat
The doors that led to the captain's express lift hissed open, and Acting
Captain Shelia Thompson stepped out, finishing the clasp on her uniform.
"Captain on the bridge!" came the call.
"Yeah, yeah," she said, turning to Sorcerer Derrelli. "Now, tell me about this Unraveller virus you're going
to unleash upon our enemies."
Derrelli grinned. "Well,
we named it that because of how ambitious it is.
It has many parts: first, it
grants us complete access to all core systems.
When we execute a command and give a prearranged signal, it deletes all
command pathways to that system, so that nothing can be done about it."
He paced slightly as he continued. "We
set it up so that is transmitted via subspace communications, but it only
affects Dark Kingdom systems. Furthermore,
after a five-hour period of inactivity or any attempts to counteract it, it'll
delete itself."
He glanced at Shelia, who nodded. "It
also releases a pair of invasive, self-replicating worms. The first one is a surface worm; it goes after all
technology, science, construction, military, etc. related information and
deletes it; but not before the second worm gets its fangs in and tags all such
references. The second one will
then go dormant, and repeat the cycle after an allotted time frame- which, by
the way, is set up with random variables- when it detects someone entering
something new in the tagged fields of interest; by that, I mean it'll copy
itself, and delete while tagging, and so on."
"Sounds nasty," Shelia grinned appreciatively.
"Yeah, well, we all seem to harbor quite a bit of nastiness,"
Derrelli joked. "Everyone
involved kept coming up with mean little tricks to add to it."
"No," teased Shelia. "Sailor
Vulcan? Duke? No, you can't be serious."
"I'm afraid I am," Derrelli said solemnly.
"You're surrounded by mean, cruel people."
"Save me!" gasped Shelia, grinning widely.
By now, most of the bridge crew was choking, trying to hold back their
mirth.
Wizard Duke was the first to say the hell with it, and doubled over his
console, howling with laughter.
"I fail to see the use in such a display at this point in
time," Sailor Vulcan said over the link between the Orion and the Bahumat.
"The situation is quite serious, and this behavior is highly
illogical."
"Oh, come on," Sailor Cygni chuckled, drying her laugh-tears.
"Are you telling me you fail to see the irony and humor in the fact
that after the DK left the Bahumat for dead via a suicide attack, we are
now sitting in their home system, ready to repay them, and they have no idea
we're here?"
"She brings up a valid point," Shelia said, relaxing after a
good laugh. "The situation is
quite serious. But a laugh does
help to ease the tension. Now that
we've accomplished that, it's time to get started.
Derrelli, prepare to transmit; we should start somewhere in their home
system, and work our way to the Gate."
"Agreed," Sailor Cygni nodded.
"Infect our way outta here last."
"Are you prepared to act as bait?" Shelia asked.
"So long as you're prepared to be the hook," Sailor Cygni
replied coolly.
"Right. We'll move
single file. How close can we
get?" Shelia turned to Duke.
"From what we've determined without better info, the third
planet," Duke replied. "No
deep scans were performed in the Hell system."
"They would have been noticed," Sailor Vulcan added.
"The third planet it is," Shelia nodded.
"Duke, plot a parabolic relative to the orbits of the planets, to
within range five of the third planet, at one quarter sublight."
"Done," Duke answered after a minute.
"Let's do it," Shelia said, taking her seat.
"Neo, sound Red Alert; Duke, engage."
As sirens blared, accompanied by flashing red lights, on both ships, they
moved stealthily towards the outer defense lines.
Invisible to normal means of detection, they slewed about in the
direction of the Hell system, and moved deep into the heart of their enemy's
territory.
Approaching
the Dark Kingdom Gate, somewhere in the Alpha Zone, 31 May 2738
The
SLS Destiny
Princess Serena gripped her armrests and winced, as she was jolted
around. The shockwave from the
detonation rocked the mighty flagship.
"Who was that!?" she snapped.
"And how?"
"The SLS Isis," reported tactical.
"Range point four; best guess is a salvo of Negatorps broke through
after she hit that battleship hulk."
"We lost a battleship already?" growled Serena.
"Great."
"What about those suiciders?" Sailor Guardian Eos asked, a
sense of understandable urgency in her tone.
"They're still hanging back... their defenders are just about drawn
off. The SLS Aquarius
reports the scout ships are in position, and are about ready to attack,"
tactical reported.
"Contact the SLS Set," Reeni ordered.
"Have Hotaru's force finish the task of drawing off the screening
ships from those damn suiciders so the scout ships can deal with them.
Call the SLS Shiva; have Raye encircle that trailing element of
battleships. Also, call the SLS Zeus;
tell Mina to begin maneuvering around towards that fucking Gate."
Even as those orders were passed on, and the ships began moving to
comply, the Destiny shook again. On
screen three, blaster fire smashed into a DK cruiser that had crept too close.
Its shields flickered for a moment; then two red torpedoes punched
through them, ravaging its hull. Electrical
surges crackled along the hull for a brief moment, before it burst into a
billowing cloud of gas, debris, plasma, and ichor.
"Whew," sighed Diana. "This
is getting interesting." Her
gray tail twitched as another shudder shook the massive vessel.
"Urgent hail from the Zeus!" called out the comm
officer.
"Screen five," Reeni said, pointing.
The screen blinked on to show Sailor Venus.
She ducked, and sparks abruptly rained down in the background as the
battleship Zeus took a hit.
"Shit," she growled. "Admiral,
we've got a problem."
"What sort of problem?" demanded Reeni.
"Oh, about five hundred additional ships," Mina replied grimly.
"And they're all armed with that damned destabilitator matrix."
"The Zerm?" Reeni asked incredulously, standing up. This proved to be a bad move, as another jolt rocked the Destiny.
Screen four showed the death of a pair of DK destroyers that had had the
nerve to fire on the Destiny. The
twin glorious explosions quickly passed underneath as the big ship moved
slightly up, rolling to bracket an enemy battleship with torpedoes.
Reeni shook her head. "Right.
The Gate can wait until we whittle down the numbers.
Back off; let the Zerm attack the DK first."
"You sure that's what they'll do?" Mina pointed out.
Reeni scowled. "Hell,
no. It's just a guess, based on
what we know of them. We'll soon
know what they're here for. Swing
back around to us; try and draw off some of the DK fleet."
"Right. Be there in a
few," Mina nodded, before the screen blinked off.
"Screen two, Admiral!" called tactical.
The screen changed to show ten suicide ships, quite alone, in a holding
pattern; suddenly, two dozen GM scout ships decloaked and unleashed a barrage of
blaster fire.
A few seconds later, ten explosions filled that area of space; as the
detonations faded, the twenty-four scout ships disappeared from view.
"Excellent!" Reeni smiled.
"At least one thing has gone right!
Now tell those scout ships to draw off and observe!"
"Screen four, Admiral," tactical continued.
The display on this screen was slightly less encouraging.
Zerm cruisers swooped in on the DK ships engaging the retreating element
led by Sailor Venus and the SLS Zeus.
Orange electrical spheres burst to life; GM fighters suddenly stopped in
their tracks, letting the matrix pass over them. As it did so, they abruptly powered back up, and led the
onslaught against the Zerm.
"At least that tactic of Amy's works," Reeni said.
"What is the casualty count of the fighters so far?"
"Best guess of twenty percent," tactical said.
"There's a lot of 'em still kicking ass."
"Well, that's not bad..." Reeni abruptly trailed off, standing
up; a barrage of Negatorpedoes suddenly, viciously nailed the SLS Zeus;
its shields and engines were still offline due to the matrix.
Plasma streamed from shattered engine elements; fire rippled beneath
ruptured and scorched crystalline hull. It
tumbled helplessly for a few moments, before secondary explosions rent through
it.
The SLS Zeus exploded in a furious storm of plasma and debris.
"Mina!" cried Reeni.
Nearing
Hell-3, Hell system, 31 May 2738
The
SLS Bahumat
"Nice place," whispered Derrelli.
The screens showed all around them numerous spaceborne objects: labs,
defense stations, and sensor platforms, to name a few.
"Fifty thousand kilometers from the third planet," Duke
reported.
"The Orion is just ahead of us," added tactical.
"Any sign the enemy knows we're here?" asked Shelia quietly.
"Other than that coded transmission sent about the time we entered
the system," ops put in, "no."
"It was probably something regarding their fleet disposition,"
offered tactical.
"Perhaps," Shelia acknowledged.
"Sailor Cygni, are you ready?"
"Give the word," was Sailor Cygni's reply via the link.
"Tactical, lock weapons on all defensive platforms in range,"
Shelia said next.
"Done," reported tactical.
"Sailor Cygni... now!" called Shelia.
"Tactical, when the Orion turns to run, decloak and blast
those defense arrays! Derrelli, at
the same time, unleash your virus!"
On the main screen, space rippled as the Orion abruptly appeared,
activating a deep scan. It swerved
around; the defensive stations hastily powered up.
Twenty seconds later, gravity beam fire burst from the platforms; the Orion
turned tail, dodging the blasts. Even
as the Orion began to fade from view, the Bahumat decloaked and
unloaded blaster fire and torpedo salvoes.
Roughly forty-five seconds after the initial decloak, the Bahumat
was again cloaked, and right behind the Orion, heading for the fourth
planet.
"Virus uploaded," Derrelli managed first, before tactical's
report.
"All targeted defenses destroyed," tactical said after a brief
glance at Derrelli's grin. "Subspace
channels are busy as hell all of a sudden."
"Good," Derrelli's grin widened.
"And some not so good news," sighed Sailor Cygni.
"What's that?" Shelia demanded.
"Our scan revealed they knew we were there.
We underestimated their sensor capabilities.
I don't think they knew what we were, but they will now," Sailor
Cygni sighed.
"We may face resistance at the Gate," Sailor Vulcan added.
"Lovely," groaned Duke.
"Fine," Shelia growled. "Until
then, we proceed as planned. As
many uploads as we can get, we get."
"Approaching the fourth planet," Duke said.
"Bring us into a favorable position to repeat the stunt we just
pulled," Shelia said. "Ready
for round two?"
"On your mark," Sailor Cygni affirmed.
"All weapons ready," tactical reported.
"Same as before," Shelia said.
"Go now!"
The
SLS Orion
"Decloak, initiate scans!" called Sailor Cygni.
"Bring us about, elliptical to defense emplacements!
We want to be on the other side of the planet when we recloak!"
"Copy," Sean acknowledged.
His hands moved over his panel; the Orion snapped to a sideways
orientation, and the viewscreen reflected the move.
They were rapidly approaching an outpost.
Sean abruptly swerved the Orion to dodge the currently sporadic
fire from planetary batteries.
"Target outpost reactors! Fire
blasters!" Sailor Cygni added, glancing at Sailor Vulcan.
"Randomizing our actions is an excellent tactic," Sailor Vulcan
nodded. "It would presumably
keep our enemies guessing as to our true intent."
On the screen, yellow beams punched into the outpost's shielding; the
closer they got, the more they pounded it.
They zoomed past the outpost, and a last pair of beams punched through
the outpost's shielding, drilling its power core.
Fire erupted from various points as the outpost began to disintegrate;
small explosions ravaged it.
"This one's gonna be a bit close," Sean spoke up.
"There should be no other defenses in between us and our recloak,
though."
They neared a defensive platform; greenish energy glowed amongst its
hardpoints.
"All ahead full," ordered Sailor Cygni.
"All hands hold on!"
The Orion swept rapidly towards it; initially, it looked like they
might hit, but as they neared, Sailor Cygni could see they'd miss it by a scant
kilometer.
Green beams slammed into their forward shielding; sparks shot out from
several conduits. Several crewmen
were knocked off their feet.
"Shit!" said tactical. "They're
packing quite a wallop!"
Abruptly, as it was about to fire again, a white torpedo shot past them,
striking the platform full in its shields; two red ones nailed it as the
shielding faded.
"Bahumat's close aboard!" reported tactical.
The shockwave rocked them; they were clear.
Almost.
"Uh oh," murmured Sailor Cygni.
"I think we need to drop behind the Bahumat."
Six DK battleships, ten cruisers, and seventeen destroyers were rapidly
approaching in a full battle formation. The
Bahumat surged ahead, weapons glistening; fire glinted along its front.
"Sailor Vulcan," Sailor Cygni said, indicating the TPA. Sailor Vulcan nodded, and stepped over to it.
"Get ready to fire in support of the Bahumat," Sailor
Cygni ordered next. "Standby
all weapons."
The
SLS Bahumat
"Ready TPA; lock weapons on remaining ships!" called Shelia.
"We're nearing about fifty percent of our load of torpedoes,"
reported tactical. "I'm going
to try and avoid using them as much as possible."
"Your discretion," nodded Shelia.
"Are they in range?"
"Momentarily," tactical answered.
"Duke, prepare for evasive action," Shelia ordered.
"Gotcha," Duke replied, glancing back at the aura of fire
surrounding Derrelli in the TPA.
"In range!" barked out tactical.
"Fire at will!" Shelia exclaimed.
"Fireball!" Derrelli
suddenly relaxed as a fiery dart shot through space; the dart was roughly the
size of a destroyer. Blaster fire
began smashing into enemy shields; the Bahumat lurched lightly as the
first weapon impacts hit the battlewagon's own protection.
Right in the middle of the group of enemy battleships, the dart
detonated. A massive fireball the
size of an asteroid enveloped all six battleships, plus a few of the cruisers.
Seconds later, with blaster fire ripping through the area, they exploded.
The combined, overlapping shockwaves smashed into the remaining DK ships;
the force of so many shockwaves pummeled them senseless, adding to a lethal
chain reaction, as their cores- with the exception of two cruisers- also
breached and exploded. The two
remaining cruisers tumbled helplessly for a few seconds; their hulls were
charred beyond all recognition, and plasma and ichor streamed from them.
Blaster fire finished them off as the waves swept towards the two GM ships.
Derrelli extricated himself from the console, grinning manically at his
handiwork. "Cool," he
chuckled, jumping over the railing to the engineering console.
"All hands, brace for impact," Shelia ordered.
"Shockwave forces are downgrading rapidly," Duke spoke up. "We'll be thrown a bit, but not damaged.
The Orion has moved in close to escape the worst of it in the
eddies from us."
Even as he spoke, the Bahumat lurched heavily.
The next few minutes were an intense roller-coaster ride that the
inertial dampers were hard-pressed to compensate for.
As it passed, and they settled, both GM starships faded, once again, from
view.
Near
the Dark Kingdom Gate, somewhere in the Alpha Zone, 31 May 2738
The
SLS Destiny
The bridge was utterly silent, in the stunned shock of the Zeus'
destruction. The hissing of the
doors at the back of the bridge was the only thing that broke the silence.
"Hell of a close thing," sighed a familiar voice.
"I was only able to save two."
Reeni spun to see Sailor Venus standing there, arms crossed, her mouth
drawn in a thin line. Blood
trickled from her scalp; smudge marks and minor burns were visible on her fair
skin. Her fuku was shredded and
charred in several places.
"Mina," sighed Reeni in relief.
She turned back. "Have
those ships disengage immediately, and drop back here.
Pull all elements together; with two opposing forces to fight, we sure as
hell can't be spread out. Regroup,
and prepare to engage along a single axis."
"You do realize, Admiral, that axis will be on the other side
of both of the opposing fleets, and the Gate?" tactical spoke up.
Reeni scowled. "Yeah, I
know. But fighting the way we are
at the moment is suicide."
"Aye, Admiral," ops said, nodding at comm to issue the orders.
Reeni turned back. "You
teleported?"
"Yeah," Sailor Venus said wearily.
"I was able to grab the two closest people to me before the ship
exploded." She already looked
a lot healthier, if a bit worse for the wear.
Reeni nodded compassionately. "Take
over the SLS Quetzcoatl," she said, noting that Sailor Venus'
injuries were now all healed. "You
might want to change first," she added, with a slight smile. "You may have lost that crew; but it was the enemy's
fault, not yours. Take it out on
them."
Sailor Venus' expression was feral as she nodded; her eyes narrowed.
"Damn straight, Princess. I'm
on it." She stepped back, and stood up, hands at her side.
Her tiara's gem glowed brightly for a second, and she vanished in a burst
of golden light.
Reeni turned back. "Our
losses?" she asked.
"We've lost two battleships, six cruisers, thirteen light cruisers,
and nineteen destroyers. We've also
lost twenty nine point six three percent of our fighter force," tactical
answered.
Reeni sighed, lowering herself in her chair.
"Not bad, considering. The
DK?"
"DK ship count is down to seven hundred eighty-one ships,"
tactical responded.
"And the Zerm?" Reeni snarled.
"They've already lost twenty eight ships," tactical nodded.
"They've split into two elements; one is heading for us, and the
other is ripping into the DK." He
paused. "Screen three,
Admiral. Our first sighting of a
Zerm battleship; it isn't alone, and I'm getting some odd readings."
The screen showed a spherical Zerm ship; it was four times the size of
the cruisers. More vessels of the
same size followed behind it; they moved into a six-spoke formation, with
another of the spheres in the center. Huge
red beams suddenly blasted from the outer ships, all locked on the middle one;
the beams intersected, and suddenly a massive beam, five times thicker than a
proton cannon, raged through space, drilling into another GM battleship head on.
The battleship didn't stand a chance against such firepower.
It exploded instantly, tendrils of the red energy branching out and
slamming into nearby ships.
"Right," Reeni said, standing up.
She moved purposefully to the TPA. "Admiral
Tsukino to all ships: the gloves
fucking come off, right now. Pulverize
them by any means necessary." She
slid in, the crescent on her forehead flashing to brilliant, and lethal, life.
Fire, love energy, death energy... all these and more suddenly lashed out
at the opposing ships. In the
center of all the power of the combined Senshi was a brilliant beam of pure
white, smashing through the enemy fleets. The
barrage of blaster fire, death rays, and torpedoes was almost an afterthought.
The
edge of the Hell system, 21 May 2738
The
SLS Bahumat
"Nearing enemy shipyards," Duke reported.
"Defenses are up, but nothing major."
"This is beginning to worry me," Shelia said softly. "They're not putting up much of a fight.
Keep your eyes peeled; let's decloak, infect, and destroy.
We'll take out at least the one shipyard so as to hide our true motives.
Duke, your turn."
"Ready, captain," tactical said as Duke scrambled to the TPA.
"Now!" Shelia said. Space
rippled; the Bahumat and Orion abruptly appeared.
Torpedoes issued sparingly from the Bahumat, targeting various
defensive batteries; a blaze of blaster fire from both ships nailed sensor
platforms and smaller shipyards. A
massive blast of wind and crackling electricity, coupled with three death rays,
burst through the largest shipyard's defenses, detonating it almost instantly.
The whole time, the Bahumat was busily transmitting to the DK
computer systems; and though they did not know it, calls for help merely
increased the damage.
Even if the calls were answered.
The
SLS Orion
"Oh, shit!" gasped the tactical officer.
"One hundred thirty two incoming DK ships; four suiciders!"
Sailor Cygni whirled. "Relay
to the Bahumat! Come about,
lay in a course for the Gate!"
"Considering velocity difference, they will arrive at the Gate a few
seconds after we do," Sailor Vulcan said quietly.
"Presuming our own maximum speeds are utilized."
"We gotta go, now!" Sailor Cygni nodded.
"Helm, activate the RIFT; all ahead flank!"
The
SLS Bahumat
"All ahead flank!" snarled Shelia.
Duke's hands had already entered the sequence; both GM ships stretched
into FTL travel, disappearing in a white flash and spiral.
Both ships fairly screamed with the stress of pushing the limits of their
relative engines and structures. The
Orion cut speed to match the Bahumat exactly.
"Where? How?"
demanded Shelia.
"Who knows?" Derrelli replied.
"Perhaps an emergency reserve?
Perhaps they have numerous systems producing their ships.
We don't know how large the DK really is; we have no idea the true size
of their fleet, territory, or resource base.
The good news is by answering the hails, those ships are also now
infected."
"Get us outta here, Derrelli," Shelia said.
"Get ready to open that fucking Gate."
He nodded, bending his head to the console in front of him.
The
Hell system Source gate, near the Hell system, 21 May 2738
The
SLS Bahumat
Both GM ships emerged from FTL at the same moment; even as the Bahumat
rocked with tunneling beam fire from the Gate- the first and only salvo, as
Derrelli took the weapons offline- the DK ships appeared a mere AU behind them,
racing in, the suicide ships in front.
"Mother of Serenity," cursed tactical.
"The suiciders are already spun up; they're ready to detonate!"
The green whirlpool effect suddenly began to spread in the Gate's
tremendous maw; the path to the Alpha Zone was suddenly there.
Derrelli nodded to Shelia.
"Screen two!" tactical shouted; it showed the four suicide
ships in close proximity.
Derrelli blinked. "I've
got an idea!" he called out, pushing tactical aside and attacking the
shield controls.
The suicide ships suddenly exploded in unison, the four subspace waves
overlapping and combining into a Force Ten shockwave.
The powerful wall of energy swept inexorably towards the fleeing pair of
GM starships.
"By the Crystal," murmured Shelia, falling into her seat.
She had that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
This was going to hurt.
STAY
TUNED!