"LUNAR:  Tales From Crystal Tokyo"

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LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo

By Daryll Pung

Episode 2-06: Know Thyself, And Thine Enemy

Rated: R

In the Alpha Zone, in deep space, 17 December 2737

The IZS Braxixx

            The science officer in the second Zerm ship shook his head.  In his eyes, all three of them, there was no way either ship could have survived.  He had seen the readings from his sensor suites; though there was a brief surge of anti-particles just as the storm struck.  He was at a loss to explain them; they still didn't know enough about the so-called Golden Millennium to discount a weapon of some sort...

            An exclamation burst from his lips as on the viewscreen, barely a hundred thousand klicks distant, a white counter-spiral of energy burst into existence, and resolved into the shape of the GM battleship.

            Only their sister ship had died.

The SLS Bahumat

            As the familiar sights and sensations of RIFT transit faded, Sailor Geminga breathed a sigh of relief.

            "Duke, Derrelli... great job.  You both have done well," she said, all generosity in relief.

            "Let's not celebrate too soon," Shelia warned.  "There's still another ship out there."

            "I haven't forgotten," Sailor Geminga replied, still coming off the adrenaline high from the stunt they had just pulled.  "Status of enemy vessels?"

            "The first one has been completely destroyed by the ion storm; a few minute chunks of debris are all that remain.  The second is about two minutes from weapons range, closing rapidly," tactical reported.

            "Bring us around to face; are all weapons still prepped?" Sailor Geminga asked coolly.

            "Aye, Captain."

            Small puffs from the maneuvering thrusters pointed the battlewagon's nose towards the enemy; the majority of her firepower was now brought to bear.

            "Duke, increase speed to all ahead full, sublight.  Let's get 'em," Sailor Geminga said, lowering herself into her chair.  "Standby all weapons."

            Wizard Duke grinned ferociously.

            The spherical starship neared; the faintest shimmer of orange energy could be seen around them as they closed to knife-fighting range.

            Sailor Geminga leaned forward, eyes narrowing as she stared intently at the screen.

            "Engineering... kill RIFT engines, now!" she ordered suddenly.  "Drop shields layers two and three!  Fire Sierra spread of Ghost Torps!  Brace for impact!"

            There were a few confused looks on those around her, but such was their training- and trust in her combat abilities- that nothing was said, the crew immediately following orders.

            The expanding orange wave could already be seen coming for them, and the lights dimmed as the output of the primary core was suddenly cut off.  On the screen, the pattern of six Ghost Torps struck the expanding field, and white waves rippled across it in an overlapping effect as they detonated.

            The Bahumat passed through the field, shuddering slightly.

            "Shields layer one down!" called tactical.  "But the torpedoes distorted the field enough so that the main core is still online!  They're firing!"

            The Bahumat shuddered viciously as a swarm of reddish laser blasts smashed into them, heating and buckling the tough, crystalline-metallic hull.  Smoke and sparks erupted from several consoles, and Sailor Geminga got out of her chair just in time to avoid falling debris.

            "Fire death rays and blasters!" she hollered over the noise.  "Re-energize RIFT drive!  Raise shields layers two and three!"

            Even as white energy coursed along the RIFT engine elements, space shimmered as the shielding was restored around Bahumat.  The enemy suddenly realized their lasers were having zero effect, and turned away; but it was too late; and the recharge cycle for their sphere-weapon was not yet complete.

            Several dozen yellow beams drilled into their shielding, weakening them; and then twin beams of ultra-intense energy blazed forth.  The enemy's shields held for less than a second before collapsing; and the second spherical ship exploded in a fiery splendor.  A shockwave washed over them, jolting the ship from its close proximity to the blast; debris tumbled by.

            Cheers rang out on the bridge of the Bahumat as Geminga smiled slightly.  "Damage report!" she called.  "And drop to yellow alert; take us back to our regular patrol routing.  Comm, prepare to send a message to Fleet HQ."

            "You got it," Duke acknowledged as tactical rattled off his report and the comm officer prepped his console.  The big starship responded instantly to his commands, slewing about onto its new course heading.  Business as usual.

            After all, despite the events so far, this cruise of the Bahumat had only just begun.

Crystal Palace in Crystal Tokyo, Planet Luna, Sol system, 18 December 2737

            Neo-Queen Serenity I raised an eyebrow as Sailor Neptune concluded her report, and she had to smile.  It had been said that well over three dozen cultures had decided peace or membership into the Golden Millennium was preferable to fighting after the Bahumat had been assigned to the various areas; Sailor Geminga was just that unorthodox.  Trying to outfox her gave their would-be enemies headaches that just wouldn't go away.  The only culture where this was not true was the Dark Kingdom; they were just too determined to destroy the GM.

            "So, to summarize; she destroyed one by leading it into the path of the ion storm they had already encountered; and destroyed another by closing, deactivating several systems, and then reactivating them?  And the only damage suffered was minor hull damage?" Serenity asked calmly.

            "That is correct, Serenity," nodded Sailor Neptune.  "She also has included in-depth readings on the area of space where the ion storm and brown dwarf are; Amy's having a blast playing with that data.  All ships have been notified; we've decided to call that system the Maelstrom."

            "Appropriate," murmured Serenity.  "Is there anything else?"

            "Not at this time, Serenity," Sailor Neptune replied.

            "Very well, Michelle; thank you," Serenity said dismissively.

            "A pleasure as usual, Serenity," Sailor Neptune responded before turning to leave.

            "Okay," Sailor Eos said calmly.  "Ready for more training?"

            Aki nodded hesitantly.  "I, I guess so..."  While slowly becoming more used to the idea of being equal to the long-worshipped Sailor Senshi, of being one of them, Aki was still unsure of herself.

            "Whenever you're ready," Sailor Eos said patiently.

            Aki nodded again.  "Light of Truth, Reveal Astraea!"  A large, shimmering mirror appeared, and seemed to pass over Aki; as it did so, her outfit altered to her alter ego, before the mirror resolved itself to the middle of her front bow.

            "Good," Sailor Eos nodded approvingly.  "You're already used to transforming; it no longer takes much effort.  Now, we just gotta work on your other abilities."

            The pair was in the training grounds, in an open-air area behind the Crystal Palace.  Around them, hundreds of holographic generators dotted the brick-paved area, capable of generating targets for those training.

            Sailor Astraea stretched slightly.  "I think I've got the general idea of reflecting attacks; and my Vera Icon ability isn't exactly hard to do."

            Sailor Eos wagged a finger at her.  "Ah, but you think you have the hang of reflecting down.  We don't know for sure; every attempt so far has been based on you knowing the attack was coming.  You have to train yourself to be able to do it instinctively, to do it when you don't expect an attack at all.  This is the sort of thing that really puts your abilities to the test."

            Sailor Astraea nodded numbly.

            "Don't pay too much attention to her, kid," came a drawl from the shadows.  A figure emerged.

            "Sorcerer Dramlyn!" exclaimed Sailor Astraea.

            "She's just jealous because she actually needs a catch-phrase to reflect properly, whereas you are a little more potent at that.  Like the rest of the Senshi, your abilities are not identical.  Although, Sailor Eos does possess the ability to combine her power with the princess..." Dramlyn chuckled.

            Sailor Eos glared at him, the corner of her mouth twitching.  "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

            Dramlyn grinned.  "Maybe, but I like it right here."

            "I'm trying to teach her something, you know," Sailor Eos retorted.

            "Yeah, I gathered that," Dramlyn said.  "Something along the lines of training her instincts..."

            Sailor Eos turned on him in a playful huff.  "Anyway, before we were so rudely interrupted..."

            Sailor Astraea noted the increasing grin on Dramlyn's face; he drew a blaster and aimed at Sailor Eos.  Before she could say a thing, he pulled the trigger.  Sailor Eos wasn't caught completely off guard, though; she saw Sailor Astraea's eyes widen, and started to turn as the beam nailed her.

            Sailor Eos' eyes screwed shut as a nimbus from the bright yellow blaster beam that had struck her grew, and then stopped.  The nimbus slowly faded; a few wisps of smoke drifted away as an orchid sphere burst in her hands.

            "Rising Sun... ILLUMINATION!"

            Sailor Astraea barely had time to react as the orchid blast streamed forth... right at her!  She closed her eyes and opened her senses as the blast struck.

            The orchid energy disappeared into her, and her hands outstretched.  Suddenly, a whitish shadow of the blast that Sailor Eos had thrown at her, albeit a bit larger and surrounded by a bluish haze, appeared in her hands.  Dramlyn grinned, as raised his pistol at Sailor Astraea, while holding up a scanning microcomp.

            "No, what are you-" gasped Sailor Eos, jumping for him.

            He pulled the trigger, and again a bright yellow beam lanced out, and struck Sailor Astraea, and was instantly absorbed and added to the sphere.  It doubled in size.  Both Sailor Eos and Dramlyn blinked in astonishment...  it didn't happen that way when Sailor Eos did it!

            "Astral PRISM!" shouted Sailor Astraea, instinctively aiming it at Dramlyn, where the last attack had come from.

            Dramlyn and Sailor Eos both ducked just in time, and the beam of white energy, edged in blue, passed over them.  It struck one of the holographic generators, which exploded in a hollow boom, echoing across the training ground as debris whistled by over their heads.  Sailor Astraea collapsed.

            Dramlyn and Sailor Eos were to her in a microsecond.

            "You okay, kid?" he asked.

            Sailor Eos shot him a mean look, and extended a hand to Sailor Astraea.  "What was that?" she asked.

            Dramlyn was shaking his head at the readings on his computer.  "Apparently, her 'Astral Prism' is a combination of multiple attacks; essentially, she can funnel and combine... and enhance, the power of several different sources.  The effect that she generated was equal to four blaster beams, plus the energy you both added to it."

            Sailor Astraea gratefully accepted Sailor Eos' outstretched hand, and shakily got to her feet.  "Wow... that takes a lot out of me."

            "I'll be damned.  Sailor Pluto was right; then again, she does have an annoying habit of doing that," Dramlyn continued.

            "Pu put you up to this?" Sailor Eos blinked.

            "Well, sort of... she did say to see what I could do to assist," Dramlyn grinned.  "I doubt that's specifically what she had in mind."

            Sailor Astraea had, by this time, caught her breath.  She glanced at Sailor Eos, and Sailor Eos' eyes indicated Dramlyn.  Sailor Astraea nodded.

            Dramlyn looked up in time to see them leap at him; Sailor Eos tackled high, Sailor Astraea tackled low.  He didn't have a chance to say anything before he hit the ground...

Somewhere in deep space, just outside of GM territory, near the Sabaat system, 22 December 2737

The Atlanta

            The ship, a threatening steel-gray in color, was in a standard orbit of a lifeless planet; it was an elongated diamond shape, with the back end blunt, and glowing deep blue from the engines.  Four large, swept, triangular fins were evenly spaced around the engines; four more slightly larger fins were evenly spaced at the widest point of the ship.  A single name was emblazoned on the hull; it said "Atlanta".

            On the bridge, former GM intel officer Brad London sat in the overly plush captain's chair, a clear bottle half-full with glowing green liquid in one hand, as his other hand briefly scratched his chin.  His cobalt blue eyes slowly scanned the bridge, and he paused to take another sip of the gwarmian whiskey, savoring its smooth flavor.  He irritably pushed one of the two blue strands of hair from out of his face; the rest of his hair was blonde and cut short.  He was dressed completely in black.

            "Report," he snapped for like the hundredth time in the past two hours.

            His ops officer turned her head slightly.  "Still no sign of them, sir; are you sure the information was correct?"

            Brad frowned.  The thought had occurred to him.  "That particular contact has never lied before; and he's delivered some juicy info my way.  It is far more likely our target is simply taking their time; they are mercs too, like us, and follow their own timetables.  I would hate to think we wasted that much money."  Being a former intel officer, Brad knew all about setting up and maintaining a network of agents; it had been one of the first things he had done after his departure from the GM.

            "Worth it if we bag this sucker," commented his first officer.  "You know Serenity's put a sizable bounty out on them?"

            Brad snorted, and took another sip.  "Doesn't surprise me in the least, the way they've been slamming the transports.  Serenity's been forced to add a destroyer escort to any transports carrying valuable cargo; and while it has slowed the attacks, it hasn't stopped them.  Rather, two more transports and the destroyers guarding them have been trashed.  Then there's the little matter of the incident whereupon they blew away that Zerm outpost and the ship guarding it.  Bastard's basically started a war; you know the SLS Hawk and SLS Panther were jumped and beat down by one of the Zerm cruisers?  Hawk was destroyed, Panther barely made it home."

            "No shit," blinked his first officer.  "And Serenity's not doing a thing about it?"

            Brad chuckled.  "No, she is; I just found out a few hours ago that the SLS Bahumat, under command of that bitch Geminga, has been posted to the region.  They destroyed two Zerm heavy cruisers."

            "How'd they beat the Matrix?" asked ops, curious despite herself.

            "Don't know," Brad said.  "But I intend to find out."

            "Hmmm..." his first officer said.  He looked about to speak, when ops suddenly leaned forward.

            "Contact!  Unknown starship entering long-range sensors!" she called out.

            "Hide us behind this planet; deploy a probe," Brad ordered, capping his whiskey and setting it aside.  It was time to hunt.  "Let me know what you've got on it."

            "One moment, sir," ops said.  The Atlanta began to move, accelerating on its orbit to get into hiding, before they were detected.

The Dread

            "I could be mistaken," Aaryx frowned.  "It did not register as a GM ship; we do have preprogrammed alerts against them and DK ships.  It is entirely likely there is no ship at all... except..."

            Heran leaned forward.  "Except...?"

            "There is a smaller signature where I thought I detected the first one; it may be a probe, shuttlecraft, or mine, Boss," Aaryx concluded.

            Heran frowned, and his gaze shifted to Neris.  She smiled slightly, and he nodded.

            "Fine," Neris said briskly.  "Let's go to battlestations.  Prepare for combat."

            Alarms went off around them, and Heran grinned, his pointed teeth showing.

            "Let's have some fun."

The Sabaat Starbase, still under construction

            "And?" barked Sailor Orion.  "More info, please!"

            The RSN officer shook his head.  "Don't have it yet.  It's just on the edge of our sensor range."

            Sailor America sighed.  This starbase, still eighteen months from completion, had the most advanced sensor suites available; enough to pick up what was possibly two hostile ships just outside of GM space, several light-years away.

            And they still didn't have enough info to act decisively.  Sailor America noticed Sailor Orion glancing at her.

            "All I can say is, we need to get the Samuel Tsukino and the Osprey in our protection umbrella as fast as possible.  One of them could be the Dread," Sailor America reasoned.

            "Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too," Sailor Orion muttered.  This starbase, while it was far from complete, did have all weapons and shielding fully functional.  "Hail the SLS Osprey and its escort; tell them to double their speeds and get here pronto.  Keep me informed as we develop more on the situation."

            "Aye, Sailor Orion," replied the RSN officer.

The Dread

            "Approaching now," Aaryx reported.  "It is definitely a probe; it is not GM, though it seems to be GM in origin."

            "And what precisely is that supposed to mean?" Heran demanded.

            "It is a model of probe long since retired by the GM; it has also been extensively modified with non-GM parts," Aaryx elaborated.

            "Hmph.  Doesn't matter; destroy it," Neris ordered, arms crossed over her chest.

            Seconds after she spoke, the Dread swerved to avoid the probe, and a bright yellow beam lanced out and nailed the probe, detonating it in a small explosion.

The Atlanta

            "Confirmed; probe destroyed by blaster fire," ops said.  "It is the Dread."

            Brad grinned.  His source had been correct; how gratifying.  Now, for the hard part.  The Atlanta was currently positioned over the north magnetic pole of the planet they had been orbiting; its nose was just barely protruding from the massive magnetic disruption.  They were practically in what little atmosphere this rock had; he knew that the only sensors able to reliably penetrate that interference belonged to the GM; specifically, scout ships and sensor platforms.  And his probe's in-depth scans had revealed the Dread's one weakness:

            They still had DK sensor suites, out-of-date and not worth a damn.

            And he was going to play that card for whatever it was worth.

            "Standby all weapons," Brad said.  One of the perks for snaring people the GM didn't like was the occasional side sale of GM weaponry.  Specifically...

            "Load three Ghost torps," he continued.  He had a very limited amount, and had to use them sparingly.  But they were very useful, especially against an enemy like this.  "Target one on the dorsal shielding; and one on the negatorp launchers, and one on the death ray.  At the same time, fire fusion beams against engines and weaponry; prepare a massive salvo of polaron torpedoes.  Remember, shields will only be phased for a few seconds.  On my mark, jump to max speed."

            "Got it," his first officer said, manning the fire controls.  "Ready when you are."

            "Steady," he murmured.  "They're almost past us..."

The Dread

            "This is damned odd," said Heran quietly, narrowing his eyes.  "Who put that probe there, and why?  Is it a new GM trick?"  He shifted his attention back to the screen.  "Status of targets?"

            "They have increased speed, heading into the Sabaat system," Aaryx replied.  "We'll have to hustle to get them."

            Heran nodded.  He desperately wanted these goods; he had a source willing to upgrade their sensor suites with Droylian technology, and he knew the sensors needed it.

            He just hoped he wouldn't regret having put them off in favor of higher-performance engines.

            "Increase speed.  Catch them; it's time to play," Heran said.

The Atlanta

            "They're increasing speed," ops said, looking up.

            "Now!" Brad practically shouted.

            The Atlanta surged forward from its hiding place, the increasing blast of her engines causing a rippling wake across the planet's atmosphere.  Three white torpedoes surged from their launch bays, and raced for the Dread...

The Dread

            "Weapons fired, aft!  They sure as hell look like Ghost torpedoes!" Aaryx shouted suddenly.

            "Evasive action!" Neris commanded.  "Bring us about!"

            "Enemy ship close aboard!  Configuration is not GM or DK!  Probable merc!" Aaryx added hastily as the Dread bucked and arced sideways, a lengthening green exhaust trail curving behind them.

            Unfortunately for them, it was too late.  The three Ghost torpedoes struck exactly as planned; and even as the two of them raced through the disrupted shielding, white energy beams blazed from the Atlanta, coupled with several dozen orange-glowing torpedoes.

            All struck home.

            The bridge was suddenly obscured in gouts of flame, showers of sparks, geysers of smoke and steam, and falling debris.  The smell of burnt ozone permeated the air, and the dull rumble of weapons impacts pounded their ears.

            Outside, one half of the negatorpedo pod was instantly blasted out of existence; and a dozen holes were suddenly punched into the tough, crystalline hull.

            "REPORT!" Heran hollered over the confusion.

            "Torps offline!  Death ray offline!  Blasters offline!  Engines damaged!  Shields restored; we have multiple hull breaches, and several severe fires!  Emergency and containment force fields in place, and holding!  No definitive word on casualties!" Aaryx rattled off rapidly.

            Heran was ominously calm, anger suffusing his features.  "TPA?" he asked.

            "Online," Neris said shortly.

            Heran moved with deliberate intent.  "Bring us right at them.  Prepare to fire TPA."  He strapped himself in, and his dark eyes gleamed with evil intent.

The Atlanta

            "They're coming around, on a collision course!" ops shouted.

            Brad frowned.  "Evasive action!  Weps status?"

            "Recharging and reloading," his first reported.  "Almost done."

            Brad grimaced.  "Evasive action, maneuvers London-Theta-Alpha!"  He had forgotten one important fact about the hybrid cruiser they were facing.

            It had been GM first and foremost... and the TPA was fully functional!  Shit!  He knew Heran was capable of...

            "Reverse course!  Flank speed!" Brad snapped out, hoping it was not too late, ignoring the confused and surprised looks on his bridge crews' faces.

The Dread

            Heran roared in triumph, as energy crackled wildly about him.

            From the outside, the whole of the Dread appeared to disappear behind an opaque wall of crackling, dark energy.

            Then every last bit of that energy burst forth, and raced straight towards the Atlanta...

STAY TUNED!

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