"LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo"
LUNAR:
Tales From Crystal Tokyo
By
Daryll Pung
Episode
3-10: Crisis
Rated:
R
Somewhere
in Dark Kingdom border space, 20 June 2740
The
SLS Orion
“The Sol System,” Sailor Vulcan cut off her tactical officer.
“Comm, Priority Alpha-1 Emergency communiqué to headquarters.
Send all information we possess about that ship, with the projected
course. Helm, prepare a pursuit
course and set to full speed. Engage when ready.” The
Vulcan Senshi allowed herself a display of emotion as she scowled; she then
schooled her face into its normal emotionless mask and sat down in the captain’s
chair.
“This is not good,” muttered her tactical officer.
The cloaked Orion spiraled on one wing and flipped about,
accelerating to give chase to its quarry.
Crystal
Palace in Crystal Tokyo, Planet Luna, 20 June 2740
Subspace
Communications Central Control
Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endymion, Princess Serena, all three Moon Cat
advisors, and Sailor guardians Eos and Astraea stepped out of the lift into a
frantic scene. Sailor Neptune
glanced up, poked Sailor Venus; both moved towards the entourage.
“We’ve got big trouble,” Sailor Neptune greeted them.
“Message from the Orion; the ship it was tracking is jumping FTL;
and it’s coming here!”
Serenity glanced about. “Nationwide
Red Alert,” she calmly ordered. “Get
all ships in the local area of space here on the double; set up a defensive
perimeter.”
“You should head to the shelter,” Sailor Venus said.
“Or to the Destiny.”
Serenity shook her head. “And
if the Crystal is needed to protect billions of lives?
No, Mina, we’ll stay; we’ll head to the Situation Room, so keep us
informed there. After all, we must
set a good example. By all means,
though, get all civilian ships to safety.”
The two Planetaries shared a look. “As
you wish,” sighed Sailor Venus. As
the Royal Entourage departed, the two already-harried Senshi got back to work;
the lift doors hissed open again to reveal Sailor Mars, Mars Knight, Venus
Knight, and Neptune Knight. All
four raced over to help.
Polaris
asteroid belt, Polaris system, 20 June 2740
The
Supercruiser
They certainly are getting desperate, thought Sorcerer Derrelli
idly as he thudded against a wall, near a fallen comrade, a bolt of energy
narrowly missing him. The hall was
slick with blood of many races; the stench of death and battle assaulted his
nostrils. Bodies, both friendly and
hostile, liberally littered the corridor. He
frowned. The enemy was wearing them
down; he was almost out of spells. Of
course, he hadn’t been able to sleep, either, to refresh his mental energies.
Pure rage was about all he had at the moment.
He peeked, and pulled back as another blast struck the wall next to him.
He readied his Colt Pythons, quickly loading the last of the ammunition
for those weapons into them.
He was about to be forced to resort to pure melee... for the blaster
power cell in his staff was flat.
He shrugged, snuck another glance, and frowned.
The tactical situation sucked; before too much longer they’d all be
pinned down.
Time to do something to change that, he thought.
Bold and stupid… maybe just stupid enough to back these fuckers
down… or make them think I’m fucking nuts.
He grinned psychotically, and jumped recklessly from his hidey-hole.
In one swift movement, he began striding forward and leveling his
Pythons; he was pulling the trigger as fast as he could; thunder echoed in his
ears and flame flared in his sight. Energy
bolts whistled past; aliens were either crumpling in pools and/or sprays of
ichor or dodging out of the way. Derrelli
felt a burning sensation as a bolt grazed him, then another; he emptied his last
two rounds into the aliens who nicked him.
As he slid his guns into their holsters and withdrew his staff, extending
it in a swift, smooth motion, he realized he was no longer alone in the insanity
he had begun; Wizard Orien blasted another one’s head off as the others raced
up behind him. Derrelli twirled his
staff expertly and leapt at the nearest foe, one mighty swing splattering its
brains all over.
The ‘stupid and bold’ maneuver had worked; the friendly troops behind
the five were able to move about, with the enemy falling back in disarray. Derrelli leaned back against the wall, glancing down at the
two charred areas of his torso and upper leg, trying to ignore the pain, before
taking a look at the hostile forces that remained.
Great. What is this, all
their remaining forces?
A thud announced the arrival of Security Officer Gyari next to him,
brandishing her tunneling rifle.
“Hi!” grinned the DK officer. “That
was fun. What’s next?”
Derrelli shook his head. “You’re
enjoying this a little too much, Gyari,” he snorted.
“You see what’s further down that corridor?”
She leaned forward just enough to check it out, and her eyes narrowed.
“Getting serious, it seems,” she mused as she leaned back, energy
bolts whipping by; the stench of ozone made both gag.
Derrelli was about to reply when he noticed something odd; the air
movement changed slightly; Gyari’s hair began to stick up with an electric
charge.
“What the-?” murmured Gyari in confusion.
The air began to whip around faster; and Derrelli grinned.
He grabbed Gyari by the arm and dragged her with him as he bolted back
down the corridor, shouting all the while.
“Duck and cover! Everybody
fall back!”
“What is it?” snapped Orien as he followed.
“Gaia Tempest!” Derrelli responded.
Orien grinned.
They rounded the turn in the corridor that led back into the core access,
and Derrelli spun, conscious of the sounds of the enemy hot on their heels.
He brandished his staff as
Orien, Gyari, Subcommander Denthlagh, and Henecht Kentais set themselves to fire
in support. Behind them, the
remaining friendly forces reformed their ranks to create a lethal crossfire. Derrelli prepped his final spell, coincidentally his
favorite.
The aliens came around the corner, and Derrelli let it fly.
“Fireball!”
As the massive explosion stunned and charred the enemies, a heat wave
passed over the allies; and every gun opened up, forcing the opposition back in
a furious firestorm of green, red, blue, and white energy beams.
At that precise second, an electrical crackling rouse above the din; and
a sudden massive windstorm burst in the hall, complete with deafening
thunderclap and massive lightning surges that caused all the allies to fall back
and avert their eyes from the channeled and blinding electricity.
All but Derrelli, that is.
As the Gaia Tempest passed, another sound caught his ears; a loud roar
that was rapidly approaching ear splitting in volume.
Derrelli peeked, and jumped back as a massive water dragon plowed through
the hall, ravaging the already smashed opposing troops.
The spray from the water dragon felt refreshing to him; but Derrelli
smirked, knowing that the enemies weren’t feeling the same way, those that
were left to feel, that is. One
managed to stagger upright as the hall fell silent.
Derrelli approached with the sardonic smirk still in place.
“Well, well, well,” he drawled, lightly twirling his staff.
“Looks like you and yours are gonna pay for everything you’ve done.
Looks like you pricks have failed.”
Derrelli reared back, grabbing his staff with both hands, and swung;
ichor splashed all over as he smashed in the enemy’s skull.
“Derrelli!” shouted Orien, hand outstretched; another of the foes was
leveling its weapon at the Sorcerer’s back.
Suddenly, a blackish sphere slammed into the alien, and it seemed to be
alternately stretched and compressed at the same time; Derrelli could feel a
slight queasiness from the force of the gravity field that tortured his
attacker. He raised an arm to ward
as the enemy exploded, ichor and chunks flying everywhere.
He began wiping the goo off of himself as he heard approaching footsteps:
a pair of combat boots, a pair of heeled boots, and the lighter clicking
of a pair of heeled sandals.
“Parts is parts,” chuckled Derrelli, shaking his hands in a vain
attempt to get some of the stuff off of him.
“Want I should clean that off of you, Pyro?” snickered Sailor Ryujin.
“’Course, I don’t usually do guys, but…”
“You try it and I’ll be forced to record it,” grinned Sailor Cygni. “Or break your arm, one of the two.”
Derrelli looked up. “Great
shooting, all three of you.” He
paused. “I take it this means
that the Bahumat is…?”
Sailor Cygni closed her eyes, half turning away.
Her fists clenched.
Derrelli sighed.
“Yeah, Derrelli,” Wizard Duke broke in.
“It’s gone.”
Derrelli shook his head, and then glanced back at Duke.
“You still got most of your spells?”
Duke cocked his head. “Yeah,
why?”
“’Cuz Orien’s out, and that fireball was my last spell,” Derrelli
explained. “And I’d like to
kiss my girl, but I’m covered in entrails.”
Duke grinned, and raised his hands, casting the basic cleaning spell that
was on every apprentice list. Derrelli
took three long strides forward even as the tendrils of the spell’s effect
dissipated, and enveloped Sailor Cygni in his arms in a powerful embrace before
tilting her head back and kissing her soundly.
Sailor Ryujin shook her head; GIA materialized right behind Duke.
“They need a room,” she giggled.
“Well,”
Sailor Cygni said after reviewing the data Derrelli had uncovered so far.
“The five of you have certainly been busy.”
“Yeah, between Derrelli’s hacking and the continuous assaults on our
positions, we have,” agreed Orien. “We’re
all pretty well exhausted.”
“Normally, I’d argue the point,” grumbled Kentais, “but asss
I’m barely able to ssstand on my three legsss I cannot.”
Derrelli leaned back against the wall, idly eyeing the coding moving on
the screens where he had set up. He
suddenly moved to the console, and was briefly busy.
“Shit,” he said as the others moved close.
“This ship just received a message; the other supercruiser is heading
to the Sol system!”
“Oh, damn,” muttered Sailor Cygni.
“That means we have to hurry and finish cleaning out this ship so we
can get back there!”
There was a sudden beep on the portable comm unit.
“Unicorn to Sorcerer Derrelli,” came the voice of Captain
Shelia Thompson. “We have a
problem; another one of these bastards is headed to Sol.
The other starships have been recalled, and only the Unicorn and
the tugs shall remain, with the three other battleships; and they’ll only be
here until the summit is concluded. I
hate to say it, but you’ve got to expedite your activities; we need to respond
to all this.”
“I hear ya, Shelia,” Derrelli replied.
“We’re formulating a battle plan now to conclude our business here.
We’ll keep in touch; Derrelli, out.”
“What are you thinking?” Duke asked.
“I’m thinking that last fight probably depleted a large portion of
their remaining forces. I’m
thinking that although all I really have left is speed, strength, my staff, and
a bad attitude, Orien’s got a fresh power pack for his weapons, as do our
companions; so we swap things around.” Derrelli
looked up from the console. “I
need you to take over here, Duke; use GIA to continue hacking if you desire, but
you take my place in charge of the defense of this area.”
He refocused his gaze on Sailor Ryujin and Sailor Cygni. “I’m thinking the three of us start at the bow and make
full use of all our enhanced abilities to do a rapid Search-and-Destroy of this
ship; we’d move too quickly for anyone else present to accompany us.”
Sailor Cygni nodded, and Sailor Ryujin smiled.
“Ménage a troi, eh?” the surfer girl chuckled.
“You do know I’m not straight, right?”
Sailor Cygni laughed, caught up in the moment.
“That’s why it’s so much fun, silly.”
Derrelli allowed himself a chuckle and a grin.
“Duke, it’s all yours, here.”
He stretched briefly, getting the kinks out, and then pulled out his
staff, extending it. With a flick
of her wrist, Sailor Cygni summoned her flail; and Sailor Ryujin’s smile grew
wider.
“Let’s go hunting,” Derrelli said; the trio abruptly tore off down
the corridor in a blur too fast for the defenders to clearly make out.
“They never leave you to have any fun, do they?” GIA complained.
Denthlagh
snorted. “I don’t know about
that; we’ve been really busy here.”
Duke
nodded. “Then let us redeploy our forces to set up a series of
ambushes.”
Orien
blinked. “You think it’d be better that way?” Duke raised an eyebrow, and Orien smacked himself on the
forehead. “Of course, it would;
we’d be the trap that those three chase the bad guys to; and we’d have our
choice of firing arcs as well as dictating the flow of the encounters.
Right, can you call up our troop displacements on the monitors?
We’ve got some rearranging to do.
With what I know already, I’m thinking we leave it open to three
directions of access; with a couple of forces hidden in reserve between them,
but…”
Duke
turned and familiarized himself with the setup.
“GIA, scan and correlate interfaces?”
The
hologram appeared to stare at the equipment for a moment, before relaxing her
stance. “Done,” she said. She
pointed a hand, and the necessary information appeared on the screens.
“Anything else I can do for ya, baby?” she asked sweetly.
Gyari
rolled her eyes.
Starbase
One, In Lunar orbit, Sol system, 21 June 2740
The doors of the central operations center of Starbase One hissed open on
a scene of frantic activity. Numerous
screens displayed ship deployments; the main force was now gathered just past
Saturn, with a secondary force near Mars, ready to deploy in any direction.
Defenses were spooled up on every planet, moon, and outpost in the
system; a thinning, yet still steady stream of civilian ships moved to L-point,
jumping to numerous other GM systems: Saabat,
Stremis Draii, 40 Eridani, and Themar, just to name a few.
Sailor Jupiter nodded thoughtfully.
She and Jupiter Knight were examining the final defense against this
enemy, part of her duties as Director of HOMESEC.
Both strode forward, to where Starbase One’s commander was in earnest
conversation with a civilian ship.
“No, you heard me. We will
not be held responsible to any damage you may suffer; these enemies are nothing
short of lethal, so if you remain, it’s on your head,” dark-skinned Captain
James Pierce said with some heat.
“This is the safest system in the GM, the best defended, and you want
me to take the Solaris elsewhere?” asked the civilian ship’s captain
in disbelief.
“Look, I don’t have time for this,” replied Captain Pierce.
“The Sabaat defenses are largely rebuilt; the Vulcans have good
defenses at 40 Eridani, the Isbanni at Stremis Draii, and the Thocqualians at
Themar. If those closer systems
don’t do it for you, there’re plenty of other choices. Fact is, you stay here, and it’s your ass.
Starbase One, out.” He
rubbed his temples, and turned to see the Planetary of Thunder and her Knight.
“Lady Jupiter, Jupiter Knight, something I can help you with?”
“Stubborn civilians?” Jupiter Knight asked with a slight grin.
James shook his head. “Scared,
I’d say. But anywhere’s better
than here right now, and dammit, we don’t need the distraction.”
He glanced at one of the other screens, and frowned.
“Shit, half these ships aren’t even listening to departure
instructions! I’ve now got a pair
of freighters about to collide. Callie!
Handle them!” He pointed
to a nearby brunette.
“Got it,” came a feminine reply as he once again focused his
attention on the two.
“Sorry,” he said. “Bit
busy right now.”
“No problem,” Sailor Jupiter replied.
“We’ll get out of your hair in a moment; just wanted to check on
defensive status.”
James grinned. He was bald.
“We’re about as ready as we’ll ever be, ma’am,” he replied.
“Soon as we clear the civilians, we’re set.”
“Sir!” came a yell. “Pluto
Station Five reports sensor contact with the enemy!
ETA one hour!”
The Jupiters shared a look, and with a quick nod at Captain Pierce, they
departed. For his part, James
turned back towards the console. “All
civilians should increase speeds to flank; those just departing just got
permission to exceed yard speed, all the way up to maximum sublight.
Let’s get hot, people.”
In
FTL transit, 21 June 2740
The
SLS Orion
“This is frustrating,” muttered tactical, glancing at Sailor Vulcan,
stoically still in her chair, eyes staring forward at screen one, where the
image of their quarry was displayed. It
was a tiny picture due to how far ahead the target was; the Pleiades-class
scout ship could barely keep up with the massive ship, with the loud thrum of
her engines even audible on the bridge, they were pushing them so hard.
The Orion had been forced to back down slightly when the massive
craft had plunged through a nebula several hours earlier, never altering course;
the nebula in question had an adverse affect on GM sensors and engine fields.
They had immediately picked the trail back up, but fact was they’d lost
contact for forty-two seconds. “How
can something that big move that fast?”
Sailor Vulcan slowly stood. “Technology;
their technology is obviously slightly more advanced than our own.
Engineering officer, is it possible to increase speed at all, even the
smallest percentage?”
The officer manning the Engineering console looked up and shook her head
negative. “If we go any faster,
we’ll lose the cloaking device. We’re
already at one hundred and ten percent, and already have a fifty percent loss in
cloaking efficiency. I’m sure we
could catch up, but they’ll know about us if we do.”
Sailor Vulcan turned back to the console; something was bothering her
about the actions of the enemy. They
were now too far ahead to scan at maximum effectiveness, and forty-two seconds
was plenty long enough for them to pull something.
There was no indication that anything had happened, but that didn’t
mean that it hadn’t.
“Approaching the Sol system, Captain!” reported helm.
“The enemy ship is firing its energy weapon,” tactical reported. “It’s targeting the sensor relays and defensive
platforms… and something’s different about the attack on the sensors.”
On screen one, explosions could be seen blossoming against the black void
of space.
“Specify the difference,” Sailor Vulcan ordered crisply.
Tactical looked up, a worried expression on his face.
“They just took out every linked sensor in the Sol system in one hit;
it was a different modulation than we’ve seen before.”
Science spoke up. “From
what I can see here, Captain, the destructive energies of their energy weapon
branched out, following the linking carrier waves of the sensors to each
platform, shorting them out. The
thing is those waves also lead to Starbase One and the Palace; I’m betting
those are also offline. I can’t
tell yet how long such an effect would last; insufficient data.”
“Further reason to close in; they will now require our sensing
capabilities,” Sailor Vulcan said. “Bring
us to Red Alert when we are in range.”
“They’re opening fire again,” tactical reported.
“Attacking Pluto Station Five.”
A massive flash lit the screen.
Moments
later, a shockwave rocked the Orion.
Sailor
Vulcan stood, clenching her fists. “How
many?”
“Over
ten thousand,” ops said softly.
Crystal
Palace in Crystal Tokyo, Planet Luna, 21 June 2740
Situation
Room
“Serenity, I’m begging you,” Sailor Mercury said desperately.
“Get out of here; the Destiny is standing by.
All our sensors are offline, except for the starships; and they’re
busy. At least get to a place that
affords mobility; I’m not saying you have to run away.
You’ll be a lot better off on the Destiny.”
Serenity sighed, sharing a look with her husband and daughter.
Finally, she nodded. “Endymion,
Artemis, Luna, Diana, would you finish up with Amy here, and then join us aboard
the Destiny?”
“Of course, love,” he replied.
“Very well. See you in a
few minutes. Small Lady and myself
are heading to the shuttle. Amy,
have another shuttle prepped for Endymion, and good luck.
Akiko, please stay with them.” Serenity
stood, with Reeni and Sailor Eos following suit after a moment.
The trio swept out of the room as the petite blonde nodded and sighed.
“Right then, Amy, let’s hurry this up.
The sensors?” Endymion said, returning to business.
Shuttle
One
As their shuttle exited Luna’s atmosphere, Reeni spoke up.
“Mother, I’m worried-“
Reeni’s sentence was abruptly interrupted as a blast rocked the
shuttle. Sparks rained from
consoles and conduits overhead as the interior lighting went off; the consoles
flickered. The pilot reacted
instantly, tapping the comm.
“This is Shuttle One; we’re under-“
Another blast cut him off, and all systems went down, except for the
softly lit panel that was reserved for life support.
They started floating in the zero-G; only to hit the bulkhead as the
shuttle started moving again; a light, purplish glow was visible out of the
cockpit transparent windows. The
pilot and copilot were sprawled across their lifeless panels; blood was visible.
There was a thunk, and a sudden hissing.
“Mother!” exclaimed Reeni; Serenity struggled against the gas she
could now smell. It was fast
acting; she was trying to concentrate, to activate the Crystal.
Sailor Eos had already pitched forward.
A hatch opened.
Two beams lanced out.
Situation
Room
Endymion suddenly hissed and stiffened.
“She’s in trouble! They
both are!” He stood, and
staggered.
“Your Majesty?” Sailor Astraea said, standing, hands outstretched in
alarm and concern.
“They’re both unconscious,” Endymion said, shaking his head.
Sailor Mercury punched the panel built into the rich wooden table. “Sailor Venus! Status
of Shuttle One?”
“Trying to locate it, Amy,” came back a grim Sailor Venus’ voice. “We just got a transmission, but it was cut off.
Whatever happened was fast as hell!
Destiny is now exiting the dock to try and find them.”
“And we don’t have any sensors,” frowned Sailor Mercury.
“Mina, get as many scout ships as you can to search the area!”
“Michelle’s on it,” replied Sailor Venus.
“The King?”
“They’re still alive,” Endymion whispered.
“That’s all I know. They’re
getting further away very rapidly.”
The
SLS Orion
“The fleet just arrived, ma’am,” reported tactical.
“They’re engaging the enemy just outside of Pluto and Charon.”
“Emergency message from HQ!” comm broke in.
“All available scout ships are to immediately scour the system to
replace downed sensors!”
Sailor Vulcan turned, even as science looked up, an expression of horror
on her face.