"LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo"
LUNAR:
Tales From Crystal Tokyo
By
Daryll Pung
Episode
3-13: Dinner and a Firefight
Rated:
R
Interplanetary
space in the Kappa Zone, 1 July 2740
The
SLS Orion
“Report!” barked Sailor Vulcan as the Orion shuddered again.
“Something’s got a hold of us!” rasped Lieutenant Sean O’Connor. “We aren’t moving!”
“Two of the biologics appear to be attempting to eat
us!” gasped science. “More on
the way!”
Sailor Vulcan actually had a slight frown on her features as she
responded. “Is it possible to
raise shields?”
“Not at this time,” responded tactical.
“One of them is right on a shield grid!”
The view on the screens grew ominous, as the creatures swarmed the scout
ship, maws opened wide. The scout
ship shuddered viciously as a huge chunk of crystalline-duranium was ripped free
and swallowed by one of their attackers. Several
bodies could be seen tumbling away; members of the starship’s crew, now doomed
to a rapid death in the cold emptiness of space. Sailor Vulcan clenched her fists. Sending shuttles out was suicide for the shuttles, they were
bite-sized nuggets for these creatures; and within thirty seconds it wouldn’t
matter for those poor people anyway… still, she had to do something!
“Security teams to airlocks; suit up, blaster rifles to maximum
setting,” sighed Sailor Vulcan. “Standby
for zero-G combat and repelling action. Comm,
hail the Unicorn; any assistance they can render would be welcome!”
The
SLS Unicorn
The doors in the back of the bridge hissed open, with Sailor Cygni
hurtling through even before they finished opening.
Sorcerer Derrelli was not far behind.
“We need the TPA powered up, and now!” gasped Sailor Cygni.
“And we should probably decloak and raise our shields,” added
Derrelli.
Captain Sheila Thompson spun, from her communication with the Orion.
“You heard them! Red Alert! Decloak
the ship! Helm, bring us about;
move us in close aboard when shields are up.”
The ship and surrounding space seemed to ripple as the GM cruiser
revealed itself. Inside, red
warning lights flashed, the klaxon sounded, and Unicorn’s voice echoed through
the corridors.
“Red
Alert, Red Alert. All hands to
battle stations.”
Crewmembers
frantically scrambled to their posts in response; frantic activity surged
throughout the bridge.
Sailor
Cygni ignored it all as she clambered into the TPA console, which was already
beginning to hum with power. The
main screen shifted to show three of the creatures breaking off and turning
towards the Unicorn.
Sheila’s
eyes widened as they closed; she breathed a sigh of relief as Sailor Ryujin at
tactical called out.
“Shields
up, captain! TPA almost charged!”
The
cruiser shuddered as the creatures slammed into the shields; a shower of sparks
burst from the tactical console. On
screen, the creatures writhed in pain as electrical discharges could be seen
shooting over them; they began to back away from the Unicorn.
“TPA
charged and ready!” Sailor Ryujin shouted.
Derrelli
and Sailor Cygni shared a glance, and then the gorgeous brunette closed her
eyes, leaned forward, and concentrated.
“How
is she going to save the Orion?” Sheila asked Derrelli.
He
grinned. “Gravity.”
Sheila
blinked. “I don’t understand.”
“These
creatures don’t see as we do. They
detect particle flows, they send out energy pulses and read the echoes, much as
bats do, and that strip on the forward section acts as a sophisticated sensor
suite, but they don’t actually see. They’re
creatures that roam open space… avoiding planets and stars,”
explained Derrelli. “And more so
than particle flows, they have to be able to sense-“
“Gravity,”
breathed Sheila. “Sailor
Cygni’s gonna make the Orion appear as a planet?”
“Planet,
asteroid, whatever. She’s going
to try,” nodded Derrelli; ripples of whitish energy were already weaving
themselves around the Senshi of Gravity. “We
don’t know if it will work; they may also detect the mass of an object; but
we’re hoping they’ll instinctively avoid gravity wells.”
Sheila
nodded thoughtfully and turned. “Comm,
tell the Orion to maximize structural integrity fields.
Sailor Ryujin, standby on blasters, decrease power; we want to drive them
off but not kill them if this doesn’t work.
Ops, ready tractor beams; the Orion’ll need some help after
serving as an appetizer. Bridge to
Engineering; prepare a repair team to assist the Orion.”
She
barely acknowledged the affirmatives as her crew set the work, her eyes locked
on the screen, mind urging the creatures to go away.
The
SLS Orion
“Acknowledge the signal,” Sailor Vulcan commanded.
“Engineering, all available power to SIF; begin cloaking device repairs
as soon as possible.” The Orion
was quite visible and vulnerable now; massive gouges were being rent into the
hull; and several large chunks were already missing.
Then, gradually, steadily, the creatures’ attacks slowed.
“Gravity levels building up massively around us,” commented science. “Current equivalent is that of a small moon; increasing
rapidly.”
“Come on,” Sean whispered. He
voiced aloud what every crewmember present was thinking.
The creatures were milling about uncertainly; they backed away slowly,
though they made occasional passes, bumping the Orion and jolting the
ship slightly with each contact.
“Gravity levels now approaching that of a star,” commented science; a
metallic creak and occasional squeal were audible to all.
“SIF holding... barely.”
A beep filled the tense silence. “Engineering
to bridge; you’ve got every bit of power available; nothing more we can do
down here without overloading the grids!”
“Acknowledged,” replied Sailor Vulcan.
She cut the connection with a tap of her comm armrest control.
“All we can do now is wait,” she continued, for the benefit of the
bridge crew. She carefully folded
her hands and sat, calmly gazing at the screens, her composure recovered… even
if it were a façade, covering the rage she felt at the attack and sadness over
the loss of crew.
A loud squeal was heard; several of the bridge crew looked around
anxiously. Even with the structural
integrity field maximized, the surrounding gravity was becoming too much for the
damaged scout ship.
One of the creatures spun and moved off in the opposite direction, away
from the two starships.
“Go away,” muttered the Isbanni comm officer through gritted teeth,
staring at the screens.
Another broke, and another.
And then, as if some signal passed amongst the rest, they turned as one
and fled the area. The bridge crew
breathed a long sigh of relief. Sailor
Vulcan slowly stood. “Begin
recovery and repair actions; damage control and medical teams to affected
areas.”
“That was different… and too close,” muttered Sean to no one in
particular.
The
SLS Unicorn
The
gravity fields abated as Sailor Cygni relaxed.
She leaned back, eyeing the sensor reports scrolling down screen five.
“Good
call, Sailor Cygni, Sorcerer Derrelli,” grinned Sheila.
“Comm, hail the Orion, tell them to prepare to receive our
shuttle with engineering assistance; ask about any medical assistance.
Duke, move us in close. Sailor
Ryujin, extend shields, tractor grab when ready. Let’s look into extending the cloak as well…”
Interplanetary
space in the Kappa Zone, 8 July 2740
The
Nightmare
As her
footsteps carried her to the far wall, Sailor Eos spun and resumed her even,
measured pacing.
She had to do it soon. The
Guardian knew that time was drawing short.
She’d have to make an escape quickly if she was going to at all.
Her ears caught the hiss of the door to the entry of the brig area;
she’d memorized the layout on the other side of the force field during her
time stuck in this cell. Opportunity
knocks…
Movement caught her eye; she ignored it… or at least pretended to. Same setup as before, she noted clinically.
Two minions and… Neris, wasn’t it?
She spun on her heel and stalked back towards the other wall even as the
hum of the forcefield faded. She
stopped, and turned to see the weapons pointed at her.
“Comfortable?” sneered Neris.
“It’s not exactly the Crystal Palace, but I’ll survive,” muttered
Sailor Eos. She mentally prepared
herself to reflect. Let’s take
this to the next level, she thought. Let’s
play… belligerent, desperate. I
bet they won’t do anything to the Royals…
Neris narrowed her eyes. “Charming,”
she said coldly. She waved with her
blaster pistol, indicating that Sailor Eos should be seated.
The Guardian slowly, and reluctantly, complied.
“Do you even know how to use that thing?” she asked acidly.
Neris chuckled. “Better
than you might think. The purpose
of this visit is to pick your brain a little more.
So…”
“I should probably tell you before you waste your time that I’ll want
verification of Their Highnesses’ condition before I answer a single
question,” Sailor Eos said coolly.
Neris leaned forward, eyes becoming slits of enmity.
“You are in no position to make any demands,” she snarled.
“Guess that means I’m in no position to answer any questions, too,
then,” Sailor Eos said.
Neris raised the blaster pistol. “Oh,
really? How about I go and have our
medical staff perform some… research… on your precious queen and
princess?”
“Go for it,” Sailor Eos retorted, narrowing her eyes.
“I’ll bet you won’t harm a hair on their heads until the time is
right.” Call, she thought.
Make your bet or let’s see your hand. Sailor Eos preferred
pool, but that didn't mean she didn't know other games; and poker was excellent
for practicing bluffing.
“Perhaps you’re right,” Neris mused.
She tilted the pistol back, and abruptly reversed her grip on it and
swung.
Stars burst in Sailor Eos’ vision as she received the butt of the
pistol right in her forehead. As
her sight cleared, she felt a liquid trickle of heat from the impact point. She reached up, and her hand came away red.
Blood. She was bleeding. Jackpot, she thought with a visibly displayed snarl,
inwardly forcing herself to stay calm.
“Well?” Neris asked silkily. “Shall
we chat?”
Sailor Eos slowly raised her eyes from the crimson splotch on her hand. She then very deliberately stood up, balling her fists.
“I think not,” she replied.
The two guards were now taking aim at her, and Sailor Eos smiled, aiming
a taunt in their direction. “Stupid
Dark Kingdom refugee scum. You
couldn’t hit the broadside of one of your battleships, could you?”
“Awfully brave all of a sudden, aren’t we?” Neris hissed.
“A little blood makes you cocky and stupid?”
Sailor Eos laughed. “Maybe
I’m just bored.” She swung,
even as Neris ducked, and backpedaled out of the cell.
Both guards took hesitant steps back.
“Shoot her!” snarled Neris in a rage.
Beams of energy lanced out, impacting full force, dead center on Sailor
Eos, whose smile became sincere as the energy coursed through her.
“Rising Sun… ILLUMINATION!”
The main screen displayed a view of the asteroids that surrounded the Nightmare.
The pirate ship was anchored to one of the larger ones, awaiting
communications from the massive invaders. The
bridge itself was subdued; it was the night shift, sparsely manned.
Aaryx and Heran were both present, however; Aaryx was playing around on
his console, and Heran was napping… Maybe,
thought Aaryx. One never knew with
the boss of the Nightmare, and two former crewmembers looking for
advancement by attempting to kill him had found that out the hard way.
What a mess those had been to clean up, reflected Aaryx with an
unpleasant grin as he resumed hacking around in the computers for something
interesting.
Aaryx whipped his head around as the hooting of the alarm abruptly
shattered the quiet. Heran jerked
upright in his throne of a captain’s chair, glancing around.
Both centered their gaze on the tactical position.
“Weapons fire detected in the brig!” reported tactical breathlessly.
“And some other energy signature not on record!”
“Neris,” breathed Aaryx.
“Heran to Neris, report!” snarled Heran, standing up suddenly.
He waited a beat. “Heran
to Neris, report now!”
Aaryx frowned. “Have
troops report to the brig; assume the Senshi is free and consider her extremely
dangerous.”
“Yes, sir!” tactical replied promptly, suddenly busy on his panel.
Busy enough, in fact, to disregard a few sensor echoes that he had been
examining.
The fate of the Nightmare had just been sealed.
Heran made a decisive movement towards the doors near the back of the
bridge. “I’m going,” he
announced. “Aaryx, bridge is
yours.”
“Aye, sir-“ Aaryx’s reply was cut off by yet another alarm; that of
the ship’s computer automatically warning those on board of incoming weapons
fire.
“Shit!” gasped tactical. “Torpedo
salvoes incoming; Ghost torpedoes! Followed
by Phoenix!”
Heran spun. “In what
configuration?”
“That of a cross, sir!”
“They found us,” muttered Aaryx.
He didn’t need to mention whom.
“Damn!” growled Heran, moving back towards his chair even as the
weapons struck.
The lights flickered, and a massive shudder nearly knocked Sailor Eos off
her feet. She braced against the
wall, noting sparks flying from a console nearby.
The comm panel was trying to get the attention of the woman now lying
slumped against the opposite wall. Sailor
Eos stepped over Neris’ smoking body; the other two were charred beyond
recognition and quite dead. She
stooped and came up with Neris’ blaster pistol, checking the setting.
As she began to move again, a hand grabbed her ankle.
She glanced down to notice Neris’ eyes open, and Neris tried to say
something.
Sailor
Eos thought of the Royals, and rage rose in her.
“Love to stay and chat,” the ‘Guardian of the Rabbit’ began,
“but I’ve got things to do.” She
kicked the hand free, lowered the pistol, and pulled the trigger.
A white-hot beam lanced out.
Neris
dissolved almost instantly.
“Bitch,”
muttered the normally easy-going auburn-haired Senshi; she quickly moved to the
console. As she hoped, it was still
unlocked from when they had come in to see her.
She noted the language: a
smattering of Lunarian and Negan. A
quick search gave her the information she needed; she memorized several routes
to her goals.
She
jerked away from the console as the door hissed open; a blast impacted on it,
destroying it in a muted explosion. She
dived away, rolling, and came up in a crouch, extending the blaster.
Beams of green intersected with beams of white.
The reinforcements of those already crispy crittered began taking hits
from amazingly accurate aim, dissolving with screams; their fire seemed to miss
even more.
As
the pistol quit, power pack dead, Sailor Eos charged the few remaining troops,
allowing their weaponsfire to impact her, ignoring the discomfort of the burns.
“Rising
Sun… ILLUMINATION!”
An
orchid blast blew the doors off their tracks, charred the walls, and reduced
those firing at her to dust.
The
Guardian charged down the hallway, pausing only to scoop up a few dropped
weapons to replace the dead pistol.
Another
blast rocked the ship, followed almost instantly by an even more immediate and
more powerful shudder.
“TPA
offline! Torpedoes offline! A
few blaster arrays are all we’ve got left!” gasped tactical.
“Phased-out shielding should be coming back online momentarily!”
Heran
examined the tactical plot. The GM
cruiser was drawing in close, and he could almost hear the next order.
He didn’t want to be around as his ship was disabled and his dreams
crushed by pinpoint blaster fire; and damned if he wanted to wait for the next
Ghost torpedo salvo. As it was,
whoever was tearing into his ship was too damned accurate already.
He
saw an opening. “Aaryx!” he
shouted over the din; he pointed to where he wanted to go, and indicated the
helm; the officer there had been violently electrocuted moments ago.
Aaryx nodded, and sprang from his seat, shoving the officer aside, and
commanding the drifting Nightmare to action.
Unfortunately,
just as he was about to execute the helm command, space wavered in front of
them, and another ship appeared in that very location; blaster fire punched into
them yet again. It was a smaller
ship, a scout ship…
But
energy was already rippling along its front edge, showing its TPA was fully
charged and primed to fire. More
yellowish beams blasted from their arrays; this ship, too, showed incredibly
accurate targeting.
“Shit,”
snarled Aaryx as the helm abruptly went dark in tune to a violent pitching and
shuddering.
“Engines
offline!” someone called. “Damage
to the grids!”
“Senshi
is loose!” tactical broke in. “Lost
contact from response teams!”
“Increase
guards on the other two prisoners!” ordered Heran.
“Damage control, get us some damn engines!”
“Shields
back! Fuck! The
cruiser is firing again, Ghost torpedoes!” tactical shouted.
“They
aren’t going to kill us, yet,” growled Heran.
“They’ll be sending rescue teams to recover their precious Queen and
Princess. Aaryx, do what you can
here; get us moving! I’m going to
the Queen; if they want her back, they’ll have to pay the price… in
blood.”
He
exited the bridge as sheets of sparks burst from several consoles.
Bright yellow beams streaked from the scout ship as the torpedo impacts
faded; and the Nightmare shook yet again, plasma streaming forth from the
now inoperative shield grids.
Aaryx
glared at the screens as a single shuttle left the GM cruiser.
“Target that shuttle!”
He
was thrown across the bridge as the tactical console abruptly exploded in time
with additional weapon impacts.
Sailor
Eos rounded a corner, and noted a cluster of guards outside of a door, setting
up crates and canisters as barricades… or cover?
She didn’t care, and didn’t hesitate, dropping to her knee and taking
aim. Green beams impacted, and
began to crisscross, and yet again the battle was rather lopsided; the guards
hadn’t seen Sailor Eos coming, and she coolly continued the massacre.
The
door they were guarding led to the Princess.
She
threw aside one rifle after overheating it, and began charging at their
position, firing all the while. Her
accuracy diminished somewhat, but she reached a crate that had survived to this
point, and vaulted over, managing to escape any hits from the defenders.
She
quickly saw why; only three were left. All
three threw down their guns, bared a bewildering assortment of claws and teeth,
and charged her.
She
dropped, sweeping out with her left leg; the first attacker plowed headfirst
into the wall. She rolled forward
and came up with a vicious rising uppercut, sending opponent number two into the
opposite bulkhead. She spun to
avoid number three, a female that resembled an Isbanni, but with several notable
differences, and almost succeeded in dodging completely.
A ripping sound announced that the cat-woman managed to tear her fuku.
Sailor Eos grabbed cat-woman’s arm and twisted viciously, delivering a
hard chop to the base of the neck.
With
all three dazed, stunned, and disoriented, she bent, scooped up a rifle, and
quickly pumped energy beams into them, confirming that they wouldn’t resume
the attack. She turned to face the
door.
It
was locked, of course.
Sailor
Eos shrugged, and examined the beefed-up door.
She stepped back, and took careful aim, pulling and holding the trigger. Instead of wasting energy on the door- which looked like it
had been modified to repel beam weapon energy- she simply carved out the wall
and frame around the door. When
done, it leaned forward into the corridor slightly; she waited half a minute for
it to cool, picked up a few more rifles, swapped power packs to ensure full
charge, and then slung them over her shoulder.
She pried at one edge, bracing herself against the wall next to it,
moving her leg into position on it to get better leverage, and heaved.
The
door came cleanly off its track, leaving enough room for someone to get through.
Green
beams streaked through the gap at her.
Sailor
Eos ducked under the door edge, and glanced about; feet could be heard coming
down the corridor. She gritted her
teeth, and grabbed the still-warm edge, pulling herself up and over in one swift
movement, sliding down the inside of the door, primed to absorb hits if
necessary; but nothing struck her as she hit the floor and rolled to a nearby
table.
A
medical table, as it turned out; or more properly, a bio-bed.
The
room was some sort of either bio-research lab or back-up sickbay; Sailor Eos
wasn’t sure which. There were
four guards clustered near a bio-bed at the far side of the room; and stretched
out on that bed was Princess Serena, a single line feeding into her, looking for
all the world unharmed and sound asleep.
Thank
the Crystal for that,
reflected Sailor Eos. As she ducked
back down, energy blasts whizzed overhead; the four surrounding the Princess had
been shocked by her rather bold move, but had recovered, and were apparently
under the impression Sailor Eos wouldn’t fire for fear of nailing the
Princess.
They
were, of course, unaware of the sheer amount of time Sailor Eos had spent firing
virtually every known weapon in the universe at the range until she was a
marksman with all of them. Of
course, when you had the Senshi of Time overseeing your training…
Sailor
Eos crouched, and sprang, flipping in midair.
When she landed, one of her purloined rifles immediately came up; seconds
later, all four were down from direct hits in between the eyes.
She’d been nicked a few times, but nothing serious.
She let the rifle fall to her side, and hurried to the Princess,
examining the displays by the bed. After
she was satisfied the Princess was unharmed except for being drugged, she yanked
the tube out of the Princess’ arm, eyeing the name on the translucent pouch
the tube was connected to. She
yanked open a few cabinets in a hurry, noting the drugs’ names; she then
turned back to the computer to find the counter drug to the one in the
Princess’ system.
Several bolts of energy slammed into walls nearby.
The ship gave yet another violent heave.
Sailor Eos frowned, and prepped one of her rifles, setting it to
overload; she then flung it towards the door, grabbed the Princess, and dragged
her into the nearby deep-holoscanning alcove, which provided cover from the
door. She then scrambled back
towards the drug cabinet, throwing various vials and containers aside as she
frantically searched for the one she needed.
A massive whine built up near the door; the energy bolts had ceased.
Sailor Eos spotted the one she needed, and grabbed an empty hypospray and
twice the number of vials the computer had recommended; the Queen would need
some, too, she was sure.
She ducked back behind the alcove wall just in time, as a massive blast
rocked the area; debris whistled past, along with a gout of flame.
Force fields were activated, and further alarms added to the audio abuse.
The Guardian slipped the vials into the hypospray, set the dose, and
injected the Princess. She then
safed the hypo, stuck it in her waistband, shifted a rifle, and pulled the
Princess to her feet, wrapping one arm around her as she began to move.
A quick look showed the area clear, and the jammed door blasted to the
well-known smithereens. Scorch
marks and fried ozone mixed with the hot coppery stench of blood.
Sailor Eos pulled the Princess along, rifle leveled at her hip to fire.
Accuracy in such a position was practically nonexistent, but if she
sprayed full auto it should give enemies pause.
And she had plenty of spare rifles for when she drained the cell.
She peeked in the hall, noting several new bodies; apparently they
hadn’t gotten far enough back when the overloaded rifle had blown; one’s
head was nothing more than a blotch on the wall.
She shook off her morbid fascination, and took a few steps down the
corridor.
She stopped as her hearing picked up the telltale whoosh of doors opening
ahead, followed by the stomp of many feet.
Even worse was another whoosh of a door in the opposite direction,
followed by more footsteps.
She was cut off from both directions.
“Shit,” whispered the Guardian.
Sailor Eos knew one thing.
This was not good.