Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and its' associated characters, settings and themes is the intellectual property of Naoko Takeuchi. Likewise, the entity of UNIT, and the characters of Doctor Who are the intellectual property of the BBC. The character of Captain Jeremy Andrew Sperrs, aka Colonel Jasper, is an original character of my own design and thus is my intellectual property. All rights reserved.
Chapter One: The Gathering Storm
The throne room was in a mess. Rubble and broken bodies lay everywhere. In the centre of the room, at the foot of a modest, yet imposing throne lay a stately silver-haired woman, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth as the sound of running boots drew near. Queen Serenity looked up, and sadly smiled as a figure knelt down and reached towards her...
Minako Aino gasped as she shot upright in bed, breathing heavily. There was a soft 'thud-thud', and Artemis padded over to her bed and jumped up.
"Mina-chan? What's wrong?" the Lunar Cat asked, concern for his charge evident in his voice. He was more than a little surprised when Minako, the seemingly-ditzy Soldier of Love and Beauty, began to speak in a mature beyond her years fashion, gazing off into the distance as she did.
"We should mention this to the others when we go out tomorrow." Artemis advised, to which Minako nodded, and slowly laid back down on her bed.
The leaves on the decorative trees rustled gently along the roadside, and a bell jingled as a group of teenaged girls walked into an ice cream parlour. The place was quiet, as it was mid-morning, with only a couple of families sitting at the counter, and a man hidden behind a large English-language newspaper.
The five girls were a colourful lot, to say the least. Two of them were natural blondes; one wearing her hair in buns with two streamer-like ponytails, while the other had thick, waist length hair topped off with a red bow; another wore eyeglasses which oddly suited her, even with her blue/green hair, as she tapped away at a small laptop computer. The fourth was very tall for a Japanese girl, and had brown hair pulled back in a high ponytail; and the last girl wore her black hair loosely around her face.
The five of them sat around the table of a booth and chatted as they waited for their orders to come. Two of the girls, the black-haired one and the brunette began talking about boys, comparing notes as to which teen idol was the hottest, while the bluenette worked at her computer, apparently at her homework. The blonde with the two ponytails was about to tuck into her sundae, when a throat was cleared. The other four girls stopped, and turned to face the fifth girl.
"Um, guys?" Minako said, touching the tips of her fingers together. "I had... a dream last night."
"Oh really, Mina-chan? What was it? A cute boy?" Rei Hino and Makoto Kino asked at the same time.
"No, it was about..." The blonde glanced about, and then lowered her voice to a whisper. "The Silver Millennium..." This got all the attention of the other four girls. Ami Mizuno looked up from her computer, and Usagi Tsukino's jaw dropped.
"What was it about?" Usagi asked, as her now unheeded ice cream sundae began to melt. Unnoticed by the five girls, who were otherwise known as the Inner Sailor Senshi, the newspaper lowered slightly, revealing a man with a vivid electric-blue coloured eye and dark red hair.
'Hmmm... Interesting...' he thought, as he watched the body language of the girls.
In the meantime, Minako began to relay what she'd seen, when a soft beeping sound interrupted her. Ami looked at her computer, and then looked up.
"Youma attack, near the TV Ashita studio." she said, standing up. The girls followed her example and ran out the door.
A few seconds later, the mans' newspaper was folded up, revealing him for the first time. He wore a dark-green military uniform, with the rank of a British Army Captain, and a brassard that read "UNIT" in black on an olive-drab oval patch. The severe appearance was emphasised further by the black eye patch he wore over his left eye, which gave him a frankly sinister air. The man rose, bowed his head to the cashier, and marched out, before heading down an alley. He hummed a soft tune as he walked into a shadow, which seemed to darken as he disappeared...
At the TV studio, the usual panicking civilians fled in all directions as the youma, which seemed to have been formed from a letterbox, laughed out loud. Half a dozen people were already out; drained almost to the limit by the Geiger-esque monstrosity.
Lurking in the shadows on the roof of the studio, the soldier surveyed the scene, one hand firmly around the stock of a beautifully carved Lee-Enfield rifle. "Well, let the madness begin..." he murmured, a grim smile twisting his lips.
"STOP!" Shouted a voice from down the road. The youma, and the soldier, turned to see. Standing on the roofs of several cars and lorries, were the Sailor Senshi.
"Ah, right on cue..." he chuckled.
"I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice! On behalf of the moon, I will right wrongs and triumph over evil, and in the name of the moon I will punish you!" she shouted, striking a pose.
"GRAAAGH! KILL!" The youma shouted, and fired a stream of letters at the girls, who leapt away and began their attacks.
"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"
"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!"
At this, the soldier could not help but fall over, laughing fit to burst. "Oh Gawd help me, those are the most ridiculous names I've ever heard in all me life!" he cackled gleefully. "And they're taking it so seriously, too!" he grinned, before shaking himself.
"Focus, Jasper. You're performing vital reconnaissance, not attending a comedy gala." he growled, crawling over to the edge of the building to take a snipers' post, his rifle in hand.
Down on the road, the Sailor Senshi were being bounced about by the youma, who seemed to be trying to mail them to Abu Dhabi. Jupiter was already out, having been clocked by a high-speed parcel, and Mars wasn't in much better shape. Moon, Venus and Mercury were trying to find out the weakness of the youma when the Mercury Computer began beeping frantically. Grabbing it as they jumped clear, she groaned. "Look out; I'm detecting another source of Negaverse energy near us!"
"Sounds like my cue." Jasper smiled evilly, as a ball of ki energy formed at the muzzle of his rifle. Sighting, he pulled the trigger back.
A bolt of blue energy exploded from the muzzle of his rifle, and speared into the youma, which screamed in outrage and pain. The three Senshi looked up, and spotted the beam coming from the roof of the TV studio. With a final shriek, the youma was dusted. Moon went to tend to her fallen companions, while Mercury tried to trace the energy. She frowned as it wavered and seemed to disappear.
"Damn it, where did it go?" she growled.
"Right here..." said a soft voice from an alleyway near to where Jupiter was. A man strode out slowly, carrying a rifle across his body. Looking away from the girls, and to where the youma had been, he chuckled dryly. "Done and dusted." he remarked, working the action of his rifle and ejecting a spent round from the chamber of his rifle.
"I must say, you girls are lucky I showed up." he turned, and both Venus and Mars shuddered at the sight of his ruined face. "Word of advice, read Sun Tzu and Clauswitz. I'll be seeing you lot around." he turned and walked back down into the alleyway.
"Wait! Just who are you, to talk like that to us?" Moon demanded.
"Simple, Princess. Captain Sperrs, United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, UK Division." Jasper replied, enjoying the tremble that passed through the group. He walked into the shadowy alleyway, and vanished.
In the silence that followed the disappearance of 'Captain Sperrs', Mercury walked over and picked up the spent rifle cartridge, as Moon helped the now recovering Jupiter to her feet. The five girls looked at each other, before Mars spoke the words that were on everyone's' mind.
"Who the Kami-sama was that?"
The other girls shrugged, not knowing the answer.
"Maybe Luna or Artemis, or maybe Setsuna knows...?" Venus suggested, before shaking herself. "Anyway, we should get going."
The Scouts nodded, and jumped up onto the buildings to roof-hop to the Hikawa Shrine.
Elsewhere...
In a realm of nothingness, where the feeble lights of the distant stars served only to outline the dark, something stirred for the first time in millennia. Slowly resolving itself, the something became the outline of a woman, dressed in a revealing gown.
"At last..." it breathed, its voice seductive and deadly. "A chance has come... Soon, the daughters of Serenity shall learn true Justice and 'Love'. But I am weak; so weak..."
The figure waved a hand as insubstantial as a shadow, and a circle of the darkness rippled to become a scrying pool...
Back in Minato Ward, Captain Sperrs was sitting outside a cafe with a cup of sweet, milky Earl Grey in front of him. Next to the tea was a small notebook, in which he was writing some observations, with a pencil.
"Right, let's see now... What did they call themselves? Oh yes, the 'Sailor Senshi', or Scouts..." he muttered, as he began to record down his observations, and views. Amongst the notes that began to appear were comments ranging from an overview of their tactics (Which were abysmal, in his opinion), to individual powers exhibited by the girls, to a scathing remark about their choice of uniforms.
"Gawd, in all my days I've never seen anything so ruddy daft as that joke of a uniform..." he said to himself, tipping his visor cap back on his head slightly.
"Yessss... He will do niccceeely..." the dark figure said, an evil smirk crossing her features. She made a series of hand gestures. "He shall help Serenity's daughters, and in so doing, bring about their downfall..."
Sperrs was taking a sip from his Earl Grey when a sudden flash of pain hit him in the forehead. A soft Anglo-Saxon curse escaped his lips as he slapped his hand to his forehead.
"Damnit." he muttered, as the pain vanished as quickly as it had come. "That's it, no more coffee for me." He finished his tea, paid, and set off once more, placing his pencil and notebook into the pocket of his long military trench coat. He didn't notice a faint symbol on his forehead glow for a moment then fade into invisibility.
At the Hikawa Shrine, the Sailor Scouts were all in attendance, albeit in their civilian garb. Makoto and Rei were discussing boys again, Usagi had filched a manga and was reading it avidly, and, unusually, Ami and Minako were both using the Mercury computer, trying to learn more about the mysterious Captain Sperrs, and also try to identify the mysterious man from her dream. Hotaru, Haruka and Michiru were consuming some of the snacks that they had brought.
Minako frowned and spoke softly. "No... His face was smoother."
"Hey, whatcha doin?" Usagi asked, tossing the manga onto the tabletop. Rei flinched, and grimaced as the paperback thudded down.
"We're trying to find out more about this 'Captain Sperrs', Usagi." Ami said.
"Not to mention that strange man from my dream..." Minako added.
"Tell me about this dream."
"EEEK!" Usagi squeaked, as the final member of the Sailor Scouts, Sailor Pluto silently appeared behind her. "Setsuna, don't do that!"
"My apologies, Princess." Setsuna said, walking over to examine the images on the Mercury Computer.
A soft gasp escaped the usually unflappable Guardian of Time as she examined both images.
"Kami-sama... Him..."
Haruka and Michiru looked up, and narrowed their eyes as they took in Setsuna's pale face. From the reaction of the Senshi of Time, it would seem as though a new enemy had appeared.
Meanwhile, Rei and Makoto were staring wide-eyed at the two images. The man from Minako's dream was the exact double of Captain Sperrs, aside from Sperrs having an eye patch. It looked as though both girls were well on the way to fantasising about the man.
The two Outers looked at Setsuna, the looks on their faces obviously enquiring if he was someone to be eliminated at the first opportunity. Pluto shook her head, before Ami asked the question.
"Setsuna, who is he?"
Captain Sperrs strolled along, whistling The British Grenadiers in a pleasant baritone register. His stroll through the district brought him occasionally to sites where the Senshi had fought various beasties in the past. Watching the construction crews work on repairing, and in some cases demolishing and rebuilding, gave him pause for thought.
"Hmm. From what I've seen so far, they seem well intentioned enough, if a bit untrained. I wonder if I should report this in to UNIT. Maybe the Brig'll dispatch a team to make contact with them, try to get them onboard..." he mumbled.
All of a sudden, he stopped in mid-step as his 'danger sense', honed to a fine edge by years of military service, buzzed in his ears. Looking in front and behind, he saw four tough looking men in leather jackets surround him.
"All right, gaijin, hand over your valuables." the apparent leader said, as he flicked out a long switchblade.
Sperrs gave the man a long cool stare, before snorting. "You want them, come get them." he growled, dropping into a jujutsu preparatory stance.
The four men charged in.
"His name... is Jasper." Setsuna said slowly. "He had... a special place in the Silver Millennium..."
If the Senshi of Time heard the questions that this comment raised, she didn't acknowledge them. Instead, she shut her eyes, and focussed on the distant memories. "He was the reason why Beryls' forces were repelled time and again in the early stages of the War: he was the adjutant and Intelligence Officer for General Zoicite, and fed Queen Serenity valuable strategic information." This single comment set the Senshi into a modest uproar. Rei and Makoto were staring at the image of the handsome man, who apparently had worked at one time for their greatest enemy, torn between irreconcilable emotions. Usagi and the Outers were focussing on Setsuna, waiting for her to continue-
"I remember..." Minako whispered softly. Those two words caught everyones' attention.
Princess Venus, leader of the Senshi whose task was to guard the Princess Serenity, strolled the gardens of the Moon Palace, looking up at the Earth as it hung in the sky. So intent was she on the planet that she didn't notice the figure of the man who was approaching until she'd practically walked into him.
"Oooof! Oh, I beg your pardon, Princess, I didn't see you there." The man's voice was a warm baritone, and his face was smooth, almost cutely boyish. Princess Venus momentarily had an urge to pinch his cheek, which she controlled with some effort.
"No, that's quite all right... Sorry, but I can't place your name."
"Jasper, Your Highness. Colonel Jasper, Earth Defence Force Intelligence Corps." The man said, clicking his heels and bowing deeply at the waist.
"A pleasure. Tell me, Colonel, what is a member of the EDF doing here on the Moon?"
"Oh, nothing fancy to be honest, Your Highness. Just that, as you know, Prince Endymon is going to make a visit here in a month or two. I'm here at General Zoicite's orders to see to the security measures. Standard stuff, really."
"Now, please forgive me, Your Highness, but I must beg my leave; there are matters I must attend to." With another respectful bow, Colonel Jasper turned on his heel and marched off.
With a final crunching sound, the fourth and last thug collapsed to the ground. Captain Sperrs dusted his hands off and shook his head to clear it. He'd taken a few good blows from when he'd taken out the knife-wielder (who'd apparently been the leader).
"Hmm. Not bad, you lot. Not good enough, but still not bad." he commented, as he pocketed the switchblade. He turned to go when he suddenly rose into the air, held by some unknown force.
"Well, aren't you a tasty looking morsel, human? You shall do nicely to feed my master..." a female voice purred, as Sperrs was spun around. Before him stood a wo- check that, it was another youma, this one looking like she'd been fused with a set of kitchen scales.
"Tremble, now. For I am Gravitus, and I am your doom!"
Sperrs couldn't help it; he gaped. "That... is the most ridiculous name I've ever heard!" he burst out laughing, going red from lack of air. The youma looked very non-plussed by this.
"Oi! Stop that! You're supposed to be cringing in fear as I drain out of your life energy!" Gravitus said tetchily, dropping Sperrs to the ground.
"Bad move, pal... You've got me angry now..." Sperrs said softly, rising to his feet.
On the street, a few people were ambling along, headed off on various errands. Suddenly a youma flew out of an alleyway and slammed through the window of an internet cafe.
The population of the tenth ward of the Misato district, otherwise known as Azabu Juuban, had long experience in this sort of thing. In a few moments, what few pedestrians there had been vanished like smoke on the breeze to a safe distance. They fully expected to see the Sailor Senshi charge out of that alleyway and dust the monster.
What they saw, in the event, was a man wearing a green coat strolling out on to the road and adopting some sort of martial arts pose. The youma pulled itself out of the internet cafe, and grinned nastily, showing many sharp teeth.
"Ooooh hoo hoo! This is gonna be fun, draining you..."
"Are we talking, or are we fighting?" Sperrs said, flexing his wrists.
Meantime, all of the Senshi, now in costume, bounced along the roofs of various buildings, following the signal from Mercury's computer to where the new battle was. They were expecting it to be the usual scene when they arrived: civilians fleeing in panic, the youma draining innocents left, right and centre, and so on.
Arriving at an intersection a little ways away from the battleground, they heard the sounds of car alarms and smashing glass. Leaping into the fray, Moon launched into her spiel...
Which died in her throat unsaid, as the Senshi stared in muted shock. The street looked more like a war zone than a street, with burning cars, smashed shop fronts and downed power lines. And in the centre of it all was Captain Sperrs and the youma, beating the hell out of each other with fists and feet.
Jupiter's mouth dropped open, and little hearts appeared in her eyes. "He's just like my old sempai..."
Mars sniffed at the comment, although she had to admit, he was an impressive fighter.
Sperrs smirked as he jumped back to his feet, only slightly winded by the powerful punch the youma had given him.
"Not bad! Better than that bunch of thugs I just roughed up could have ever pulled off!" he called cheekily.
Gravitus grinned. "Indeed. You impress me with your skill, human."
"What can I say, it's been a while since I was in a good old-fashioned knock-down, drag-out, full-on rumble; I need the exercise."
Gravitus looked up, and saw the Senshi over Sperrs' shoulder. "It seems we have company... Let us end this now, yes?"
"Fine by me. G-G-Granville! F-Fetch yer cloth!" he grinned, drawing a big, black revolver from inside his coat.
Gravitus charged, seeming to clobber Sperrs up into the side of a nearby tall building.
The Senshi reacted in various ways to that punch. Moon started on a new spiel, Jupiter and Mars cried out, as her sempai, and the hot guy respectively, was clobbered into next week, and the Outers prepared to smash the youma into a greasy smear on the road. They all fired off various attacks at the youma, blindsiding it back into the internet cafe. The building wallowed, and crumbled into ruins.
The girls were performing their victory poses when-
"I say! Do you mind? It's the height of bad manners to interrupt a chaps' duel, don't you know?" The Senshi all stared up, in disbelief. Sperrs was standing on the side of the building with his arms crossed as he glared down at them, from about the seventh or eighth floor.
"Ruddy Glory-hogs, that's what you lot are!" he added, tapping his foot against the window frame he was standing on.
Neptune and Uranus spoke for them all this time.
"How-" Uranus started.
"-the hell are-" Neptune continued.
"-you doing that?!" they finished as one.
Sperrs grinned smugly and tapped his finger to his lips. "THAT... is a secret."
The Senshi all face faulted at that, the shockwave knocking some of the rubble away from the ruined internet cafe. It was enough for the youma to finally free itself with a roar.
"Whoops! Back on the clock." Sperrs said, before leaping off the building and somersaulting into a dive.
The Senshi were about to attack again when suddenly the boot of Sperrs, or whatever he called himself, slammed into the youma's head, dislodging a hidden crystal. It spun in the air before it unexpectedly shattered from a single gunshot.
"Argh, my ankle!" Sperrs yelped as he landed awkwardly. This was ignored as the youma began to scream, black smoke seeming to pour from its forehead. Seeing her chance, Moon drew her wand.
"MOON HEALING ESCALATION!"
The magic washed over both Sperrs and the youma, and a column of black energy shot straight up into the sky, blocking out the view of both of them for several seconds. When it dissipated, it revealed Sperrs sitting on the road looking stunned and coughing slightly.
"That... hurt..." he remarked, shaking his head.
Saturn suddenly pointed. "Look!"
In place of the youma, there was a very emaciated, pale-looking West Indian woman, wearing what looked like a torn army tunic, bikini briefs and flat-heeled shoes. The Inner Senshi gasped, and ran over.
"Call an ambulance, Mercury!" Moon ordered, examining the woman closely. Mars suddenly staggered, as a large green coat landed on top of her.
"Wrap her up in that, and cover her modesty." Sperrs said, pulling himself upright on a lamppost and hop stepping over to investigate. Seeing the woman, his eyes widened.
"I know her... I'm sure of it..." he muttered. His next statement was cut short as she stirred.
"Easy, easy... You're safe now." Venus said.
The woman looked around then gasped as she saw Sperrs.
"Co-C-Colonel? Colonel Jasper?"
Sperrs gaped openly, as the tumblers spun in his head and came up with-
"Good God... Lieutenant Massey?"
A/N: I'm not particularly fond of this setting, so this fic is going to be pretty low in my priority list.