A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE
Chapter 10: Rise Of The Automatons
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
"And that's the situation at the moment," Luna's voice came over the Senshi communicator. "Artemis is sending you the coordinates for where the others are."
"I've got them, Luna," Michiru said. She was sitting on the sofa in the home she shared, her house mate Haruka standing behind and looking over her shoulder at the read out. "Do you want us to assist?"
"Luna, I'm getting a police report from Tokyo Metro that more of these robots are coming out of the Shinjuku plant," they could hear Artemis say. "Police have engaged and they're calling for backup."
"Negative, Michiru," Luna replied. "Assist the police. Assess and if possible contain the plant. If these automatons were able to fight Mercury and Venus to a standstill, I doubt the police will have more of a chance."
Michiru closed her communicator, stood up and summoned her henshin stick. She glanced at Haruka. Haruka already had hers out.
Suddenly there was a brilliant flash of light in the street between the two senshi and the advancing automatons. When the light dissipated, Queen Serenity and Sailor Jupiter were standing in the street. The crowd cheered.
But the cheers died in their throats when Serenity immediately fell to her knees.
"Serenity?" Jupiter asked anxiously while keeping the advancing two robots in sight.
"Sorry," Serenity gasped. "So dizzy! Happens when I teleport!"
"Take your time. I've got this," Jupiter replied. The lightning rod extended from her tiara. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
Electricity sparked from the tiara to her two hands extended from her body. In an instant, twin bolts of lightning shot out at the two robots, striking them both and exploding in a flash of light and smoke and for a brief moment blue-white fire. The two metal creatures spun around and clattered to the ground. By now Mercury had advanced to them and was kneeling next to Serenity, while Venus hung back by the car.
"How is she?" Jupiter asked, risking a glance back at the Queen.
"Pulse rapid, respiration shallow," Mercury fussed. "You really should stop teleporting, Serenity. This happens every time."
"HEADS UP, JUPE!" Venus shouted from the car.
Jupiter turned back to the two robots and saw they were getting back to their feet. Smoke still rose from them, but they seemed otherwise unaffected by Jupiter's electrical strike.
"What, am I going to have to go max on them?" Jupiter exclaimed in astonishment.
"Mercury! Aqua Rhapsody!" Mercury shouted, projecting her attack from where she knelt next to Serenity. A wave of water suddenly appeared from nowhere and flooded over the two automatons, then flash froze in an instant. "That should buy you some time, Jupiter!"
"Jupiter Coconut Cyclone!" Jupiter responded.
The crowd watching began to emit nervous sounds. Clouds began to gather and swirl overhead, dark clouds with ominous bearing. The wind picked up, blowing at anything loose. At one point, Venus had to hold her tattered skirt down for modesty's sake. People began to back away, seeking shelter in doorways or under awnings. A distant rumble began to build until it threatened to shake the foundations of the buildings lining either side of the street.
Then a bolt of lightning lanced down from the sky and struck the robots encased in Mercury's ice. It exploded in a white hot burst of intensity that forced everyone to look away. Closely following the strike was what sounded like bones snapping magnified a thousand times. The sound rolled down the street, rattling windows as it passed. When the sound died away and everyone felt it was safe to look, they all looked where the bolt had struck.
Steam rose from the strike point, the vaporized remnants of Mercury's ice. Left behind was scorched asphalt and puddles of melted aluminum, steel and silicon. Jupiter put her hand to her temple as a wave of exhaustion swept over her. She heard Venus whistle behind her and her mouth curled into a smile. The bystanders erupted into applause and cheers.
"Thank you, Jupiter," Serenity said. She was on her feet, braced by Mercury. Jupiter flashed her a tired smile. Just then, the Senshi communicator signaled. Mercury answered first.
"We have reports of more automatons emerging from the Shinjuku plant, Your Majesty," Luna reported. "The police have engaged and Uranus and Neptune are en route." Mercury and Jupiter looked to Serenity.
"We need to go to them," Serenity said without hesitation. Jupiter nodded.
"Serenity, Venus is injured," Mercury said. "She really should have medical attention."
"I can go," Venus said, hobbling over to them. It was obvious that she couldn't put any weight on her ankle. "I don't need my feet to use my Love And Beauty Shock."
"Let me see your ankle," Serenity said, kneeling down before Venus. The wrap was still in place, but the ice cast was melting.
"What, no candy and flowers first?" Venus quipped.
Serenity's hands took on a silver glow. She reached down and grasped the ice. It vaporized in an instant. The glow intensified as she grasped the ankle. Venus sucked in air. But the sensation died away quickly and with it any pain she felt. Venus stood on it with no trouble.
"I wish you wouldn't do things like that so soon after over-extending yourself," Mercury sighed.
"Actually, healing seems to be easier for me than teleportation. Don't ask me why," Serenity replied, putting her hand to her temple as she regained her feet. "Now come closer. I'll fly us to the plant."
"Um, you rest," Mercury said, gesturing to her car. "I'll drive us."
Not wanting to waste time arguing, Serenity nodded and the four headed for the car.
"No, Beliveau-San," Luna said on Endymion's speaker phone extension. "His Majesty is not here at present. If you like, I can relay a message."
"He asked me who's currently in charge of the Shinjuku facility," Beliveau said over the phone. "The plant operations itself is being supervised by Kazuhiro Unita. But the tech research is being headed by Nick Devlin."
"How well do you know this Devlin-San?" Luna asked.
"He's been an immense help to the Daiyaku Project," Beliveau replied. "Very brilliant, and very innovative. He discovered the Bidou woman's research and brought it to our attention. He was the one who helped Dr. Heiwajima get to the prototype stage. Easily shaved five years off of the project's time table."
"Given what's happening at your Shinjuku plant, it seems more and more likely that he's the real source of all the trouble and not Dr. Heiwajima," Luna argued.
"Devlin?" Beliveau murmured in shock. "It can't be. He was," and the man grew silent. "My dream. He was going to make it come true."
Luna cut the connection. "Perhaps he decided to make his own dreams come true instead."
Sailor Uranus pulled up to the Shinjuku plant in Michiru's Nissan Altima. Normally she considered the Altima beneath her, but they were going into a potential combat situation, so better to risk the Altima than her prized Reventon. The scene, though, made her forget all about the Reventon.
Seven police cars, their lights still flashing, were stopped at random angles around the plant, their doors still open. Laying on the pavement near the cars were the slashed and mangled bodies of fourteen Tokyo police officers. Shell casings littered the street in between the bodies.
"Luna wasn't kidding about these things being dangerous," Uranus observed. "All of those shell casings - - they didn't go down without a fight."
"But where are the automatons now?" Neptune wondered out loud. "There are no visible tracks. And without knowing their objective, there's no way to determine where they might have gone."
"See that police helicopter up there," Uranus said, pointing up into the evening sky. A police helicopter was circling southwest of them, its light trained on the ground. "How much you want to bet it's following those things."
Neptune nodded to Uranus. The pair got back into the Altima and it headed at top speed toward the area the aircraft was circling. A half mile later, Uranus pulled to a stop. There were seven of the metal monsters ahead.
"World Shaking!" Uranus shouted once she was clear of the car.
Geo-force sped from Uranus to the robots, ripping up pavement as it traveled. The force impacted the center robot directly, but the blast was sufficient to knock all seven over. Neither outer relaxed, though. If three had given that much trouble to Sailor Mercury and Sailor Venus, twice that many would be twice the threat.
It was a logical assumption and a true one. Six of the metal monsters got to their feet with no visible damage. The one who took the blast dead center was sparking from its hip joint and that was hampering its efforts to get up. When the other six regained their feet, in unison they extended the razor sharp spikes from their fingers. Uranus summoned the Space Sword, while the Deep Aqua Mirror appeared in Neptune's hands.
"Space Turbulence!" Uranus shouted, holding the sword up high.
Sparks began exploding all around the six robots, as if the electrons of the air molecules were detonating. The explosions grew more frequent, filling the air around them with deadly radiant energy. The automatons began to move in a halting, jerking manner. It was the conclusion of the two senshi that the attack's radiant energy was interfering with both the physical operation of the robots and with their cybernetic control system.
"Keep it up, Uranus," Neptune advised her. She held the mirror in reserve, should the robots mount a counterattack.
Two of the robots nearest to them suddenly opened their mouths while metal shields extended over their optical units. In the mouths were parabolic mini-dishes with tubes in the center, the tubes containing dancing crimson energy. Without hesitation, the two metal monsters fired lasers.
Already moving, both Uranus and Neptune avoided the beams initial strike. Uranus kept moving as the beam tracked her, at one point deflecting the beam with the blade of her Space Sword.
"Submarine Reflection!" Neptune shouted, returning fire with her mirror.
The mirror's crimson beam lanced out and struck one of the robots in the mouth. Part of the beam was deflected by the parabolic dish, but the rest struck the tube. The tube exploded, taking the robot's head with it. Shifting her line of fire, Neptune fired at the other four robots advancing on her position. The beam, though, just deflected harmlessly off of the polished outer surface of the nearest attacker.
"Deep Submerge!" Neptune shouted.
Out of nowhere a huge wave rose up and engulfed the robots. Neptune was hoping to sweep them away, but the robots braced themselves and held their ground.
"Mercury! Aqua Rhapsody!"
Neptune's wave flash froze around the four robots, holding them in place. Neptune glanced behind her and found Sailor Mercury standing next to a Toyota mid-size. Venus, Jupiter and Queen Serenity were emerging from the car. Mercury took a moment to assess the situation.
"Venus, hit the automaton firing the laser with your Crescent Beam!" Mercury ordered. "Aim for that tube in its mouth!"
"Got it!" Venus barked. "Crescent Beam!"
The golden beam lanced out and struck the tube in the robot's mouth. It exploded and, like the other, the explosion took its head off. The remaining body stood motionless.
"Uranus!" Mercury shouted. "Strike the frozen automatons with as hard a world shaking attack as you can muster!"
"World Shaking!" Uranus shouted as she launched her attack. The energy sphere chewed up pavement as it sped toward the frozen robots. Striking the ice, the attack generated enough force that the ice and the robots inside, now brittle from the extreme cold temperatures, shattered.
"Dead center!" Venus exclaimed.
"That wasn't too tough," Uranus grunted as she rejoined the others. "Nice to see you out and about, Dumpling. It's been too long. We got to get together some time - - maybe have another 'driving lesson' or something."
The Queen instantly blushed, a reaction noticed both by Venus and Mercury. Neptune's mouth thinned, but she said nothing. Then Venus brought her communicator up to her mouth.
"Yeah, Fuzzy?" she said. "Got it." She faced the group. "Artemis says there's more of those robot things loose. They're tearing up parts of Shinjuku and Minato-Ku. Four of them are headed for the palace."
"We have to stop them!" gasped Serenity. "We'll divide up - - take them on before they can hurt anyone!"
"Two senshi can't handle a squad of those things," Uranus argued. "Dividing us up won't do any good."
"But there are people in danger!" Serenity exclaimed.
"The better tactic is to go to the source of these things," Neptune took up the argument. "Cut off any more reinforcements, then take down the ones already loose. We may even find they're being controlled from a central source and be able to shut them down from there."
"No, that won't be possible," Mercury spoke up. "From the scans I've made of these automatons, I know that they're self-contained limited artificial intelligence operating on a set program. They're not controlled from a central source."
"So maybe we shouldn't do it your way," Jupiter added.
"That doesn't change the fact that cutting off the source of these things will keep the odds against us manageable," Neptune persisted. "Yes, there will be casualties, but there have been casualties in the time we've taken to debate the point. And the longer we take . . ."
"All right!" Serenity said sharply. "We'll do it. Let's go to the plant."
Uranus and Neptune nodded and headed for the Altima. The rest got into the Toyota.
"Leave it to her to have to always be right," muttered Jupiter.
"From a tactical standpoint, there is merit to her plan," Mercury said as she engaged the car. "It just involves 'acceptable losses'." They all felt Serenity wince.
"Artemis says they've narrowed the primary suspect behind all of this down to some guy named Nick Devlin," Venus reported. "Apparently he was Heiwajima's chief assistant."
Arriving at the Shinjuku plant, Serenity and the three senshi were greeted by one of the automatons. The robot squatted, put its hands under one of the empty police vehicles and flipped it up into the air. Mercury tried to swerve, but the police car struck her Toyota across the hood and right front fender. The car fish-tailed, then skidded as it turned one hundred and eighty degrees. At one point the car threatened to flip onto its side, but impacted with a light pole first.
Serenity and the other passengers got out of the car to a scene out of a dystopian science fiction film. The bodies of the sixteen Tokyo police officers were still on the ground. Uranus and Neptune were already engaged with four more of the automatons. Uranus had thrown a World Shaking attack, bowling several of the machines over. Neptune was using Submarine Reflection, trying to hit a non-reflective surface on the robots and sever a head or a limb.
"Jupe?" Venus inquired. Jupiter shook her head.
"I'm still recovering from my max attack," Jupiter confessed. "I've got nothing."
"I'll pick you up," Venus nodded and maneuvered to one side of the automatons. "Uranus!" she shouted at Sailor Uranus, who she had aligned with, keeping the automatons between them. "Squeeze play!"
Uranus nodded. She fired another World Shaking from her side. On the opposite side, Venus let loose with a Love and Beauty Shock attack. Three of the robots were caught in between. When the two forces met, they were crushed between. As the energies dissipated, the robots sank to the ground, servos in their limbs ruptured, circuitry overloaded and optical units damaged beyond repair. Venus flashed Uranus a thumbs up and winked.
Working together, Mercury and Neptune had subdued the fourth robot. Neptune had inundated it with Deep Submerge, then Mercury had frozen it with Aqua Rhapsody. Since Uranus was occupied, Neptune decided to finish the job herself. She summoned a golden violin.
"Submarine Violin Tide!" she called out, then brought the bow down across the strings.
Sonic vibrations emerged from the violin. They were low at first, but quickly built up until they were a high-pitched wail. The vibrations from the sound caused the frozen robot to begin shaking. At first the shaking was sympathetic, but soon the object couldn't keep pace with the sound waves. And then ice and metal made brittle by the severe cold shattered like glass into a million shards of aluminum and silicon.
"There's more coming!" Jupiter shouted out a warning. Emerging from the plant was a squad of ten more. In unison they extended razor sharp spikes from their hands.
"How many of these things are there?" Uranus exclaimed.
"Really wish Mars was here," muttered Venus.
By the car, Serenity made a decision. Levitating up into the air, she got to fifty feet above the robots and extended her hand. At once she clutched at her head in pain.
"Hon'!" cried Jupiter. Though they were silent, all the other Senshi were just as concerned.
Serenity seemed to waver a little in the air, like a wounded duck. Then she gathered herself and flew to the plant, passing through the walls and into the building.
"Try to defeat these automatons as fast as possible so we can assist Serenity!" Neptune shouted to the others. "But at least keep them busy until Serenity can shut the production plant down!"
Inside, Serenity passed through one interior room after another until she found the main production facility. An automated assembly line was producing hundreds of new robots. She grew alarmed as she landed. In a few hours there would be enough of these robots to overrun the city.
Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Serenity brought up her hands, then motioned with them as if she were wiping something away. The assembled automatons and the robots assembling them evaporated like mist.
But at once a terrible pain seized the Queen. Her legs became watery and she fell to her knees, clutching her head. A whimper of pain escaped.
The click of leather shoes on concrete was approaching her from behind. Fighting through the pain wracking her, Serenity turned and looked toward the sound. A man was approaching. He was American or European by his look, composed and confident. Was this the man Venus was talking about?"
"Queen Serenity," he said with poorly concealed disdain. "I've been expecting you."
"A-Are you," Serenity gasped out, "Nick Devlin?"
"The same," Devlin replied.
"Why?"
Continued in Chapter 11