CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: War
Settling in for the twelve-hour patrol, Lita opened her hardcover copy of The Long Road to Peace: A History of the Great War. She had promised her military history tutor, a bespectacled wretch from Mercury, that she would be able to state, in detail, what tactical blunders the Saturnian forces had made leading up to the end of the war. She managed to get through about twelve lines before she sighed, cast the book aside, and picked up her tattered copy of Forbidden Love, a sappy romance novel written by the best-selling Venusian author, Ariadne. Lita sighed as she read again her favorite part where the Martian monk fell so desperately in love with the Venusian countess that he eschewed his allegiance to the Scrolls and was exiled from his home world. Lita's reverie was interrupted when, several hours later, a crackly distortion came in through her radio.
"T-Bird, this is Delta Seven, I have an anomaly on radar out in sector twelve, please instruct."
Lita looked up from her book and pulled her helmet over her head. "Say again, Delta Seven."
"I repeat: I have an anomaly on radar. Sector twelve, awaiting instructions."
Sighing, Lita turned the ignition lever and fired up her second engine. "Is it something you can deal with, Delta Seven? I'm expected on the Moon in a few hours."
"I, uh, yes—yes I think so, T-Bird?" came the less-than-assuring reply. Lita sighed and remembered Delta Seven was a fairly new cadet. She thought she remembered that his name was Caleb and he came from Io. He'd come up the ranks relatively quickly, mastering nearly every qualification, but he was still green when it came to aviation and border security protocol.
"I'm not far, Delta Seven, I'll come out your way and check it out. It's probably just another empty weapons station left over from the war. There are a ton of them out there."
"T-Bird! Six more anomalies on the U.C.T.! No, strike that—seventeen—wait, twenty-seven—T-Bird, they're everywhere now!"
"Stay calm, Delta Seven," said Lita as adrenaline began to course through her veins. "This is what you train for. Fall out of weapons range and I'll be there shortly with backup." Switching to a general broadcast channel, Lita declared: "Level one alert, I need all airborne Fighters in sector twelve now, come in weapons hot."
Lita kicked her aircraft into overdrive and soared through space toward the border line. A shrill beeping noise began to squawk from her console. She looked down in horror as her Unknown Craft Tracker lighted to life like the fireworks on Armistice Day.
"U.C.T., identify the enemy contacts," she said softly.
"Eight hundred enemy ships bearing the insignia of the House of the Sentry Kingdom of Pluto," came the robotic reply.
Lita felt her skin grow cold.
"One thousand five hundred enemy ships bearing the insignia of the House of the Tranquil Kingdom of Neptune."
Her heart began to race.
"One thousand eight hundred enemy ships bearing the insignia of the House of the Dauntless Kingdom of Uranus."
She brought her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes.
"Two thousand one hundred enemy ships bearing the insignia of the House of the Halcyon Kingdom of Saturn."
Lita's heart sank. "They didn't want peace," she murmured. "They wanted to wipe us out."
….
A hush fell over the assembled crowd as Queen Serenity entered the room. She climbed the short staircase to an elevated stage set up in front of her throne. She wore a radiant smile.
"Welcome, most honored guests!" she greeted warmly. She waited while the guests applauded appreciatively. "At this time I would like to present my daughter, the Princess Serenity and her chosen love, the Prince Endymion of the Temperate Kingdom of Earth!"
An explosion of applause and cheering came from the crowd as the doors opened and Serena and her prince came into the room. Serena blushed as she gripped Darien's arm, embarrassed by all the attention.
"Please join me in raising a glass and wishing a long and prosperous reign to the future Queen and King of the Silver Alliance!"
Glasses clinked in a tinkling symphony and the musicians began to play a slow song. The crowd parted to make room for Serena and Darien on the dance floor. He held her close and she turned her face into his jacket. Soon they were surrounded by dancing couples and Serena relaxed.
Just then, a thunderous pulse shook the castle so hard, a bit of the stone façade crumbled and came tumbling to the ground. Darien pulled Serena close to shield her. "What was that?" he wondered aloud. The lights flickered for a moment and the musicians stopped playing. Silence filled the hall as everyone looked around perplexed.
A moment later the lights came back on and the musicians continued their etude as if nothing was amiss. The guests continued laughing and talking and Darien shrugged. "I guess it was nothing," he said, answering his own question. "Hey, what is it?" he asked, looking down at Serena's face.
"I have a present for you," Darien whispered.
Serena looked up. "What is it?"
"Not here," he replied. "In a little while. Out on the balcony."
….
The fire returned to Lita's eyes and she let her hand dangle over the trigger to her long gun. "If it's a fight they want," she said through gritted teeth, "then that's what they'll get!" She flipped a switch and turned her radio to a direct line channel straight to Balthazar.
"Princess? Is that you?" came his static-filled reply.
"Yes, Balthazar, can you hear me?"
"Barely," he replied. "We've been having distortion for the past few hours, I'm not sure what's going on with the communications lines."
"Deal with it later. I need every last pilot in the air with me now out by the border. We've got serious incoming. The sky is overflowing with enemy fighters and they're headed straight for the Line! This is not a drill!"
"Copy that!"
Lita switched to the local channel. "Fighters we have incoming, I want weapons hot. Follow me in formation."
Leading a triangle of fighter jets, she advanced toward the swarming mass of enemy fighters. Just then, her communicator began to squawk wildly and she realized that one of the unknown crafts was attempting to hail her. Switching to the open channel, Lita barked into the microphone: "Unknown craft, you are to identify yourself immediately."
Garbled words sputtered through what was mostly a transmission full of static. What is up with these radios today? Lita wondered. She was only able to make out, "Hostile…warbirds…surrender…destroy."
"Say again!" Lita commanded. But only static answered her. The league of aircraft began to fire their engines and head closer. Lita's heart started to pound. "Unidentified aircraft, stay where you are!" But the ship's pilot either didn't hear her order, or chose to ignore it.
"Delta Seven, fire across the bow of the main bird!" Lita ordered. The pilot quickly obeyed and sent an electric bolt of fire across the front of the ship leading the others. But the ship did not stop. Lita clenched her jaw. "All right, Delta Seven," she said in an even and steely tone. "Fall back. All warbirds: fire up your weapons!" Lita broke formation and charged toward the encroaching aircraft. She could practically hear her mother admonishing her for abandoning protocol as the distance grew between her and her infantry. In a dangerous game of chicken, she charged directly toward the headship.
"Um, T-Bird?" called a worried Delta Seven. "What are you doing?"
"Don't question me!" Lita snapped. Then, more calmly: "I'm getting a closer look."
Her enemy weapons detector was going crazy as Lita got closer. Suddenly, Lita's ship and the headship of the first fleet of aircraft were careening directly toward one another at a lightning fast pace.
"T-Bird!" screamed Delta Seven. "Stop!" Lita ignored him. "Princess!" he screamed again.
Come on, come on, she chanted in her head as her jet got closer to the other on their collision course. At the last second, as Lita's fighter came barreling toward it, the craft suddenly pulled left just narrowly missing the edge of Lita's wing. As it did so, Lita got a clear glimpse of the Saturnian emblem.
Lita peeled away from the leader jet and pulled up behind it. She switched on her long gun and as soon as she did so, the leader jet began to fly erratically. It would be a few minutes before her infantry got within weapons range and Lita knew that if her mother could see her antagonizing an entire enemy fleet by herself, she would get an earful.
But she lived for this.
The leader jet started to duck and weave through space closer and closer to Jupiterian airspace and Lita remained hot on its trail. The finest pilot in the entire Jupiterian fleet, Lita had little doubt she would destroy her target, but she decided that it would be more prudent to wait for her fleet to arrive before discharging her gun.
This pilot is pretty good, she grudgingly admitted to herself as he darted and weaved in and out of the debris. As the jet barrel-rolled over her, Lita could clearly make out the Saturnian royal crest and next to it were the words H.R.H. Titus Rex.
"Oh!" Lita screamed. She immediately backed off her target, shut down her weapons, and kept a close, but respectful distance behind. She switched her radio back on to the open channel. "Titus, is that you?" Silence. "Answer me, damn it!" Nothing. It was unmistakably his ship and given the attitude with which it was flown, Lita should have guessed. "Titus, if that's you, you better answer me now and tell me what the hell you're doing here with warships!" Panic started to rise in Lita's chest. Suddenly, she remembered that she could be heard by her entire fleet and tried to choose her words more carefully. "Unidentified fighter jet bearing the Saturnian royal crest—identify yourself now." Again, no response. "Saturnian ship, you are now in violation of the inter-alliance peace treaty. You are to stop and turn back now or I will be forced to open fire."
"T-Bird, the first wave of warbirds is now in weapons range, please instruct," came the voice of Delta Seven.
Lita gripped the stick so tightly her knuckles were bone white. Slowly she slid her fingers down to the weapons trigger.
"Saturnian vessel, you are in Jupiterian airspace in violation of the Armistice of Orion," she said, hoping to sound more menacing than she felt. "This is Her Royal Highness Litania commanding you to stop and identify yourself."
"T-Bird, your orders?"
"Answer me, vessel!" Lita shouted, feeling as though she were rapidly losing control. The Saturnian fleet moved in closer. In a few minutes, they would be in weapons range of the Palace.
Lita could not allow such a transgression.
"T-Bird, what are your instructions?"
Sweat trickled down Lita's forehead. "Answer me, Titus!" she screamed. Her heart thudding in her chest, she switched on her gun. Nothing but static as Lita locked her gun on the target ship. Images began to flood her mind as she gently slid her hand down to the cannon trigger at her right side. Titus gently brushing her bangs out of her eyes and kissing her fingertips. Holding her hand as they walked in secret down the rocky paths of Cyllene. But then she remembered her mother's words from so many years ago: Someday, darling, you'll have to make difficult decisions. You must be ready to put the safety of the Kingdom before everything else even if that means taking a life. Even if that means sacrificing your own life. Lita scrunched her eyes shut tight and gave the cannon trigger a gentle squeeze.
"Destroy all targets!" she commanded.
Just then, a tinny voice came through her radio: "Lita? It's me! Don't shoot! Don't—"
But it was too late. Lita watched in horror as one jolt from her cannon obliterated the ship and the prince inside. And then suddenly the black of space was alight with fire.
….
"Darien, it's beautiful!" said Serena, as she held the golden locket in her open hands. She closed her eyes and listened to the haunting melody that sailed up out of the locket. It seemed familiar somehow.
"My mother gave it to me. But I think it belongs to you."
Serena's heart swelled. She didn't know it was possible to feel as happy as she did at that moment. She longed to allow the feeling wash over her, but something nagged at her. She was happier than anyone had any right to be, herself least of all. She had been born the most privileged person in all the worlds. Life simply couldn't be this easy.
"Serena, are you crying?" Darien asked.
"No," said Serena, wiping her face. "I—I just don't understand why the other princesses haven't arrived yet," she said.
Darien frowned. He did not understand why Serena felt so attached to her court. They seemed to have so little in common with one another. Still, if it was important to Serena—
"I will investigate," he said, planting a kiss on the crescent moon brightening the center of her forehead. Darien led Serena back into the main ballroom and scanned the room for his four advisors. He had expected to see them laughing and mingling among the guests – there were many attractive young ladies present – and was surprised to see that each one of them had taken up residence in each of the four corners of the room. And not one of them was smiling.
Darien raised an eyebrow and brought Serena to Jaedite, who was standing closest.
"Jaedite," said Darien, with a slight tone of irritation. "Will you please see to the Princess Serenity while I tend to something?"
Jaedite still did not crack a smile, but merely bowed politely and extended his arm to Serena. "Of course, Your Highness."
Darien turned to Serena and kissed the back of her hand. "I will be right back." And with that, he was gone from the ballroom and wending his way through the dimly-lit corridors of the utility wing of the Moon Palace.
"I know it's around here somewhere," said Darien, charging down the hallway past doors marked 'Main Power,' 'Water Shed,' 'Elevator Controls,' and 'Postal.' Finally, Darien came across the door marked, 'Communications.' But his attention was immediately drawn to the door to the Imperial Chamber. It was ajar.
"That's odd," Darien remarked. He had been to the Imperial Chamber before, on a guided tour on his first trip to the Moon. Wasn't it always closed? he wondered. The Crystal as he remembered it, and he was sure it was a sight he would have a difficult time forgetting, was a pure white light. But now, a kaleidoscope of colored lights spiraled across the floor into the hallway. His hand was gripped around the knob of the door to Communications, but he couldn't turn his attention away from the rainbow smattered across the floor. Green dancing with orange, yellow merging with purple, blue intertwined with red…
"Stop it," Darien told himself. "The Crystal is none of your concern!" And he pushed his way into the communications room. He was not an expert in most technical matters, but he thought he could manage an outgoing call or two. But as soon as he looked at the wall of knobs, levers, screens, and buttons, even he recognized that he would be unable to do anything. Not a single light was on and the massive switchboard was deathly silent.
Darien remembered then the loud noise they had heard earlier and the flickering of the power. Something must have knocked out the communications tower. He shuffled quickly out of the room and closed the door. Once again, his eyes were drawn to the sliver of multi-colored light bursting through the gap between the door to the Imperial Chamber and the outside wall. A sick feeling pulled at his insides as he found himself pulling open the heavy door the rest of the way. He stepped into the room and marveled at the Crystal, which was spinning wildly this way and that, although still confined to the airspace just above its pedestal. Then Darien noticed the four small objects sitting at each corner of the pedestal. He moved closer to examine them better, but as he approached, something caught the corner of his eye. A hand, lax and limp, splayed against the cool concrete of the floor. Darien's heart raged in his chest as he peered around the stone pedestal and saw the body of Princess Mercury, her eyes open and her expression fixed in permanent shock.
"Oh no," Darien whispered as he knelt down and pressed two fingers against the Princess's neck. He pushed and repositioned his fingers and pushed again but felt no sign of her life pulse. He gently slid his arms underneath her small body and lifted her up. He carried her out of the Imperial Chamber and through the corridors. He could hear laughing and merriment coming from the ballroom, but turned away from it and made his way into an unoccupied guest bedchamber. He laid Princess Mercury gently on the bed and closed her eyes.
….
Lita was alone. She sailed through what was left of the ravaged battlefield of space, dodging jagged pieces of destroyed ships, both friendly and foe alike. If there were survivors, she didn't know it. Her radio had been down for hours. No one was answering at the palace either. It was as if a plague of silence had overtaken her home world. She entered Jupiterian airspace and lightly touched her jet down and scrambled from the cockpit. The hangar was desolate.
The sound of her boots thumping against the pavement as she ran toward the palace thundered in her ears. She burst in through the mess hall doors. Abandoned meals abounded, but there was no one in sight. Lita ran from room to room, but not a single soul remained. It was as if everyone in the palace had fled in a panic. She raced up the winding staircases to the high tower hoping that she might see something from a higher vantage point. Lita burst into the turret room and scanned the room quickly. And there she was, her great and powerful mother, crumpled in a ball, weeping as she looked out the tower window. Lita ran to her. "Mother!" she exclaimed. "What is happening?" Zeusania didn't answer, but pointed. A new wave of sobs got caught in her throat and she sputtered and coughed. Lita was at a loss. Her mother needed her to be strong now. She placed a hand on Zeusania's shoulder and knelt down.
"It started several hours ago," she whispered. "After all the fighters left, our communications went down. We thought there was a high-frequency energy pulse elsewhere in the system that knocked all our comms out. Then they showed up."
"Who? Who showed up?"
"A freerider came up from the Storm Prison System and said it began there. Shadow warriors. Millions of them."
"What are shadow warriors?" Lita was afraid of the answer.
Zeusania trembled. "Faceless, formless. They kill everything in their path and are impervious to normal weaponry. We needed your Light."
Lita swallowed the lump in her throat.
"I—I'm sorry I wasn't here."
Zeusania didn't answer. Her eyes grew wide as she stared out the window. Lita turned and watched in horror as the air outside became black with shadow warriors. Zeusania grabbed Lita by the shoulders and shook her. "You must stop them!"
Lita looked up in the sky and shuddered. There were too many of them. She knew she would fail. Still, she reached into the depths of her soul and closed her eyes to summon the Light. Her body felt numb. There was no pain, no heat, no electricity.
"Jupiter!" she called.
Nothing happened.
"JUPITER!" she tried again. Nothing. "I—I don't know what's wrong!" She looked out the window helplessly and her mouth fell open as she watched her vast kingdom erupt in fire and ash.
Zeusania turned to face her young daughter and grabbed her by the arm. "Lita, you must leave here immediately! You must go to the Moon. Serenity will know what to do."
Lita wrenched herself free and replied: "Mother, I will not flee my home world like a coward! I will stay here and die with honor by your side!"
Zeusania took Lita by the shoulders. "Jupiter is gone, daughter. You must go to the Moon! That is where you make your last stand, defending the Princess!"
"But Mother—"
"I said GO!" Zeusania ordered.
….
When Darien returned to the party, he did not immediately seek out Serena. He knew she would read his face and know something was wrong. He looked up and noticed Queen Serenity was sitting at her chair, presiding over the party with a faint smile on her face and talking softly with Lord Artemis. Darien swallowed. He gathered up his strength and marched over to where the Queen sat and immediately took a knee.
"Prince Endymion!" Serenity remarked, clearly surprised to see him there. "What are you doing?"
"Something is wrong, Your Majesty," he said softly, looking around to make sure no one overheard.
"Well, what is it?" she asked, sounding mildly perturbed.
"Please come out into the hall with me," said Darien. He rose and extended his arm to the Queen and smiled stiffly at guests who looked in their direction. He cast his gaze out briefly over the crowd and saw Serena still arm-in-arm with Jaedite, looking distracted, but happy. Artemis followed them close behind.
When Darien had gotten Queen Serenity and Artemis out in the hall, he told them where he'd been and what he'd come across. The Queen looked stricken.
"Are you sure she is…dead?" she asked incredulously. Artemis had gone white as a sheet.
"Yes, Your Majesty," said Darien.
"And the Crystal…it was unstable?"
Darien nodded.
Serenity seemed to have aged ten years in ten seconds with this news. "That must have been what that crash was. It must have knocked out the communications." She turned to Artemis then. "We need to get our radios back up as soon as possible."
Artemis nodded grimly and started down the corridor, tapping the shoulder of a footman on the way. The footman followed Artemis and soon they were gone.
She gathered her dress in her arms and headed toward the guest bedroom. "I must see the Princess Mercury for myself," she said. Darien understood he was not supposed to follow.
Darien watched as they disappeared from sight and then he resolved to find Serena and put on a brave face for her. As Darien reached for the door leading into the ballroom, a loud crash came from outside and shook the palace. Darien almost lost his footing. Then there was another crash and this time, it took all the lights out with it. A third crash, and screams came from inside the ballroom.
"Serena!" he shouted as he threw himself against the door. It wouldn't budge.
….
Lita's heart was in her throat as she nervously tapped her fingers against the steering wheel of her aircraft, willing the machine to move faster. She maneuvered her way expertly through the asteroid belt dodging rocks and debris and was soon in the clear hurtling toward Martian airspace. Lita did a double take as she passed the planet, which burned a brilliant red.
"What the—" she murmured. What's going on down there?
She gripped the wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. If Mars was burning, she couldn't help but wonder what state she would find the Moon in.
….
Artemis stared at the silent communications panel. He dropped to his hands and knees and crawled under the main console. His technical background was rusty but he knew there was a fallback option in case of a massive power outage. He felt blindly at the controls and levers until he found the right one that would enable incoming messages in a primitive code comprised of toneless taps of varying length. He pulled the lever and crawled back out from under the console. Almost immediately, the distress calls came pouring in.
….
Serenity touched the forehead of the Princess Mercury. Her skin felt cool to the touch but her lips were still full and red and her cheeks retained their slight pink flush.
The door burst open and Artemis came barreling through, panting and out of breath.
"Artemis, what is it?" asked Serenity.
Artemis paused when he saw the body of the Princess of Mercury. He closed his eyes and clutched his chest over his heart.
"Majesty," he said, his eyes full of fear. He looked pale as a ghost and sweat poured from his brow. In his trembling hand he clutched a long scroll of parchment.
"What is it, Artemis?" the Queen whispered.
"Distress calls," he said. "We're just now getting them. They're hours old."
Serenity closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she asked, "Distress calls from where?"
Artemis looked defeated. He turned his palms upward and shook his head. "From everywhere."