Sailor X #7 Fireline
By: John Brengman
Edited by: Thomas Schell
* * * PROLOGUE * * *
Shuttle 4 - On
Approach to
the Crystal Palace
"Luna Control," Brandy said. "This is Shuttle Four, en-route from Tokyo."
"Welcome home, Sailors," came the reply.
Looking out the pilot's window, Brandy could tell that the shuttle was approaching the mountain range that lay a few miles south of the castle…within about a minute, the shuttle would clear the top of those mountains, and the castle would be visible.
Brandy continued. "We are bringing in a couple of…lifeforms…that we encountered on Earth. We'll need a security team to take custody of them when we land."
"Acknowledged," the voice said. "Is there anyth…" The question was drowned out by a roar, then static.
A minute pause quickly passed as Brandy tried to raise the castle on the comm system. Sandra arose and went to stand by Brandy. Looking out the window, she saw that the mountains still obscured the view of the castle.
"Castle Control…" Brandy stared at the comm panel as if it had betrayed her. "The transmitter is not working?"
Cass suddenly looked up from her seat, her eyes filled with dread. "No," she said disconnectedly, "That roar…it was an explosion!"
That grim pronouncement was confirmed a few seconds later when the mountains fell away, and the vista across Crystal Lake was revealed.
A torrent of fire bloomed on the east end of the castle. Mount Serenity seemed to be clothed in a hellish halo and the flames had spread to the castle's extension southeast of the mountain. The yellow and orange conflagration pulsed around the end of the castle it dominated, but the explosion had caused structural damage that radiated outward like a spider's web… The communications tower which had been located north of the castle's central dome, fell southward and toppled over in a heap, shaking the already-tortured foundations of the royal structure….
The shuttle, having been given no further orders continued on its course over the lake. The girls could now make out various rooms of the castle…all in flames…the theatre, the kitchens, the servants' quarters, the throne room…suddenly that realization hit the girls…
"My god…" Brandy said as tears filled her eyes….
"Mother…" Sandra murmured numbly…
== * SM * ==
United Nations HQ – New York
A rather
stern-faced man strode from the elevator on the seventeenth floor. The metal
doors closed silently behind him as he approached a nearby oak desk and the secretary
seated behind it.
"I am here," the
man announced.
"Yes, sir," the
secretary replied. "I'll tell the general that you're here." With that, she
pressed a button on
her desk, informing her boss of his visitor.
"You may go in,"
the secretary said. The visitor nodded and headed to a large door.
"General," the man
said as he closed the door behind him and walked toward a large desk near the
other side of the room. A man stood in front of a nearby window and gazed out
at the view of the New York skyline. The visitor shot a glance at a bank of
screens along the wall to his left. They showed scenes of chaos…the rioting in
Tokyo and other cities against the UN. The sound was muted, but the visitor
could almost hear the shouts of the rioters. On one screen, a gas bomb flew
through the air and crashed near a car, which soon exploded into flame. The
crash of the glass and the blossoming crackle of the fire were almost audible.
The man at the
window turned and saw the visitor's gaze.
"Since the food
riots after the Tokyo Disaster," the general said, "I have not seen such
lawlessness."
The visitor
sighed. "Yes," he said, "and it's directed at us."
"And that is why I
asked you here, commander," the general replied. "As the air marshall for all
of the United Nations' air wings, you know which air captain is most able to
handle this."
By this time, the
general had arrived at his visitor's side. Together, they watched the screens
as the violence continued.
"Marshall Irwin,"
the general stated. "The rule of law depends on the successful completion of
this mission."
"And what is that
mission, General?"
The general
paused, as if what he was about to say would be a pronouncemnt of doom.
"The terrorist
acts seem concentrated in the cities of Tokyo, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Berlin,
and
St. Petersburg. Pick one of those cities, and use as much
force against it as is necessary to eradicate the terrorists. We will broadcast
a warning to the others."
"Is such a thing
wise, sir?"
"These thugs are
threatening innocent people, and the local authorities are overwhelmed. We have
no recourse, which is why I am asking you to pick the person who will command
this mission. I need a person
who can do this with no vengeance, no compassion, and no remorse."
"I know the
person," Air Marshall Irwin replied.
== * SM * ==
Havel Air Force Base
Prague, Czech Republic
Tenoh Haruka
entered the stark room that served as her office while she was with her air
wing if it was not assigned to their normal air stations on the moon. Flipping
on the light, she quickly surveyed the room.
Seeing an unopened envelope laying on her desk, she draped
her overcoat over her shoulder and reached over to retrieve the it.
Once she had
opened the envelope, Haruka read the note inside…"From Air Marshall Irwin…"
When she finished
the letter, Haruka tossed it on her desk and left the office with a muttered,
"damn…"
It was while she
was readying for General Irwin's mission that Haruka received word of the
explosion at the palace. Her cobalt-blue eyes narrowed, and she stuffed the
message in her pocket and silently continued to ready her plane for the
upcoming mission.
After checking to
see that her fuel tanks and ordinance racks were in order, Haruka climbed into
the cockpit, started the engines and taxied onto the runway.
The speaker in
Haruka's flight helmet squawked to life as her plane lifted off from the
runway. "Haruka," it said, "Where is the rest of your flight wing?"
Haruka pulled the
flight stick back and the plane entered a climb. "With the nature of this
mission, I decided that I should do this by myself. I don't want them
involved.."
"But…"
"Sorry sir,"
Haruka continued. "If there's going to be a consequence from this, I will take
it."
There was a short
pause, then, "I can't talk you out of this?"
Haruka smiled
wryly. "You know me better than that. However, since I am doing this by myself,
I'm overloaded on fuel and ordinance." Looking at her control panel, Haruka saw
an amber warning light flashing, informing her of her overloaded mass. "I'm
going to need someone to get me when I ditch this plane."
"Will do," the
voice replied. "Havel out."
Haruka nodded to
herself and pulled the stick back further. The airplane climbed steeper. She
pushed the throttle wide open and the plane accelerated. Haruka glanced around
her as the cockpit started shuddering with the stress. "Yep." She thought. "I'm
definitely going to need help getting out of this one…"
== * SM * ==
Shuttle 4
The four young
warriors surveyed the damage as the shuttle silently approached the palace from
the north shore of the lake. The inferno blazed just northeast of the center of
the palace.
Sandra made a
quick decision. "Mariah, set the autopilot to land at the Luna Foundation. The
shuttle pads at the palace are gone."
Before Mariah
could obey, Cassandra interrupted. "No, I'll do it." The others looked at her
curiously. "I don't think now would be a good time to fight fire with fire, no
matter what the saying says," Cass replied. "This shuttle has a universal
mating collar, so I'll take it to the Foundation, and I'll have them put a
coolant tank on it."
"Sounds like a
plan," Mariah said with a wink.
"Agreed," Sandra
nodded. "We'll need the services of Sailor Jupiter."
With a quick nod,
Mariah produced her transformation pen. The others did the same. Cassandra
watched as her friends transformed into their Sailor persona. They joined hands
as Jupiter shouted "JUPITER TELEPORTATION MAGIC!" The three Sailors faded from
sight, then vanished.
With a nod of
satisfaction, Cass settled into the pilot's chair and banked the shuttle gently
toward the east…
== * SM * ==
The Crystal Palace Observatory
"Computer,"
Artemis said pointedly and with a touch of disdain. "Is the data transfer to
the backup computer complete?"
"Affirmative."
"Good," Artemis
replied. "Switch over to the backup computer."
"I hate to think
what the backup computer is named," Luna said woefully.
"Guess!" Diana exclaimed
gleefully. Her parents groaned.
A few seconds
later… "Backup system LUNA online."
Both parents
looked at their daughter. "You couldn't have named these systems anything
else?"
"I couldn't think
of anything," Diana replied defensively.
Artemis sighed and returned to the business
at hand. "Computer, display sensor logs of Section B." A computerized image of
the castle appeared on the screen…a rather large dark circle was blotted out
because the sensors were no longer operating.
"Reverse
sequence," Luna ordered. The screen gradually lit. Artemis wailted until the
entire castle was once-again covered by the sensor net..
"Computer," Luna
said. "Calculate the origin of the explosion using the blast pattern." The
computer screen lit up with glitter as all of the sensor recordings of the
explosion were calculated and reversed back to their source. Finally, the
scrren was clear again, with only the castle floorplans displayed. A single red
dot blinked out at the three guardian cats.
"Where is the
origin?" Artemis asked. The computer zoomed in on the red dot…then printed it's
location.
SECTION B – LEVEL FIVE,
SUBSECTION B - 25
Glancing at the
time index of the sensor readings, Artemis continued. "Activate all ID tags and
forward sequence." The scans progressed. Green lights flitted through the area
as people went about their business. As one light flickered, Artemis shouted,
"Pause!"
Lunna turned to
Artemis. "What?"
"I saw something."
"At that speed?"
Luna asked with a astonished look on her face.
"What can I say?"
Artemis replied. Then, "Computer, reverse 15 cycles, then forward at slow
speed." The computer obeyed its commands, and a green dot floated onto the
screen, stopped for a very noticeable length of time, then continued along its
way. Artemis again reversed the scan and when the dot again paused, he ordered
the computer to identify that specific ID tag.
The response came:
"Richard Denny," the computer said without emotion, but the room seemed to grow
colder…here was the person responsible for the fire which still threatened
their lives. This was the person who had tried to kill them all. There was only
one questionleft to answer.
"Computer," Luna
said. "Is this ID tag still active?"
"Affirmative." The
computer replied. "Current location, Section B – Level 17, Subsection B – 41.
"That's near the
main fusion reactor," Artemis murmured. The three cats looked at the screen.
The fire could be seen in that general area, creeping slowly to the west.
"Inform the Sailors," Luna ordered.
"We have another
problem," Artemis said.
"What is that?"
Luna asked.
"Computer, side
view of the castle with current settings." The floor plan of the castle slowly
flipped to its side. Three large circular shapes seemed to move within the
floors and halls of the castle until they emerged as the side view rotated into
position. When the computer was finished, three appendages seemed to grapple
the castle into the surface of the moon.
"Those are the
three fusion reactors that power the castle," Artemis explained. "If the fire
gets too close to one of them, it will
super-heat, and explode."
"The explosion
will chain-react, and the others will explode as well," Luna said.
"We won't have to
worry about the other two reactors," Diana replied. "The first explosion will
obliterate us quite nicely."
== * SM * ==
East Wing of the Crystal Palace
Section B – Level 2, Subsection B – 5
"Come on people,"
Sailor Venus shouted as she and Sailor Jupiter herded some of the palace
workers down the hallway which spanned the wing. "Do you think the monorail is
still working?"
"No," Jupiter
shouted back over the rush of people, "but there should be an emergency car
that we can use." She stopped to help a person who had tripped, but the
panic-stricken woman seemed to have other ideas. Holding onto Sailor Jupiter,
the woman hoisted herself to her feet and started off down the hall. The
exertion that the woman had put into getting to her feet had thrown Jupiter off
balance, and she fell against the wall.
"Hey!" Jupiter
yelped, drawing her arm away from the wall. "That's….hot…" She started to back
up quickly down the hall. "Venus!", she shouted over her shoulder, "this area's
going to blow! Get those people out of here!"
With that, the
wall exploded. Jupiter tried to flee, but for the second time in a day, she was
enveloped by fire. This time, she was ready.
"We ought to get
hazard pay for this!" Jupiter thought as she centered her thoughts upon drawing
energy from within herself. At the same time, she continued to back up. The
sensation that cascaded over her skin was not ignored, but instead of
generating waves of distracting pain, the increased activity of her nervous
system added to the energy being channeled by the young woman.
When the energy
coursing through her reached its peak, Jupiter opened her eyes and shouted
"JUPITER GRAVITON POWER!" A force wave blasted from Jupiter. She had aimed it
at the outer wall of the hallway, and a long stretch of the ornate wall
crumbled and fell, smothering the flames. Jupiter continued to back up, her
force wave wreaking its own chaos until she was outside the fire's radius.
Sailor Venus was
waiting for her near the monorail terminal when she finished.
"You should think
about a job in demolitions," Venus remarked. "All passengers are aboard and
safe."
Sailor Jupiter
just nodded, then collapsed into Sailor Venus' arms, thoroughly drained from
the exertion her most formidible power had taken.
Sailor Vnus had just
laid Sailor Jupiter down on one of the seats aboard the monorail when her
wrist-comm beeped at her. She flipped it open. "Sailor Venus here."
"Sailor Venus,"
came Artemis' voice. "We've found the person responsible for the explosion. "
== * SM * ==
Access Hallway near Fusion Reactor Three
Section B – Level 17, Subsection B – 41
"Code Amber," the
computer's voice said over the din of people who were either attending to their
duties or getting out of the area. "Evacuation Alert, Sections A, C, D, and E.
Please proceed to Monorail Terminal B, at Section B – Level 2, Subsection B –
5…." The computer continued to direct people to the evacuation points as
Richard Denny walked down the hallway with a clipboard under one arm and an
engineering kit slung over his shoulder. He watched with apparent disinterest
as a couple of technicians rushed past him.
After making sure
the hallway was clear of people, Denny opened his engineering kit and pulled
out a small rectangular block. He attached the block to the wall, slightly
behind the pipes which seemed to tile it. Once he was sure the device was
safely attached, he pressed a small button on its side and walked away.
When another engineer approached, Denny made a show of
reading his clipboard.
"Richard," the
engineer said. "We've gotten orders to either evacuate or join the people on
the fireline in subsection B – 36. The fire can't be allowed to break through."
Denny nodded his
agreement and followed the engineer.
Within the
seclusion of the pipes, the device beeped softly to itself. With all of the
noise from the nearby reacto, no one would notice it. With each beep, it
counted off another second… 9:56…9:55…9:54…
== * SM * ==
Medical Center – The Luna Foundation
Section E – Level 2, Subsection B – 5
Amy busied herself
with directing the actions of the nurses as they attended to the wounds of the
injured, or readied the bedridden for the short journey to the Foundation's
shuttle pads. From there, the shuttles would take them to Earth…out of the
reach of whatever calamity should befall the palace.
When she entered
the secluded ward reserved for members of the royal family, she saw Neo-Queen
Serenity resting peacefully. She had been found half buried under a wall in the
throne room and had suffered extensive injuries…but nothing that could not be
repaired to some extent with time. Amy would ensure that the queen escaped the
palace alive, and it was a duty she would see to personally.
Just as she was
readying herself to wake the queen, Amy heard a loud clatter and some swearing
coming from within the next curtain-shrouded chamber. She hurried into that
chamber and found Rachel struggkling to get up from her bed.
"You should not be
up," Amy said sternly.
Rachel fixated on
her mentor with a glare. "What's going on?" She asked.
"We're getting the
other patients ready to leave," Amy replied. "Pretty soon we'll be ready to
move you…"
"The WHOLE story,"
Rachel insisted. "What is going on?"
With a sigh of
resignation, Amy went over to a wall monitor which was busy displaying Rachel's
vital signs. With a touch of a switch, a layout of the castle appeared. The
areas covered in the fire showed up in a bright red. Amy explained what had
happened over the past few hours.
When she was
finished, Amy thought that perhaps Rachel would settle back into bed. The young
woman had other plans however, and attempted to stand up.
"You are too
weak," Amy insisted. "You have to stay in bed."
"If I don't try to
help, whether or not I stay in bed won't really matter," Rachel shot back.
"Now, give me a stimulant."
As Amy
administered the stimulant, Rachel asked, "Is there a shuttle that can take me
to the palace?"
Looking over at
the display, Amy nodded. "It looks like Sailor Mars is nearly finished
reloading her shuttle with fire retardant. The others are being used to
evacuate the palace."
"Good!" Rachel
exclaimed as she hopped off the bed. "If I hurry, I can catch Mars before she
leaves." Before Amy could say anything else, Rachel had left.
== * SM * ==
Shuttle 4
As she angled the
shuttle toward the castle in a low gradual turn around the mountain that
dominated the view to the northwest of the Luna Foundation, Cassandra could not
help but be concerned for the well-being of her friend. Rachel stood near the
shuttle's side hatch. She gazed down at the floor of the shuttle,
and she held her right arm against her body with her left as
if it were injured.
"Are you okay?"
Cass asked. "I can turn around if you.."
"No," Rachel
replied with a lot more clarity than Cass expected. "I need to do this. It's
our only chance."
Cass watched as
her friend transformed from a young woman into her Sailor persona. The change
didn't do much to persuade Cass that she was fit to be out of bed.
Rachel looked
exhausted, but Cass knew better than to argue with her once she had made up her
mind. She looked out the front windows as the palace crept out from behind the
mountain. A huge blackened scorch mark covered the northeast quarter of what
had been palace facilities. Cass's shuttle flights had made a dent in the fire,
but the main portion of the blaze was still threatening the central core of the
palace…which was where this next batch of fire retardant was going
As the shuttle
crossed from the mountain to the flat plain near the palace, Sailor Mercury
opened the hatch. "Go in low," she said. "I'll jump in a few seconds." Cass
eased the flight stick forward slightly and reduced speed to allow her friend
the best chance of a solid landing. While the moon's garvity was weak, there
was no need to take too many chances.
Sailor Mercury
picked out a spot that the fire had finished scorching and lept from the
shuttle. Cass shut the hatch by remote and continued on her way
== * SM * ==
Sailor Mercury
landed gently on the blasted terrain of what had been a part of Section B. She
glanced toward the dome that was the centerpiece of the palace. The fire still
blazed in that direction, lighting the palace with a hellish glow. As she watched,
a portion of the dome collapsed.
== * SM * ==
Shuttle 4
Cass edged her
shuttle into position over a large, angry-looking section of the fire.
Switching the engines into hover mode, she toggled the release switch on the
control board which would vent the fire retardant. Immediately, she was met
with a red warning light and, "Collar Valve Malfunction"
Cass lept from the
cockpit and wrenched the hatch open. She then turned to her left, where the
tanks carrying the fire retardant were connected to the shuttle's universal
collar. Opening a storage locker, she dragged out a large hose and hooked it to
the valve. Grinning at her ingenuity, she reached up and pulled the manual
override lever.
The lever moved
halfway forward, then stuck. Cass realized that the tank itself was frozen.
Unfortunately, much of the equipment, including the shuttle's collar did not
react well to fire, so using her Mars abilities was out of the question. Cass
returned to the cockpit, shut the hatch with the remote, and radioed back to
the Luna Foundation.
"Luna Conrol," she
said. "The tanker value is frozen. I'm returning for another one."
"There's no time,"
came the reply. "The palace is on full evacuation status. Get out of the area."
Looking down at
where Sailor Mercury had jumped from the shuttle, Cass saw that it was too late
to retrieve her friend.
"God help us," she
said as she took the shuttle into a climb away from the palace.
== * SM * ==
Deep within the
recesses of her mind, Sailor Mercury summoned the energy needed to save her
friends. Finding the energy was not a problem. The excitement from being in
such a dangerous situation nearly provided her with the energy she needed.
Channeling the energy was a different story.
Sailor Mercury
attempted to channel the energy flooding her body. Despite her efforts, the
verbal component of her power's activation sequence seemed to flee from her.
Suddenly, Sailor
Mercury felt a bone-chilling cold, and within a "room" of her mind, a ghostly
image of Queen Beryl appeared near a mental image of herself. The mental
reflection of Sailor Mercury floated slightly off the "ground". Her hands were
clasped in front of her, and her eyes were closed as if in prayer. Queen Beryl
approached the mental eflection which seemed to radiate a pale blue glow as she
neared.
"You thought you
could use your power without me," Beryl snarled.
The mental
reflection of Sailor Mercury offered no response except the continued blue
glow…
"You may have the
energy to fuel your power," Beryl said. "But only I can provide you the means
to
channel it! Never forget that!"
Again, no response
was forthcoming from the mental reflection. It merely hung in the air silently
as if waiting for something…
Beryl was about to
say something about Mercury being a slave to her power, but decided not
to…stupid mental image would probably just hang there…mocking her…
Instead, Beryl
sighed quietly, and closing her eyes, she apprached the mental reflection
of Sailor Mercury, which grew brighter
as she approached. Soon Beryl was stnding directly in front of the image….then
she and the image were one…
The "room darkened
to near total darkness, then blasted blinding light forth. From within the
light came Beryl's voice: "Arise, ETERNAL SAILOR MERCURY!"
In her trance-like
state, Mercury suddenly found the melody that had eluded her and her voice sang
out the eerie melody. Already, tendrils of darkforce energy mingled with primal
force were slamming the ground around her in an eager search for any energy
source that could be found. The melody wavered, then hit the high note, which
Mercury held. As that note continued across the blasted lunar landscape, the
energy ribbons reversed themselves, cascading into Sailor Mercury. When the last
of them collided with the young warrior a blinding blast of pale light flared
out, then the blue translucent dome formed and slowly started its expansion
outward…draining all energy from everything it touched…
== * SM * ==
The Crystal Palace Observatory
Section A – Level 2, Subsection E – 2
"Look at that!"
Luna shouted as she saw the birth of Mercury's dome.
"Get a reading on
that, quick!" Artemis shouted in reply.
"Wha..?" Luna
half-said in astonishment.
"Look," Artemis
said. "If we survive this, that is going to be something we're going to want to
know about."
"Okay," Luna
replied as she activated the observatory's sensor array.
== * SM * ==
The dome of the Crystal Palace
Section B – Level 2, Subsection A – 2
The guardian cats
were not the only ones observing Mercury's dome with interest.
Richard Denny had
deserted his post on the fire lines and had ripped off his wrist comm when the
rantings of his superiors had become too much of an annoyance. He had come to
this room about midway up what remained of the palace dome to watch the final
destruction of the place that was creating the problems so many people on Earth
were having. Soon the Luna Foundation would be gone. The palace would be
obliterated, and with it, the secret backers of a United Nations who ruled
Earth without a thought given to the needs of the people.
Would there be
consequences? Certainly! And in this case, the good from the actions of today
would far outweigh the minor fallout from the death of the Luna Foundation and
the demise of the Sailors.
As Mercury's dome
expanded, Denny watched. The dome expanded over some of the fires nearest to
the original blast point, and Denny could see that once the dome covered the
fires, they were smothered. Momentarily, he thought about shooting at Sailor
Mercury with the pistol he had stolen from a weapons locker.
"No," he though as
he dropped the gun. No matter what they did, nothing would save them once the
reactor detonated. The fire they were fighting was nothing compared to that.
"Richard," came a
voice from behind him. Denny turned and saw Sailor Venus. Her eyes were filled
with anger and hurt. "How could you do it?"
Denny's face
twisted in confusion. "How could I do what?
"The bomb," Venus
replied. "We know you set the bomb."
Now Denny smiled
and he took a step toward Sailor Venus. "I don't know what you are talking
about," he said warmly. "You know me better than that."
Outside the broken
walls, the pale blue dome continued to grow…
Venus continued.
"The sensor logs," she said coldly. "They show you were in the area, and they
showed that you stopped in the exact spot that the blast came from!"
"I wasn't there!"
"All the other tags are accounted
for!" Venus shouted. "Do you want to try another story?"
"I had to check
something!" Denny took another step forward and balled up his fist behind his
back…
"I don't believe
you!"
Denny then punched
Sailor Venus full force in the face. The blow slammed her head to one side and
sent her into the wall near the door to the stairwell that wound its way up the
dome. Denny sauntered forward and stared down at Sailor Venus who lay
motionless against the wall.
"Stupid girl," he
said under his breath.
Then, Sailor Venus
kicked Denny between his legs, and he stumbled back in a daze of pain.
Sailor Venus got
to her feet and through disheveled hair glared at her former lover. "You should
know it takes more than one hit to bring me down!"
Denny had stumbled
nearly to the edge of the room. The pale blue of Mercury's dome now dominated
the view and illuminated the room with its glow.
An enraged Denny
recovered from his pain and with a roar of anger charged toward Sailor Venus.
"VENUS WHIP!"
A whip handle
appeared in Sailor Venus' right hand and she slung her hand out at the charging
man. As she did so, an orange energy ribbon shot out and arced toward Denny.
The ribbon found its mark and was soon wound tightl;y around the man's throat.
"I will see to it
that you pay for every death you have caused here today!" Venus growled as
Denny reversed his course and tried to break free of the whip…getting steadily
closer again to the edge as he did so.
"You'll…burn…in
…Hell…first!" Denny managed to gasp as the whip constricted around his throat.
His eyes fluttered as he neared unconsciousness, and his hand drooped toward
the ground. Seeing this, Venus deactivated her whip.
Denny collapsed to
the floor, which shuddered under the weight. As Denny tried to get to his feet,
the floor gave way, and the saboteur was dropped down toward the
still-expanding dome. Sailor Venus stepped as close as she dared to the edge
and watched as Denny fell screaming to his doom. The instant he hit the dome,
his lifeforce was sucked out of him and his scream was silenced. His body
continued its descent to the ground, but the dome leeched every miniscule ounce
of energy from it, pulping flesh and bone into a powder which showered the
lunar surface…
Sailor Venus left
the room and was met by Sailor Moon in the hallway. "There you are!" Sailor
Moon shouted. "We've got to hurry if we're going to get out of here! Sailor
Jupiter is waiting for us!"
"No," Venus
replied. "Mercury's nearly got the fires out, but the only thing that will stop
her power is the Star Chamber."
"But my mother is
the only one who can use the Star Chamber," Sailor Moon said as she turned and
started down the stairs. "We'll just have to get away and get outside the range
of that thing."
"And the range of
that "thing" is?" Venus inquired. Sailor Moon stopped to ponder that question.
"Right!" Venus
said. "You don't know either. The only sure way to stop that dome is the Star
Chamber."
"We still have one
problem," Sailor Moon said as they started down the stairs again.
"What's that?"
"The crystals in
the Star Chamber are precisely positioned so that they form a perfect circle."
Sailor Moon said. "With all the beating that this palace has taken, I doubt
that the crystals are in their correct positions."
The women reached
the ground floor in time to feel the palace shudder as the dome started to
envelop the palace structure. "Either the Chamber kills us, or that thing
does." Venus said. "Eaither way, we're dead."
"You're right,"
Sailor Moon replied. "Let's go."
== * SM * ==
Access Hallway near Fusion Reactor Three
Section B – Level 17, Subsection B – 41
Within the seclusion of the pipes, the device beeped softly
to itself. With each beep, it counted off another second… 0:11…0:10…0:09…
== * SM * ==
The Throne Room
Both Sailor Moon
and Sailor Venus threw open the doors to what remained of the throne room.
"Come on," Sailor
Moon said. "We've got to hurry!"
== * SM * ==
…0:04…0:03…0:02…0:01…
A new explosion
gouted from the depths of the core of the castle's north wing just as Mercury's
dome grew over it. The dome hungrily drank in this new energy, and extinguished
its source. The pipes the bomb had been above however, were still ruptured…
== * SM * ==
Fusion Reactor One
Section B – Level 19, Subsection B – 30
The engineering
staff having long-since been evacuated, no one was there when the coolant
pressure indicator on the fusion reactor went dark.
A minute later,
Fusion Reactor One ignted with a flash that lit up the lunar sky.
Fade to black.
== * SM * ==
The Throne Room
Sailor Moon and
Sailor Venus awoke from the momentary state of unconsciousness that had
overcome them when the force of the blast drove them into the far wall of the
throne room.
"What the hell…"
Sailor Moon said groggily.
Sailor Venus stood
up and paused for a second. A loud and angry roar filled the background and she
noted a pale blue hue flickering near the throne room door.
"We don't have
time for questions," Venus said grimly as she shoved Sailor Moon toward the
door leading to tbe Star Chamber. "It's time to save our bacon!"
The two warriors
entered the Star Chamber. As Sailor Venus closed the door behind her, Sailor
Moon surveyed the circle of crystals. They still were arranged in a circle, but
large cracks in the floor of the room told her that the circle had indeed been
broken.
"This is going to
be dangerous," Sailor Moon said.
"Yeah," Sailor
Venus replied. "Just about as dangerous as that thing outside. Just do it!"
With a slight nod,
Sailor Moon closed her eyes. Then: "May the use of this power preserve the
lifes of those who seek to protect the Moon Kingdom and its citizens!" Sailor
Moon paused briefly, then…
"PLANET POWER!"
The room exploded
in an angry light as the crystals poured their energy unfocused upon Sailor
Moon, who screamed as the waves of searing energy tore into her.
"Sailor Moon!"
Venus shouted from near the door. "Focus the energy!"
"What?" Sailor
Moon cried.
"Focus!" Venus
repeated.
"I'll try!" Sailor
Moon manged to yell as another wave of energy cascaded over her. She gathered
herself as best she could, then, "MOON STAFF!"
The back of the
room faded into a pale blue glow. Sailor Venus saw this, and turned her head to
Sailor Moon. "It's now or never!"
Ignoring her
friend, Sailor Moon raised her right fist in the air. As the energy from the
crystals slammed into the young woman, she swung her fist in a full circle in
the air. Her staff, hovering at her waist, dropped onto its side, and mimicked
her actions…and made a full revolution around Sailor Moon, shattering the
crystal holders as it did so. The crystals, freed of the holders, floated up
and formed a perfect circle around Sailor Moon.
"MOON REJUVINATION
MAGIC!"
Venus remembered
in time to shield her eyes as the brilliant beam of light flashed out from
Sailor Moon and the crystals and slammed into the pale blue dome of
life-draining energy. Waves of conflicting energy flowed over the dome,
absorbing it. Then both the beam and the dome disappeared.
Outside the
castle, Sailor Mercury collapsed as the dome disappeared.
== * SM * ==
Shuttle 4
"Wow," Artemis
said softly. "Look at all of the damage."
The guardian cats,
along with Sailors Moon, Mars, and Venus were surveying the blast damage. The
majority of the cental palace, and the north and east wings were heavily
damaged at the least. The west wing and the observatory were undamaged, as was
the Luna Foundation facilities. Despite all of that, it looked a lot worse than
it actually was.
"We'll rebuild,"
Luna said. "The castle has been in worse shape." She trailed off as if to
wonder exactly when that was…but she knew that the Negaverse had virtually
destroyed the entire palace during the attack which ended the Silver Kingdom.
"Yeah," Sailor
Mars said. "We'll rebuild, and it will be even better!" This sparked a round of
nods and murmured agreement.
"Well," Sailor
Moon sad. "After all that, I am hungry! Sailor Mars, take us home. That's an
order!
The shuttle banked
away from the battered castle and headed back toward the Luna Foundation…and
home.
== * SM * ==
St. Petersburg, Russia 1:04
AM
A solitary metal
bird flew over the slumbering city. From a high altitude, which had been
achieved at the expense of valuable systems, the pilot flipped the toggle
switch which released the plane's ordinance in seven-second intervals.
The bombs rained
down upon the unsuspecting city. When they hit, a white-rimmed force wave lit
up the area. The force waves radiated outward from their origins, shattering
everything withing several hundred yards of their impact points.
When the lone bird
turned and flew out to sea, there was not much left of the once-thriving
seaport that had been Saint Petersburg.
FINI
Fanfic ã1999 – John Brengman and Artemis Publishing
Sailor X series inspired by Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon,
ã 1992 by Toei Animation Co Ltd. and based on Kodansha's
manga production of "Sailor Moon", written by Naoko Takeuchi
This fanfic is freely distributed. Release date: January 11, 1999
Release: 3rd Edition: January 16, 2001