Sailor Moon: World Rebirth -Part 3, Hope and Chaos
Episode 27 'Arcana'
Usagi began to feel the rocket go down rather than forward. She wasn't sure
whether she should be panicking or trusting in Ami's ability to get them out
of the situation. Ami was frantically pressing buttons and pulling switches
all over the place, trying desperately to find some way to get out of the
predicament. "Ami!!! What should I do? What are we going to do?!"
"Just hang on a moment Usagi, I'm going to find something. Actually I want
you to-" Ami was suddenly cut off as both of them were thrown away from
their seats. Fortunately they were both wearing seatbelts and didn't go
anywhere. The rocket was now moving in the opposite direction -up and
backwards. For a moment neither of them could speak from the shock.
"Ami, what happened?" Usagi asked.
Ami shook her head and regained her wits. "Just a moment." Ami flicked
through various camera images around the ship until she came to the one she
was looking for. The rear view. "Perfect! Just in time!" Ami exclaimed. "The
Sparrow has hooked onto the back of the rocket and is now pulling us in the
opposite direction."
"Huh?"
"Someone's flying Haiku's ship, and they saved us!"
The sparrow turned around and flew back to Dohilne island where it had left
from. As soon as it touched the ground Usagi tried to leap out of her
seat... -but the seatbelt was still done up. So after fiddling with the belt
buckle she leapt out of her seat and got out of the ship as fast as she
possibly could. Ami did it carefully and was still out of the ship before
Usagi. The pilot of the Sparrow had also gotten out.
"Prof. Rinkvle! Your timing is perfect!" Ami exclaimed. "Did you have any
trouble with the repairs?"
"It's good to see you too Ami," Prof. Rinkvle replied. "The repairs started
off slow, but once it was started it all came together. The new shields that
block the Command Points' attacks work perfectly. I saw the rocket heading
this way and you're just lucky that I got your signal in time to fly out
there and help you. Now, where are all of your friends? Do you need the ship
now?"
"That's exactly why we're here. We need the ship in order to complete our
plan against the beyonder. Unfortunately we were forced to leave most of our
friends back in Afkzo."
"Well you can tell me all about it on the way. Hurry up and get inside."
Ami and Prof. Rinkvle spoke of various things while they climbed aboard the
ship. Usagi just followed behind.(Silently, for a change! Guess she's still
in shock) Ami and Rinkvle sat in the two front cockpit seats while Usagi sat
right behind. Ami took the controls and took off. "Where are you going?
Rinkvle asked. "I thought you said that your friends were in Afkzo."
"They are. But Haiku went to the arctic region and we're going to need her
help to get the others out of trouble. I just hope that they can stay in the
fight long enough for us to return."
*****
Two robed figures moved silently through the alleys of the city. Although it
was daytime, a dark cloud hovered over the city creating the illusion of an
eternal night.
It was at least a day since Haiku and Hotaru had arrived in the Command City
of the Arctic region. Haiku had spent the time setting various signals,
encouraging the occurrence of unfortunate incidents, spreading rumors with a
wide variety of accuracy, etc. Hotaru just followed silently. At times Haiku
nearly forget that she was there or had to stop and look around in order to
find her.
At this particular moment Haiku was slipping through the side entrance of a
tavern and once again Hotaru silently followed. The two of them sat down at
a table near the back. "The other senshi are in trouble," Hotaru said
silently.
"I don't doubt the truth of your words," Haiku replied. "But there is
nothing we can do about it at the moment. We must all play our parts."
A roughly dressed man sat down on the other side of the table they were
sitting at with his back pointed towards the rest of the room. "Don't make
any quick or unwise movements," he said. "I have twenty men with fifty guns
pointed at this table."
Haiku was unaffected by his threat. "And if you, my friend, make any sudden
movements, by friend here will kill you and all of the people in this room
in a second with her mind."
This was risky business. With all of the things that he had seen, he wasn't
sure whether she was telling the truth or not. Haiku herself wasn't sure
either. "Ah, let's get down to business," he said. "What do you want?"
"I'm looking for a man," Haiku said.
"Any...particular...man?" the man asked acting uninterested.
"Yes; an aquantance of mine. I believe he passed through these parts
recently."
"There are many people who have 'passed' through here recently. What can you
tell me about him?"
"I happen to know that he has recently broken his back and that he likes to
wear a black tuxedo and a cape."
The man's eyes flickered a tiny bit of interest. But only for a
split-second. "That's not a whole lot of information to go on."
Haiku had had enough. "Can you help me or not?! I don't have time to play
your games. If you can't help me get out of here now before I kill you
myself!" When the man didn't give an immediate answer Haiku stood up from
the table while making a noticeable amount of noise and left the bar through
the door that they had come through. Hotaru left silently.
After they were well out of hearing range from the tavern Hotaru voiced her
thoughts. "What are you doing Haiku? How many meetings are you going to
close like that? He might have known where Mamoru is."
"Maybe so; but he didn't have any intention of helping us."
"Then how long is this round-about strategy of yours going to take?"
"Can't you read me?"
"No.... if I could I wouldn't be asking you."
"Well, I think my search is done," Haiku replied. Then to no one in
particular she called out, "Okay, you can come out now."
Hotaru was about to continue to inquire into what Haiku was doing when a
figure stepped out from behind a garbage dumpster. Two more appeared behind
him and another two dropped behind from above. The one in the front spoke.
"I believe, that we have some common goals."
"It's about time you guys showed up. You're a little on the slow side."
"Complications. Much has happened in the past few days. Come, follow me."
***
The lift slowly trudged its way down the deep, dark chute. The walls were of
dirt and stone, held in place by various pieces of metal and wood.
"Electronic elevators can be tracked by the Command City. This way,
everything is mechanical so they have no way of knowing that this lift is
here," the man said.
Not a word had been spoken as the man and the other fighters had led them to
an abandoned building and to a mechanical lift in the basement. All but one
of the masked fighters had remained in the city. "Who are you?" Haiku asked.
"My name is Donah," the man said as he pulled back the hood of his robe. He
was middle-aged with his hair just starting to gray. "But that is the
question I should be asking you."
"My name is Haiku."
"Hotaru."
"Ah, the gatherer you are. Yes, we know about you."
"Do you have my friend?"
Donah's light complex turned serious. "Yes, although he is still in bad
shape. Somehow his body has managed to basically heal his major wound's but
he is still unconscious and," the man paused for a second, "I believe that
his back is broken. If he wakes up he'll be paralyzed from the waist down at
the least."
"Yes, we know," Haiku answered. "That is why we're here."
Donah was about to say more when the lift reached the bottom. Donah led,
followed by Haiku and Hotaru, and closed with the masked warrior. "The
encampment is not too far away from the city itself. That is why it has
still not been detected. It is below the range of the city's geographic
sensors. We have been fortunate."
"No," Haiku said. "You've been lucky. The Creator knows that you are here.
It just chooses to do nothing. You're not a major inconvenience. And
besides, the Creators love chaos. And there's nothing chaotic about a city
that runs smoothly in political agreement."
"That is probably the truth but still not something that would be well to be
known. The hope that we are safe here is all that some of the people at the
encampment are clinging to."
"Ignorance only leads to disaster in the end."
"And my dear Haiku, is there nothing that you are ignorant of?"
To this, Haiku had no answer.
***
Hotaru lifted her arms from the still form of Tuxedo Kamen. "How is he?"
Haiku asked impatiently.
"Well, he seems to have some kind of natural healing ability which has
pretty much sealed up all of his exterior wounds. Unfortunately he has still
lost a lot of blood, and there's also the fact that his spinal cord has been
damaged."
"Can you fix it?"
"Yes, I believe I can."
Donah was a little surprised, although he knew that he shouldn't have been.
It seemed that anything was possible now.
"So just sit yourself down Haiku. I don't know how long this is going to
take."
"Fine." Haiku took a seat as Hotaru set to her work. It had barely been a
minute when she turned to Donah. "Ummm, is it just me or is getting a little
warm in here?"
"Now that you mention it something does feel wrong." Donah walked over to a
wall panel and switched on a screen. He flicked through a few views of the
underground and then of the snow plains above ground before settling on a
view of the ground right above their position. A dark red light was
emanating from the area. "Oh dear." Donah zoomed out a bit more, the
camera's position being on a mountain a couple kilometres away and now saw
that the red light was coming from the tower in the Command City. "Oh no,
it's preparing to fire. This is just how the city looked before they
destroyed it in a matter of seconds.
Haiku was on her feet now. "How far underground are we? Do you know how deep
the blast goes?"
"The blast will only affect the first few meters of ground. The problem is
that it will probably create a blastwave which will collapse all of the
caves."
"How many people?" Haiku asked.
"There are hundreds down here at least. Most of the caves are in the
targeted range. I'm sounding the alarm now."
"You go as well," Haiku said to him. "Get out of the blast radius."
"But what about you?" Donah asked. "How will you get out."
"Don't worry, we'll be able to escape. But you won't unless you get out of
here ASAP!"
Donah struggled with his conscious for a moment. "All...right. I'll go. You
three take care of yourselves."
"Don't worry," Haiku called to him as he ran away. "The final salvation is
near. Just try to stay alive."
Haiku watched the screen for a moment and then looked at Hotaru. There was
no sign that she would be finished soon. She returned her sight to the
screen. The red was lightening up. Suddenly there was a flash of light as
the beam of energy traveled down the red light and slammed into the ground.
A moment later Haiku began to feel the ground shaking. Time for business.
First she walked over to where Hotaru and Mamoru were lying and sitting. She
drew her sword with the ginzuishou embedded in its hilt and held it over her
head. "Time Crisis!" she shouted.
Although she didn't feel pain, she did feel an odd experience as two wings
burst from her back. They were the ones from her transformation, only
without the fuku. The ginzuishou continued to put a barrier around all three
of them just as chunks of the ceiling began to fall. "Come on Hotaru, we
don't have much time. I'd rather not get completely buried beneath the
Earth." More pieces of rock fell from the ceiling and some parts of the
cavern collapsed completely.
Hotaru opened her eyes to find Haiku holding up her sword and standing above
her. Hotaru needed no prompting as she stood up and shifted into Sailor
Saturn. Swiftly she picked up Mamoru and prepared for flight. Haiku called
out, "Moon Cosmic Power!" and a beam of light burst from the tip of the
sword and traveled upwards, creating a passage through the earth which
hopefully led all the way to the surface. With a combination of her wings
and magic she flew upwards, followed closely by Sailor Saturn.
The sides of the tunnel sped past them as the light of the sky became closer
and closer. Suddenly they rocketed out of the hole and just hovered in the
air, looking towards the Command City. Haiku turned around to find her ship
hovering in the air behind them. "Perfect timing." Unfortunately the red
light was already being flashed onto the ship and could fire at any moment.
"Haiku!" Sailor Saturn said as her friend turned to face her. "Here, take
Mamoru." Haiku did not protest. Sailor Saturn flew up in front of the ship
just in time. "SILENT BLOCK!" The barrier was formed just as the tower
fired. Haiku didn't waste any time in getting herself and Mamoru through a
new hatch on the bottom of the ship. Meanwhile the energy blast only lasted
for a few seconds and except for falling back a little Sailor Saturn was
able to hold it away. Before the tower could recharge and fire again she
pointed her glaive towards the top of the tower. "Silent Destruction," she
said as the top of the tower exploded. The red light disappeared and she
followed Haiku through the hatch. The ship turned and flew away, headed
towards Kaipo, the plains region.
Inside the ship Usagi was fussing over Tuxedo Kamen at the seats in the back
of the ship. He was finally just regaining consciousness. "Hey, I can move
my legs now," he said as he changed back into Mamoru.
"Don't worry, my ki-prince," Sailor Saturn said as she entered the
compartment. "Although I was unable to repair most of your injuries I was
able to repair your spinal cord."
"Wow Hotaru, I didn't know you were able to do something as great as that!"
Usagi exclaimed while leaping up to give her friend a hug. Although she
still quickly returned to Mamoru. "Don't worry Mamoru, I can heal up the
rest with this medallion..."
Haiku sat in the front of the ship with Ami and Prof. Rinkvle. She had
allowed the wings to disappear. "Ami, what's going on? Where is everyone
else?"
"We were ambushed in the Command City of Afkzo," Ami said as she fiddled
with a few more controls. "There was a shield preventing anything from
departing by sea so we had to use a rocket to get to Dohilne. Unfortunately
at various places we were forced to leave the others behind in order for the
two of us to escape. I just hope that we're not too late to return to help
them."
"I'm hoping that they'll already be helped by the time we get there," Haiku
replied.
end eps. 26
Sailor Moon: World Rebirth -Part 3, Hope and Chaos
Episode 27 'Arcana'
"Mars Flaming Inferno Blaze!"
"Jupiter Lightning Wave ....Shock!"
The two attacks decimated most of the mutants, and those that were left
still found themselves a little disoriented. "Hurry, this way," the engineer
said to Sailor Jupiter and Mars, as he gave their bows a tug. The three of
them hurried across to the far side of the room, opposite from where they
had entered. More mutants continued to drop into the room.
"Damn!" Jupiter exclaimed. "Where are they all coming from?!"
"Don't worry about it," the engineer answered. "We'll just collapse the
entire cavern on them. I just hope your friends make it out safely." They
reached the other side of the room and ran into the elevator. Almost
immediately the doors shut and they began to move up. This time they were
moving much faster up then they had when they were going down.
"Whoa! Why are we moving so quickly this time?" Sailor Mars asked.
"The elevator you came down in is just an ordinary elevator. This is a
special one that only connects two different places." The door opened and
they stepped into a small room with a glowing disc in the middle of it.
"What's this?"
"This is an actual matter transporter created with our technology."
"You mean it's possible to transport now? Why didn't we use it in the first
place!?"
"Well," the engineer admitted, "It is still very limited. The maximum
distance one can travel is not very far and a very complicated apparatus
must be set up at both ends. Also, it is only 80% reliable."
"And you expect us to use it? What happens if something goes wrong?!"
"Don't worry. The only errors we've had were isolated cases. I believe that
there are just some people that are not compatible with it. I'm sure you'll
be fine."
"All right!" Sailor Jupiter slammed her fist into her other hand. "Where are
you going to send us?"
"There is a transporter pad located two floors right above the lobby where I
believe some of your allies are fighting. I'll send you there and you'll
just have to make a hole through a couple of the floors."
"Sounds good." The engineer fiddled around with the controls a bit and then
waved for the senshi to step onto the platform. As soon as their bodies were
completely on top of it they disappeared. Next he pressed another couple
switches.
Meanwhile deep below, the ceiling of the rocket preparation area completely
collapsed, killing approximately 500 mutants.
***
Sailor Venus flanked by Sailor Uranus pressed for the battle to move outside
of the building. If the ceiling were to collapse on top of them from an
energy blast the situation definitely wouldn't be helped. And either of
their eternal attacks would probably take a chunk out of the building.
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"
"World Shaking!"
The two eternal-enhanced attacks plowed straight through the mutants and
continued out through what little was left of the front entrance of the
building. They also continued and took out a piece of the next building.
Splitting up and running between the remaining mutants the senshi were able
to slip past them and join Sailor Neptune outside. As soon as they were
outside the entire front part of the building collapsed and Sailor Mars and
Jupiter joined them, dropping from a third floor window.
*****
As soon as Mars and Jupiter had appeared on the third floor they looked out
the window to see Sailor Neptune below. A second later Uranus and Venus ran
out of the building to join her. Assuming that there were only mutants
remaining in the main lobby of the building they sent their full power
attacks down into the floor and jumped out the window.
"You're here!" Sailor Venus exclaimed. "Does that mean... -did Usagi?"
"Yes. The rocket took off. We have no idea whether it worked or not though,"
Sailor Jupiter replied.
Now a squad of about 100 mutants turned a corner and started to run towards
the senshi. Fortunately, they weren't inside the building anymore. "Uranus
Meteor Comets!" The mutants were pummeled by giant hunks of rock falling
from the sky and were gone in a few seconds. Sailor Uranus turned around to
face the others. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we go pay the Creator a
visit."
"But it's not the Creator this time. We've already incapacitated the Creator
of this region. It must be something else."
"Whatever. Let's go kill it." In this, they were all in agreement.
***
"Ha ha ha! Come to me senshi! The more the merrier..."
***
Strangely, as soon as the senshi decided to head for the Command Point the
mutants stopped coming. "That's odd," Uranus commented, "Do you think they
know we're coming?" she said sarcastically.
"We're walking straight into a trap," Sailor Mars replied.
"It's one of the best ways to meet your enemy," Sailor Neptune said darkly.
"Then you don't have to go looking for them."
With their superior speed the senshi quickly arrived in front of the Command
Point. It was within the interior wall of the Command City but there was
still a large amount of empty space in between the edge of the city and the
point.
Looking up at the Command Point towering in front of them Sailor Venus said,
"I hope we don't have to climb up there. The insides of them are all the
same and there's hardly any room to fight."
"Don't worry Sailor Venus," a voice said from above them. "I wouldn't want
to make a mess inside it. Human blood stains badly." A woman floated down
from the Command Point, presumably from a door on the outside somewhere
higher up. The best way to describe her would be to say that she was an
angel from hell. Instead of being covered in white she was covered in black.
(Kind of like Galaxia in SailorStars after chaos takes over her body)
"Who are you?" Sailor Uranus challenged.
"I am known as Arcana. The beyonder has decided that you senshi have become
an annoyance worth disposing of. You should be honored." Sailor Uranus and
Neptune made their talismans appear in their hands.
"Neptune, Deep Sea Reflected, Craze Tornado Strike!" Incredibly out of place
in the desert, two skinny water twisters spun back and forth through Arcana
followed by a wind tornado which settled, spinning around her in one place.
The wind stirred up a lot a sand and the senshi were forced to cover their
eyes. When the dust settled they took a look but Arcana still hung in the
same place as if nothing had happened.
"Is that any way to greet a representative of the beyonder?"
"Uranus, Space Sword, Meteor Comets!" The comets of light that fell from the
sky first just dissolved just before they reached Arcana. As for the meteors
that all fell towards her at the same time from all directions, she used her
power to bounce them off of a magical shield surrounding herself to down
towards the ground for the senshi to dodge. Sailor Uranus jumped out of the
way of a couple of the meteors that came towards her and continued towards
Arcana, prepared to attack physically with her sword.
Unfortunately as she got close to Arcana she was just blasted back to the
ground. Fortunately Sailor Neptune had shot a beam of energy out of her
mirror at the same time which slammed Arcana back into the Command Point. A
few seconds later Arcana flew back out. "Curse you, senshi! I cannot be
defeated!" Arcana pointed towards Uranus and Neptune and the ground beneath
them exploded.
Meanwhile, the other 3 Sailors had spread out so that they were facing three
different sides of Arcana.
"Mars Flaming Inferno!"
"Jupiter Lightning Wave!"
"Venus Crescent Cross!"
The three Sailors concentrated their attacks into three beams of energy like
they had when they fought the elemental dragons. Arcana raised a shield just
in the nick of time to counter the attack. But before she could
counterattack two more balls of energy came flying towards her.
"World Shaking!"
"Deep Submerge!"
Arcana actually fell back a bit from the additional attacks and was totally
unexpecting Sailor Uranus to come flying towards her again. But as she
prepared to block a physical attack from the sword Sailor Uranus changed
tactics. "Space Sword Blaster!" The senshi had never used these battle
tactics in the clips Arcana had seen of them. (But she had also never seen
so many of them fighting at the same time). They were using other attacks
besides the ones granted by the magic grid. This final attack took her
completely by surprise. As a result the attack cut right through her
defenses. She lost control of the shield she had been using to block the
attacks of the inner senshi and all three of them hit her at the same time.
"Blaze!"
"Shock!"
"Crush!"
The three beams of energy changed back into the senshi's regular attacks as
Arcana found herself right in the middle of an inferno of fire and lighting
and crushed by Venus' attack. The explosion even took out a chunk of the
Command Point.
The dust settled and the senshi turned to see their battered opponent. Or at
least who they expected to be battered. Although Arcana was now on the
ground she was far from battered. "You fools!" she cried. "You cannot defeat
me. I am immortal!"
Arcana released a sphere of energy which expanded outwards in a flash and
which blasted all of the senshi back. None of the senshi hit the ground
until they had either run into a wall or a building. In a flash Sailor
Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, and Neptune were back, now throwing punches at
Arcana. Expertly Arcana blocked all four shots and knocked each senshi back
with either a kick or a punch to the chest.
Next, just as Sailor Uranus got back to her feet Arcana appeared behind her,
grabbed her foot, picked her up and spun her around. After a rotation or two
she then threw Sailor Uranus into Neptune which caused both senshi to fall
back. Before Neptune could even hit the ground Arcana had both of her hands
in front of her and was blasting the two senshi. The explosion was so heavy
that the other three sailors were knocked from their feet. When the dust
cleared the two outer soldiers laid on the ground unmoving.
"Uranus! Neptune!" Sailor Venus cried out.
"Don't worry little sailors. Your friends are still alive. It's no fun if I
don't get to torture them later." Venus had no reply to Arcana's piercing
laughter.
"Okay guys, this is it," Sailor Jupiter said as the three of them regrouped.
Arcana just continued to laugh. "Really; what do the three of you expect to
accomplish?" With the two outer senshi lying on the ground things didn't
look so good.
"Come on Haiku, Hotaru, we could use your help right about now," Mars
muttered.
"Dead Scream!"
"Star Flare!"
A ball of purple energy and a column of liquid fire passed through Arcana,
causing her pause. "What now?"
Two new figures appeared in between the senshi and Arcana. One was Sailor
Pluto and the other was a man in a blue robe. They were both holding staves
although the man's was quite different from Sailor Pluto's. "You fools," the
man said to the inner senshi, "don't you know that you can't defeat the
beyonder's representatives?!"
"Don't be so hard on them Orion, they don't have your sight or knowledge,"
Sailor Pluto reminded him.
Still facing Arcana, Sailor Pluto and Orion held out their staves towards
her and crossed them. At the same time they both called out, "Time
distortion!" Two thin beams of energy flew out from the ends of their
staves, and flew towards Arcana in a double spiral. Arcana, assuming that
she would easily be able to repel their attack as she did their previous one
just stood her ground. By the time she had discovered her mistake it was
already too late. Reality began to ripple as she was replaced by a black
void. Unfortunately Sailor Pluto and Orion were forced to stay in the same
position while the energies coming from their staves maintained the time
warp.
Sailor Venus and Jupiter ran over to Uranus and Neptune who were just
starting to move while Mars ran over to where she could face the front of
the two time warriors. "What are you doing?" she asked them.
"We've trapped Arcana in subspace for the time being," Sailor Pluto replied.
"Unfortunately we have to stay in this position and maintain it to keep it
from either freeing Arcana or imploding and destroying us all," Orion added.
"The others should get here any moment now," Sailor Pluto said.
True to her word, the sparrow appeared in the sky a few seconds later.
Lasers from the Command Points were just being absorbed by its shields. As
it landed Uranus and Neptune got to their feet and Jupiter and Venus helped
them walk although Uranus still tried to wave them away in order to retain a
little of her dignity. Sailor Mars was about to follow them when she
stopped. "What about you two?" she asked.
"We'll hold Arcana here while you escape. Don't worry, we'll be fine."
Sailor Mars nodded and hurried into the ship. When the ship was out of sight
Sailor Pluto and Orion stopped the timewarp and had disappeared into a
portal by the time Arcana was able to move again. In a few kind words, she
wasn't very happy.
***
Inside the ship the senshi struggled to get everyone seated. Everyone had to
detransform for the ridiculously large back bows of their fukus got in the
way too much. Hotaru was busy healing Uranus' and Neptune's wounds. Haiku
stood in the doorway of the back compartment and took a good look at
everyone. "I think what everyone needs is a good night sleep to rest and
recuperate," she stated.
Haiku moved up to the front of the ship where Ami and Prof. Rinkvle were
seated, flying the ship and dodging the attacks of the Command Points.
"Don't worry, Ami," Haiku said. "I'll find us a safe place." Haiku sat down
in the remaining seat and pressed one of the many buttons. She was rewarded
with an oxygen masking dropping into her lap.
"The communications controls are a little more to the left now," Ami said
without looking."
"Jeez, I wonder who's ship this is now," Haiku commented. She looked to the
left to find the communications controls, only now a whole lot more
complicated. "Okay, how do I turn on the communication line that used to be
just one button?"
"Set the first dial to the fourth frequency, the second dial to the sixth
frequency, and leave the third dial where it already is." Haiku did as she
was told and also put on a headset that was sitting above the controls.
"Okay now what? How do I turn it on?"
"Just speak into the headset. It's voice activated."
"Fine. Artemis, are you there?" Haiku said.
"It's good to hear that you're still alive Haiku." Artemis' voice came over
the communication clearly. Of course he would be able to hear her as soon as
the transmission was sent since he always made sure to stay in touch with
the control centre of the base by either wearing a headset or by having
everything come through out loud. He did the latter sometimes while he was a
cat.
"Is Usagi all right?" Luna's voice asked. Apparently she was also online.
"Yes, we're all safe and sound. Artemis, all of the targets have been
investigated and most of the threats they pose have been eliminated. I've
also learned how we might be able to defeat the beyonder."
"That's great. Is there anything you need?"
"Yeah. We're all worn out. We need some place to stay so we can heal up and
rest up. Are the repairs finished? Have you found a way that we can defend
the base or do you know a place where we can go?"
"Sure! You can all just come right back to the base here. Sailor Pluto and
Orion have set up the base so that we'll be able to enter subspace and move
underground once everyone is inside. The beyonder won't be able to reach us
there."
"Sounds good. We're coming straight there. Haiku out."
Haiku removed the headset and turned to Ami. "Go to resistance headquarters.
Artemis says that once we get there he'll move the base into subspace and
underground to protect us from the beyonder."
"Are you sure that that will be safe?" Ami asked.
"According to Sailor Pluto and Orion it is."
"Who's Orion?"
"I'm assuming that he was the guy that was helping Sailor Pluto back in
Afkzo."
"Professor," Ami asked, "Can the ship still travel underwater?"
"Of course it can. It can travel in space, and water is nothing compared to
space."
"Okay then, here we go!" There was a small bump as the ship passed
underwater, out of the range of the Command Points. "It will be good to
finally have a break. We've earned it."
end eps. 27
Episode 27 'Arcana'
Usagi began to feel the rocket go down rather than forward. She wasn't sure
whether she should be panicking or trusting in Ami's ability to get them out
of the situation. Ami was frantically pressing buttons and pulling switches
all over the place, trying desperately to find some way to get out of the
predicament. "Ami!!! What should I do? What are we going to do?!"
"Just hang on a moment Usagi, I'm going to find something. Actually I want
you to-" Ami was suddenly cut off as both of them were thrown away from
their seats. Fortunately they were both wearing seatbelts and didn't go
anywhere. The rocket was now moving in the opposite direction -up and
backwards. For a moment neither of them could speak from the shock.
"Ami, what happened?" Usagi asked.
Ami shook her head and regained her wits. "Just a moment." Ami flicked
through various camera images around the ship until she came to the one she
was looking for. The rear view. "Perfect! Just in time!" Ami exclaimed. "The
Sparrow has hooked onto the back of the rocket and is now pulling us in the
opposite direction."
"Huh?"
"Someone's flying Haiku's ship, and they saved us!"
The sparrow turned around and flew back to Dohilne island where it had left
from. As soon as it touched the ground Usagi tried to leap out of her
seat... -but the seatbelt was still done up. So after fiddling with the belt
buckle she leapt out of her seat and got out of the ship as fast as she
possibly could. Ami did it carefully and was still out of the ship before
Usagi. The pilot of the Sparrow had also gotten out.
"Prof. Rinkvle! Your timing is perfect!" Ami exclaimed. "Did you have any
trouble with the repairs?"
"It's good to see you too Ami," Prof. Rinkvle replied. "The repairs started
off slow, but once it was started it all came together. The new shields that
block the Command Points' attacks work perfectly. I saw the rocket heading
this way and you're just lucky that I got your signal in time to fly out
there and help you. Now, where are all of your friends? Do you need the ship
now?"
"That's exactly why we're here. We need the ship in order to complete our
plan against the beyonder. Unfortunately we were forced to leave most of our
friends back in Afkzo."
"Well you can tell me all about it on the way. Hurry up and get inside."
Ami and Prof. Rinkvle spoke of various things while they climbed aboard the
ship. Usagi just followed behind.(Silently, for a change! Guess she's still
in shock) Ami and Rinkvle sat in the two front cockpit seats while Usagi sat
right behind. Ami took the controls and took off. "Where are you going?
Rinkvle asked. "I thought you said that your friends were in Afkzo."
"They are. But Haiku went to the arctic region and we're going to need her
help to get the others out of trouble. I just hope that they can stay in the
fight long enough for us to return."
*****
Two robed figures moved silently through the alleys of the city. Although it
was daytime, a dark cloud hovered over the city creating the illusion of an
eternal night.
It was at least a day since Haiku and Hotaru had arrived in the Command City
of the Arctic region. Haiku had spent the time setting various signals,
encouraging the occurrence of unfortunate incidents, spreading rumors with a
wide variety of accuracy, etc. Hotaru just followed silently. At times Haiku
nearly forget that she was there or had to stop and look around in order to
find her.
At this particular moment Haiku was slipping through the side entrance of a
tavern and once again Hotaru silently followed. The two of them sat down at
a table near the back. "The other senshi are in trouble," Hotaru said
silently.
"I don't doubt the truth of your words," Haiku replied. "But there is
nothing we can do about it at the moment. We must all play our parts."
A roughly dressed man sat down on the other side of the table they were
sitting at with his back pointed towards the rest of the room. "Don't make
any quick or unwise movements," he said. "I have twenty men with fifty guns
pointed at this table."
Haiku was unaffected by his threat. "And if you, my friend, make any sudden
movements, by friend here will kill you and all of the people in this room
in a second with her mind."
This was risky business. With all of the things that he had seen, he wasn't
sure whether she was telling the truth or not. Haiku herself wasn't sure
either. "Ah, let's get down to business," he said. "What do you want?"
"I'm looking for a man," Haiku said.
"Any...particular...man?" the man asked acting uninterested.
"Yes; an aquantance of mine. I believe he passed through these parts
recently."
"There are many people who have 'passed' through here recently. What can you
tell me about him?"
"I happen to know that he has recently broken his back and that he likes to
wear a black tuxedo and a cape."
The man's eyes flickered a tiny bit of interest. But only for a
split-second. "That's not a whole lot of information to go on."
Haiku had had enough. "Can you help me or not?! I don't have time to play
your games. If you can't help me get out of here now before I kill you
myself!" When the man didn't give an immediate answer Haiku stood up from
the table while making a noticeable amount of noise and left the bar through
the door that they had come through. Hotaru left silently.
After they were well out of hearing range from the tavern Hotaru voiced her
thoughts. "What are you doing Haiku? How many meetings are you going to
close like that? He might have known where Mamoru is."
"Maybe so; but he didn't have any intention of helping us."
"Then how long is this round-about strategy of yours going to take?"
"Can't you read me?"
"No.... if I could I wouldn't be asking you."
"Well, I think my search is done," Haiku replied. Then to no one in
particular she called out, "Okay, you can come out now."
Hotaru was about to continue to inquire into what Haiku was doing when a
figure stepped out from behind a garbage dumpster. Two more appeared behind
him and another two dropped behind from above. The one in the front spoke.
"I believe, that we have some common goals."
"It's about time you guys showed up. You're a little on the slow side."
"Complications. Much has happened in the past few days. Come, follow me."
***
The lift slowly trudged its way down the deep, dark chute. The walls were of
dirt and stone, held in place by various pieces of metal and wood.
"Electronic elevators can be tracked by the Command City. This way,
everything is mechanical so they have no way of knowing that this lift is
here," the man said.
Not a word had been spoken as the man and the other fighters had led them to
an abandoned building and to a mechanical lift in the basement. All but one
of the masked fighters had remained in the city. "Who are you?" Haiku asked.
"My name is Donah," the man said as he pulled back the hood of his robe. He
was middle-aged with his hair just starting to gray. "But that is the
question I should be asking you."
"My name is Haiku."
"Hotaru."
"Ah, the gatherer you are. Yes, we know about you."
"Do you have my friend?"
Donah's light complex turned serious. "Yes, although he is still in bad
shape. Somehow his body has managed to basically heal his major wound's but
he is still unconscious and," the man paused for a second, "I believe that
his back is broken. If he wakes up he'll be paralyzed from the waist down at
the least."
"Yes, we know," Haiku answered. "That is why we're here."
Donah was about to say more when the lift reached the bottom. Donah led,
followed by Haiku and Hotaru, and closed with the masked warrior. "The
encampment is not too far away from the city itself. That is why it has
still not been detected. It is below the range of the city's geographic
sensors. We have been fortunate."
"No," Haiku said. "You've been lucky. The Creator knows that you are here.
It just chooses to do nothing. You're not a major inconvenience. And
besides, the Creators love chaos. And there's nothing chaotic about a city
that runs smoothly in political agreement."
"That is probably the truth but still not something that would be well to be
known. The hope that we are safe here is all that some of the people at the
encampment are clinging to."
"Ignorance only leads to disaster in the end."
"And my dear Haiku, is there nothing that you are ignorant of?"
To this, Haiku had no answer.
***
Hotaru lifted her arms from the still form of Tuxedo Kamen. "How is he?"
Haiku asked impatiently.
"Well, he seems to have some kind of natural healing ability which has
pretty much sealed up all of his exterior wounds. Unfortunately he has still
lost a lot of blood, and there's also the fact that his spinal cord has been
damaged."
"Can you fix it?"
"Yes, I believe I can."
Donah was a little surprised, although he knew that he shouldn't have been.
It seemed that anything was possible now.
"So just sit yourself down Haiku. I don't know how long this is going to
take."
"Fine." Haiku took a seat as Hotaru set to her work. It had barely been a
minute when she turned to Donah. "Ummm, is it just me or is getting a little
warm in here?"
"Now that you mention it something does feel wrong." Donah walked over to a
wall panel and switched on a screen. He flicked through a few views of the
underground and then of the snow plains above ground before settling on a
view of the ground right above their position. A dark red light was
emanating from the area. "Oh dear." Donah zoomed out a bit more, the
camera's position being on a mountain a couple kilometres away and now saw
that the red light was coming from the tower in the Command City. "Oh no,
it's preparing to fire. This is just how the city looked before they
destroyed it in a matter of seconds.
Haiku was on her feet now. "How far underground are we? Do you know how deep
the blast goes?"
"The blast will only affect the first few meters of ground. The problem is
that it will probably create a blastwave which will collapse all of the
caves."
"How many people?" Haiku asked.
"There are hundreds down here at least. Most of the caves are in the
targeted range. I'm sounding the alarm now."
"You go as well," Haiku said to him. "Get out of the blast radius."
"But what about you?" Donah asked. "How will you get out."
"Don't worry, we'll be able to escape. But you won't unless you get out of
here ASAP!"
Donah struggled with his conscious for a moment. "All...right. I'll go. You
three take care of yourselves."
"Don't worry," Haiku called to him as he ran away. "The final salvation is
near. Just try to stay alive."
Haiku watched the screen for a moment and then looked at Hotaru. There was
no sign that she would be finished soon. She returned her sight to the
screen. The red was lightening up. Suddenly there was a flash of light as
the beam of energy traveled down the red light and slammed into the ground.
A moment later Haiku began to feel the ground shaking. Time for business.
First she walked over to where Hotaru and Mamoru were lying and sitting. She
drew her sword with the ginzuishou embedded in its hilt and held it over her
head. "Time Crisis!" she shouted.
Although she didn't feel pain, she did feel an odd experience as two wings
burst from her back. They were the ones from her transformation, only
without the fuku. The ginzuishou continued to put a barrier around all three
of them just as chunks of the ceiling began to fall. "Come on Hotaru, we
don't have much time. I'd rather not get completely buried beneath the
Earth." More pieces of rock fell from the ceiling and some parts of the
cavern collapsed completely.
Hotaru opened her eyes to find Haiku holding up her sword and standing above
her. Hotaru needed no prompting as she stood up and shifted into Sailor
Saturn. Swiftly she picked up Mamoru and prepared for flight. Haiku called
out, "Moon Cosmic Power!" and a beam of light burst from the tip of the
sword and traveled upwards, creating a passage through the earth which
hopefully led all the way to the surface. With a combination of her wings
and magic she flew upwards, followed closely by Sailor Saturn.
The sides of the tunnel sped past them as the light of the sky became closer
and closer. Suddenly they rocketed out of the hole and just hovered in the
air, looking towards the Command City. Haiku turned around to find her ship
hovering in the air behind them. "Perfect timing." Unfortunately the red
light was already being flashed onto the ship and could fire at any moment.
"Haiku!" Sailor Saturn said as her friend turned to face her. "Here, take
Mamoru." Haiku did not protest. Sailor Saturn flew up in front of the ship
just in time. "SILENT BLOCK!" The barrier was formed just as the tower
fired. Haiku didn't waste any time in getting herself and Mamoru through a
new hatch on the bottom of the ship. Meanwhile the energy blast only lasted
for a few seconds and except for falling back a little Sailor Saturn was
able to hold it away. Before the tower could recharge and fire again she
pointed her glaive towards the top of the tower. "Silent Destruction," she
said as the top of the tower exploded. The red light disappeared and she
followed Haiku through the hatch. The ship turned and flew away, headed
towards Kaipo, the plains region.
Inside the ship Usagi was fussing over Tuxedo Kamen at the seats in the back
of the ship. He was finally just regaining consciousness. "Hey, I can move
my legs now," he said as he changed back into Mamoru.
"Don't worry, my ki-prince," Sailor Saturn said as she entered the
compartment. "Although I was unable to repair most of your injuries I was
able to repair your spinal cord."
"Wow Hotaru, I didn't know you were able to do something as great as that!"
Usagi exclaimed while leaping up to give her friend a hug. Although she
still quickly returned to Mamoru. "Don't worry Mamoru, I can heal up the
rest with this medallion..."
Haiku sat in the front of the ship with Ami and Prof. Rinkvle. She had
allowed the wings to disappear. "Ami, what's going on? Where is everyone
else?"
"We were ambushed in the Command City of Afkzo," Ami said as she fiddled
with a few more controls. "There was a shield preventing anything from
departing by sea so we had to use a rocket to get to Dohilne. Unfortunately
at various places we were forced to leave the others behind in order for the
two of us to escape. I just hope that we're not too late to return to help
them."
"I'm hoping that they'll already be helped by the time we get there," Haiku
replied.
end eps. 26
Sailor Moon: World Rebirth -Part 3, Hope and Chaos
Episode 27 'Arcana'
"Mars Flaming Inferno Blaze!"
"Jupiter Lightning Wave ....Shock!"
The two attacks decimated most of the mutants, and those that were left
still found themselves a little disoriented. "Hurry, this way," the engineer
said to Sailor Jupiter and Mars, as he gave their bows a tug. The three of
them hurried across to the far side of the room, opposite from where they
had entered. More mutants continued to drop into the room.
"Damn!" Jupiter exclaimed. "Where are they all coming from?!"
"Don't worry about it," the engineer answered. "We'll just collapse the
entire cavern on them. I just hope your friends make it out safely." They
reached the other side of the room and ran into the elevator. Almost
immediately the doors shut and they began to move up. This time they were
moving much faster up then they had when they were going down.
"Whoa! Why are we moving so quickly this time?" Sailor Mars asked.
"The elevator you came down in is just an ordinary elevator. This is a
special one that only connects two different places." The door opened and
they stepped into a small room with a glowing disc in the middle of it.
"What's this?"
"This is an actual matter transporter created with our technology."
"You mean it's possible to transport now? Why didn't we use it in the first
place!?"
"Well," the engineer admitted, "It is still very limited. The maximum
distance one can travel is not very far and a very complicated apparatus
must be set up at both ends. Also, it is only 80% reliable."
"And you expect us to use it? What happens if something goes wrong?!"
"Don't worry. The only errors we've had were isolated cases. I believe that
there are just some people that are not compatible with it. I'm sure you'll
be fine."
"All right!" Sailor Jupiter slammed her fist into her other hand. "Where are
you going to send us?"
"There is a transporter pad located two floors right above the lobby where I
believe some of your allies are fighting. I'll send you there and you'll
just have to make a hole through a couple of the floors."
"Sounds good." The engineer fiddled around with the controls a bit and then
waved for the senshi to step onto the platform. As soon as their bodies were
completely on top of it they disappeared. Next he pressed another couple
switches.
Meanwhile deep below, the ceiling of the rocket preparation area completely
collapsed, killing approximately 500 mutants.
***
Sailor Venus flanked by Sailor Uranus pressed for the battle to move outside
of the building. If the ceiling were to collapse on top of them from an
energy blast the situation definitely wouldn't be helped. And either of
their eternal attacks would probably take a chunk out of the building.
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"
"World Shaking!"
The two eternal-enhanced attacks plowed straight through the mutants and
continued out through what little was left of the front entrance of the
building. They also continued and took out a piece of the next building.
Splitting up and running between the remaining mutants the senshi were able
to slip past them and join Sailor Neptune outside. As soon as they were
outside the entire front part of the building collapsed and Sailor Mars and
Jupiter joined them, dropping from a third floor window.
*****
As soon as Mars and Jupiter had appeared on the third floor they looked out
the window to see Sailor Neptune below. A second later Uranus and Venus ran
out of the building to join her. Assuming that there were only mutants
remaining in the main lobby of the building they sent their full power
attacks down into the floor and jumped out the window.
"You're here!" Sailor Venus exclaimed. "Does that mean... -did Usagi?"
"Yes. The rocket took off. We have no idea whether it worked or not though,"
Sailor Jupiter replied.
Now a squad of about 100 mutants turned a corner and started to run towards
the senshi. Fortunately, they weren't inside the building anymore. "Uranus
Meteor Comets!" The mutants were pummeled by giant hunks of rock falling
from the sky and were gone in a few seconds. Sailor Uranus turned around to
face the others. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we go pay the Creator a
visit."
"But it's not the Creator this time. We've already incapacitated the Creator
of this region. It must be something else."
"Whatever. Let's go kill it." In this, they were all in agreement.
***
"Ha ha ha! Come to me senshi! The more the merrier..."
***
Strangely, as soon as the senshi decided to head for the Command Point the
mutants stopped coming. "That's odd," Uranus commented, "Do you think they
know we're coming?" she said sarcastically.
"We're walking straight into a trap," Sailor Mars replied.
"It's one of the best ways to meet your enemy," Sailor Neptune said darkly.
"Then you don't have to go looking for them."
With their superior speed the senshi quickly arrived in front of the Command
Point. It was within the interior wall of the Command City but there was
still a large amount of empty space in between the edge of the city and the
point.
Looking up at the Command Point towering in front of them Sailor Venus said,
"I hope we don't have to climb up there. The insides of them are all the
same and there's hardly any room to fight."
"Don't worry Sailor Venus," a voice said from above them. "I wouldn't want
to make a mess inside it. Human blood stains badly." A woman floated down
from the Command Point, presumably from a door on the outside somewhere
higher up. The best way to describe her would be to say that she was an
angel from hell. Instead of being covered in white she was covered in black.
(Kind of like Galaxia in SailorStars after chaos takes over her body)
"Who are you?" Sailor Uranus challenged.
"I am known as Arcana. The beyonder has decided that you senshi have become
an annoyance worth disposing of. You should be honored." Sailor Uranus and
Neptune made their talismans appear in their hands.
"Neptune, Deep Sea Reflected, Craze Tornado Strike!" Incredibly out of place
in the desert, two skinny water twisters spun back and forth through Arcana
followed by a wind tornado which settled, spinning around her in one place.
The wind stirred up a lot a sand and the senshi were forced to cover their
eyes. When the dust settled they took a look but Arcana still hung in the
same place as if nothing had happened.
"Is that any way to greet a representative of the beyonder?"
"Uranus, Space Sword, Meteor Comets!" The comets of light that fell from the
sky first just dissolved just before they reached Arcana. As for the meteors
that all fell towards her at the same time from all directions, she used her
power to bounce them off of a magical shield surrounding herself to down
towards the ground for the senshi to dodge. Sailor Uranus jumped out of the
way of a couple of the meteors that came towards her and continued towards
Arcana, prepared to attack physically with her sword.
Unfortunately as she got close to Arcana she was just blasted back to the
ground. Fortunately Sailor Neptune had shot a beam of energy out of her
mirror at the same time which slammed Arcana back into the Command Point. A
few seconds later Arcana flew back out. "Curse you, senshi! I cannot be
defeated!" Arcana pointed towards Uranus and Neptune and the ground beneath
them exploded.
Meanwhile, the other 3 Sailors had spread out so that they were facing three
different sides of Arcana.
"Mars Flaming Inferno!"
"Jupiter Lightning Wave!"
"Venus Crescent Cross!"
The three Sailors concentrated their attacks into three beams of energy like
they had when they fought the elemental dragons. Arcana raised a shield just
in the nick of time to counter the attack. But before she could
counterattack two more balls of energy came flying towards her.
"World Shaking!"
"Deep Submerge!"
Arcana actually fell back a bit from the additional attacks and was totally
unexpecting Sailor Uranus to come flying towards her again. But as she
prepared to block a physical attack from the sword Sailor Uranus changed
tactics. "Space Sword Blaster!" The senshi had never used these battle
tactics in the clips Arcana had seen of them. (But she had also never seen
so many of them fighting at the same time). They were using other attacks
besides the ones granted by the magic grid. This final attack took her
completely by surprise. As a result the attack cut right through her
defenses. She lost control of the shield she had been using to block the
attacks of the inner senshi and all three of them hit her at the same time.
"Blaze!"
"Shock!"
"Crush!"
The three beams of energy changed back into the senshi's regular attacks as
Arcana found herself right in the middle of an inferno of fire and lighting
and crushed by Venus' attack. The explosion even took out a chunk of the
Command Point.
The dust settled and the senshi turned to see their battered opponent. Or at
least who they expected to be battered. Although Arcana was now on the
ground she was far from battered. "You fools!" she cried. "You cannot defeat
me. I am immortal!"
Arcana released a sphere of energy which expanded outwards in a flash and
which blasted all of the senshi back. None of the senshi hit the ground
until they had either run into a wall or a building. In a flash Sailor
Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, and Neptune were back, now throwing punches at
Arcana. Expertly Arcana blocked all four shots and knocked each senshi back
with either a kick or a punch to the chest.
Next, just as Sailor Uranus got back to her feet Arcana appeared behind her,
grabbed her foot, picked her up and spun her around. After a rotation or two
she then threw Sailor Uranus into Neptune which caused both senshi to fall
back. Before Neptune could even hit the ground Arcana had both of her hands
in front of her and was blasting the two senshi. The explosion was so heavy
that the other three sailors were knocked from their feet. When the dust
cleared the two outer soldiers laid on the ground unmoving.
"Uranus! Neptune!" Sailor Venus cried out.
"Don't worry little sailors. Your friends are still alive. It's no fun if I
don't get to torture them later." Venus had no reply to Arcana's piercing
laughter.
"Okay guys, this is it," Sailor Jupiter said as the three of them regrouped.
Arcana just continued to laugh. "Really; what do the three of you expect to
accomplish?" With the two outer senshi lying on the ground things didn't
look so good.
"Come on Haiku, Hotaru, we could use your help right about now," Mars
muttered.
"Dead Scream!"
"Star Flare!"
A ball of purple energy and a column of liquid fire passed through Arcana,
causing her pause. "What now?"
Two new figures appeared in between the senshi and Arcana. One was Sailor
Pluto and the other was a man in a blue robe. They were both holding staves
although the man's was quite different from Sailor Pluto's. "You fools," the
man said to the inner senshi, "don't you know that you can't defeat the
beyonder's representatives?!"
"Don't be so hard on them Orion, they don't have your sight or knowledge,"
Sailor Pluto reminded him.
Still facing Arcana, Sailor Pluto and Orion held out their staves towards
her and crossed them. At the same time they both called out, "Time
distortion!" Two thin beams of energy flew out from the ends of their
staves, and flew towards Arcana in a double spiral. Arcana, assuming that
she would easily be able to repel their attack as she did their previous one
just stood her ground. By the time she had discovered her mistake it was
already too late. Reality began to ripple as she was replaced by a black
void. Unfortunately Sailor Pluto and Orion were forced to stay in the same
position while the energies coming from their staves maintained the time
warp.
Sailor Venus and Jupiter ran over to Uranus and Neptune who were just
starting to move while Mars ran over to where she could face the front of
the two time warriors. "What are you doing?" she asked them.
"We've trapped Arcana in subspace for the time being," Sailor Pluto replied.
"Unfortunately we have to stay in this position and maintain it to keep it
from either freeing Arcana or imploding and destroying us all," Orion added.
"The others should get here any moment now," Sailor Pluto said.
True to her word, the sparrow appeared in the sky a few seconds later.
Lasers from the Command Points were just being absorbed by its shields. As
it landed Uranus and Neptune got to their feet and Jupiter and Venus helped
them walk although Uranus still tried to wave them away in order to retain a
little of her dignity. Sailor Mars was about to follow them when she
stopped. "What about you two?" she asked.
"We'll hold Arcana here while you escape. Don't worry, we'll be fine."
Sailor Mars nodded and hurried into the ship. When the ship was out of sight
Sailor Pluto and Orion stopped the timewarp and had disappeared into a
portal by the time Arcana was able to move again. In a few kind words, she
wasn't very happy.
***
Inside the ship the senshi struggled to get everyone seated. Everyone had to
detransform for the ridiculously large back bows of their fukus got in the
way too much. Hotaru was busy healing Uranus' and Neptune's wounds. Haiku
stood in the doorway of the back compartment and took a good look at
everyone. "I think what everyone needs is a good night sleep to rest and
recuperate," she stated.
Haiku moved up to the front of the ship where Ami and Prof. Rinkvle were
seated, flying the ship and dodging the attacks of the Command Points.
"Don't worry, Ami," Haiku said. "I'll find us a safe place." Haiku sat down
in the remaining seat and pressed one of the many buttons. She was rewarded
with an oxygen masking dropping into her lap.
"The communications controls are a little more to the left now," Ami said
without looking."
"Jeez, I wonder who's ship this is now," Haiku commented. She looked to the
left to find the communications controls, only now a whole lot more
complicated. "Okay, how do I turn on the communication line that used to be
just one button?"
"Set the first dial to the fourth frequency, the second dial to the sixth
frequency, and leave the third dial where it already is." Haiku did as she
was told and also put on a headset that was sitting above the controls.
"Okay now what? How do I turn it on?"
"Just speak into the headset. It's voice activated."
"Fine. Artemis, are you there?" Haiku said.
"It's good to hear that you're still alive Haiku." Artemis' voice came over
the communication clearly. Of course he would be able to hear her as soon as
the transmission was sent since he always made sure to stay in touch with
the control centre of the base by either wearing a headset or by having
everything come through out loud. He did the latter sometimes while he was a
cat.
"Is Usagi all right?" Luna's voice asked. Apparently she was also online.
"Yes, we're all safe and sound. Artemis, all of the targets have been
investigated and most of the threats they pose have been eliminated. I've
also learned how we might be able to defeat the beyonder."
"That's great. Is there anything you need?"
"Yeah. We're all worn out. We need some place to stay so we can heal up and
rest up. Are the repairs finished? Have you found a way that we can defend
the base or do you know a place where we can go?"
"Sure! You can all just come right back to the base here. Sailor Pluto and
Orion have set up the base so that we'll be able to enter subspace and move
underground once everyone is inside. The beyonder won't be able to reach us
there."
"Sounds good. We're coming straight there. Haiku out."
Haiku removed the headset and turned to Ami. "Go to resistance headquarters.
Artemis says that once we get there he'll move the base into subspace and
underground to protect us from the beyonder."
"Are you sure that that will be safe?" Ami asked.
"According to Sailor Pluto and Orion it is."
"Who's Orion?"
"I'm assuming that he was the guy that was helping Sailor Pluto back in
Afkzo."
"Professor," Ami asked, "Can the ship still travel underwater?"
"Of course it can. It can travel in space, and water is nothing compared to
space."
"Okay then, here we go!" There was a small bump as the ship passed
underwater, out of the range of the Command Points. "It will be good to
finally have a break. We've earned it."
end eps. 27