PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE
Chapter 65: Multiple Faces of the Syndicate
Neo Queen Serenity and the eight planetary guardians slumped onto the floor in sheer exhaustion. Sailor Planet Attack had drained a considerable amount of their collective energy. King Endymion rushed to his wife's side, the Four Generals helped their respective partners, Uranus and Neptune supported each other, and Pluto held on tightly to Saturn's shoulders. They watched Upala Acropolis plummet into Tokyo Bay with the tremendous splash that flooded the immediate area.
"So it begins…" Serenity murmured.
"You should all rest," Endymion implored. "I will concentrate on protecting the palace."
"No. I won't be able to rest knowing the enemy is about to wage war upon us. I will remain here to shield Crystal Tokyo inside a barrier."
"We'll help you," Mars assured her, and the other Inner Sailor Soldiers nodded.
"Then we four will guard the perimeter," Uranus said, and she led the Outer Sailor Soldiers to a nearby balcony to leap off, flying towards the four corners of the crystallized tower inside their themed-colored energy bubbles. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus held hands once more and focused their energies upon the palace's main defense system. Four colored pillars of different colored lights shot from the ground and surrounded the castle in four translucent walls of pure energy, with an Outer Soldier guarding each one of the walls outside.
Upala watched as Crystal Tokyo began erecting its defenses, and she scoffed indignantly.
"So they're going to dedicate all of their energy towards protecting their little corner," she said.
"What would you have us do, Your Majesty?" one of her slaves asked.
"Maintain your distance for now, but gather energy for the burst cannon. They won't be able to maintain their barriers forever, so once they lower it, fire at once."
"And the Apples of Discord?"
"Lady Eris has expended a great deal of her life force generating all of those Apples for the initial assault. She is resting at the moment and demands not to be disturbed."
One of Upala's slaves said, "We've found Small Lady Serenity's four personal guardians fighting the Toxicum Soldiers. It looks like they lost and are about to be taken in for questioning."
"What a tragedy. To think that I entrusted my most important duties to those incompetents sends shivers down my spine," Upala scornfully frowned. "They should be silenced immediately before they can spill any of our secrets to the enemy."
"Lady Upala, we have also detected the princess' energy signature on our radar," another servant reported, bringing up a display of Sailors Chibi-Moon and Zarnik gawking at the fallen acropolis. Upala certainly was interested in Chibi-Moon, but she especially wanted to take a good look at the unknown Sailor Soldier who had escaped Alkima's destruction without her knowledge.
"So that's the traitor… Sailor Zarnik, the guardian of a planet that even I didn't know about," she mumbled in a low murmur. "I never would have expected that the Toxicum Soldiers had a fifth member in their ranks that they didn't inform me of. She must have been some kind of trump card for them."
"What do you think she is doing here?"
"I don't know, and I don't really care. The fact that she has allied with Earth's princess immediately makes her our enemy."
"Then shall I send a squadron out to subdue them?"
Upala turned the captain's chair around and grinned darkly.
"I haven't gone hunting in a while. I think I'm getting out of practice," Upala glowered as she tapped her whip against her hand. "I will personally see to it that Small Lady Serenity and the traitor suffer for opposing me. You lot focus on defending the palace until I return with the Silver Crystal. Once I have it, we can use it to restore power and launch an offensive against Crystal Tokyo proper."
She clicked her heels on the marble floor with purpose as she strutted out of the castle. Once the clicks turned into silence, that was when the true faces of the Sailor Soldiers she had enslaved began to show themselves.
"What a loser, thinking she can fight all by herself," one girl said darkly.
"Heh heh heh. If Earth's warriors don't kill her for us, she'll be so weakened that we can finish her off ourselves," another cackled.
"I have dibs!"
"No, I do! I'm the one who suggested it!"
"You have no idea how long my hatred for that harlot has festered!"
"She's the one who murdered my lover, so I deserve to kill her myself!"
"Your lover? What a joke! She assassinated my entire family while I was in battle! I'll never forgive her for that!"
Eris watched the bickering unfold and didn't do anything to stop it for a while. She relished in the negative energy they emanated, but realized that these warriors would self-destruct and turn on each other before the war could begin in earnest. She bellowed over them, "Calm yourselves, my dear children. Do not lose focus of your task at hand."
"Who are you to boss us around?" one of the slaves barked. "You're the source of Upala's power, so you should take responsibility for our suffering as well!"
"I will not deny that. However, it is Upala's decision as to how she will use my power. Only those who have earned my hallowed treasure, the Victory Crown, will have the right to summon me to their aid. If you are dissatisfied with her treatment of you all, then I will not stop you from trying to take it for yourselves."
"You won't!?"
"I am the Goddess of Victory. I bless those who stand victorious, even if it took them many years of patient waiting to achieve it. I have watched you all toil in misery long enough. Is it not your time to stand triumphant over the misfortunes that have befallen you all?"
"Well… when you put it that way…"
"But if we all team up and pull a coup against her, who would have the right to wear the Crown?"
Eris chuckled and replied, "There's no rule stating that the victor has to be one individual person. I am always eager to break the Crown into enough fragments for all of you to wield."
"Then all of us would be as powerful as her!?"
"Of course. All of you would be Queens of Victory. You truly deserve it, my children."
"That's incredible! Let's do it!"
The dark goddess remained silent while watching the fallen Sailor Soldiers plan their mutiny. All the while, she thought, That should take care of any problems should Upala fail to bring the Silver Crystal fragment back to me. These whelps may not be as strong as her, but they should overpower Serenity's forces with sheer numbers. And even if they too fail, I will have reaped enough discord to topple this disgusting 'kingdom of light' myself.
Oh, I hope you're watching this, Selene. You'll get to see everyone you know and love get torn into bloody shreds by my own hand.
"So that's the Syndicate's headquarters?" Sailor Chibi-Moon wondered.
"Yes," Zarnik replied. "It was the grandest castle in all of Alkima, located on the planet Upala. Sailor Upala must have used her power to root it from the ground and fly it out of the galaxy before destroying it with the Opal of Culling."
"To think she would commit genocide upon billions upon billions of people… How despicable…"
"I don't know what her goal is, but apparently she saw everyone else as a hindrance to her plan and obliterated them so they wouldn't be able to pursue her."
"So that's the kind of enemy we're up against."
"That's right. Forget that she's a Sailor Soldier like us. She's become nothing more than a mass murderer who needs to be put down."
"You keep saying that, but…" Chibi-Moon's voice faltered with hesitation.
Zarnik wasn't surprised. The princess had lived a long life surrounded by love and tranquility, so to suddenly expect her to kill someone was too much to ask for. She assured, "Don't worry. You should conserve your energy for destroying Eris. I will take on the task of killing anyone who gets in your way."
"But Midori-"
"I'm not going to say it again. This is war, and only one victor will emerge."
"… Yes, I know. I may not like it, but I won't argue with you."
The duo landed on a high-rise skyscraper and hid behind a water tank to stay out of sight of any enemy patrols. That was when they saw the four-walled barrier being erected around Crystal Tokyo. Chibi-Moon asked, "So what should we do? Mama and the others are busy protecting the castle, and the Quartet are fighting the Toxicum Soldiers."
"Hmm…" Zarnik hummed inquisitively. "Sneaking in could be an option, but Eris and Upala are probably eagerly awaiting for your arrival, plus they would have the technology to sense our energy signatures. I have no idea how many servants Upala has under her command, but I can safely say that we would be overwhelmed very quickly if they found us, considering that Upala is fond of bossing around large numbers of people."
"But what if something was done about that technology?"
"It might be possible… If we could somehow disable their energy signature trackers, then we could infiltrate the base. Or maybe…"
"What is it, Zarnik?"
"Look. Do you see those tree roots jutting out of the bedrock?"
"Those large plant-like things? What are they?"
"Don't you remember? When Selene banished Eris, she had destroyed her body and sealed her soul inside an apple tree. That tree must have found its way to Upala and rooted itself there, growing larger and larger over the centuries."
"Are you saying those monstrous roots are all from one tree!?" Chibi-Moon gasped.
"No doubt about it. I can sense Eris' dark energy coursing through them," Zarnik narrowed her eyes.
"So why are you so interested in those roots?"
"They could be a weak point that we can lock on externally. If you were able to channel the Silver Crystal's holy power through them, the energy will be absorbed and cause massive damage to Eris. I don't know if it will be enough to kill her, but it's probably an Achilles heel that she overlooked while growing in size and power."
"Then we can do a Sweet Cupid Straight Shoot and snipe Eris like that!"
"Maybe. But if it fails, she would definitely take measures to ensure we couldn't do it again."
"Then let's go back to the castle and get Mama to help us."
"I second that noti-"
They both gasped when they saw a glimmer of light from one of Upala Acropolis' battlements. Then a bright ray of destructive energy shot through the air and penetrated the water tower the girls were hiding behind, forcing them to duck low and cover their ears from the deafening sound.
"Damn! They're on to us!" Zarnik gasped. "We have to retreat!"
They scurried away from the destroyed tower and hopped from building to building like humanoid frogs, desperately fleeing from the palace's main range where their weapons could strike. A heavy barrage of magical pellets careened through the sky and pelted the structures, but they were horribly inaccurate and only caused the duo to panic.
Zarnik growled, "I wasn't expecting their technology to be so good! Kadmas must have fine-tuned it while she was one of the Camarilla!"
"Hurry! Once we get inside the barrier, we'll be okay!" Chibi-Moon urged.
They panted and gasped for air, but their daring escape paid off as the bullets became sparse in number and intensity. It was a good thing the acropolis' propulsion system had been disabled, or they would have been mercilessly pursued and probably killed. Once they were at a safe distance, they flew in their energy bubbles and wheezed from exhaustion. They were so tired from the adrenaline rush that they failed to notice a ring of multicolored energy slicing towards them.
"Ah-! Look out, Zarnik!" Chibi-Moon squealed and tackled her partner.
"What the-!?"
The deadly projectile slammed against Chibi-Moon's bubble and popped it, causing them to fall onto the rooftop of a tall corporate tower. They clenched their teeth in pain, but checked each other to make sure they were okay before getting back up.
"What just happened?" Zarnik asked.
"I don't know. Some kind of colorful ring was heading straight for your back."
"A colorful ring… Aurora Halo. Then it has to be her."
"Who?"
Zarnik tilted her head high up to glare at a scantily clad woman flying above them. Although her outfit was scandalous, with pink underwear, a pink micro skirt and rose-colored high heels, she also wore the signature sailor collar denoting a Sailor Soldier. The woman tapped her folded whip in one of her hands, anticipating the hunt she would soon partake in. Zarnik immediately stood in front of Chibi-Moon to act as a vanguard, summoning her bow and arrow into her hands.
"So you're Small Lady Serenity?" the woman asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Who are you?" Chibi-Moon wondered.
"A pleasure to meet you, princess of Earth. I am the leader of the Animus Syndicate, and the strongest Sailor Soldier of Alkima Galaxy; Sailor Upala."