Chapter 8
"You can try and fight back, but I know all your weaknesses." Oakley growled at Sailor Mercury. The huge man towered over the smaller Sailor Mercury who couldn't take her eyes off Veronika. Veronika, who had become such a close friend, not just to her, but all of the Senshi. A woman who had endured such hardship, someone who had given up on life and been healed of old wounds, now lay in a pool of her own blood, her life slowly draining away. Oakley took another step forward, gripping his giant axe tightly in his huge hands. Move. Sailor Mercury thought, not sure if it was for herself, or Veronika. Move the thought came again and this time she knew it was directed at Veronika. "You're all weak!" Oakley spat as bloodlust filled his eyes. Just then, Sailor Mercury saw Veronika's finger move, ever so slightly.
"Strength doesn't come from a physical capacity." Sailor Mercury shouted, loud enough to make sure her words reached Veronika, never taking her eyes of the raven haired woman fighting for her life. "It comes from an indomitable will!" The wounded Veronika lifted her head and locked eyes with Sailor Mercury and for the first time she could remember, Veronika had emotion burning deep within her normally soft brown eyes. A rage that couldn't be contained was released as she fought to get back on her feet, long spear clutched tightly in one hand. Oakley laughed at what she said, failing to notice the threat now rising behind him.
"Well let's see if your will can overcome mine!" The huge man bellowed, pulling his axe to one side, ready to lash out. Veronika was almost to her feet now, her rage filled gaze drifted from Sailor Mercury to Oakley.
"Not my will, Oakley. Hers." Sailor Mercury pointed to Veronika, now standing behind Oakley. Before he had a chance to turn, she cut low and quick, severing his Achilles tendon on one foot. Sailor Mercury expected the man to cry out in pain, but he only turned, swinging his axe wildly. The severed tendon took effect and threw him off balance, Veronika easily ducking under the careless attack. Without waiting for him to hit the ground, she jabbed the long spear out, slicing open the side of his neck. Blood gushed out almost instantly as he fell to the ground, still not crying out in pain. From a downed position, he struck out again with his axe, swinging it the opposite way. Veronika stepped back and once his axe was clear, she stabbed again, this time her blade sinking into the man's throat just below his mouth. A sick gurgling sound escaped his gritted teeth as blood filled his throat, but again, no cry from the pain he must have been feeling.
Oakley's face was pale now from blood lose. Sailor Mercury couldn't believe the man was still alive after losing so much blood. A smile spread across his face then, a smile so sinister it sent cold shivers up and down Sailor Mercury's spine. Veronika pulled the spear out of his neck and even more blood gushed out, finally draining away the last of his life. But the gaping smile remained, bloody teeth showing. Veronika collapsed down to her knees and Sailor Mercury rushed to her side. Sailor Jupiter and Sol were coming toward them now. Both must not have seen what had happened as they stood in stunned disbelief at the scene in front of them.
"Mako-chan, I need Rei-chan! Get Rei-chan!" Sailor Mercury pleaded, jumping into action. Sailor Jupiter only watched as Sailor Mercury rolled Veronika onto her back and applied pressure to the wound, trying to stem off the blood lose. "Mako-chan!" She screamed, pulling Sailor Jupiter back to reality. She set her jaw in determination and nodded, disappearing with a clap of thunder. A moment later she reappeared with Sailor Mars who seemed stunned at what just happened.
"What's going on? Why did you-" Her eye's fell on Sailor Mercury and Veronika. Her breath caught and she put her hand over her mouth, tears filling her eyes.
"Rei-chan, this is important." Sailor Mercury began, trying and failing to sound calm. "We need to stop the blood. You have to cauterize the wound. Do you understand?" Sailor Mercury's voice wavered as she stifled back the urge to burst out crying. Sailor Mars pulled her hand away from her mouth and nodded silently, eyes filled with tears. "After Rei-chan closes the wound, I need you to take her to the medics inside the palace Mako-chan!" Sailor Mercury shouted over the battle that waged around them. "You can't use Lightning Accel though; the change in g-force would probably kill her!"
Sailor Mars put her hands over the gaping wound on Veronika's midsection while the other woman sucked in laboured gasps of air. Sailor Mars' hands began to emit a dark red glow and Veronika grunted in pain as the wound was cauterized. Her grunting turned to screaming as Sailor Mars continued. Sailor Mercury expected the woman to pass out from the pain, but instead she gritted her teeth, stifling her own screams. It seemed to last an eternity before Sailor Mars was finished, but she pulled her hands back and nodded towards Sailor Jupiter. The tall woman jumped into action, quickly at Veronika's side as she gingerly picked her up. Without saying a word she set off towards the sparkling Crystal Palace. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars watched her go, silently praying for Veronika to cling what little life she still held on to.
-/-*-\-
No one had noticed when Sol left the three Senshi, plunging himself as deep as he could into the enemy ranks. He swung his katana with a rage he hadn't felt since watching his mother die as he held her in his arms. This blind rage took over and he soon found himself alone, surrounded by battle droids. He didn't know if he wanted to be cut down by one, or take them all down himself, but the droids fell like flies as he continued to push forward. The gaping hole in Veronika's abdomen was the same as his mothers and images of her lifeless eyes flashed inside his head. He let out am angry scream, but barely heard it from the pounding of his own heart in his ears.
Sol fought his way through the droids, his katana cutting them down easily when suddenly the droids no longer faced him. He didn't stop to consider why, instead saw them as easier targets and began to slice them down more efficiently with their backs to him. It wasn't long before he began to see some of his comrades again, decked out in yellow uniforms. The Cutie Raiders! In his rage he had forgotten that they were to flank the droids and wait for an opportunity to strike. He knew Sailor Venus was more than capable of keeping herself safe, but his thoughts drifted to Kid Brooklyn and images of Veronika. I can't let that happen to him! Sol thought. His rage was replaced with panic, he needed to find Kid Brooklyn and protect him.
"Brook!" He screamed as loud as his lungs would allow. He inhaled deeply and prepared to yell out again but was cut off from a voice to his side.
"No need to yell, I'm right beside you." Sol turned quickly as relief washed over him from seeing his friend, almost unscathed standing before him.
"Veronika got injured. Badly." Sol heard his own voice crackS as he told Kid Brooklyn the terrible news. Kid Brooklyn's slight grin disappeared, and Sol saw a seriousness he had never seen in his tall friend before.
"I'll be willing to bet that if we don't back down, you and I will be the ones left standing." The words shocked Sol at first. He didn't know what to think until he realized what the meaning was. If we fight together, we're unbeatable. Kid Brooklyn's grin reappeared on his face. "Just stick with me kid, and we'll make it out of this alive."
-/-*-\-
"Sir, we've lost vitals on Faren. It seems one of the Generals has died." Ganymede lowered his head and silently mourned for the loss of a friend. Faren had volunteered to scout ahead of the main force. He had offered to become an informant, someone on the inside for them. Ganymede found it hard to believe that anyone fighting in this battle had the power to take down such a large powerful man. He knew Faren well. He knew his friends abilities. The man must have let his guard down.
"Start the engines, get us over the battlefield." Ganymede's voice boomed. "Someone notify the remaining Generals that we're going down there. We're going to end this."People began milling about aboard the bridge, going through the routine of getting the large ship off the ground. It wasn't long before Ganymede felt the ship lurch upwards. Valkyrie was the first to come to the bridge, a long staff with a circular disc on one end known as the Skeleton Key in hand and a toothy grin on her face that never touched her teal eyes.
"You're on standby Val." Ganymede informed her. The smile was immediately replaced by a frown. "If anything goes wrong, I need you to fix it. You are aware of what I'm saying, correct?" She crossed her arms and huffed, but nodded in understanding.
"Just when I was hoping we could have some fun." The blonde woman mumbled. That's exactly why you're staying here. This isn't a game is what he wanted to say to her, but instead he stayed silent. One by one the other General's filled the bridge, waiting for their orders.
"We'll head to the loading dock and prepare to join the battle." Ganymede informed them all as he began to power up the dark crystal reactor inside his artificial limb. His left arm, encased in dark crystal emitted a low hum. Ganymede and his four other Generals quickly descended to the loading dock. A large hatch opened below them and Ganymede extended his left arm to the battle below. Palm facing towards the ground he whispered "This ends now."
-/-*-\-
Sol couldn't help contain his feelings of relief as Kid Brooklyn slashed down another droid. The two were seemingly unstoppable, defeating enemies effortlessly. They fought back to back, they fought side to side, and they even alternated who led while the other recovered. While Kid Brooklyn stood behind Sol, taking a break to rest, the large ship ascended overhead, crawling into position. Sol hadn't noticed until Kid Brooklyn taped his shoulder and pointed to the ship in the sky. Before Sol could say something to Kid Brooklyn a narrow dark purple beam shot out from somewhere on the ship. It descended with incredible speed and Sol knew immediately that beam was dangerous. Time seemed to slow down as Sol turned, facing his back to the dark energy plunging towards the Earth. Sol spread his arms around Kid Brooklyn who hadn't taken his eyes off the ship in the sky. Sol wrapped his arms around his friend as a huge shockwave blasted outward from the impact of the attack on the ground. The shockwave was powerful enough to knock the wind right out of Sol's lungs and he knew the actual blast would be worse. The explosion raced towards the two faster than the speed of sound and Sol thought it was deathly quiet before a blinding pain shot into his back quickly followed by darkness.
-/-*-\-
"Queen Serenity, we're picking up a huge amount of energy coming from that ship." Artemis informed her.
"Continue scanning and try to pinpoint where it's-"
"It's just been discharged!" Artemis interrupted urgently.
"Go to visual cameras; get it up on the monitor!" Endymion shouted before Serenity had a chance to say anything. Artemis pressed in some commands on the console in front of him and the display showing numbers and schematics was replaced with static.
"There's a lot of electrical interference, I'll try and clean up some of the noise." Artemis continued to press buttons and the static slowly began to lessen. Serenity's eyes strained to make out what was on the monitor. Her breath caught with a gasp when she realized what they were looking at was no longer a battlefield, but more like a mass grave. Bodies and twisted heaps of metal lay scattered about, the blast taking out human and droid indiscriminately.
"Ping the Senshi's vitals!" Endymion barked as Serenity felt tears well up in her eyes. This shouldn't have happened. This is all wrong. No one needed to die for me.
"Jupiter's vitals are coming in strong, the rest are faint but there. Mercury's are rising fast." That's because she focuses her power to heal herself better than anyone else. Serenity thought absently. She couldn't face the monitor any longer. Guilt wracked her entire body and she felt like she was going to wretch. I have to do something. I have to stop them! Her fear of Ganymede returned like a ton of bricks. She could only think of one way to stop him.
She rushed towards the large double doors of the control room, intent on stopping Ganymede when Endymion's voice called out to her.
"Serenity" was all he said and she stopped in her tracks, unable to meet him face to face. She felt his warm strong arms wrap around her tightly. "I know what you're planning. Don't give yourself to them." He whispered in her ear.
"What else can I do?" She whispered back, tears rolling down her soft cheeks. "I have to stop him before anyone else dies."
"Don't let them die in vain. They sacrificed themselves for something they believed in. That something is you and what you stand for." He pleaded,
"I can't shoulder this pain alone, Endymion." She started to pry his hands away from her when she felt herself spun around quickly by his powerful grip. He forced her to look deep into his normally soft eyes, now intense. He had never looked at her this way before.
"If you go out there and let him kill you, he'll come here and kill me. He'll kill me and he'll kill our daughter. Usako, if you two were to die, I wouldn't have anything to live for." Just the thought of losing Endymion and Chibi-Usa was enough to make her vomit. She doubled over and spewed out the contents of her stomach. When nothing was left inside, she continued to dry heave. It felt like she would never stop, but thankfully, she did. One of the servants of the Palace handed her a glass of water and she drank it down quickly, thanking the young woman.
"You can give up and let him win, or fight for those who laid down their lives for something they believe in." Endymion said as softly as he could.
"It's heavy Mamo-chan." Serenity whispered. Endymion bent down and helped her stand, holding her close.
"I know it is, Usako. But I'm here to take some of the burden. With your friends and loved ones by your side, there isn't anything you can't do." Endymion's words touched her. Serenity whipped the tears from her eyes and looked up at her loving husband. He bent down and softly kissed her lips "I love you Usako."
"I love you too Mamo-chan." Serenity replied, feeling at ease in his arms. "It's time for me to join the battle." She softly pushed him away, releasing his hold on her. Walking with determination, Serenity exited the Control Room and turned towards hers and Endymion's room. Their door was already open and she walked briskly inside. On a decorative end table stood a small glass encasement. Serenity's heart sank as she found it to be empty. Chibi-Usa has taken the Silver Crystal. She thought. Perhaps you can't change destiny.
-/-*-\-
Sailor Jupiter was within a few feet of the Crystal Palace when a huge explosion rocked the ground beneath her. Without thinking, she threw Veronika into the air and engulfed herself in lightning. Veronika seemed to stop, suspended in midair as Sailor Jupiter quickly closed the huge double doors of the Palace. The blast radius accelerated with incredible speed and Sailor Jupiter almost didn't get the doors closed before the blast impacted the durable crystal. She turned and grabbed Veronika, letting herself come out of Lightning Accel. Nurses and other attendants were just inside the door and someone brought a hospital bed seemingly out of nowhere. Sailor Jupiter didn't need to say anything to the medics as they sprang into action, wheeling Veronika down a corridor, already attaching IV's. Watching her dear friend slowly disappear down a crystal hallway, Sailor Jupiter knew there wasn't anything else she could do for Veronika. Instead, she turned and faced the closed doors that led back out to the battle.
Pushing the heavy doors open, Sailor Jupiter was shocked to see there was no longer a battle being waged. What she saw instead resembled a desolate wasteland. Almost all of the structures that had been part of the complex were gone. Ruins of buildings lay about; the only one still intact was the Gym. Bodies lay strewn about and she could hear the distant sound of someone moaning in pain. One moan turned to two. Two turned to three. One by one, more and more people began to cry out in pain. She didn't know where to start as medics rushed past her and began helping anyone they could. She watched as some administered first aid on the scene while others were helped to their feet and led towards the Palace.
Her eye caught on a small group much further away than the medics. It looked like a group of five people walking toward the Palace. She strained her eyes to see who it could be. Anyone strong enough to walk away from this is... Her breath caught as she recognized Ganymede, his strong frame walking stiffly but with purpose. Sailor Jupiter bent down, placing her hands on the ground like a sprinter about to start a race. She knew Ganymede had caused this; he was the one responsible for Serenity's pain.
"Lightning-" Sailor Jupiter let the electricity engulf her body, eye's set on her target.
"Accel!" With enough force to crack the crystal under her feet, Sailor Jupiter accelerated towards her target. I'll end this with one blow! Ganymede and the others were frozen in time as she closed the gap. With her teeth gritted, she planted her left foot close to Ganymede's foot. Twisting her hip and lowering her upper body, she threw her right foot with enough force behind it to derail a freight car. With overwhelming speed comes overwhelming power!
Something flashed before her eye's as her foot connected with something hard before it had reached Ganymede. The impact created its own small shockwave, and Sailor Jupiter felt her hair blown back. A man wearing a cloak and hood stood before her holding a long thick metal staff, blocking her crushing blow. His face was wrapped in bandages as were his hands and fingers.
"Are you getting slow Myst?" Ganymede asked the man standing before her, coming out of Lightning Accel mode. With her foot still pressed against his staff, she applied more pressure trying to push him further down.
"She's fast Sir. And strong."A low voice mumbled through the white cloth.
"Than show her your strength." Ganymede growled before continuing his approach towards the Palace. Sailor Jupiter felt Myst push her foot back with enough force to get her off balance. Letting herself fall backwards, she arched her back, and planted her hands on the ground, somersaulting away from him. When she got back to a standing position, he was gone. Without thinking, Sailor Jupiter crossed her arms in front of herself, expecting the attack to come from there, but instead she felt a sharp pain run through her side. Dropping her guard, she grabbed hold of Myst's foot and spun, throwing a straight right at her opponent. He caught her fist in his strong hand before she could connect, but Sailor Jupiter let electricity run down her arm into her opponent's body. He grunted in pain as the current coursed through his body. With his other hand he swung the heavy staff but Sailor Jupiter ducked, avoiding the blow. She struck up, plunging her fist into his abdomen, doubling him over. With Myst off balance she took a step back and pivoted on her toes, throwing a powerful spinning back kick. Her foot met only air.
"With overwhelming speed comes overwhelming power." Sailor Jupiter heard right before something hard struck her in the side of her head. She felt herself thrown and skidding along the ground, slamming into a piece of debris and coming to a stop. She struggled to keep her eyes open, trying to fight of the encroaching fog as the black cloaked man walked towards her. This is bad; I'm in trouble she thought before giving in and drifting through darkness.
A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to post a new chapter. I've been doing a lot of studying and unfortunately real life comes first Well I have some free time now so I'll be writing as much as I can before having to go back to being responsible. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, there's lots more action to come!
