Chapter 6 – Storm Clouds
Serio Krillin was manning the large telescope that was the main attraction of the Crystal Tokyo planetarium as usual. He and the other astronomers that worked there were on a daily rotation schedule which meant that each employee would be tasked with 'watching the skies' for four hours straight at a time. The number of workers in the rotation made it so that each employee would only have to use the telescope three to four times a week. In the event of emergency or time sensitive experiments that required the use of the telescope, the person who was on duty was responsible for it.
So far today, Serio's shift had been the same as it always was. He would slowly scan the black space outside their atmosphere and take frequent pauses to record his observations and notes in the daily log along with each of the corresponding declination and hour angle for each note. He finished his latest entry and set the clipboard back down on the small table located to the right of him. He took a sip of water from the mug on the same table as he realized that he hadn't had much to drink since coming on shift almost two hours earlier. He let the cool liquid refresh his mouth and throat as he swallowed, making him feel better.
He placed the mug back down on the table and typed in a new vector into the telescope's main control computer. A mechanical groan became audible and grew the attention of some of the other workers working around the spherical building as the massive telescope moved along its metal track to position itself to the new coordinates Serio had just typed in. Once the screech stopped, he leaned forward and pressed his right eye against the eye piece. He let his vision adjust to the magnification before he started turning the knobs on the side of the telescope's headpiece to regulate the clarity.
Almost immediately, he saw something that caught him completely by surprise, and scared him to his core at the same time. He jerked his head back from the telescope and quickly looked for the linen cloth that was on the work table. He reached out and grasped it tightly in his right hand. He turned his head back to the telescope's eye piece and wiped it until it was spotless. He put the rag back on the table next to his mug of water and took a deep breath to refocus his mind before he looked through the eye piece again. When he did, he gasped loudly as his initial observation hadn't changed. He pulled back again and spun around in his chair. He did not care about how he would look if he disrupted the other staff members that were working around him. What he had just seen was important and needed immediate attention.
"Dr. Miraco! Dr. Miraco!" His loud scream was heard throughout the entire floor and carried down to the work levels below them. With a high pitched scream like that, Serio definitely caught more than a little attention and quite a few of the other staff members jumped in their chairs and turned their heads to stare at him, or towards the door to Dr. Miraco's office. Some of the looks that they were giving him were utter disbelief that he would scream out like that in such a manner and interrupt the quiet working atmosphere on this level and the ones below them.
A few of the others that looked over at him because they thought he was trying to put more importance on him and what he was working on, thereby being something of a brown noser and trying to gain the senior scientist's attention. The rest of them simply stared at him in confusion and curiosity at his sudden verbal outburst.
The door of the office opened, and Dr. Miraco, an elderly man that happened to be the senior official for this facility emerged. Even though Neo-Queen Serenity had been able to freeze the aging process through the magic of the Silver Moon Crystal, the good doctor was already quite old when that miracle occurred. He moved surprisingly quickly for someone who had been alive for as long as he had, and a good portion of the staff members that had worked with him for decades were still surprised by how limber he was. They had never seen him move that quickly to one of their projects, and the few of them that had been having ill feelings were now staring at Serio with anger and jealousy. The good doctor had heard the blatant urgency and a little bit of fear that tinged Serio's voice from inside his office, and that was what had made him jump up from his chair and move so quickly towards the younger researcher. Dr. Miraco waited until he was within a few feet of Serio before he addressed him.
"What is it? What have you found?" Dr. Miraco's voice was anxious as he looked at the young man's body language as he approached him. Serio's hands shook as he stood up from the main chair and positioned the telescope so the doctor could see what he had seen. He gestured with his hand that he wanted Dr. Miraco to sit down,
"Sir, I was using the x-ray imaging to map out that section of the Oort Cloud like you asked me to, when something came into my field of vision that I didn't expect." Serio paused as he thought about how to phrase the next part of his report. But before he could speak again, the doctor interrupted him.
"What is it?" The doctor's eyes were now wide, and he had a good idea of what he thought Serio had seen, but nothing was worth anything without direct confirmation.
"The Dark Moon. It has appeared again." Serio's voice had become quiet, but some of the staff members that were closest to them could still overhear the conversation and quietly gasped.. Dr. Miraco said nothing at first, but his eyes were dancing around in their sockets with sudden urgency, while his brain raced to see what could possibly be done if the Dark Moon had indeed re-appeared. No, confirmation still had to be made first. That single thought cut right through the mental frenzy that Serio's words had stirred in him and re-focused him. He swiftly sat down in the chair took up a position behind the telescope's eyepiece.
"You understand that I must check your observation for myself." He explained to Serio as he prepared to lean forward to look through the lens of the massive instrument. The young man beside him steadied his shoulders. He understood that his report could generate panic to those that knew of its significance. He couldn't fault Dr. Miraco for wanting to fully confirm his observation before alerting the sailors or the Royal couple. .
"Sir, I double checked it. The distance indicated on the monitors connected to the telescope is consistent with the Dark Moon's last known recorded orbit." Serio made sure that his voice was calm. He could feel the eyes of the scientists closest to him and Dr. Miraco on his body as they watched with anxiousness and nervousness. He did want to add to those feelings by sounding excited or tense but he still felt the need to defend his findings and work ethic.
Dr. Miraco pushed his glasses up onto his forehead, took a deep breath, and leaned forward to put his right eye up to the lens of the telescope, hoping against hope that Serio had been wrong. There was a tense period of silence as the whole room waited on baited breath to see if Dr. Miraco would either confirm or deny Serio's observation. Serio, and a few of the astrophysicists that were near him, saw the doctor's mouth tighten into a thin line. That was confirmation enough for those that could saw it, because the doctor was usually a reserved person, not giving his emotions away until he was good and ready. When his mouth thinned out like that, it usually meant that he was displeased about something. The doctor finally leaned back after a few more seconds, and looked past Serio at the group of people that were standing around behind him. This made Serio feel like he was invisible and a feeling of dread began to grow inside him as he saw the look into Dr. Miraco's eyes. It was a look of fear.
"Dr. Widdis! Calibrate all the instruments that have x-ray imaging to track the Dark Moon using the coordinates that are set in telescope's main computer." A young, long red haired doctor jumped to his feet to do the senior official's bidding. Dr. Miraco turned his gaze towards someone else. "Dr. Lever, I need you to get in touch with any facility that might have information on the Dark Moon so that we can update our existing records on it if necessary." A beautiful blonde woman nodded curtly, and then began quickly barking orders to the scientists that worked under her, assigning each of them individual tasks so that the work was spread out and would be done that much faster. Dr, Miraco watched her for a minute, observing how she was delegating his instructions to them.
"And I will personally contact Sailor Mercury to inform her of our most recent findings. She will need to know the latest developments about this as they come." The elderly doctor's eyes panned around the room, looking at the rest of his employees. He almost felt bad for them because most of them didn't remember the last time there was trouble in the form the Dark Moon, even though almost everyone knew the stories to some extent. Serio cleared his throat to get the doctor's attention and it made the mature scientist turn his head to look back at the young man.
"Sir, if I may ask a question. Why the sudden urgency about the Dark Moon? It has been appearing and disappearing seemingly at random for many years now. I agree with the unexpected breakthrough that has occurred in that we've never gotten such a clear picture of it before, but that could be due to any number of reasons." Dr, Miraco could help it as he sighed when Serio finished. This was the naivety of those that didn't fully understand or didn't know the real threat that the Dark Moon posed to the Earth. He had been given the full briefing on the Dark Moon from Sailor Mercury and Neo-Queen Serenity when he had been appointed to run the Crystal Tokyo Planetarium. He will admit that when they told him the full truth regarding the furthest planet in our solar system, he at first did not believe them. However, when he considered that he had near perfect vision now thanks to Sailor Mercury after all the other doctors he had seen had told him that he would be blind in less than a year, he couldn't bring himself to question her or her queen, They had sworn him to secrecy because the information could cause unrest and possible panic if it was allowed to spread recklessly through the population. Dr. Miraco regarded Serio with the same serious expression that had been on his face since his confirmation that the Dark Moon had been sighted again. He sighed heavily again but this time it contained more than a little sadness in it.
"Have you forgotten the single most important mission that Neo-Queen Serenity has set for us? The one that takes the highest priority over everything else?" The doctor spoke quietly, letting his voice only travel to Serio's ears and no one else's. Serio shook his head in response. He indeed remembered it, he just didn't understand why it was so important.
"We are supposed to track and monitor the Dark Moon as some sort of early warning system," Serio answered mechanically. "Although, Neo-Queen Serenity has never told us exactly what the threat from the Dark Moon could be, so we still don't really know what to look for in order to warn the sailors if and when it becomes necessary." The young doctor shook his head sadly as he thought about the futility of this task set forth by their rulers.
"Yes, Serio, she has. Think! Who is on the Dark Moon that would have Neo-Queen Serenity worried?" Dr. Miraco looked at his young employee, his eyes never leaving his youthful face. Serio scrunched up his face as he thought, and when it came to him, his eyes widened considerably.
"No…. You can't mean Aldrich Reid, can you?" The young man became so shaken up by that disturbing realization that he stammered the words out, and his hands fell to his sides. They hung limply for a second before beginning to shake uncontrollably. His reaction was a common one among the general population when the name of the evil magician was spoken out loud. Everyone in Crystal Tokyo knew what he had done and the evil he had unleashed upon them. Even though Neo-Queen Serenity had banished him forever from Earth, people still lived in fear of him and the dread that he could one day return and make them all pay for no other reason than his own enjoyment.
"Yes, unfortunately, I do." Dr. Miraco looked into his lap where his wrinkled hands were sitting, his fingers interlaced together to stop them from trembling.
"Sir. With all due respect, you and I were both there that day, in the Crystal Palace throne room when Neo-Queen Serenity banished him to the Dark Moon nearly three centuries ago. The Silver Moon Crystal's power over the aging process doesn't extend past our atmosphere, let alone to the Dark Moon. That means Aldrich Reid should have died of natural causes decades ago." Serio's tone had changed from nervousness to one of pleading, trying to convince his boss and mentor that his belief in a fable tale was unfounded. It couldn't be true, could it? The man couldn't still be alive. He just couldn't! He wanted the doctor to confirm that particular piece of information for him, but when Dr. Miraco spoke, it dashed his hopes almost to smithereens.
"We don't know that for certain. The man was in possession of a variety of demonic powers. There may be one in that supernatural cocktail that gave him a lifespan that rivals yours or mine" Dr. Miraco calmly said, looking back up at Serio. The young doctor tried again to get through to him, needing to hear the confirmation from him that the danger and the terror of Aldrich Reid was nothing but a footnote in the history books now.
"But even so, there are limits to power of any kind! Neo-Queen Serenity herself can't defy death, so he couldn't either…could he?"
Dr. Miraco could only look at Serio as he could not answer his question. Serio had a point. Eventually, he would die and he was ok with that. This wasn't the same world that he had grown up in and every day he bore witness to things that defied everything that he had once believed possible. There was no way of knowing Aldrich Reid's true fate. All they could do was hope, pray and believe in the power of the Silver Moon Crystal to protect them.
Prince Diamond sat on his throne with a glass of red wine in his right hand, as per usual. It was such a common occurrence for him to be doing that that his underlings believed that he never left that damned throne even for a second. The artificial light in the room was dim, but it was enough for him to see the distortion in the air and the pattern of the dust motes as they were disturbed. Turning his head lazily in that direction, he watched as a figure materialized out of thin air. It was a man; tall and considerably younger than him. The man sported dark blue hair to match his almost midnight blue eyes, and the mark of a black crescent moon was on his forehead, standing out against his stark white skin. He wore a jacket decorated with ornaments and rods made of stainless steel, dyed a dark blue color. To complete the outfit, he had on a pair of brilliant white pants, white shoes and dark blue gloves to cover his hands.
"Prince Diamond, the last of the droids are now fully equipped and are battle ready." The man sank into a graceful bow that was one fluid motion.
"Show them to me!" Prince Diamond sneered out his order as he talked without looking up from his glass of wine. This was showing the man that he was insignificant to his plans, and that wine was more compelling to look at then him. The blue haired man nodded, closed his eyes, and the prince could see that he was concentrating hard. A second, a much larger shimmer in the air appeared next to the man. A few seconds after that, another figure appeared out of the air current. This one was much larger than a human, and though it was humanoid in shape, it seemed like Mother Nature had forgotten to finish the job in forming it. It had no eyes or mouth, and its limbs were longer and thinner than a human's.
"Dr. Octavius was able to adapt the robotics technology started by his predecessor using the raw materials found on Nemesis and from the other sources. Unfortunately, the droids can only produce screeching noises rather than actual words." There was a tone of heavy regret in his voice as he informed the prince about the slight glitch that had been encountered in the building of the project.
"I don't care if they can talk or tap dance. All I want to know is whether they can do the job that they were created for! Can they do it, Sapphire?" Prince Diamond's voice rose as he addressed the younger man, and his hand tightened around the cup of wine. If his clutch on the goblet increased anymore, the glass would be in danger of exploding in his hair, creating dozens of sharp pieces of shrapnel. .
"My apologies, brother. Yes, the droids' fighting capabilities and their battle durability are on par with the information that we have regarding the current defenses of Crystal Tokyo and the forms of resistance that they will face when we begin our operations against Earth." Sapphire lowered his head in atonement and his voice dropped in volume as he informed the prince that everything was on schedule and up to the standards that he had set out.
"Very good. You've done well, little brother. Apparently Doctor Octavius was correct in choosing you to be his protégé. Load all the available droid units onto both ships and prepare the rest of our forces. It won't be long now until the time will come for us to move and take back what is rightfully ours." Prince Diamond languidly relaxed back into his throne after he finished speaking, loosening his grip on the wineglass just enough so the wineglass was no longer at risk of cracking.
"It shall be done at once, my prince." Sapphire bowed his head once more; than disappeared, along with the droid, into another pocket of shimmering air. Prince Diamond looked at the spot where they had been for a few seconds longer before slouching in his throne and resting his head on his left hand, resting the elbow on the arm of his cathedra.
"You are correct in sensing that the time is almost here for your attack on the people of Crystal Tokyo and the people of the White Moon that protect them." Prince Diamond raised an eyebrow when the sudden echoic voice appeared, cutting through the brief silence that had enveloped the chamber following Sapphire's departure. The oily voice floated across the throne room and beleaguered Prince Diamond's ears. A few seconds later, a strange, shadowy hooded figure, wearing a cloak made up of the darkest of nights floated up through the metal floor of the throne room. The figure was sitting cross legged, and he was floating about three feet off of the polished pewter floor. In his lap hovered a crystal ball that radiated light and electricity that came from the powerful mystical energies within it. The figure's hands that extended out from underneath the black cloak were humanoid but they were made up of energy as opposed to flesh and bone. At first glance, they looked as if they made from a kaleidoscope of colors, but in reality the dominant colours were what someone would see in a puddle of oil and water. As the cloaked figured moved his inhuman hands around the glass orb, a person would see a mosaic mixture of light and dark browns, some shades of red and tiny miniscule hints of light blue.
"What do you mean, Wiseman?" Prince Diamond turned his attention and his head to properly address his most chief advisor. Wiseman did not say anything right away, choosing instead to continue to move his hands around the crystal ball in front of him. His body language suggested that he was looking into the sphere for an answer to Prince Diamond's question but it was impossible to confirm that since no one had ever seen Wiseman's face except for the twin sparks of white light that marked where his eyes were.
"The people of Crystal Tokyo have discovered our planet's location once again. The Black Crystal's cloaking power can no longer conceal us from our enemies. We must attack now, or we risk Neo-Queen Serenity attacking us first. She is still afraid of us, as she very well should be, however, she will want to eliminate us once and for all as soon as the message of our existence reaches her ears." Wiseman's voice now wavered and wobbled like that of an old man's. He no longer had the magical-sounding echo that was infused in it when he used it to be heard by other people when he wasn't physically in the room at that moment. Prince Diamond remained silent as he contemplated what Wiseman had just told him and how to respond in accordance. A minute of silence passed between them before Prince Diamond set up in his throne.
"You are correct, as always, Wiseman. The time to strike is now! We will destroy the people of Crystal Tokyo with the power of the Black Crystal! We will exact our revenge for what they have done to our parents and to everyone else that has been banished or exiled to this world of cold and darkness!" The prince was so vehement in his declaration that he slammed his left fist onto the arm of the throne. The strike was hard enough to create a noticeable crack in the craved marble of which it was made.