Cyber Moon: Crystal.
Act 2: War Games.
Episode 9: War of the worlds.
By Razor Knight
Last update: January 14, 2009
"Dark Night Field."
The shadow spread through the ship like a flood, a flood one couldn't escape from, until the whole ship looked like a dark spot in the sky. The aliens inside the ship lived in a planet where 'darkness' was ever-present, but never like this. Not this complete absence of light, this hell where you couldn't even see your own nose, where you couldn't even be sure you were still alive.
Not like that would be an issue for too long for them. Neo Nemesis looked up as the darkness she had created crushed the ship into a tiny spot of overcompressed matter, which then exploded, damaging two other ships severely.
"We have to get them faster," Neo Moon said, "they're wrecking the city."
"Hmph, I don't see you taking them fast enough, either," Neo Venus noted.
Moon snorted. "I didn't want to use this yet, but I think this battle requires something like this. Holy Heart Explosion!"
Venus laughed. "Stupid name." She then heard an explosion and looked up. Where there had once been a large spaceship, now floated a huge, pink heart. "... What the fuck..."
Saturn shook her head. "Seriously, what is it with this girl and hearts?"
But the heart didn't just stay there. Moon moved her hand to one side, and the heart mimicked her movement, smashing through three of the ships before fading. "What were you saying about me not being fast enough, Hikaru?"
"I stand corrected," Venus said, then noticed one of the ships was aiming its canons their way. "Oh no, you won't... Thousand Lasers!"
As the name implied, countless small light beams shot from Venus' hands, piercing through the ship, and causing it to explode before it could fire back.
"Good, keep this up," Moon said, then summoned her communicator again. "You can join up whenever you want, guys."
"We were about to," Haruka's voice said from the comm. A few seconds later, several of the ships exploded, hit by assorted elemental blasts.
Moon smiled. The city had been quite wrecked, that was true, but there weren't enough ships left up there to make this battle last for more than one minute now.
But the attacks didn't stop there. Nemesis' spaceship fleet was large, and they had a few tricks under their sleeves too. The Senshi had to split to fight battles all around the Earth, protecting several large cities, the Nemesians' favorite target.
And not only the Senshi took the role of defenders in this war. One of the groups defending Europe was the one lead by Warwitch, who was right now discussing the defense strategy with the local army.
"So you say we have to concentrate in attacking and leave the defense to you?"
"That's correct, we are going to leave several of our group protecting the city."
"Several?" The man looked at this woman's group. Two seemingly normal humans and a Senshi. "But that means..."
"I'm more than capable of hitting those aliens where it hurts, General."
Neo Lilith smiled. "You could leave the defense to me."
"Are you sure about that?" Aiko asked.
"I'll show you my training's results today," Lilith simply said.
"Fine," the man interrupted, "I don't like to admit this, but we'll need all the help we can get, even if it's from Lesser Senshi."
"Who's lesser?" Lilith frowned. "I'm Lilith's daughter."
"Oh... Then, we could really use your help out there."
A soldier came rushing into the room. "General, the Nemesians are coming!"
Warwitch smiled. "Let's welcome them."
The General couldn't help but wonder just how these two women could be that powerful. He was never too worried about knowing what the Senshi could do, much less about other superbeings in their crystal city. But these two, specially Warwitch, were simply incredible.
"Luminscence!"
The man had to cover his eyes as one of the spaceships lit up, exploding seconds later. He turned his attention to the one Senshi in the area, Neo Lilith as she had introduced herself. She was just standing there, apparently doing nothing. One of the spaceships strayed off the group of attackers, seemingly noticing the lone figure in the center of the city, and opened fire.
"Karma Shield."
The ship's many cannons had shot at least a dozen beams towards her, but all the beams were deflected, none hitting any of the buildings surrounding her.
"Need help?" Aiko asked turning back.
"No, I told you I could handle this," Lilith said, then looked at the ship. "Let's see how those aliens work under pressure. Thousand Suns!"
Aiko couldn't help but gasp in surprise as she saw the spaceship turning into a small cube of super-compressed metal and crystal. "What the hell was..."
"I can use both luck and gravity... I guess I'm a little like that guy. I found about this decades ago, and trained this side of my powers too."
"Good, now I'll go help Yuki before she comes yelling at me."
Lilith smiled. "Go do that, I'll keep the city in one piece."
All wars have casualties, and this war was not different. The young girl stared at the palace. The untouched, shiny castle resting behind a magical wall. Protected from those alien bastards, while the rest of the city got wrecked. Sure, the Senshi had stopped the attack, but it had been too late. Many people died during the initial attack, and her parents were amongst them.
She wasn't supposed to be out here, true, but she knew the idiots back at the refuge would never notice two kids were missing. Not two kids without parents.
"Sin, I wanna go back."
Sin looked at the small boy and her face changed. She smiled at him. "It's okay, Anshar, we can't stay in there all day, you know?"
The boy was visibly upset by the scenery. Half the city was wrecked, the other half was not as bad, but nothing had been left untouched. Nothing but... She looked at the palace again and her glare returned. "The Senshi..."
The Senshi are a disease, the Earth is doomed as long as they are alive. Sin looked around. Where did that voice come from? Do not worry about where I am, little one. All that matters is that I've been looking for those like you, those who see the truth behind the Senshi. They're the ones attracting evil to our world, if they weren't here, then...
"... Then mom and dad wouldn't have died." Sin completed.
"What's wrong, sis?" Anshar asked.
"Nothing, don't worry," Sin said.
I cannot fight the Senshi myself, but I can teach you how to do it. I can give you power beyond that of the Senshi, so you can avenge your parents' deaths. I can give you what you want, Sin.
'Then I will go with you. I want to make the Senshi pay, no matter what the cost is.'
Good, then...
'But my brother comes along. I can't leave him here.'
Of course, the voice said, then everything went white around the two siblings.
Being the second-best strategist in Dimando's army meant she was quite the woman for this position. Actually, she was the best strategist in his army, but even if he was family, she respected the Prince enough to let the matter they were calling Wiseman the best strategist in the Dark Moon drop.
And thus, she had been placed as the general of the Nemesian armies while Dimando and the others were taking care of other business. She would not let them down, she would defeat these Neo Senshi pests for sure. She had a plan to destroy these Senshi, and she would put it in practice soon. If the plan failed, she would be back to square one, but if she won, then she knew it would raise her army's morale greatly.
"Wish Mako was here, she would love this."
Neo Venus couldn't quite understand what was so great about this. They were two against two thousand robots. "Karin, how are we going to get through these bugs?"
"You kill a thousand, I kill a thousand."
"Oh, that's easy," Hikaru muttered.
"In fact, it would be quite easy if we didn't want to keep the city relatively in one piece," Moon noted. "I could blast them all to dust in seconds... But I would also blast the city up, and make it all too obvious for anyone watching the news that I am the one they once knew as ChibiMoon."
"Good point," Hikaru said. "Why isn't your knight in the gloomy armor here, though?"
"I'd be careful about calling her that," Moon said, "she's got a glaive and trust me, she loves stabbing people through with it."
"Warning acknowledged," Venus said. "But enough chatting, here they come."
"If I'm guessing things right, then there's someone watching this, someone we have to impress. Think you can take care of the robots?"
"Oh of course, nothing like meleeing a few thousand enemies, really. "
"I said you couldn't wreck the city, I never said you couldn't use magic blasts. just be careful not to destroy anything."
"As you wish, boss," Hikaru said. Not that she was fearing the robots would hurt her badly, really, it was just that this wasn't quite a battle she was going to enjoy. But still, she knew she had signed up for this kind of things the day she became a Senshi, and she would get the job done.
"Lady Pearl, we've been driven back from every city we attacked so far."
The woman glared at the man. Of course, it wasn't this soldier's fault, but she was just not in a good mood right now. Not only was she failing, but Esmeraude, that bitch Esmeraude, had already visited her twice during this last month, to check on things, and she hadn't been happy.
And Esmeraude not being happy meant she had told Dimando, and Dimando wouldn't be happy either. Being in charge of the Earth strike force was a honor, yes, but it was also a headache when you were facing monsters that could destroy your best battle cruisers in one shot.
"You may leave, I'll broadcast our next move to the army after I study this situation."
The soldier left, and Pearl sank on her chair. There was really no winning strategy here. If they were only fighting the Earth armies, then they would've already won. But these Neo Senshi were too much, in all the war there had been no reports of any of them getting hit even once. Not even one wound to those Senshi, in nearly one month of war? These weren't the normal, average Lesser Senshi, but with all the Senshi busy keeping the shield around the Crystal Palace up...
She turned to the computer and swiftly typed in some commands. A display of the battle that had taken place in the city the humans called Rome. There was one Senshi that had seemed familiar to her at first. That pink-haired one... She reminded her of Serenity herself. Pearl had seen the Queen in many visits she made to the Palace pre-war, when the Prince met the Queen.
And she knew she was missing something. There had to be a reason for this girl to have so much power. She looked at the face again, then started browsing the human news archives the Nemesians had hacked into.
There was nothing there. In fact, there were only mentions of six Senshi, which for some reason sounded amiss to her. No, there weren't six planets, so there had to be more Senshi around. Maybe some of these supposedly 'Lesser' Senshi were those who would fill such places.
Pearl knew she was now in her own battlefield. One reason for Dimando to choose her as the General while he was back in the past (and now that Rubeus and Esmeraude weren't around anymore,) was that she was much better at thinking than fighting. It was also a good sign that Dimando had told her where they were, she at least knew her victory here would be easier once Dimando's plans succeeded.
She run a comparative check on the known Senshi and their powers. There were two of these Neo Senshi who had powers like them, of fire and light. However, there were no records of any Lesser Senshi ever coming so close to the power levels the six known Senshi had.
Pearl cringed at that, such a thing could mean there could be more than one Senshi for each planet. She looked at the image of the pink-haired woman again. Of course! She had overlooked it because she didn't have that last bit of information, but now she saw it. This Neo Moon was a relative of Serenity herself. Possibly another daughter. So that meant there was another Princess to deal with. Maybe if she killed her, then she...
Killing her? Killing a Senshi that could destroy one of their ships? Pearl wasn't exaclty a weakling in combat, but she couldn't compare to Dimando at all. Not even to the Ayakashi. Wait, that was it!
Dimando would probably be able to kill them all. No, even better, if they were the Senshi's kids, and the Senshi were killed in the past, then they would never be born... But also...
Pearl hadn't considered what that all meant, but it all hit her at once. No Senshi in the past meant no Crystal Tokyo, but that would mean history would be changed. The Black Moon would cease to exist too, at least the current version of themselves. What was Wiseman planning?
She tried to call Dimando and the others, but got no response from them. She kept trying for two hours, but finally gave up. Grabbing the one 'time displacer' Dimando had given her in case she needed to go back in time, she frowned. She would have to go and see for herself, to make sure the others were okay.
As Pearl reached the twentieth century, however, she felt something. A feeling she had felt before when Esmeraude died, only now it was much worse. She looked at now abandoned base, the building that the Ayakashi had used as a forwards base in this century. But she knew something was amiss. Yes, the Wiseman, she couldn't feel his creepy presence anymore.
Pearl sank to her knees. They had failed. The Black Moon Family was no more, not counting her or her brother back home. Those Senshi, they had killed them all, they were murderers, she just couldn't...
"I know what you're thinking."
The woman turned to see one of the Senshi there. Not any Senshi, but Pluto, the guardian of time. "What's this, are you here to finish the job?"
Pluto shook her head. "The Senshi killed Wiseman. But it was Wiseman's hand that destroyed your clan."
"Hmph. You're just trying to fool me, to make me forget about..."
"If you won't listen to me, then you should check that computer. It may have something for you."
Pearl frowned at the woman, but checked the computer anyway. There were several entries in the computer written by Dimando, Saffir and the others. She checked them and realized the dreadful truth. Everyone, even Dimando, had gradually became aware that Wiseman wasn't helping them out of loyalty. The most recent entry wasn't just written, and she frowned. Saffir had recorded it, and the name was 'last hope.' She opened the file, and Saffir's face appeared in the screen.
"I don't know if anyone will see this, but if this file's ever opened, then we're already gone. We made a mistake, trusting that Wiseman monster. He didn't want to help us. He feeds on dark emotions. He used us, all along, he wanted to have this world for himself."
Pearl watched the recorded video, not quite aware that Pluto had already left.
"He led us here, to the past, in order to have us kill the Senshi. The Queen, or Sailor Moon as she's called in this era, is the only one who can stop that monster. She's the only one with a weapon that can overpower Wiseman. She's our last hope."
Saffir paused for a few seconds, then his face turned sad. "If anyone ever watches this, that means that we won. We are gone, yes, but if reality isn't changed, then the Senshi won. Whoever you are, relay this message to Pearl and Opal, tell them the war has to stop. I just hope the Senshi of our time are as forgiving as the ones from this era seem to be."
Pearl looked down, her sadness quickly replaced by anger. They had all been fooled, thousands of lives had been lost on both fronts of this meaningless war, all for whatever goal that Wiseman asshole was trying to achieve.
She let her anger burst out, energy blasting forth in all directions and completely destroying the building she was in. She looked around as she realized what she had done, and saw her mistake. If the Senshi of this time detected her... Without wasting a second more, Pearl vanished, heading for the future.
Pluto appeared seconds later and smiled. Yes, the Senshi of this era would have detected her if things were calm, but they were right now trying to stop a comet from crashing straight into Tokyo. She knew the Queen was aware of this, and she would have to bring Small Lady back to her own era.
Pearl had told her people the truth. Most of their leaders were gone, betrayed and killed by the Wiseman, but the Senshi had killed the Wiseman, so their deaths were already avenged in a way.
She was right now standing in front of the outer barrier of Crystal Tokyo, a single Senshi looking suspiciously at her from inside. "I am Pearl, the current leader of the Nemesian army. I've come here to talk to the Queen herself."
The Senshi, Mars if she remembered the color pattern right, nodded. "The Queen knew you were coming, and is waiting for you. However, I must warn you, should you try anything funny..."
"Your threat is unneeded. I'm well aware of the magic power you have, Sailor Mars."
"Oh, I won't need to do a thing. The Queen is quite capable of taking care of herself. In fact, she's many times stronger than any of the others."
"Oh." Pearl tried not to show it, but that revelation made her all the more uneasy about asking for an audience with the Queen of Crystal Tokyo. "So, am I allowed to go in?"
"Walk right in," Mars said, "I won't stop you."
"But the shield is..."
"The shield is not going to hurt you in the least."
Pearl blinked in shock and walked to the shield. It was almost invisible, a transluscent bubble covering the whole city. She passed a hand through it and gasped. "Amazing."
"This shield obeys the Queen's will. She has granted you access to the city, but one last warning just in case: Should you do anything here to get on the Queen's bad side, then this shield will be an unbreakable wall, at least for you."
Pearl smiled nervously. "It's a good thing I don't intend to do anything strange, then."
"That's yet to be seen," Mars said bluntly.
Apparently, not all the Senshi were trusting her yet. She couldn't blame them, though, as she would have been just as skeptical in their position.
The Queen was powerful. No, she couldn't really describe how it felt to be standing in front of her. But also, this power wasn't threatening, it was clear this woman wasn't hostile towards her. "Your Highness..."
"Call me Serenity," The Queen said, "what is your name?"
"I'm Pearl, one of Dimando's generals. I'll go straight to the point. I've come here to propose a peace treaty between our planets. "
"That's what the Prince said," the small black cat standing besides the throne (which Pearl hadn't noticed until now,) noted.
"Saffir left a message for us. I know what happened in the past, I know Wiseman betrayed us all... And I know you took care of him."
Serenity showed no surprise at her words. "I see. And you have realized this war is meaningless."
"That's all there is to it," Pearl noted. "The leaders of each Family in my world has already agreed to not set a foot in this world again if that's what's required to end this conflict."
"That won't be needed. I am not a warrior, thus I see no need to fuel the feelings of hatred that developed since this war started. "
"Your daughter is quite the warrior, though."
Serenity was surprised by that. "What do you mean, my daughter's only six years old."
"I'm talking about the other one. The one that supposedly died long time ago."
Moon appeared right besides the throne, startling both the Queen and her advisor. "Yes, I had to do that, for reasons you are better off not knowing."
"What are you doing here?" Serenity asked.
Moon smiled. "Coming to greet someone I know will play an important role in our future."
Serenity frowned at that, but said nothing. Outloud, at least, but she did 'talk' to her daughter mentally. 'This is another one of those things you knew about but didn't mention, right?'
'It's not like you never kept secrets from me, mother.'
Pearl looked at Moon nervously. "So, you really are..."
"Yes, I'm her daughter. But her other daughter doesn't know about me, and she must not know about me yet."
"I understand, I haven't told anyone about it yet." Pearl turned to Serenity. "So, I suppose we have an agreement, then?"
"We'll make it official tomorrow," Serenity said, "but you can tell your people this war is over."
"So things are back to normal now," Hotaru noted. The two were standing outside the brand new Neo Senshi base, in Europa. Their first project after the war was to try and find out just where the Juvians lived, and the best bet made was that they actually didn't live on the planet (since it was and had always been basically a giant ball of gas,) but on the many satellites. But thus far, even Mako hadn't been able to sense the Seed, wherever it was.
"Normal, yeah, for a while, but in about ten years..."
"Try not to think about that," Hotaru said. True, it was a lot easier said than done, since even Hotaru herself felt the stress of having such an important date be finally so close to them.
"There has to be a way, I just know it, but I don't know just how... "
Hotaru smiled. "If there's something I know, is that you don't give up, Chibi. You'll find a way to both keep the timelines intact and keep us alive."
Usagi sighed. Yes, she was right, she hadn't found a solution to that issue in a thousand years, so maybe it would come to her once the deadline was close enough. "About that other thing I hadn't found a solution to..."
"Hadn't, you say?" Hotaru noted, curious about what she meant.
"Yes. There's a way for us to expand our family."
Hotaru frowned. "But doing that this close to..."
"It will give me one more reason to find a way to solve that one problem... And come on, don't tell me you don't think about it anymore."
"I'd be lying if I said that. Okay, I'll bite."
"I hope you don't bite, actually," Usagi said with a wink.
Hotaru blushed slightly. "Err... Wrong choice of words, I suppose. So how are we going to..."
"I won't ruin the surprise," Usagi said playfully.
"Some things never change, right Pinky?"
"That's true, old woman."
Hotaru chuckled at that. "That one won't work anymore. We're the same age right now."
"I know. I'll have to look for a better nickname."
Hotaru looked up at the massive planet their base orbited. "Think we'll find a way to solve this mystery?"
"No idea, but you know the saying, there's nothing impossible..."
"So they say, Chibi." The real question she had in her mind was, however, if the ten years between now and the Hunters' arrival would be as relatively calm as the centuries before the Black Moon's arrival had been. But for some reason, she knew she probably wouldn't like the answer to that question.
A/N: Enter the Neo Senshi. Well, they've been around for a long while, but I suppose this was their first war as a team. Also, I suppose most fans out there will know who Sin and her gang are. If you don't know her, you've missed the best Sailor Moon game ever made.
If you're wondering why this one took so much time to be written, I can only blame two things: Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3.
The episode ended up being a bit shorter than the average for Crystal, but I wasn't about to cut-and-paste battle scenes off Chronicles or previous Crystal episodes just to make it look longer.