~ 20 Minutes Earlier ~
"What...?"
"It can destroy an Planet?"
"And Esmarude stole it?"
To say that Serenity's Senshi were both shocked and horrified by what she had told them, would be correct. As the monarch explained everything that had happened, as well as to why Logan had agreed to help her and why he had gone off on his own after freeing them.
"Why did he even had that thing on his ship in the first place?" Rei asked angrily, as her concern soon shifted into anger. The fact that Logan's "People" had even developed a weapon that could destroy a planet, absolutely disgusted her.
"I told you, it was because his people were in a war!" Serenity shot back. "And from what he said, they were losing."
"Still!"
"Can we go back to focusing on the real issue here?" Makoto interjected. "We can argue about this... Nova Bomb's existence later. Right now we are on Nemesis and Esmarude has it.What if she decides to use it? We can't let that happen."
"Which is why Logan is going to try to locate and... disarm it." Serenity replied.
"So are we just going to let him do it on his own?" Minako suddenly piped up, her words catching all of them by surprise. "I don't know about you, but if he can disarm that ... Nova Bomb, then should we make sure that he finds it first?"
There was a moment of silence as her words were digested by the other girls.
"I normally would not say this, but Minako is right." Rei admitted. "If Logan is the only one who can disarm it, then we should help him get to it."
"So what are we waiting for?" Makoto asked, cracking her knuckles. "Let's go!"
"Wait... before we do, I think you guys would need these." Serenity announced, as she pulled out their Henshin rods.
The girls grinned, as they took their respective items raised them into the air...
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Present...
"I thought I told all you to leave?" Logan asked, as the Sailor Senshi walked up to him.
"Like I said, we are here to help you." Serenity replied.
"And from what we have seen, it looks like you can use it." Sailor Neptune replied. "Besides, you might need someone to watch your back while disarming that bomb you are looking for."
"I told them everything." Serenity stated, as she walked up to the Spartan. Her refection staring back at her from his gold visor. "We have to make sure Esmarude doesn't get a chance to use it against us or anyone else."
"And like it or not, we are not going to leave you until you make sure that this... Nova Bomb can not be used anymore." Mars stated firmly, to which Jupiter added "Besides, Esmarude is eventually gonna notice that we are missing eventually. Which means getting out of here alive may become problematic when she does."
Now obviously, Logan did not like the idea of having these women follow him and normally he would have protested their decision. But he also knew that arguing with them would only be wasting time and he need to focus on finding the stolen Nova Bomb.
"Very Well." Logan replied. Once again his deep, emotionless voice masking his annoyance. "You can help."
"Good." Serenity said with a smile, "So where is this bomb?"
There was a moment of silence before the Spartan replied, "Behind those doors."
Sure enough, there were another pair of metal doors a few meters away and from what the helmet's was showing, his objective was indeed behind them. But it seemed that Esmarude knew just how "valuable" the Nova Bomb was, as the Spartan had also detected a number of signatures with the weapon as well. It was at this point Logan soon realized that stealth was now no longer an option, as there would be no way for him to enter said room without alerting the rest of the castle's occupants. Especially now that the Senshi were free.
He needed a distraction, something that would keep this Esmarude person occupied long enough for him to complete his objective. Fortunately for him though, there was such a distraction waiting to be used. One that weighed over two million metric tons and was one of the more powerful warships in the UNSC at one time.
Finally reactivating his com system, Logan said...
"Hannah, I need you"
[ U.N.S.C. SIEGE MERCILESS ]
Suddenly, the Valiant-class Cruiser came to life. As Hannah had received Logan's message and was now enacting Phase two of the operation.
Chibiusa and the Quartet were taken aback when they felt the Cruiser rumble to life, as the lights seemingly dimmed as they could feel the vessel start to move. A similar sense of confusion was also being felt by Haruka, who was also startled by this development. Despite Hannah's "Warnings", the tall blond got out of her bed and wrapping herself in her sheets, the Senshi of the Wind attempted to open the door leading out of the medical bay. Only to pound her first on the metal door in frustration, as it would not open for her.
As this was going on, the Siege Merciless' sub light engines began to glow a bit brighter, as the warship began to move towards the ominous planetoid. As the ship got closer, one of the hanger doors opened up to reveal a pair of large "Drop Pods" which shot out of the cruiser and headed towards Nemesis.
Meanwhile, Esmarude was still taking part in her drunken celebration and was just about to head down to the dungeon to view her captives, when alarms began to go off around her. The effects of the alcohol she enjoyed was still in full effect, as he shadow minion fell to the floor right in front of her.
Moments later,a large holographic display appeared before her which showed the hulking mass of the Siege Merciless approaching the planet. Needless to say, Esmarude quickly began to sober up. As she son began to realize just what was happening.
It was not long before the sounds of the alarms reached the Serenity and her Senshi. All of whom were uncertain of what was happening.
"What's going on?" Venus asked out loud.
"Logan, did you do something?" Serenity asked the Super Soldier.
"Plan B." was all he said, just as used the captured key card from before to unlock the doors in front of him.
No sooner had they swung open, Automatic gun fire erupted. As Logan quickly and soundly eliminated the Droids inside the chamber. A few did try to attack on their own, but they too were swiftly cut down by Logan's gunfire.
Ejecting the empty clip and swiftly replacing it with a fresh one, the Spartan slowly made his way into the room and soon locked his eyes on the stolen device.
The Senshi were all taken aback by just how large the bomb was, as it was taller than Logan and as wide as a Auto-pod. But it was the image of a large predatory bird clutching a planet with it's Talons which really caught their attention.
"Kami-Sama..." Mars gasped out in awe, as Logan approached the device. "So this is..."
"The Nova Bomb." Logan replied, as he knelt down in front of the device and carefully removed one of the panels. "Now you know I told you to head back to the Mongoose."
"If that thing goes of, then I doubt it would matter if we made it off the planet." Mercury said ominously, has she had activated her visor to scan the device. What she saw scared the Senshi to her very core, something which normally didn't happen to the usually calm and collected woman. She had been told just how powerful the weapon could be, but now her scans confirm everything she had heard
All the Senshi could do at this point, was to stand watch by the door and ensure no one would disturb the Spartan. The last thing anyone wanted was for the device to go off.
Logan, for his part, slowly began to tune out the world around him and focus on the task at hand.
The Nova Bomb was most certainly a product of its time. When Humanity was faced with possible extinction and did everything it could to beat back the unrelenting Covenant Assault. Basically it was nine extremely powerful nuclear fusion warheads that when detonated, would release enough energy to kill a planet. But despite it's destructive power, the Bomb would become fairly harmless if one were to deactivate the mechanism which caused the nuclear chain reaction.
Once again using his helmet's display to navigate the internal workings of the device, he was able to identify the nuclear cores for the first three warheads. Carefully, he began to remove the cores and place them on the ground beside him. A process which felt as if it had taken ages, but in reality it had only taken a few minutes to complete.
When the first three were removed, he moved on to the second panel repeated the process. All the while the Senshi guarded the door, though they would occasionally glace at the Spartan behind them.
Finally, Logan came to the last three cores and was able to easily remove the first two, but the third one... the third one was an issue. Unlike the pervious eight, the final core was the master core. When detonated, this would be the first warhead to go off before the others. Due to this, the Master Core could not be removed as easily as the others. In fact, the only way it could have been removed was it it was sent back to it's manufacture and the bomb itself was dismantled. But there was still one other way it could be rendered inoperable.
Taking out a pair of small canisters from his back pack, he pointed the first one at the Master Core and gave it a squeeze. A grey substance sprayed out and coated the metallic core instantly. Logan repeated the process with the second canister with similar results and soon a small icon appeared on his display. This was a special solution with had been developed many decades ago, which could neutralize nuclear material and was developed by the UNSC for situations like this. It was just one of the many advancements humanity had made in the wake of the Covenant War.
Even if the other cores were reinstalled into the device, they would absolutely useless without the Master Core. The Nova Bomb was now effectively neutralized, it was now nothing more than a conventional explosive device.
"It's done" Logan replied, as he took the remaining cores and placed them into his back back.
"You did it?" Serenity asked, a wave of relief flowing her upon hearing those words.
"It's no longer a threat." The Spartan explained, "Though now would be good time for us to leave."
"That might not be so easy to do." Mercury spoke up, as she looked at her computer. "I am detecting dozens of droids headed this way."
"I guess the old woman finally notice we are missing." Jupiter said bluntly, but with a hint of excitement in her voice. It was if she was looking forward to the upcoming fight.
But as the girls and Logan were preparing themselves for the battle that was to come, they were unaware that Plan B was just about to take effect.
For at that moment on the surface, the two large pods which had been launched by the Siege Merciless, had touched down right outside the Black Moon Palace. Obviously this had not gone unnoticed and soon, an army from droids began to move towards them. But before they could converge on the landing site, the pods opened and streams of super heated 20mm gunfire erupted from within. Shredding the Droids as if they were tissue paper, as numerous missiles soon impacted as well.
From within the drop pod, a pair of skeletal mech suits emerged and continued to lay down heavy gun fire on their would be attackers. Much to the shock to Esmarude, who had now completely sobered up and could see the "battle" take place from her balcony. But things soon got alot worse, when Logan's Pelican began to conduct attack runs on the droids with its own cannon. All the while, Hannah controlled all three vehicles of from the Siege Merciless.
"You... Idiot..." a voice suddenly spoke up from behind Esmarude. "You... Blasted IDIOT!"
Esmarude head this graveled yet familiar voice from behind her her and when she turned around, she saw a black bubbling mass where her sole minion had been laying.
"You had only one task to complete... One TASK!! You had the Senshi in the palm of your hand... and you just decided to get drunk and party like a DAMN FOOL!!"
Suddenly, the Shadow Being "exploded" upwards and outwards, much to the surprise of Esmarude. It soon took the form of a humanoid figure that now towered over her.
"All this time... I allowed you to believe you were in charge... I allowed you to believe that this was your victory... and when it looked as if you had finally won ... you wasted it by getting drunk!!"
Suddenly, a bolt of purple energy shot out from the being's hand and "grabbed" Esmarude. The now helpless woman tried to free herself from her former servant's grasp, but was soon sent flying across her chamber and hit the marble floor with a sickening thud.
"I made a mistake keeping you alive all these years... all these BLASTED YEARS!"
Another bolt of energy struck the woman, sending her sliding across the smooth floor and into the table where her cake had been. The pastry falling onto the floor and covering her with it's remnants. With a line of blood leaking from her mouth, Esmarude looked up at her attack, as it slowly glided towards her.
It's bright red eyes looking down at her with pure hate burning within them. Unfortunately for the last survivor of the Black Moon Clan member, this was only the begining of her torment, as it's "head" began to bubble and take the form of a Human Skull.
Esmardue's eyes widened is horror, as the gasped out...
"You ..."
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A/N: Now the fun begins... so stay tuned!
As always, please leave a review and tell me what you think. The feed back really helps. Until Next Time, NIGHTSTALKER OUT!