Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor X ❯ SX17: High Tide (The CYBERWAR series) ( Chapter 17 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Sailor X #17 High Tide

By: John Brengman

London Megacity 2:30 am

The cries of the newborn child echoed through the ramshackle building.
Within the old building that had been a department store in better
days Two men emerged from the shadow-filled room. One of the men wore
a white lab coat and wire glasses. The other was dressed in casual
slacks and a shirt. Both men searched the darkness cautiously, as if
the cries of the child in the room were dangerous.

"Thanks for doing this doc," the man said as he pulled a cigarette
from his coat pocket. "I don't know where I would've gotten a doctor
this quickly if it weren't for you."

"You mean you don't know where you would have found someone who would
perform an illegal surgery or make sure that neither you, your wife,
or baby had Lucifer Chips implanted."

"Uhh, doc," the man stammered, fearful that perhaps he had mistaken
the intentions of the doctor.

"Don't worry," the doctor replied quietly. "That's what the Resistance
does. Anything we can do to keep the Foundation from getting control
of more people. Have you thought of a name for your daughter?"

"Yes," came the reply. "My wife is naming her Jennifer, after her
god-mother..."

A spherical shape floated in the air high above the wrecked city
street, its electronic eye scanning the area. It's sensors passed over
one building, then switched to infrared and flickered over the
building once again. Satisfied with the cold blue lifelessness that it
found, the surveillance drone turned its attention to the next
building...a four-story abandoned store. It started a standard scan of
the structure and found nothing.

Switching to infrared, it scanned the building again and discovered a
blob of heat near the base of the structure.. With a quick pulse from
its engine, the drone glided around to scan the site from another
angle. It then switched back to its standard sensors and scanned
again.

A micro-transmitter activated.

SURVEILANCE DRONE DN109-329 REPORTING FROM GRID 185.24 HEATHROW
SECTION.

NON-REGISTERED HUMANOIDS DETECTED. NO CONTROL CIRCUITS DETECTED.

POSSIBILITY OF RESISTANCE INVOLVEMENT: 47 PERCENT

Having reported its suspicions to the police, the drone continued on
to the next building.

==> * SM * <==

The crackling flare of the fires burned bright as the police
flame-throwers doused the broken building. The flames hungrily
devoured the scattered wood, paper, and cloth that lay strewn about
the premises. The strobing of the red and blue lights from the police
cars could be seen for blocks around, and overhead, surveillance
drones recorded the spectacle for the Foundation.

Above the din of the fires and the wail of the police sirens came the
desperate cries of a man and his wife. Then, in an instant, fear and
anguish bloomed as a plume of fire ripped through the core of the
building. Mingled within the chaos were the piercing screams of an
infant.

==> * SM * <==

The silvery shapes floated far above the shadowy surface of the
Negaverse. Slowly they pushed through the gray clouds and the
perpetually black skies. Far below, the lights of the city below
glimmered up as if trying to hide. At one end of the cluster of
lights, bright beams of searchlights stabbed upward into the darkness
in lazy waving arcs.

"They're out there," Queen Beryl mused as she looked skyward.

"I don't see them," Cass said worriedly.

"Don't worry," Beryl replied smoothly. "Scanners say that they're up
there..." She pointed at a gap between the bright shafts of the
searchlights.

"Your troops are ready to be deployed," Sandra reported as she joined
Cass and the queen on the balcony in one of the "eyes" of the castle.
"The left flank is commanded by Malachite, the center by Nephrite..."

Beryl noticed the pause. "And the right flank?" She asked.

"Scaramanga," Sandra spat.

Beryl turned to face Sandra and fixed her with a stern gaze. "Is there
something wrong?" She asked. "Is there some reason that Scaramanga
should not command the right flank?"

"We've met before," Cass quipped.

"We've met," Sandra agreed, "and not under the best of circumstances."

"Whatever," Beryl said simply. "Scaramanga is about the best leader
that we have now that Zoisite and Jedite are dead. I need him, and I
will need you to get over whatever you have against him because you
will have to cooperate with him."

"Why?" Sandra inquired.

"Because I want you and the rest of the Sailors to split up into
groups of three and join my army groups." Sandra was about to protest
but Beryl continued. "This is the break you have been waiting for.
Those are three troop ships and a command vessel. If those ships are
fully loaded, and with the Slave Shield around Earth up, there is only
one place those troops could have come from."

The implication sank in. "The Foundation," Sandra breathed. Beryl
nodded gravely.

"If we can tie them down," Sandra started.

"...or better yet, destroy them," Cass chimed in.

"Then there'll be that many fewer troops when you launch your raid on
the Foundation," Beryl said as she turned and walked out of the
balcony. The two women quickly followed and started talking about
which Sailor would be assigned where.

==> * SM * <==

A slight fog covered the ground of the huge maintenance bay located
under the castle. Metal-reinforced ramps dominated one side of the
room and would take everything from vehicles to large numbers of
soldiers to the foot of the castle's southern side...just to one side
of the "jaws" of the garish stone structure.

Now the place bustled with soldiers checking rifles and ammunition
clips and making sure they were ready to provide a fitting welcome to
the "guests" their officers said was on the way.

The Sailors were grouped together on a walkway overlooking the entire
scene. As the controlled fury of an army readying for war roiled
below, the women were making the decision of which of them would go
with which army.

"Uranus, Neptune," Sailor Moon said. "You will team up with
Malachite."

Neptune nodded in acknowledgement. The others gave no sign that they'd
even heard the instructions. Working with someone who in another place
had been a deadly foe was hard to get used to.

"Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars," continued Sailor Moon, "you'll be teamed
with Nephrite."

"Oh damn," Mars growled.

"What is it?" Sailor Jupiter asked.

"Nephrite's a scumbag," Mars replied.

"They're all losers," Uranus replied stonily. "What's your point?"

Sailor Moon cleared her throat, bringing everyone's attention back to
her.

"The people running the Negaverse might be losers here just as they
were in our universe," Sailor Moon said. "But right now, they are our
best chance to get our queen back." Sailor Moon fought back a tear as
she remembered her inability to save Neo-Queen Serenity from the
cyborg who kidnapped her.

"So," she continued. "We're going to do what we can to help them for
now, and that means splitting our power among their army groups.. Now,
that being said, I, Venus and...oh Hell..."

"What?" Mars asked.

"Where's Mercury?" Sailor Moon asked.

"She was just here," Jupiter murmured as she looked around along with
the rest of the Sailors.

Sailor Moon gazed down at the continuing bustle below. "We don't have
time to search for her," she said. "The armies are about to move out.
Venus, you and I will have to join Scaramanga without her."

The leader of the senshi breathed a heavy sigh. She had never been in
a full-blown war. None of them had.

"Let's do this," she said before starting down the stairs that would
take her and the others to the gathering armies.

"Let's do this for Neo-Queen Serenity."

==> * SM * <==

"You see me now a veteran

of a thousand psychic wars..."

* Blue Oyster Cult

The hours of training in the Foundation could not prepare the two
Sailors for the carnage that awaited them. Almost from the start of
the battle, human waves of soldiers lunged toward the defending
positions manned by the combination of the volunteers from Earth and
the meager forces of the Negaverse's home army.

Sailor Neptune backed up further as a splattering of lasers spluttered
across the ground where she had just stood. She was about to call upon
the powers of her patron planet when she remembered Sailor Moon's
final order: "Don't use your senshi powers unless you absolutely need
to."

"Damn!" Neptune growled as she unleashed a deadly spray of laser bolts
at a group of soldiers that were rushing toward her. Sailor Uranus was
climbing a rocky outcrop that had once been a building of some sort
and had her back turned to the fray. It was up to her and the other
defenders near her.

The assault that Neptune unleashed sliced into the oncoming soldiers,
most of whom collapsed bloodily to the soggy ground. One of the nearby
soldiers shot a blast toward the next group of attackers. His lethal
burst tore through the neck of his unlucky target and the soldier was
thrown back, his blood splattering the barren turf mere seconds before
his body landed.

The Negaverse defender who had scored that lucky hit was the next to
become a casualty as the three people next to his target returned
fire. One bright burst of energy burned a hole through his skull while
another seared his right arm from his torso. The man's lifeless body
fell off the rocky ledge.

Neptune looked up just long enough to see the falling corpse dropping
right toward her. With a strangled yelp, she scrambled out of the way
and the body fell behind her.

Laser blasts pelted the rock piled around Sailor Uranus. "Will you do
something about those soldiers?" She yelled.

"Trying," Neptune replied grimly as she dropped two more on-coming
attackers.

Uranus heard the whine of a laser pistol and looked down to see Sailor
Neptune pinging at the enemy.

"Use your senshi abilities!" Uranus shouted.

"Sailor Moon said..." but Neptune's reply was lost as a hail of laser
bolts slammed into the rubble around Sailor Uranus.

"To Hell with orders," Uranus growled. "She's not here getting her ass
shot at....WORLD SHAKING!"

Neptune saw Uranus glow as she collected the energy that coalesced
around her. "Hit the deck!" She screamed. Soldiers quit firing their
weapons and dove to the ground where they were. The attacking soldiers
kept up their advance.

The angry yellow glow surrounded Sailor Uranus and then roared
twisting and turning forward. As the devouring energy rumbled over the
landscape it slammed into everything in its way. Buildings were
reduced to rubble.

Living things were reduced to nothing.

Finally, the roar of the destructive attack faded. The Sailors and
their group were largely alone. Every so often a laser blast would
splatter at the nearby ground, but Uranus had mauled the mass of
humanity closest to the Sailors and their group, and the enemy was now
in search of easier targets.

==> * SM * <==

The Shuttle Bay aboard the Serena

Rachel entered the shuttle bay of the Serena and strode toward the
squat shapes that sat at the far end of the room. The few personnel
that worked here ignored her; she was a familiar sight.

Rachel walked past the elongated hull of a cargo ship and continued
undaunted toward the nearest shuttle. A technician wearing the yellow
one-piece jumpsuit of the shuttle bay workers approached. "Is there
something I can help you with?" He asked. Rachel responded by pulling
a small notepad from within the folds of her shirt.

"The captain wants a system-wide check done of all shuttle bay
systems," Rachel replied as she tossed the pad to the man. "You will
see to it personally."

"Yes maam," the technician replied as he caught the pad and briefly
looked it over. Everything appeared to be in order, and he turned to
go about his task.

Rachel was left alone, and she continued toward the nearby shuttle.

Technician Isoru Kaneda looked over the note pad that Rachel had given
him thoughtfully. Something was out of place, upon further inspection.
He had turned to head back to ask the young woman about it, but she
had vanished. Instead, he headed to the side of the room and started
up the stairs that led to the shuttle bay's offices.

Pushing through a door, he tossed the pad down next to another one
that was laying on the counter next to the main control panels. He
then sat down and started going through the diagnostic. Yes, the bay's
runway lights checked out. The main lighting was working, the
auxiliaries were on stand-by, the back-up power was operational. He
toggled the switch for the bay's intercom. "Prepare to test shuttle
bay doors."

Rachel slipped into the pilot's chair in the flight module of the
shuttle and started activating the controls. As soon as the onboard
computer was switched on, a voice said, "Please enter access code."

"Mercury-zero-zero-four," Rachel replied. The computer responded by
activating the ship's flight controls.

"Activate compass," Rachel ordered. "Activate novice mode. Activate
voice mode. Prepare for launch."

At that moment, "Prepare to test shuttle bay doors," resounded out in
the shuttle bay.

Technician Kaneda made some other checks on the systems in preparation
for the test of the shuttle bay doors. The hydrolics looked good, and
the maintenance team's last report on the door suggested no problems.
Still, protocol demanded that in cases when it was feasible, the
shuttle bay doors had to be opened, then closed.

"Sir," came a voice over the speaker mounted on the control board.
"We're ready to run the test on the bay doors."

"Alright," Kaneda said as he slapped the maintenance report down atop
the two discarded notepads. "Go ahead."

"Aye sir," came the reply. Soon after, the doors began to open.

Kaneda started to pick up the maintenance report again, then stopped.

Two signatures stared up from the notepads peeking out from under the
report. While "Sandra Tsukino" could clearly be read from both of
them, the writing looked nothing alike. Kaneda picked up the
maintenance report and studied the signatures. One was on an order
closing the shuttle bay until further notice. The other was the one he
had just been given.

A forgery!

Kaneda hurriedly toggled the switch to the microphone. "Close the bay
doors! Now!"

"Too late sir," came the reply. At about that time, several red lights
began flashing and a computer started an alert.

"UNAUTHORIZED LAUNCH IN PROGRESS."

==> * SM * <==

"Hold your positions!" Nephrite shouted as a laser bolt scorched the
air above his head. A second bolt forced him back into cover behind
the corner of a shattered stone hovel.

"Can't you Sailors do something?" Nephrite asked Sailor Jupiter and
Sailor Saturn as they huddled next to him. Sailor Mars unleashed a
couple of quick shots at the advancing infantrymen before she had to
duck behind the building across the road from where the others were
pinned.

"We could..." Jupiter replied.

"Our orders," Saturn murmured quietly as she shivered from the sounds
of the nearby gunfire. A stray laser bolt splashed into the ground in
front of her and she backed herself even further against the wall.

With a flash of light the stone above Nephrite dissolved into rubble
and started to fall. Sailor Jupiter quickly ripped him aside to save
his life. Nephrite collected himself, then nodded to Jupiter with a
smile. "We need to go," he said. The remaining defenders threw bolt
after bolt at the advancing soldiers. "They're going to overrun us
here."

Nephrite started to leave but Jupiter stopped him. "If we retreat a
whole lot of people are going to die, and we may not have the people
left to form another line further back."

"So," Nephrite said. "What do you propose we do?"

"Something I should have done at the beginning of this," Jupiter
growled. "A certain girl is in for a bitch session when this is
over....JUPITER GRAVITON POWER!" A force wave blasted from Jupiter
ripping the ground apart with a roar. The building in front of her
collapsed into rubble as the turf heaved under it. The force from
Jupiter's attack reached out and crumpled the advancing line of
soldiers. The men nearest to where the blast was aimed simply imploded
into a bloody pulp. Others slightly further away perished as the flesh
was ripped away from their bones.

However, despite being mauled by the gravitic force of the jovian
senshi, the attackers closed the hole and continued the advance.

"Your turn, Mars," Jupiter yelled as she helped Sailor Saturn to her
feet.

Mars gave a slight nod, then backed a short distance away from the
building. A quick smattering of lasers pelted the ground around her as
she came into view of the enemy, but Sailtor Mars held her ground.

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" Disc-shaped bolts of fire shot out and
incinerated a few of the nearest soldiers. Mars was forced to retreat,
but a laser shot slammed into her, throwing her against the wall.

Saturn turned to go to her fallen comrade, but Sailor Jupiter stopped
her with a firm hand across her path. "Nail those bastards first," she
said, "or we're all finished."

Saturn spared a concerned glance at Mars' crumpled form before she too
stepped out into the line of fire. A rain of bullets showered the
earth and Saturn nearly dove back into cover. As she was about to do
so howver, her gaze carried over to where Mars still lay motionless.

Nerves steeled, two eyes glowered angrily at the oncoming enemy. In a
cold voice that seemed too loud to come from such a small frame, the
command came forth:

"DEATH RIBBON DEVASTATION!" Razor-sharp ribbons of deadly energy
exploded from Sailor Saturn and roared toward the nearby soldiers, who
continued to advance despite the doom that rushed toward them. The
surge of deadly energy knifed through man after man, tearing at flesh
and bone.

Seeing that perhaps the tide of the battle in this area at least may
have turned, Nephrite ordered his soldiers to continue firing.

Jupiter started toward Mars, but Nephrite stopped her. "You help your
friend," he said. "I'll tend to Sailor Mars. Seeing that Saturn had
already called for her glaive, Jupiter hurried to join her as Nephrite
ran toward Sailor Mars.

"I just hope she'll be okay," Jupiter thought as she sent her hand
knifing into one soldier's neck. Another soldier cracked his rifle
across her back, but she merely turned and dropped the man with a
right hook to the chin.

Saturn was making quick work of the soldiers near her as her weapon
sliced through the light armor the soldiers wore. As the razor-sharp
blade passed it left bloody trail in its wake. Saturn performed her
deadly dance with the glaive in a silence as complete as the death she
dealt out.

==> * SM * <==

The relentless pounding of the advancing infantry drove Scaramanga's
troops back upon the castle and toward the cliffs west of the leering
visage. Sailor Moon spared a quick glance in that direction. The
skull-like stare seemed to glow red, glistening with the blood being
spilt to defend it.

A bolt of searing heat whizzed by her ear, shaking Sailor Moon back to
the matter at hand...finding suitable cover from which to continue
living, much less fighting.

An outcropping of rocks provided shelter from the non-stop hammering
of lasers. The rest of Scaramanga's troops tried to stand their
ground, but they were outnumbered. Sailor Venus dove out of the path
of a deadly blast behind the same rocky crag and looked up at Sailor
Moon.

"All this fighting is murder on my hair," she quipped.

Sailor Moon cringed as a blast ripped through the top of the rocks.
"That among other things," she stammered.

"What are we doing hiding here?" Venus asked. "Use your powers!"

"No," Sailor Moon replied firmly. "We want to catch them off-guard
when we use them."

"That's bull, and you know it," Venus stated.

Just then, the rocks the Sailors were crouched behind shattered under
a concentrated barrage of energy. Stone shards rained down on the
women as they turned to run.

As she turned to flee, Sailor Moon saw the yellowish burst of energy
that was the trademark of Uranus' abilities.

"Damn!" Sailor Moon growled. She continued running toward the cliffs,
where the rest of the defending soldiers were trying to form up in a
final defensive position. A laser bolt blasted at Sailor Moon and
caught her left shoulder, and she fell forward and grabbed at her
now-useless arm.

Sailor Venus fought desperately to get to her friend and unleashed a
torrent of fire upon the ever-nearer enemy that gave her enough time
to reach the fallen Sailor.

"Come on, Sailor Moon," Venus said with a thin smile as she hauled her
friend to her feet. "No time to sleep on the job!" Together, along
with a few of the straggling defenders, they reached Scaramanga and
the remaining volunteers.

"Nice of you to join us," Scaramanga smirked as the two women stumbled
up to him.

"Your `help' was so appreciated," Sailor Moon shouted over the whine
of laser fire.

Scaramanga ignored the barb. "It seems the enemy chose to hit the
right flank hard." He pointed toward the center of the nearby city,
where the effects of Mars' attacks could still be seen.
"Unfortunately, it seems your comrades are pushing the entire army
this way." Scaramanga shot at two enemy soldiers.

With no place to hide, the right flank quickly became a meat-grinder
as each side tried to wear the other down.

"What can we do?" Sailor Moon yelled. The soldier she was shooting at
took a laser in the leg and dropped, his face writhing in pain.

"Nothing much unless you can use your powers," Scaramanga replied as
he continued to pelt the enemy with fire.

"Use them, damn it!" Venus shouted desperately.

"No!" came the reply. Sailor Moon took a step back, and it proved to
be one step too far. The patch of ground gave way and she toppled into
the chasm with a shriek.

Scaramanga and Sailor Venus quickly reached out, and Scaramanga
managed to grab Sailor Moon by the laft arm before she was lost.

Sailor Moon screamed as the fear and terror of falling down the chasm
was replaced by the searing pain roaring through her shoulder. Her
other hand clawed uselessly at the rocky cliff, and through her haze
she heard, "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!"

"No..." Sailor Moon managed to groan as she lost consciousness.

==> * SM * <==

Shuttle 2

Rachel pulled the control stick back just in time to avoid the rocky
ground that rushed up toward the shuttle. Soon the horizon fell away
and Rachel was nearly pinned to her seat as the ship vaulted into a
loop.

"I thought the autopilot was on!"

"Use of cockpit flight controls deactivates autopilot systems," the
computer replied.

"Activate the autopilot!" Rachel yelled. The computer beeped in
response and the shuttle levelled itself out of its ascent. A
computerized compass appeared on a nearby computer screen.

"Choose course, speed and attitude," the computer said. The compass
flashed expectantly.

Rachel looked through the windows of the shuttle at her surroundings.
Ribbons of light flickered far below. The massive hulk of Castle Beryl
that towered over the embattled troops looked like a large sullen
stone.

"Course three-one-two..." Rachel said slowly. "Standard speed...define
the term `attitude'.

"Attitude is the angle of descent or ascent," the computer replied.

Rachel finally managed to get the ship pointed on a course that would
take it over the remains of the ruined city. While the shattered
shells of the buildings fell away behind the shuttle, Rachel donned a
thurster pack, which looked like an oversized backpack..As she checked
the controls, Rachel scanned the area that the shuttle flew over.

Finally, Rachel toggled the switch opening the shuttle's side door.

"Computer," she said. "Return home." Then Rachel activated the
thrusters on the pack and jumped out of the shuttle.

As she fell through the air, she shouted "MERCURY POWER!" The thruster
pack was lit but the blue glow of the transformation sequence.

Sailor Mercury landed hard and was forced to one knee. Standing, she
unbuckled the thruster pack and tossed it aside. The armies had fought
over this patch of land during the initial stages of the battle and
now there was nothing left here but the shells of buildings and the
cold prone forms of the fallen.

"So much death..." Mercury mused quietly as she surveyed the carnage.
"They won't mind if I add some more then." With that she clasped her
hands to her chest, then threw them straight out from her body...

"MERCURY ICE SHROUD!"

A brilliant blue flash blossomed through the area. An icy chill
surrounded Mercury as she was enveloped by the azure luminescence that
comprised her most deadly power. The ground the blue semi-sphere
touched turned pale as the life energy of even the microbes within the
dirt was stripped away.

Slowly the sphere grew. It shredded the rocket pack, devouring the
fuel with crackling flashes of lightning. As the sphere expanded,
wisps of pale energy began to swirl around its perimeter. As they hit
anything that contained energy, they demolished it. One such ribbon
writhed from the air toward the corpse of a soldier. With a flash, the
flesh was scoured away and the bones were pounded to dust. The tendril
of death then rocketed away as the sphere itself moved over where the
body had been.

"So much death..." Mercury mused. Then she noticed something missing.
The hard stone-like core of evil that had accompanied the effect was
gone. Mercury's heart leaped...SHE had channeled the sphere!

Which meant...and as she thought it, the sphere started to increase
its rate of growth.

As the sphere continued to grow, buildings were reduced to rubble.
Metal rusted, then fell apart, and the bodies of the dead returned to
the dust from whence they came. Then one of the ravenous bands of
energy that convulsed around the sphere slammed into a live soldier
who was one of the rear-guard. The man barely had time to scream
before his already decomposing body slumped to the ground.

"Yes," Mercury mused, her body and mind drinking in all of the energy
from the deadly dome. "So much death... " The sphere sped up even
more, and plowed into the ranks of the invading army like a pack of
hungry wolves.

The invading army continued to press forward despite the doom that
towered behind them. The sparkling blue of the sphere flashed now and
then as energy that was absorbed cascaded along the deadly walls. A
high-pitched roar boomed from the sphere as if there was a tornado
nearby. "Perhaps there was a tornado," Venus thought as she watched
the sphere getting larger, "...a tornado of a different kind."

The defenders stood stubbornly and poured laser fire onto the enemy.
Sailor Moon now joined in and added her abilities to those of her
fellow Sailors. Still, even as the tide of battle shifted finally in
their favor, Sailor Moon could not help but look at the
still-expanding sphere.

"Why are they still fighting?" Venus shouted as she felled a nearby
soldier with her laser. The body fell in front of Scaramanga, who
hauled it up by its hair and turned its head. Behind the left ear, a
flat silver disk was embedded in the skin. Only the top of the device
could be seen.

"They're being controlled!" Scaramanga yelled. "Unless they are given
different orders or are killed, they won't stop!"

The laser fire was growing less intense however. Most of the attackers
were dead either from a laser bolt or the icy cold of the death
sphere. Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon were firing at the last few enemy
soldiers nearby when they saw the other Sailors approaching.

"Well, we found Mercury," Sailor Uranus quipped.

"That's not funny," Sailor Moon hissed. "That sphere can kill us just
as quick as a laser."

"What can we do about it?" Sailor Jupiter asked.

"I can only think of one thing that might do it," Sailor Moon replied
slowly as the sphere continued to expand. "MOON STAFF!" Light flared
and the Moon Staff, a longer version of the Moon Scepter appeared in
Sailor Moon's hands.

As she pointed the staff at the sphere, Sailor Moon shouted, "MOON
ZERO MAGIC!" A disk of destructive magic appeared at the tip of the
staff, but this time, it became a stream of energy that poured out of
the staff and surrounded the death sphere.

"What the..." Uranus mouthed quietly.

"She's drawing continuously off the staff," Venus replied.

"She can't," Neptune said, concern creeping into her voice. "If she
draws too much off the Silver Imperium Crystal at once, she'll die."

Sailor Venus started toward her friend but then stopped as the
statuesque form of Queen Beryl appeared next to Sailor Moon.

Beryl seemed to survey her surroundings coldly for a moment, then
looked at Sailor Moon.

"What are you doing?" Beryl asked.

There was a pause long enough that Beryl thought she wasn't going to
get an answer. Just as she was about to repeat her query, Sailor Moon
replied, "I'm saving our hides. Someone has to stop Mercury."

"You can't," Beryl replied calmly. "You don't have the power."

"I wouldn't have to try if you had cured her in the first place,"
Sailor Moon growled.

Beryl slowly walked behind Sailor Moon to stand by her right shoulder.
The light from the energy stream flowing from the staff gave Beryl a
ghost-like appearance.

"I hate to break this to you," Beryl said, "but Sailor Mercury is
cured."

"That can't be..." Sailor Moon gasped.

"Oh, but it is," Beryl said coldly. "She can now channel her powers
and control them at will, and now they feed off of the hatred she has
inside herself."

"Which is why I have to stop her," Sailor Moon said as sweat began to
form on her face.

"Stop her?" Beryl said. "Not likely. With her power, she can blast all
of us off this cliff with a single thought. You're barely holding her
back with that rock of yours."

"How do you know all this?"

"I saw into her mind," Beryl replied simply. "I know that girl as if
she were my daughter, and I know that the anger and hate that power
her are nearly endless."

"Well that's certainly nice to know," Sailor Moon said angrily. "What
do you propose we do about it?"

"You just keep doing what you're doing," Beryl said as she reached out
and grabbed Sailor Moon's arm. "I'll do the rest." Beryl closed her
eyes...

"So much death..."

Sailor Mercury felt like she was floating in a bright blue haze.
Energy ribbons flowed inward and splashed against her body
noiselessly. She felt naked. Glancing down, she thought she saw
clothing...her Sailor uniform...but she could not be sure.... She
could not see clearly. It was so quiet. Too quiet.

"So much death..."

Mercury could feel the outer edge of the death sphere and could sense
something trying to push back against the outward force she was
creating. A minor push against the opposing force told Mercury that
whatever it was was no threat. Whatever it was would soon be cold and
lifeless, along with the other living things she sensed along that
part of the sphere.

"So much death..."

Rachel reveled in the power that flowed inward. So much energy! So
much power! And she controlled it all...the power of life and most
importantly, death. There was so much pain to share with the
world...with everything that lived...

"So much..."

There was a new presence. New, yet familiar. It simply appeared within
the center of the sphere, within the fortresses, within the walls...

"Rachel," the woman's voice said. Rachel barely recognized it. "You
have done well. It's time to stop."

"No," Rachel thought. "So much death..."

"I know," Beryl said. "There is a lot of death out there. However, you
will never learn how to refine your powers further if you do not stop
the sphere."

The bluish haze that surrounded Sailor Mercury seemed to brighten in a
momentary defiance, but then slowly, the haze started to grow dark.

The glow around Queen Beryl faded as the sphere began to recede.
Sailor Moon lowered her staff and breathed a sigh of relief.

"This isn't done yet," Beryl stated simply.

"What do you mean?" Venus asked as she approached with the other
Sailors.

"They haven't gone yet," Beryl said as she pointed to the clouds,
where several shapes were descending from the gray ships that still
hung in the sky.

Sailor Moon was the first to recognize the shapes as they floated down
through the blackened clouds. "Oh shit," she whispered as she grabbed
for her laser. "Cybers!" She fired a couple of blasts which bounced
off one of the descending cyborgs. The other Sailors readied
themselves for the attack.

"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" Sailor Venus shouted. The thin energy
ribbon she released rocketed into the air and splashed against
Cybermars, who did not react to the attack. The searing energy burned
the cyborg's chute however, and sent it plummeting to the ground.

Other attacks that the Sailors heaved at the approaching cyborgs
missed their targets, and a rain of laser fire from the few remaining
volunteers did no damage to the cyborgs themselves, and not enough
damage to their parachutes to mean much.

Cybermoon was the first to land, and it was pelted with lasers as it
released itself from its chute. "You are identified as criminals who
have committed acts of terrorism against the Luna Foundation. The
sentence for these crimes is death."

"Preparing witness transcript for transmission preparatory to carrying
out the death sentence," Cybermercury said as it landed.

"Fire," Cybermoon ordered.

What followed was the most grueling battle that the seven women had
ever been in their young careers as crime fighters. Even with the help
of Queen Beryl and her three generals, the Sailors could feel the
energy they called forth for their attacks as it rippled over
exhausted muscles. Minds were dulled by the hours spent trying to
survive against an enemy that seemed unstoppable. Then, once that
enemy seemed beaten, it arose again, like a monster to slay again.

Still, the Sailor soldiers fought on, but with each moment, Sailor
Moon began to see the small mistakes she and her friends were making.
Soon one of those mistakes was going to cost the group.

Then it happened. Sailor Venus launched an attack that sailed wide of
Cyberneptume, who responded by launching her own attack. Instead of
dropping back and slightly to her left, Venus dove to her left and
lost her footing. She crashed to a heap practically right under the
barrel of Cybermoon's arm-mounted blaster.

"The criminals will surrender," the cyborg said, "or this humanoid
will perish."

Sailor Mercury staggered to her feet and stared out at the devastation
that surrounded her. The scene would have been serene were it not for
the fact that a small city had once been here. Now, there were no
streets, no buildings...nothing to indicate that anything had ever
lived on the plains south of Castle Beryl.

Off in the distance, Mercury could see flashes of angry light. A
battle of sorts still raged. Activating her visor, Sailor Mercury
scanned the area and swathe other Sailors in their desperate struggle
against their cyborg foes. Suddenly, Sailor Venus launched an attack
at one of the cyborgs and missed. When Venus tried to dodge the
cyboprg's return strike, she stumbled and fell heavily to the dirt.

Mercury saw Cybermoon aim her weapon at Venus' head. A surge of rage
whipped through her as she shouted "MERCURY ICE SHARD!" A sharp
wicked-looking icy projectile coalesced in Mercury's hand. She paused
staring at it for a second as if she didn't know what to do next. The
shard pulsed with an inner energy that had not been there the last
time she had used this power.

"No time to worry about that now," Mercury murmured to herself as she
pulled back, then flung the shard toward Cybermoon.

Sailor Moon and the rest of the defenders stood transfixed as
Cybermoon held the barrel of its gun pointed at Sailor Venus. "I am
waiting," it said. "The criminals will surrender, or this humanoid
will perish."

"Don't do it Sailor Moon," Jupiter hissed. "We can beat these creeps!"
A similar sentiment floated around the Sailors, and Sailor Moon even
heard Queen Beryl's voice.

"Don't surrender." She said. "They'll kill her anyway, and you along
with her."

It was not enough. Even as Beryl muttered her advice, Venus could see
the fight go out of Sailor Moon's eyes. It had been too exhausting a
fight...too much death, too much fear...

The Moon Staff dropped lightly from Sailor Moon's hand and began to
topple forward...

The Sailors watched stunned as the staff fell toward the ground...

The generals of the Negaverse and their queen snarled, ready to
continue the attack without the Sailors.

Then, something caught Cybermoon in the back and ripped nearly
completely through the cyborg's body. The projectile then shattered,
spraying the damaged machine with a blue shower of energy that poured
over it. Sailor Venus quickly scrambled out of the way as the
destructive energy cascaded toward the ground. Cybermoon collapsed in
front of Sailor Venus just as Cybermars exploded in a burst of blue
fury.

Wasting no time, Cybervenus turned to the others. "Retreat
immediately." Its thrusters roared to life and the cyborg leapt into
the air toward the hovering ships. The other cyborgs soon followed
under a hail of laser fire from the volunteer soldiers.

Sailor Mercury saw the cyborgs retreating and a growl rumbled deep
within her throat. If they were allowed to escape, they'd be back
again and again. They never stopped, and never would as long as they
were alive.

With that thought, Mercury clasped her hands to her chest, then threw
them straight out from her body...

"MERCURY ICE SHROUD!" A brilliant blue flash blossomed through the
area. An icy chill surrounded Mercury as she was enveloped by the blue
luminescence that comprised her most deadly power. Almost immediately
the energy of the death sphere sang out to her, beckoning her to
expand its dark influence.

"Not this time," Mercury thought as the cyborgs neared their ship, and
escape. "You're not getting away this time." She concentrated on the
ship, visualized its lines and curves, saw the engines, the hull, the
control room, then collected the entire ship into her mind's eye as
the last of the cyborgs fled into the supposed safety of their assault
craft.

"Die!" Mercury shouted. The ship in her mind was crushed...

...the death sphere disappeared...

...and suddenly it surrounded the cyborg's ship. It hung limp in the
sky for a moment, then shattered with a blinding flash. Mercury
shielded her eyes from the brightness and watched as torn metal mixed
with newly-freed gases. The energy being released by the blast quickly
faded as it fed the blue sphere that surrounded it. The metal that
failed to escape the explosion began to corrode.

Mercury let the energy from the death of the ship flow through her for
a few seconds before she willed the sphere into non-existence. Then,
she started a slow walk back toward Castle Beryl, which now stood
alone to the north.

==> * SM * <==

Aboard the Serena

The celebration in the galley was subdued as it went into its third
hour. Only a few of the Sailors were still there, most of the rest
having given into their exhaustion and slipped off to bed.

Brandy and Mariah sat at the bar and regaled each other with stories
and cheers for the work they had done, while Melissa sat nearby with a
glass of iced tea and simply listened.

Rachel sat across the room alone and gazed lazily out the window at
the barren fields to the south...

The door opened and Sandra walked in. Although she too was tired, and
her left arm was in a sling, she tried to put forth an authoritative
face for the others.

"Alright," Sandra said. "Party over, everyone get to bed."

Mariah grumbled something about `mom' under her breath and was hastily
hushed by Brandy. Melissa simply got up and walked out, sipping her
tea as she went.

"What's going on?" Brandy asked.

"We're out of here first thing tomorrow morning," Sandra replied.

"Oh great," Mariah groaned. "Another mission for the queen. Can't you
tell her to fight her own battles?"

Sandra leaned on the bar and looked at the others intently.

"Nope," she said. "This is the mission we came here for. We're finally
going to go after the Luna Foundation itself."

Brandy and Mariah looked at each other, then cheered. Brandy then
broke the friendly hug from Mariah and turned to Sandra. "But, why
tomorrow?" She asked.

"I understand that we could certainly use a few days to rest up,"
Sandra said knowingly. "But Queen Beryl was right. The Foundation put
too much into the attack on Castle Beryl, and now their defenses are
stretched very thin."

"That plus they lost more cyborgs," Mariah quipped.

"Not just `more' cyborgs," Sandra corrected. "ALL of them."

"Oh my..." Brandy mouthed.

"We may not have this sort of a chance again," Sandra said. "We have
to hit the Foundation now, before they can recover."

"Well," Brandy said as she arose from her chair. "In that case, it's
off to bed for me."

"Yeah," Mariah said as she too got up from the table. Sandra casually
surveyed the rest of the room as Brandy left.

"Sandra," came Mariah from near the door.

"Yes?"

"Why did you order us not to use our abilities in this battle?"

Sandra's head drooped. She knew this question was in the air, and knew
that her friends and team mates had to know the truth.

"I am sorry," Sandra said. "It was my mistake. I thought we should
hide our presence and try to surprise the Foundation."

There it was. The team leader had made a mistake, and she was now
admitting it, and laying herself open for whatever judgment one of the
more violent members of the group would give. Her eyes closed, Sandra
steeled herself in the silence that followed. Then she heard movement
and opened her eyes to see Mariah standing in front of her with a
slight smile and a sparkle in her eyes. Wordlessly, the taller woman
pulled Sandra toward her and wrapped her arms around her friend... her
leader.

After Mariah had said goodnight to Sandra and slipped out the door,
Sandra shut off the lights before noticing the one remaining form in
the room. Rachel sat at one of the window tables slowly stirring a
drink, immersed in the view outside.

Silently, Sandra slipped up to the other woman and sat down in the
seat across from her. Rachel didn't seem to notice...her cobalt blue
eyes seemed fixated on the window.

"You know," Sandra said quietly. "You could spend the next three
months in the brig. Insubordination, theft of a shuttle, forgery..."
The blue eyes flickered with a trace of anger.

"However," Sandra said slowly. "There are....mitigating
circumstances..."

A long silence followed. Rachel continued to stare out into the
window.

"You know," Sandra murmured. "We worry about you."

More silence.

"I worry about you."

There was a slight quiver in the blue eyes, but the gaze never left
the window.

"I'm fine," Rachel said calmly.

Sandra paused a bit before continuing. "But, the things you did out
there today...Queen Beryl..."

"I am fine," Rachel repeated, this time a little more firmly.

"Oh," Sandra said. Then, in a business-like tone. "But you will tell
me if you are ever not fine." The blue eyes never wavered from their
gaze. Sandra got up and started toward the door. As the door slid open
for her, Sandra turned to look back at the lonely figure across the
room.

"Don't be here too late," she said. She expected no response, and got
what she expected.

Fanfic ©1999 - John Brengman and Artemis Publishing

Sailor X series inspired by Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon,

© 1992 by Toei Animation Co Ltd. and based on Kodansha's

manga production of "Sailor Moon", written by Naoko Takeuchi

This fanfic is freely distributed.

Release date: November 13, 1999