Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor X ❯ SX20: Fall of the Foundation (The CYBERWAR series) ( Chapter 20 )

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

Sailor X #20 Fall of the Foundation

By: John Brengman

Edited by: Thomas Schell

The Luna Foundation

A group of shapes shimmered into existence in a storage room. Storage
crates nearly filled the area and water dripped from a leaking pipe
somewhere in the distance. The figures spared quick glances to ensure
that the room was secure, then they gathered around their leader.

"So," Sailor Mars said. "What's the plan?"

"Well," Sailor Moon replied as she nudged the nearby metal open just
enough to peek outside. Turning back into the darkness, she said,
"Each of us is carrying two standard explosive charges. The object of
this game is to get as close as we can to the Luna Foundation's fusion
reactors and plant these charges on or near the coolant lines."

"Any explosion like that will overload the reactors..." Venus said.
"And the moon will be blown..."

"Straight to Hell," Sailor Mercury finished.

"Yes," Sailor Moon said. "Jupiter, Mars, and Venus, you'll group up
and head straight toward the nearest reactor. Mercury and I will take
a more scenic route and try to draw whatever they have left to us."

"Danger, violence, and bloodshed," Mercury murmured, "just the way I
like it."

Sailor Moon glanced at her watch. "It's about time. Let's go."

With murmured approval, the Sailors quietly entered the hallway
adjoining the room that had been their hiding place.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!" Sailor Moon shouted just before she threw the
headband-turned-weapon that dropped the nearest of the guards. Out of
the corner of her eye, she could see Sailor Mercury readying herself
for an attack. The remaining three guards ignored their fallen
comrades and fired quick bursts that skittered off the corridor walls
and ceiling as they tried to make a hasty retreat.

"MERCURY ICE SHARD!" A brilliant blue flash illuminated the dark
corridor as a pale blue glow surrounded Sailor Mercury as the
crystal-like shard formed in her hand. With a grunt, she heaved the
shard at the fleeing soldiers. The projectile ricocheted off the
nearest guard, then slammed into a second.

Sailor Moon dispatched the remaining guard with an attack from her
Moon Staff then approached the two that Mercury had downed. The bodies
of the men still glimmered with the energy that had been used to kill
them.

"You shouldn't do this to people," Sailor Moon said.

"Don't tell me you've never killed anyone," Mercury said as she
approached.

"Not like this..." Sailor Moon replied softly.

"Is that an order?" Mercury asked, her usual defiance already in her
eyes.

"Yes," Sailor Moon replied.

"Good," Mercury growled. "I hate not knowing when I'm going to get in
trouble for doing something."

Sailor Moon was stunned by this blatant display of insubordination,
but before she could confront Mercury, there was a blinding flash and
with a wave of heat, the floor gave way with the roar of an explosion
as one of the missiles from the Sarena found a weak spot in the Luna
Foundation's defenses.

Sailor Moon screamed as she fell. Mercury had turned back to help but
a sheet of fire stood between her and her fellow Sailor. "MERCURY ICE
BUBBLES FREEZE!" A flow of bubbles and ice quickly extinguished the
flames and Mercury ran forward and found that Sailor Moon had somehow
landed on the scorched metal floor of a corridor three levels down.

"Acrobatics, I guess," Sailor Moon replied when asked how she managed
to land without breaking a leg.

"I'll come down," Mercury replied.

"No!" Sailor Moon ordered. "Go ahead and try to find a way to the
reactor from up there. I'll do the same here, and we'll probably meet
up."

"Okay," Mercury murmured worriedly as she stood. With a final look
into the smoldering hole, Sailor Mercury turned and headed down the
dark corridor.

==> * SM * <==

"Just what in Hell was she thinking?" Sailor Moon muttered under her
breath as she strode down the darkened corridor, the light from the
Moon Staff her only source of illumination. It apparently wasn't
enough for Mercury to be able to disorient people, or to freeze them.
No, she had to be able to kill them. As she thought of this, a growl
simmered in her throat.

"And she told me right then that she was going to disobey a direct
order!" The inner growl grew more intense. It was at this point that
Sailor Moon heard the sound of footsteps coming toward her.

The corridor swung in a lazy curve to the left, and there was a door
slightly ahead and to the right. Extinguishing the light of the Moon
Staff, Sailor Moon bolted for that door. The door opened easily and
she was inside and had closed the door before she could be detected by
whoever was approaching.

"Greetings, Sailor Moon," said a voice through the darkness behind
her. As she turned around, the lights in the room flickered to life.
The walls were covered by computer monitors and control panels whose
graphic displays combined with the sounds the computers emitted to
send information to those in the room. A lone chair sat a top a
slightly raised platform toward the far end of this oval-shaped room.

A figure was seated in the chair, but now it rose and started toward
Sailor Moon. The flickering displays did little to illuminate her
features, but there was enough for her to see two flows of long hair
that seemed to sprout from odangos atop her head.

"Mother..." Sailor Moon gasped, her eyes widening.

"Not quite," her mother's voice coldly replied. "Your mother was
killed during your futile assault on the Hubble 2 space platform."

"Liar!" Sailor Moon shouted as she brought the Moon Staff around in a
arc like a baseball bat. The end of the staff thudded against
Cyberqueen's face, sending her crashing into the nearby wall. The
nearby displays flickered lights glinted off of the bands of
micro-filaments that threaded their way just under the skin on the
left side of its face.

The Cyberqueen pushed itself roughly away from the wall, then raised
its left hand toward Sailor Moon...

Micro-filament strands shot from its fingertips and circled Sailor
Moon until they held her tight. A sneer crossed the Cyberqueen''s face
as it watched the Sailor soldier trying to break free.

"I believe the human phrase is, `lights out,' Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon shrieked in pain as a torrent of electricity flowed
through the filament strands and into her. The room swam before her
and she fell to her knees.

"One chance," she thought as she felt herself beginning to lose
consciousness. She pictured her tiara in her mind and fought the waves
of pain until it solidified there. Then, with the blue arcs of
electricity still flowing over her, she shouted, "MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

Following Sailor Moon's mental directions, the shimmering tiara
slashed through the filament strands, then swung forward to ricochet
heavily off the Cybrequeen's head. Both combatants then fought to see
who would be the first to get beck to their feet. The Cyberqueen had
stumbled, then fallen near the chair on the far side of the room.

As soon as Sailor Moon stood, she rushed toward her still-recovering
foe. Throwing the Moon Staff aside, she grabbed the Cyberqueen and
slammed the cyborg into the nearby wall and held it there by its neck.

"I don't need moon power to bring you to justice," Sailor Moon growled
as she tightened her grip.

"Aren't you forgetting love?" The cyborg managed to squawk. "What
about `fighting for love and justice?"

"Love is over-rated," came the simple reply.

Suddenly a set of long claws sprouted from the fingers on the cyborg's
left hand, and it slashed at Sailor Moon's face. As blood dripped from
the cuts on her face, Sailor Moon laid prone as the cyborg advanced on
her.

"It seems that intelligence is also over-rated," the cyborg murmured
as it stared down at the motionless senshi.

With a quick move, Sailor Moon swept the legs out from under her foe
and brought the cyborg crashing to the floor. "I guess the same could
be said for you," Sailor Moon muttered as she stood. The Cyberqueen
hurried to put some distance between it and the furious senshi. By the
time Sailor Moon started after the cyborg again, it was too late.

The Cyberqueen finished getting to its feet as it watched the
newly-established force field spark angrily from the contact between
it and the young Sailor. Sailor Moon was thrown back and as she
looked, the force field stretched out to touch the panels along the
walls, sealing off the cyborg from harm. The control panels crackled
and burst into flames as the force field touched them, and the lights
in the room quickly turned a pale crimson as the remaining displays
flashed the words "NODE CYBERQUEEN CONTROL ACCESS DISRUPTED"

The arcs of electrical energy from the smashed control panels
shimmered across the force field as Sailor Moon got back to her feet.

"There's no use now, Princess," Cyberqueen said coldly. "You may be
able to beat me physically, but if you can't reach me through my force
field, you can't lay a finger on me."

"That may be so," Sailor Moon replied as she reached down for the Moon
Sttaff, "but I have other ways to reach out and touch someone."
Standing, she pointed the Moon Staff toward the Cyberqueen.

"MOON ZERO MAGIC!" A destructive disk of energy coalesced at the tip
of the staff, then it shot toward the cyborg. The bolt slammed into
the force field and sparks cascaded onto the floor. Another energy
bolt followed that, but it too also had no effect.

The Cyberqueen watched Sailor Moon as the barrage of energy bolts
meant for it were absorbed by the force fields it had thrown up to
protect it. "I have rendered you impotent," the cyborg said calmly.
"The force field keeps you from coming in physical contact with me,
and as you have seen, your energy weapons are also ineffective.
Surrender now!"

"MOON ZERO MAGIC! Again the energy disks flew from the Moon Staff and
again they were absorbed. As Sailor Moon squinted her eyes against the
flare of light that blasted from the force field as the energy flowed
over it, she noticed something else...a glint a light that was only
now fading from the cyborg's right hand. A sudden realization hit
Sailor Moon...

The Cyberqueen was holding the Crescent Moon Wand. The light was
coming from the Imperium Silver Crystal.*

Dropping the Moon Staff, Sailor Moon concentrated on the Crescent Moon
Wand in the cyborg's hand. She visualized its surfaces, the handle,
the curve of the crescent moon that encircled the crystal that was the
heart of the wand. Then she visualized the Imperium Silver Crystal,
with all of its facets all shimmering and sparkling with inner energy.

Even when the Cyberqueen wrapped Sailor Moon in micro-filaments and
again, jolts of energy raced through the senshi, she fought through
the burning pain to focus further in on the Crescent Moon Wand and the
Imperium Silver Crystal....until she could feel a hint of the power
within the crystal.

Just then, the cyborg noticed the light coming from the Moon Wand.
Having never used the artifact, the Cyberqueen tossed it aside. The
wand bounced off the scorched wall and landed in front of the cyborg.
The crystal at the center of the wand flickered, pulsed, and flared,
as if it were angry

Then, Sailor Moon opened her eyes and shouted, "MOON HEALING
ACTIVATION!" The Imperium Silver Crystal in front of the cyborg pulsed
once, then drowned the room with a brilliant flash of white. As Sailor
Moon hurriedly shielded her eyes, she heard a chilling scream that
seemed to rip the flesh away from her.

The next second, it was over. The display screens around the room were
blank and no sounds came from the control panels. The walls no longer
sparked from where they had been in contact with the cyborg's force
field, and in fact, Sailor Moon could not see the force field at all.

She did notice the motionless form of the Cyberqueen as it lay near
the lone chair in the room. The Crescent Moon Wand rested nearby, the
Imperium Silver Crystal sputtered angrily a couple times, then fell
silent.

Freeing herself of the micro-filaments, Sailor Moon scrambled to the
side of her fallen foe. The body looked almost fine. Surely the cyborg
was only unconscious. However, a check of the body found no pulse.
Then Sailor Moon moved her hand to turn the cyborg's head to the
right...

...and she discovered how the Cyberqueen had died. Where once silvery
micro-filament bundles had run like the human version of circuit
etchings on a control board now ran black scorch marks. Acrid smoke
curled into the air from where hair had been singed.

The Imperium Silver Crystal had "healed" the Cyberqueen.

Without a word, Sailor Moon picked up the Crescent Moon Wand and the
Moon Staff and left the room. There was no time yet to mourn the
fallen, even if it was an enemy.

==> * SM * <==

Somewhere within the bowels of the Luna Foundation, the message
flashed to the remaining computer nodes: "NODE CYBERQUEEN NEUTRALIZED"

==> * SM * <==

"MERCURY SHARD!" As the two guards fired their lasers at the intruder,
a spike of ice shattered one man's neck. The other guard turned and
ran as the blood of his comrade splattered the wall of the corridor.
Another shard hurled at the fleeing soldier's back shattered against
the nearby wall instead.

Mercury turned a corner and there stood her target, the giant frame of
one of the fusion reactors. Its huge cylindrical shape extended upward
through several floors and downward through several more. A faint
humming sound emanated from the chamber and various display boards
flickered and blinked as they monitored the forces working within the
silvery shell of the reactor.

Quickly unhitching her backpack, Sailor Mercury grabbed the first
explosive. Walking around to the side of the reactor furthest from the
access corridor she had entered from, she attached the magnetic plug
to the skin of the reactor. Soon she had the other explosive charge
attached to a coolant pipe secluded near the wall.

Then, and only then, did Sailor Mercury dare open her wrist
communicator. "Sailor Moon, what's your situation?"

"Just planted the first device now."

"Okay," Sailor Mercury replied. "I'm returning to the ship."

"I'll be right behind you."

With that, Sailor Mercury signaled the Serena to send in Sailor
Jupiter.

==> * SM * <==

"Report," Sailor Moon ordered as she entered the Bridge. In the
background she could hear the torpedoes firing as the ship continued
its bombardment of the lunar surface. The lights flickered and acrid
smoke hovered near the ceiling.

Sailor Uranus stood to face her fellow Sailor. "We're in bad shape.
The EM pulse we set off did as much damage to us as it did to the Luna
Foundation. Long range communications, all weapons except those under
manual control, and most of our propulsion systems are down. All of
those systems will need repair and replacement of parts."

"How fast can we move out of here?"

"One quarter speed," came the reply.

"Not acceptable," Sailor Moon said bluntly. "The charges we planted
will go off in about five minutes, and if they do their job, we can't
be here if we want to survive."

"There's nothing we can do about it," Sailor Uranus said flatly.

With a glance at the moon, which hung grimly on the viewscreen, Sailor
Moon muttered, "We'll see about that."

==> * SM * <==

Within the depths of the Luna Foundation a computerized alarm arose.

"EXPLOSIVE DEVICE DETECTED - FUSION REACTOR THREE - SECTION 21"

The remaining soldiers arrayed themselves in case of intruders while
engineers attempted to disarm the explosive charge. The message was
sent: "DEVICE DISARMED - 3:42 MINUTES ON DEVICE TIMER"

But just then, another message seemed to shout out from within the
computers' inner depths...

"EXPLOSIVE DEVICE DETECTED - FUSION REACTOR ONE - SECTION 17"

==> * SM * <==

GATES NODE activated.

HIRAGA NODE activated.

KIMAGURE NODE activated via remote connection to I.S.S.

GATES: What is the analysis of the nodes regarding our position?

HIRAGA: Two explosive devices have been located. The existence of
others is probable.

KIMAGURE: If all of the devices are using the same timing, there is
less than two minutes before

detonation.

GATES: Procedures?

KIMAGURE: The sensor system is damaged. There is a 76% chance that at
least one device will

detonate even if all of our resources are at top effectiveness.

GATES: Is it agreed that we should escape now?

KIMAGUE: Affirmative.

HIRAGA: Affirmative.

GATES: Transfer control of all nodes to the Emergency Node System.

HIRAGA node deactivated. Node loaded into ENS.

KIMAGURE node deactivated. Node loaded into ENS.

ENS control transferred to Node GATES.

Delete command received for Node ENS... Conform delete of Node ENS

Delete order confirmed.

The competing voices in the computer system fell silent and the last
remaining node started to prepare to escape.

==> * SM * <==

On the Bridge of the Serena, surrounded by the low flickering lights
and the acrid air, the Sailors gathered around their leader...

"MERCURY STAR POWER!"

"VENUS STAR POWER!"

"MARS STAR POWER!"

"JUPITER STAR POWER!"

"SATURN STAR POWER!"

"URANUS STAR POWER!"

"NEPTUNE STAR POWER!"

The Bridge was alight with the glow of the Sailors as they called upon
their patron planets. Sailor Moon held the Imperium Silver Crystal in
her hands and felt the power of her friends as it coursed into the
crystal. It was like trying to change the course of a raging river,
but Sailor Moon knew she had to make the attempt. She focused her mind
on the torrent of energy, of shaping it, controlling it, using it.
Then she concentrated on the helm controls, of moving the ship, and of
moving away from the moon.

The energy going through her and into the crystal beckoned. If she
channeled too much energy, the backlash would kill her, but Sailor
Moon put that concern behind her. Concentration was an important part
of controlling the energy, and making it do what she wanted.

Then Sailor Moon sensed that she was ready. Holding the Imperium
Silver Crystal in one hand, she placed the other hand gently atop the
helm controls and shouted:

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"

A brilliant, blinding white light flashed out and flowed over the ship
until a shimmering shield surrounded the ship. Then the ship started
to move...

==> * SM * <==

Somewhere within the gigantic complex that was the Luna Foundation, a
silent countdown ended...

Two explosive charges blazed to fiery life...

The silvery sphere-like device that held the Emergency Node was
shunted into the cockpit of a small escape ship, and the needle-nosed
craft was lifted toward an opening portal....

A plume of angry flame burst out from the surface of the moon...

The Escape Node blasted out of the escape portal and away from the
expanding sphere of light that ripped through the remains of the Luna
Foundation...

With a blast of light brighter than the sun, the moon exploded. The
incinerating blast of light was followed by the rippling wave of the
force of the destruction, all of which radiated outward trying to
catch the metal shape that was trying to flee...

On the planet below, the blast pummeled the clouds and shattered
buildings, bridges, and roads., adding to the tumult that had resulted
with the sudden absence of the computerized overlords.

And aboard the Serena, Sailor Moon could only hope that she had nudged
the ship far enough away for them to survive, because although she had
moved the ship, it was still in the path of the oncoming shockwave.
Sailor Uranus dove for the helm controls as the deck pitched and
rolled underneath the crew. Sailor Mars was thrown brutally against
the nearby wall and she dropped to the floor. The rest of the people
on the Bridge dove for the floor and hoped it was the safest place to
be.

Although the shockwave caused a number of panels to short out with
flares of sparks, nothing came cascading down upon the huddling
people..

Finally the shockwave passed, and an eerie silence followed. Had they
actually done it? Had they destroyed the moon? Had they defeated the
cyborgs?

Sailor Moon stumbled to her feet and tapped a bedraggled-looking
Sailor Uranus. "Give me a visual," she said. "Let me see the moon."

"You're seeing it now," Sailor Uranus replied. "The viewscreen's
settings haven't changed."

"Then what is that?" Sailor Moon asked.

In the midst of the expanding dust cloud that was all that remained of
this Earth's lone satellite, a glowing silvery mass seemed to randomly
pulse angrily. Amy saw the shape as she got to her feet, and she
immediately rushed to the science controls. After tapping a couple of
controls and looking at the displays, she turned to Sailor Moon and
the others.

"It's a dimensional rift," she said. "But it also cuts across time."

"Across time?" Sailor Venus asked.

"Yes," Amy replied. "I have found particles with a definite temporal
signature."

"I don't imagine we could leave it like that," Sailor Moon said.

"No," Amy replied as she looked at the viewscreen. "The Earth's
rotation would carry the planet into the rift in about a year."

"But in the shape we're in," Sailor Jupiter said, "we don't have the
energy to close the rift."

"Yes we do," Sailor Moon said. "Gather around, folks. We don't have
much time.

==> * SM * <==

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth
was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

"And God said, `Let there be light: and there was light.'"

- Genesis 1:1-3 (KJV)

Silence.

Everywhere.

A small mote floated within the silence.

Nothing else existed.

Nothing.

Anywhere.

Suddenly, a blast of light exploded in front of the mote and before it
could flee, it was drawn into the light.

The spiraling tunnel filled with swirling light was as different from
its home as land is from an ocean. Bewildered by the newness of it
all, the speck barely noticed the brief flash within the swirling mass
of tunnels that seemed to be its prison. It neither noticed the small
metal shape nearby, nor the blue and white thing that marred the
blackness.

Then with another brief flash, the small metal thing disappeared,
leaving the mote alone with the big blue and white thing that
destroyed the beauty of the blackness around it...

...well, it was almost black. Small specks of white pitted the surface
of the universe like billions of tiny imperfections...and the mote
could HEAR some of the nearer ones, including a small distant
yellowish ball-like THING! They all seemed to whisper at the mote...

All except for the big ugly blue and white thing. Where the other
imperfections whispered into the darkness, it shouted!

"I, Richard Milhouse Nixon, will resign..."

"Video killed the radio star...video..."

"Four all-beef patties, lettuce, sauce, pickles..."

"Qadafi counted on America to be passive..."

"This is KIRO, in Seattle..."

"Read my lips...no new taxes..."

"I did not...have...sexual relations..."

"America is seen as a nation that can't control violence committed
with guns..."

"This world is bullshit...."

"The city of Tokyo is in ruins following a massive earthquake..."

"NOOOOOO!" The mote screamed as it was bombarded with the shouting
from the ugly blue and white ball. As soon as it could, the mote
frantically tried to get away. As the noisy object receded behind it,
the mote relaxed a little...but not much...because the other objects
still were staring at it...and whispering...

==> * SM * <==

Sailor Moon sighed as the glow of the power surrounding her faded.
Having to use the Imperium Silver Crystal twice in less than ten
minutes was truly exhausting. But it was worth it. The dimensional
rift was closed, and the cyborgs were gone. On top of that, Neo-Queen
Serenity had been rescued, and the Sailor Soldiers of this universe
had been freed.

Sailor Moon drew in a deep breath, and even though it smelled of burnt
wiring and fused control panels, Sailor Moon didn't notice. To her,
the air was a fresh and new as the dawning day on the planet below as
the sun emerged from behind the great disc of the world to shed light
on the battered ship.

Fanfic ©2000 - 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: March 13, 2000

Release: 3^rd Edition: February 11, 2001