Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Fragility of Time ❯ "War Zone" ( Chapter 8 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: etj4Eagle 
Dark Moon droids tear up Tokyo so much that the military is called in.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.29.2001 | Pages: 10 | Words: 6.5K | Visits: 285 | Status: Completed
Dark Moon droids tear up Tokyo so much that the military is called in.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.29.2001 | Pages: 10 | Words: 6.5K | Visits: 285 | Status: Completed
The Fragility of Time
Chapter 8: "War Zone"
Author: etj4Eagle
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle
Lasted Edited: 8/31/00
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,
all rights are owned by others.
If you distribute the story, do only
so freely and inform me of where you post it.
_______________________________________
Usagi awoke in the morning to someone whispering her name in her ear.
The first thing she became aware of was the smell of roses and the
feeling that something was out of place. Brushing aside her normal
desire to return to sleep, she partook in her curiosity and opened
her eyes. The room that she saw was unfamiliar, and then turning her
head she noticed Tuxedo-Kamen standing next to her. "Huh?" was all
her still asleep brain could think of saying.
"I brought you back here after the battle. That was a courageous
thing you did Usagi, throwing yourself in the way of that blast to
protect your cousin. She came by last night and released your
transformation." While he told her this, he stroked her hair,
comforting her. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for what
was to come next. "Now that I know who you are, it is only fair that
you should know who I am my sweet." And with that, he released his
powers.
Usagi was left speechless as Tuxedo-Kamen was revealed to be the bane
of her life: Chiba Mamoru. Mamoru had been expecting her to yell at
him, but instead she was locked in place as she tried to comprehend
what had just happened.
Trying to ease her confusion he placed a couple of light kisses on
her forehead before suggesting that she wash up while he prepared
some breakfast for the two of them. Confused, Usagi made her way to
the bathroom and began running the water. While undressing, she
noticed the number of bruises and burns that she had from the
previous night. She also realized that a shower probably would not be
the best thing with the bandaged burns. So instead, she filled the
tub with some water so that she could take a sponge bath. While the
injuries hurt her a lot, all that she could think about was that this
time she had not failed her daughter.
During her washing, she mused about her feelings toward Mamoru and
Tuxedo-Kamen. Surprisingly even to her, she did not care about the
way Mamoru had treated her in the past. She realized that she was
beginning to have feelings towards Mamoru himself and not just the
crush that she had on Tuxedo-Kamen.
As she entered the kitchen, Mamoru came up behind her placing an arm
around her and proceeded to walk her to the table. During the meal,
the two talked about other things, and Usagi found herself really
beginning to like this guy. And Mamoru found himself opening up in a
way that he had never before. The only other person he was open with
was Motoki and he found himself telling this young teenager in his
apartment things that he did not even tell his best friend.
As their meal was coming to a finish, a knock came at the door.
Opening it, revealed the visitor to be ChibiUsa. She had brought with
her Usagi's book bag and a change of clothes. Mamoru wondered for a
moment how the child had managed to carry all that here by herself.
But, then out the corner of his eye as he was letting the child in he
noticed a blue haired girl who looked a lot like one of Usagi's
friends get into an elevator.
As Usagi prepared herself for school, he got himself ready to go to
class as well. He did not feel right letting her out of his sight
just yet in her condition. "Usagi-chan mind if I walk you to school
this morning?" he asked.
As Usagi gave her accent, she noticed a smile spread across the face
of ChibiUsa.
having figured out ChibiUsa's motives she gave the pink haired girl a
wink.
The wink from Usagi caught the child off guard. The double take that ChibiUsa did
before moving to follow them gave Usagi all the conformation that she
needed, that Mamo-chan was the future father of her daughter.
* * * * * * * * *
Juuban Junior High School
Makoto arrived at school to find Ami waiting outside reading a book.
Walking over she sat down with Ami. "I hope Usagi is okay."
"According to ChibiUsa-chan she is fine, just a little banged up. I
took her to Tuxedo-kamen's apartment this morning with stuff for
Usagi. Hey there she is now."
Makoto looked to where Ami was pointing and did a double take when
she saw Usagi walking with Mamoru. "Is that Mamoru-san with her?"
asked Makoto.
Naru had joined the two and was also gaping at Usagi walking with
Mamoru's arm around her. "I thought those two hated each other. The
last time I saw those two together ChibiUsa-chan kicked Mamoru-san
hard in his shin for the way he was treating Usagi-chan."
Ami put two and two together realizing that Mamoru must be Tuxedo-
kamen, but she could not voice her conclusion to Makoto with Naru
present. Nevertheless, even with that conclusion she still could not
believe what her eyes were showing her. Moreover, the disbelief got
worse for the three when Mamoru left Usagi at the gate with a kiss on
her forehead.
As Usagi approached her three friends, they could only sputter in
their attempts to get their questions answered. However, Usagi was
saved from needing to answer any questions by the ringing of the
bell. As the four moved inside, a budding relationship between Usagi
and Mamoru was further confirmed by her dreamily saying "Mamo-chan."
* * * * * * * * *
The three perplexed students somehow managed to make it through the
morning. However, each of them, including Ami was yelled at by
Haruna-sensei for not paying attention. Haruna-sensei herself thought
the world must be coming to an end with Usagi having arrived on time,
paying attention, and it being Ami-chan who she had to remind to pay
attention. Heck Usagi did not even try to scarf down any of her lunch
during the morning either.
As class let out for lunch the three girls decided to corner Usagi
and get the dirt from her. However, Haruna-sensei wanted a word with
the three of them before allowing them out to eat lunch. Their delay
allowed Usagi enough time to begin to put her plan into operation.
Moving up to Ryo as he left the room, she began to talk with him.
* * * * * * * * *
Elsewhere in the City
Rubeus looked at the drawing that he held in his hand. With the
destruction of his ship, he had lost all visual records of the
rabbit, but now he held in his hand a crude, but reasonable pencil
drawing of the rabbit. In front of him lay the unfortunate sketch
artist who had drawn this sketch. Rubeus made his way
out of the alley where he had eliminated the last of three
individuals who could identify one of the higher ups in the
organization.
That day the sun was shining brightly, matching his mood. It was time
for him to ask one more meager favor for his service to the
organization. Walking into a nearby library, he went to the copy
machines and made a half dozen copies of the sketch he held. Now he
would be able to find the rabbit. In addition, he was sure that from
his observations of her he would find her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity.
Whistling to himself, he continued down into a park. Arriving in the
park, he sat down on one of the benches and thought about his
mission. Surprisingly this had become a common occurrence for him,
heading to the park at least once or twice a week. Pulling out the
dark crystal fragment that was all that was left from the glorious
Dark Moon Revolution, he noticed something different about it this
time. Unlike before, there was a definite magical hum to the crystal.
While the crystal did not have enough energy to be of any use now, it
was well along its way to recharging. And, with it fully powered
again, he would be able control the droids that he had retrieved.
Additionally his own magic would be dramatically amplified. He had no
illusions about being able to take out Serenity without the crystal
fully charged. The Ginzuishou, used properly would instantly flatten
him.
Lost as he was in his own thoughts he at first did not notice the
screams erupting from the park. However, when a blast took out a
section of ground near him and sent him flying he finally noticed the
demon attack. Looking up he saw three droids methodically taking down
everything they could lay eyes on in the park. He had been spared
only a glancing blow, because of his blood relation to the Dark Moon
Family.
Looking closer he found the answer in the magic linking
the droids. Apparently during the loading of his ship, an incorrect droid
box was loaded. His original mission was to travel back in time to
grab the rabbit, the Ginzuishou, and to capture crystal points. The
capturing of crystal points was to be carried out by energy gathering
droids, as those would function the best in the past. In addition to
the energy gathering droid, there were two other types of droids: a
control droid and a warrior droid. The warrior droids were just that
warriors, but without a magical link to an energy source, they would
quickly perish. In the future, they were tied to the Dark Crystal,
giving them near limitless power. Control Droids were used to give
tactics to other Droids and to manage the flow of energy. With a
Control Droid, a droid force could be become an independent fighting
unit, which is why they had been able to ransack the earth right up
to the shield surrounding the crystal palace.
As Rubeus studied the energy link lines, he realized what had
happened. A control droid had managed to link itself with the three
warrior droids and at least four energy droids upon its activation.
It must have placed all units in a stealth mode, allowing the energy
levels to build up. Now that it had a sufficient energy reserve, it
activated its warrior droids to destroy Crystal Tokyo. The only thing
that Rubeus could think of was a string of superlatives in many
languages as he realized the Sailor Senshi were nowhere ready to face
this threat. Moreover, with the ship destroyed he might not be able
to take control of the Control Droid.
* * * * * * * * *
Cruising down the road Haruka and Michiru were enjoying what they
believed would be one of their final days before they were to return
to service of their princess. A large tree suddenly landing in the
road gave Haruka a good test of her driving skills as she swung the
car around to dodge the tree and then the rest of the forest that
followed it.
"What the Heck?" exclaimed Haruka.
A large explosion grabbed the attention of the two women and they saw
three droids tearing up the park. "Want to bet that those things are
responsible for almost destroying my car." Haruka said angrily while
pulling out her wand.
Michiru repeated the same motion and soon the two Senshi were running
towards the battlefield. Arriving on the scene the two had to gasp as
they saw the extent of the devastation. They had thought it bad, from
the amount of forestry thrown into the road, but nothing prepared
them for what they saw. Half the park and a city block lay in utter
ruins and on the ground lay dozens of humans fully drained of energy.
Giving a jump, the two leapt clear of a blast that came their way
from the three droids.
"Well at least they are no longer tearing up Tokyo." Voiced Neptune,
as the two Senshi continued leaping for safety while trying to find
an opportunity to return fire.
* * * * * * * * *
On the sidelines, Rubeus tried to communicate with the Control Droid,
but to no avail. The only option left to him was a direct assault on
the warrior droids themselves, which he realized would eliminate any
chance for him to take control of them. As, he would now be branded a
threat and would be attacked.
Nevertheless, there were no other options open to him and so he
released a blast of dark energy at the nearest Warrior Droid. The two
Sailor Senshi already present did not question where their break just
came from, but proceeded to fire their on salvos at the Droids.
Getting a closer look at the two Senshi already on scene, he realized
that he had never before scene these two before.
* * * * * * * * *
Juuban Junior High School
Usagi was putting the final touches of her plan to hookup Ami up with
Ryo, when Naru came running up to her. School had been ended twenty
minutes earlier in the day, but for some reason the school,
administrators were not letting anyone out of school.
"Usagi-chan did you hear, there is a monster attack in the park. That
is why they are holding us here. They have almost destroyed the park
and the Sailor Senshi are loosing the battle." Naru got out between
gasps for air.
Usagi and Ami's head immediately picked up with the mention of a
monster attack. thought Usagi.
Usagi made an excuse to get away from Naru and went to fetch Makoto.
Ami herself talked with Naru in an attempt to get as much information
as possible about the battle that they were about to face. She did
not like what she heard. Ryo called to her allowing her to get away
from Naru, though as she walked over to him she wondered how she
would be able to get away from him.
"Ami-san, I know you need to go. Just let me say this, be careful
this will be a tough one." And then he gave her a quick kiss on the
cheek and disappeared around the corner. Ami was left blushing
heavily and utterly confused. Normally she would have been pondering
his comment, but instead her brain could not get past the notion that
he had just kissed her and that her heart was now jumping for joy.
It was not until her communicator beeped that she came back to her
senses. Looking down at the device, she suddenly remembered what she
needed to do and ran out the building while opening the channel. As
she ran across the building tops, she muttered her excuses to the
others over the cannel, while Mars complained about her pulling a
Usagi.
The six Sailor Senshi met up with each other just a few blocks away
from the source of the trouble. Leaping across another couple of
buildings, they came to a complete stop as the extent of the
devastation became apparent. ChibiMoon moved closer to Sailor Moon,
for her this looked too much like the destruction that the Dark Moon
had wrecked on her home.
Standing on the final surviving building before the battleground,
five of the Senshi watched two Senshi and another magic user battle
the three demons. Mercury had convinced them to hold off joining the
battle while she scanned the area to determine the best battle plan.
What her scanner showed her did not make her happy in the least bit.
The equipment displayed power levels that made even the generals they
had fought look like wimps, and her eye recognized that the three
demons were using combat tactics against their opponents. The only
thing good that came across was the level of power shown in the
attacks by their apparent allies as well.
"Minna, we can only defeat these creatures with a Planet Attack. Our
powers will only be a distraction at best to them." Stated Mercury.
And then turning to ChibiMoon "ChibiMoon, you can not help us at all
here, it would be best if you went home. Gonmen."
ChibiMoon began to protest, but was cut off by Usagi. "Muzume if what
Mercury says is true you cannot help us, and I cannot bear to see you
face unnecessary danger."
ChibiMoon was going to protest further, but a look into Sailor Moon's
eyes silenced those words. "Hai, okaa-san" And with that she leapt
off the building and began heading home.
"Mercury if we launch a planet attack now, would we be able to
destroy one of those creatures?" asked Venus formulating a plan.
"Yes, and since they do not know that we are here, we should have
enough time to power it up." Looking at her computer, Mercury
selected a target "I suggest taking out the one in the middle."
And, with that the five Senshi formed a circle and began powering up
the planet attack.
* * * * * * * * *
The battleground
Uranus cursed as she was again thrown into the ground by the demons.
"What is it with these things, why won't they die." She complained to
no one in particular.
Rubeus watched as Neptune released another attack and then helped
Uranus up. He knew that they were losing this battle. They had been
unable to take out even one of the droids, and they were being worn-
out. The problem was not so much the lack of power in their attacks,
but that they spent most of time dodging and not attacking. Rubeus
flung another set of dark energy spheres and teleported again out of
the way of a droid blast.
But, then his vision
was temporarily blinded as a large column of energy slammed into the
ground where one of the droids stood. When his vision cleared all
that remained was a pile of dust. Then he heard the words that he
never thought he would be glad to here.
"How dare you destroy the peace and harmony of this park. I am Sailor
Moon, and in the name of the Moon I will punish you." The two
remaining droids even before she began her speech had been in the
process of targeting the newcomers and returning fire. The first
blast hit the building just as she finished her speech, but the team
had enough time to leap off and land in the park. With the arrival of
the remaining five Senshi, the melee began for real this time.
* * * * * * * * *
Tsukino Household
Ikuko stood in her living room watching the television. The station
like all others was currently showing live coverage from the battle
between the Senshi and the three demons. Until now, there was no
evidence for the existence of the Senshi except for some eyewitness
reports and the minor war zones that they left behind. But, now for
the first time, a battle involving the Senshi was being captured on
tape.
Ikuko worriedly watched the television, thinking about her daughter
who was out there fighting those creatures.
". and to recap what is happening. The previously thought mythical
Sailor Senshi are currently engaged in a battle with three creatures.
We do not know what kind of weapons the two sides are using, only
that they do substantial damage to the area. Unfortunately our
military analysts are saying that the tide of the battle appears to
be going against the Senshi."
The reporters voiced suddenly perked up a little bit. "This just in.
We have just received word that the government has authorized
military action to stabilize the situation.."
The scene on the television changed a live feed from a nearby
military base showing a flight of four helicopters lifting off.
Following their departure, the station's military strategist came on
to explain how the helicopters were likely to be deployed).
As the feed returned to the battlefield, the cameraman panned the
camera to catch sight of something that caught his eye. Ikuko's eyes
widened as she watched the top of a building glow bright in built up
energy and then as that energy was released and arced across the sky
to one of the demons. A cheer came across the television as the
reporter confirmed the destruction of one of the demons.
Following the confirmation of the kill, the front door opened. Ikuko
turned around to see ChibiUsa come in. Seeing the TV display the
battle, the child ran over to her grandmother. She wanted to watch
the battle, to know what was happening, but she was also scared for
the life of her mother, just as Ikuko was scared for the life of her
daughter. The two watched the coverage praying for Sailor Moon while
comforting each other.
* * * * * * * * *
Five minutes out of Tokyo
"This is Foxbat-1 all units weapons hot." The flight captain called
out to his wingmen while arming and releasing the safeties on his
weapons. Turning he looked at his gunnery officer and gave him a
nervous smile. Opening the comm. channel again "All units report in."
"Foxbat-2 armed and ready"
"Foxbat-3 armed and ready"
"Foxbat-4 armed and ready to kick some alien butt." Came the reply
from all his units.
The terrain of Tokyo quickly came up on the copters, dropping low to
the ground; they reduced speed and began their approach to the target
area. Unfortunately, the targeting computers were not designed to
shoot things out of a storybook, and so all attack runs would have to
be made with manual targeting. However, the gunnery officers were
trained for this sort of thing, so this should not be a problem, as
many ground attack targets could not be preprogrammed ahead of time.
As they came around the last city block, the targets came into sight.
"All units you are cleared to engage targets." Was his last command
before engaging the enemy, calling "Fox-2" he launched a set of
missiles at the nearest creature.
* * * * * * * * *
The battleground
Mercury looked up as the Sailor Senshi dodged yet another blast from
their opponents She thought
while trying to find someway to gain an advantage. True the tide had
turned substantially since their arrival. There was now only two of
the droids and the two sides were evenly matched. However, the droids
had access to the energy drawn from their Collector Droids, while the
Sailor Senshi and Rubeus were slowing running out of steam. All the
Senshi now sported large bruises, gashes, and burns over their body.
Tuxedo-kamen had shown up shortly after their arrival, but his
ability to help was limited to ferrying stunned Senshi to the
sidelines before they were blasted. The park had not fared well
either, it was now totally destroyed; at least the police had managed
to evacuate the vicinity.
A flashing light on her visor got her attention. Looking more closely at the data readout, she noticed
the approach of four Japanese Army AH1S Cobra Helicopter Gunships. As
she was analyzing this new data, the first salvo of missiles impacted
one of the demons. The impact threw the droid across the park and
into an until now undamaged office building.
"You three attack the other droid, Sailor Team lets take out that
one." Came Venus's commands, taking advantage of the opening given to
them. Neptune, Uranus and Rubeus immediately launched a new salvo of
attacks at the still standing droid in an attempt to buy the others
sufficient time to release their attack.
The pilot of Foxbat-1 cursed the still apparently alive nature of the
demon they had hit. His eyes caught sight of three of the "allied"
ground force engage the still standing creature while the other five
closed in a circle and began to prepare for some kind of attack he
guessed. Quickly figuring out where best to deploy his men "All units
attack the still standing creature with all weapons. Alpha Strike,"
With that the gunships fired all their weaponry at the still standing
droid at the same time. The 'copters dodged around to avoid becoming
toast while they followed through with their Gatling cannons.
The combined strikes of Rubeus, Uranus, and Neptune following quickly
on the Alpha Strike proved too much for the still standing Droid and
it was turned into dust at the same time that the planet attack
reached and dusted the other droid.
Looking around the Sailor Senshi breathed a sigh of relief as they
realized that the battle was finally over. Then noticing the quickly
approaching media they leapt to the roofs. Making a few adjustments
to her communicator, Mercury sent out a message.
* * * * * * * * *
Foxbat-1 watched in disbelief as the ground troops suddenly leapt up
on to the building roofs and disappeared. His musings were interrupted by a transmission over the
radio.
"Mercury to military forces. Thanks for your help."
Foxbat-1 thought to
himself. "Mission accomplished. All units return to base." With that
the four gunships turned around and began a more lazily flight back
to their base.
* * * * * * * * *
As the gunships left, emergency crews arrived on the scene. The
police and the Japan Defense Force began the process of determining
the extent of the damage. It was quickly realized that there was
minimal threat of further damage, except for the potential collapse
of a couple of buildings. The city blocks surrounding the park were
taped off, with much inside the region being condemned. Later that
evening a casualty list became available. Unlike previous attacks,
these victims were not so lucky. Only a few of them were found still
alive, but those were in deep commas from their energy drain. Current
estimates had a death toll of around 3-dozen. Thankfully, most people
ran when the first droid made its appearance. The majority of those
killed were still in the first office building as one of the droids
had blasted it.
* * * * * * * * *
One other spectator/participant of the battle turned away and
teleported back to her base. Even from the Dark Kingdom base, Beryl
had become aware of the battle from the level of energy being
employed. However, to her highly trained magic senses, something
seemed different about the battle, and so she decided to investigate
it herself. Arriving at the site, her mage sight identified the
energy streams that were feeding the demons. She knew about energy
streams, but never had seen anything like these. And so, she closely
observed the battle.
Unlike her generals, she was highly trained in the magical arts. Even
before she discovered Metalia and summoned her, she was one of the
strongest mages on the earth. Her talents set her up to learn about
the power held by the nearly immortal beings of the Silver Millennium
and to have close dealings with the various royal families of the
earth. Accepting the superior magic of the Moon Kingdom, she was
content to be one of the strongest earth mages ever with the
knowledge that she would be able to have any earth prince she wanted.
But, then that witch cast some kind of spell on her love and stole
Endymion.
That had been a private declaration of war against Beryl. Knowing the
only way to free her love from the spell that the Moon Princess had
cast was to gain power above that held by the Silver Millennium she
delved into obscure magic texts. In her research, she quite early
came across the spells needed to summon youma, but they were
insufficient for what she needed. The answer came when she found an
ancient text describing a being known only as Queen Metalia, dating
back to the early days of the Silver Millennium.
The spells needed to open a portal to release Metalia were quite
simple. And, with the ample magic energy that still flowed in the
solar system during those days, it was not long before Beryl had
summoned Queen Metalia. With the power given to her by Metalia and
her seven Shadow Warriors, Beryl began to plan the destruction of the
Silver Millennium.
Her plan went off nearly flawlessly, but the flaws that occurred were
devastating ones. First, that witch used her powers to force Endymion
to throw himself in the way of the blast that Beryl had unleashed at
the witch, killing him. To make matters worse, the legendary power of
the Ginzuishou was too much even for Metalia. Queen Serenity managed
to banish Beryl and all her followers, while once again sealing away
Metalia. However, she was only able to imprison the Shadow Warriors
in the crystal itself.
It had taken them over a thousand earth years to free themselves of
the banishment. But, a few years ago, they finally were able to
return to the earth. For them it had been only a few years, but
everything they knew had turned to dust. This had hardened the hearts
of her troops and placed those that she had used charm spells on even
more firmly under her control.
One of the first things they realized upon escaping from their
banishment was that Serenity had not stopped with destroying their
force, but she had changed the earth itself. She had managed to
destroy nearly all the inherent magic contained by the planet. The
irony was that this was exactly what Beryl's forces did at every one
of the Silver Millennium member planets as they were attacked. Now
even gathering the magic for simple spells was nearly impossible over
much of the planet, and special effort was needed to gather the
energy necessary to release Metalia. Scans of the planet revealed
only two magic nexi of sufficient strength remaining on the planet:
Stone Hedge and Tokyo.
Whereas Stone Hedge was a concentrated magic source, perfect for
tapping. Tokyo was the exact opposite. There was no centralized
source, instead it diffused into everything that existed within about
a fuzzy fifteen-kilometer radius of the city. Consequently, she
initially directed her troops to secure the magic held at Stone
Hedge. In the over thousand years since she had been on the planet
last, the shielding magic on Stone Hedge had increased dramatically.
Her forces were making no headway, and then the first of the Senshi
had shown up: Sailor V.
Giving up on the preferred location, she directed her troops to
gather the energy available in Tokyo. The one advantage of the
diffuse nature of the energy was that it could be gathered just by
draining its people. But, of course a Sailor Senshi had shown up
there as well; another unknown one. To make matters worse the
guardians of the Moon Princess began showing up as well. A few days
after the discovery of the Moon Princess's identity, Beryl realized
what had happened. Queen Serenity had sent her daughter to be reborn
in the future, and had somehow managed to concentrate all the magic
energy in the location where her daughter was to be reborn. This
would give her daughter complete power over the helpless people of
the earth. Additionally to avoid its use by others before the time,
she placed heavy shield spells on the magic nexus. A few days ago she
had confirmed the presence of those shield spells.
Two things were necessary for her to be able to rule this planet as
its rightful ruler and to have her prince at her side (spells had
revealed that he had been reborn as well). The first was the release
of Metalia, so that she would have the necessary power to carryout
her plans. The presence of Metalia was needed even more now than ever
due to the devoid nature of the planet. Though she knew that if she
had been able to capture Stone Hedge Metalia would not have been
needed. The other requirement was to capture the Ginzuishou for two
reasons: one it would give her immortality and the other is that its
power when wielded by one of the royal Moon blood was too strong even
for Metalia.
While observing the demons facing the Senshi, the amount of energy
being sent through those energy streams amazed her. Following the destruction of the first droid, Beryl
determined how she could harness that power. While she had herself
never seen nor heard of energy streams of the magnitude that she saw,
she felt comfortable in her ability to redirect them upon the death
of their original target. Consequently, as the other two droids were
dusted, she was able to harvest a few of the energy streams. Now with
a stable persistent source of energy she returned to the Dark
Kingdom, for once in a happy mood.
* * * * * * * * *
A cafe
Haruka and Michiru sat in one of Tokyo's cafes resting after the
battle neither having the energy do much. Following the battle they
retrieved Haruka's car, which had amazingly survived the battle
unhurt. After parking it, they walked into the nearest caf' and
collapsed. With some food in their stomachs the two Senshi finally
felt like doing something more than just sleeping.
"I am guessing this must be why Pluto awoke us." Summed up Haruka.
"Yes, but what I am wondering is who that mage was that helped us and
also about those other two Sailor Senshi and their associated tuxedo
clad warrior. I believe the one that was at today's battle referred
to herself as a Senshi of the Moon. But, I do not remember any Sailor
Senshi of the Moon do you?"
Shaking her head Haruka replied: "No, and yesterday she had a small
child with her as well. And, I definitely know that they did not send
children out that young into battles."
The two spent the next hour discussing the battle and these other
allies over their dinner. Both wished that they could go and swear
their services once again to their princess. However, Pluto had said
the time was not right yet, so they were instead left with unanswered
questions that the princess's inner court could provide the answer
to.
* * * * * * * * *
Tsukino household
Usagi wearily returned home. She now lay in bed having finally
convinced her mother that she was okay. It had not been an easy task,
assuring her mother that she was okay. The fact that she had to be
helped home by both Minako and Makoto did nothing to help her
position. Yes, if she wanted to do anything other than sleep she
would be in trouble, but that was all she wanted to do. Moreover, by
the virtue of her extraterrestrial bloodline she would probably heal
substantially over night.
The battle itself did not injure her more than most battles, the only
thing unique about this one was its length, and hence her energy use.
However, some of the injuries from yesterday had been aggravated,
requiring Ami to rebandage them upon returning home. Those old
injuries had sent Ikuko's mothering instincts into overdrive. Even
telling her that they were old injuries did nothing to calm her
mother or father for that matter. Her father for his part was taking
out his anger on Minako and Luna, the two he saw primarily
responsible for ensuring his daughter's well being.
If she had the energy and was not trying to dissuade her mother, the
lecturing her father was giving Luna would have been quite hilarious.
During all this Makoto was the only one left alone. She went between
the two groups, trying to get Usagi's parents to take a breath and
relax. However, her efforts were to no avail. Seeing no other option,
following a henshin she charged up her body with lightning.
The light show of the energy being gathered by Jupiter and the
subsequent crackling of the stored energy got everybody's attention.
Seeing an irate Thunder Senshi with enough energy coursing through
her body to short out half the district caused the two parents to
pause for the moment. Now with control of the situation she first
found out from Mercury what needed to be done further with treating
Usagi. With Mercury's recommendation, Usagi was finally allowed to
head up to her room to get the sleep she desperately craved.
Now with Kenji no longer in hysterics, the Senshi explained to the
two parents the battle that was fought yesterday and the one fought
that day. As soon as she was allowed, ChibiUsa skipped out of the
room and headed up the stairs to her mother's room. Whereas the other
Senshi were worried because they had faced a threat that they had
barely been able to defeat, she was scared because of the memories
associated with the type of droids that had attacked. This time it
was more than just bad memories surfacing, it was the real fear that
Tokyo itself would fall victim to the same fate that would befall it
in 900 years.
Entering Usagi's room, ChibiUsa paused unsure if she wanted to wake
her mother. However, she need not have worried, Usagi could clearly
feel the fear that coursed through the child and until that fear was
soothed she would be unable to sleep.
Usagi turned her body to face the child and placed a warm smile on
her face. The moment the weak smile appeared on Usagi's face the
child's indecision broke down and she flung herself across the room
and into Usagi's arms. Holding the scared child, Usagi began the
process of calming her, having suddenly found more than sufficient
energy for the task.
Ten minutes later when Luna and Ami came in to check on the two, they
found them fast asleep. Pulling out her computer, she did one final
scan over the two. Looking at the readings, she noticed that the two
had somehow managed to synchronize all their body rhythms and even
their energy fields seemed to have merged. This did not surprise her
at all; she knew how attached Usagi had become to the child and they
were mother and daughter. Leaving Luna in the room to curl up with
the two, she headed back downstairs to assure Usagi's parents that
Usagi was fine before heading home herself.
* * * * * * * * *
Home base of the Foxbat flight: 0030 hrs
Captain Keffer lay in his bunk wondering why fate hated him so much.
It had been six hours since his return, and he had been in
debriefings up to thirty minutes ago. His superiors wanted to know
everything about the threat his squadron had faced. Additionally he had been called to
explain his Alpha Strike on the targets.
Laying down Keffer attempted to get some sleep. He had time for five
hours of rest before he needed to be up at 0500 to continue the
debriefing. However, this time he was being sent to explain to the
brass the events of the mission. Tomorrow was not going to be a fun
day. He still could not believe the news clips that he had been shown
upon returning. Up in the air he did not get a good look at their
"allied" ground troops. But the news clips showed him who they were
and the powers that they had. At first, he thought it a joke, but his
commanding officer quickly killed that and explained that while they
had no explanation what he saw was real.
Chapter 8: "War Zone"
Author: etj4Eagle
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle
Lasted Edited: 8/31/00
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,
all rights are owned by others.
If you distribute the story, do only
so freely and inform me of where you post it.
_______________________________________
Usagi awoke in the morning to someone whispering her name in her ear.
The first thing she became aware of was the smell of roses and the
feeling that something was out of place. Brushing aside her normal
desire to return to sleep, she partook in her curiosity and opened
her eyes. The room that she saw was unfamiliar, and then turning her
head she noticed Tuxedo-Kamen standing next to her. "Huh?" was all
her still asleep brain could think of saying.
"I brought you back here after the battle. That was a courageous
thing you did Usagi, throwing yourself in the way of that blast to
protect your cousin. She came by last night and released your
transformation." While he told her this, he stroked her hair,
comforting her. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for what
was to come next. "Now that I know who you are, it is only fair that
you should know who I am my sweet." And with that, he released his
powers.
Usagi was left speechless as Tuxedo-Kamen was revealed to be the bane
of her life: Chiba Mamoru. Mamoru had been expecting her to yell at
him, but instead she was locked in place as she tried to comprehend
what had just happened.
Trying to ease her confusion he placed a couple of light kisses on
her forehead before suggesting that she wash up while he prepared
some breakfast for the two of them. Confused, Usagi made her way to
the bathroom and began running the water. While undressing, she
noticed the number of bruises and burns that she had from the
previous night. She also realized that a shower probably would not be
the best thing with the bandaged burns. So instead, she filled the
tub with some water so that she could take a sponge bath. While the
injuries hurt her a lot, all that she could think about was that this
time she had not failed her daughter.
During her washing, she mused about her feelings toward Mamoru and
Tuxedo-Kamen. Surprisingly even to her, she did not care about the
way Mamoru had treated her in the past. She realized that she was
beginning to have feelings towards Mamoru himself and not just the
crush that she had on Tuxedo-Kamen.
As she entered the kitchen, Mamoru came up behind her placing an arm
around her and proceeded to walk her to the table. During the meal,
the two talked about other things, and Usagi found herself really
beginning to like this guy. And Mamoru found himself opening up in a
way that he had never before. The only other person he was open with
was Motoki and he found himself telling this young teenager in his
apartment things that he did not even tell his best friend.
As their meal was coming to a finish, a knock came at the door.
Opening it, revealed the visitor to be ChibiUsa. She had brought with
her Usagi's book bag and a change of clothes. Mamoru wondered for a
moment how the child had managed to carry all that here by herself.
But, then out the corner of his eye as he was letting the child in he
noticed a blue haired girl who looked a lot like one of Usagi's
friends get into an elevator.
As Usagi prepared herself for school, he got himself ready to go to
class as well. He did not feel right letting her out of his sight
just yet in her condition. "Usagi-chan mind if I walk you to school
this morning?" he asked.
As Usagi gave her accent, she noticed a smile spread across the face
of ChibiUsa.
having figured out ChibiUsa's motives she gave the pink haired girl a
wink.
The wink from Usagi caught the child off guard. The double take that ChibiUsa did
before moving to follow them gave Usagi all the conformation that she
needed, that Mamo-chan was the future father of her daughter.
* * * * * * * * *
Juuban Junior High School
Makoto arrived at school to find Ami waiting outside reading a book.
Walking over she sat down with Ami. "I hope Usagi is okay."
"According to ChibiUsa-chan she is fine, just a little banged up. I
took her to Tuxedo-kamen's apartment this morning with stuff for
Usagi. Hey there she is now."
Makoto looked to where Ami was pointing and did a double take when
she saw Usagi walking with Mamoru. "Is that Mamoru-san with her?"
asked Makoto.
Naru had joined the two and was also gaping at Usagi walking with
Mamoru's arm around her. "I thought those two hated each other. The
last time I saw those two together ChibiUsa-chan kicked Mamoru-san
hard in his shin for the way he was treating Usagi-chan."
Ami put two and two together realizing that Mamoru must be Tuxedo-
kamen, but she could not voice her conclusion to Makoto with Naru
present. Nevertheless, even with that conclusion she still could not
believe what her eyes were showing her. Moreover, the disbelief got
worse for the three when Mamoru left Usagi at the gate with a kiss on
her forehead.
As Usagi approached her three friends, they could only sputter in
their attempts to get their questions answered. However, Usagi was
saved from needing to answer any questions by the ringing of the
bell. As the four moved inside, a budding relationship between Usagi
and Mamoru was further confirmed by her dreamily saying "Mamo-chan."
* * * * * * * * *
The three perplexed students somehow managed to make it through the
morning. However, each of them, including Ami was yelled at by
Haruna-sensei for not paying attention. Haruna-sensei herself thought
the world must be coming to an end with Usagi having arrived on time,
paying attention, and it being Ami-chan who she had to remind to pay
attention. Heck Usagi did not even try to scarf down any of her lunch
during the morning either.
As class let out for lunch the three girls decided to corner Usagi
and get the dirt from her. However, Haruna-sensei wanted a word with
the three of them before allowing them out to eat lunch. Their delay
allowed Usagi enough time to begin to put her plan into operation.
Moving up to Ryo as he left the room, she began to talk with him.
* * * * * * * * *
Elsewhere in the City
Rubeus looked at the drawing that he held in his hand. With the
destruction of his ship, he had lost all visual records of the
rabbit, but now he held in his hand a crude, but reasonable pencil
drawing of the rabbit. In front of him lay the unfortunate sketch
artist who had drawn this sketch. Rubeus made his way
out of the alley where he had eliminated the last of three
individuals who could identify one of the higher ups in the
organization.
That day the sun was shining brightly, matching his mood. It was time
for him to ask one more meager favor for his service to the
organization. Walking into a nearby library, he went to the copy
machines and made a half dozen copies of the sketch he held. Now he
would be able to find the rabbit. In addition, he was sure that from
his observations of her he would find her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity.
Whistling to himself, he continued down into a park. Arriving in the
park, he sat down on one of the benches and thought about his
mission. Surprisingly this had become a common occurrence for him,
heading to the park at least once or twice a week. Pulling out the
dark crystal fragment that was all that was left from the glorious
Dark Moon Revolution, he noticed something different about it this
time. Unlike before, there was a definite magical hum to the crystal.
While the crystal did not have enough energy to be of any use now, it
was well along its way to recharging. And, with it fully powered
again, he would be able control the droids that he had retrieved.
Additionally his own magic would be dramatically amplified. He had no
illusions about being able to take out Serenity without the crystal
fully charged. The Ginzuishou, used properly would instantly flatten
him.
Lost as he was in his own thoughts he at first did not notice the
screams erupting from the park. However, when a blast took out a
section of ground near him and sent him flying he finally noticed the
demon attack. Looking up he saw three droids methodically taking down
everything they could lay eyes on in the park. He had been spared
only a glancing blow, because of his blood relation to the Dark Moon
Family.
Looking closer he found the answer in the magic linking
the droids. Apparently during the loading of his ship, an incorrect droid
box was loaded. His original mission was to travel back in time to
grab the rabbit, the Ginzuishou, and to capture crystal points. The
capturing of crystal points was to be carried out by energy gathering
droids, as those would function the best in the past. In addition to
the energy gathering droid, there were two other types of droids: a
control droid and a warrior droid. The warrior droids were just that
warriors, but without a magical link to an energy source, they would
quickly perish. In the future, they were tied to the Dark Crystal,
giving them near limitless power. Control Droids were used to give
tactics to other Droids and to manage the flow of energy. With a
Control Droid, a droid force could be become an independent fighting
unit, which is why they had been able to ransack the earth right up
to the shield surrounding the crystal palace.
As Rubeus studied the energy link lines, he realized what had
happened. A control droid had managed to link itself with the three
warrior droids and at least four energy droids upon its activation.
It must have placed all units in a stealth mode, allowing the energy
levels to build up. Now that it had a sufficient energy reserve, it
activated its warrior droids to destroy Crystal Tokyo. The only thing
that Rubeus could think of was a string of superlatives in many
languages as he realized the Sailor Senshi were nowhere ready to face
this threat. Moreover, with the ship destroyed he might not be able
to take control of the Control Droid.
* * * * * * * * *
Cruising down the road Haruka and Michiru were enjoying what they
believed would be one of their final days before they were to return
to service of their princess. A large tree suddenly landing in the
road gave Haruka a good test of her driving skills as she swung the
car around to dodge the tree and then the rest of the forest that
followed it.
"What the Heck?" exclaimed Haruka.
A large explosion grabbed the attention of the two women and they saw
three droids tearing up the park. "Want to bet that those things are
responsible for almost destroying my car." Haruka said angrily while
pulling out her wand.
Michiru repeated the same motion and soon the two Senshi were running
towards the battlefield. Arriving on the scene the two had to gasp as
they saw the extent of the devastation. They had thought it bad, from
the amount of forestry thrown into the road, but nothing prepared
them for what they saw. Half the park and a city block lay in utter
ruins and on the ground lay dozens of humans fully drained of energy.
Giving a jump, the two leapt clear of a blast that came their way
from the three droids.
"Well at least they are no longer tearing up Tokyo." Voiced Neptune,
as the two Senshi continued leaping for safety while trying to find
an opportunity to return fire.
* * * * * * * * *
On the sidelines, Rubeus tried to communicate with the Control Droid,
but to no avail. The only option left to him was a direct assault on
the warrior droids themselves, which he realized would eliminate any
chance for him to take control of them. As, he would now be branded a
threat and would be attacked.
Nevertheless, there were no other options open to him and so he
released a blast of dark energy at the nearest Warrior Droid. The two
Sailor Senshi already present did not question where their break just
came from, but proceeded to fire their on salvos at the Droids.
Getting a closer look at the two Senshi already on scene, he realized
that he had never before scene these two before.
* * * * * * * * *
Juuban Junior High School
Usagi was putting the final touches of her plan to hookup Ami up with
Ryo, when Naru came running up to her. School had been ended twenty
minutes earlier in the day, but for some reason the school,
administrators were not letting anyone out of school.
"Usagi-chan did you hear, there is a monster attack in the park. That
is why they are holding us here. They have almost destroyed the park
and the Sailor Senshi are loosing the battle." Naru got out between
gasps for air.
Usagi and Ami's head immediately picked up with the mention of a
monster attack. thought Usagi.
Usagi made an excuse to get away from Naru and went to fetch Makoto.
Ami herself talked with Naru in an attempt to get as much information
as possible about the battle that they were about to face. She did
not like what she heard. Ryo called to her allowing her to get away
from Naru, though as she walked over to him she wondered how she
would be able to get away from him.
"Ami-san, I know you need to go. Just let me say this, be careful
this will be a tough one." And then he gave her a quick kiss on the
cheek and disappeared around the corner. Ami was left blushing
heavily and utterly confused. Normally she would have been pondering
his comment, but instead her brain could not get past the notion that
he had just kissed her and that her heart was now jumping for joy.
It was not until her communicator beeped that she came back to her
senses. Looking down at the device, she suddenly remembered what she
needed to do and ran out the building while opening the channel. As
she ran across the building tops, she muttered her excuses to the
others over the cannel, while Mars complained about her pulling a
Usagi.
The six Sailor Senshi met up with each other just a few blocks away
from the source of the trouble. Leaping across another couple of
buildings, they came to a complete stop as the extent of the
devastation became apparent. ChibiMoon moved closer to Sailor Moon,
for her this looked too much like the destruction that the Dark Moon
had wrecked on her home.
Standing on the final surviving building before the battleground,
five of the Senshi watched two Senshi and another magic user battle
the three demons. Mercury had convinced them to hold off joining the
battle while she scanned the area to determine the best battle plan.
What her scanner showed her did not make her happy in the least bit.
The equipment displayed power levels that made even the generals they
had fought look like wimps, and her eye recognized that the three
demons were using combat tactics against their opponents. The only
thing good that came across was the level of power shown in the
attacks by their apparent allies as well.
"Minna, we can only defeat these creatures with a Planet Attack. Our
powers will only be a distraction at best to them." Stated Mercury.
And then turning to ChibiMoon "ChibiMoon, you can not help us at all
here, it would be best if you went home. Gonmen."
ChibiMoon began to protest, but was cut off by Usagi. "Muzume if what
Mercury says is true you cannot help us, and I cannot bear to see you
face unnecessary danger."
ChibiMoon was going to protest further, but a look into Sailor Moon's
eyes silenced those words. "Hai, okaa-san" And with that she leapt
off the building and began heading home.
"Mercury if we launch a planet attack now, would we be able to
destroy one of those creatures?" asked Venus formulating a plan.
"Yes, and since they do not know that we are here, we should have
enough time to power it up." Looking at her computer, Mercury
selected a target "I suggest taking out the one in the middle."
And, with that the five Senshi formed a circle and began powering up
the planet attack.
* * * * * * * * *
The battleground
Uranus cursed as she was again thrown into the ground by the demons.
"What is it with these things, why won't they die." She complained to
no one in particular.
Rubeus watched as Neptune released another attack and then helped
Uranus up. He knew that they were losing this battle. They had been
unable to take out even one of the droids, and they were being worn-
out. The problem was not so much the lack of power in their attacks,
but that they spent most of time dodging and not attacking. Rubeus
flung another set of dark energy spheres and teleported again out of
the way of a droid blast.
But, then his vision
was temporarily blinded as a large column of energy slammed into the
ground where one of the droids stood. When his vision cleared all
that remained was a pile of dust. Then he heard the words that he
never thought he would be glad to here.
"How dare you destroy the peace and harmony of this park. I am Sailor
Moon, and in the name of the Moon I will punish you." The two
remaining droids even before she began her speech had been in the
process of targeting the newcomers and returning fire. The first
blast hit the building just as she finished her speech, but the team
had enough time to leap off and land in the park. With the arrival of
the remaining five Senshi, the melee began for real this time.
* * * * * * * * *
Tsukino Household
Ikuko stood in her living room watching the television. The station
like all others was currently showing live coverage from the battle
between the Senshi and the three demons. Until now, there was no
evidence for the existence of the Senshi except for some eyewitness
reports and the minor war zones that they left behind. But, now for
the first time, a battle involving the Senshi was being captured on
tape.
Ikuko worriedly watched the television, thinking about her daughter
who was out there fighting those creatures.
". and to recap what is happening. The previously thought mythical
Sailor Senshi are currently engaged in a battle with three creatures.
We do not know what kind of weapons the two sides are using, only
that they do substantial damage to the area. Unfortunately our
military analysts are saying that the tide of the battle appears to
be going against the Senshi."
The reporters voiced suddenly perked up a little bit. "This just in.
We have just received word that the government has authorized
military action to stabilize the situation.."
The scene on the television changed a live feed from a nearby
military base showing a flight of four helicopters lifting off.
Following their departure, the station's military strategist came on
to explain how the helicopters were likely to be deployed).
As the feed returned to the battlefield, the cameraman panned the
camera to catch sight of something that caught his eye. Ikuko's eyes
widened as she watched the top of a building glow bright in built up
energy and then as that energy was released and arced across the sky
to one of the demons. A cheer came across the television as the
reporter confirmed the destruction of one of the demons.
Following the confirmation of the kill, the front door opened. Ikuko
turned around to see ChibiUsa come in. Seeing the TV display the
battle, the child ran over to her grandmother. She wanted to watch
the battle, to know what was happening, but she was also scared for
the life of her mother, just as Ikuko was scared for the life of her
daughter. The two watched the coverage praying for Sailor Moon while
comforting each other.
* * * * * * * * *
Five minutes out of Tokyo
"This is Foxbat-1 all units weapons hot." The flight captain called
out to his wingmen while arming and releasing the safeties on his
weapons. Turning he looked at his gunnery officer and gave him a
nervous smile. Opening the comm. channel again "All units report in."
"Foxbat-2 armed and ready"
"Foxbat-3 armed and ready"
"Foxbat-4 armed and ready to kick some alien butt." Came the reply
from all his units.
The terrain of Tokyo quickly came up on the copters, dropping low to
the ground; they reduced speed and began their approach to the target
area. Unfortunately, the targeting computers were not designed to
shoot things out of a storybook, and so all attack runs would have to
be made with manual targeting. However, the gunnery officers were
trained for this sort of thing, so this should not be a problem, as
many ground attack targets could not be preprogrammed ahead of time.
As they came around the last city block, the targets came into sight.
"All units you are cleared to engage targets." Was his last command
before engaging the enemy, calling "Fox-2" he launched a set of
missiles at the nearest creature.
* * * * * * * * *
The battleground
Mercury looked up as the Sailor Senshi dodged yet another blast from
their opponents She thought
while trying to find someway to gain an advantage. True the tide had
turned substantially since their arrival. There was now only two of
the droids and the two sides were evenly matched. However, the droids
had access to the energy drawn from their Collector Droids, while the
Sailor Senshi and Rubeus were slowing running out of steam. All the
Senshi now sported large bruises, gashes, and burns over their body.
Tuxedo-kamen had shown up shortly after their arrival, but his
ability to help was limited to ferrying stunned Senshi to the
sidelines before they were blasted. The park had not fared well
either, it was now totally destroyed; at least the police had managed
to evacuate the vicinity.
A flashing light on her visor got her attention. Looking more closely at the data readout, she noticed
the approach of four Japanese Army AH1S Cobra Helicopter Gunships. As
she was analyzing this new data, the first salvo of missiles impacted
one of the demons. The impact threw the droid across the park and
into an until now undamaged office building.
"You three attack the other droid, Sailor Team lets take out that
one." Came Venus's commands, taking advantage of the opening given to
them. Neptune, Uranus and Rubeus immediately launched a new salvo of
attacks at the still standing droid in an attempt to buy the others
sufficient time to release their attack.
The pilot of Foxbat-1 cursed the still apparently alive nature of the
demon they had hit. His eyes caught sight of three of the "allied"
ground force engage the still standing creature while the other five
closed in a circle and began to prepare for some kind of attack he
guessed. Quickly figuring out where best to deploy his men "All units
attack the still standing creature with all weapons. Alpha Strike,"
With that the gunships fired all their weaponry at the still standing
droid at the same time. The 'copters dodged around to avoid becoming
toast while they followed through with their Gatling cannons.
The combined strikes of Rubeus, Uranus, and Neptune following quickly
on the Alpha Strike proved too much for the still standing Droid and
it was turned into dust at the same time that the planet attack
reached and dusted the other droid.
Looking around the Sailor Senshi breathed a sigh of relief as they
realized that the battle was finally over. Then noticing the quickly
approaching media they leapt to the roofs. Making a few adjustments
to her communicator, Mercury sent out a message.
* * * * * * * * *
Foxbat-1 watched in disbelief as the ground troops suddenly leapt up
on to the building roofs and disappeared. His musings were interrupted by a transmission over the
radio.
"Mercury to military forces. Thanks for your help."
Foxbat-1 thought to
himself. "Mission accomplished. All units return to base." With that
the four gunships turned around and began a more lazily flight back
to their base.
* * * * * * * * *
As the gunships left, emergency crews arrived on the scene. The
police and the Japan Defense Force began the process of determining
the extent of the damage. It was quickly realized that there was
minimal threat of further damage, except for the potential collapse
of a couple of buildings. The city blocks surrounding the park were
taped off, with much inside the region being condemned. Later that
evening a casualty list became available. Unlike previous attacks,
these victims were not so lucky. Only a few of them were found still
alive, but those were in deep commas from their energy drain. Current
estimates had a death toll of around 3-dozen. Thankfully, most people
ran when the first droid made its appearance. The majority of those
killed were still in the first office building as one of the droids
had blasted it.
* * * * * * * * *
One other spectator/participant of the battle turned away and
teleported back to her base. Even from the Dark Kingdom base, Beryl
had become aware of the battle from the level of energy being
employed. However, to her highly trained magic senses, something
seemed different about the battle, and so she decided to investigate
it herself. Arriving at the site, her mage sight identified the
energy streams that were feeding the demons. She knew about energy
streams, but never had seen anything like these. And so, she closely
observed the battle.
Unlike her generals, she was highly trained in the magical arts. Even
before she discovered Metalia and summoned her, she was one of the
strongest mages on the earth. Her talents set her up to learn about
the power held by the nearly immortal beings of the Silver Millennium
and to have close dealings with the various royal families of the
earth. Accepting the superior magic of the Moon Kingdom, she was
content to be one of the strongest earth mages ever with the
knowledge that she would be able to have any earth prince she wanted.
But, then that witch cast some kind of spell on her love and stole
Endymion.
That had been a private declaration of war against Beryl. Knowing the
only way to free her love from the spell that the Moon Princess had
cast was to gain power above that held by the Silver Millennium she
delved into obscure magic texts. In her research, she quite early
came across the spells needed to summon youma, but they were
insufficient for what she needed. The answer came when she found an
ancient text describing a being known only as Queen Metalia, dating
back to the early days of the Silver Millennium.
The spells needed to open a portal to release Metalia were quite
simple. And, with the ample magic energy that still flowed in the
solar system during those days, it was not long before Beryl had
summoned Queen Metalia. With the power given to her by Metalia and
her seven Shadow Warriors, Beryl began to plan the destruction of the
Silver Millennium.
Her plan went off nearly flawlessly, but the flaws that occurred were
devastating ones. First, that witch used her powers to force Endymion
to throw himself in the way of the blast that Beryl had unleashed at
the witch, killing him. To make matters worse, the legendary power of
the Ginzuishou was too much even for Metalia. Queen Serenity managed
to banish Beryl and all her followers, while once again sealing away
Metalia. However, she was only able to imprison the Shadow Warriors
in the crystal itself.
It had taken them over a thousand earth years to free themselves of
the banishment. But, a few years ago, they finally were able to
return to the earth. For them it had been only a few years, but
everything they knew had turned to dust. This had hardened the hearts
of her troops and placed those that she had used charm spells on even
more firmly under her control.
One of the first things they realized upon escaping from their
banishment was that Serenity had not stopped with destroying their
force, but she had changed the earth itself. She had managed to
destroy nearly all the inherent magic contained by the planet. The
irony was that this was exactly what Beryl's forces did at every one
of the Silver Millennium member planets as they were attacked. Now
even gathering the magic for simple spells was nearly impossible over
much of the planet, and special effort was needed to gather the
energy necessary to release Metalia. Scans of the planet revealed
only two magic nexi of sufficient strength remaining on the planet:
Stone Hedge and Tokyo.
Whereas Stone Hedge was a concentrated magic source, perfect for
tapping. Tokyo was the exact opposite. There was no centralized
source, instead it diffused into everything that existed within about
a fuzzy fifteen-kilometer radius of the city. Consequently, she
initially directed her troops to secure the magic held at Stone
Hedge. In the over thousand years since she had been on the planet
last, the shielding magic on Stone Hedge had increased dramatically.
Her forces were making no headway, and then the first of the Senshi
had shown up: Sailor V.
Giving up on the preferred location, she directed her troops to
gather the energy available in Tokyo. The one advantage of the
diffuse nature of the energy was that it could be gathered just by
draining its people. But, of course a Sailor Senshi had shown up
there as well; another unknown one. To make matters worse the
guardians of the Moon Princess began showing up as well. A few days
after the discovery of the Moon Princess's identity, Beryl realized
what had happened. Queen Serenity had sent her daughter to be reborn
in the future, and had somehow managed to concentrate all the magic
energy in the location where her daughter was to be reborn. This
would give her daughter complete power over the helpless people of
the earth. Additionally to avoid its use by others before the time,
she placed heavy shield spells on the magic nexus. A few days ago she
had confirmed the presence of those shield spells.
Two things were necessary for her to be able to rule this planet as
its rightful ruler and to have her prince at her side (spells had
revealed that he had been reborn as well). The first was the release
of Metalia, so that she would have the necessary power to carryout
her plans. The presence of Metalia was needed even more now than ever
due to the devoid nature of the planet. Though she knew that if she
had been able to capture Stone Hedge Metalia would not have been
needed. The other requirement was to capture the Ginzuishou for two
reasons: one it would give her immortality and the other is that its
power when wielded by one of the royal Moon blood was too strong even
for Metalia.
While observing the demons facing the Senshi, the amount of energy
being sent through those energy streams amazed her. Following the destruction of the first droid, Beryl
determined how she could harness that power. While she had herself
never seen nor heard of energy streams of the magnitude that she saw,
she felt comfortable in her ability to redirect them upon the death
of their original target. Consequently, as the other two droids were
dusted, she was able to harvest a few of the energy streams. Now with
a stable persistent source of energy she returned to the Dark
Kingdom, for once in a happy mood.
* * * * * * * * *
A cafe
Haruka and Michiru sat in one of Tokyo's cafes resting after the
battle neither having the energy do much. Following the battle they
retrieved Haruka's car, which had amazingly survived the battle
unhurt. After parking it, they walked into the nearest caf' and
collapsed. With some food in their stomachs the two Senshi finally
felt like doing something more than just sleeping.
"I am guessing this must be why Pluto awoke us." Summed up Haruka.
"Yes, but what I am wondering is who that mage was that helped us and
also about those other two Sailor Senshi and their associated tuxedo
clad warrior. I believe the one that was at today's battle referred
to herself as a Senshi of the Moon. But, I do not remember any Sailor
Senshi of the Moon do you?"
Shaking her head Haruka replied: "No, and yesterday she had a small
child with her as well. And, I definitely know that they did not send
children out that young into battles."
The two spent the next hour discussing the battle and these other
allies over their dinner. Both wished that they could go and swear
their services once again to their princess. However, Pluto had said
the time was not right yet, so they were instead left with unanswered
questions that the princess's inner court could provide the answer
to.
* * * * * * * * *
Tsukino household
Usagi wearily returned home. She now lay in bed having finally
convinced her mother that she was okay. It had not been an easy task,
assuring her mother that she was okay. The fact that she had to be
helped home by both Minako and Makoto did nothing to help her
position. Yes, if she wanted to do anything other than sleep she
would be in trouble, but that was all she wanted to do. Moreover, by
the virtue of her extraterrestrial bloodline she would probably heal
substantially over night.
The battle itself did not injure her more than most battles, the only
thing unique about this one was its length, and hence her energy use.
However, some of the injuries from yesterday had been aggravated,
requiring Ami to rebandage them upon returning home. Those old
injuries had sent Ikuko's mothering instincts into overdrive. Even
telling her that they were old injuries did nothing to calm her
mother or father for that matter. Her father for his part was taking
out his anger on Minako and Luna, the two he saw primarily
responsible for ensuring his daughter's well being.
If she had the energy and was not trying to dissuade her mother, the
lecturing her father was giving Luna would have been quite hilarious.
During all this Makoto was the only one left alone. She went between
the two groups, trying to get Usagi's parents to take a breath and
relax. However, her efforts were to no avail. Seeing no other option,
following a henshin she charged up her body with lightning.
The light show of the energy being gathered by Jupiter and the
subsequent crackling of the stored energy got everybody's attention.
Seeing an irate Thunder Senshi with enough energy coursing through
her body to short out half the district caused the two parents to
pause for the moment. Now with control of the situation she first
found out from Mercury what needed to be done further with treating
Usagi. With Mercury's recommendation, Usagi was finally allowed to
head up to her room to get the sleep she desperately craved.
Now with Kenji no longer in hysterics, the Senshi explained to the
two parents the battle that was fought yesterday and the one fought
that day. As soon as she was allowed, ChibiUsa skipped out of the
room and headed up the stairs to her mother's room. Whereas the other
Senshi were worried because they had faced a threat that they had
barely been able to defeat, she was scared because of the memories
associated with the type of droids that had attacked. This time it
was more than just bad memories surfacing, it was the real fear that
Tokyo itself would fall victim to the same fate that would befall it
in 900 years.
Entering Usagi's room, ChibiUsa paused unsure if she wanted to wake
her mother. However, she need not have worried, Usagi could clearly
feel the fear that coursed through the child and until that fear was
soothed she would be unable to sleep.
Usagi turned her body to face the child and placed a warm smile on
her face. The moment the weak smile appeared on Usagi's face the
child's indecision broke down and she flung herself across the room
and into Usagi's arms. Holding the scared child, Usagi began the
process of calming her, having suddenly found more than sufficient
energy for the task.
Ten minutes later when Luna and Ami came in to check on the two, they
found them fast asleep. Pulling out her computer, she did one final
scan over the two. Looking at the readings, she noticed that the two
had somehow managed to synchronize all their body rhythms and even
their energy fields seemed to have merged. This did not surprise her
at all; she knew how attached Usagi had become to the child and they
were mother and daughter. Leaving Luna in the room to curl up with
the two, she headed back downstairs to assure Usagi's parents that
Usagi was fine before heading home herself.
* * * * * * * * *
Home base of the Foxbat flight: 0030 hrs
Captain Keffer lay in his bunk wondering why fate hated him so much.
It had been six hours since his return, and he had been in
debriefings up to thirty minutes ago. His superiors wanted to know
everything about the threat his squadron had faced. Additionally he had been called to
explain his Alpha Strike on the targets.
Laying down Keffer attempted to get some sleep. He had time for five
hours of rest before he needed to be up at 0500 to continue the
debriefing. However, this time he was being sent to explain to the
brass the events of the mission. Tomorrow was not going to be a fun
day. He still could not believe the news clips that he had been shown
upon returning. Up in the air he did not get a good look at their
"allied" ground troops. But the news clips showed him who they were
and the powers that they had. At first, he thought it a joke, but his
commanding officer quickly killed that and explained that while they
had no explanation what he saw was real.