STARLIGHT WONDER (Book 2 of the "Invaders Saga") A Sailor Moon fanfic By: Alan O'Kelly kodachi16@fcmail.com lavender.fortunecity.com/dolls/119 DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon and the rest of the senshi are not property of me, they belong to Naoko Takeuchi. Don't sue me, I don't have any money. ----- PROLOGUE The silver millennium of the Moon Kingdom was not an era of peace, as is commonly thought. About halfway through the silver millennium an aggressive race of beings entered the Sol system and made plans of conquering Earth and the Moon. It began when massive special anomalies were occurring by the orbit of planet Jupiter. A single scout ship came from the anomaly and began a survey of the Sol system. Upon their sensor scan they discovered a planet capable of sustaining life: Earth. The alien race lived in an unknown system far in uncharted space, they had been searching all available star systems so they could move their entire race off of their dying planet. The scout ship went to relay its information of Earth to it's people. One year after the first scoutship arrived, a massive armada of three million warships, of every shape and size, entered the Sol system. Though the odds were greatly against the Moon Kingdom, this was perhaps the most amazing and glorious victory in the entire history of the Moon. The fleet met no resistance in space and set down on the Moon and on Earth. The people of Earth and the Moon had been preparing for the aliens' arrival. The people of both worlds had hid in caves beneath the surface of their worlds and waited for every last one of the aliens to land. At last Queen Serenity was the first to walk from the caves and greeted the aliens, they where humanoid and would have nothing to do with her pleas of peace. They threatened to kill her, but she pulled out the Silver Crystal and held it up high. Never before had the crystal done more than it had done that day, purifying light blazed forth from the Silver Crystal. The power of the crystal was like a shock wave, it spread over the entire surface of the moon, disintegrating all of the ships and aliens. After the carnage on the Moon she turned to the Earth and a mighty ray of light flew from the crystal. The view from the moon was magnificent, the light disappeared into a speck as it hit Earth then a small circle of white light appeared, it spread faster than the speed of sound, engulfing the entire planet, making it look like a white star. Afterwards the people emerged from the cave and found that their homes were still intact. There were celebrations and rejoice at their victory. Mop-up crews went out on search of any survivors. Reports of no survivors came back again and again from all the units, but finally one tiny ship was found. It had set down inside of a very deep trench on the moon, safe from the holy vengeance of the Silver Crystal. Inside there were three unconscious survivors, females in battle armor. The three where taken before Queen Serenity after they awoke. The Queen felt pity for the three survivors of the doomed race. The three where extremely strong, elite warriors from their planet. They where too dangerous to keep around, but the queen didn't want to kill them. So a decision was made and, against Luna and Artemis' protest, they were put in time stasis. The three frozen warriors were then buried deep within the crust of the Moon. There they laid for millennia, through other attacks on the Moon Kingdom, through the attack from the evil Queen Beryl and the fall of the Moon. They still sleep in their tomb, even now in these times. ----- CHAPTER 1: Revival Inside of a small cavern were three women, standing motionlessly, green light pulsed over their naked figures. They where built tall and slightly muscular. They all had hair cut to the same length, stopping at halfway down their backs. Three sets of armor were set up on racks beside the alien women, the removal of all clothing had been necessary for the time freeze to work properly. There was a ripple in the space-time continuum. The green light that held the three women captive wavered for a moment, almost shutting off. The energy was from a massive time disruption, caused by something that had frozen all time within the current dimension. Such a power was forbidden in the realm of mortals. Again a wave of energy passed throughout the cave and the green lights finally gave out. The time stasis on the three women dissolved. The aliens sank to their knees, the after affects of time stasis were assailing them. The first alien had red hair and violet eyes, she spoke to the others, "My sisters, we're free! Andissa are you all right?" the second alien, who had blue hair and violet eyes looked up and nodded. "Aosa?" The last alien, who had violet hair and violet eyes nodded as well. Andissa helped her sister, Aosa, up, "Are you all right sister Aanaki." Aanaki was the strongest of the trio and waved away the comment. "I'm fine sister Andissa." Aanaki stood up and walked to her class-A personal battle armor and placed her hand on the smooth metal, trying to soak the feelings of war and death into her bare skin. She picked up the inner wear of her armor as her sisters got up and came to their own armor. Aanaki stepped into the legs of the skin tight suit and pulled it up tight against her breasts, fitting her arms in as well. The open edge in the back sealed up automatically and the seam disappeared. Aanaki pulled of the armor on the rack and began to put the pieces together on her. The armor was light and thin, but could stop a direct hit from a proton accelerator cannon, which was better than most advanced mecha suits. Aanaki fitted on the boots which protected her feet and her shins, then put armor on her knees, then the thighs. Two interlocking pieces covered the breast and crotch areas and wrapped around to cover the back as well. She fitted on her shoulder armor and slid on the interlocking pieces that protected her arms. She pulled on the thin clothe gloves, which where laced with extremely strong, and rare, metals. The last piece was a special high-tech device used for scouting and reconnaissance. The personal computer, known as Tac-Com, was placed on her left ear, it sealed up against the ear and relayed information to her, the computer in it could speak into her ear. A holo-visor could extend from the Tac-Com unit, around her eyes, and provide tactical info or night vision and other type special viewers. Aanaki was already scanning the room before her sisters finished dressing out, there was only one exit from the cavern. She remembered being dragged by the moon people to this chamber, and she was determined to make them pay for what they had done. The small personal computer relayed pinpointed the weakest spot on the door, she could have blasted the whole thing open with no problem, but she had learned after numerous battle campaigns never to waste energy. Aanaki raised her right hand and shot a beam, the thickness of a pencil, of blue light at the door. The massive steel door blew inward and the three armor clad women stepped into the elevator shaft, they looked up. The shaft went up for about a mile. The three levitated off of the ground and shot up the elevator shaft, the ground disappeared from view in the blink of an eye as they flew strait up. There was a loud sonic boom as they broke the sound barrier. As they soared upward they weaved between each other, prepared for fierce combat. They blasted out of the shaft and decelerated in a heart beat. If not for the three's extremely fast battle reactions they would have demolished the surface of the moon with one mighty strike, but they screeched to a halt as they saw the wreckage of the once mighty Moon Kingdom. The three hovered close together, back to back, "seems we were beaten to the punch sisters." said Aosa. Aanaki grunted her agreement and the three settled down onto the ground. The began searching the surface for any signs of energy output, instead of any on the moon they felt a massive outpouring of energy from the nearby planetoid. They scanned deeper, there were two separate power classes, one corresponding to the type that had destroyed their race so long ago, and a much larger source of an unknown type of energy. "I'm detecting a battleship in orbit around the planet," said Andissa, "Unknown type. It appears to be a frigate class vessel with heavy armaments." The Tac-Scan display showed no life signs aboard. Aanaki tightened a glove as she thought, though all the sisters where the same rank, Aanaki always made the final decisions. "Let's go to the planet, we'll see what these powers are." The three turned to face each other and gripped one another's' hands so that they formed a closed circle. They lifted off of the moon and accelerated towards the blue-green planet. They had arrived on the blue-green planet, near the area of the power signals, at night and had been observing the two sources all morning. The moon type energy was being outputted from many girls and one man. They also recognized two small animals from the court back on the moon, and they knew that the girl with the long pig tails was the princess. Aanaki, Andissa, and Aosa weren't stupid, they didn't let their anger get the best of them, they knew that the best way for a sure victory was to observe and then strike, which was ironically what their home forces had not done the day of the massacre. The three sisters followed the moon people to a compact district, obviously some sort of manufacturing area. They watched through the windows of the run down building that the girls had gone into. The continued to watch as the moon soldiers were slaughtered by four archaic looking war mecha. They watched as the battle closed to an end with the princess as the last survivor. The sight of the four stones amazed them, for such outdated war mecha, the technology the stones used was far superior than anything they had ever seen before. They watched as the princess activated the four white stones and revived her comrades. Finally they had to leave as the whole area erupted in an explosion. The sisters had boarded the derelict cruiser, which was in high orbit around the planet called 'Earth', the planet they had come to colonize. The three sisters reviewed all of their data on board the ship, "They are very strong sister Aanaki." said Aosa. "Yes indeed sister Aosa." Agreed Aanaki. She turned off her Tac-Com and examined the hanger bay she was in. The shuttles where an unknown class, but they where outdated by Aanaki's standards. There might actually be something worthwhile onboard the ship though. "Sister Aandisa, please scout the ship for supplies and any kind of special devices or weapons. Sister Aosa, I need you to broadcast a call any possible remaining forces, you must find and operate the com station on this ship." The two nodded and they split up. Aanaki went on her own and found the bridge, it was riddled with large dents in the walls, the previous owner had had a short temper it seemed. Aanaki sat down in the command chair and looked at the planet that filled the main screen. She and her sisters would wait a little while to attack, it would be unsporting to kill the moon warriors while they were down. Taking her eyes from the screen she began deciphering the ancient language on the controls. ----- CHAPTER 2: Future Lost Setsuna Meiou sat nervously in the booth at her favorite cafe. Michiru and Haruka watched her as she rocked slightly back and forth, staring out the window. "Setsuna," said Haruka at last, "What's bothering you?" Setsuna didn't hear Haruka, she was too deeply immersed in thought. "Meiou!" said Haruka sharply. Setsuna jumped slightly and looked at the two women that where studying her. "W-what is it?" she stammered out. "Setsuna, we're worried about you," spoke Michiru soothingly, "What's wrong?" Setsuna Meiou sighed and glanced out the window for a moment. A vision flashed suddenly in Setsuna's mind, she saw three women of amazing power. After several moments Setsuna began to speak, "Something's not right." She tried to grasp the feeling within her and explain it to the two women, but she knew that would be impossible. "I can't explain it, but somehow the timeline is not flowing correctly." "What!" Haruka shouted out loud. Several customers looked over at them with irritated expressions. Michiru shushed Haruka and reached down to hold her hand. Haruka leaned forward, quieter this time, "How is that possible? You said all the events went as planned." Setsuna shook her head, "I don't know, but something did go wrong. You and the others should brace for the worst." Setsuna Meiou downed the last swallow of her lukewarm tea and stood up. "Wait, where are you going?" asked Michiru. Meiou looked down at them, "I have to go to the future and see what's changed, only then will I be able to fix the error." "But shouldn't we come with you?" Haruka began to stand but Meiou put her hand s on Haruka's shoulders and settled her back down. "I must go by myself, you have to go warn the senshi of a possible attack. I don't know when or where, but there will be trouble." Setsuna sighed again, "I'll return as soon as I can." She said her good-byes and walked from the cafe. The cold of the morning air quickly bit into her as she stepped outside, she pulled her coat tighter around herself and began walking towards a dark alley. The streets were not crowded, the recent "terrorist bombing" in Tokyo had left the citizens frightened. Setsuna pulled out her wand and began her transformation. "PLUTO PLANET POWER...MAKE UP!" she shimmered and changed into her senshi uniform. Sailor Pluto held her staff high and called the time gate. The darkness rippled like water and the huge doorway appeared; moons were caved all over the door. She released her power and the door unlocked. Sailor Pluto looked into the darkness that waited to consume her; she stepped in. Pluto walked past the door and through a dimension transcending time and space. Here she had zealously guarded the Time Gate for millennia, the responsibility placed upon her shoulders was a heavy one, and not fair for any mortal to bare. She never knew when she would have to return, to leave her friends. She could never love, for fear of losing that one that was so dear to her. Sailor Pluto felt her sense of duty coming back strongly as she walked through the familiar dimension. There was no time here in this nether-dimension, everything felt like an eternal-instant. The sounds of her boots clicking became rhythmic, she could hear her heart rate increasing, and the sound of her breathing. The trip always seemed to bring hyper awareness to the traveler. The fog before her began to part and the Time Gate stood waiting. Pluto looked into her ancient powers and used them to open the gate. The doors opened and blinding light blazed through. Pluto shielded her eyes and entered the future. Then it was all back to normal, the light was gone, the gate was gone. The room that Sailor Pluto stood in was pitch black, she held her staff in front of her and the Garnet Orb filled the room with soft light. Sailor Pluto moaned and fell to her knees, her staff clattered to the floor and she began weeping. The light filled the cavernous throne room of the Crystal Palace. Huge craters pock marked the walls and floor, half of the southern wall was collapsed, and skeletons, with the grin of death forever on their faces, were heaped around the room. Pluto laid there and cried bitterly, the future was gone. Outside the stars in the night sky where obscured by the smoke of destruction, which originated from the few remaining habitats of human resistance. High above the city the destruction was more obvious. Mile wide craters were scattered all over the crumpled metropolis and the Crystal Palace's entire southern section was smashed into rubble. Hope was as bleak as the ruined landscape, the human race was clinging to existence by a meager thread. The future was indeed lost. ----- CHAPTER 3: Resistance Usagi had been released from the hospital two days ago, and was now with her friends at Rei's place. Usagi was sitting around the table with her friends, she was gorging herself on the chocolate chip cookies that Mako-chan had made. "Are you sure your feeling all right Usagi?" asked Minako, concerned. The girls had been through so much the last week, it seemed almost a lifetime to them. Rei snorted at Minako's question, "Of course she's fine, and her old self. She's back to stuffing her face like a pig." Usagi tried to protest, but the credibility of her argument was lost when fifty percent of what came out of her mouth were cookie crumbs. Chibbi Usa was with Mamo-chan, they had both been very supportive while she was in the hospital. Usagi closed her eyes and thought back to the hospital. Chibbi Usa had come into her room and sat next to the bed, the poor little girl cried her eyes out and Usagi remembered watching her future daughter, with tears coming to her own eyes. The girls began discussing the recent leave of Setsuna Meiou. Something was wrong, that was obvious, but they no idea of what. There was no way to find out until Meiou came back. More waiting. The waiting seemed to be the hardest part, never knowing what to expect. With the alien threat finally over they could not relax, the new threat loomed closer. It seemed unfair, but who ever said life was fair. The subject of the discussion was soon exhausted and the girls began talking about other things, gossip and boys mostly. Luna and Artemis were curled up on the table, enduring the laziness of the young girls, they never seemed to be able to get any work done. A news report came on while the girls were talking, Luna noticed it and jumped closer to the speakers, "...no comment at this time. The mysterious signal coming from space may be originating from the unknown satellite above earth's orbit, again the government had no comment on this question. The object that appeared recently is said to be a small bit of meteorite that was caught up in our orbit, but our sources have seen that the thing appears to be man-made. Stay tuned, we'll have more information on the press conference later this afternoon." Luna sighed, the signals originating from outerspace had begun yesterday, no one could translate the language, Ami was running the transmission through her computer, trying to figure out what it said. This was not a good situation, the new possibility of a threat to Earth had arisen once more. No rest for the weary. Outside the day went on as normal, the anxiety following the "terrorist bombing" had finally dissipated and the now everyone was interested in the strange signals from space. Strangely enough the people didn't seem to be afraid that there could be hostile aliens coming. The room became dead quiet as Ami's computer began beeping. Ami pulled out her personal computer and opened it up, the beeping signaled the completion of her translation program. She typed in some commands and then set the computer down on the table. The girls all leaned close as they waited. The voice that came from the speaker sounded ungodly, the translator had jacked the voice all up. The voice sounded hollow and was echoed by the same hollow voice almost immediately afterward. <...ATTENTION ALL RI'DEEJ'K FORCES, THIS IS ELITE SOLDIER CLASS A AOSA...ATTENTION ALL RI'DEEJ'K FORCES, NNA'SDAKA ELITE'S ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE THE PLANET IN SECTOR 112-3/DE3S*A4 HAS FAILED...RI'DEEJ'K FORCES HEAD TO SECTOR 112-3/DE3S*A4 IMMEDIATELY...> the message then looped itself, the senshi listened again until it lopped a third time. Rei shook her head, "So, it sounds like we've got a problem on our hands." Ami pursed her lips, "It appears that way, the message is being looped over and over. Who ever is sending the message is broadcasting it everywhere, if they knew where their forces where then they'd have beamed it to one location, obviously. This could mean there are no other aliens, after all, the signal hasn't been answered yet." The other girls nodded, they could always hope for the best, even though it never worked out that way. The day droned on slowly as the girls waited. All schools were off at the moment, so Usagi didn't have to worry about going and flunking on any exams. Outside the sun was obscured by a sky full of gray clouds, the temperature was probably only a few degrees above freezing. The weather did nothing to lift their spirits, if only they could bask in the radiance of the sun. Usagi just wanted a short break, but that would never happen. It was too bad that an alien race couldn't live in peace with Earth, instead of trying to conquer it. As the day passed and night blossomed the girls drifted off to their homes, all but Ami. Ami Mizuno had a meeting with a friend at the Tatsuku observatory. She walked quietly, enjoying the peace and quiet, she wore a heavy blue coat. The walk wasn't more than a mile, it was good exercise and Ami didn't mind. She walked up the last road that led up to observatory. The observatory sat on the edge of a cliff, which overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Ami stopped at the door of the massive building and knocked politely. A few seconds passed and footsteps came could be heard coming towards the door. The observatory door swung open and a crazy looking old man stood in the entrance way. His gray hair stuck up all over, and he was hunched over. He was wearing a long trench coat and the arms of it reached past his hands, he was constantly pushing up the sleeves. Ami thought he looked like one of the wizards of old. The old man squinted at her then a happy expression came onto his worn face. "Why it's Mizuno! How do you do, come in, come in." Ami smiled and bowed, she stepped inside and looked up at the high ceiling that towered above her. Ami shrieked in surprise as the old man slapped her bottom. He cackled deviously and walked past the embarrassed/ infuriated girl. Ami calmed herself down, she knew to expect this from him, he was a kind old man but he was also a bit of a letcher. The old man began climbing some stairs, "Mizuno, I've told you that you don't have to knock." Ami followed him up the stairs. "I know Jikama-san, but I still don't think it's right of me to do that." The old man, despite his frail appearance, leaped up the last few stairs and into his chair as spry as a monkey. He plastered his eye to the lens and looked up into the heavens, ignoring Ami's words. "Ahh, the clouds have finally cleared up!" The old man laughed again and leaped from his chair. Jikama ran, as fast as his scrawny legs could carry him, to the main controls. He punched in some commands and the massive gears came to life, the building shrieked as it rotated to a new position. Then he flew back to his seat. Ami walked to his side and waited as the old man looked. Jikama peeled his eye off of the lens and then motioned for Ami to look. Ami went to the lens, but before she looked in, she turned to him and shook her finger, "I'll look but don't you dare touch me." She had to be stern with him. He looked at her innocently and waved his hands as if to ask if he could ever do such a thing. She gave him another warning look then turned and looked into the lens. The magnification was amazing, she could see the object in space orbiting Earth. It was large in the view, and Ami could tell one thing...It was no asteroid. Ami nodded self-consciously to herself, she had already known the signals came from the new object, this just double confirmed it. The telescope showed her a long craft that had a smooth organic look to it's shape, here and there she could see minute gun turrets. No other ships could be seen. The old man began speaking while Ami looked, "That ain't no meteorite Mizuno," the old man cried, "No matter what them government people say. It's little green men, just like in those old movies!" Ami didn't answer, but the old man continued going into a tirade over conspiracy theories and the like. Ami looked up at last and thanked the crazy old man. Ami turned to leave but the old man caught her arm, "Mizuno leaving so soon!" He grinned devilishly at her. Ami gave him a quick peck on his cheek then walked off, the old man was whooping and giggling like a little child behind her. Far off in the United States of America a space shuttle was being prepared for a rondeavou with the alien craft. In exactly 5 hours, 31 minutes and 51 seconds the space mission would begin. ----- Sailor Pluto walked the streets of the ruined city. She searched for any signs of life. For two hours she walked, looking inside of houses and buildings, finding them either empty or heaped with human skeletons. She was traveling down the commercial district of Crystal Tokyo when she heard the noises. The huge sky scrapers that hadn't toppled over helped the sounds to echo. Pluto strained her ears and tried to distinguish the sounds. She knew some of them well, they were lasers. She could also hear faint cries whenever the firing stopped for a moment. Pluto judged as best as she could where the noise was coming from, then she sprinted off. The streets were like a maze, but as she ran she could hear the struggle more clearly. There was aloud screech then an explosion, Sailor Pluto steered herself more closely in the right direction. "BASTARDSSSSS!!!" screamed the human in hodgepodge body armor as he unleashed a barrage of ammunition from his automatic rifle. he turned and ran as one of the massive mecha following behind him exploded. Seven other humans followed behind, one of whom was seriously wounded and was being dragged by a female warrior. "This way!" Cried a stalky man. The others followed his directions until they were forced to stop. They all looked up in amazement as they came to a dead end. They turned and listened for the war mecha, the robots were audible, coming closer. There was no time to run from the narrow alley they were now trapped in. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" the female that was carrying the wounded soldier screamed, she set down the soldier and then punched the stalky man in the face, he went flying and landed hard on the grubby concrete. "THIS IS A GOD DAMNED DEAD-END!" She punched him again as soon as he got up, "YOU WERE OUR GUIDE!" The dark haired woman pulled a semi-automatic pistol out of her hip-holster and put it against the man's forehead. "TALK GOD DAMNED YOUUUUU!" she screamed in his face. "I-i'm sorry commander." the man fell to his knees then began blubbering. He put his hands together, pleadingly, "The mutants told me that i-if I helped them catch you...t-that my wife and children would be spared and b-b-become free citizens of the n-new empire." Tears began to pour down his face as he groveled. The dark-haired woman's lip curled and she pulled the trigger of her gun. The pistol barked sharply and the man's head splattered against the alley in bloody chunks. The woman wiped the blood from her face. "Fucking bastard." she turned and looked at her soldiers, they were all watching her. "THIS IS IT MEN." she cried to her band of motley soldiers. "THIS IS WERE WE MAKE OUR FINAL STAND. LET'S SHOW THESE BASTARDS WHAT THE HUMAN RACE IS MADE OF!" All of the remaining six warriors took up position behind trash cans and a rusty heap of iron beams. Out of the mist shapes began to take form. Three, eight foot tall war mecha were walking down the street, they had quadruped motory systems, the mecha was armed with four automatic laser carbines and an anti-vehicle rail gun. Six other forms came from the mist, androids. The androids reminded the woman of the robots from the old 20th century American movie, Terminator 2. The mecha, every single one was half covered with human skin and gore. Bioroids. The dark-haired woman swallowed hard then readied the M-16 she had at her shoulder. "LONG LIVE QUEEN SERENITY!!!" A fury of bullets were released onto the coming robots. The droids walked headlong into the bullets, not even bothered in the least by the hail of metal. One of the humans launched a rocket from his LAW rocket launcher. The missile left a trail of smoke as it raced closer to the alien machines, it impacted into one of the big ones. The explosion ripped the large mecha to shreds, which then exploded again as inner circuitry ignited, the resulting explosion wiped out three of the small robots. A cheer went up among the soldiers. The large mecha retaliated with a laser strike. The blasts collided into canisters and the walls of the alleyway. A uranium bullet, which had been propelled at super-high velocities from one of the mecha rail guns, slammed through a large dumpster, then through stacks of wooden crates, then through some sand filled drums, and finally through the human soldier that was using them for protection. The cheer died away. The wounded soldier stood and pulled off something from his belt, he gave a battle cry and ran as fast as he could towards the advancing mecha. Laser fire cut the soldier in half after he made it three-fourths of the way, as he fell the device in his hand soared out towards the droids, it hit the ground then rolled even closer. One of the smaller droids stopped and looked down at what had just rolled to it's feet. The fission grenade exploded in a spectacular blaze of blue-white light. The humans covered their eyes until the light dissipated. A huge rounded crater was now extended into the ground and the walls next to the road, the energy of the blast had reduced everything in it's radius back to basic particles. Only two large droids remained, they stopped just before the crater and began unleashing an even stronger volley of lasers. Two more humans were killed by the merciless laser fire. The dark-haired woman looked around, only her and one other were left alive. So be it, she thought. The woman stood up and launched a grenade shell from the launcher, which was connected to the M-16. If there really was a supreme being watching over the universe, it was truly helping her that day. The grenade shell flew into a small crack in one of the mecha's armor. The shell detonated and the machine shrieked almost as it were alive, the flaming wreckage toppled over into the crater. The woman fired until the last of her ammunition was gone, she looked over at her fellow human and saw that he too had no more. She looked back forward, ready to accept her fate, she had done all she could. The huge gun turret arms locked in on her position. The woman drew in a breath. The dark-haired woman was thrown violently backward, not by a laser, but from a shock wave. She flew head over heels and slammed into the twisted wreckage of an old hover car. Stars flashed in front of her eyes and her mind felt foggy, but she could hear small explosions. Slowly her vision began to come back, as it cleared she saw two people standing over her, one was her soldier and the other was a green haired woman in a black sailor senshi uniform. The dark-haired woman blinked as she tried to remember the senshi she now saw standing over her. Sailor Pluto held her hand out to help the dark-haired woman up. "It's so good to see you alive...Rei Hino." Sailor Pluto watched Rei as they walked through the city's sewer system. Only one other soldier had survived that ambush, he was now in the lead. All the others that Pluto had seen scattered around had died in battle. They walked for several minutes, not saying anything, Pluto waited until Rei was ready. Rei Hino rubbed her forehead, the pain of her migraine intensifying, then she looked over at Pluto. "Where have you been, we needed you Sailor Pluto. The mutants swept through our race like a plague, they assimilated and slaughtered the people of Earth." Rei balled her hands into fists, "You said that you were coming back as soon as you could, but here you are, a thousand years late." Pluto felt sorrow and pity for Rei, she had endured so much in this screwed up future. "I'm sorry Rei, but I have just recently left the past, I have only just arrived to this future. I need to know what happened to change the timeline, so that I can avert this future from ever happening. Where did the mutants come from?" Sailor Pluto watched Rei as she absorbed all of Pluto's words. "I don't know why they originally came here, no one does...except possibly Queen Serenity." Rei stopped walking and the other two travelers stopped to watch her. Rei roared and slammed her fist into a rusted pipe, the whole thing shattered. "But, there's no chance of meeting with her." "Huh?" asked Pluto, "Is her majesty...dead?" Rei Hino gave a slight laugh at this remark, not a laugh of happiness, but a laugh of disgust and extreme sorrow. They continued walking again and Rei explained, "No, technically she's not dead." Rei Hino took a deep breath and went on, "The struggle has been going on for centuries. Two hundred and eighty-three years ago, Queen Serenity launched an all out attack with the remainder of the United Earth army. During this attack on the HQ of the aliens, Queen Serenity was able to slip in and confront the mutant...queen, I guess you could call it." They turned left at the next corridor, "Ten more minutes, commander Hino." Rei gave a nod. Rei pulled out another flashlight and turned it on, "Needless to say the assault didn't work. The mutants captured Queen Serenity and...tortured her." Rei closed her eyes for a moment then continued, "The last time I saw Usagi, they had her hooked up in a giant machine, wires and tubes had been attached all over her body, she was more machine than human. They...kept her that way so they could easily look into her mind, I also think that the queen wanted her as a trophy. Now they have no use for her, so they keep her as a trophy in their thrown room." Rei shuddered violently. Sailor Pluto was no closer to the answer she wanted, but she could wait a bit longer, "What of the others? Small lady, and the king?" Rei had no emotions visible on her face, an effect caused by the countless years of war. "Dead, both of them, during the America campaign. The US held out longer than the European super powers did, but mutations became rampant and the army could not keep up with the massive influx of hostile mutants , America crumpled like a house of cards. The king was rallying the Americans on the west coast and was killed by friendly fire when a soldier began firing randomly, this was during the California Massacre. Chibbi Usa was with the President during an orbital satellite strike, conducted by the European League, which wiped out the entire American Atlantic coast off of the map." They stopped at a dead end in the sewer, and the soldier that had been leading the way, moved a garbage can and a key pad was revealed. Rei talked as the man typed in an access code. "The only survivors of the sailor senshi were Makoto and I. All the others died in major battles, except for Hotaru. Hotaru was shredded to death, the normal mutants have sharp talons. It was during a botched sabotage raid on a mecha construction facility. For some reason the queen decided to stop the whole sale slaughter and enslave the rest of the humans. Those mutant bastards have us creating robotic defenses." "Mako-chan's holding up all right, she's the best warrior we have, if it weren't for her, the resistance forces of Earth would all be long gone." The hidden door slowly grated open and the three walked through the narrow doorway. "Just onething, control your expression when you see her, she was once attacked by the mutagen slime, and it...scarred her." They began walking down a long corridor that was lined with small lights, the door clanged shut behind them. They emerged inside of a huge room, it was the electronic nerve center of the human resistance, the final hope for humanity in the future. Men and women manned stations all over, they ran down the rampways and up and down the stairs, trying to monitor all the information being poured in from other small resistance groups around the world. Pluto and Rei stopped at the railing of the highest walkway and looked down. There were monitors everywhere, some displaying logistics and maps, and some displaying footage from video cameras all over Crystal Tokyo. Down below a small figure looked up and hailed them, "Rei! You made it back safely!" The speaker jumped onto a turbolift, which began raising up from the lower deck. "Yeah, no thanks to that guide that volunteered." Pluto recognized the woman coming up, it was Makoto. Sailor Pluto felt sick to her stomach. Mako-chan wasn't as beautiful as she once was, a huge scar was etched in her face from her forehead, down the left side of her face, and then stopping bellow her ear. Mako-chan walked over to them with a limp. The eye on the side of the scar, seemed to be fused shut. "Setsuna! Is it you!" Makoto cried out in amazement, then embraced the warrior of time. Poor Makoto, thought Pluto. Makoto began softly crying as she held Pluto in her arms. Several soldiers began to look over at them. Rei noticed and then turned to them. "What the hell are you all doing there? GET BACK TO WORK!" she screamed at them and they all scrambled away back to their tasks. After a moment Mako-chan let go and composed herself. "Makoto." Said Pluto, "I'm sorry about all this." Makoto shook her head. Sailor Pluto was sorry, she seemed to know that this all began because of her. "It's not your fault Meiou." answered Makoto. Pluto sighed, that was yet to be determined. "I know that you are all tired of war," she continued, "But I have request." The two senshi looked at her questioningly. "I need to get into the Aliens' base." Makoto's eyebrows furrowed, "Why would you want to go to that god-awful place for." Pluto glanced over at a massive holographic projection of Earth then looked back at her old friends, "I need to speak with Neo Queen Serenity." ----- In the era known as the twentieth century, in a room on an alien ship, a canister cracked as green slime oozed out of it. In an unsearched storage bay, in the aft of the alien ship, huge canisters were staked to the ceiling and around the entire room, leaving only tiny walkways. And in each of these five hundred and sixty four massive canisters was green sludge. Writhing. Waiting. ----- CHAPTER 4: Insanity Usagi was having fun in the arcades, playing the latest Sailor V game. Let the others do the worrying, thought Usagi, there's nothing we can do but wait. After a couple hours of hopping up and down and shouting at her joystick, she realized that she was finally out of money. The streets outside were covered with snow. The winter was coming quickly. Usagi walked out of the arcade and slipped on her gloves. She took a moment to rub her arms and examine her breath in the cold air. She walked slowly, the buses weren't in service at the moment, the streets were in the process of being cleared. Usagi encountered no one on the sidewalks, which was unusual for this time of day, even if there was snow everywhere. Usagi rounded the corner then leaped back around, she pushed her back against the stone wall of the office building. She leaned slightly around the wall and peeked at what had caused her fright. A violet-haired woman in strange looking armor was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the street, this was not really what was disturbing her. All around the woman were huge heaps of dead men and women. The poor people were shredded and ripped open. There were four piles, most of which had at least twelve corpses. Some of the bodies were turning blue from the cold, and streams of blood ran from the piles and down the storm gutters. Usagi felt vomit coming up her throat and she puked as quietly as she could. She wiped her mouth and pulled out her communicator. Usagi flipped open the communicator and called Rei. The small LCD screen blipped to life and Rei's face was looking back at her. "Usagi, this better be for business. You always misuse everything that-" Usagi cut off Rei's lecture. "Rei this IS an emergency, I'm by the Nakatoma building, an alien is down here. It looks like a woman, but...it's killed at least forty people." Usagi had to cover her mouth as she gagged again. "I'm going to try to take care of her, get here as soon as you can." "Right, be careful Usagi." the LCD screen went black and Usagi slipped the communicator back in her bag, she pulled out her brooch. "MOON CRYSTAL POWER...MAKE UP!" The power swirled over her, transforming her into her sailor uniform. Despite the cold, and the ineffectuality of the uniform to cover her body, Usagi was warm. Sailor Moon leaped from the corner, intending to get the upper hand on the alien. She connected solidly with the ground, and would have made quite a dramatic entrance, that is if there had been no ice on the ground. Sailor Moon slipped and fell flat on her face. The alien watched this display with indifference. Sailor Moon stood up painfully, rubbing her aching forehead. Any credibility that she might of had was now lost. "Er...uh. I'M SAILOR MOON, THE CHAMPION OF JUSTICE!" "Yes, I know." Spoke the woman. She flipped her hair back over her body armor. "I have been waiting for you to come, moon warrior. I am Aosa, a Class A Elite Soldier." That rang a bell. "YOU! you are the one that is sending the message from your ship." Sailor Moon shouted at the menacing looking woman. Sailor Moon's remark took Aosa completely by surprise, how could a simple being from a back water world decipher an advanced language such as Ri'Djeek. Aosa had misjudged the young klutz girl from the moon, such mistakes were deadly and unbecoming of an Elite, she would not let it happen again. "Yes, I sent the message. Your whole race will be under our control soon. I was merely sent to finish off any resistance before the remainders of my civilization arrive." "BUT WHY?!" Sailor Moon screamed at Aosa, "We've done nothing to hurt you, why do you wish to rule our world." Aosa's expression went blank and she looked to the ground for a moment. Aosa's body shook lightly and small sounds came from her, at first Sailor Moon thought that she was crying. The noise got louder and she knew that Aosa wasn't crying...she was laughing. Sailor moon watched as Aosa laughed in fits. Then Aosa stopped, clenched her fist in rage and drove it through the roof of a car next to her. The strike pierced the roof and shredded metal as it blasted the car in half, the gas tank exploded and the street became a fiery inferno. Sailor Moon covered her face as the heat from the explosion passed by. Sailor Moon looked back at the blaze, perhaps Aosa was dead. She squinted at the flaming wreckage. She screamed out suddenly as Aosa blasted through the flames. Aosa took sailor moon down to the ground with a headlong tackle. Usagi gasped for breath on the ground as Aosa stood over her. Aosa kicked Usagi in the stomach, her sisters might believe in a fair fight, but to Aosa war was war, and any means that would help attain victory should be taken. Sailor Moon gagged as Aosa kicked her in the stomach again, perhaps for good measure. Aosa went on one knee and put her face within a few inches of Sailor Moon's. "I and my sisters will kill you and enslave your planet because we CAN. Your mother killed my species, but there are still a few outposts left in this sector of the galaxy, and the remains of my nations army will bleed your world dry of all life." She moved even closer to Usagi's face, "This planet will ensure the survival of my race, and I will be damned if I let you stand in MY WAY!" Aosa raised her gloved hand high in the air, she would crush Sailor Moon's skull like a melon. She smiled down at the cringing warrior, "You and your entire race is so weak, you are no warrior, little girl." Light swirled around her upraised fist. Sailor Moon clenched her teeth. No one was going to take over Earth, not while she was protecting it. "TIARA STAR!" the tiara on Sailor Moon's forehead let of a flare of light, which seemed one hundred times brighter than Earth's own star. Aosa screamed in pain and staggered off of Usagi. Sailor Moon pulled herself up and held her bruised side. She wiped blood away from her lips. Anger boiled deep within her, she tried not to let anger control her. The anger she tried to push away only increased ten-fold and she began taking long strides toward the temporarily blinded Aosa. Aosa was going to have a taste of what Sailor Moon could do. She drew her fist back quickly and threw it forward into Aosa's face. Her fist connected solidly and Sailor Moon could feel Aosa's teeth come loose at the impact. Aosa tripped and fell, landing on her back, and she was still clawing at her eyes. Sailor Moon raised her fist again, ready to strike. To her utter amazement she saw that Aosa was out cold. "Some warrior." she said with disgust. Aosa's twisted body lay motionless surrounded by the heaps of dead humans. Sailor Moon could vomit no more, so she gagged instead. A sharp scream filled the air. Sailor Moon looked around, she saw no one, but she had heard what sounded like a battle cry. Sailor Moon looked up, just as a second woman, with brilliant blue hair, in similar alien body armor crashed down on top of her. The woman was sitting on top of Sailor Moon and was saying something to her. Usagi could not hear the woman, and her vision was blurry, she had hit her head against the blacktop, hard. She could make out the shape of the woman and slowly, but still feeling like an eternity, it began to become sharper and clearer. Her hearing came back as well, though all she heard was the blue haired woman shouting, angrily, in an alien language. The next few seconds were a blur. Sailor Moon hear Rei's voice. The heaviness of the blue haired woman sitting upon her was gone and she was shrieking angrily. Sailor Moon looked up groggily and saw the woman with blue hair all the way on the other side of the street. Sailor Moon turned and looked back, Sailor Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury were here. They wasted no time, the four scouts launched an all out offensive. Sailor Mercury and Venus went left, sailor Mars went right, and sailor Jupiter charged head on. The came together in a sudden clash. Sailor Venus threw a kick and Jupiter lunged with her right fist, both were deflected by the blue-haired woman's superior hand-to-hand abilities. she countered like a flash and sent the two senshi sprawling to the concrete. "FLAME SNIPER!" the blue-haired woman saw the flaming arrow coming and raised the palm of her right hand, the blaze died off pitifully as it hit her palm. The woman raised her other palm and aimed one hand at Mercury and the other at Mars, the air crackled around her palms as large amounts of concentrated energy began to gather. The blue-haired woman retaliated and hit the two senshi with blue energy rays. Sailor Moon blinked as she watched this spectacle, all four of the senshi went down in less than twenty seconds. Aosa was holding her hands up to her bleeding eyes, still not able to see. "Now for you Moon warrior." she raised her hand to launch her deathblow, but shouted as a streak of blood appeared on her outstretched hand. The woman pulled her hand back towards herself and looked down at what had hit her. A red rose stuck up from the concrete. The blue-haired woman looked up and saw a man in a black tuxedo, standing on top of a light pole. He leaped down and landed gracefully before her. "You are the first being to ever draw my blood," said the woman contemptuously, "I will make you suffer for that." She charged at him but Tuxedo Kamen-sama deflected her attack with his staff. the swiped and lunged at one another, she could not get through his defenses but he managed to strike through hers. The woman screamed in frustration as he continued to smack her in the face with his staff. "YOU DARE TO MOCK ME?!" using her anger to get an attack through he struck her powerfully between her eyes. She went down like a sack of potatoes. She lifted her hands to launch an energy attack, but he slapped her hands away with ease. The blue-haired woman managed to get back up. She called back over her shoulder, "Help me sister Aosa!" Her eyes did not leave her attacker as she said this. Aosa heard Andissa and turned to the direction of the voice, her vision was severely blurred, new eyes would most probably be needed after this attack, and blood also further impaired her sight. she could see two figures grappling, but she could not make out who they where. "HURRY SISTER!" cried Andissa. Aosa had no time, she spread her feet apart and held her palms out in front of her, Aosa began drawing in all the free energy around her, heat and other forms of energy began flowing to a ball forming in her palms, even light seemed drawn to it. Sailor Moon shivered as the heat around her dissipated. Sailor Moon knew what was happening, she cried to Tuxedo Kamen-sama, but he did not hear. She grabbed Venus and Jupiter, who were very close to Aosa, and she helped them run to safety. Mercury and Mars were at a safe distance, or, so she hoped. Sailor Moon turned and ran to help Tuxedo Kamen. Aosa's energy sphere was complete. She gritted her teeth and braced her stomach, preparing for the coming firestorm. She released the sphere. Wind blazed violently as the blue sphere of energy careened on it's path, the force of the release pushed Aosa back six feet, her boots scraped and screeched the whole way back as she tried to counteract the push. Tuxedo Kamen saw it coming, he grabbed Andissa and flipped her around as a shield, he pushed her forward an began to sprint away. The ball hit Andissa directly in the breast plate of her armor. A colossal white inferno bloomed around the Andissa, the silhouette of the alien inside the blaze could be seen for a moment, then she was gone. The blast threw all the senshi and Tuxedo Kamen into buildings and through display widows, even Aosa was hit hard, she slammed into a van and ripped all the way through to the other side before she fell to the sidewalk. The senshi collected itself a few minutes after the explosion, most were relatively unhurt, even Mamo-chan was in decent condition. Andissa had been wiped from existence. Aosa was no where to be seen. ----- The American space shuttle lifted off and made a successful flight into planetary orbit, astronaughts inside the ship relayed commands and numbers as they moved closer and closer. The ship was massive and ominous, a derelict cruiser from a time long forgotten. The shuttle entered into a large opening in the ships hull, it appeared to be a nearly empty hanger bay. Two astronaughts in space suits exited the shuttle and were amazed at the artificial gravity, a live link to the pentagon was being maintained. They split up, one began searching the bay and discovered mass quantities of items that appeared to be extremely advanced robots and weaponry. The other, major Lee as his name tag donated, went through a hallway, took a left hand turn and went through a large porthole with a smashed keypad beside it, the gears and electronics looked singed, as if it had been forced open. He walked into the large room and turned on a large halogen light he had brought along. He moved it from left to right, all across the room, he stopped as he spied something moving. Major Lee moved closer, he could hear himself breathing heavily inside his suit, he stared at it in disbelief for a moment, it was slime, greenish colored slime, oozing towards him. In the blink of an eye it shot off the ground and attached itself to the outside of the astronaughts suit. He shouted in horror and surprise, he turned back to the exit, but there was the slime, it was everywhere, on the walls, on the ceiling, on the ground, crawling up his legs. A crackle came over shuttle's intercom, "Uhh...this is Lee I'm having a problem here...Oh God...GET AWAY! AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!" The blood curdling scream was piercing over the intercom. "Lieutenant Mitchell, precede with extreme caution down the western corridor, see if you can find major Lee." "Aye, commander." said a feminine voice, the astronaught that had been inside the hanger went down the halls and to the room where Lee had been. "Oh God!" she cried as she entered the room. The body of Lee was sprawled on the ground the suit was torn to shreds, his body was covered with a thin residue of slime. She noticed his face move, a trick of light she though, she moved closer to examine him, to make sure he was alive, but she recoiled in horror. Lee's face began to change, bones shifted positions and skin bubbled violently, green slime poured out of his nose, mouth, ears, and eyes. Mitchell threw up in her suit. "L-lee is dead!" She cried, "Oh dear God." "Return to the shuttle immediately!" the commanders voice said over the communications network. Susan Mitchell turned to leave but was stopped as the bulkhead slammed shut in front of her, the only exit from the room. There were noises behind her, she turned quickly and put her back against the door. Her hand slammed against the keypad next to the door as she tried to get it to open and she screamed to her fellow astronaughts for help, but the room was magnetically sealed, and no communication transmissions could get through. She nearly passed out when she saw him, Lee stood up, She could no longer recognize him as a human, only the basic shapes remained on his twisted deformed body. His arms and legs had grown enormously. Mitchell sank to her knees and screamed over and over, as Lee raised his huge clawed hands and split her in half from head to groin. Commander Dansworth called over his communications on the shuttle, the two remaining astronaughts did not send back any transmissions, he tried again but got no reply. "HQ this is mission commander Dansworth, I'm proceeding out to check on my crew." A few seconds later a reply came back from Earth, "That's a negative commander, you stay there." The commander ignored the order and turned off the radio. He suited up quickly and raced down the halls, the western corridor was sealed shut and he could not get it open, so he went east to find another entrance, the eastern bulkhead was open and he went through the hatch. What he saw was not what he would have expected, a beautiful woman was sitting in a large looking command chair, she gave him eye contact. "What have you done to my crew?" shouted Lee The woman stood and raised her hand out to him palm up, as if she wanted him to shake it. "I don't know what you are talking about, pitiful little creature, but no one trespasses on my ship and lives." His life ended moments later as he was disintegrated by an energy beam. The pentagon never regained contact with the shuttle. ----- In the darkness the five intruders slipped quietly from a manhole and into a deserted alley. The ran through deserted streets, Sailor Pluto watched the roads as she walked towards the crystal palace. Her eyes found the shattered remains of the lives of so many people, she saw a little girls doll that lay discarded on the street, grimy and decaying. Pictures and momentos littered the sidewalks in old rotted cardboard boxes. Lives' of the innocents that have long since gone from this existence. Rei had decided to go with her, and three others had volunteered to help get into the palace, mostly so that they could see their queen again. They had a back way into the palace unknown to the aliens which now made Crystal Tokyo their home. The entrance was a service tunnel that ran for thirteen hundred meters into the main kitchens of the palace. The five jogged down the tunnel, Setsuna's thoughts drifted as they each moved without speaking. Mako-chan had decided not to come because of her injured leg, and because she was the only other officer of high command in case Rei was caught. It was a long run but did not wind the freedom fighters, they were in incredible shape. The three soldiers raised their guns and Pluto readied her staff as Rei Hino opened the secret hatch into the kitchens. Not a sole was inside the massive sterile looking room. chrome shone every where as they stepped inside. The place was huge, a twinge of sadness came over Pluto as she remembered eating pie with the Small Lady here, in the other future. The halls were all deserted, this disturbed Rei greatly, but nothing could be done, they dispatched a few video cameras that were in the halls and that was all the trouble the had. The throne room doors stood before them. Rei cracked it open slightly and peeked through, no one inside that she could see, her eyes stopped as she saw a shape off to the far right of the room, a shape half engulfed by wires and tubes. Rei closed her eyes and turned her back to the door. "You...you go Sailor Pluto...I...I can't go in their." She slumped her shoulders, Pluto put a hand on Rei to reassure the poor woman, Pluto saw tears pour down Rei's face. Pluto pushed the doors open and walked into the throne room of Neo Queen Serenity...former throne room. Before she was too far in, the three freedom fighters turned back to stand with Rei, their pain was too great. Usagi did not look up as Pluto walked closer. Pluto could see that it was obvious that Usagi would not live out of the machine she was now in, and she doubted that the machine would ever let her die. "Queen Serenity?" said Pluto with great pain in her voice. Usagi was in a vertical position with her head drooped down, the wires and tubes obscured everything below Usagi's belly button. Above that various tubes and wires protruded from her naked flesh. Usagi's head was shaved bald and hung limply. She raised her head slowly, as if this took great effort. Their eyes met and Usagi managed a half smile. One side of Usagi's face seemed dead and limp, wires connected into her temples and some tubes were attached to her neck. "Sailor Pluto!" her voice was ragged and harsh, but that was not the worst part, her voice was machine translated, so when she spoke, a computerized voice echoed her speech in a guttural alien language. "How nice it is to...hah, oh your welcome Mamo-chan...to see you Pluto." Usagi seemed to be in a daze, not quite aware of her surroundings. "My queen, I'm so sorry...I must ask you some questions so that I can stop the aliens from causing this future." Usagi dropped her head back down and rolled it around a bit, then she managed to get it back up. "Yes, yes, change the future...is it time to have some tea?" Usagi half smiled again then dropped her head. A new set of tears ran down Pluto's face, Usagi was insane, driven to this state by the years of torture and being kept alive in a machine from Hell. "I had a vision of three women, Usagi, three alien women that have caused all this destruction. When did they launch an all out attack on Earth, and where...please tell me what I need to do to stop them!" Usagi giggled, she giggled for several minutes then stopped suddenly, she looked back up again. "Three alien women...hah... Mamo-chan...the three alien women did not do...hah hah, oh my little Chibbi Usa...they did not cause this." Usagi giggled some more and began talking to her imaginary Mamo-chan. "What!" this took Pluto by surprise, "Usagi, if the women did not, who did?" She watched Usagi. At first nothing happened, but then Usagi screamed. "AHHHHHHH GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, OUCH GET IT OFF! PLEASE!" she stopped again, Pluto was frightened far more than she had ever been before. Usagi raised her head again, but her eyes were rolled back in her head, "They came from the ship...caught us by surprise...slime...hah ha, slime...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, GET IT OFF!" Her head slumped down but she kept talking, "The mutants came and slaughtered everyone...HAH HAH, SLAUGHTERED MAMO-CHAN...we had no chance of victory...half human monsters" Usagi shook violently and struggled against the wires and tubes implanted in her body, some began to leak fluid and blood. Usagi looked up, still shaking, the insanity was gone from her eyes, "Pluto...they had no idea...on the ship...such evil..." She whispered. "PLUTO!!! You must not let the slime get out of the ship!" Pluto moved closer, "Please don't hurt yourself my Queen." Usagi looked up, some madness began to creep back into her, "Kill me, please kill me. This is my last request, I have lived through so much pain." she burst into tears, "LET ME SEE MY MAMO-CHAN, LET ME SEE MY CHIBBI USA!!!!!!" Pluto looked at the ground, "I will my queen, you shall be with your family soon." Pluto raised her staff. "Dead Scream" the ball of energy tore up the tiles on the floor of the room along it's path and it hit Usagi. The queen died instantaneously, vaporized, at long last able to have her peace. Pluto sank to her knees and cried for several minutes, sobbing uncontrollably, until she realized she had to go. She walked to the door to say good-bye to Rei and the three warriors, but they were gone. Pluto felt dizzy, like she was dreaming, the walls outside the throne room were covered with blood, chunks of flesh and bone slid down the walls and dripped off the ceilings. She ran back into the room, no time left, she thought. Sailor Pluto unlocked the time gate and ran in, just as stealthy deformed shapes came running after her from the shadows. She was through and the doors slammed shut, the monsters slipped and fell over one another as their target disappeared. The creatures that writhed on the floor oddly resembled humans in a grotesque way, but Sailor Pluto was not around to see them. Sailor Pluto ran through the corridors of time, she had to get back. ----- Haruka and Michiru watched the news of the American space shuttle, it had been top secret but was leaked somehow to the media, after that it was a frenzy, every station in the world was broadcasting the radio transmissions from aboard the alien craft. Michiru shook her head, this was not good, not only was the threat more real than she had thought before, but now there were going to be religious cults and panicky masses running amok through the streets, looting everything. That might not be a problem though, she thought, since the governments got the military posted with tanks and heavy artillery at every street corner, or at least a group of menacing soldiers armed with fully automatic assault rifles. Hotaru was with Chibbi Usa and the rest of the senshi at Rei's temple, decisions were being made to go to the alien craft for a surprise attack. This was a desperate plan from desperate people, Michiru and Haruka would lend a hand if the others went, but until then, they planned on their own. The outer senshi had always been at the front lines of combat, always the ones that kept the aliens at bay, kept them from attacking Earth and the Moon Kingdom. It was their duty to stop the aliens, they had failed at letting them enter the system. "I wish Meiou would hurry back, we'll need all the help we can get." Haruka spoke softly as she stared out the sliding glass door that led to the balcony of her condo. Time was running out, the attack would come soon and the scouts needed to be at their full strength. "I'm going for a swim." said Michiru. She walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Michiru could think more deeply as she swimmed, she was one with the ocean god. Several minutes later Michiru came out of the bathroom dressed in a blue, single piece bathing suit. Haruka looked over at Michiru for a moment, admiring the curves that the bathing suit was able to display, then she turned back to looking out the window, there was a large smile on her face. ----- CHAPTER 5: Ka'shadek Aanaki sat regally in the command chair of the old space cruiser, and admired the handiwork she had done on the alien intruder. The pesky little man was so easy to kill, merely a hindrance that needed to be exterminated as soon as possible. The ramblings about his crew did make her wonder for a second, but she dismissed it as the ramblings of a half-wit, these beings were stupid. Plans for conquering the planet had once gone through Aanaki's mind, but now she decided differently, the massive amounts of data she had pulled off of the ship's data base gave detailed maps of hundreds of millions of systems that had been classified as uncharted by her race. She would pick the system that would best suit the needs of her and her sisters, they would go and colonize the world and create a new empire. The beings on the planet which Aanaki now orbited, had to be exterminated. Earthlings were a very warlike and self-destructive race, that was just budding into it's development of interplanetary space travel. If the humans could manage to keep from killing each other, then in another five or six hundred standard years, they could become an unstoppable space-faring empire. Aankai wanted no competition, ever, so the human's were as good as dead. Unbeknownst to Aanaki as she thought, the Bio-organic Detection station buzzed to life and a bits of data began pouring down the display screens. Aanaki finally heard the noises and turned to look, she got up as she recognized the machine, then walked to it. Aanaki read the data and her face went pale. She began to sweat as she read down the list again. "No...no...It's not possible, oh my god." Aanaki cleared the data and ran to her comm station. Aankai hit the panel and called to her sisters. "Aosa, Andissa, I need you back now, immediately, we have an A1 class situation, code 1142/2a!" "............" only silence came over the com. "Aosa. Andissa. Come in immediately." She went quiet again and listened. The waves for silent, save for the coincidental crackle or pop of static interference. "-aki...si-ter...Aa-ki...I...seriousl-injur-d...Ani-ssa...term-ated." The transmission came over the com with horrible interference she could only make out small bits. "I did not get that last transmission, come aboard flagship immediately." Aanaki leaned her back against the wall and thought, she wasn't sure but it sounded like Andissa had been terminated. Anger welled up in her body, but she forced it back down, Aanaki would wait for her sisters' reports. But now there was a more pressing matter at hand. The ship was infested, scanners registered them as creatures that been considered extinct for tens of thousands of standard years. The Ka'shadek The Ka'shadek was thought to have originated as a type of weapon, created by a massive empire that once controlled a quarter of the Milky Way. The weapon was genetically engineered and was the perfect living weapon. The creatures were found on ancient ships, like the kind Andissa was on now. The name Ka'shadek was what Aanaki's race had given to the organic beings/weapons. Literally, the word meant "Genocide." The Ka'shadek was able to hid in crates and containers, or in an unchanged host. They were stupid but deadly, their only programming was to kill, annihilate, slaughter, they were meant to clear a world of all life. The worst weapon imaginable, it could bond and mutate any living matter, with the sole purpose of genocide. It took the combined efforts of Andissa's race and several others, to clean the creatures from the galaxy. But now they were back and there was a whole lot of them. What made matters worse, there was a planet full of five billion hosts waiting for assimilation. ----- The scouts were all around one another, hands clasped, forming a circle. The fight had gone too far, so many innocents had died in the last attack. Sailor moon looked at each scout, they had all agreed on invading the alien ship. "Is every one ready?" Sailor Moon asked. The scouts looked up at her and nodded, one at a time. Sailor Chibbi moon looked up with tears in her eyes. "But...but what about Pu?" The scouts looked at her. Each wanted Pluto by their sides in the oncoming battle. The fight for the future was now, and Pluto could no longer do anything to change that, they only hoped she would arrive soon. Sailor Saturn shook her head, "Sailor Chibbi Moon, Pluto has tried to help us, but we must do this ourselves, do you understand? We must fight by ourselves until her arrival." Chibbi nodded and looked up bravely at Tuxedo Kamen-sama. "SATURN PLANET POWER!" "URANUS PLANET POWER!" "NEPTUNE PLANET POWER!" "MARS PLANET POWER!" "VENUS PLANET POWER!" "MERCURY PLANET POWER!" "JUPITER PLANET POWER!" The girls shouted as the power began tugging at them, the Sailor Teleport shimmered brilliantly with the combined energy of the scouts. Pebbles began rising off of the ground. Static electricity charged the air and popped violently. Incredible light flashed and the girls were gone. Luna, Artemis, and Diana sat looking up at the stars, their hopes and prayers were with the scouts. ----- The light vanished and the scouts stood in a long sterile looking hallway. It went on for several yards and branched off into two different four way sections. "The air tastes recycled," commented Mercury. There was no response. Sailor Mercury put on her VR visor and began scanning the surroundings. "I'm picking up two life signs, both in the same room, up the corridor and to the left." "Then lets go." said Tuxedo Kamen-sama, they began walking softly, they held their heads high, once again ready to save their home from tyranny and evil. The walk was short, the halls looked identical. Small things skittered around in the corner of Jupiter's eyes, but when she looked nothing was their, the others felt the same way. They stopped at the end and stared at the bulkhead which lead to the aliens. Super Sailor Moon was the first one to move forward and the others closed in behind her. She reached for the panel, but the door opened on it's own. To her surprise she saw the two aliens waiting. They glared at the scouts. "Don't worry humans." said an alien woman that had blood red hair, a new alien they had not seen before, she was sitting in the captains chair. "What?" was all they could manage to blurt out. "I said don't worry. I'm not going to kill you, that is I mean, not at the moment. Right now, I and my sister plan on self destructting this ship." She pointed her finger at them, "And you are lucky enough to come with us, we shall spare you from the Ka'shadek, and give you deaths that would be far less painful than they would give you." "What the hell are you talking about?" shouted Sailor Jupiter. "Sister Aosa, please start the destruct sequence." Aosa did nothing, she only looked blankly at the screen. "Sister Aosa! Hurry!" Aosa looked up at her sister, her eyes seemed glossy and distant. "Of course, sister Andissa." she began typing. Andissa turned back to the senshi, "This ship is infested with beings that are going to invade your puny little planet, they will kill every living creature on the planet." The girls listened in disbelief, not trusting or even wanting to believe that such a thing would happen. "The Ka'shadek," she continued, "Will assimilate with your people, mutate them into creatures that only want to kill. I've seen what they've done. On a planet called Rihj'las IV there was once a population of twelve billion. I personally ordered the disintegration of the entire planet, because of it's twelve billion inhabitants, all had been assimilated or killed." The scouts watched Andissa, "The only chance is to self-destruct the ship." Andissa jerked her head suddenly to see slime coming out of an air duct. "Shit!" she shouted. "Come on Aosa." Aosa said nothing, her back was to everyone the glow from the computer screen silhouetted her figure oddly. Ami flinched as a bone pushed against the skin in Aosa's neck, then disappeared. "No, it couldn't be...sister...Aosa!?" The countdown to detonation did not start, but something else did, thrusters outside the ship could be hear, and outside the view screen, the senshi could see earth, the ship was now on a direct course for the surface. Aosa turned, the girls screamed her face was twisted, her mouth started from her chin and went up around to her left temple, Aosa hissed loudly, barring huge dripping fangs as she glared at them with a single, puss dripping eye. Andissa reacted quickly and threw herself at mutant Aosa. Andissa was swatted away like a fly, she hit a wall and crumpled limply to the floor. That seemed to be it. Slime was coming from everywhere, pouring out of ever duct and open crevice, the senshi stood on an island of open deck as the slime advanced and as the still changing Aosa advanced on them. The senshi could not fight, the hall was too narrow, the stood bunched up together, each holding the other. Makoto held arms up to be the first, to vainly try and protect her friends, her best friends. They all watched, the slime began to stand up like a wall. Then **BAMM** It stopped. *No time* *No reality* *No feeling* The senshi floated together and apart, here and there, both alive and not at the same time. **BAMM** A flash of light. Then sound resumed, life resumed, the senshi stood holding one another, on a sidewalk, back on Earth. The cool night air could be felt by all. They held each other and said nothing. Each had thoughts of joy and sadness, each understood and shared this pain as they held one another. This was not the end. They had been given another chance. ----- EPILOGUE: Starlight Wonder They all remembered, remembered the sacrifice. Just as the wall rose up, about to pounce on the senshi, time stopped. The senshi all looked up at the wall of slime that had been ready to devour them all, and outside of the display window the saw the stars expand and waver. From that spot in space a globe of white light materialized and in it's center was Sailor Pluto. The senshi said nothing, it was Pluto that spoke, and they could hear her inside the ship. Her voice was filled with hope. "My friends, I am back, this is not meant to be. I am here to fix our future, I have been granted the power." They saw her smile at them, her smile was filled with compassion and joy, "I will save you all, my dear friends...farewell." Then they left, Usagi saw it all as she was teleported to earth, the globe of white light settled onto the very tip of the nose of the alien ship and detonated. Usagi remembered seeing Pluto disappear in the inferno, being consumed by the explosion. And the scouts looked up from their spot on the dark street, they watched as chunks of the alien ship burned up in the atmosphere, it was beautiful. They cried together, feeling there immense loss, but knowing it was not in vain. They all stood and watched in wonder, under the light of the falling stars. By: Alan O'Kelly 5/25/1999