Sailor Moon "Betrayal of the Fifth Planet" By Koy Kragh (koyn@utdallas.edu) Chapter 3 - "The Race to Earth" --- Disclaimer Sailor Moon is a great anime series, but it's not my idea. That credit goes to Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. The North American dub (and all rights to the series thereabouts) belong to DiC. I'm overjoyed that DiC is bringing the series back to NA, and I'm not attempting to infringe on their or anybody else's rights. This is a fictional story, any similarities between the characters in this story and any person/people living or dead are not my fault. --- Author's notes This will be one BIG story by the time I'm done. If you don't want to be reading TONS of chapters, then don't start this fanfic. You probably would have figured it out pretty quickly on your own, but I'm basing this story 1,000 years ago, in the Moon Kingdom. I haven't found much background/research material for this time-period in SM, so I made up.. er.. embellished a few things to add atmosphere. If you want to see a quick breakdown of what I envision the Sailor Moon past was like, then look in the MOONHIST.KOY file that should be available with this fanfic. One last thing . . . OK, say you read this, you like it/hate it/want to kill me, etc. Praise, comments, flames, snaps and the like can be sent to koyn@utdallas.edu. Death threats, curses, virii, etc. should be mailed to harf@moron.org. Marriage proposals can be sent to me, please include picture of Grand Cherokee. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter 3 - "The Race to Earth" Serenity awakes to the sound of soft music playing nearby. Blinking sleep from her eyes, she examines her surroundings. Rei and Makoto, the same team of protectors she entered Prosperity with, sleep beside her in the tent. "Even here in the middle of a secured camp they are concerned for our safety," thinks the Moon Princess. Hoping their precautions will prove unnecessary, she sits up and quietly emerges from the small tent she and the others sleep in. Darkness obscures the features of the clearing as Serenity glances around the small camp. Her eyes adjust to the half-light and she stares over the trees at the distantly visible Earth, the only source of light since the torches have been extinguished. Her thoughts turn to the distant planet's prince, Endymion. The distant music seems to match her melancholy mood, and she allows it to drag her into waking dreams of the man she loves. A hand on her shoulder shocks her back to reality. "Your Highness," asks Kieran as the Princess spins to face him, "are you felling okay?" Serenity catches her breath after Kieran's sudden interruption. "Yes," she replies, "I'm fine. The music woke me and I couldn't get back to sleep." As she says this she notices that the music has stopped. "Well, there was music playing. . ." Kieran smiles at her and nods. "That was probably Charles playing for Ysayne." Confused, she asks, "Charles and Ysayne? They didn't seem to get along too well before. Why would he play music for her now?" "Not get along?" asks Kieran, a bit confused himself. Then he seems to understand and laughs softly for a moment. "Oh! You mean when they argue." Smiling, Kieran sits down on the ground and leans against a tree. Serenity looks around for somewhere besides the ground to sit. Then, she realizes that after wearing the same clothes for three days a little more dirt won't hurt. She sits where she can see Kieran and not be uncomfortable. "Well," he begins, "I suppose it would help to know a little about us if you're going to spend a while in our company. We all come from Rona, but only Charles, Ysayne and myself were once a part of the Ronan royal family. There were more ex-nobles here, but only the three of us were able to escape the RSF attack a week ago." Kieran's features grow dark for a moment and he pauses his story; but he shakes his head as if to clear it and continues, smiling again. "On Rona, Lord Charles and Lady Ysayne were betrothed to be married. Their families had entered a co-operative treaty and planned their marriage to seal the contract. It's a common practice, but not usually an especially effective one." "Lord Charles and Lady Ysayne knew nothing about each other. They had only met once, many years before their betrothal, at a society function. Then suddenly, their future was decided for them. They reacted like most people would and rebelled. When they finally did meet, they had each decided not to like the other, so that's exactly what happened." "Independently, they had also each decided to join the rebellion against King Tor, so they believed they wouldn't have to worry about the marriage their parents' had planned. They were right about the wedding, they both left before it was scheduled, but they were quite surprised to see each other when they arrived on Earth to meet their contact." "Unfortunately, they had brought along their hatred for each other and caused all sorts of headaches during their training. However, while they were on Earth, they were forced to actually spend time with each other. Since they arrived at the same time, they were assigned to the same unit. Eventually, they discovered that neither one of them was as horrible a person as they had built up in their minds." Kieran's smile grows a bit larger. "After a while, they became friends. Soon after that, they realized they were in love. Everyone could see it before they did. No matter how much they thought they hated each other, others could see how perfect they were for each other." "Now, I'm not sure if they keep arguing because they always have and they just got into the habit, or if the reason they argue has changed from hatred to love." Kieran stops and looks over at her. She thinks about what he said for a moment, but something about his last sentence bugs her. "I'm not sure I know what you mean by them arguing because of love," she says. The leader of the Ronan rebellion looks thoughtful for a moment, then he tries to explain. "Well, from what I hear, you and the princess from Mars seem to do your fair share of arguing as well." Serenity nods, but isn't sure exactly where he is going with this. He continues, "So, do you hate Rei?" "No," replies the Princess. "We seem to fight about almost everything, but she defends me all the time. When I really need to talk to someone, she will listen. She is a wonderful friend, I think that is one of the reasons it hurts so much when we fight." "Have you ever thought that maybe she fights with you *because* she is your friend?" he asks. Serenity looks at him strangely. "Hmm. . . perhaps that's not the best way to put it." Before Kieran can continue, Charles and Ysayne enter the clearing from a nearby trail. In a quiet voice, Kieran calls to them, "Charles, Ysayne. . . we were just talking about you." The two Ronan expatriates look in his direction, then walk over. Charles looks at the Princess, "Don't listen to him," he says. "I didn't do it. I was never even *on* the western continent of Earth, and nobody saw me with his boots." "Western continent?" asks Serenity, seeming more confused by the second, and growing very sleepy. Kieran notices her holding back a yawn and breaks in, "Yes, that's just an old injustice that Charles has yet to pay for." "Yeah, right," replies Charles, "like you'll ever be able to top *that* one." Kieran smiles a 'just you wait and see' smile and turns to the Princess. "Your Highness, perhaps you should return to your tent. There are still several hours until we must leave, and you should get as much rest as possible." The Princess nods sleepily and begins to stand. "Then we are leaving for Earth in the morning?" she asks. Standing quickly, Kieran answers, "Probably. We won't know which escape route we will be able to take until tomorrow. Our primary and secondary plans will take us directly to Earth, and our tertiary plan will only take a few days longer. But, we will discuss this in depth in the morning. You should go back to sleep." The Princess nods again as she returns to her tent. Inside, Rei and Makoto continue their slumber. She smiles at them, and curls up beneath her blanket. Soon, her mind fills with images of Earth . . . and its prince. --- Several miles from Prosperity, the small outpost begins its day. Shifts change, guards are relieved, and personnel rush about completing daily assignments and inspections. A casual observer wouldn't have noticed much change in this routine after the Ronans took control a few days ago. Of course, recently, a casual observer would likely be shot by a Ronan arrow or energy bolt. Kieran hoped they could avoid that. He turned from his vantage point overlooking the base to look at his companions. Nathan and Jason had remained here to help protect the Queen and the princesses while the others had gone out to scout the base. "But they should have been back here half an hour ago," thinks Kieran. He forces himself to think positively until they hear back from the rest of them. He senses a presence behind them, he turns and sees that Nathan feels it too. Silently, Kieran motions for Jason to check it out while he and Nathan continue to mask their presence and prepare to protect their charges if necessary. Slowly, Jason works his way back into the forest until he can see who is there. Jason gives them the 'all clear' signal and Kieran relaxes. It must be the others. Jason returns to the group with Heather, Charles and Ysayne. Besides himself and Nathan, these were the only three operatives he had on the Moon with any experience in the Art. Jason, Stephen and Stephanie were all Ronan, but they were of common birth and had no special magical training. However, they had all been trained as guerrilla style warriors and Stephen and Stephanie proved they had an amazing ability for stealth and covert operations. Since the Ronans could pick up on the others' magical ability if their shielding slipped, he had sent Stephen and Stephanie to scout separately. However, they should have returned at the same time as the others. "Where are Stephen and Stephanie?" asks Kieran. "We saw them on the other side of the complex," answers Heather. "They probably had to take a different way out than we did." "Let's hope they get here soon," adds Charles. "Why," asks Kieran, "what did you find?" Heather details the results of their scouting. "The base isn't very large, but it is well defended. I have a feeling the RSF brought in some additional personnel and gear since they know we are in the area. There are three craft at the small landing facility adjacent to the base. However, only two would be beneficial to our cause. There is a Y-498 transport that could be used to replace the craft we have now instead of supplement it. However, while it might be tempting to use it instead of the modified sailing yacht we have currently, it will not be easy to capture and we may be forced to focus our efforts on the second craft." "The other ship is a Caribener Mark IV. If we capture this one instead, we will still have to use the yacht we have now to have enough room to transport everyone, but we would have a ship capable of escorting us off planet. That may end up being more valuable to us than a comfortable ride to wherever we are going." "You don't feel we could get both?" asks Jason. Heather shakes her head, "I believe we *could* get both, but I think we should concentrate on one. If we go for two we will have to spread our forces out. We have a better chance of getting everyone out alive if we only take one. I think it should be the Mark IV because the Y-498 isn't nearly fast enough to outrun the Imperial defense craft they will, of course, send after us." Kieran grimaced, "And a Mark IV doesn't give us enough firepower to keep them off the yacht until we can get away." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The Ronans have supremacy in both the air and the Great Void near the Moon. That meant that leaving by way of Voidcraft would be very difficult and extremely risky. However, they couldn't transport out by magical means, because that was too easy to trace and counter-act. Plus, the sheer power required to send them all that far meant they had to find another way. They had to leave soon or they would be caught, but their only chance of getting away was almost to risky to attempt. Kieran opens his eyes as he feels a tap on his shoulder. Nathan stands next to him and points towards the base. Near the landing area he could see a small flash of light every few seconds. "That's Stephen and Stephanie," says Nathan. "They're signaling us." "But what do they want us to do?" asks Ysayne. Kieran turns towards the others, "Let's go ask them," he says as he leads the way into the forest. --- The path they took led them deeper into the forest before it cut back towards the eastern side of the base. As they near the edge of the forest, Kieran stops the group. He turns and says, "We don't know what to expect except a fight. Senshi, it may be a good idea if you transform and concentrate on keeping the Queen and Princess safe." Nathan glances towards the party and then moves ahead a few paces to where he can keep an eye open for trouble. Behind him, he can sense the four senshi transforming into their battle-ready forms. For a moment, he is surprised at how quickly and silently the girls change; then, he remembers the nature of the magic behind the transformation. Immediately, he checks to ensure their magical shielding is still in place, cursing himself for not thinking about it sooner. He exhales a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, the shields are intact; they haven't given away their position. Ahead, he can just make out the outline of the base through the trees. Just past the trees somewhere are Stephen and Stephanie. He can't see them yet, but he takes up the lead position as the group continues forward. Behind him, the four inner senshi surround Queen Serenity and her daughter. Charles and Ysayne take up flank positions with Heather and Jason in the rear. Kieran and Nathan lead the way forward. Nathan smiles at how easily their group slipped into a secure formation, protecting their royal charges. Hopefully, everything will go as planned and in an hour or so the eight Ronans and their six companions will be on a ship headed for Earth. --- Kieran spotted Stephen and Stephanie a few minutes earlier, but the group moved towards them slowly to draw as little attention as possible to themselves. The two Ronans had stopped signaling some time ago knowing their friends had most likely gotten the message, and hoping to maintain a low profile so close to the Ronan outpost. Kieran was glad they had the two on their side. They had little magical ability, but they were in training and showed promise. However, Kieran knew that their greatest strength was their stealth, and part of that included not using magic at all since it could easily be discovered by competent Ronans. As they approach, Stephen whispers towards them, "Finally! Sorry, Kieran but we've got to work fast to take advantage of our news." "What's up?" he asks, at the same time checking to make sure their group is still together and in positions where they can react quickly to trouble. "Well," says Stephanie when Kieran turns back to look at them, "in the last few minutes the number of guards at the landing facility has gone down. Right now, there are only seven Ronans guarding the section holding the two craft we want." "How do you know which two we want?" asks Ysayne. Stephen smiles, "It doesn't take much to know we're going to want the Mark IV and the transport. I don't think we'll have much use for a water freighter." Kieran considers this new development for a moment. "Is it a trap?" he asks. "I don't think so," responds Stephen. "They unloaded something off the freighter and most of the guards went into the base with it. I think they're just keeping whatever it is they received under heavy guard." "Could you see what they took off the freighter?" asks Nathan. "Nothing special," answers Stephanie, "just three large boxes. Of course, water freighters usually don't carry cargo in wooden crates, and I don't think they'd pull most of their guards to watch over a small shipment of water no matter how valuable a commodity it is." "So, if we hurry we might be able to get both the Mark IV and the transport," thinks Kieran out loud. "That's about the size of it," states Stephen. "OK then," starts Kieran, "here's the plan. . ." "LOOK OUT!" interrupts Nathan as he spreads his arms in a magical gesture to raise some shielding over the group. Kieran quickly looks towards the base in time to see a ball of magical energy spray along Nathan's hurried defenses. "They're just getting our range," says Kieran. They've been discovered. Nowhere to go but Void, now. "Heather! Go with the senshi and take the Queen and princess to the transport. Charles, Ysayne and Jason take care of any resistance we get from the base. Nathan, Stephen and Stephanie come with me and let's take those ships!" --- "Crescent Beam!" The sounds of battle surround Kieran. Thankfully, the base doesn't have many magi on it, and all of them were in the base itself when they were discovered. Since the resistance fighters are really only interested in the landing facility, perhaps they can get out of here before they meet up with many magic-capable Ronans. A Ronan soldier near the transport falls from Sailor Venus's crescent beam. However, the energy from Sailor Jupiter's attack fizzles along a hastily raised shield. "Well, so much for this being easy!" exclaims Kieran. Behind him, he can hear more Ronans converging on the landing area where his group stands fighting. "Jason, you and Nathan see about getting that Mark IV up in the air! Everyone else try and make it to the transport!" Nathan was by far the group's best pilot, and Jason was an excellent gunner even if he couldn't use magic without the Ronan talisman within the craft. The two of them should be able to handle the two-man escort craft. Ahead of him, Kieran can see several more Ronans running towards the landing area from the base. Most of the magi remain back at the base, but their magic easily reaches the landing area. The soldiers themselves rush beyond the shields to battle the group hand-to-hand and sword-to-sword. This meant that the senshi were able to attack them once they came in close. Slowly, the group makes its way towards the ships. Dodging balls of fire as well as ice, the resistance members work on combating the far off Ronan magi while simultaneously dueling with Ronan ground troops. Whenever possible, Kieran glances about to try and keep up with where his companions are and who is in trouble. Kieran drops a Ronan soldier with a slice of his sword and quickly looks around him. Immediately, he notices he can't find Jason. Before Kieran can look closer, however, another soldier runs at him, screaming. Kieran parries his blow and defends himself while scanning the battle-scene. He notices a ball of ice hurtling towards them that the soldier doesn't. Kieran grabs the Ronan's sword hand, disarms him with a twist of his wrist, then kicks the man backwards into the ice. Most of his group has reached the transport now. He looks towards the escort ship and sees Nathan helping Jason into the craft. "::What's wrong with Jason?::" he asks across a mental connection. Nathan's reply is filled with concern, "::He was grazed by a ball of fire and the soldier he was fighting pierced him. We can still get off-planet, but I don't hold much hope for him after that.::" Kieran shifts his focus to Jason as he prepares to board the transport behind the last of his group. "::Hang on, Jason. We'll get you healed once we get back to Earth. Just hang on.::" Jason doesn't reply, but Kieran knows he heard him. He sends a fireball of his own towards the on-rushing troops as he climbs aboard the ship. "Let's get out of here!" he shouts as he raises the gangplank and watches the escort ship take off. --- As the two ships enter the Great Void everyone inside the transport breathes a little easier. Kieran moves from his position near the rear of the transport towards the pilot area at the front. As he walks among the cabin area, he has everyone find a secure place to sit and ride out their escape. When he reaches the bridge area Heather turns to him. "We've got company coming." Kieran nods and walks back to the passenger area. "Stephen, Stephanie," he points to the two siblings in turn, "take the top and bottom turrets. I'll get the aft turret." The two Ronans nod and hurry off to man the small weapons. Kieran turns to everyone else and checks that they're properly secured in their seats. "Nathan should be able to keep them off us in the Mark IV, we'll make it to Earth OK." As he walks to the rear of the craft, Kieran hopes he's right. He glances towards the escort ship and prays that Jason is well enough to handle the weapons system. --- "Here they come," thinks Heather as she pilots the bulky transport away from Earth's only moon. Behind her ship, she senses Nathan in their sole escort craft going to meet their pursuers. The Mark IV engages several of the Imperial Interceptor style craft. Although the Caribener Mark IV is the most powerful escort ship that can legally be owned by a citizen, it's barely a match for one Imperial-grade craft. Nathan is taking on three. "That still leaves two for us to deal with," realizes Heather. Hoping that Nathan and Jason can handle themselves, Heather urges as much speed and maneuverability out of the craft as she can. Multi-colored energy bolts leap out from the pursuit craft and the transport at almost the same instant. The transport has better shielding than the Ronan craft, but its weaponry doesn't match up at all. Hopefully, Kieran and the others can pour some of their own magical ability into the weaponry to add a little extra punch to their shots. Of course, besides herself, Charles, and Ysayne, Kieran is the only one on board who can do that. She is tied up piloting and has no magic to spare just keeping ahead of their pursuers. Charles and Ysayne are absolutely horrible shots, so Kieran must have put Stephen and Stephanie, who couldn't use magic yet, in two of the turrets. That left Charles and Ysayne to work on keeping their shields up, but they'll be fighting a losing battle unless they can hit the Ronan ships with enough power to knock them out. "This is not going to be easy," she says out loud as she coaxes the ship sideways to avoid a shot. Behind them, Heather senses a large explosion. She checks the area and senses the Mark IV is still intact, but losing shields. She also notices there are only two craft bothering Nathan now, and one of them seems near death itself. "Maybe we *can* do this. . ." she thinks. Sensing the ships harassing them, she sees that Kieran and the others have managed to land a few good hits, but not enough for her to feel comfortable. The trip to Earth will take them just under three days, and the Ronans will most likely continue sending pursuit craft for the next two until they get much closer to Earth's protective blanket of fighters. Surely Prince Endymion will send them aid. He had done as much as possible to help out in the past. She just hoped that the political situation hadn't gotten to where the young prince couldn't help them. She senses another ship's destruction and checks around her. Nathan picked off another! Then, Heather senses something she doesn't quite understand. She shakes her head a bit, and checks again. Nathan is pulling away from the fight. Her concentration is shaken as a ship near the transport's aft explodes. "That just leaves two now," she thinks to herself, "but where is Nathan going?" She extends her thoughts to him, using the communications talisman next to the pilot's console to aid her at this high speed. "::Nathan? Where are you going?!::" Nathan's voice sounds strained even in her mind as he replies, "::I've lost my gunner. I'm going to try and lead at least one of them away from you. I'll try and meet you guys on Earth.::" "::What do you mean 'lost your gunner'? What's happened to Jason?!::" she asks, worried that she won't like his answer very much. "::Jason's dead.::" Saying this, Nathan speeds off on a tangent to Earth. The Ronan craft follows him away, but Heather doesn't hold out much hope for Nathan against an Imperial craft without a gunner and with depleted shields. Checking the status of her own ship, she notices *their* shields are weakening. The Ronan craft that stayed with them seems to have discovered that the stronger blasts are coming from the rear and avoids that area. She can hear Kieran trading places with Stephen, but she also senses several more craft approaching from the direction of the Moon and a few heading in from above and to the left-front of them. "No, this is *not* going to be easy," she says aloud. The craft from behind them enter firing range and join their badly damaged brother in depleting their shields. She wonders if they will attempt to take the ship intact so they can recover the Queen and princess. Of course, if it looks like they won't be able to safely recover the ex-rulers Heather holds little doubt in her mind that their orders are to ensure the craft's complete destruction. As the second group of craft enter firing range she thinks to herself, "That may not be too long now." More multi-colored energy sizzles through Void, sending a wash of color along the transport's hull as they pass by. "Pass by?" wonders Heather as she scans the area. The bolts of energy strike the Ronan craft dead on. Excitedly, she checks the configuration of the new fighter group. They seem to be the same type of craft, but their registry markings place them as coming from Earth. She is surprised when one of the Earth ships contacts her via mind-link. "::This is Captain Demann of the Ronan Resistance Front contacting the pilot of the Y-498 transport craft. We usually take exception to Ronans firing on civilian craft as a rule, but would you kindly identify yourself?::" "Kieran!" shouts Heather. "The new ships are ours!" "I was wondering why they shot at our little friends out there," replies Charles. Heather touches the communications talisman again and responds. "::Captain, we have Kieran and the 'Royal Package' aboard. We're heading for Earth, but we wouldn't mind if you took care of our going-away party.::" She can sense the pilot scanning their craft for confirmation, and swerves downwards to avoid a shot from their pursuers. "::Okay, we'll keep these guys busy, but hurry!::" "::Thank you, captain. One more thing. We had an escort ship, but he lost his gunner and drew some fire off us by flying away. He's in a Caribener Mark IV. If you see him, can you make sure he makes it safely home?::" "::We'll keep an eye open.::" Closing their connection, Heather pours as much of her energy into speed as she can. As they speed away from the conflict, she silently thanks the captain for their help, and prays that they will find Nathan before it's too late. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Look for the next chapter: "The Vault" soon!